A Mosswood Production: Tenchi Muyo!: Tower of Roses Chapter Three: The Tower By: J. Bond Author's Notes: So far so strange. A junkie, an actor, a child, a waitress, a darkman, and two star-crossed lovers. Not to mention two little army men that aren't exactly sure what they're guarding. More dreams of a devil and a gunslinger. So what does it all mean? Well this chapter is for opening some doors and answering a few, not all but a few questions as the adventure slowly begins to gain speed. Warning: The following contains adult situations and adult language. Chapter Three: The Tower June 1 Japan Tenchi rolled in his bed. Dreams. Dreams he didn't want to have. Dreams that scared the shit out of him to tell the truth. But tonight was different. Tonight a strange dream came to him, not the usual, but something far different. The field, no not a field but an ocean of roses. Tenchi stood staring, knee deep in a sea of blood red flowers. There was something off in the distance, far away. The clouds over head seemed to be floating towards it on a blanket of air. Tenchi paused, this is a dream, I can feel it. He began to walk, taking each step with care, being deliberate in his placing. Sweat appeared on his brow even though there was no heat. Come to think of it there was nothing. No wind, no heat, no cold, no moisture. Tenchi lifted his head and looked around. He was probably a good three or four miles away from whatever it was the clouds were going towards but he could make it. In dreams you could do anything. His legs picked up again and he walked on this time a little faster. He could feel something out in the roses. Something watching him, maybe even the roses themselves, it was hard to tell. Every time his foot hit the ground he expected a clawed and snarled hand to snake out of the ground, in between the thorns and roses, grabbing his legs. Pulling him down into the ground. But nothing ever came. Ever step lifted up and ever step went down. He moved with silent determination towards whatever it was. He wasn't sure how many hours had passed but after all it was a dream wasn't it? It was a Tower, he was sure of that now. It arched up into the sky and buried itself in the clouds. From here now they clouds looked like they were filled to their bellies with rain. They swirled around the top of the Tower in a twisted spiral. The Tower was massive, spanning higher than he could see. Large windows had been carved into gray muddy stone that built it. A small path could be seen from where Tenchi stood. It's beaten path twisting through the ocean of roses till it planted itself at a large iron gate that seemed to beckon to him. Tenchi suddenly had a strange vision of walking up to the Tower and standing before the gates where a small sign would be hanging. Bent and crooked with age only five words would be scrolled upon it. Abandon all ye hope here. Tenchi suddenly laughed. Wouldn't that just be the finally knock out? He walked on. Feet cutting threw the thick undergrowth of flower. Suddenly the flowers ended, just stopped and a wide path of dirt lay before him. Tenchi looked up, he could almost peer into the windows from where he stood and something scared him. Watch out for those hands. They belong to him. Suddenly hundreds of hands darted out from in between the bushes of flowers. What the hell?!? Tenchi danced and almost fell over onto the path. Thousands, maybe even millions of hands were waving madly into the air from the flowers. Tenchi spotted one that was giving him the finger, another was holding some kind of axe, but the last one he saw made his blood run cold. The hand was holding something lumpish, a head. Tenchi focused his eyes, please god no, don't show me who I think it is or I'll go mad right here. God didn't answer. The twisted hand turned and showed him what it held. Ryoko's head was sitting firmly in it's palm. An expression of shock on her face. Hold on, hold on, just don't scream. For a fleeting moment he knew that if he screamed he would be gone forever. Sanity would just simply jump out of his head and land in his lap waving at him. "They want you to be scared. It's best you don't pay attention to it." A voice said. Tenchi jerked and suddenly warm liquid ran down his leg. He spun around to see not the Darkman but the other, the cowboy, the gunslinger. His face looked old, prematurely lined. His hands were shoved in the pockets of his beaten leather jacket and a small shadow had been cast over his pale eyes from his hat. "Who are you?" Tenchi stuttered the words, while trying to convince himself that he hadn't just pissed his pants. "You know who I am. But for the sake of repetition we'll go through introductions." The man smiled and bent his head. The hands were waving more and more madly in the air now, seeming to realize what was around them or near them. "Roland." Tenchi turned his head slightly looking back at hands, most were saluting the middle finger at the gunslinger while others were making jack off gestures in the air. "Roland. I've dreamed of you." "Yes, I know that, and you've dreamed of the other too, haven't you?" Loki turned his head down and took off his hat. Short black hair was hidden beneath it, small highlights