Favorite Company - (Reverse SI)

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Favorite Company - (Reverse SI)

Postby Ryu Gabriev » Mon Dec 16, 2013 4:23 am

This is a low power fic I've begun for two reasons: The first is to help blow through the frustrations of my current family situation, the second, to have something to work on when my main project is waiting for the next creative wave to push it further along the development process. I'm HOPING, that since this is a grouping of more mainstream ideals and characters that the response will be a bit higher than with my earlier work.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, ideas, or concepts borrowed for the purposes of this story. I just wish to create stories to tell to all who would listen.

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Chapter 1 - Always Look Both Ways Before Picking Up Guests
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It was cold that night as I was taking the freeway home from my friend’s apartment, leaving me alone with my inner voice and the music from my car’s speakers. Honestly though, I wish I had someone else in the car with me. Cause if someone was it would’ve been simple to keep all the thoughts I didn’t want to think about out of sight.

My Dad has cancer. The irony of that statement being the fact we’d have never known until it killed him since it hadn’t caused him any pain at all the entire time. Two months ago, it looked like he could actually beat this thing, despite all the naysaying the doctors had said up to that point. Then it hit his lungs. As it is now, they say he’s got six months. Six months… of him hooked up to that damn, stupid respirator instead of actually going out of the house and living and… and!

The gravel of the highway shoulder suddenly pulled me out of my growing frustrations as I quickly maneuvered my car back into the left-hand lane. Thankfully, that sleet-storm we’d had a few days ago had already melted from the streets and bridges, which meant I only got a wakeup call instead of a slip-and-slide down the highway strip. Man, I wish someone was here with me in the car. Might keep me from crashing, at least.

Of course, I couldn’t think about my situation with my father and not consider the other half of my born family. Mom had been run ragged over the last few days, barely getting any sleep with Dad’s up and down behavior in the house. Today had been the worst thus far, she had gotten the bill from the hospital for a month’s stay there and done a quick tally of things… they weren’t promising. She just broke down during the late afternoon, as did I. We actually considered-

I felt the rough gravel of the left shoulder again, making me quickly angle myself to the middle-lane while my frustrations quickly boiled over. “GAH! Fuckitall anyway! I wish I had someone to talk to right now! At least then, I might be able to have some peace of mind!!”

Well, if you insist.

I was suddenly blinded by this amazing flash from the other three seats inside the cabin, an instant before three people appeared in the car with me. But I was rather occupied by trying to get the vehicle to a complete and intact stop after the girl now in the front passenger seat looked forward and screamed. I turned and realized why - I’m a few moments from hitting the off-ramp guardrail!!

I pressed the brakes for a bit of lead time before jerking the wheel to the right, just missing the polished aluminum of the barrier. I let the weight of the car and the uphill slope of the off-ramp decelerate us further before finding the nearest entrance into a nearby parking lot, turning inside, and finding a space to come to a sudden and complete stop. I shifted into park before letting my head slump onto the steering wheel. My breathing was hard as I waited for the adrenalin to wear off, and it sounded like everyone else was in a similar state. After a moment to calm down, I switched on the overhead lights, and looked in the direction of my new ‘passengers’ to see who had been dropped in my lap.

Even if I could find the right words to describe the awe that came next, I still don’t think you’d believe me.

In the front passenger seat was the girl who saved my fender earlier. She was Japanese, as far as I could tell, with chocolate brown eyes and long, dark brown hair split off into a set of looped braids that ended in a pair of tails. She looked to be dressed for an academy, with a teal blue jacket and skirt combo over a white blouse with a red bow at the collar. But the real clincher was what was on the middle finger of her left hand. A gold ring with a horned demon’s face and two hook clasps that fit around the back of the hand, securing its place there on her finger.

“Devil Hunter… Yohko Mano…” I said softly, though it was still apparently loud enough for the young lady to notice as her eyes widened in surprise.

“Th-that’s my name! Wh-where- how- what’s going on here?!” I waved my hands in her direction to get her to calm down, though honestly I wouldn’t mind having a few of those questions answered myself.

“Good questions. Maybe if we put our heads together, we can find some answers?” I turned in the new voice’s direction and took in the appearance of my second passenger. Long dark brown hair held in a low ponytail, bright blue eyes, and two rows of dark spots on her pale skin that wound their way down her head and neck till they disappeared behind a light blue blouse collar. Over that was a black jumpsuit that was dark grey at the neck and shoulders, and a small pin shaped like an upturned silver arrow over two gold horizontal bars on the left side of her heart.

