Chapter 10 Ice Cream at Jen and Barry's Double Dip

Blue was pretty sure that another ice cream cone wouldn't solve any issues he was having in getting caught up on who he was supposed to be, but he knew damn well it wouldn't hurt. As he slowly licked the second cone, strawberry for one scoop and a flavor he decided to try solely based upon its name, "Crazy Rabbit", for the second scoop, he attempted to begin his quest for understanding by saying,"Vinny, I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do. I mean, I damn near died for Farb's sake!" Blue was getting used to the idea that nearly everyone he had met so far referred to Farb as God. He hadn't seen any evidence of any other religion at all. He figured it was still early but he may as well go with the flow and at least speak like everyone else around him. Blue was already on his own spiritual journey before Leer jumped out of the page and into his life again. So much has already happened since then that it seems like a lifetime ago, and not just a different lifetime. In Blue's mind, the whole issue of religion is purely an issue of semantics, either the same story with different characters or the same message revealed through a different story. There was something about this Farb thing though, that made him feel uneasy. From what he could see, it was the only religion. Not only was it the only religion, but everyone seemed to practice it, or at least made references to Farb. He figured there had to be a healthy share of Farbnostics out there somewhere, but he'd play along for now, after all, how he fit into the religious construct of this parallel world was not of the utmost importance.

"Or is it? Dunn-Dun-Dunn!" Vinny joked, snapping Blue out of his secret musings.

Blue was completely baffled because it seemed like Vinny was reading his mind. "What did you say?" Tommy asked in complete self-conscious bewilderment.

"Man Tommy, where were you just then? Did you hear anything I said? I was just joking. You know, like, A day without Victor Alonso and Sal Lorenzo isn't a bad thing, it's not the end of the world! Or is it? Dunn-Dun-Dunn!" Vinny tried again.

Tommy didn't respond very well this time either but he did manage a half-assed laugh. Blue was too busy thinking,"what world is this anyway?" But he managed a reply of,"I think I could do with a week of now seeing anyone i normally have to deal with!"

"That's an awesome idea," Vinny exclaimed,"Let's hit the Shadowlands, visit the Leocrites - remember how you used to want to be a Leocrite?"

"Vaguely," Tommy groaned.

"Aw, Bullshit, Tommy!" it was all you ever talked about before you got into the JumpJuice business." Vinny chided.

"Yeah, well that was a while ago," Blue guessed out loud.

"Too long,"Vinny confirmed, pulling Tommy up out of his seat at Jen and Barry's, grinning for ear to ear,"and with any luck, you'll forget all about the JumpJuice business after a week in the Shadowlands!"

Chapter 10 Ice Cream at Jen and Barry's

"Single?" the girl behind the counter asked Blue.

"Who me?' Tommy responded dimwittedly.

"Just don't even tell me you're going to start down that road. sugar, I meant the cone. Single or double scoop. Actually, you're a pretty tall order yourself, how ' bout a triple?" the girl continued, obviously flirtatious but in no mood to hear the same old puns for what Blue quickly guessed had occurred far too often.

Tommy was supposed to be something of an ice cream freak, according to Vinny, who had made it clear, several times, during their ride over to Jen and Barry's Ice Cream Parlor that they were on a mission to complete the ultimate JumpJuice rush. Blue had decided to go along with whatever Vinny wanted to do for a couple of days, if he could live through it. That would give him time to figure out who he was and what he could do with the OmegaLux Crystal, if anything. Blue was a little concerned that he may not be able to keep pace with Vinny's JumpJuice schedule, but the ice cream was definitely going to be a welcome tonic for the dry mouth he was experiencing. So Blue went for the double.

"Better make it a triple!", Vinny laughed and slapped Tommy on the back. Blue smiled reluctantly in the girl's direction and she eagerly heaped three large scoops of "Funky Monkey" onto a chocolate dipped sugar cone.

The cone went down surprisingly easily. In fact, it was so delicious and consumable that Blue was finding it easier and easier to assume the person of Tommy. He was far more comfortable being someone completely different from himself than he had ever thought he could be. He was thinking that he was either like Tommy on several levels or that people are like one another, in general, on a far more basic and essential level than he had ever imagined.

"I just love to watch you eat that shit, Tommy," Vinny beamed, " it does my heart good to see my little brother so happy. I mean, you seem to be really happy, and you haven't mentioned Victor Alonso or Sal Lorenzo the entire time we have been hangin' together."

Blue turned white.

He wasn't sure what to say. He really liked Vinny. He wanted a friend, maybe even better, a brother, but this was weird. If he exposed himself, Vinny could never be expected to understand. If he told Vinny and Vinny understood, Vinny would realize that his brother really was dead. So Blue said, "I just don't even want to think about those guys."

"Yeah, Tommy, I can tell," Vinny apologized, I didn't mean to ruin your buzz man!"

Tommy responded," What the Varst!, let's get another bastin' cone and forget about it!"

Chapter 9 Unreal Real Memory

The fact that Victor could only come up with a response as lame as the admission that he didn't remember something of great importance to Max was not a surprise to her but it was offensive considering that Max was trying to really take Victor at his word that he wanted to hear what was important to her. But she had put herself out there and now he had hurt her. "That figures," Max snapped, " I tell you that I've stuck with you for two reasons and you can't even remember one of them!" She folded her arms across her chest, hardened her expression, and locked her chin into the, "I am never looking at another thing in my life again" position.

Leer was struck by how deeply this affected him. He wanted so badly to be able to remember anything about her but he could only remember the past he had with Catherine. One extremely odd thing about this moment though, was that he had seen this exact expression on Catherine's face, Max may as well have been Catherine in this moment, her body language, even her breathing and the way she held both of her hands under her upper arms when she crossed them was exactly the same, and that meant that he was in trouble. "I'm sorry,' he said, knowing full well that he would get nowhere with a simple apology. Max remained unmoved. Leer was not a mind reader, but he didn't need to be to recognize that Max was silently fuming. He was just about to say something equally generic and meaningless when something unpredictable, almost magical and absolutely vital occurred. He remembered something.

Unconscionably, inexplicably and conveniently, Leer remembered a moment from Victor's life. Unconscionably, because it wasn't just any memory, it was precisely the memory he would have been remembering if he truly was Victor. Inexplicably, because he wasn't Victor and conveniently, because it was the memory that Max needed to hear to feel that there was any reason at all to continue living with Victor. She was so confused over Victor, Tommy, wrong, right, Farb or Farblessness, that she was about to snap. That one slip into old Victor made all of the feelings of desperation return in force.

"I went to sit with your mother," Leer said. Slowly, Max lifted her eyes to him. As her eyes met his he could see tears welling up within them, and beyond the tears, everything else. He saw her nervousness within that moment - felt that she was struggling with an uneasy attraction mingled with a fearful hope, toward and about Victor. He saw a scared little girl who couldn't understand why her mother was taken from her, why her mother could spend hours at a time staring into space, as if her mind was elsewhere on some fantastic voyage - only to return to a chaotic, confused and thoroughly uncomfortable state - Then, moments later, behave as though not a thing was wrong with the world, the doctors were doing their best with her and surely she would be leaving the hospital any day but MY how her Max had grown, why only yesterday she was skipping off to her first day of school with that darling little Alonso boy, such a nice, quiet boy. "But everything changes, by Farb, doesn't it Max?" her mother would say, nearly every day for years at a time, until the day that Max decided to stop putting herself through it. Leer saw all of this in a single moment, a moment which seemed to hang in the air like smoke after fireworks. Then Max fell into his chest and sobbed, hugging him like he was the only sure thing, the only thing that was real in the entire universe. Like she needed to hold him in order to survive, so close and so tightly, like she would never let him go. They held one another like that for so long that their breath became one breath, their hearts beating a single beat.

Chapter 9 Unreal Reality Victor's Second Thing

Max continued in great detail to further illustrate that she had feelings for him that ran deeper than he had ever before been willing to recognize. Leer understood this and was more than willing to listen to every detail. He had already decided that Victor would from this day forward be committed to Max in a way he had never been and that Max was going to help him on his path through this life. Every bit of information that Max could provide about Victor would be of immense value to Leer, so when Max paused and looked at him as if she had been carrying on or boring him in some way he said, "please, Max, continue."

"Do you remember what you told me about you and Gloria, when you were young?" Max asked without waiting for a response. Victor's sister Gloria was at the very center of the second thing that he had ever shared with Max in confidence...

