Everlasting Chapter 2
Spoony had not always been the best person. He had done things in his life that he wasn’t proud of. He had a history of angry outbursts and violent behavior. Once, what Insano had done would not have bothered him. Hell, Spoony had done similar things to several of his colleagues in the past. But that was before he had fallen in love with Linkara, before Linkara had shown him how to be good, how to be gentle, how to love. Linkara had always been good, had always loved Spoony for whatever stupid reason, and he had brought out something good in him, had trusted him enough to believe he could be better.
But Spoony had not changed completely. He was a better man, but he still wasn’t perfect. He could still be angry. He was still prone to violence.
Especially when someone hurt Linkara.
That was why Spoony waited until Insano was conscious. Stood and stared for several minutes while the scientist recovered. Because he wanted Insano to know what happened to people who hurt Linkara.
Wanted him to feel every ounce of pain that Spoony was about to deliver.
And as soon as Insano was fully alert and looking Spoony in the eye, it began. Simply at first, more kicks and punches that would bruise and bleed. He didn’t bother to unchain Insano from the desk, just hit him where he lay. Insano didn’t protest, didn’t flinch, made no sound as Spoony beat him. It was as good as an admission of guilt as far as Spoony was concerned and it only served to anger him further. He was determined to punish Insano, to make him feel all the pain Spoony had seen in Linkara’s eyes.
There was no doubt in either of their minds that Spoony would kill his clone. Slowly, painfully, with his bare hands if necessary.
This went on for several minutes. Spoony knew that Insano would black out again soon, but once he had started, he couldn’t stop.
Until he heard an all-too-familiar voice from the top of the stairs. “What the hell?”
Spoony looked up to see the spirals and lab coat that he knew all too well.
***
Linkara stared at the wall, not really seeing it, not daring to sleep. Every inch of his body still ached and every time he closed his eyes, Spoony’s face swam in front of him. He still lay on his side, his arms curled around his chest. He hadn’t moved since Spoony had left, not even to take off his glasses.
He had heard Spoony talking, explaining what had happened, and had listened to the soft murmurs of his crew as they discussed what to do next. At least, he assumed that was what they were saying. The words were distant and indistinct, much to his relief.
After a long time, hours at least, the door opened and Harvey’s careful, gentle voice called, “Kid?”
Linkara didn’t move. Nothing anyone said would make any difference.
“We were getting dinner. Do you want anything?”
Linkara shook his head. Food held no appeal for him; the disgust of what had been done to him ran too deep.
“Can I do anything?”
Linkara shook his head again. What could anyone do? It was over, it had happened, and Linkara had been unable to prevent it.
Harvey stood in the doorway for a moment before closing the door and going back to the kitchen.
Linkara continued to stare at the wall. If only the eyes he saw when he closed his own weren’t so filled with hate…
***
The ragtag crew of Comicron-One sat at the kitchen table, not saying much. Of all the battles they had fought, all the hardships they had faced, this had to be the worst. This time, there was nothing they could do, no enemy they could fight, no one to lead them. They had never prepared for anything like this. None of them knew what to do for Linkara. For the crew, the helplessness was new and unwelcome.
All, that is, except for Harvey.
Harvey Finevoice had seen a lot of things in his life and he knew quite a lot about the horrors that were inflicted on people every day. He had seen it before, the wide, terrified eyes, the silent, fearful cringing, the bruised cheeks, the ravaged neck. He had known what had happened even before Spoony had explained everything.
That was why Harvey stood at the head of the table, laying down the ground rules for the time being.
“First off, no one bothers the kid. If we need to tell him anything, I’ll talk to him, but he’s extremely vulnerable right now and will need space.
“Second, I want a full-scale investigation launched to find out how a two-bit scientist managed to get in here and snatch the kid right out from under our noses. There was no intruder alert any time in the last twelve hours. I want Nimue questioned and all surveillance scanned. I wanna know.
“Third, I want security tightened.”
“How?” Dr. Linksano asked. “We already have the best security system in Minnesota.”
