Chapter 2: Ignition

I went back to the Gammex compound the next day on a hunch, which was soon confirmed. Sitting cross-legged on a patch of grass was Aislin.

"Meditating?" I asked as I walked up to her.

"Napping." she answered. "or trying to, anyway."

"I could come back later..." I said, indicating the direction I had just come from.

"No no." she said, getting up. "The ground is too hard anyway."

"I've got some questions." I said. "And I'd wager you do, too."

"A safe bet." she said. "But this is still a bit public, no?"

"I'd hate to be overheard." I said, nodding my assent. "How about Midway Island?"

"That'd be far enough from... well, anywhere, but how-"

She was interrupted mid-sentence by one of my 'ports and continued lamely "do...we... get there. Never mind."

"You were saying?" I say, a tad smugly.

"Is there anywhere you can't teleport to?" she asked with a tinge of jealous annoyance.

"Yes, actually. If I don't have a general idea of my destination, I can't 'port there. After I got home yesterday, I read up on a bunch of desert islands, remote rain forest shacks, and other such areas. I figured they might come in handy. I'm glad it worked!" I explained cheerily.

"Yeah, me too..." she said, a bit warily.

"Getting home'll be easy. I'm well-versed in Tosa geography. I live there, too, you see." I say.

"Huh. Ok, prove it. 76th and North?"

"Library, Civic Center, City Hall, Lutheran Home, M&I, and Longfellow." I answered easily.

"68th and North?" she continued.

"Gas station, Aqua Terra, Subway, and a martial arts studio." I rattled off.

"Best pizza in the world?" she asked puckishly.

"Cranky Al's." I said without hesitation.

"Ok, you're from Tosa." she said with a laugh.

"Since first grade." I answered, also chuckling.

"Huh, me too. Madison?"

"Nah, Roosevelt."

"Ah well, win some, lose some." she said resignedly. "So, tell me about your dreams. I'll tell you about mine, and we'll compare."

"Sure thing, Sigmund." I quipped geekily.

I then proceeded to outline the dreams I had been having over the last week. Aislin listened attentively, and when I had finised my tale, she responded.

"Several key elements do seem more or less identical. The mountaintop temple, the oddly odd sensei, the shape that activates our powers. There were differences, though. My sensei was female, she was making sandwiches the first time, and she specifically stated that I use magic. I got the "Metaphysics 101" lecture, too. But I most definately use magic."

"Wacky." I said. "I'd suspect that we would need to have an apocolyptic showdown, but that doesn't make sense. My sensei told me that chaos isn't bad, and yours said the same of order. They made a particular point of this, so it stands to reason that they 'foresaw' (for lack of a better term) us meeting and didn't want us to fight. After all, if we were to fight, we could throw off the universal constants, and end the multiverse as we know it."

"That'd be bad." she said, nodding.

"Very." I say. "So, speaking of magic. I already know that you can run very, very fast. What else?"

"Well, I can levitate stuff. Like so."

She picked up some nearby rocks with her mind, and put them into a slow orbit around a nearby point in midair.

"I can also make these things." she continued eagerly.

Energy balls formed in her palms, and she vaporized the orbiting stones.

"How about them moves?" she said, grinning widely.

"Very nice! Pick up a big one for me, would you? It's time for me to bust out my moves. I said eagerly.

She levitated a large boulder, and I said "Ok, watch this!", cringing inwardly at the use of such a 'famous last words' phrase. I took off into the air, and mimed my finger-gun while plugging the boulder from 20 feet. It was completely vaporized, and I glided gently down to the ground.

"Very nice, indeed!" she said appreciatively.

"Thankyouverymuch." I said in a crappy Elvis imitation.

"Seems we'd work well together." she said.

"I'd say that's no coincidence." I responded.

"Yeah. This does seem to be leading up to us teaming up, whatever 'this' is. Funny thing about forming teams, though." she observed.

"There's usually at least two groups doing so." I finished.

"So if we've been imbued with powers based in fundamental metaphysical elements, it seems reasonable that we're supposed to use them in conjunction with each other's. What worries me is that which we're supposed to ally against." she observed.

"But we don't know what that is." I said.

"Which is worrisome." she said.

"Point." I agreed.

We swapped cell phone numbers, as it seemed reasonable that we'd need to contact one another quickly. I asked if she was ready to head back, she said yes, and I 'ported us to the library, and immediately notice how much warmer it is in the middle of the Pacific. A familiar voice comes from behind me, incredulously saying "Wil?!"

"Oh, noodles..." I say as I turn around and say sheepishly "Hi, Mom."

Some short time later, Aislin had gone off somehwere, and I was sitting in one of the study rooms, across the table from my mother.

"Her name's Aislin." I say. "She's nice. I met her a while back."

"Never once did I imagine that the day I found out that you had met a girl, the girl would be the second most pressing question." she said wearily.

"Well, I do enjoy defying convention." I said.

She breaks into fits of snorty laughter at this. "Defying convention? That's a fact! Snarky t-shirts, check! Cynical humor? Check! Appearing literally out of the middle of nowhere? Check! Why couldn't you just get a tattoo?"