"When I was young, very young, before I had ever met any kids from outside of the family, not brothers, sisters, cousins, nothin' y'know, I stuttered," he told Max. "Horrible, serious stuttering!" When he told her, Max thought Victor was going to cry right then and there in front of her, his expression showing a profound sadness intensified by self-loathing at his own weakness. He continued,"uncontrollable, ridiculous, fitful and embarrassing stuttering, the kind you could never live down if it was ever heard outside of the family, so disgraceful that no Alonso dared speak of it. It was like trying to get a sentence out of a bag of microwave popcorn, the same bastin' syllable repeated, over and over again, slowly, painfully at first, then popping out faster and faster' til my whole body shook and finally I nearly choked on it, my face exhausted I let that same stupid syllable flop slowly out of my sagging lips and flaccid tongue, giving up, hiding away whatever thought I had that seemed so important at the time; turning away from whomever I was trying to talk to - sensing their relief that they wouldn't have to try to understand me or even pretend to care. Because none of them did, not anyone, no one cared about me at all, except Gloria and , of course my mother, but she was too busy nursing my brother or makin' dinner or ironing, for Farb's sake, who needs that many pressed shirts,ever!. But Gloria, Gloria was different. Gloria loved me, not because she had to or anything, just because she did. She didn't run away from any challenge, ever. I think she stuck it out with me half the time just to prove that she could. No, really, I think she actually cared."

"Gloria used to sit down and start talking to this stupid little stuffed dog she called "Puddles" Then she would try to get me to talk to Puddles. Most of the time she'd tell me to just say hi to Puddles. So I would say...H-h-h-h-h-hi P-p-p-p-p-p-up-p-p-up-pu... I sounded like an old time car starting up, so Gloria would start doing it too. Then she'd pretend that Puddles was driving the car, scooting around on his ass all over the place, in the living room, across the dining room table and then we'd laugh and she'd crash him into me and we'd roll around on the ground laughing." Victor laughed to himself, remembering the faraway, innocent joy, but checked himself as he realized that Max had just learned a secret that no Alonso had ever shared. He brushed it away casually saying,"Before I knew it, I was a Farb-damn, silver tongued orator with a precocious penchant for prose, pleasantly performing poetic palpitations in perpetuity, primarily if not purely for personal pleasure!"

Although Max sensed that Victor felt that he had gone too far, allowing her to learn something that no one outside of the Alonso family had ever known, he seemed to somehow be relieved, as if some monstrously burdensome feeling of guilt had been suddenly and completely lifted from his shoulders; and that her silent acceptance of him and his humble beginnings was somehow a sign, a blessing of forgiveness and compassion from Farb himself. Every once in awhile, Max felt as though her very being, her energy, her soul, was somehow directly connected to Farb -his divine will, or even something more basic- pure truth. This was just such an occasion. She spent several days thinking about it. Mostly because Victor, who gracefully bowed his way backwards out of the house on the heels of his homespun alliteration, did not return for several days. He just disappeared. Max figured that he had run off to his man cave, but he hadn't. His boys had checked for him there a couple of times during his disappearance but he was nowhere to be found.

"Where did you go, Victor?" Max asked as she closed the lid on her treasure trove of the past so suddenly that it took Leer off-guard.

"I really can't remember," Leer said, almost without thinking, but it was the right answer for Victor, the old Victor.

Chapter 9 Unreal Reality Victor's First Thing

Victor didn't laugh when his mother died. He cried. He cried on Max's shoulder. He cried on Max's breast. He cried on Max's belly. He cried on Max's lap. Then he got ridiculously high on JumpJuice and drank. He did that for about a week. Then he threw up for two days. The following morning, he woke up, brushed his teeth, dressed, and said only one thing to Max before he left. It was the first thing he ever confided to her. "One day,"he said,"I am going to love someone as much as my mother loved me." Then he walked out of the house. She did not follow him.

Leer listened with keen interest to everything that Max told him, attempting to judge where she was headed with the whole monologue, while recognizing that he was supposed to be all of these things she told him he was with the exception that now he was changed, transformed by death and resurrection into what Leer hoped he could present as a new and better Victor; all without raising the suspicion of those who lived, worked, fought and loved within Victor's world.

Max told Leer about Victor's gang, though she complained about personalities and clothing styles, he got the point that they were pretty tight and that any one of them would have loved to be his friend. He had made it clear in ways both subtle and not so, that he neither wanted nor needed friends. They were loyal, mostly stupid but loyal, and since the death of Victor's sister, the only "family" he had, except for a nephew. The nephew, according to Victor, was too young to be good for anything. This evaluation was based upon the circumstances that the boy was home when Victor's sister was killed and couldn't or didn't do anything to stop it.

The story goes that these guys were going to "invite" Victor's sister out for a little party. The boy said that he had heard a bunch of laughing coming from upstairs, so he went upstairs saying,"ma?" - Victor's sister then shushed him and sent him away and went back to laughing. About twenty minutes later the boy heard his mother saying "no". Then louder,"NO". Then louder,"Just get the BAST OUT OF HERE!" - Then the boy heard a loud crash followed by a thud and three different voices saying, "bast", "Damn!" and "BAST!" respectively and footsteps running out of the house. He went upstairs and found his mother, Victor's sister, Gloria, dead. Her head was bloody and a shattered vase lay upon the floor beside her body. The boy told the police who had been visiting his mother.

The following morning, the three visitors were on the front page of the local newspaper, dead. They had each been stuffed into a fifty gallon drum full of water, their legs sticking up like flowers from a vase.

That was the way Victor dealt with loss, swift and mighty vengeance.

Chapter 9 Unreal Reality Leer gets to know himself

The kiss was powerful. It ended the conversation and started the night.

Most people would feel at least a little bit self conscious about having sex in the middle of a grassy knoll just a few paces away from a touristy waterfall in a public park. However, when one of you happens to run the town and the other is your sizzling hot babe, and both of you are packin' heat, or at least have it close enough to your writhing, naked bodies, you pretty much throw modesty over the precipice like water on the rocks.

Afterward, Victor and Max laid back on the grass and looked at the stars. They lay there in silence for a long time until Max broke the silence, "Do you think we'll ever live like other people do?"

Now this is a very difficult question to answer when you ARE an other people. So Leer answered in the only way he could, "What other people do you mean?"

Max sighed,"Victor, haven't you ever tried to imagine what you would be doing if you didn't run Rat Town for my father - What it would be like if there was no such thing as JumpJuice?"

The urge to laugh out loud swelled within Leer, an urge he knew he needed to contain. Leer had learned a lot of things from travelling, how to survive, how to build, how to fight and to hide, but of all the lessons Leer had learned, the one that proved time and time again to serve him best was that of cultivating the ability to recognize when it was time to just shut up and listen, and generally that lesson served him best when in the company of a woman.

Max was ready to talk.

She had been holding on to a treasure trove of feelings for a very long time. Most of them concerned him, well rather, Victor, what he did to her, how he did it, what he said to her and how he said it, when, where, in front of whom and more. Leer had effectively not only unlocked the the door to Max's heart, he had opened a gateway to Victor's past. He was granted admission and given the guided tour. He discovered that he was, for lack of a better description, a macho, arrogant, reckless, self-centered control freak, addicted to JumpJuice, film scores and board games and played well with the other boys when it came to sports and games of chance. He was a man's man, a short, stocky, balding man's man; cocky, forceful, omnipotent and fearless before all, except Max. The two times that he confided anything to Max were enough to keep her by his side.

A mother's death can be a devastating experience for anyone and it was for Victor. But what disturbed him most is that nobody killed her. He didn't have anyone to blame; no one against whom to seek and have his revenge. She simply died.

When his brother died, he killed Jason "the Shark" by holding onto his long, beautiful, curly hair with both hands and suffocating him in a vat of freshly made hummus. When he was finished, he toasted his brother with "the Shark's" own wine while dipping pita wedges into the hummus. One of his "boys" thought he saw a tear in Victor's eye and said,"Hey boss, what's the matter, you look upset." Without hesitation, Victor smiled and, winking in Max's direction said," Of course I'm upset, I hate when there's hair in my food!"

Everyone laughed. Victor, to ease his sorrow over the loss of his brother and to overcome the feeling that killing "the Shark" did nothing to alleviate that sadness, the boys because they thought that shit was funny and Max, to get over the fact that she had to go home and sleep with Victor.

Chapter 9 Unreal Reality Check

Leer stopped himself from saying anything more that might incriminate him. He was remembering a time with Catherine Kent when she was Mona, a time that only he knew about but planned to share with Blue, when he was John, before he went back to being Leer but he never got the time. One of the things that is truly hard to grasp about alternate realities and parallel universes is that they are NOT the same thing yet they both exist, and one can become the other, while the other can't unless it is a mistake or a miracle, which many mistakes are. Mona was not a mistake but mistaking Max for Mona and talking about a past which wasn't hers would have been just the kind of mistake that would have ruined all of the progress that Leer was making with Max. But Leer did stop himself and that left a silence which hung in the air perilously.

"You remember what?" Max asked with an expectation fueled by the far away look she noticed in Victor's eyes though it had been fleeting.

"What?", Leer mumbled.

"Yes, Victor," Max urged, "What do you remember?"

Leer couldn't think of a single thing he could make up that would fit. He was completely at a loss so he said, "Nothing."

"C'mon Victor, you were going to say something," Max cooed.

Leer has spent over twenty years away from the Earth on which he knew Blue, but he has spent more than that away from Mona. He would have loved to talk about the feeling he remembered, but he knew he couldn't do that with Max. But he had to talk to Max about something and it had to make sense at this time, on this planet - with this woman! He decided to take a chance,"It's something I can't describe. I mean, it's how I felt," he sighed deeply, "I..."

