Wild ARMs: Off on a Tangent

By: Chibi-chan

Part 9: “Perfect Prey”

*

A blue-haired girl of about ten years of age was reading from a notebook labeled “The Holmcross Project”. Her eyes widened as she realized there were several pages about her in it. She dropped the notebook in shock as she just sat there, frozen in place. “So… so that’s why… That’s why I’m different from the other kids…” she whispered.

*

“… so that’s why… but I don’t want to be different…” an unconscious Laine murmured in her sleep. She had been taken back to town by Cecil and Elmina and was now in a bed in Nicholi’s house. A worried Cecil had not left her side since she had been there. Elmina, on the other hand, was looking for some answers in another room.

“… Laine… I… will you ever… can I get some answers when you wake up?” the prince said, tripping over his words at every junction.

*

Nicholi Maxwell was looking through some books on the shelf in his workshop as Elmina waited impatiently. “Black wings? A complete one-eighty of her personality as far as you could see? That sounds familiar… Now where’s that book I’m looking for…?” Nicholi said mostly to himself.

Nicholi’s student, a typically shy boy I’ll call Melvin since we have no better name for him at the moment, picked up a book he say lying on the floor at the opposite side of the room. “’Golems and Holmcrosses: Naga Marvels’?” he read aloud from the book’s cover.

Nicholi stood in place for a moment, feeling rather silly that he was looking in the entirely wrong place for the book. “That one’ll work,” he said as nonchalantly as he could to protect his pride.

It was then that Zed decided to put in another appearance. “Holmcrosses? You think Laine might be…?”

“It’s a possibility,” Nicholi replied as he flipped through the pages of the book. He finally stopped on one and pointed at a passage. Granted, the passage he needed was the one below the one he pointed to, but he felt the need to be dramatic, so he wasn’t too particular. “Here we go… ‘To counter the de…’” he paused for a moment, scratched out the word with a pencil, and wrote in another word, “rather, ‘To counter the Hiadans’ ability to transform into more powerful forms of themselves, the Naga and human mages gave the ability to transform to the Holmcrosses. Unfortunately, they encountered a problem when they realized transforming , a, irreversibly blocked out the ability for any thought other than victory-slash-killing, or, b, outright killed the Holmcross itself,’” he quoted.

Elmina was still a bit skeptical. “Wait, if that’s the case, then how did Laine manage to snap out of it?” she asked.

“From what we’ve found out, there was an experimental model that wasn’t used because of fear it’d be just like the others,’ Nicholi replied, “She could be that model.”

Elmina responded with a “Hn”. She stopped to think for a moment, then decided to ask something else. “Say, Nicholi, why’d you change from ‘demon’ to ‘Hiadan’ in mid-word?”

“It’s a long story,” he answered. He looked away with a far-off gaze, “Ceilidh…”

*

Boomerang paced back and forth in his room with puppy Lucied following his pacing. “She got to the top of Epitaph, would have killed a Hiadan warrior if not for those two butting in, suffered the worst from said Hiadan and stayed alive, stayed with a particularly violent Naga girl without getting killed, has successfully evaded for the most part Elmina and the male Sailor Senshi wannabe… Maybe she’s what I’ve been looking for…” He stopped, sighed, then said, “Too bad. I really did like her…”

*

Laine stared at the ceiling. Guardians, I hope this isn’t becoming a habit, waking up only to see an unfamiliar ceiling… She heard a faint snore from her right, followed by a mumble about Cameron Diaz and a miniskirt. She didn’t even have to look to know who was talking in his or her sleep. Cecil? When did he get here? For that matter, why am I here? Where the hell is ‘here’, anyway?! she thought in quick succession.

Her last question was answered when she glanced to her left and saw a framed picture of a somewhat younger Nicholi, a woman she didn’t recognize with bright orange hair, matching eyes and a dark complexion, and a little boy she guessed was a young Boomerang. He was so cute… What happened?

Cecil muttered something again, this time about Laine and fan service. Laine was tempted to smack him, but she decided he was too cute when he slept that it’d be a shame to wake him. She opted instead to get out of bed. It was then that she realized she was in a shirt that wasn’t her own, and that her upper-body garments were torn in the back and laid on a chair. She got out of bed to investigate the torn clothing further. What… what could have caused this?