of gray intertwined. Tenchi stared at him and then slowly nodded, the other. "Those hands are his aren't they?" "Yes, well at least the one's he controls." Roland paused and then moved towards the Tower. "You've dreamed of this too haven't you?" Tenchi looked up at the massive tower. The pregnant thunder clouds swirled around it faster and faster. Lighting flew occasionally from the clouds to the Tower. Fingers of bright whit reaching towards it. Roland began walking at a slow pace and Tenchi followed. "Do you know what this it?" Tenchi asked. "Yes, and no. I have some idea of what it is but not a clear idea of what's inside it." Roland kicked a small pebble from the path into the flowers. A hand picked it up and then threw it back. The rock was flying straight for Roland, dead center and then something happened that Tenchi wouldn't have believe unless he had seen it himself. The rock slowed down and the arched around the gunslinger before resuming it's course. Roland laughed, "This is the Dark Tower, from what I've been told and what I believe this is the nexus for the universe." Tenchi stopped and looked again. "It looks pretty shitty for being some kind of holding peace then." "That's exactly right. It's falling apart." Roland turned towards him, the heavy revolvers on his hips sitting cris- cross. "What do you mean it's falling apart?" Tenchi squinted his eyes as another bolt of lighting came thunder down from above. "It's coming unglued at the seems. Right now it's just small things but when it falls all the way down every is going to move on." Roland grimaced and then produced a small hand rolled cigarette from a small knapsack that hung from his shoulder. A small match appeared in his hand and he struck it on his boot heel. The flame blazed a reddish yellow before dying out. The Gunslinger took a drag from his smoke and then let the smoke sneak out his nostrils. "Once this Tower falls all the universes not just yours, are going to decay. Things are going to fall apart and eventually just tapper off. Not with a bang though. It'll take centuries in some places and days in others. The Tower pays no attention to time, but eventually everything will come undone. Like I said, not with a bang, but a whimper." Tenchi stared at him. "What are you talking about?" Roland took a single shell from his belt and then handed it to Tenchi. "Just watch out for the next few weeks. And pay attention to that-" ***** Tenchi screamed and then flung himself upright. Sweat stung his eyes and drizzled over his body. His breathing came out in ragged chops. What the hell. A dream, that's right a dream. Ryoko lay beside him not making a sound. She shivered slightly and he throw his blanket on top of her. She let out a small moan of pleasure and then went silent. Tenchi ran his hands through his hair and then flung his feet over the side of the bed. His left foot hit something cold. No don't do it. You know what it is don't confirm it. Tenchi lifted his foot and even in the low early morning light he could tell what it was. A large bullet shell was laying on the ground, rolling softly from side to side and the words ran out in his head. This is the Dark Tower. ***** June 2 USA Terry flicked the cigarette but out the window and pulled the keys out of the ignition. They jingled in his hand before finally being silenced inside his pocket. Instead of getting out though he sat in his car. He had made it all the way to Missouri in almost record time he thought. Jetting down the highways at mock speed it was a miracle that he had never been pulled over. It had also been 48 hours since he last slept though. His eyes were bloodshot and heavy bags hung beneath them. He pulled out a small bag of twinkies and stared at the house across the street. His sister lived in this house still, at least he thought so. It had been seven years since he had seen his sister, and it had been at this house. He got a card occasionally from her during the holidays but all in all he didn't pay much attention to her. He never really wanted to have a connection with her. She had always been the smart one, the one that his parents had adored. So why are you coming back then? The thought suddenly made him jump. Why was he coming back? It was almost like a slap in the face. Hi I haven't known you were alive for the last seven years but hey let me in I need to stay with you for awhile. The thought made him laugh, but it wasn't funny. The laugh was more on a border line of insanity then commedias. He downed one twinkie but saved the other, wrapping it in the plastic and slipping it into his coat pocket. He was still wearing the same clothes as he had when he fled. They smelled and over all he did too. Now you know what a bum feels like Terry. He laughed again, the same kind of laughter as before. Your losing your mind. Taking a breathe he opened the car door and stepped out. He walked across the street and began his slow trek up the walkway. His heart was beating at almost a mile a minute. Something was going to happen. She would slam the door in his face, not even answer it. Maybe she wasn't even home. Suddenly he was at the front door, hands sweaty and heart off-beat. He straightened his hair the best