"I could if you wanted." I offer gamely.

"Where did you come from, anyway?" she asked.

"Oh, nowhere far. No need to worry." I say.

She gives me the 'mom stare', and I surrender.

"Midway Island." I admit sheepishly.

"Nowhere far, huh. How was it?" she responds conversationally.

"Oh, very nice. Very warm and sunny. Great view, interesting ruins, too." I say.

I hesitate for a moment, and I ask "Want to see?"

"Sure!" she says, throwing her hands up in mock surrender. "What could possibly g-"

I interrupt her here, and say "Don't taunt Murphy, mumsy. Now grab my hand."

She does, and I 'port us to Midway Island.

"See? Nice view, huh?" I say.

"My god, it's beautiful!" she says in a tone of wonderment. "You can see for miles! And the water is so blue!"

She turrns to me, places her hands on my shoulders, and simply says "Tell me everything."

I do, beginning with Monday's mishap, and ending with a sixth reminder to keep it quiet.

"We really should get you back to work." I say. "If only to avoid suspicion."

"Good point." she agrees.

I 'port us back to the study room.

"See you after work, Mumsy!" I say, after we get back to the lobby.

With a quick hug, she says "Don't do anything I couldn't."

I begin to protest, but she winks and goes back to her desk.

I have the best mom in the world.

Deciding that it'd be lazy to 'port back home (I live, like, five blocks from the library), I begin to walk. Aislin was waiting by the outer door, to my mild surprise. Noticing me, she calls out to come over. I do, and ask "What's up?"

"Nothing, just wondering what happened." she said.

I filled her in, and pointed out that it'd be awkward to hide my dealings from my mother anyway.

"That's true." she said, "But why did you 'port us into her office? That's just begging for trouble. We're lucky her boss wasn't in!"

"That's the thing." I responded. "I was aiming for the theater at Longfellow."

"Something threw off your teleport?" she asked, sounding somewhat alarmed.

"It's possible." I admitted. "It's more likely to have been a stray thought at the wrong time, though. I did get us to Midway and back again, didn't I?"

"So it's probably something you can work on and eliminate?" she postulated.

"Yep." I said confidently. "Hey, wanna grab some food? I know a place that makes the same sandwiches God does."

"Venturi's?" she guessed.

"Local girls are no fun." I said with an exxagerated pout.

"Hey, I'm all kinds of fun." she says playfully.

After a quick yet tasty lunch, we parted ways, and the remainder of the day passed uneventfully.

That night, I had an unusually horrific nightmare, apparently based upon the concept of 'splinching'. If you don't know what that is, go read a Harry Potter book. I awoke at about 9:00 AM on Friday to someone sitting in one of my chairs, reading my KOTOR comic books.

"Whozere?" I mumbled sleepily.

"Ah, you're awake." said a familiar voice. It continued as the speaker, Aislin, came around to the foot of my futon. "I thought I'd have to pelt you with socks."

"Well, that explains how you got in." I said. (My mother wakes me up like that sometimes.) "How long were you waiting?"

"Not long." she answered, closing the book with a fwap. "Your mum let me in as she was leaving for work."

"Hmph." I said, throwing back my covers. I noticed that she was trying to suppress a grin. I also noticed that she was failing miserably. With a sigh, I asked "Okay, what's so funny?"

Completely abandoning her grin-suppressing efforts, she says amusedly "You're so cute when you're asleep! All curled up, mumbling, drooling..."

Getting up, I said "I'm so glad you enjoyed it." with more than the usual dose of sarcasm.

"Not a morning person, eh?" she said with a twinge of amusement.

"Morning and I have this arrangement. We meet only when I damn well want to meet." I explained. "I may rise, but shining is often unlikely until after ten. Or breakfast. Depending on which comes first."

"Let's get breakfast, then. Cranky Al's, my treat." she said.

Seeing my look of vague confusion, she explained. "You got lunch yesterday. It's only fair I return the favor."

"Very well. Just let me grab my socks." I said.

"No need!" she said cheerily as a bundle of socks hit me in the face.

"...right then. Won't be a minute!" I said, now at full wakefulness. Grogginess is for caffeine addicts and sissies.

It was 9:30 by the time Aislin and I arrived at the coffee shop/pizza place known as Cranky Al's, and they were just finishing cleaning up from the breakfast rush. As we approached the counter, Mrs. Java (Cranky Al's spouse and business partner) greeted us warmly.

"Aislin!" she said happily. "You're late! The usual, I suppose?"

"Please." answers Aislin courteously.

"And Wil! You're too early! We don't start making pizza until 4."

"Yes, that's why I'm here for a doughnut." I say, indicating one on the rack.

"No coffee?" asks Aislin.

"I don't do coffee." I answer.

"Your loss, hun." Mrs. Java says, placing a covered paper cup and two doughnuts on the counter. "You two know each other?"

"Yes." I answer at the same time Aislin answers "Nope."