"Victor," Max cut in,"it's okay, you never can express your feelings. So," Max beamed,"I am going to help you out." She sat down next to him on the grass. She walked her hands toward him, so her face was inches from his," Now Victor, tell me, were you remembering something about me, about us, or about the JumpJuice? And it better not be about the JumpJuice," she winked.

Leer was relieved to be past the intial blunder but feared the direction in which the conversation was going. There was only one hope in which he had any chance of survival, "Us," he said and leaned directly into her lips. Leer kissed Max for a very long time, after which he slowly withdrew. Max remained weighted in Victor's direction with her eyes closed and her lips soft. She slowly opened her eyes, gently biting her lower lip as if to check on the reality of the kiss and whispered,"You were saying?"

Before she could ask again, he held her, pulling her close while laying her gently back upon the soft grass and kissed her.

Chapter 9 Unreal but getting Realer Still

Leer knew he was facing a big problem when it came to Max's father. He had to get information from Max without looking entirely clueless so he decided to leverage the fact that just hours ago, Victor was dead.

"Max," Victor confided,"I don't even know what to think about tonight myself much less what I'm going to tell anyone else about it. I mean, how often does a person rise from the dead out of the back of an ambulance bound for the morgue. Nobody seemed to really be grieving my loss, either. Even you looked like you were being horribly inconvenienced by my resurrection."

Max's face dropped open, she paused, then answered Victor's implication thoughtfully, "Victor, you can be very hard to live with. You're stubborn, opinionated, bossy, arrogant and not the least bit interested in anything that doesn't fit in a box that says "What Victor Wants". There were plenty of people there tonight who would have loved for those ambulance doors to remain closed. Some of them probably even con sidered blowing the damn ambulance up, just to make sure! And I must admit, I was beginning to let ideas of what life would be like without you, creep into my head. But something has changed," Max looked deeper into Victor's eyes,"you're different." Max said softly, making Leer feel unmasked, exposed. Max continued,"But I'm not talking about that whole rising from the dead thing."

"What?" Victor blurted in response,"What do you mean?"

"Sorry baby, daddy doesn't really give a shit about you," Max sneered,"What he will care about is what happened before your fight with Tommy Levito. He's going to want to know what happened to a whole load of JumpJuice, and that means everything. How'd it go missing, or more like, how did someone manage to steal our whole delivery without a fight and where the Varst is Bobby? I mean Bobby could handle a half-dozen of Tommy's guys five out of six times and at least three of them the other one time out of six, so who in Farb's name got the drop on him? I guess it's time to ask your new best friend where he put our boy. If he does have him, that means he's got the juice! He sure did get upset when you tried to pin him down on it before. Bet you don't want that to happen again."

"No, you're right Max. I want to know, but I'm not dying to find out!" Victor joked.

Max laughed with true appreciation. She was beginning to forget what an asshole Victor could be. Leer could sense that Max was opening up to Victor and realized that he had a limited time to get the answers he needed before morning.

"So what other part of everything do I need to come up with." Victor asked,"I don't know who has the JumpJuice and my guess is that Tommy doesn't either, and I don't think that's the answer he's after." Victor paused.

"What?" Max sensed something in Victor, something significant. She asked gently,
"Are you scared Victor?" Leer remained quiet,"I can't believe this, Victor Alonso scared of Sal Lorenzo>"

"It's not that!" Victor snapped back.

Leer knew he had to maintain some consistency in his behavior or risk the collision of this and several other parallel words, better to stick with newfound sensitivity than outright fear.

"I just want you to tell me what YOU want. Not what you think I want. Not what you think Sal wants or what Tommy wants. Tell me Max, what do you want? Victor sat down on the grass, leaving Max standing over him, the moon high above her as she pulled the baseball cap from her head, whipping her long, black hair free. She looked so familiar to Leer.

"I remember," he said without thinking.

Chapter 9 Unreal but getting Realer

Max and Victor walked close together, quietly, down a winding path toward the falls. The moon was full and lit their way through the park but it was the sound of the rushing water which brought them straight to the falls. They stared in silence at the water that danced and sparkled in the moonlight. Leer marvelled within himself how profoundly the beauty of parallel worlds made him long for and appreciate his own. Something about Max reminded him so strongly of Catherine Kent that he had a hard time resisting the urge to speak to her as if she really knew him. The fact that Max knew Victor so well was helpful but only slightly since Leer did not. Still, he knew that Max would be his best guide on his journey through this world and it didn't hurt one bit that she was as pretty as he remembered Catherine to be.

"You know, Max," he said, "I meant what I said. I'd really like to know what you think I should do next."

"Well Victor," Max warmly smiled,"That's a little like asking all of that water down there if it would like to go back up those falls. It would be a vast of a lot of work, and in the end, what would it matter? It would all come falling right back down again, now wouldn't it?"

"I suppose it would," Victor shrugged," but let's just imagine that it wouldn't. What if you could change just five things? You would tell me what you wanted and I would do it, and those things wouldn't go back to the way they were, and they wouldn't be taken away from you, modified, watered down, substituted or forgotten." Leer could see the anticipation in Max's eyes so Victor continued,"There's got to be a few things you'd do differently," he smiled knowingly. It was obvious that she could think of considerably more than just a few things that she would like to see changed.

Max laughed,"All right Victor, I'll play along, what're my options? Are we talking about us, shit with my daddy, the bastin' pigs or just how many times we go out for sushi in a given week?"

"Whatever you want, Max, no matter how big, no matter how small. I just want to know what you would change," Victor replied sincerely.

Max recognized that he meant it and that made her grow silent. She sighed and her eyes took on an almost wistful appearance as she inhaled deeply. "Y'know Victor, it's kinda' funny but I think you may have started a change I never would have admitted to wanting. I am just plain tired of the Alonso vs. Levito wars. How long can people keep killing each other over the same shit anyway? I mean the moment I blasted Tommy in the gut I thought, now why the Bast did I do that? Usually I don't waste anybody unless they're going to waste me. It's hard to explain." She thought for a little while as Victor just held her hand, then she looked very seriously into his eyes and said, "But you know as well as I do that my father isn't going to let ANY of the shit that happened tonight rest. Thanks be to Farb that we've got a whole week before he gets back so we can figure out the bastin' story about tonight. I think he'll forgive you for coming back from the dead, but dinner with Tommy Levito?   Good Luck!"

Chapter 9 Unreal

the moonlight

Chapter 9

Chapter 8Quest for the OmegaLux Crystal Game Over

Vinny watched from below as Tommy lifted out of the craft. Tommy began to move as if swimming through the air, more of a breaststroke than a crawl. Surprisingly, he actually moved faster. He pulled with his arms and kicked like a frog with his legs.  On his third such effort, as he brought his hands forward and kicked, a single point of light appeared above Tommy's head. Vinny thought for sure that this was an opening through which a weapon would appear to blast his little brother from the game. In fact, he was amazed that Tommy still showed up in the game at all. After all, he was clearly outside of the craft now, and definitely not in a marked zone. Tommy was blissful. Blue knew that he was doing the right thing, like he was in control of his most lucid yet fantastic dream. For a moment, thoughts of the giant peanut, the yeti and Glurp skittered across his mind but he quickly made them dissolve. This was his world now and he knew it. Blue had no idea what to expect next, he only felt certain that whatever was about to happen, had to happen, so he just kept going. As he raised his arms above his head to reach forward for another stroke a giant white dome began to take shape overhead. The dome quickly became a globe, encircling Tommy, Vinny and the small craft, isolating them from the rest of the complex. Tommy reached even farther forward, directly toward the center point from which the light originated. Vinny saw Tommy as he almost touched it as the light became unbearably bright, then suddenly, darkness.

Vinny was sitting in total darkness all alone in a pitch black room. He was no longer within the game. He was no longer sitting in his craft or even in his gaming chair. He was on Tommy's game room floor, in total darkness without Tommy.

Blue placed his hands around the precise area of origin of the point of light. Although the light was blinding, he looked straight into it. He felt neither heat nor cold. There was nothing solid to the point of light yet he held it between his palms. Intuitively he rolled it in his palms and as he did facets began to appear and dance between his open cupped hands. The facets solidified into a crystal. Blue was standing in the center of the globe. He stood upon nothing, yet felt remarkably secure. Around him stood seven figures dressed in white. An ethereal voice spoke a single word, "Welcome". Blue said nothing. He simply smiled.

Tommy sat directly across from Vinny in the total darkness of his game room. He let out the slightest laugh as he realized where he was.

"Tommy? Is that you?" Vinny almost whispered.

"Yeah, it's me." Tommy answered, the laugh still warming it's way through his response.

"What the Varst just happened?" Vinny gasped. "Did you get to see the crystal? Did Z blast you, or did you just fry in space? I mean, I didn't even get fired upon and I ended up back here before you did, what in Farb's name is going on?"