“It’s clearly not good enough,” Harvey snapped. “I want the doors locked twenty-four-seven, however you can do it. Windows shut and locked at all times. Teleportation locked from all signals except the ship. Get surveillance cameras in every room, not just the shared ones, every room, and those little robot rats patrolling the hallways. I want a sentry with the kid at all times, outside his door with a weapon. And if Dr. Insano so much as sticks his nose in the door of the building, I want him shot on sight. Any questions?”
There was a moment of silence.
“Then let’s get to it. Junior, go look over the surveillance footage and tell me if you find anything suspicious. Doc, get the new security up as fast as you can, however you can manage it. Blue, go talk to Nimue and find out how the hell she missed an intruder, especially that bastard. I’ll look after the kid. The rest of you can go back to your duties unless Linksano needs assistance.”
The meeting broke up, Harvey’s orders being promptly carried out. Harvey took his place by Linkara’s door, fingering his pistol, wishing that he could do more than simply bark orders and guard a door. Wishing he could do something that would actually help.
***
Insano-the one who had returned an hour before-came up the stairs into the kitchen, shaking his head. Spoony was waiting, his hands wrapped around a cup of decaf coffee, looking more lost and angry than ever.
“Explain,” Spoony said the moment Insano appeared.
“I wish I could,” Insano sighed. “But whatever it is, it’s not talking.”
“You don’t even know what the fuck it is?” Spoony snapped.
“No. That will take several extensive tests and possibly some violent torture, which I’m sure you will enjoy considering how determined you are to kill it. But since I don’t actually know what it is or why you’re trying to kill it, I think you had better do the explaining right now.”
Spoony stared at Insano for a minute. Linkara’s crew was one thing-they needed to know what had happened so they could take care of him and protect him-but Insano was an outsider, an enemy, someone who didn’t need to know the details of Linkara’s personal life. Then again, it was Insano’s form that had committed the crime, Insano who would be moved back to the vaulted position of “worst enemy” on Comicron-One, Insano who would be hunted down as soon as the crew was done taking care of Linkara. So Spoony explained, giving the same concise summary that he had given to the crew.
When Spoony was finished, Insano was quiet for a long time, looking thoughtful. He began to pace, muttering under his breath, hands twitching incessantly, and finally turned back to Spoony. “We need to upgrade our weapons.”
Spoony blinked. “What?”
“Our weapons. We’re going to need them upgraded.”
Spoony stared at him for several seconds. “Okay… how the hell is that going to help Linkara?”
“Who said anything about helping Linkara? I’m worrying about us.”
“Us? Linkara’s the one in trouble!”
“Linkara is fine. Or will he be after some therapy. We need to take care of ourselves.”
“He was raped!” Spoony shouted. “Tied down, beaten, and fucking raped, and you’re saying that he’ll be fine? My boyfriend is hurt and it’s my fault and you’re saying we should worry about ourselves?”
“It’s not your fault and Linkara’s not in any danger. If Linkara was who it was after, he would already be dead. Right now, he’s completely safe.”
“How do you know that?”
Insano looked at Spoony in that way he had, the way that let Spoony know he was being a complete idiot. “Really, Spoony. We’re clones. We came from the same genetic material. There must be some semblance of my brain in there, so use it! Pretend you have the capacity to be evil. Got that?”
“What do you mean, the capacity to be evil?” Spoony snapped. “I don’t recall any point where I haven’t been unable to be evil when necessary.”
“Precisely. When necessary. You’ve always been neutral, but that’s not important now. Pretend that you’re really evil and you have a specific target. Now say that your target is Linkara. Would kidnapping and raping him really be your first plan of action?”
“No,” Spoony answered, puzzled.
“Of course not. Everything that happened was mishandled, to put it mildly. I mean, think about it. Somehow, this thing broke into the most heavily guarded apartment in Minneapolis, eluded the gaze of half a dozen crew members, including a robot, a ninja, and the most advanced A.I. unit on earth, and incapacitated the Champion of the universe without getting fried by his magic gun. If Linkara was the main target, he would have been killed in his apartment, not dragged back here and fucked with. Here, I might add, where his crew would immediately think to look for him and where he can be easily rescued by his thoroughly pissed-off boyfriend and taken home, where they won’t get another shot at him because his crew will not let there be another breach any time in the next century. No, Linkara’s not what they want.”