I grimace, and say "It's complicated."

"Well, I can see that." she says amusedly. "Anywho, best of luck to ya!"

We pay, leave, and duck around a corner. I 'port us to an old cabin in the Rocky Mountains. Looking out the window and sipping her coffee, Aislin says "Okay, now you're just showing off."

"Guilty as charged." I say, chuckling. "My uncle lived in this cabin for a while. It was part of a Buddhist retreat center, but they moved to a location further north. Some feng shui thing, no doubt."

"I wonder if anyone still looks for them here." Aislin says.

"Well, they probably put up a sign." I said.

"Yeah!" she says, laughing. "We're sorry, our Buddha is on a different mountain!"

I laughed at this, but was suddenly struck by a thought.

"Aislin." I said. "Do you trust me?"

"Yeah, of course." she said.

"And I trust you. But why?" I ask.

"How do you mean?" she inquired.

"Well, trust is earned, not given. It certainly doesn't just magically appear. Just think for a second. We've known each other a grand total of two days. In that time, you've basically stalked me from the Internet, I've basically kidnapped you, and we've seen each other vaporize solid rock.By all rights, we should be running screaming from each other, not having a friendly chat over coffee." I explain.

"That's true." she says. "Maybe it's related to our powers."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, we both feel compelled to keep them secret. We've both rationalizzed reasons for it by now, but the impulse for secrecy definitely came first."

"Oh, I see." I said, catching on. "Whoever or whatever gave us these powers also put in some sort of 'post-hypnotic suggestion' sort of thing. Trust your counterpart, keep the secret."

"Then we provide our own reasons, and it seems like our own idea! Oh, that's clever!" she said, impressed.

"So are we, it seems." I said with a grin.

"You got one thing wrong, though." she said.

"What's that?" I asked.

"The girls you should really run screaming from are the best ones." she said impishly.

"True that." I said.

"Anyway, I suppose we'll have to go about this backwards." I said. "Usually, people meet, get to know each other, trust each other, and then go on wacky adventures, in that order. We'll have to simply invert the process."

"Works for me." Aislin said.

"No I don't." I said, stabbing at humor.

"Shut up." she said.

"No need to be mean about it." I said defensively. "I know it was a bad-"

"No, seriously, shush! I heard something!" she said sharply, cutting me off.

I shush up and listen, and hear an odd clanking sound. I motion for Aislin to get down and follow me, and we go outside to look. Several vaguely humanoid robots were looking around the area. They each had one rectangular eye, aligned in the center and glowing red.

"Holy Cylons, Batman." I said quietly to Aislin. "What do you suppose they're doing?"

"It looks like they're searching for something." she said. "Maybe deer?"

One of the robots spotted us, sent out a metallic-sounding noise, signaled the others, and shot some kind of projectile at us. I grabbed Aislin, and dodged straight upwards barely in time, and got pelted by rock chips from the explosion.

"Okay, new theory." said Aislin. "They were looking for us, in order to kill us."

"Brilliant, Holmes." I said sarcastically. "What say we kill them first?"

"Wouldn't it be better to 'port out?" she asked. "I'm as fond of making things go boom as the next person, but I also have this aversion towards dying."

"I already tried." I said. "That metallic sound seems to be some kind of psychic static, it's blocking my focus."

"Ok, then. Let's slag some battle droids!" she said, perhaps a bit too eagerly.

I set her down a ways off, knowing she could run back easily. She does, and I fly along right above. I aim a beam at one of the droids, and she aims a pulse at another. The impact spots flash green, and remain unharmed.

"They're shielded!" I shouted.

"Focus on one at a time!" she shouted back. "My two o'clock!"

We combine our powerson one droid, whose shields were no match for that kind of firepower. The shields failed, and it fell over with a new, glowing hole in its torso.

"Good!" I shouted. "Aw, egg noodles! They're grouping up!"

"Take the front one!" she shouted back.

We do, and another droid falls. The other two continue to return fire, however. We destroy another, but the battle was taking its toll. I, at least, was mentally exhausted, running primarily on adrenalin. We were both covered in small and not so small cuts from flying debris and near misses. Aislin looked up at me, and I nodded. It was time to end this. She charged an atypically powerful energy pulse, and I prepare an unusually powerful beam. This was the leader, after all. She released the pulse, but was simultaneously hit by droid fire, which throws its aim off. Later on, I'd hope it missed the Buddhists on the other mountain, but at the time, I was distracted my Aislin's injury. I lost focus, and my beam shorted out. I don't think I shouted "No!", but it's distinctly possible. In any case, the droid leader was still standing, and only had one target. It ups its fire rate, and it becomes more difficult to dodge. I charged a beam, knowing it wouldn't be enough, and fired at the robot, just as it fired at me. The impacts were simultaneous, and the droid's circuits overloaded and it exploded. I, however, didn't think much of this, as I was falling from the sky. By some quirk of fate, I landed very near to Aislin, and used the last bit of willpower and focus I had to teleport us to the medical complex near Gammex. Then everything went black.