he could and then quickly knocked on the door. He waited, the strain overwhelming. The skin around his eyes seemed to be pulled tight and it felt like his eyes were bulging out of their sockets. A funny image came into his mind of his sister answering the door to see him standing with his eyes hanging out of his head by two small stalks of corded nerves. This time he didn't laugh. His stomach turned over and he knocked again. His eyes turned to the knob and suddenly caught sight of a small note that was tapped over the knob. He tore it off and read it quickly. Jack- I left for the day with Gina, I'll be back around nine o'clock, if you get home before I do please take out the laundry. Robert is spending the night over at Bobby's and Holly is spending the night over at Carla's. We'll be alone tonight so don't fall asleep early tiger. -Your loving Wife Connie Terry's stomach turned. The thought of his sister having sex made him sick. He managed to stick the note back onto the door as best he could and then turned around. He suddenly felt very tired. His back leaned against the door and he slid down it. He sat on the porch his legs out in a flying V. Looking around he pulled the last twinkie out and began to eat it. After the second bite he made the mistake of looking down at it. White cream trickled out of the sides between the yellow foam cake. His stomach turned again. Stop thinking about that kiddo! He tossed the rest of it behind a nearby bush and then without warning his eyes closed and didn't open. He slept silently on the porch his back to the door until Connie Deschain came home that evening and almost fainted with shock at seeing her brother. ***** June 2 Fallon coughed up a mouthful of blood and then spit it over the side of the bed. Her lungs were on fire and her stomach was playing volleyball with the Big Mac she had just eaten. Off in the corner she could hear (sense) something moving. Her eyes darted over and she caught sight of a small cockroach scurrying over the floorboards of the motel. Carefully she scanned her surroundings. The room was dilapidated to say the least, but for ten bucks a night what better could you get? The shakes were coming back again and vaguely Fallon remembered a time when she had been clean. Those were the days sister. Those were the days. Her spiky red hair shot out in angles that didn't seem possible. What had happened last night? The memories were coming back in short bursts like fireworks. Quietly without word she slipped her hand into her pocket and pulled out two twenties. The memories came back all the way now. That fat man from the plane. He had taken her out for a drink and she had, what had she done? You didn't do anything. That's right, he had given her the number for this place. Last night he had showed up unexpectedly and somewhat in a prophetic way. For the last two days she had been begging for money almost, she had gotten down to her last three dollars. She remembered sometime in the evening thinking that it was possible to eat yourself and still live. She had been so hungry and then the image of her dead baby came to her saying, "You can eat me Mommy! You killed me already what's the difference?" That thought had sent her sailing to the dirty bathroom to empty her lunch out. About an hour later the fat man had shown up, what was his name? Walter, that was it. He had knocked on the door and Fallon had opened. Then he had made a small suggestion, forty bucks a fuck. Fallon remembered that part quite clearly. She cringed, he had smelled like alcohol and what had happened after that? Fallon searched and searched through fried brain cells and dead nerves. He had taken her out to get something to eat and then got her drunk. No not just drunk but to the point were she had passed out later on that night. They had gone back to the motel and he had paid for the bill that night. She remembered the details after this part in a very vague manner. He had handed her forty dollars and then mounted her from behind. Fallon cringed again, yes that was right. Then after he was done he left without a word. After he left she had puked till she thought her intestines would come out in a steaming pile of sausage links. "Fuck..." Fallon sighed and laid back down on the bed. It smelled like gin and vodka, she was sure of that. So far she had fallen off the liquor wagon but she was holding onto the wings of the cold heroin turkey quite firmly. A beatles song suddenly floated through her head: In the town where I was born, Lived a man that sailed to see, And he told us of his life, In the land of submarines, So we sailed off into the sun, Till we found a sea of green. Well I haven't exactly sailed to sea but I sure have sailed somewhere. I think the town name is Your Fucked. Fallon let out a squeal of laughter and wrapped her arms around her head. Ten dollars a night, forty dollars, forty divided by ten, without food I have four nights left. Her laughter grew till it began to bubble from her throat. How many days is it you can go without food if you have water? She laughed harder. Maybe I can drink cactus water or catch me a rabbit down yonder! Her laughter turned into tears. Why? Why does this have to happen? I