June 5, 1998
Disclaimer: JQ characters belong to HB & Turner Productions. Charles Wallace
and the idea of the tesseract belongs to Madeleine L'Engle, "ambush scene"
inspired from a scene from the Marmalade Boy movie. Characters used without
permission. No $$ made for this venture. Enjoy! ^_^.
Category: Adventure, Episodal, X-over, a touch of Fantasy
Rating: Some language and concepts for mature audiences
Archivers: Not a problem, as long as you tell me where you put this baby! ^_^.
Summary:
The Ripple Effect (6/?)
by: Ina-chan
"HEY WATCH IT KID!" An angry pedestrian screamed, shaking his fist
But the young boy took no heed as he skated toward a spot on a
sidewalk in the university grounds. He scanned the area and watched a pair
of students working on a stalled vehicle in a short distance.
His mission is simple.
That's what his superiors told him.
All he had to do is stand here and wait.
Minutes pass... and whatever it is he was waiting for, still hasn't
arrived.
He twitched impatiently... he may be a spy, but he was still only
ten-years-old...
... and he hated waiting.
"It's time." IT whispered breathlessly in his mind
He looked up and saw a figure slowly trudging toward his direction
at the opposite sidewalk.
He smiled.
***
She swore under her breath.
She bent down on the side walk and shook her heels to free the
persistent coarse grains that manage to sneak in and torture her. "This is
simply not my day," She sighed out loud
"Rach!" A voice called over her head
The young woman looked up and a familiar face waving at her, while
leaning on a stalled vehicle. Rachel Wildly acknowledged her welcome with an
impish grin and limped toward her friend, "Hey Jean. Stalled again?"
"Yep," Jean replied with a thrust of her chin in annoyance, "And
SOMEONE is being stubborn about calling for help."
Rachel tilted her head to look over the hood to view her friend's
companion, almost swallowed within the bowels of the car, "How's it going
Martin?"
The young man replied with a gruff grunt.
Jean rolled her eyes before making a mischievous grin, "Aren't you
supposed to be somewhere else at this moment?"
The blonde woman paused hesitatingly as she took of her shoe,"You
mean Jefferson's cousin?"
The other woman waggled her eyebrows, "Yep. That cutie from Queen's."
"Well..." Rachel began as she absently and unfemininely shook the
rocks trapped in her footwear, "Let's just say that we mutually decided to
part ways before the stable establishment of the forming phase... and I
will never grant favours for Amy Jefferson ever again."
Jean blinked, "You mean... you hated his guts so the moment you got
to the restaurant, you excused yourself to the ladies room, climbed out of
the window, hopped into a taxi, and dropped yourself off a couple of blocks
from your dorm, encountered that nasty cat that always ha--"
"No, it wasn't like that!" Rachel protested as she waved her shoe in
the air, "It wasn't a restaurant, it was a theatre. And that BEAST was NOT a
cat, it's a godamn Siberian tiger. But it has been very strange, hasn't it?
Its as if everything I do seems to destined for disaster lately..."
"You mean, even more than usual?" Jean teased mischievously
"You're no help!" the other woman exclaimed exasperatedly
"Sorry! Sorry!" Jean clasped her hands together and playfully bowed
her head in apology, "So, what are you going to do now?"
"Take a nice long
'I-don't-care-if-I-use-up-all-the-hot-water-shower'," Rachel replied as she
slipped on her shoe with a loud sigh, "Then take a long hard look at my life."
"Have fun," Jean called out to the retreating figure
Rachel gave her a half-hearted salute and continued on with her
journey. She looked up as a herd of a noisy high school tour group passed in
the distance. A nostalgic smile passed through her lips. It wasn't long ago
she was one of them. Bright eyed, enthusiastic, and eager to be away from
home for the first time. A whisper of the cool spring breeze playfully
ruffling her short golden locks brought the promise that summer isn't very
far behind. The promise of going home.
Home... who would have known that she will miss her mother's
fussiness about her eating habits... Or her father's fantastic never-ending
sermons about the "good old days" when "Mexico was covered with snow four
feet deep" when her great grandfather started the ranch. She was so homesick
that she would probably kiss the first cow she would come across with. For
the hundredth time, she wished she didn't give up the chance to go home for
the long weekend to catch up on her studies.
She let out a long, heavy sigh... and tripped.
Her eyes narrowed and a string of expletives filtered under her
breath as she saw the broken heel as the cause of her most recent
misfortune. From a distance, Martin's car emitted a long series of wheezing
sniggers, as if to mock her current situation. She angrily yanked off the
offensive footwear and threw it directionlessly in the air with all her
strength. It was only at the very moment that she felt it leave her fingers,
had she realized what she had done. And one doesn't have to be a rocket
scientist to figure out that what goes up must come down...
... and at that instant... San Antonio High's star softball pitcher
gasped in horror, as the projectile seemingly defied gravity and spun
elegantly midair in a perfect parabolic arc on target to an innocent
bystander's head. So she did what any self respecting person would do in
situations like this. She dove for cover in a nearby thick clump of bushes.
"Why do you let these things happen to me?" She hissed angrily
skyward as a pair of angry footsteps headed toward her general direction and
silently prayed that none of the witnesses would snitch on her hiding place
"You better come out, whoever you are. Don't make me go there to
find you myself," A commanding voice boomed intimidatingly over her head
Rachel sighed in defeat and was about to rise to her feet to meet
her fate...
... when the bushes surrounding her exploded.
