** Taki Wars, Episode 10! Double digits, baby! It's later in the day when Nick wakes up, bandaged and feeling a little bit better. The couch is still there, because he's lying on it. And one Eric is nearby, flipping a set of keys in his hands, back and forth. It's Febuary 13th, 11:52 pm. Taka's house, Taka's couch. Start. * Nick cracks an eye open. "..Bored?" Not yet. You? I've only been up for about five seconds, man. Just to get off on the right bat, I'm gonna get you out of Taka's hair for today. * Eric pauses, and looks vaguely up. "Well, tonight and tomorrow." You feeling good enough for a drive? * Nick nods, and moves to sit up. She's got her own stuff to deal with. And you... well, I'd like to hear your whole story, and maybe offer you a bunk at my place if you're gonna be in town for a while. That'd be excellent.. got any clothes I can borrow? * Nick gestures down to his bare chest and thoroughly-shredded jeans. ... uh. * Eric glances at his own less-than-good clothes. "I guess." * Nick braces himself against the couch's armrest, standing slowly. "I.. nngh, I guess I can look like I just got home from WW2 for now." We can go shopping tomorrow. I've got some money coming whenever my insurance decides to settle. For now, though, we're getting out of here. * Eric sticks a piece of paper on the couch, leaving a note for Taka about their whereabouts, then heads for the door. Cool. I'll see if my parents are home, maybe try to explain this. * Nick follows slowly. * Eric isn't injured, so easily beats Nick to the Bonneville with racing bars on the windows, and a day-glo green paint job. * Nick laughs outright, pausing just a foot away from the car. "..Wait, this isn't a joke? I have to ride in this thing?" * Eric laughs himself. "It was cheap, and it's fast." I'll believe the first part. I've got to get around to getting the paint stripped, just haven't gotten to it yet. * Eric gets in, and the engine starts with a roar. ..Yeah. * Nick climbs into the front seat, leaning back with a sigh. * Eric adds, once Nick gets in, "It's got a racing engine in it, too." I'd show you, but there's no seatbelts in this car. * Nick shrugs. "Not like I can get much more banged up." * Eric flashes Nick a grin, and starts driving away from the house. ... so. The long story, if you're up to telling it. Man, there's not much to tell. * Eric nods, then adds thoughfully, "That's what I always say. You know, the more times you look over something, the more you find, though." ... if I'm prying, go ahead and tell me to shut up, though. Don't sweat it. * Nick adjusts his seat, almost laying down entirely. "Anyway, I was just leaving science class and my teacher tells me that he needs my help with some extra-credit experiment, right? So I follow him down into this sub-sub-basement that no one's ever seen before.." And he locks me in this white room with this totally crazy other guy.. but he's me! And the walls are *covered* with weapons. * Eric nods, listening. "... part of that sounds familiar." So we fight, he stabs me a lot, I shoot him through the neck and stick him with a big spear. Then my teacher hits me with.. I think it was knockout gas? Right out of a spy movie, I'm telling you. The course Eric's taking takes you off of the main roads, through the back roads. The layout of the place is completely alien to Nick. ... your... teacher? Oi. * Nick nods. "Just to give you an idea, he's this skinny old guy with a little beard. It looks like a strong wind would break him." * Eric seems overly alert- he's looking back and forth through the alleys and windows and just about everything, and after a point, he switches off the headlights. * Nick breaks off suddenly, giving Eric a look. Hm? Someth- oh! That's just the way I am. Part of my routine. Uh-huh. Remember, I mentioned I knew the police by the first-name basis? I call bullshit. What's up? Part of the reason is I tend to take the back roads and break up any fights I see. * Eric grimaces at the disbeleif. "Really, seriously." * Nick shakes his head and leans back. "Whatever, Batman." Nah, I'm not Batman, No kidding. He has a *nice* car. See, Batman has the money, the wits, the gadgets, and the kung-fu. I'm poor, and just got the kung-fu. ... I think. ..Anyway, I wake up strapped to this stretcher. I'm in some kind of asylum or something, a long hallway with locked doors and screaming people behind them. * Eric speeds up, and flips the headlights back on, as they hit the main roads again. And, get this. They're *all me*. ... whoah. One of them was doing something crazy with fire, blew his door clean off. * Eric frowns in thought. "What did Guy call it... Coalescence Phenonema, or something?" * Nick stares at Eric. "..Yeah." * Eric blinks. "Yeah what?" The Theory of Coalescence Phenomena. That's what my teacher called it. Who's Guy? * Eric blinks. "Uh.. Guy's, this... uh. Guy. Nina's partner, gruff guy." Looks like he could be a football player. And Nina is..? * Nick is still giving Eric the "are you an alien" look. * Eric pauses, considering something. "Well, look. You didn't hear this from me, okay?" They were here about a month ago, to protect