Tommy opened up his cupped hands, the OmegaLux Crystal illuminated the whole room as if he had just thrown the switch on a thousand searchlights, he rolled it up to his fingertips and it calmed to a gentle glow.

Tommy smiled across the room at Vinny and said, "Game Over".

 "Bastin" Farbunkle, Tommy, you got it,"Vinny shouted," BEEZLE little bro" it's REAL!

Chapter 8Quest for the OmegaLux Crystal cont.9

"Ah,Kowalski, you recognize a friendly voice." Z drawled as the Z-Bird loomed into view.

"Friend?" Kowalski gritted his teeth,"more like traitor!"

"Now if you're not going to say anything nice, don't say anything at all," Z oozed with sarcasm, "Perhaps I should put that another way, have a nice day, Kowalski," Z punctuated his rapport with a searing blast that eliminated the last of the free source trio who only moments earlier seemed to be on their way to the final prize.
"Game Over, Game Over, Game Over", the omie cry went up throughout the complex as the event was broadcast system-wide. Wherever Z went, broadcast followed. One thing that could be said for Omnifab, they fostered loyalty like no other organization. With the millions of fighters, free source and subscription, one would imagine that Z's status as exterminator within the OmegaLux complex would be common knowledge within the game. It wasn't. Most fighters who made it to Z would do just as he imagined, give up the game, refusing to go up against a system which afforded them no chance. Those who chose to fight or tried to expose Z by getting back into the game were often ridiculed, humiliated or painted as conspiracy theorists by a marketing machine that made other product line corporations look like amateurs. Inside of Omnifab omies shared stories of all of the victories, but outside, never, and if things became too transparent to free source fighters or the rarest of subscribers, Z would be eliminated publicly in battle and simply move  on to another free source core. he had been X, Flash, Flint and his own favorite, Fuse. To Z, every victory was sweet. Another opportunity to bask in his own superiority. He may as well have been Farb himself for all of the power he had. Today, however, was a special thrill. Five free source fighters eliminated including a core leader, Vinny Levito. Z gracefully banked the Z-Bird into a full 180 degree turn and cruised off in the direction from whence he came.

"Bastard", Tommy and Vinny said simultaneously as Z left the area. "Bring us out," Tommy said as he removed the vent. They quickly worked to replace the vent then turned the small craft toward the center of the area. "Let's do a little clean up and look around, Vinny," Tommy said calmly. Within moments, they found a small chunk of debris from Kowalski's vehicle and placed it in the dumpster. "Debris contained-additional debris detected," the voice said. Several minutes passed, Tommy and Vinny continued collecting debris until at last the voice said, "Debris contained - area clear."

At that point, Tommy pressed a small blue button on the comm panel. Instantly, both men were surrounded by their own personal cockpit. "Keep her steady," Tommy said as he looked over at Vinny, who now had full control of the vehicle.

"What are you up to?" asked Vinny with what could only be described as fear in his eyes.

"I'm going out," Tommy responded.

"What in Farb's name do you mean by going out?" Vinny asked incredulously.

"Out there," Tommy motioned upward with his head.

"No!", Vinny shouted, You can't, You'll die! The game will end, you will lose everything. Everyone knows, you can only exists within your craft or in a marked zone, outside your craft. This is NOT a marked zone!"

"We don't have any more time, I have to go," Tommy urged,"Z is too powerful, we won't get back into the game anyway."

"Look Tommy, we came this far to look for the crystal and it's nowhere in sight. We have to keep looking until we find it. It's hidden somewhere within this complex," Vinny pleaded.

"Vinny, you gotta trust me. It's like everything else I've been able to do, I don't know how or why but I'm pretty sure that this is the ONLY way to get the OmegaLux Crystal. Now just keep her steady and let me go, please!"

Tommy sprung a hatch just above his head and pushed off with his feet like he was diving into deep water as his body left the craft.

Chapter 8Quest for the OmegaLux Crystal cont.8

"Not good," Vinny moaned softly as the large warbird hung menacingly between the Levitos and their chosen path. Tommy calmly maneuvered their craft directly toward the warbird. "Are you insane?" Vinny whispered. Tommy raised one eyebrow and the corner of his mouth as if to say maybe, then banked the tiny craft slightly, deploying a large robotic arm which reached out toward the warbird. Vinny thought for sure that they were toast. The crew of that warbird would see the little craft coming at them with it's little robotic arm and fry it without warning. Then, through a small observation window he saw the answer. Tommy was guiding the arm toward a small piece of debris floating aimlessly in the shaft. Tommy grabbed the debris with the robotic arm and disposed of it in the rear of the craft which opened like a dumpster to receive the load. Vinny heard a synthesized female voice say,"debris contained - area clear," as Tommy guided the small craft around the large warbird, directly toward the duct work vent. Using the same robotic arm, Tommy melted four contact points on the vent and removed it. He slid the craft inside the duct work and resealed the vent from the inside. "Beezle, Tommy, bastin' beezle!" Vinny cooed as the small craft eased its way down the duct work of level 4. They reached level 5 without incident.

Tommy maneuvered the robotic arm into position to melt the contact points on the vent to level 5. Just as he melted the final point, a blast erupted outside of the duct work. Tommy held the vent in place as he maintained the position of the craft. I don't think they're after us," he said to Vinny, "but I want to get a look at what's happening out there. You hold the craft steady and I'll keep the vent in position." Tommy managed to keep the vent right in position, while adjusting the camera on the arm to get a view of the area just beyond the vent. What they saw was incredible. Three ships, most likely free source fighters, were in an all out battle with the warbird they had steered around just moments earlier. By the looks of things, the warbird was losing. All of the ships were fighting in the central area where the passages converged, the very spot that Tommy had pointed out on the holographic model. The free source fighters encircled the warbird, firing a ceaseless and beautifully orchestrated series of phazer blasts and torpedo attacks. The warbird rolled a little to one side then launched a powerful blast from the center of its nose, striking one of the fighters and disintegrating it instantly. Vinny had one hand on the steering and one hand busily searching frequencies when they heard, "We lost Jeffers, keep up the pattern and stay away from the nose."'Vinny leaned over as close as he could to Tommy and whispered,"Sounds like Kowalski." Tommy nodded. Just then, a huge explosion rocked the area and the entire warbird disintegrated. "Oh yeah!", the cry went up from the free source fighters. Immediately, another explosion shook the place hard. One of the two remaining free source fighters just shattered to bits.

"Hello Kowalski," said a familiar voice.

"Z? Is that you?" Kowalski asked in disbelief and anger.

Chapter 8Quest for the OmegaLux Crystal cont.7

Tommy touched the comm panel, bringing up a holographic model of the inside of the OmegaLux complex.

"Oh, this just keeps getting better and better Tommy! I get the feeling that I'm going to find out that you really did die and that by some odd coincidence, I died with you and this is heaven. If it is, so be it, Praise Farb and Hallelujah! I am going to savor this moment in heaven and the first thing I will do in heaven is to find that damn crystal!. I will hold it in my hands, unleashing whatever amazing power it may hold. I will be all merciful and understanding because I am now in heaven. I have no enemies, no one to protect or be protected from. I will forgive all who have wronged me and you including that bastard Z, that bastin' little prick, Victor, even that little bitch Max. Then, my dear brother, I'm going to find momma. I will throw my arms around her, give her a big kiss and ask her if we can go bake some of those delicious "Momma's Crack Cookies", you remember those, doncha? Varst, of course you do, it wasn't that long ago - Tommy?!?"

Blue felt like shit that he wasn't really Vinny's brother but there wasn't a thing he could do about that. "It's been too long and I hate to say it, but this isn't heaven," Tommy said softly and regretfully, " but we are going to get that crystal." Vinny smiled with understanding as Tommy continued, "Look here," he said as he pointed out a large duct work system dead ahead of the little craft. "We'll follow that system right fast level four and drop in mid-way on level five," he continued as he pointed out the spot on the holographic diagram. "With any luck that message you broadcast to the the other free source fighters during the fight in the arena will draw in some help. At least enough to distract the omies, Z and the rest of Omnifab long enough for us to gain some ground. This is where we are headed," Tommy indicated on the model, "This looks like the place where nearly every passage converges. Nothing appears to be there. Either everything goes out from there, or comes in from there and I aim to find out which." Just as Tommy finished saying these words, a large warbird, nearly the size of Z's emerged from another shaft and hovered between the small craft and the vent they were headed for.

Chapter 8Quest for the OmegaLux Crystal cont.6

As Z celebrated, Vinny's entire craft shook, even in his position behind the pods with the sound of Tommy's exploding craft still ringing in his ears. The sound that went unnoticed was more of a "Pop" as his own fighter shook slightly as if it had been hit from above. Instinctively, Vinny looked upward toward the bump and there he saw Tommy with a finger to his lips. He acted out Vinny's next move, his right hand representing Vinny's fighter, his left the giant warbird. Tommy gave Vinny a communication headset just like the one he was wearing.

Suddenly Z's voice broke the silence,"I'm coming for you now Vinny," he teased.

