Chapter VII
Unexplainable Explications
"You think I look like a bird, so you know the...animals, I think you call them?" she asked, trying to look important.
"Yes, how do you call them?" I could not help but ask.
"Do you know them?" she asked me with a piercing look.
"Yes, I know them," I replied in an annoyed tone.
"And these strange phenomena you told me about, do they often happen to you?"
I blinked. "Is it really necessary to have an explanation?" I asked curtly.
"Frankly, yes, it could seriously be."
Her expression was empty, the still puddle of her blue eyes did not let anything appear, preventing me from guessing whether she did care about me or not. But no matter, if she had never heard of the phenomena surrounding my family, I was in a good position to talk to her about it.
"... These strange things have been happening to me for as long as I can remember," I explained, looking at the ceiling, "Obviously, I can not really say that I've ever had control of what happened to me, but- "
"What do you mean?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Have you noticed changes in these phenomena over time?"
His dramatic seriousness about the situation would have been comical if we were not talking about such weird stuff.
"Well, to be honest, I admit that I have a little better understanding of these phenomena over time," I replied slowly, wondering since when it was me who had to answer questions and provide explanations. "But recently, there is one, in particular, that happens more and more frequently: you see, there are times when I find myself magically in a place far from where I was, a few moments ago I explained, it was as if I had gone so fast without realizing it before, but it was rare, but recently it has become more common to the point of being …ridiculous."
I wondered why I was ready to confide so much. I hardly ever talked about it, even to my brother and my mother. Even less to my father.
"Do these displacements that you talk about happen frequently?" the girl-bird asked me.
"No idea," I said, shrugging. "All I can say is that people outside my family think it makes me special."
She stared at me with her intense, deep look for a good while. If I had not seen so many quirks in the last few days, I would have been greatly disturbed at a bird face looking at me like that.
"It's very strange," she finally admitted looking at the floor as if she were going to plunge into another of her deep reflections.
I felt a little dropped; the last time she did that, she'd looked at me for five minutes and said nothing more than 'congratulations, you're not a mutant or something like that.'
I wanted to answer 'Seriously? I do not believe you," but even if I did not want to admit it, I was a little afraid of taking another energy-laden kick in my head.
The irritation must have appeared on my face, however, because she seemed embarrassed and quickly resumed her neutral air and official tone.
"So," she went on, "you do have a gift, an exceptional gift for an ordinary human. This should make my explanation easier. "
"I'm sure you've noticed that I'm very different from the birds you know in your world?" she asked and I answered with a simple nod. "Well, it's because those in my world are much more different - especially because I'm personally from a species that does not exist here: the Phoenix."
My eyebrows stood up alone. She did not notice the disbelief on my face and assumed that I was just surprised before continuing.
"It's true, I forgot that in your world, the Phoenix is a legend, but in mine, it's a kind of common bird. This world I come from is called planet R2: It's a world full of animals - as you call them - of the same type as me. Birds, canines, felines, mammals, fish, all types co-exist on this planet. "
"Another point to note is that I'm part of a government organization called STAR that is primarily responsible for making sure that R2's people stay safe, but is also aiming for something much bigger. Certain monsters - like the one I fought this afternoon - travel between the many planets that populate the universe to attack the weaker ones... Someone must stop them in order to keep the worlds safe. Who is doing this mission? We: STAR agents. "
"STAR agents are fury with special powers, people call it 'gifts'. To use it, the fury in question must use a special energy that lives in every living being."
"Fury like me who have a good energy level and are ready to face the danger are trained in special schools to learn how to use their powers to be part of STAR. STAR members use their energy to patrol our planet and others to go on missions, usually to make sure everything is at peace, but there is an obstruction in our quest: criminals and monsters. Despite all our years of hard work, there are still many who wander in the universe - from vicious criminals to extremely dangerous escapees, and monsters easy to stop to dangerous beasts who require a great force of strike to be stopped. "
"These are the closest thing to the term 'demon' that you humans are using, these criminals and monsters are the natural enemies of the STARs, and we have learned to use that special energy in us (at that moment, she raised a hand to create a small yet powerful flame) to fight the criminals and monsters and save as many lives as possible. This is why I came into your world. I am on a very important mission to neutralize monsters in the name of STAR," she finished, her face keeping the expression of an important person.
It looked like she was reciting a note memorized by heart... Maybe I imagined it, but her writing seemed slightly condescending.
Of course, it may have been because I did not like the explanations she had just given me because it sounded like pure bullshit.
There was a big hole in his story that kept it from being possible. Especially the fact that I managed to have a minimum of control over my funny phenomena. If what she was telling was true, why had I never seen monsters or talking animals before? Why was it entirely new to me?