I smiled at my second passenger. “Once my head stops spinning, Dax, I’ll explain what I can. But I’m afraid that without any Federation tech hoodoo to help me, any explanations I have won’t be that revealing. Oh! By the way, congratulations on making First Contact with Earth.”

Jadzia’s eyes filled with shock as well before she began speaking again. “Earth?! Where am I? What year is this?”

“Where you are is Dallas, Texas, when is December 9th, 2013.”

The Trill quickly relaxed after that news. “Thank goodness, that should mean anything I do won’t really have an effect on the timeline. Now I just have to figure out how I got here, that might help me figure out a way back t-” She suddenly became white as a ghost as something came to her. “The temple!! Dukat’s still there, and Benjamin doesn’t know!”

I raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Temple? Wha-ohhhh scrap.”

The lieutenant commander looked at me with a rather worried gaze before gesturing me to continue speaking. “Commander, if you just came from the Temple - as in the Bajoran Temple on DS9 - and Dukat’s there also, who or whatever brought you here just saved your life. He’dve killed you with the energy of that pah-wraith inside him, then done something to the Orb that would force the wormhole shut for a time.” As I spoke, a part of me felt it best to help lessen the blow I was giving her. “But there is good news. Dax does get successfully passed to another host, and Sisko does manage to re-open the wormhole soon after. Not the best solution, but at least there is one.”

A tear ran down her cheek before she met my eyes again with her own. “Given the options, I suppose that’s all I can hope for, really. Was Worf able to live with… without me?”

I crossed my arms in front of me and thought back along my memories of watching Deep Space Nine. After another moment I spoke up again. “He managed to, eventually. ‘Course he had to make sure you got into Stovokor first by blowing up a Dominion orbital shipyard with only one Klingon cruiser.” I started chuckling. “His ship forced the nearby sun to eject a coronal mass emission right at the yard, vaporizing it instantly. Awesome fireworks, really.”

As the Starfleet officer started to smile at the thought of her husband doing something that crazy just for her, Yohko just glanced back and forth between the two of us, utterly perplexed. “Ok, what in the hell are you two talking about? Temples? Dukat? Woof?!

I couldn’t stop myself. Within seconds my head was thumping the steering wheel as I howled in laughter over the teenager’s misinterpretation over the prior discussion. Dax was giggling herself over the whole thing, probably because she would know just how much that would’ve irritated the gruff, sober Klingon. “It… hehe… It’s Worf, Miss Mano, not Woof. And this is Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax, Science Officer for the Federation-run space station Deep Space Nine. The station itself is located at the mouth of a kind of tunnel in space called a wormhole, which allows anyone from this part of our galaxy to another that’s several thousand light-years away. There’s more to it than that, but suffice it to say that she comes from a possible future of ours. I’ll save the whole explanation for later.”

Dax nodded before looking to her left, which of course made me look where she was looking. Once I had managed to angle my vision that way, I took in the look of the last new arrival to my world. It was a man this time, an elderly one from the color of his gray hair and goatee as well as the lack of hair atop his head. He had thick, gray sideburns and a section of his remaining hair was locked into a simple topknot. A set of brown shoulder-pads and matching breastplate covered his upper torso, while a simple gray robe took care of the rest. He had a serious expression on his face, as if he was watching for whatever might come his way.

Off hand, I couldn’t really place him, but he was familiar to me. “So how come you haven’t introduced yourself, sir? As it stands, the girls and I are doing all the talking.”

It was at that point that the elderly man looked at me. I emphasize it like that since he did much more than just point his eyes in my direction as I did earlier, it honestly felt like he was peering deeper in a way that’s hard to describe. But soon enough, a smile came to his face, and he finally started speaking. “I am Iroh, retired General of the Fire Nation. I apologize for my cautious actions, but I have found that it is best to stay quiet when you are in unfamiliar surroundings. Often it will help you avoid attracting the wrong sort of attention."
******
Thought I'd give the introductions of everyone before posting this intro snip. Please give any opinions if you can. Later!
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Re: Favorite Company - (Reverse SI)

Postby Ryu Gabriev » Tue Dec 17, 2013 2:57 am

Yep, it's official, no one reviews on this forum anymore. 24 hours and absolutely nothing.
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Re: Favorite Company - (Reverse SI)

Postby TerraEpon » Tue Dec 17, 2013 3:55 pm

Well it's a bit of an odd story, and not really the normal pervue of this forum. I like it though, even though I wouldn't normally read fanfics from those universes -- it's not really a fanfic in the traditional sense, though. Still, I for one would love to see more.
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Re: Favorite Company - (Reverse SI)

Postby Spica75 » Tue Dec 17, 2013 4:21 pm

Ryu Gabriev wrote:Yep, it's official, no one reviews on this forum anymore. 24 hours and absolutely nothing.