Not knowing what else to do, she sat back down on the bed and tried to recall the events that led to her lying in a bed at Nicholi’s house and her favorite shirt getting torn up in the back. OK, I remember being at Epitaph of the Sea Wind… I had just gotten to the top floor, then…! The metaphorical lightbulb turned on over Laine’s head as the memories of the fight with Calamity came flooding back. I was hurt pretty badly, then… I was so angry, and I… and I… A snippet of a memory of herself transformed came and went. That… that couldn’t have been me, it couldn’t…

Cecil interrupted her train of thought by sitting up, proclaiming “Mission Accepted, Doctor J!” and flopping face forward back on the bed.

Laine blinked twice and muttered to herself, “What the hell does that boy dream about?!”

*

Young man, are you sure about this? Lucied asked her companion, After all, you may regret what you wish to do later…

“Absolutely sure, Luci,” Boomerang said with as much confidence as he could muster. “Mom’s quest is now my quest, and I’d think she’d find her… suitable…”

*

“Mama, what does ‘perfect prey’ mean, anyway?” a little boy with black hair and orange eyes asked a woman with bright orange hair.

The woman shook her head. “It’s hard to explain, James. It’s one of those things I’ll know when I see it for myself,” she said, “Now don’t worry about things like that and go play with the other children.” She then gestured to a group of children nearby.

“But that big one called me a ninny-ninny poo-poo head!” the boy, James, protested.

“There are worse names to be called,” she said sadly, “believe me, I know.”

*

Mom… the bounty hunter reflected, Are you really dead, or are you staying away to protect us? “It’s frustrating, Luci, you know? Being driven out of Milama just because mom was Hiadan…” he trailed off.

Don’t worry, child, the memories of the past will fade from the people’s minds and they won’t remember why they treated her like that, Lucied told him soothingly.

“I guess so…” he replied.

*

Zeikfried stood before the green tube that contained the demon queen, Mother. “Emma, is the Tear Drop in place?”

“Yes, sir!” Emma’s voice chirped over some type of intercom.

Zeik smiled. “Well then, push the button!” All the lights suddenly went out and credits to some ancient show rolled behind Mother’s translucent tube. “Wrong button, Emma!” Zeik growled.

“Don’t blame me, Hanpan messed with the configuration on the control panel!” Emma retorted. The lights then came back on. “Now this should be the right button…”

The tube, which already glowed on its own, emitted a blindingly bright light. When the light dimmed down, a large insectoid woman that looked rather like Jenova’s slightly better-looking sister was in the tube. “Whoa, that was a trip!” the woman exclaimed. She turned her attention to Zeik. “Zeiky! My baby boy! How’ve you been? Have you been good while I was away?”

“No, ma’am,” was Zeik’s response.

“Ah, good. You were always such a loyal boy, unlike your runaway sister, Ceilidh. Really, associating with humans of all creatures…” Mother said. “So, where are the others?”

“Emma’s in her lab, Lord Harken’s… somewhere, Calamity is resting with Luc after her ordeal in getting the Tear Drop to revive you, Belselk’s around here somewhere, and Hanpan… well, who cares where Hanpan is?” Zeik told her. “You wish me to summon them?”

“Yes, do. It’ll be nice seeing my babies again,” the Hiadan replied with a smile.

*

“Ceilidh? Who’s Ceilidh?” Elmina asked.

Nicholi shook his head. “It’s not important at this point in time. What’s important is to reclaim that ‘Tear Drop’ thing you told me about. If it’s what you claim it to be, the world is in great danger. Many of Ceilidh’s relatives aren’t what you’d call ‘fond of humankind’ and would use it for our destruction.” He went back to the bookshelf and took a volume entitled “Hiadan Techology for Complete Friggin’ Morons” off the shelf. He turned to a page, then showed it to Elmina. “This is why their base if called the ‘Photosphere’. There’s a shield of light around the entire thing. You’d need something that rivals its power to get in if the shield becomes activated.”

Elmina carefully looked the page presented to her over. “Let me guess, this book was a gift from this ‘Ceilidh’, right?” Nicholi nodded. “So, what do you suggest we use to get past it?” she asked.

“So glad you asked,” Nicholi said. He went back to the previous book and turned to a different page. He pointed to a picture of a golem. “You use that. If you can find it, I can up the power on the Anti-Phasing Shields on its arms. That should be enough to neutralize the Photosphere’s shield.”

“Cool, I’ll go tell the royal pain that then,” Elmina said with a smile. “Thanks for your help, Nicholi!” With that, she left to find the prince.

Nicholi closed both books and put them back on the shelf. If they can challenge Ceilidh’s family, maybe that’ll bring her out of hiding if she’s still alive…

*

“Yo, princey, we got a lead on the…” Elmina said as she burst through the door to the bedroom. The first thing she noticed is that Laine was gone and Cecil was out like a light again. “OK, now this is becoming a nasty trend here…”

Cecil sat up and cried “TROWA! You have to save Trowa, Heero!” then flopped back face forward onto the bed.