"No, Z, I'm coming for you," Vinny responded as his ship cruised out from behind the pods, arching upwards in a tight barrel roll toward the megafighter, phazers blasting, This one's for Tom...," before Vinny could finish his dedication, his fighter was blasted from the air, quickly and decisively by Z's awesome warbird. The omie crowd burst into cheers of "Game Over, Game Over, Game Over". One of the omies on the warbird bridge turned to his captain, "Commander Z, won't the Levitos just tell their friends that you're a commander with OmegaLux now that you have eliminated them from the game?"

"Of course they will. However, that is of no significance. You see, I know all of the access codes as well as the usernames, passwords, Gear Point totals, frequencies even the favorite maneuvers of Vinny Levito's little group of free source fighters," Z bragged. "They'd have to start all over, and guys like that never do. i just wish i didn't have to blow up that little fighter that Tommy managed to slip into the game. That thing had some nice features, especially the gyro rings. I'll have a talk with the boys in development, they never should have let that one in, still they can probably grab the code, so all is not lost. I'm going to mount a few of those handy little projector devices on this baby before the next time we head out. But enough about that, all of you have earned a health 100 credit as well as a plus life 3 bonus from tonight's little festivities. I'd say it's time for a cold one."

From within the safety of their secret craft, Tommy and Vinny could still hear Z. He was so sure he had wasted the two of them that he never bothered to disengage from Tommy's frequency. Z's gloating was so nauseating to Tommy that he placed his fingers down his throat like he was going to vomit as he turned the communication system off ensuring that he and Vinny would no longer have to endure Z or the continued cries of "Game Over" from the omie crowd as they revelled in the kill. Tommy and Vinny drifted out of the arena in the small craft that Tommy had released earlier. His plan had worked. Z was so pleased with himself when he disintegrated the camera unit that he convinced himself that Tommy was without any means of diversion or deception. Z never even noticed the small craft which floated harmlessly by during the battle. It resembled the worker robots which drift regularly around the OmegaLux complex. On its side it had the words Keep it Clean, bookended by the Farb Sees logo. it was shaped like the love child of a New York City dumpster and a late 1960's model of a VW bus, but smaller. Though tiny, it sat two comfortably and more importantly, it flew extremely well. Completely loaded with four phazer banks, two rocket launchers and a Quar X module, it was every free source fighter pilot's dream. Particularly when you factor in the finest point of all. It was on it's way to level 4, completely undetected by anyone or anything in the complex.

This was the exact thought which crossed Vinny's mind as he beamed with pride,"Z just got himself T-Boned!"

Tommy grinned equally wide as he responded in a hushed but clearly excited voice, "and I would say that the game is FAR from OVER!"

Chapter 8Quest for the OmegaLux Crystal cont.5

The phazer blasts and torpedoes from Z's megafighter sailed harmlessly over Vinny's fighter, his dive was so extreme and unexpected that Z had no time to react. "Well I guess you really do miss me Z," he laughed.

Two phazer blasts from Tommy's fighter exploded the torpedoes still trying to find their way to Vinny's fighter. "Hello Z," Tommy said blithely.

"Ah, Tommy, I believe I owe you," Z replied. "I must admit, the two of you have been rather lucky but we all know that luck runs out for everyone eventually, and for you the time is now. I may as well dispose of you before I obliterate your sibling. Going to be hard watching your brother die twice in one day, isn't it Vinny?" Z tried cunningly to provoke a response from Vinny who had managed to slink his craft in behind a row of pods which, just as Tommy had predicted, were now full of omies.

"I wouldn't be worried about Vinny right now if I were you, Z. I have all of my phazers trained on you and your shields are probably down,"Tommy said as he unloaded upon the megafighter. With a wave of his hand in a very definite yet relaxed sweeping upward motion, Z cloaked his ship in its shields. The blasts rocked the ship ever so slightly and caused minimal damage.

"I have eliminated every fighter who has quested for the crystal. Some have made it this far but none have made it beyond." Z announced to Tommy and Vinny, but also to the hundreds upon hundreds of omies who had assembled in the pods to see yet another free-source fighter eliminated. For it was only the free source fighters who ever made it to face Z. Subscription fighters never even made it past the omies. "I must say, I was a little surprised by your performance at the asteroid belt and your little trick outside the complex, but your little camera is gone and I will not be fooled again. Z continued, "You have a very interesting fighter. I haven't seen that design before and I have seen them all. I have been a developer with Omnilab since before I met Vinny, working my way up from the fighters on border patrol to the X-treme Combat Workshop Crew to the OmegaForce Fighter Squad to this, my own, custom-designed, eminently powerful "Z-Bird"." A resounding cheer rose up from the pods. The omies were soiling themselves with excitement, drooling with anticipation, panting with technical lust and adoration for the one known only as Z. who still stood in the glow of the bridge lights, arms raised palms lifted upward, drawing the applause out of the very souls of the devotees.

"Now that you're done patting yourself on the back and all of your little omies have slathered you with their nauseating affection, I'd like to introduce you to what I call the blessed trinity,"Tommy chuckled,"it's only fitting since you seem to enjoy being the center of attention." Three concentric rings emanated from the front of his craft, widening on their way toward the warbird. The rings surrounded the megafighter and began rotating in a gyroscopic motion, increasing exponentially in speed, glowing with greater intensity as the warbird began to spin inside the center of the gyroscope. Z was thrown off balance but managed to make his way to his seat. The entire crew buckled in and attempted to to fight the motion with thrusters, stabilizers, everything they had. "All stop," Z commanded authoritatively. The crew disengaged all power and the Z-Bird continued to tumble over and over itself within the gyroscopic field created by the rings. A less robust ship would have been torn apart but the Z-Bird managed to hold together as the the motion of the rings slowed to a halt. The rings disappeared completely. As soon as they did, two torpedoes launched from Tommy's ship erupting into the body of the megafighter sending pieces of the giant warbird hurtling off in the direction of the pods.

"Damn you're annoying," Z shouted as he slung his chair up under the main com panel and began cranking on joysticks, flicking levers, pressing buttons and rolling trackballs with the dexterity of a master. In an instant, his ship righted itself and swung toward Tommy's fighter. "Game OVER Levito, Goodbye," Z snarled. A brilliant, wide horizontal beam of white light shot from the front of the warbird. It blasted Tommy's craft with such intensity that his fighter completely exploded, disintegrating into a shower of sparks. Z howled,"I love this job!"

Chapter 8Quest for the OmegaLux Crystal cont.4

Vinny flew off, down shaft 07C. He sped past shaft 07B as well as an illuminated doorway inside of which he caught a glimpse of hundreds of omies. They looked like kids on their way to a rock concert. At least as much as a bunch of omies CAN look like kids on their way to a rock concert. The difference between this group, and that comprised of kids going to a rock concert is that there were hardly any girls and instead of excitedly pushing and trampling one another to get to the show they just sort of annoyingly budged their way forward while self-conciously checking to see if they were coming off as remotely passionate or, Farb forbid, emotional. Vinny hardly had time to process that thought before he saw it.

Shaft 07A was substantially larger than shaft 07B and Z's warbird fillied it neatly. Vinny hovered in front of then shot past the shaft. He quickly slowed his craft and turned a quick 180 back to shaft 07A to taunt Z further. He didn't have to work at it. Z was already thinking "KILL". He had brought the megafighter up fast already closing in to within a quarter mile of Vinny who had just returned to the junction of shaft 07C and 07A. Instantly, he was fired upon. Fortunately, Vinny's fight or flight instinct was gravitating more toward flight causing him to hit his thrusters as soon as he saw the warbird. The monstrous fighter had to slow momentarily to make the turn from shaft 07A to 07C. This gave Vinny enough of a start to widen the distance between his fighter and Z's ship, but not for very long. The massive craft quickly closed in on Vinny. "They're right on my ass," Vinny shouted, his urgency drilling into Tommy's headset.

"Keep coming Vinny, and don't forget to drop down to where I told you to. Now quickly switch your frequency back to what we had before. I want Z to here us." Tommy instructed.

"What?!'' Vinny replied with shock.

"Just do it!" Tommy snapped.

Vinny reset the frequency then yelled,"He's going to blast me, Tommy!"

"Oh good, there you are boys," Z smarmed his way into the conversation, "I was afraid I wouldn't get a chance to say good-bye."

Wouldn't have bothered my any," Vinny quipped.

"Oh Vincent, I will miss you, good-bye, " Z taunted as he fired off all phazers and torpedos.

At the same moment, Vinny piloted his craft into a full dive. He had reached the end of the shaft at the precise moment he needed to in order to survive.

Chapter 8Quest for the OmegaLux Crystal cont.3

The warbird was fast, so Tommy and Vinny quickly reigned in the laughter. "We've got to get rid of Z, Vinny," Tommy said.

"I don't have anything that can do that, Tommy," Vinny admitted.