"There's no escaping us this time!" A youngish voice from a nearby
bush yelled out
A round of agreement choroused out from the other surrounding bushes.
Rachel cautiously crawled to her knees and parted the shrubs to give
her a clearer view of her saviours. She gaped in surprise to see a group of
boys, ranging from ages nine to twelve, surrounding a familiar looking
red-head. A puzzled frown lined her forehead as she tried to recall where
she's seen that face... and why the heck are these kids ambushing him
with... She peered as close as she dared to see what were on the children's
hands... water balloons?
"We will not stand idly by to let you spread your evil, you Mad
Scientist Dr. Quest! Feel the fangs of justice of the 'Seven Wolves'. " The
leader announced determinedly as he raised aimed his projectile, his
followers imitating his move, "Ready?"
"Quest?" Rachel whispered absently as she stared harder at the poor
man before her.
"Aim."
With a loud groan, the red head gave a quick glance heavenward
before pulling his jacket over his head in a poor makeshift of a rain gear
and crouching on the ground.
"Spiral Whirlwind Attack!!!"
Rachel gaped in fascination as the children started pelting their
victim with their supply of water balloons while running around him in some
kind of... weird formation. These kids are obviously watching one too many
cartoons... But where had she seen that face before? And why the heck are
those people passing by just watching in amusement?
The children exhausted their supply of artilleries, and a wave of
silence followed the aftermath of the battle. The kids eyed their fallen
enemy cautiously. When the young man still didn't move a muscle several
seconds later, the boys fell into a round of triumphant cheering. Their
audience started clapping their hands enthusiastically.
Rachel frowned, "This is too weird."
When suddenly, a low, slow, rumbling noise that sounded suspiciously
like a chuckle interrupted the festivities. The boys stopped in apparent
shock and watched their enemy slowly rise, the jacket still over his head.
"I have underestimated you 'Seven Wolves'," He began in a deep evil
sounding voice
"THIS guy is obviously watching one too many cartoons," Rachel
whispered in amazement
"I didn't expect you to find me so quickly," He continued. Then with
a fast sweeping motion, he freed his head from his jacket, somehow causing
to free his hair into a wild sea of wet red locks glinting against the sun.
He pointed at the kids with... the broken shoe in his hand, "BUT IT WILL
TAKE MORE THAN THAT TO DEFEAT EVIL MAD SCIENTIST BENTON QUEST!"
"Benton Quest?" Rachel echoed in surprise as a vision of the
skeeterish nervous young man that her best friend never stops talking about
filled her mind's eye, "No way!"
The younger kids fell back fearfully while their leader looked back
defiantly at the tall man, "And what are you going to do? Throw that shoe at
us?"
The redhead glanced at the shoe in his hand, and broke into a slow
sinister looking smirk, "This shoe? No you're mistaken... this is not a shoe."
"Yeah, right," The leader crossed his arms incredulously
"This is my latest invention," The young man continued in his evil
villain voice, "Its a ray gun that fires invisible rays that will make every
person it touches turn into a... ... GIRL!"
"I don't want to turn into a girl!" One of the younger kids wailed
"Don't be silly, he can't turn us into girls with that ray gun,"
scolded of the other kids, before looking at their leader, "Can he?"
"He's just bluffing," The leader replied insistedly, but it was
obvious by the way that they were slowly inching away, that the young man's
words have taken effect
The redhead simply took a step forward, "ARE YOU PREPARED?!?!?"
The younger kids screamed in horror and ran off, leaving their
leader fuming after their departing figures, "HEY! Come back! We're the good
guys! We're not supposed to run away!" He froze in fear as their enemy
seemed to tower toward him with the deadly weapon, then blinked blankly as
the young man ran past him in pursuit of his playmates.
"HEY! Wait for me you guys! Benton!" He yelled out indignantly as he
joined the chase
The young woman's shoulders shook violently as she vainly tried to
hold back her mirth. Until finally she doubled over and held her painful
sides as a peal of laughter escaped from her lips. That definitely made her
day. As her laughter died own, a small lopsided grin lined her lips, "Benton
Quest, huh?"
Maybe her luck for this stupid day has finally changed. She rose to
her feet and brushed the leaves and grass that clung to her hair and
clothes... And stopped as realization finally hit her...
"HE STILL HAS MY SHOE!"
She irritably kicked the other half of the pair off and stuffed it
in her purse, "So much for my changing luck. Now I know how Cinderella felt
walking home from her stupid ball..."
Martin's car finally roared to life from a distance. Well, at least
someone else is having better luck with this day. She surveyed her
surroundings and made a startled jump as she met the glance of a boy
standing in the middle of the road. Actually, it was more like he was
staring at her intently. Creepy.
"Hey kid," She called out as she walked out of the shrubs, "Get off
the street. That's dangerous!"
The kid simply stared back.
Martin's car roared again, followed by a yell of surprise.
"Get off the road!" Rachel yelled in alarm. Knowing that car's
reputation, she didn't need to glance at its direction to figure out what
was going on.
The boy simply stared at her.
Without another word, the young woman ran barefoot to the child and
scooped him into her arms...
... and gasped in horror with the sudden awareness that her legs
were not obeying her commands.
As if invisible hands was holding on to her legs to keep her from
moving from that particular spot. She glanced up and gaped at the oncoming
vehicle helplessly. In a last desperate attempt, she threw the child in her
arms to the side of the road, and closed her eyes...
...as a strong force hit her and pushed the air out of her lungs,
and she felt herself being flung helplessly in the air like a rag doll...
...and darkness...
(To be continued)
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