“He’s gotta lay off the Gundam Wing for a while, don’t he?” Zed asked.

“Indeed,” Elmina agreed.

*

Laine stood on a bridge not far from Nicholi’s house, looking out at the water from the stream that ran through Court Seim. If that flash wasn’t something I made up somehow, then Cecil and Elmina are in danger from me… Maybe I should leave without them. After all, I don’t have the Tear Drop anymore; they no longer have a reason to keep me around.

A bad feeling came over her as she heard someone coming toward her. Instinctively, she drew an ARM and pointed it at the person approaching without looking. “Put that away; you might hurt someone with that,” a male voice told her.

“Jamie,” she said, lowering her arm but not putting away her weapon just yet.

“I told you Epitaph of the Sea Wind was a dangerous place to go alone. Still, you held up rather admirably,” he said.

“Should I be flattered or annoyed at that comment?” Laine asked with an edge on her voice. She decided to finally look at him at that point. She saw that he was a decidedly pretty boy, a positive bishounen, if you will. The effects of the moonlight were particularly kind to him, making his eyes seem even more otherworldly. Hmm, he’s kind of cute when he’s out of the armor… too bad he’s still a jerk, she thought. Another thought crossed her mind. “Orange eyes…” she thought aloud.

“You noticed,” James said, “Not many people do.”

“Not a full human, if human at all?” Laine asked while trying to look disinterested.

“My mom’s from Hiades,” James said slowly, “That’s why we’re out here; we got chased out of Milama once the residents realized that.”

Laine lowered her head. “I know what it feels like, to be chased away from something you can’t help. I was kicked out of Surf in part because I can use an ARM.”

She… might actually be able to understand me… the bounty hunter thought sadly, but… “Laine…” he said in a soft tone the girl had never heard nor would expect from the young man. He drew a small pistol that was not unlike the Peacemaker model that is so well associated with the old west and held it a few inches from Laine’s head

Laine, sensing something was up, raised her gun at the same time as James. “Why? Why now?” she muttered through her teeth.

“I told you when we first met what I have been seeking…” James said as coldly as he could at the time.

“I am James ‘Boomerang’ Maxwell, world-renowned bounty hunter and hunter of the perfect prey…” So this is what he meant, Laine thought. “And I’m now what you seek, I see,” she replied with equal frigidity.

“Indeed,” James told her, “You have more than proved your abilities and worthiness. Be proud, I do not go after just anyone.”

“Lucky me. And what would you do if you fail?” she asked.

“Try again.”

“After that, if you failed…?”

“Try again.”

“And after that?”

“Try yet again.”

He’s stubborn, I’ll give him that, Laine thought. “And you’ll stop pursuing me when you…”

“… when I die.” James finished.

Laine wanted to sigh, but couldn’t let herself show weakness at that point. “Well then, if that’s the way it has to be… en guarde!”

James finally lowered his pistol. “So glad we understand each other,” he said. He turned around and started to walk toward his house.

Laine lowered her gun in confusion. “That’s it?”

James turned around. “You’re still a guest in my father’s home. It would be bad form, not to mention no fun, to shoot you now. But now that you mention it, there is one more thing…” He then went right up to Laine and looked at her in a way that confused her even further.

“Why are you looking at me-“ she started. She was cut off by James kissing her. ………what the hell?!

James pulled away. “A pity it had to be you…” he whispered.

Laine stared at him in shock for a few seconds… then she hit him, pushed him out of her way (unfortunately for James, that push made him wind up in the stream) and ran straight to Nicholi’s house.

The now-soggy bounty hunter made his way to one of the banks of the stream. “That went better than I expected,” he mumbled to himself.

*

Cecil was just stepping outside to look for Laine when the irritated girl passed by him. She was muttering something about “stupid Jamie” and “next time I’ll really WA-TAK him”. Seeing as she was in no mood to explain what Boomerang had done to get her so mad and that talking to her when she was mad was only a good way to learn new obscenities, the young prince decided to see what he could find out from the other source: Boomerang.

*

When Cecil got to Boomerang, the bounty hunter was wringing out his vest. Cecil suppressed a snicker upon noticing Boomerang was thoroughly drenched. “I saw Laine. What the heck happened between you two?”

“None of your business,” the bounty hunter said flatly.