"Oh, I do," Tommy quickly replied,"but we can't let him know it's coming," he added. "He'll be wise to decoys so we have to lure him in and force him into our trap. He'll try to outsmart us and that will be his undoing. But we can't stop to fight him now. We need to keep going as fast as we can. Follow me," Tommy said as he engaged his thrusters and flew straight up smashing through the top of the shaft narrowly averting total self-destruction by clearing the way with a rapid-fire burst of phazer blasts, as if emanating from a Gatling gun, followed by a well timed torpedo. He neatly maneuvered his fighter through the hole into what appeared to be a giant arena. "Unbelievable!", he said,"this is exactly what we need. It's just too soon. Well, sort of. He released a small craft from the front of his fighter. It hovered in the middle of the arena then disappeared toward the stands.

The stands were actually pods. The pods encircled the stage which was actually the empty space between the pods. Tommy looked around. All of the pods were empty. "My gut tells me that these pods are going to start filling up very quickly and that we are going to be the main event!"

"I'm not sure I like that idea," Vinny responded.

"No Vinny, that's good, we WANT to be the main event," Tommy quickly reassured him. "By now, Z has discovered our little detour. Take a look at the diagram he traded to you," he urged.

"Okay, I'm looking," Vinny responded

"Z should be on his way here, coming up through Sector G, Shaft 07A. It's the only one that looks big enough for that megafighter. I need to check something out," Tommy continued,"so I need you to lure Z up here. Follow shaft 07C. It leads to Level 4. On the way, you'll pass shaft07A. Make sure that Z sees you. Pass his position and then double back like you are afraid to continue. Try to draw his fire but stay back. Try to make him think "KILL" Make him follow you.

Vinny laughed, "Z is always thinking kill."

"Ha, right, well that's good," Tommy agreed,"now when you reach the arena, I'll be waiting, but I want you to drop straight down and out of sight, behind the pods, right down there." Tommy focused a laser beam from the front of his craft several rows below their position.

"Tommy, where the Varst did you get that awesome laser beam thing? Vinny exclaimed.

"Never mind, just be there. Now go get that asshole Z!" Tommy ordered.

"OOH! T-bone's a' sizzlin', you got it little bro," Vinny laughed, turning his fighter, singing,"gonna get you..get you sucka," Blue had never heard the song before, but he liked it.

Chapter 8Quest for the OmegaLux Crystal cont.2

Inside the mammoth battleship a single light source illuminated what seemed to be a bridge or large cockpit of some kind. Although the light was dim, a single, recognizable figure was framed within its glow.

"Z", Vinny whispered in dismay, "damn, the single best free source fighter pilot in the system is an omie, even worse a suit jockey? That Bastin' Pudsucker set me up, set US up, Varst! Beyond that, he knows our codes as well as nearly all of the F-source jocks from the J-Quarter. He knows that none of us are registered and is totally capable of identifying us and shutting us down. Actually," Vinny takes a deep breath, "this is our only chance. He can't shut us down from within the game, but he sure as shit isn't going to let us log in again. We've got to get that crystal tonight. I damn near flew right into him. Tommy, how did you know?" Vinny asked incredulously.

"I didn't," Tommy replied, "it was just a hunch. And since most of my hunches seem to be coming true, we'd better get moving soon. Z knows that I've got a decoy cloak, he'll spot us in no time. Let's see if we can fool him one more time. Get ready to make a break for access point 07. I'm pretty sure that they expected to waste us by now so Z probably doesn't have any back-up in that shaft."

With that, Tommy sent the projection droid off in the direction of the megafighter where it projected exact copies of Tommy and Vinny's crafts spaced perfectly on either side of the megafighter. the decoys taunted Z as the droid sent out a decoy message from Vinny, "Hello Z". In less than a second the megafighter opened up on the tiny ships with all of her firepower, phasers, droid mines, torpedoes even pulse arrays upon the tiny ships. There should have been a perfectly splendid pair of explosions. Instead there was a rather meaningless scattering of firepower as the artillery passed right through the decoys. A frustrated and robust eruption of outrage hung pointlessly in the dispassionate void of space. "Reverse all Full and pursue", Z bellowed as a handful of omies scrambled to turn the large warbird around.

By that time, Tommy and Vinny were rocketing down the shaft toward level three at breakneck speed, laughing. "Man-o-man, Tommy, that was perfect," Vinny roared,"From now on, you lead! I am officially naming you my sensei whether you want to be or not. Y'know, I always just sort of tolerated Z, now I can officially hate his guts, full-on!"

"Do not hate, my brother, rather look with pity on he who is last in the alphabet," Tommy replied, barely maintaining his composure, then bursting out uncontrollably with laughter.

Chapter 8Quest for the OmegaLux Crystal cont.

An orchestra of searchlights cut through space in all directions radiating from a multitude of axes surrounding OmegaLux. Countless fighters swarmed the perimeter of the complex. "I've just cloaked both of us and fed you  a diagram of our approach. I've only mapped as far as access point 07. that's how Z got in. He traded me this approach plan for five Gear Points and a pint of McMahon's Stout. The points I can do without but right now I wish I had the stout." Vinny lamented as he surveyed the situation. "Just look at all of those "omies"! What could possess anyone to be so into a game that they would actually take a real oath to protect something that exists only in the game, if it even exists!? I mean, for all we know, the developers at Omnifab could just be jackin' everyone around, saying there's a crystal when there isn't one, just hyping the game. I mean Z only made it to level five and that Cromwell character on FighterChat claims he made it to level eight but that could just be bullshit, or worse - dude could be just a plant, some OmegaLux crony, an omie, just spouting off, making us all think that the crystal's real and that finding it is going to make any difference whatsoever. Like finding it is going to give you the ability to see Farb. Varst! With all the bastin' hype about it, whoever did find it might as well BE Farb. Damn it Tommy, don't you have anything to say about this?!"

"Actually Vinny, I've got a really good feeling about this. Like I said, I have no idea why anything is going down like it is, but I think we're going to get that bastin' crystal. Besides, I doubt we can sit out here cloaked all night, so let's at least kick a little omie ass just for fun." Blue was really feeling something powerful coming over him, as if the game itself was some sort of a conduit, helping him to merge with the life of Tommy, energizing and integrating his being into this new world.

"That's true T-bone talkin' there my bro, let's hit it, access point 07 ASAP and spare no omies on our way!" Vinny cooed as he dropped the cloak and engaged his thrusters.  Vinny and Tommy unleashed a hailstorm of short bursts peppered with a smattering of droid mines that carved a tunnel a half-mile wide through the swarm of omies. It was easy enough to navigate their way through said tunnel and to their delight the tunnel became self-widening. It seems that if you kill an outrageous number of omies in a very short period of time the rest of them become incredibly nervous. Omies, after all, have health and life levels like any other player in OmegaWars. Tommy and Vinny surrounded an unfortunate straggler and together brought his health and life levels down to a combined total of zero. Both men quickly realized that this meant that the path between their ships and access point 07 was now utterly clear.

"Let's go!" Vinny hooted and motioned toward the access point with a jolt of his head but Tommy pulled the nose of his fighter up and backed away in the opposite direction. "What in Farb's name are you doing?" Vinny screeched, his face squinched up like someone had just force fed him a mouthful of sour gummy worms.

"Hang on", Tommy quietly replied, So quietly that Vinny got the sense that there must be some trouble but there was no sign of it. Vinny reluctantly backed up in the direction of Tommy, his eyes still glued to access point 07, yearning to hit his thrusters, aching to fly his fighter into the apparently vacant shaft leading directly into the heart of the OmegaLux complex. "Look around." Vinny heard Tommy whisper.

Nothing, not a single omie where moments before there was a swarm.

"Follow me," Tommy said as he barrel rolled his fighter directly toward a rocky projection a quarter-mile off the access point. Vinny fell in behind whispering in return, "This is weird". Tommy snugged his craft up against the rocky wall and Vinny followed suit. Instantly, Tommy's projection arm deployed and floated out, like debris. It projected an exact duplicate of the rocky surface over the two fighters, masking them from view. "Why are..."Vinny started, stopping with his jaw dangling in disbelief as a mercilessly black mega fighter emerged from the very access point he was so eager to enter seconds earlier.

Chapter 8 Z gone; on to the Quest for the OmegaLux Crystal

The silence hung in the air, or lack of air, void of space for some time. Vinny was worried that Tommy was assessing his status, weighing the option to pursue the crystal when in actuality, Blue had no clue what it was. He supposed that it had to be a big deal and that Tommy would normally have a reaction to Vinny's proposition but he wasn't sure what to say, or what not to say, so he said nothing. Vinny had a headful of counterpoints to arguments that just plain didn't happen. Both men hovered in nearly empty space, in absolute silence a few seconds longer until Vinny said,"Tommy? You alright?"

nothing.

"Tommy?"

Blue figured he'd better say something so his mouth started moving even though his brain was having a heck of a time trying to formulate relevant sentences, so it sounded a little like,"umm, ah, w-w, ah uh I, yeah, well, no, I mean, shit Vinny, I don't have any idea if I'm alright! I don't know how I survived tonight, how I got here, how I ended up in this awesome fighter, why I can fly this damn thing like I was born in it or if I even have a chance in this world or any other of getting that Bastin' crystal. BUT, Farb or no Farb, I plan to find out, because I feel lucky. So, just point me in the right direction, tell me what to do and I will go along with the plan, okay?"