Currently no time or energy for it, haven´t written anything of my own for a few weeks.
And generally not fond of SI.
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Re: Favorite Company - (Reverse SI)

Postby PCHeintz72 » Tue Dec 17, 2013 5:46 pm

Ryu Gabriev wrote:Yep, it's official, no one reviews on this forum anymore. 24 hours and absolutely nothing.

24 hours is not really enough. Especially when during a work week and not a weekend. This showed up as completely new to me just now.

As for the story. Dax I know well (I'm a bigger sci fi fan than a anime one). Yohko I liked, but hardly ever see in fan fiction. I have no clue on the 3rd guy at all.

I am reminded of RANMA-MULTI 'Not Another SI Fic Saga' by Enigmatic Magus.

Main thing... why would Dax not ask on how he knew whom she was, and why would she state she did not have to worry abut the timeline.

Otherwise, pretty short.

it also occurs to me that if she had her uniform, she almost *always* had a tricorder on her. But I cannot remember off top of head what she had on her during that incident.

EDIT: Nevermind, found the guy... The Last Airbender cross... never cared for the series, only ever watched a couple episodes.
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Re: Favorite Company - (Reverse SI)

Postby Ryu Gabriev » Tue Dec 17, 2013 10:51 pm

I suppose so. Spacebattles went nuts over it within 12 hours... they were really helpful in inspiring me further. Here's the rest of that scene, if you like.
*****
I thought about it for a moment before shrugging. “Makes sense. Anyway, I’m Jonathan Vehan, and either I’m in a very vivid dream involving some of my favorite characters of all time, or the three of you have been transported into my car from across time and space. In all honesty, I’m good either way.”

Funny thing was, a second after I started thinking about it, I realized I actually was fine with it being one or the other. Logically speaking, the actions I would wish to take in either case were exactly the same: I’d want to interact and get to know my new acquaintances - especially these acquaintances.

The Science Officer grinned at my intro. “Then Jonathan, I hope you wouldn’t mind telling us how you know who we are, especially if we’re simply dreams to you.” Her expression suddenly turned serious. “Not that I’m upset, but frankly you shouldn’t be capable of knowing about what’s to come in your future.“

Both Iroh and Yohko nodded their agreement to that idea, and I sighed in resignation. “I… could show you, if you like, but I think I’ll show Miss Mano’s proof with her alone. She hates how she transforms enough as it is.”

The Japanese girl squeaked as her face suddenly turned crimson. “...nooooo… Please don’t tell me you know about that?!

I shrugged my shoulders and nodded once, which was all the cue she needed to bury her face in her hands and start cursing her ancient ancestors who apparently were exhibitionists. While she kept wishing to disappear through the floor, I shifted in my seat till I faced forwards again and buckled my seat belt. “I suggest you kids buckle up, I’d rather not have an accident after doing so much to avoid one earlier.”

All of them managed to do so, though the aged firebender had trouble figuring out the mechanism of the seat belt at first. Thankfully though, there were no more surprises the rest of the way home.
*****
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Re: Favorite Company - (Reverse SI)

Postby PCHeintz72 » Wed Dec 18, 2013 1:21 am

In fairness... the costume itself is not really any worse and in some cases better than say sailor moon's. The main difference is sailor moon becomes prismatic colors during the transformation, hiding her and making it less embarrassing. Yohko does not get that benefit.

It seems to flow smooth enough for what is here.

Not sure it really has my interest though, as not enough to know how I will like the SI, and knowing practically nothing on the Airbender series.

