  |
|
Sorry about the absence. I hope to be back by September 15 October 6, with a full explanation. Or, at least, a decent excuse.
Chuckie had his hand on Lissa's shoulder. Not really a threat, but... Besides, she didn't know what power he planned to demonstrate.
Lissa whispered through clenched teeth, "take your hand off of me, or I'll take your hand off of you." She put her hands behind her back, turned her nails into cat claws. Then something weird happened. She could feel the fingernail polish, sense its mass, and knew she had a choice: Let the polish remain; or have it shift with her, disappear until she returned human. And she realized she had been unconsciously shifting her fingernail polish, toenail polish, earrings, and even the fillings in her teeth!
She let the polish shift. Fingernail polish has very little mass, very little weight, but somehow she could feel the weight making the effort to maintain the claws just slightly more difficult.
I haveta start taking better care of my teeth, she thought.
Chuckie's brow furrowed. "Please be quiet! Speak to me!! Talk, you worthless scrap of cloth."
Lissa was pissed. As far as she knew: A) He told her to 'Please be quiet!' and, at the same time, 'Speak to me!!'; B) He called her 'worthless'; And C) He called her a 'scrap of cloth'. Lissa didn't know what the gonner meant by the last thing, but she was willing to bet it wasn't nice.
But before she could say or (more likely) do anything, her blouse wriggled and rippled on her body.
"Glahhnk?" she inquired.
"Who is wearing you?" Chuckie asked.
The blouse answered, subserviently, "Lissa Cheng."
"GLAHHNK!!!" Lissa grabbed at the blouse, about to tear it off her body. But she realized if she tore off her shirt, she wouldn't be wearing a shirt. Her claws had reverted to human nails, without her realizing it, or her shirt would now be shredded.
Would it have screamed in pain?
"Impressive, huh, Melissa?"
"Wow! The power of ventriloquism! That's so much cooler than super-strength! Man, if I knew I would have to fight a ventriloquist, I'd have surrendered from the start!"
"Don't be an idiot. I use my power to gain information, to learn things. Things I can then use."
"Like what?"
"Blouse! Describe Melissa's bra!"
"WHAT!?!"
It started off subserviently, grew defiant, angry, as it spoke. "It's lemon yellow with a tiny bow in the middle. The left strap's just about worn through, Oh, and the cups are thin enough that you can see her-"
"PERVERT!!" Her arms wrapped around her chest. "What do you plan to do with that information?!? No, don't tell me! I don't want to know!"
"Hey, I'm sorry. That was a joke, okay? It was a sick and cruel joke. But, I told you. I'm a bad guy."
"And if I become a gonner I'll be just like you!" She continued to hold her hands over her chest.
"No, you'll be just like you. I was like this before I was a gonner." Chuckie walked around from behind the desk. "Hey, I'll admit there'll be temptations, but that's up to you to resist. Unless you're so afraid of your own desires you'd rather be chained to a wall than wander free!" He looked deep into her eyes. God, he was tall! "Now, do you want to come with me? I can't make you do this against your will. I can't force you or blackmail you. It has to be your own free choice of your own free will. Which is a really stupid rule if you ask me, but hey." Chuckie broke eye contact, turned away, opened the door.
Lissa let her hands down. It occurred to her that she couldn't remember which bra she had put on today. Was her blouse right? She pulled it forward, and peeked.
"Well?" asked Chuckie.
She thought he couldn't see her for that moment! "Yes, it's friggin' yellow with a goddam bow!"
"I meant, 'well, are you coming with me?' But thanks for the confirmation."
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm coming with you."
Go to Chapter 15: Allow Me To Explain, Mr. Bond...
Go to Chapter 17: What Could Possibly Go Wrong On Friday The Thirteenth?
Bring your friends into the Gonspiracy! Tell them about
Banny
And
Lissa
and get their eternal gratitude, and a chance to win $10,000 and a Sony DVD Player, because using your friends for your own personal enrichment, and having them owe you for it, is the gonner way!
Home |
The Most Recent (Mis)Adventure |
Notes |
E-ditorials |
Letters |
Fan-Art |
The Message Board |
The Store |
Links
Copyright © 2003
Dave Lerner Stories (note that to use the mailto you'll need to edit it in your 'send to' window. I apologize, but I've already lost one address to spam, and if I get inundated again, I won't have time to read your letters.) - All Rights Reserved. Note that this includes images of the Tricryptogon, and the name "Tricryptogon".