"Okay?"Vinny cackled,"Okay? Bastin' Farbunkle, Okay? Varst yeah it's Okay! I've been trying to get you to go after that damn crystal for as long as I can remember and you're always like,"I'm not riskin' the few Gear Points I've got, goin' after some myth!" So, how in Farb's name could I NOT be okay with you tellin' me that you actually WANT to go, AND that you're feeling lucky!?...YOU, Tommy"I don't believe in luck" Levito. Especially on a night where you return from the dead then hand the best pilot in the system his own ASS on a PLATTER!? Damn it Tommy, we gotta quit talkin' and get over to OmegaLux before we both wake up and find out that none of this actually happened. Follow me." Vinny said as he swung his craft around one hundred and eighty degrees and hit his thrusters hard.

He shot off quickly but Tommy was over his right wing before he could say,"Just stick with m..."

"I'm right here", Tommy said as he pulled alongside.

"Remember, Z lost it on level five, so we should be able to make it through level three without too much difficulty, maybe even four, if your luck holds out. I'll take the lead unless it begins to look like I'm holdin' you back," Vinny instructed.

"Got it" Tommy said, feeling so excited that he just wanted to let Vinny know how incredibly awesome the night had been so far. He knew he couldn't so he just relaxed into his cockpit a little more and smiled to himself, at peace, moving faster than he had ever imagined possible, on a world far from home in a virtual space more real than anything he had ever felt before.

Vinny gave the order to disengage thrusters and both ships slowed to a drift. Looming in front of them was OmegaLux, half asteroid - half space station. It begged you to approach while shouting "I WILL EAT YOU ALIVE."

Chapter 8 Z gone, what's next?

"Now you know that Z is gonna try to jump back into our run here, but since you terminated him, we can block him out,"Vinny explained,"unless you want to let him back in so you can kick his ass all over again?"

"No, Vinny, let's block the bastard out and do whatever you want to do. What have you got in mind?" Tommy asked, hoping they could just fly on and blast something. He was still nervous about  saying something that would give away the fact that he wasn't Tommy after all.

"I'm pretty sure you know what I've got in mind, Tommy,"Vinny laughed.

Blue wasn't sure how to handle the situation. The way he saw it, he could play it two ways... Option 1 would go something like:"Well Vinny, I'm just not my normal self today and you're going to have to give me a little more to go on." or Option 2... "Oh, varst yeah Vinny, I'm feelin' lucky, you got a plan?" Blue proceeded with option 2.

"Well, as a matter of fact I do, little bro,"Vinny explained."First, enter Violet 17 into your frequency field for the comline. I don't want to hear from Z while we're trying this at al. Even though you fleeced him, he can still jump on the audio feed. It won't do him a damn bit of good if he can't find us and I just baked the scramble for Violet 17 two days ago.

"Agreed," said Tommy as he changed the signal.



Instantly, the conversation continued,"Now don't freak out, but we're going after the OmegaLux Crystal" Vinny said cautiously, waiting for the outburst from Tommy.

Silence.

Chapter 8 Z not EZ continued Too

"You must be slippin' Z," Vinny teased,"Tommy's frequency was pretty easy to detect, only took me a second or two."

"We'll see who's slipping, Vinny, as soon as you and your baby brother come out from under mama's apron to play with the big boys," Z chided as he and his team, Stew and Stan, who were laughing like hyenas, staked out positions on the other side of the asteroid. Vinny directed Tommy to the right with his eyes, then swung his ship around to the left side of the asteroid. Stew was so busy wiping the tears of laughter from his eyes that he missed a perfect opportunity to blast Vinny who emerged from behind the asteroid, directly in front of him. Both pilots unloaded their weapons at the same time but Vinny was quicker on his shields leaving a stunned and slightly disabled Stew with tears of a different nature. Vinny quickly turned his attention to Z who was slightly above him and to his right. Knowing he couldn't get his guns trained in on Z in time, Vinny put full power to his shields just in time to survive a phazer blast that rocked his ship enough to leave him prey to Stan who was hovering just in front of him, so close that Vinny could see him grinning,"See ya later V...," Stan's taunting was cut short by sudden death as his ship was cut in two from below by Tommy's advancing fighter. Z unloaded zenon rays from guns positioned on both wings that would have sliced directly through Tommy's wings if he hadn't rolled between the beams just in time. Z still had position on Vinny, but Vinny was trained in on Stew who was mostly disabled but still a minor threat. Vinny could take him out, but he'd be demolished by Z if he diverted too much power away from his shields. He thought about Tommy's comment behind the asteroid and took a chance,"now", Vinny calmly said as he unloaded upon Stew, blasting him to pieces.

"Now it's your turn," Z said as he blasted Vinny's ship in half, "like I said, it's all about the pilot!" He laughed with confidence as he turned his ship up to find Tommy hovering just above him.

"Sometimes it's both," Tommy said as a projection device robotically retracted itself back into his ship. Z turned a disbelieving eye to his right as Vinny's ship cruised into view. Both Tommy and Vinny unloaded everything they had into Z who had activated his shields a bit too late.

His ship rocked then exploded as a barely audible yet deeply meaningful "whoa" escaped his lips.

Tommy turned to Vinny and said, "that felt good."

"Damn Tommy," Vinny hooted,"you must've met up with Farb the Almighty himself, drank from the Cup of the Sacred Seven and been imbued with the gift by the Council, all at once! I just can't explain it any other way! You're back from the dead, dining with your mortal enemy and trouncing Z all in one night. Before I wake up and discover that I'm dreaming all of this shit, there's one more thing we have GOT to do.

Chapter 8 Z not EZ continued

As they finally cleared the asteroid belt, Tommy calmly said."Hey Vinny, it appears as though that ass we're supposed to kick just showed up." Vinny quickly signalled Tommy back into the belt.

"I can't believe that Z jumped in early," Vinny said," must be desperate for more Gear Points, trying to surprise us just out of the belt. If we had been any slower his plan would have worked," he continued as he tucked in behind the largest asteroid at the end of the belt.

"A desperate foe is only half the challenge," Tommy replied.

Vinny burst out laughing,"Tommy!?! Did you really just call Z half a challenge, this is priceless. A whole different fighter, complete with funky helmet and dinosaur-style joystick action, flying skill like I've never witnessed before - and  now you dismiss Z, the highest ranked pilot in the system, as half a challenge. If I wasn't worried you'd dump your whole status, I'd send you out there alone, you cocky son of my mother!"

Blue wasn't too sure just how good Tommy was supposed to be, so he assumed it would be best to let Vinny lead. Still, he wasn't about to miss out on this chance to fly, fight and win in a ship that he designed in a game that kicked ass on anything he had ever played. If the opportunity presented itself, he was going blast Z and the other two fighters he brought with him out of space, straight to "Game Over". "I hear ya, Vinny - I got your back - but if I get the chance, I'll assume you wouldn't mind if I make Z wait a little longer for those points would ya?"

Vinny chuckled, "stop Bastin' with me bro, Varst NO! We want to keep that bastard Z from getting ANY more points than he already has. Farb knows he's got enough to spare."

"Hello Boys!" A new voice invaded Blue's head. "Took me awhile to figure out your new frequency, Tommy. I just think it's my job to let you know, it's not the fighter that wins the battle, it's the pilot. But judging by that heap you're flying, I don't think I have to worry about either."

Chapter 8 Z not EZ

Vinny shot off so quickly that Blue wasn't sure he'd be able to catch up, and how do you find a guy in the middle of space. Blue intuitively leaned into the gentle banking of his craft as he pivoted seventy-five degrees to the right, punching the thrusters without even glancing at his console. In less than a heartbeat, Blue was deftly maneuvering his craft into position over Vinny's right wing. Together, they bobbed and weaved their way through an asteroid belt, strewn with the wreckage of less fortunate travellers.

"Freshies, " laughed Vinny as he expertly dodged a chunk of fighter by slinking to the left. As he did so, he realized that the chunk was sure to nail Tommy head-on. He spun his head around so quickly that it felt as though it might snap right off. However, he had no time to think about that right now. His mind was far too busy trying to muster up the resources to comprehend the images his eyes were feeding his brain. Indeed,the chunk was slamming into the nose of Tommy's craft with untold force and speed. However, instead of exploding, caving in or otherwise smashing to bits. Tommy's craft seemed to roll effortlessly over the debris. Seemingly effortless movements rarely are but often look so when performed by a practiced, well-disciplined individual. In this case though, practice and discipline were in short supply. Fortunately, Blue was flying with a boatload, rather a shipload, of intuition. As the creator of this fighter, he knew everything it was capable of. Recognizing that there was no way out of the collision, he acted quickly and instinctively to maneuver the craft in such a way as to allow the collision yet soften it's effect. Blue engaged the fore and aft thrusters simultaneously, directing the angle of their bursts, while pivoting the wing section, catapulting the fighter ass over elbow as Frank used to say. Then, just as quickly, Blue reversed the maneuver, righting the fighter just in time to rotate forty-five degrees to the right to avoid a smaller yet equally inconvenient chunk of "Freshie" fighter, which luckily for Vinny, had a second earlier, only narrowly grazed the surface of his fighters right wing. With ice cold delivery, masking his racing heartbeat, Blue said,"Yeah, it's as though they' ve never seen as asteroid belt before."