In the end, the deciding factor will be what you intend to do or where taking the plot in this setup... Is it to show them adapting to 2013, or Dax using a tricorder to try to figure stuff out (if she had one on her, have not rechecked that scene), or have them hop realities on a regular basis.
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Re: Favorite Company - (Reverse SI)

Postby DCG » Thu Dec 19, 2013 2:16 am

That sure is a rather interesting mix of people you've dragged in there. Make's me curious about your goals.
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Re: Favorite Company - (Reverse SI)

Postby Ryu Gabriev » Thu Dec 19, 2013 3:44 am

I kinda let the story take itself where it wants to go. Case in Point...
******
I pulled into the available space in front of the house that my folks owned and shifted into park before turning in the direction of my guests. “Ok guys, just give me a few seconds to dash inside the house and I’ll be back here with the proof you all wanted to see. I know it’s bad manners not to invite you in, but honestly, there’s no room. My folks are minor packrats, and the behavior’s been passed on to me as well. Besides, if my ‘roommates’ see you guys I’ll never be able to explain things to everyone’s satisfaction.”

The retired General nodded. “Very well. Please be swift in your retrieval, my young friend.”

I gave a quick nod and cut the engine. Problem was, with all that had gone on before now, it had slipped my mind that it was 34 degrees outside the car at the moment. Which meant that the moment I opened the car door, a blast of frigid air filled the cabin, making the young devil hunter jump in her seat in surprise. “AHH! It’s cold!”

I quickly shut the door again, with a panicked expression. “Sorry! I’m sorry about that, I should’ve remembered why I’m wearing three layers of shirts today.”

“Then if you can’t remember, could you share some of those layers instead?!” Her brown eyes flashed angrily as she spoke, making me feel worse for forcing a Texas chill on her. Not really thinking about it, I quickly unbuttoned my outermost shirt, forest green with a plaid pattern and long sleeves with this great quilting on the inside. Warmest thing I own, really. Within a few seconds I’d pulled it off of me and quickly tossed it into the young woman’s lap, leaving me in a black sweater and blue jeans.

“That should keep the worst of the cold away from you. I’ll ,uh, try to slip out so as to not let as much of the outside air in.” Before anyone could say anything else I did just as I said and opened the car door just enough for me to slip through quickly before quickly shutting it behind me and dashing into the house.

A few moments later, I returned with my ‘proof’, a laptop along with a set of anime DVDs for Yohko, and some video files for Iroh and Jadzia already loaded in the internal hard drive. Like before, I opened the door quickly and slipped inside the car, only to find all three of them looking at me with odd smiles on their faces. “What?”

“We were just talking about what we all think of you so far.” Dax eyed my little tech toy with curiosity. “Is that a datapad?”

I chuckled. “Not quite. This is my portable computer, or laptop. With this you guys can see the proof with your own eyes. I’ve set up one episode each for you and the General to see, I hope you like them. As for Miss Mano… “

I passed the DVD case to the young devil hunter, thinking to myself that she looked rather cute with my shirt around her slender frame. She took the offered holder, looking at it with first confusion, then shock as the drawings on the front and back were recognized. While that was going on, I unfolded the device and started it up, passing it to Jadzia once the video player was ready.

During the next hour, the science officer and aged firebender both saw events that were unforgettable to them, from a third person perspective: For Iroh, the events that led up to his nephew’s banishment as told by during a powerful storm. For Jadzia, the time her symbiote was stolen by the disgruntled Verad while DS9 was in the middle of an ion storm.

“To see your own past, from another’s viewpoint. I must confess, seeing such a thing is somewhat… disturbing.” The retired General closed the lid of the computer as Jadzia looked out the side window of the car, remembering things thousands of lightyears away with an absent look to her eyes.

“Sorry about that, General. But frankly, you asked for proof, not comforts.” I replied while facing forward in my seat.

The aged firebender couldn’t help but smirk at that one. “Indeed we did. Thank you for showing us these things. And please, call me Iroh.”

“And I’m Jadzia.” The Trill turned back my way as she spoke. “With all you no doubt know about me, I think a first name basis is only fair.”

“Well I don’t think any of this is fair!” The Japanese girl huffed in her seat with her arms crossed under her breasts. “I never asked to be a Devil Hunter, I never asked to be sent to some freezing cold foreign country, and I most certainly didn’t ask to have the first day of my tenth year as a Devil Hunter start in the worst possible way!”

It took me a second to process that. “Wait, you’re 26?”

“Of course I am, I’m only wearing my old high school uniform cause I was feeling a little nostalgic today.” The young woman shifted in her seat away from me facing the door. “Things used to be simple. I was in love with a handsome boy, going through my classes, planning for college… so much for that.”