Taka from someone. Nina and Guy. Nina's this really hot asian chick, and Guy's southern macho. Guy brought it up one time over at the hospital while we were watching Taka, and I questioned him about it. It's some really weird stuff. Of course, I didn't beleive him at the time... Hey, I'm living proof. Now, what is it? * Eric shakes his head. "Finish up your side first." * Nick makes a frustrated noise. "So the old guy took me to his office, let me off the stretcher, and kicked the shit out of me. Threw me through the desk, the works. Then I found the weird thing and the next thing I know, I'm fifty feet in the air above the ocean." ... and that's when you land in Florida. I guess so. My turn? Yeeep. Alright. Let's see if I can remeber this well enough... Um. First off, assume that there's a lot of different dimensions, simultaneously happening timelines. I've read comic books, man, this isn't too hard. Now, also assume that you're you- but there's another you in each of them, and you've all got the same soul. * Eric snickers. "This isn't a comic book." I know, I know. Keep going. * Eric closes his eyes, thinking again. "I forget the details, but if someone kills another one of themselves, the soul they had, instead of recycling back into the timeline they came from, instead feeds into all the others. Some kind of seal is broken, something like that. And once it's broken, there's no resealing it. The predicted effect is that as the same amount of soul is divided into less and less carriers, the respective carriers begin swelling with lifeforce. * Nick just gapes. ... Taka's seal has been broken. ..I don't think she's the only one, man. ... what are you saying? Didn't I tell you? I *killed myself*. * Nick looks down at his hands. "He wasn't really *me*, but.. shit." ... aw, man. I can't imagine how much that'd mess with your head. It's really fucked up. * Eric slows down, and pulls up to an apartment complex, then parks. "And here's what I call home sweet home. Nevermind that everybody's either a drug dealer or a user. Most of them are the latter." Don't worry- they don't mess with me. I'm buddy buddy with the cops, and I've kicked their asses enough times, fairly and unfairly, to where they don't look for a fight with me. That's nice for *you*. And they know better than to mess with my guests, too. * Nick opens the door. "Well, alright then." * Eric gets out, killing the engine and locking the doors. "Let's get you some clean clothes before we head to the hospital." * Eric leads the way inside. There's a suspicious aura of activity throughout the complex, even at this hour. * Nick frowns, but follows. It dies down as Eric approaches. * Eric stops at one of the apartments, unlocks it, and holds the door open for Nick. * Nick mock-bows and steps inside. The inside of the apartment consists of 3 couches, only one of which doesn't have springs showing, a fridge, which is actually clean and in good condition. (more) One entire wall is lined with shelves. The shelves are full of carefully arranged and built model cars. There must be over 100 there, of all varieties. * Nick gives the apartment a quick once-over before flopping down on the good couch. There's two bedrooms- one's open and has a canvas and brush visible through the doorway, the other's closed. * Eric vanishes into the closed bedroom, returning a moment later with a small pile of clothes, which he tosses on Nick's head. * Nick is hit by the clothes, and sputters for a moment before starting to change. "Don't look over here if it bothers you." The clothes are clean, at least. There's shirts, jeans, shorts, in the pile, and most of them are the right size. Some have a tear or patch in them somewhere. Most have more than one. Take your time, yell when you're ready. * Eric vanishes into the open bedroom. * Nick pulls the shirt over his head and slips a pair of jeans on. "Alright, done!" * Eric comes back out, closing the bedroom door behind him. He looks Nick up and down, then grins, and strikes a Classic Kung-Fu pose. "You. Are. Supahhhh stah!" * Nick stares at Eric for a moment before shaking his head ruefully and grinning. * Eric raises a knee slowly, curling his hands together in front of him, then shakes his head and yells, "Wuah!" * Eric drops the pose and grins, heading to the door out. Someone's seen Enter the Dragon one too many times. * Eric laughs. "Only one too many?" C'mon, we've got a hospital to visit. * Nick grins back, walking out the door. "It takes a *lot* to see Enter the Dragon too many times." * Eric locks the door, closes it, makes sure it's locked from the outside, knocks on the door once, then heads out back to the car. * Nick climbs in again. "We can park this thing in the back, right?" It's late, might be able to find a spot. Worried about something? VrrrrRRRRroooooMMMMMm, goes the engine, starting up. Yeah, being seen with this car. * Eric laughs again. "Yeesh. Alright, alright, I'll get the paint off tomorrow." It's a pity. The day-glo green was just starting to run off on me, too. The drive cuts into the side roads for a bit, and it's not long before the pair gets to the hospital. End.