A single, deeply meaningful word escaped Vinny's lips, "whoa!"

Chapter 8 Z continued

Blue was far too excited by the thrill of being inside his own creation to even consider who Z might be or what he and Vinny were about to be up against. He wanted to see what his baby could do. "Vinny," he called through his headset, "hang on for a second, I gotta try something." Blue grabbed the joystick in front of him and eased it back slightly. The nose of the craft rose up up slightly, noiselessly, effortlessly and exactly how he had envisioned it would. As Blue maneuvered, he realized that his ship, although cool in his mind, futuristic even, seemed a bit old school compared to Vinny's which was sleeker and , frankly, cooler. Still, Blue was in his element. Blue could see very clearly what his fighter was capable of and that, he figured, would be good enough for any space battle. Regardless, he wanted to give it a little test. Instantly, he slammed the stick forward and to the right, breaking into an incredible dive, breaking the speed of sound in what seemed like a second at the very most. He didn't feel a thing. The craft cradled him completely, making his every move effortless, responding to his slightest touch. Suddenly, he ripped the stick straight back, burying his left foot into the floor, just like popping the clutch on his '65 Mustang convertible. Except that the Mustang couldn't instantly reverse it's direction without losing speed. The fighter did just that. All without sending Blue's balls up into his throat. Without the slightest difficulty, Blue stopped the fighter in exactly the same spot from where he had begun and hovered there grinning.

"What in Farb's name? - How in the Bastin' Farbunkle? - Tommy, that was bastin' amazing!" Vinny shouted, causing Blue's ears to ring, but it was cool, in fact, nothing could be cooler, thought Blue.

"Thank you God-Farb or whoever the Fuck-Bast you are!" Blue silently prayed for the first time in twenty-some years. As he let out a barely audible but deeply meaningful, "whoa".

"Farb-Damn-it Tommy!, let's go kick some ass!" Vinny laughed as he turned his craft and raced off through the stars.

Chapter 8 Vinny and Tommy against Z and the Boys

As if on cue, Blue felt himself falling into a seat which seemed to sweep him off his feet, up into the eternal blackness. The seat transformed to fit his body, just like the one on the VinnCycle. The moment he began to feel comfortable, a console appeared in front of him. As he became aware of it, the console became more complete. In fact, it became familiar. He had drawn something like this before when he had been contracted to do some work on a film. It was Sci-Fi, a Star Wars type deal, with all of the major special effects being produced by Industrial Light Magic. For some stupid reason, the production company thought that ILM was going to actually create the spaceships, weapons and fancy gadgets for twelve million dollars, only to find out that the twelve million was really only going to cover what it would take to make all of those things look like they were actually doing something. By the time this memory told itself to Tommy's brain, Blue began to notice stars all around him. He looked out to see that he was in a ship of his own creation. It was mind blowing. Something he had drawn for a movie was here, in some sort of thoroughly realistic holographic game in his house, within a parallel universe. Suddenly, he was hit. The stars around him bouncing and twirling everywhere as if he and his ship were inside of a giant snow globe being shaken up by a very naughty little giant. The ship quickly righted itself and Blue felt as though he was perfectly stationary. The stars lay still around him. Just off to his left, in his peripheral vision, blue could see movement. Something rising into view, quickly yet silently.

It was Vinny, in a one man spacecraft, a fighter of some kind, unlike anything Blue had ever seen in any movie or game. Blue could see right in to Vinny who was laughing his ass off. Vinny motioned to his mouth from inside of his cockpit, signalling to Tommy that he wanted to talk. Instinctively, Blue reached up to find that he was wearing a helmet. His fingers glided upward along it's surface until he felt a small button just above his ear. He pressed it, releasing a small earphone/microphone combination unit which lowered automatically into place. Still laughing, Vinny asked, "What in Farb's name is that?"

"Something I dreamed up awhile ago," Blue countered, "keeps me focused!"

"Great, you're going to need it, little bro, I've plugged us in for the Gamma Run. "Z" and the boys are going to be jumping in. My guess is somewhere near Omegalux," Vinny continued", so I'm going to need some serious back-up on this, it's T-Bone Time!"

Blue had no idea what to expect but he didn't care. He was floating in the middle of outer space, in a ship that he designed and it was real, or virtually real. Plus, he was about as high as he could ever remember being.

"Vinny", Blue called out through his headset,"hang on a second, I gotta try something."

Chapter 8 Vinny wants to Play -Tommy goes along

"Yes," exclaimed Vinny as he quickly disappeared behind a pillar. Blue wasn't sure whether he was supposed to follow Vinny or not but he didn't want to appear timid in the eyes of his brand new big brother. So he followed Vinny around the pillar. What he saw there was beyond his comprehension.

Imagine total blackness.

Now, imagine total blackness again because whatever blackness you just imagined is not as black as the blackness that Blue was now looking at. Blue let his jaw drop open because the only thing that wasn't black was really busy doing something else and would never notice that Tommy was behaving as if he had never seen this room before, even though it was in his own house, because Tommy was Blue, who was now closing his jaw because Vinny, the unblack, was approaching, beaming, "you gotta hit this shit before we start!"

Tommy, of course, had to hit that shit but Blue was pretty damn sure, by the look on Vinny's face that the shit in question was going to mess with his mind at least as much as the jumpjuice did and probably more. "You go first, Vinny, it's your shit man!" he managed as he tried to focus on anything at all in the room around him. There was absolutely nothing, other than the entryway through which they had come. Blue eyed it longingly.

"My shit?!, Funny Tommy, but varst, you don't have to ask me twice," Vinny laughed as he sparked up a bowl. "kmphff - kmphff- kmphff.. Phaaaaahh", he breathed as he handed Tommy a gorgeous little glass pipe, crystallized little buds still slightly glowing, while milky white smoke swirled its way around a small chamber, midway through the pipe, "you finish 'er off".

Blue hadn't smoked pot in about ten years, mostly because he had been holding down a corporate design gig, working for a guy who made it his business to know everything he could about his employees' personal lives in case he ever had to come up with a reason to fire them. Blue had pretty much said his farewells to his job the moment he and Leer boarded the star cruiser in what used to be his living room. But the boss wasn't the reason he hadn't "hit this shit" yet. He remembered how pot made him feel... he loved to smoke pot. He loved it so much that he had decided that he couldn't smoke it anymore. He knew that didn't make much sense, nor did he have the time to explain it. Add to that the fact that Vinny would be about the last person Blue would care to explain it to and... the crystalline particles crackled with blue flame as the tiny purple hairs were engulfed with the glow as Tommy inhaled, filling the chamber with even more swirling white smoke until he deftly released his index finger from the carburetor, allowing the pipe to release, filling his lungs with smoke from its cache. The room fell into complete darkness as the fire extinguished. Blue's host body was a seasoned veteran of this ritual and Tommy held the vaporous prize in his lungs long enough for Vinny's hand to materialize from the infinite blackness, landing upon Tommy's shoulder to squeeze him affectionately as Vinny whispered softly into his ear, " there ain't a soul alive who can make love to the crystal princess like T-bone..."But now, little brother, " it's time to die!"

Chapter 8 Vinny wants to Play

It took Blue all of about two seconds to realize that he had just dodged a major bullet on the God thing. Shaking off the ride, he turned his attention to the house to which Vinny had just seemingly time-warped him. It took half of two seconds to re-evaluate his position on "crime don't pay". Partially regaining his balance, he slowly slumped his way toward the front door.

"Bastin' farbunkle, Tommy!," Vinny laughed,"you really are messed up. You never use your front door. If I didn't know better, I'd say you aren't Tommy Levito!"

Blue laughs an exhausted sort of chuckle,"Look Vinny, I can't remember half the things I should, damn near didn't recognize you, had trouble figuring out what went down with Alonso and company, so do me a favor, help me get back in the swing of things. I just feel way too..  different, ya' know?"

Tommy looked at Vinny. The two men stood just outside a side door that Vinny had meandered over to while Tommy was explaining his dilemma.The next thing Blue knew, Vinny had him by the back of the neck. Suddenly, Vinny held Tommy's face about six inches from a narrow mirror on the door. "Welcome home, Tommy," said the door, as it slid open.

"I guess your house knows it's you, eh Bro?" Vinny smiled and breathed a heavy, satisfied sigh, "Ah the T-bone shack - I love hangin' out at your place, man. Hey, I know you're tired but we gotta hit at least one round, whaddya' say?"

Blue had no idea what Vinny meant, however, he figured it couldn't be worse than what he had experienced over the most recent twenty four hours of his and Tommy's combined life, so he said "sure".