just wish everyone would die. Jack-knife...in your sweaty hands. So kind of innocence is measure out in years, some kind of happiness is measured out in miles, what makes you think your something special when you smile? She was laughing and crying at the same time when a knock came on the door. That fat man? What's his name? Walter, yeah, Walter. Fallon lifted herself up from the bed and turned towards the door. A strange feeling came over her. Jimmy, he would be behind that door, holding their dead baby in his arms. No that's not possible it's just a dream. Isn't it? Her heart jumped a beat for a second and sweat stood out on her brow. (Wigwam frightened of the dark, some kind of solitude is measured out in you, you think you know me but you haven't got a clue.) Slowly she moved towards the door, the knocking grew louder. Fear was tensing her muscles. He's dead, the babies dead, they can't come back. Suddenly Fallon straightened. That was right, they were dead and she was alive. Dead people can't get up and move around. Suddenly Fallon let out another column of laughter. Her hand wrapped around the knob and she turned it. The door swung open and standing there was Jimmy. One eye hanging from it's socket by a thick strand of nerves. In his arms was a small limp bundle of flesh that beared some resembled to a baby. A small syringe was sticking out of it's chest. Fallon's eyes suddenly bulged. And she screamed. She flailed her arms out backwards and something hard hit her face. She couldn't move, she tried to back pedal but something was caught around her, something was pulling her down, something like a- -bed sheet was wrapped around. Fallon lifted her head up and stared. She had fallen off the bed and was tangled in the bed sheets. Somehow she had fallen asleep and had another horrible nightmare. She looked at the clock it was two in the afternoon, she must have just passed out for a nap. She took a deep breathe in and almost choked on it. Tears began to run down her face. I can't take much more of this, she thought. ***** June 2 USA The hummer was pulled over on the side of the road and David Murphy was throwing his arms madly into the air. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE WE GONNA DO?!?" John Reckmore paid no attention and turned up the army scanner. He could hear people shouting but with David in the background it was hard. Quickly he shut the door and turned the volume up to full. His blood ran cold. The following is a radio transmission as originally broadcast from the special Army band 52A: "-we have to get the fuck out of here man! They're gonna come get us man! What the hell-" "-This is Robert Darrings, Commander of Operation White Rabbit. We fucked up, there's an accident. Something I don't know how, something was in the roadway, a guy, no wait-I don't know it was something. The tanker flipped over and the other two crashed into us. There's leaks, everywhere. The first tankers busted, the second one is crack and the third one got the worst, it's ripped in half. Jesus Christ I don't know what to do. Somebody pick up, anybody. We need help, it's wiping out everyone. The flu or whatever it is, is killing all of us here. I'm on a respirator but I think it's getting me. Jesus we fucked up. Someone please, someone please tell my wife I love her. Please someone just answer FUCK! FUCK! Everyone's going crazy. Private Williams just iced half other the second trucks crew. Oh fuck, oh fuck I don't know what to do! JESUS SOMEBODY TAKE HIM DOWN! NO GET AWAY! I AM THE OVERLORD! BOW DOWN This is Major Tommery I am now taking over the forces left from the accident Background Voices: Come on baby give me a some loving.......I can't see anything......I want to go home, mama.......Get that fucking radio out of here dammit... TRANSMISSION STATUS: TERMINATED David Murphy was shaking, no he was falling apart. His arms were limp and moist from sweat. He could hear the whole transmission from outside the car. John had pumped it that loud. The large man came out of the car. His face was white and his lips were trembling. He held a small plastic rectangle in his hands. David stopped yelling and stared at him. He took the plastic card from his hands and read what was printed: BREAK OPEN AND READ INCASE OF ACCIDENT. David snapped the card and pulled out the small white slip of paper. Two simple sentences were written on the card. TERMINATE ALL SURVIVORS. TERMINATE YOURSELF. David screamed and dropped it. John bent down and read it and his face suddenly went flat. It looked like someone had taken a brick and smashed it into his face. "What do we do?" David suddenly asked. John read the slip again and then tossed it away. "We do what it says." His voice was far away as were his eyes. "WHAT?!? YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS?!?" David started mumbling to himself but John couldn't tell what. "We do what it says." John turned and then grabbed David by the arms. John was a big man capable of putting almost anyone out. He shoved David into the hummer and then boarded the drivers side. His head was racing. The only answer seemed to be the one on the card. The Hummer peeled off the side of the road and then pulled a U-turn and