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Sorry about the absence. I hope to be back by September 15 October 6, with a full explanation. Or, at least, a decent excuse.
Banny blinked. His ears rang and he had spots in front of his eyes. It was just like a rock concert, except cheaper and it smelled better.
The three of them were covered in soot. Little black burning bits were everywhere. The explosion was bigger than Rosemary, the first gonner they had killed. But they were alive.
"We gotta get outta here!" Antonio's words slurred a little, but the Worthy Ones could hear the urgency. "When demon goo disappears... it leaves a slight residue. An oily residue. It burns easily. Gotta go."
Lissa said, "he's right, there is a residue. I can feel it on me. You two get to the car. I'm okay now, I'll be fully healed in a moment, and I wanna look around this place. Quickly!"
The fires were starting to spread. One person with a fire extinguisher could still stop them. But no one wanted to.
Banny said, "if you're covered in residue... besides, I can search faster."
"I'll shift it, you can't. And you can't sniff things out like I can." She became a cat, ran upstairs.
Banny picked up the Demon Tracker. "What did you have for breakfast, Cement-O's?" He sped up, tried to kick down the door. He only put his foot through a hole in the door and fell trying to get it back out. He extricated his foot, opened the door, and carried Antonio to the car.
Once inside, he saw Antonio looking worse. Looking pale. Banny took the other man's hand, and slowed the two of them down, to give them time. He was exhausted, but he did what he could. Then Lissa stabbed him in the shouder with a fingernail.
"Ow!" Banny shouted as he sped up to normal. "Whadja do that for?" He had been so slow he didn't even see her get in the car.
"I'm sorry! I didn't tap you that hard. Wha... you're bleeding from it?" Lissa was caked in smoke and soot. She had to keep shifting her lungs just to breathe. Like Banny, she was near the limit of her endurance. Or past it. Smoke seeped out the vents of the house, and through the windows reddish light could be seen dancing.
"I guess like when I'm fast things hit me with less force, when I'm slowed things get sharper. So be careful, 'cause that hurt!"
"We gotta get to the hospital."
"It didn't hurt that bad. It's just a scratch."
"I mean for Tony the Tiger there. And your other wounds. And if I don't get this smoke out of my lungs soon I'll be breathing it, and that might make me want to go back to smoking."
"DRIVE!! What are ya waiting for, drive!"
* * * * * *
Antonio sat in Nicoletta's apartment, with her and Mr. Fwuzzums. It had been three days since Vanessa exploded, and he still hadn't gotten his strength back.
Banny and Lissa finally arrived. How the hell could they be so late when they lived in the next apartment?
After an exchange of pleasantries, an offer and acceptance of drinks, and the mandatory 'how are you feeling's, they got down to business.
Mr. Fwuzzums began. "Cheng retrieved some valuable information from the house, including a diary. We have a new insight into gonner methods and techniques."
Nicoletta added, "the diary's not in Braille, of course, but the handwriting is impressed deep enough that I can read most of it. Also, it's in Spanish. Naturally I read Spanish, but I've still had to have Mr. Fwuzzums do much of the work."
By now, no one in the room was surprised the dog could read Spanish.
"The good news is Chanderes did not control the demons through charisma, or natural leadership, or by appealing to something in their higher or lower natures."
"It was her gonner power. She could control demons, tame them, just by being near them. The effect lasts about ten days, but she liked to meet with each group once a week, just to be safe."
"Antonio, a few of the demons are just about free of her influence. By this time next week, almost all will be. Then you can fight them as normal. O'Herlihy, please put that ridiculous game machine away. This next part involves you, too."
Go to Chapter 37: Game Over
Go to Chapter 39: La La La, I'm A Happy Cow
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!
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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".