I could relate to that feeling, knowing how everything you know and take for granted can suddenly be upheaved without warning. “Well, Miss Mano, if it’s any consolation for you; right now my father isn’t doing so well. In fact, some are saying he’s not got much time left. I agree completely, things did used to be simple.”

I noticed Yohko was starting to turn back my way, so I kept going. “But as I’m starting to find out, just because something’s hard doesn’t mean you up and quit. Instead, you have to simply make the best of things and keep going.”

She had locked eyes with me now, probably wondering where I was going with this. “I’m supposed to outlive my dad, but that won’t make the event any easier to handle. Just as you are supposed to be a Devil Hunter, despite it making your life more complicated. This is what our lives now endure, and wailing about how bad it is… is just wasted effort.”

I suddenly felt a large hand clap my shoulder as Iroh spoke up. “An excellent way of seeing things, my young friend. Do not lament on what was, but focus on how to improve what is.”

I nodded. “Speaking about what is, we have to get you kids situated somewhere safe for the night.” I then started the car’s engine and pulled out of its parking space. “Maybe I can find one of those all-night motels…”

A few moments later, a subdued voice came from the young Devil Hunter’s seat. “Thank you both… for helping me through that.”

I glanced her way with a big smile. “Hey, what are friends for?”
******
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Re: Favorite Company - (Reverse SI)

Postby Cheb » Thu Dec 19, 2013 4:17 am

24 hours and absolutely nothing.

Uh, Imma slowpoke. I don't visit here everyday. So I suppose I got used to reviewers reacting in the course of a week.

and knowing practically nothing on the Airbender series.

Seconded. I also know nothing of that, uh, deep nine or how they call it. So Yoko is the only character familiar to me.

that it was 34 degrees outside

[googles "farengeit to celsius". clicks "Did you mean fahrenheit to celsius?". Enters the value.]
It's plus one! Brrr... :x Poor Yoko.

, and wailing about how bad it is… is just wasted effort.

So very true.
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Re: Favorite Company - (Reverse SI)

Postby ckosacranoid » Thu Dec 19, 2013 9:35 pm

Just got here from nor checking all week. Very cool idea and off to a good start. Even if you really do much and just help the si keep his mind over the coarse of a day or two it could be very diffent then most si storys. I know the first two charaters, not the airbender chap. Just cause no one posts with in a day on here, it is a lot slower then other boards, nedd to leave off for a week here for comments.
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Re: Favorite Company - (Reverse SI)

Postby Ryu Gabriev » Fri Dec 20, 2013 1:30 am

Well, if it helps, I'm about to get quite a wakeup call so to speak.
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Re: Favorite Company - (Reverse SI)

Postby Ryu Gabriev » Sun Jan 05, 2014 11:38 am

If this isn't up to the standard I set before, PLEASE let me know where so I can set it right.
*****
I woke up with a start that morning, groggy for a few seconds as my mind woke up alongside me. I looked myself over, noting that I was still my white pajamas with blue stripes over a solid white shirt. I ran a hand lightly through my shoulder-blade long hair, which I kept in a fishtail style at night so that it wouldn’t twist and tangle while I slept. I know what you’re thinking: ‘Why the hell did he grow his hair? Isn't that dumb?’ The frank and honest answer was so that I could prove to myself that I could decide a course of action for myself and deal with the outcome. It wasn’t anything big, true, but it was something that I knew I had decided for myself, so it was a start in showing that I could be independent if I so chose.

But it looks like the fun was over, dreams do have to end after all.

I looked around the cluttered mess of my room for anything that might give credence to what I thought I remembered last night, but could find nothing. My green quilted shirt was hanging in it’s usual spot on my computer chair, instead of being last seen on the attractive form of the Japanese demon hunter. As my thoughts drifted to the young Mano woman, my head shook in disapproval over what I had actually considered trying to do over the course of the night. Yes, Yohko was beautiful. Stunning, even. But facts are facts, and the fact is women only lead to pain where I’m concerned. Thus, even if it was a dream, odds are she’d reject me like every other girl had in my life.