started heading backwards. They drove for thirty minutes before they saw the wreck. It was off in the distance somewhat, about a mile, smoke was coming up and random gunfire would spurt off into the air. John floored it and then watched as it got closer and closer. He stalled the car when they were only a few meters from the front fender of the first truck. John drew his sidearm and then looked at David. David was far off his eyes wide and blank, he was mumbling something but John couldn't tell what. The sentences kept running through his mind. TERMINATE ALL SURVIVORS. TERMINATE YOURSELF. He stepped outside and moved around the side of the Hummer. The wind was blowing his way but that didn't bother him. He looked and almost threw up. A litter of bodies were scattered beside the metal of the broken tanker. They were all dead. Their eyes were swollen shut and their necks were black and blue, vomit was laying around them. A small sound suddenly came to his ears. Footsteps, footsteps of a drunk. He turned and looked forwards, a man was stumbling along the road, his face swollen and matted with vomit. A large rifle was hanging from one hand. Terminate all survivors. Terminate yourself. John Reckmore leveled his service revolver and then fired. The man's head exploded in a fountain of blood and gore. John Reckmore had killed his first man. It took forty minutes for him to check everywhere around the tanker and bodies. He killed five more after the first, pumping shell after shell into their bodies. His head hurt and in the last forty minutes he developed a small cough. That wasn't a problem it was the smoke that's what it was. Not whatever those guys got. He spent twenty minutes double checking bodies and randomly firing into a few that still looked living. He walked back to the car and sat in the seat. He knew what was next, the worst part. He loaded a new clip into his pistol and then his head exploded against the drivers side window. David Murphy was trembling, pistol in hand. Sometime during the last hour he had snapped out of his trance and realized what was happening. His partner was doing what was on the paper. He was going around killing the survivors and when he got back he plained to kill him and then himself. When he heard the shots getting closer he had flipped the safety and pushed the gun under his shirt aimed in the general drivers side direction. When he had heard the footsteps of John he pretended to go back in his trance. Then John had entered the car and David had waited till he was reloading to fire. "Jesus Christ they'll be here soon." David said blankly. That was standard operating procedure. Come and make sure the job had gotten done. Well whatever had gone wrong someone had fucked up royally and he didn't want to be a part of it. He wasn't going to die for something he didn't know anything about. Moving quickly he pushed John out of the door and what was left of the window. It smelled like copper in the car. Like dead flesh. The wind was blowing his way and his hair billowed in it. Quickly he popped the Hummer into four wheel drive and then peeled out into the dessert. He was going to escape. That was all there was to it. An hour later he peered into the rear view mirror and thought he saw someone sitting in the back. Someone with no face, grinning. Three hours after that he reached a gas station out in Nevada. Stopping for gas he infected the gas pump attendant and then register girl with perky tits. He got back into his car and moved on eastwards. Trying to escape. And the whole time he paid no attention to the cough or the occasional sneeze. He was driving down a desolate highway when at seventy when he sneezed and out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw a small rose near the road. **** June 3 Japan Itsuko Nagami leaned back in her chair and tried to clear her head. They were closed and she was about ten minutes away from leaving the dinner. She was the only one there and for some reason she liked that. Your a loner baby. She laughed at the thought and then a hand snaked up and unbuttoned her blouse. Her hand went inside her shirt and she pulled down her bra strap, carefully she felt her breasts. No lumps. Thank God. For a moment she thought she felt something. Like a madwoman she stripped of her top and ran to a mirror her breasts giggling. She ran to the nearest mirror and looked at her breasts in them. No, no lumps, just got too nervous. Looking around she put her bra back on and rebuttoned her blouse. Whoever that man had been she thought he was the devil. Something about the way he said it made her think it was going to be true. Well actually it seemed more like it was HIM then anything he said. He could have said that her penis would rot off and she would have believed even though she was a woman. The guy was just...so...creepy. If there was a devil he was it. She was sure of that. Carefully she sat down and stared at the TV. Little did she know that the day before a tanker had spilled over and let loose some kind of deadly virus. Somewhere outside she thought she saw someone, a man, maybe the same man walking by. She shivered and turned off the TV. God help me I'm losing my mind. To be Continued...