Cecil half-turned from Boomerang and shrugged. “I was only asking because you seemed to really have upset her yet again. Mister Smooth, you are not, eh?” he said with a noticeable air of superiority.

It is not a wise idea to taunt someone with a wet piece of fabric in their hands. Cecil soon found that out the hard way. Boomerang had been winding the vest in his hands when Cecil was speaking and snapped it as he replied, “Bite me, senshi boy.”

Cecil yelped, then said with as much indignation as possible, “Oh, that’s so freakin’ mature, Boomerang!”

“Like you’re in any position to criticize me, Sailor Stoldark!” Boomerang retorted.

“At least I don’t go around pissing off sweet girls like Laine,” Cecil told him.

“Laine? SWEET?! Are you joking?! Put roller skates on her and she’d literally be a bitch on wheels!” the bounty hunter countered.

Cecil put on his more sarcastic demeanor. “Oh-ho! And here I thought you said at one time that you LIKED her! Oh, now I see how you are!”

Boomerang was starting to get quite angry at this point. “Hey, just because she’s bitchy doesn’t mean I automatically don’t like her! And what do you mean, ‘you see how I am’?”

“Oh, nothing… except…” Cecil said, feigning an air of innocence.

“Except what? Just what are you trying to say?” the bounty hunter asked, growing tired of this little game.

“It’s just, well, you said Laine looked like a man in drag, and you do have a reputation to protect…” the prince said with the same air as before.

What Cecil was implying finally clicked in Boomerang’s mind, nearly causing him to facefault. “I am not gay!” he said very much defensively.

“Sure, you aren’t, pal,” Cecil said insincerely.

“I’m NOT!” Boomerang repeated.

“Anything you say, Jamie,” Cecil said, slowly walking away and smirking.

“DON’T CALL ME ‘JAMIE’!” the bounty hunter yelled after him

“Sure thing, Jamie!” Cecil said, not even stopping or glancing at the irate bounty hunter.

“Guardians, I hate that guy!” Boomerang muttered under his breath.

*

Meanwhile, at stately Wayne Manor… *cough* Rather, at Nicholi’s house…

“What do you mean, ‘You have to go’?!” Elmina demanded to know.

“I’m a danger to you all. I can’t let any of you get hurt,” Laine said, hastily packing away anything of hers that was left out in the open.

“We’ve all been hurt before. We’ll live,” Elmina told the girl.

“Why do you want me to stay? All I’ve caused is trouble!” Laine protested.

“You caused trouble by running away,” Elmina told her evenly, “Running away doesn’t solve anything, you know.” Sheesh, I’m starting to repeat myself; I told the same thing to Garrett before… She shook her head. “Kid, why do you run from your friends anyway?”

Laine blinked, then looked up at Elmina’s face. “Friends?” she said in complete innocence.

Were it possible, Elmina would have sweatdropped. “Yeah, you know, the people you care about you and care for you back.” She paused, then added, “You just don’t know what to do with the concept of having friends, do you?” The girl hesitantly shook her head. Elmina sighed. “It figures, why else would you be so darn skittish…?”

Laine bowed her head and headed for the door. “I’m sorry, but there’s not only whatever happened at Epitaph, but something else. You and Cecil are in danger by my mere presence. Goodbye…” she said softly before leaving.

“Kid… don’t do this to yourself…” she thought out loud.

Zed emerged from whatever hiding place he had taken. “She’s been isolated so long she now just isolates herself…” the little mouse said in a most scholarly fashion. He paused for a moment, then added, “Well, that’s what I think anyway.”

*

The sun rose over Court Seim. Another day, another chance for adventure. Boomerang busied himself getting ready to track down Laine for his reasons, while Elmina (and Cecil, after much convincing and promises) prepared to find the golem Nicholi had told them about. Laine was on a boat headed for Guardians-know-where, being seasick and cursing her fate the entire time. Act one of the play had concluded with the demon’s acquisition of the Tear Drop; this was merely the intermission and act two is ready to begin…

*

End

Chibi’s notes:

Ooo, more dramatic than the other parts, ne? Boomerang is a messed-up little boy, ain’t he? At least chasing Laine will give him some much-needed humility…

Rudy: Still, couldn’t have Laine given him a severe “WA-TAK!”ing instead of just one little hit?

James: Apparently you’ve never been hit by the tomboy. That in itself is a severe “WA-TAK!”ing. X.x

… what the hell is he doing in my den of muses and soulbonds?! >.<

James: There’s a bounty on Sasarai. How much is 10,000 potch in gella?

OUT! *Takahashi Super Punches the bounty hunter into the low stratosphere*