Still though, the idea of actually meeting those people sounds rather interesting. Perhaps I should turn this remnant dream into a plot bunny and toss it at Spacebattles after I get off of work today. However, just as I untangled myself from the bedsheets to start my day, the familiar opening sounds of Yuusha Ou Tanjou rang out from my cellphone. Grimacing at the thought of starting my day cussing out a telemarketer, I answered the phone in a huff. “If this is that damn US Pharmacy group I’m gonna look into mailing a bomb your way… “

A feminine giggle responded through the mouthpiece. “Please tell me you don’t tell everyone that phrase when you answer the telephone.”

I blinked twice, slightly confused. “Sorry, it’s just only oddballs and telemarketers that call me this early in the morning.”

“Well, I’m no telemarketer, whatever that is. And while Benjamin would tell you otherwise I doubt I’m an ‘oddball’.”

My left eyebrow rose in time with my bewilderment as I continued speaking. ”Oookay… and I would know Benjamin from where, exactly?”

“From the station! Jonathan, it’s me, Jadzia!” My eyes grew wide as my arm holding the phone went slack. The natural ligament tension in my hand was enough to keep the phone in my grip even after my arm dropped limp at my side. I could vaguely hear Jadzia, if it really was her, trying to get my attention over the phone, calling my name repeatedly.

But all I could hear and see at that point was last night, along with the growing shock that I had interacted with those amazing people for hours without ever connecting the dots that it was real. “I just hung out last night with an alien space babe that’s mentally three hundred twenty-seven years old, a mystical devil hunter that can kick my butt a hundred different ways, and man that can bend fire to his will. My God, I am that dense.”

I completely agree. Not even Jean-Luc was this thick-headed about things.

There was another sudden flash of light and I suddenly found myself sitting in my computer chair fully dressed and ready for work in my Domino’s uniform facing the bed. Laying on said bed with hands behind his head was a man with short dark hair and blue eyes, wearing a red Starfleet uniform with four pips on the collar. He spoke, glancing around the disheveled state of my living space as he did so. “You really should clean things up around here, what if guests suddenly dropped by?”

“Guests normally come through the door, not the subspace barrier.” My face fell into my hands as I tried getting a grip on my rising stress level. First Dad, now my sanity. If I lose much more I won’t have anything left.

“Now now now, cheer up! You humans die all the time, and quite frankly, your mental state is as stable as it’s always been.”

My eyes locked with a glare onto the omnipotent being as he lounged on top of my bed, my head rising slightly from where it was resting on my palms. “Q, I’m not having a good morning so far. So I hope you’ll forgive me when I promise to kick your almighty ass back to the Continuum if you ever make light of my dad’s condition again.”

Q scoffed, turning his head to focus more on one of the wall scrolls I had hung right next to my bed. “Yes, yes. Vacant threats, and all that.” Just as quickly as he had dismissed my warning to him, he all but leapt off the bed to a standing position right in front of me, staring me straight in the eye. “Now to business. My fellow Q and I have grown interested in how far some of you are willing to go just to test your inner character, despite still being a savage child race. You Spacebattlers, in particular, have caused quite a stir back in the Q Continuum.”

He raised his hands in a dramatic gesture and spread them wide for emphasis, as if he was taking the whole of the universe into his hands. “Oh believe me, I tried quite hard to keep this little nugget to myself, but I’m sadly not the only omnipotent being there. But once I sent dear Keiran on his merry way, the Continuum noticed what I was so interested in these last few millennia.”

The godling grimaced suddenly. “Now I’ve had to share all that I’ve worked on. All those interesting worlds your comrades, and recently you, have created. If it wasn’t beneath me, I’d feel like sulking for an eon or two.”

But just as fast as his expression soured, he seemed to perk right up again. Q clasped his hands behind his back and assumed a parade rest stance. “Thankfully, my friend Q and I found a way to really amuse ourselves despite having to share with the others: a Bet.”

My brow raised in confusion at the godling’s words seconds before I sat up straight and leaned back in my chair to a more comfortable position. ”A bet? So what, you’re all gambling on the fate of worlds now? Is there a point spread or do you just count all the millions slaughtered outright by whatever you throw at them?”

Q’s head dropped till his eyes were facing the carpeted floor and shook it side to side in disappointment for a moment. Afterwards it rose back up til his eyes met mine as a smirk formed on his face. “Not a bet, a Bet, in the vein of a certain series of Metroanime’s you enjoyed reading years ago. Besides, if the Q were unable to know about which mortals were killed when we wouldn’t be omnipotent beings, would we? No, this Bet is far more interesting.”

