Uninstall part 11
Max
Max sat calmly in the restaurant, sipping at his coffee. It was so hard to believe he was here. With Liz.
That was simply amazing. He couldn't understand how he had gotten so lucky.
He was also shocked at how large a breakfast Liz had ordered. He watched as she ate with a determined grace. Isabel would never be caught dead eating such a large meal in public.
She used a napkin on her mouth and smiled up at him, "I told you they have good food. Pricy, but good."
Max nodded. But while the food was good he was much more interested in her. "Aren't you going to ask me questions?"
Liz raised a finger and finished the bite of food she had been eating. "You are alien, you don't know a lot about your past. You were born from a Pod when you were around six."
Max nodded. Right. She had already mentioned she could see the past easily. "You seem like you are taking this fairly calmly."
Liz shot him a wry glance, "Let's be honest here. You make more sense than I do. I was contacted by an alien entity, given the opportunity to make a wish, and then after I did I was turned into a magical warrior of justice!" She raised her fist and burst into giggles. "Oh, God, I find that whole thing so cheesy."
Max laughed softly, "So when you aren't a magical warrior of justice, what other hobbies do you have?"
Liz sighed, "Hobbies? Between work and school and fighting Witches? Seriously not a lot of time to have much of a social life." She looked off into the distance, "I have missed a lot Max. Even when I was with Kyle I didn't go to a lot of parties."
"Why Kyle?"
"He's fun and funny, when he isn't being a total ass that is." Liz rolled her eyes. She looked down, "I just wanted to have some fun before I died."
Max flinched. "Why do you keep saying that?"
Liz changed her ring into her Soul Gem. "I told you I can see the future, right?"
Max nodded. She was so beautiful. Even with her worried frown, the way her hair framed her face. The glow of her eyes….
"My dying is a good thing Max." She played with her food a little and softly continued, "If I become a Witch, I could very well doom the world."
Max reached across the table and touched one of her hands, "I will do what I can to protect you. I will do whatever you need me to."
Liz looked up at him sadly, "And if I told you that leaving me alone to my fate was the best thing you could do?"
Max shook his head, "I will not abandon you Liz. As long as I breathe, you are not alone." He took her hand and caressed it. "You are not alone, Liz. If you will allow it, I am here."
She rotated her hand and clasped his, "I don't need to die today. I, I want you to be here with me. Until the end."
Max felt as a part of him surged and he spoke what he KNEW with certainty. She was why he was here. She was the reason he drew breath. Life was colorless without her. "Until the End. And beyond."
The two of them stared into the others eyes.
Contact.
Her mind was different than any he had ever felt. And he could feel it entirely now.
It was alien. Not Human.
Not anymore anyway. Or maybe not entirely human? Max wasn't really one to judge. He wasn't fully human himself. And he could feel as a part of him he had always been aware of, a part of him that had always been there slumbering came awake.
It was Alien. And it was part of him.
And it was as infatuated with Liz as he was. It was that alien part of him that spoke next. "You can see me. Yes, I can feel it. Another has altered you. Changed you in ways that are deleterious to your continued long term well-being and existence as a member of your species. Even now you are less than human. Is this what you mean by it would be better if your existence was terminated?"
Liz looked away for a moment. "I am something that really shouldn't be. I am half a Witch. Maria saved me, saved most of me five months ago. But to me time is somewhat fluid. I experience not only the present but many of the futures that will occur in the next fifteen minutes concurrently. In some of those timelines, Maria didn't make it in time."
Max felt as he nodded. It was a strange thing, to be in your body and yet not fully in control. And yet he was not afraid. The being inside of him meant neither him nor Liz any harm.
In truth, it WAS him. Just the alien part.
It spoke, "And so hope turned to despair and the madness of your race overtook you."
Liz's lip quirked up, "So you think humanity is insane too, huh?"
"Yes. It is your strength and your weakness. Your ability to ignore reality and hope for something beyond normal optimal circumstances. It runs through your people, strongest in children naturally." It took a sip of coffee, "To be honest, it was why we attempted an invasion ourselves. I wonder…."
Liz gasped. "Kyubey confirms it. It was the Incubators that defeated your invasion. I, I don't fully understand how they did it. Something about concentrating entropy. Which is just insane." She shook her head and laughed, "Says the girl capable of magic speaking to an alien human hybrid."
It said, "I need to slumber. But know that like Max, I will do everything in my power to save you."
Her lips quirked up again, "Because the Incubators are your enemy?"
It shook its head, "No. Because we love you." Max felt as it fled back to the corners of his mind. He shook his head. "He is right. I don't know if I would have had the courage to say it. But… I do love you Liz."
Liz smiled and set the Soul Gem on the table. She reached out and held Max's other hand. "I think I told you last night how I feel." She shook her head, "If you truly want me, then this relationship is going to have to move fast. I don't want to die, but the longer I am alive the greater the risk that I will turn."
"Whatever it takes Liz. I will be there for you."
Somebody rapidly walked by their table.
Liz shot up, "Give that back. Give that back to me right now!"
Max turned and looked. Isabel. It was Isabel. And she was holding Liz's Soul Gem.
Liz chased her. Max followed.
Isabel had used her powers to lock the door on Liz. Liz tried in vain to open the door.
Max moved up, "Here let me try."
Liz crushed the door handle and ripped open the door. "No time. I need that back. Oh, not again. Not this again!"
Max paused for a moment. Had that been fear in Liz's voice?
Isabel was in their parents Sedan as she drove off.
Max ran to his Jeep, "Come on, get in. We can follow her."
Liz paid no attention and ran after the Sedan. One moment she was in her normal clothes.
Flicker, a white and silver dress, with a long white cape.
Flicker, the dress changed again, this time an even more fancy get up. But what caught his eyes was that the cloak split and became wings.
And Liz flew after the Sedan.
No one seemed to pay her any attention. Not one onlooker pointed out that a girl was flying.
Max shook his head and got into the Jeep and followed them.