“So what was the fucking point of all that?” Spoony asked in frustration. “What the fuck did it hope to accomplish?”
“Several things, actually. One, while Linkara is not gone, he is out of the way for the time being. I can almost guarantee that he won’t be leaving his base for quite some time, meaning they won’t have to fight him when the time comes and if they do, he won’t be quite as formidable.
“Two, it serves as a distraction. While you’re busy worrying about Linkara and beating the shit out of a pawn, the real threat can move in and take us out.”
“What makes you so sure it’s not alone?”
“A move like this needs back-up, especially since it involves both the Champion and the Avatar. No, there’s something else orchestrating this, something that clearly doesn’t mind losing pawns since this one wasn’t rescued when you left the room.
“Finally, this event was meant to separate you and me.”
“What?”
“Why else would it use my form? It’s clearly been watching for quite a while since it played me convincingly and knows your exact relationship with Linkara-not that it’s classified information, you two are absolutely sickening. But why would it take my form when it could use yours to similar effect?”
“Because Linkara knows I wouldn’t-”
“Does he?” Insano interrupted. “You’ve done it before, Spoony. And while you’ve shown a marked improvement in your behavior since you started seeing him, you still aren’t good.”
Spoony stared at his coffee in silence. It was true. Spoony was neutral, his ability to be good hampered by a desire to do evil, his ability to be truly evil limited by his love for Linkara. Linkara, who had always been good and who had tried to make Spoony good and who had been hurt because of him and who deserved so much better…
“Why settle for weakening your relationship when it could be shattered completely? No, they wanted to make you distrust me. It wouldn’t be too hard, it’s public knowledge that our relationship is… difficult.”
Spoony snorted. “That’s the understatement of the fucking century.”
“But you trust me. You wouldn’t let me live here if you didn’t. We’re allies, at least, if not friends, and even if you do help thwart all my plans to take over the world and I try to kill you periodically, we can live and work together. But given that our relationship is so difficult, an event like this is more than enough to put a barrier between us. Or would have been, if I had come back a few hours later after you had murdered it.”
“And given how fucking hard it is to get rid of you, I would have accepted that you had come back from the dead.”
“And probably killed me anyway. And then you would have been left alone with no one to help you but a semi-functional robot and a small dog when they made their move. Hardly a threat to whatever it is that’s trying to kill you.”
“It is after me, then,” Spoony muttered. “And Linkara just got in the way.”
“Heroes tend to do that,” Insano said with a shrug. “I’m only interested in how this thing got past his security. And why it wants to kill you but not him.”
“It didn’t say anything?”
“Not a word. It just stared at me as though it was amused by the interrogation. Which was especially creepy since it’s still using our face. As I said, it might take some torture to get any information out of it.”
“Good,” Spoony said vehemently. “I have a few ideas.”
Insano looked at him, almost fondly. “You know, if you weren’t so in love with a hero, you would be an excellent villain.”
Spoony shook his head. “I don’t think the world can take more than one of you. Besides, I’ve tried being evil before and it didn’t work out so well.”
“And this has?”
“No,” Spoony admitted. “But that’s why I’m not a hero. I don’t have to fucking wallow without doing things because of my morals. Besides, righteous anger is so much more satisfying than pure evil.”
“Yes, I’m sure. But we can’t start right now. It’s late and it won’t be going anywhere for a while. We can save revenge for tomorrow.”
Spoony nodded and rose from the table. “By the way,” he said as he headed for bed, knowing that he wouldn’t sleep but not able to think of anything else to do. “Where the hell have you been?”
Insano gave him an odd look. “Redecorating the Exit Strategy,” he answered. “Where I told you I’d be three days ago. Or where you not paying attention when I said the son and I wanted to move out permanently?”
Spoony shrugged. “I guess I forgot.”
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Totally forgot to thank my beta, pompoko697, in the other posts. So I'll do it here.