My eyes widened at that news. The Bet series, a vast set of ‘What If’ stories involving bored gods and mortal circumstances, usually Ranma ½ and- ...ohh, scrap. If the Q of all things were interested in enacting such a concept-

Q suddenly straightened up with a smile on his face again. “Quite so. I’ve already seen several Q make their entries, so I’d better hurry with mine before all the good ideas are scooped up.”

I felt a smirk crawl onto my face despite myself. “So I guess you’re leaving then? If you are, be a pal and take my new guests to their homes when you leave, would you?”

The omnipotent being returned my smirk with his own. “Not quite. Your Mission, regardless of whether or not you accept it, is to ensure the Health and Safety of your three guests for the next seven days. Should you succeed and not die in the process, I’ll grant you… a wish.”

I shot up to a straight standing position as the last word hit my ears. A wish. A wish backed by the power of Q. I could… I could-!

Q finished my thought aloud for me. “Yes yes, if you really want to waste your reward on curing your father, you can do so.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest impatiently. “Now, do we have a deal?”

I moved the proposal around in my head, trying to see if there was any tricks in the wording, especially considering that this was Q I was dealing with. Then, a half-second later I smacked myself in the forehead after realizing what I was trying to do. This is Q. This guy’s been around longer than Earth has, and I’m trying to out think him?! While we’re at it, might as well call up God for a pizza.

Hearing the godling smother a chuckle brought me out of my self-deprecation and back to reality. While I’d like to say I had a choice now, if Star Trek was any judge, Q would go forward with whatever he was going to do regardless of whether or not I agreed. And if I did the sane thing and just ignored the problem and left those three to their own devices, I couldn’t help but feel that I’d be doing something unforgivable. Which means

I crossed my arms in front of me, matching Q’s gesture and staring him in the eye. “Fine, I’ll babysit three people for you for a week. How hard could that be?”

The omnipotent being answered me by suddenly causing a big flash of light, returning me back to my original standing position with my cellphone back in my hand, though I was still dressed and ready for work. As for Q, he was gone completely with no evidence left that he had even been there in my room.

Famous Last Words, my friend.

I could hear Jadzia’s voice coming in over the cell once again, though it sounded a bit frustrated now, and put the device back next to my ear. “Yea, sorry about that Dax, someone was on the other line and I switched over without thinking.”

“It’s alright, Jon. You didn’t really leave me hanging for more than a few seconds.”

Seconds? Thought for sure I spent at least a few minutes talking to Q. “On another note, how exactly are we talking like this? Don’t we need the UT for basic understanding?”

“Actually, I managed to patch my Com Badge into the phone system before I tried calling you to see if it worked. Though I might have a tough time reassembling the phone in time for checkout.”

I blanched at that. “Well, uh, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Anyway, I’ll meet up with you guys after I get off of my shift at work today, and we can take stock of what we all know so far. Sound good?”

There was a short pause on the other end of the line before the Trill spoke up again. “Do you think you might have an idea as to what happened?”

My eyes turned skyward with a sigh before I shook my head in resignation. “Lemme put it this way: I just got through talking with Q.”
******
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Re: Favorite Company - (Reverse SI)

Postby PCHeintz72 » Sun Jan 05, 2014 1:36 pm

Not Bad... sadly not much to comment on.

One thing though, even as far as bets go, this seems a bit... tame for Q's standards.

While I profess ignorance to his personality, the guy from airbender seemed intelligent enough to know not to make too much in way of waves.

Jadzia could fit in just about anywhere.

Yohko I can see causing problems of the small sort. But even then, it would be mostly mudane, likely guy related. Since they are in the U.S. really does not have much in the way of truancy officers like described in legions of Japanese anime/manga/fan fiction, can't see her bring picked up.

Hmmm... After typing all that, I think to the old 80's movie Bill and Ted's Excellent adventure, with them taking all those misplaced people (Like Bee Toven and Ghengis Khan) to a mall... yeah... maybe this guy will have issues after all.

EDIT: Is this still all one chapter, or is the last scene the start of a new one? I ask as from a splitting up standpoint it makes sense to split them, but the scene breaks imply to me it is one chapter.
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Re: Favorite Company - (Reverse SI)

Postby ckosacranoid » Sun Jan 05, 2014 11:19 pm

Q with an issues.....time machine, check, time displayed people, check, being with issues, check, visions of wacked out wonders of bill and ted movie priceless.....yoko reading about some of the lemons about her even more amusing...
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