"So," I said, crossing my arms and taking an expression from someone thinking, "you're a fury warrior of a world called Planet R2?"
I looked up at her for confirmation, my face showing a mocking expression. To my surprise, she did not even notice that my exaggerated air was to mock her. Instead, she just nodded, like a teacher who was given a good answer.
I vaguely wondered if it was a law in the STAR rules or god knows what to look stupid in someone else's world
"So, you come from a planet named R2?" I continued in a mocking tone, my eyes wide open, hoping I could piggy on what she had just told me.
She nodded again, her expression not changing in the least.
"And you're here to kill a bunch of evil monsters?" I sighed humorously, leaning forward in spite of myself and my eyes widening even wider.
She nodded one last time before getting up and putting on her jacket again.
"Wow," I mumbled in the most sincere tone I could take, "it's really cool..."
Then, all of a sudden, my mask fell and my anger at such condescending lies exploded. I got up as fast as my legs could and slammed my hand on the table.
"BUT YOU TAKE ME FOR A MORON OR WHAT?! GET THE HELL OUT OF MY ROOM!" I screamed with all the power of my lungs.
...I had kinda lost control over myself.
"OUT! OUT! GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" I shouted while throwing my arms around her and around the table.
His facial expression was shocked.
"W-Why?" she finally asked indignantly. "I just told you that I'm on an important mission-"
"I heard what you said!" I screamed, looking down at her. "And it's the most stupid thing I've ever heard!"
She looked at me with eyes wide open for a moment. I just had time to savor her facial expression before she looked indignified.
"You son of a... You believe in the supernatural but you refuse to believe in Fury?"
The way she asked it was as if she sincerely believed that the sky was blue on one side and red on the other. I briefly questioned my assumption that she was lying. That would not explain all the bullshit I saw this afternoon, but surely she could not tell me anything useful anyway.
Maybe she was really crazy.
"If the Fury and monsters really exist as you just told me, how come I've never seen them before, huh? These crazy things happen to me since I was a kid! I have never seen monsters or animal-humans on two legs! So how could they have always been right around me? " I asked, staring at her, refusing to believe such a thing.
"The fury and monsters are different!" she replied, narrowing her face. "They are discrete beings - in the majority of cases - and some humans see them only once in their life, at best! If you see us for the first time, it is only by chance "
I kept staring at her, trying to find a flaw in her logic, despite the fact that it was rather fitting.
"... Okay," I finally gave up. "Let's admit, in all goodness, that this story is supposed to be true, I still have no reason to believe you outside of a few things I've seen that could possibly explain everything, the fact that I do not know not enough on the subject to persist, and your own words. "
My mouth twisted then.
"That I'm not sure I want to believe, honestly."
Her eyebrows stuck in frustration.
"Do not you believe my words despite being clearly of a different kind that you have never seen?"
"There are millions of other possible explanations," I said on defense. "No, I do not believe you, you broke into my house!"
"Seriously, you're really hard on this detail!" she replied and I was surprised she did not give me the boot again.
"Of course, it's my fucking house!" I screamed in her face. "I have the right to a minimum of privacy!"
"But I'm a STAR officer on an important mission-"
"Oh, more of that bullshit-"
"And the duty of a STAR agent is more important than the privacy of one person!" she declared with anger and indignation. "People must be altruistic to help others like me to defend the universe!"
Seriously, was this girl able to think for herself instead of always bringing her back with her STARs and all her bullshit?
"That's exactly how dictators think!" I replied, my nose almost touching her beak.
"And what is it supposed to mean ?!" she shouted, standing on the tip of her toes to stay at my level.
"What, you do not have democracy, on your planet R2?"
She moved with embarrassment. I could not tell if it was because of my tone of voice or the fact that I had just implied that my world had something that hers did not have.
"We do not need it!" she defended herself, swinging her head upward, the feathers on her cheeks rustling, her hair shimmering from behind, causing her loud voice to echo in my ears. "We are an association leaning on keeping the balance in-"
"I know, I know, balance in the universe," I laughed again.
"Stop making fun of me!" she indignified herself again, standing up again.
But all my pessimism, dark and furious about the universe, was coming out of me and I could not stop it, even if I wanted it.
"Oh, is it now that you realize?" I screamed with my most sarcastic expression. "I HAVE BEEN MOCKING YOU FOR THE LAST TEN MINUTES!"
Her face was red (always been in fact) and furious, her little beak opening and closing several times, as if she could not form words that were pretty bad against me.
"W-Why are you so stubborn on being so difficult?" she finally asked, the pool of her eyes fluctuating with several emotions at once. "Why can not you be simple and reasonable like other humans?"
"Because I'm not stupid enough to believe your little game of superheroes," I chuckled. "However, I know that you are just a kind of abominable midget with a penchant for madness, crazy powers, and the ability to create fire with your hands! So you can get out of my house and leave me alone, right now!"
This last word echoed throughout my room before giving place to silence. The distant sound of my mother and brother playing a video game too loud on the floor below and my own deep breathing were all I heard for a moment, my violent emotion suddenly subsided. The bird-girl kept silently stared at me without moving or even blinking.
Then she opened her beak.
"... Unbreakable Fire Rings," she murmured.
Suddenly, three rings of fire appeared around me and pressed my arms to my sides, as if I were trapped between two stone walls. A fourth did the same thing to my legs and, before understanding what was happening, I found myself lying face-first on my own floor.
Completely lost, I tried to free myself by pushing my arms and my legs against those rings that did not burn me strangely. Obviously, it did not help. I did not know how, but her Rings of Unbreakable Fire held me as well as a snake would do with his prey before swallowing it all raw. I raised my head to give her a more than angry look.
"YOU CRAZY BITCH, WHAT DID YOU DO TO-"
I stopped immediately seeing her cold expression.
This time, she was in rage - a real rage, this time...and it was one of the most terrifying things I've ever seen in my life.
"You can call me crazy," she whispered venomously, "you can call me degenerate, you can even make fun of my feathers, but do not dare treat me...A MIDGET!" she shouted her last words like a war cry.
She jumped to the ceiling and landed her two feet directly in my back as if she wanted to crush a huge insect.
"I AM NOT SMALL! BUT THEN, NOT AT ALL! DESPITE WHAT YOU THOUGHT, I AM OLDER THAN YOU! I AM NOT A BUDDY ADOLESCENT, YOU UNDERSTAND?! I AM A FREAKING PHOENIX! YOU KNOW WHAT IT MEANS!? I AM SUPER-POWERFUL - ENOUGH TO LEAVE YOU AT MY MERCY! I AM NOT A MIDGET! I AM NOT SMALL! AND THAT DOES NOT CHANGE WITH MY PRESENCE, GOT IT?!"
I probably would have laughed hysterically to the idea that this so-called superheroine had problems with her size (and also the ability to scream louder than me)...but she was still jumping on my poor spine.
"OUCH! Stop jumping on me, you crazy seagull!"
"Shut up, I'd kill you, if it was not against the STAR code!"
"There's no STAR code!"
"And you're still stuck on that?!"
"Well, until now, you called me an idiot, immobilized me, and here you are, destroying my back! I guess it would be stupid to drop the argument now!"
There was a moment of silence during which we stopped completely, panting and glaring at each other from our respective positions. Then the bird-girl got off my back and walked to me, her expression empty and cold. I kept staring at her from the ground, ignoring the fact that I was completely helpless and scared.
Suddenly, the STAR created a flame with a faster hand movement that I could follow and positioned her head above me.
My eyes opened wide in panic, understanding what she was about to do, but I did not even have time to tell her to stop that she planted her hand into...
...something next to me?
I slowly turned my head to see better. Then, my eyes opened wide again.
Standing right next to me - we must have been so busy screaming at each other that we had not noticed his presence - was some sort of big, badly dressed bulldog with cheeks three times wider than mine and a belly FIVE times bigger than my father's. The bird-girl had just planted her hand into his chest.
Then she slowly withdrew her hand, leaving a bright flame mark in the middle of his chest that did not seem to hurt in the least. Suddenly, another flamboyant portal appeared behind this bulldog and I could feel his aura disappear...
The poor dog (human-dog, I should say) was shaking, tears of fear in his eyes and staring at the bird-girl who extinguished the flame in his hand. And, as I gazed at his calm and almost emotionless expression, which contradicted his clothes... As his body shone a little with energy, his fur seemed to bead with the little light in my room... For a moment, as he began to retreat alone in the portal behind him, I could feel the fear that was invading him.
"Pity," he whispered, begging her as if his connection with the world was going to disappear with him. "I do not want to go to jail."
She just looked at him in silence for a moment, her blue eyes completely calm. Finally, she finally decided to speak:
"Do not worry, sir. You will not go to prison; I'll just take you back to planet R2. You will see, you will be very happy there."
Then the dog-man crossed the portal, which closed again without making any noise. He was gone…
We now know a little more about this bird-girl and why she came to Jason's world. She also sent a bulldog back to her world, Planet R2. Will Jason ever believe her?
Also, no; Planet R2 is not a reference to R2-D2 before you ask me, okay?
