Water, Water Everywhere
Disclaimer: I do not own Emma Peel or John Steed. Enjoy!
Previously: For the first part of this two parter, check out the Avengers group in the TV shows section. But if you're too lazy I'll catch you up to speed.
Emma and Steed have been invited to a party hosted by Miko Kinju. A scientist famed for his research turning water into a brainwasher. On the way to the party Emma sees two men dragging something in a white bad away. And again we see Steed and Emma on their way to the party, but Emma and Steed are talking about recent events, namely the weather and Sir August. At Kinju's mansion Emma and Steed are surprised that the party is going well. And again we see them at the mansion, but James, the butler has been shot! I guess we can't blame it on him, can we? What's with the duality here you ask? Just read and you'll find out! Enjoy!
The foyer/aquarium and ballroom was one thing. But the view outside was just as marvelous as everything else that made up the mansion.
Emma Peel was overwhelmed. She might actually like this party, despite the unpopularity of it's host.
Even madmen have good taste suppose, she thought.
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Kinju and Steed had taken Jame's body into the mansion from a side door. A servant's door that was well hidden into the building's architecture. It's wasn't that far from the main entrance, but unnoticeable. It led into the kitchen where they laid the body.
Tabitha Ghames, the woman in the red dress had suggested phoning the police.
"What!? Not! Nothing can be ruined!" was Kinju's reply.
Emma stepped forward. "But he's been shot! And the killer's still out there!"
"The police would only mess everything up. I have my own bodyguards that will suffice," their host said. Suddenly there was a knock on the door that they had used just minutes ago.
Kinju cautiously opened the door.
A Negro woman in white pants and white shirt stood there. She also wore a silver belt and her was up in an afro.
There seemed to have an aura of authority around her.
"Who are you?" asked Kinju.
She looked at him, then at James' body. "You can call me Wanda."
"Well, Wanda, you're on private property! Please go!" Kinju said angrily.
"Mister Miko Kinju is it?" She asked. "I have reason to believe that a escaped criminal is on your premises."
Kinju threw up his arms. "That is ridiculous! Besides, you're not even with the police are you? No, the police wouldn't wear such ridiculous clothed as that!"
Wanda took a step into the kitchen. "I was hired by a secret investor."
Kinju was getting furious. "That still doesn't give you the right to be here!"
He was fuming! He reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a pistol.
Tabitha, Emma and Steed were flabbergasted. The chef had walked in with an empty tray of munchies. He dropped the tray in horror and ran.
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Emma and Steed were having a delightful time. There were several other scientists there as well, who secretly admitted that they also were enjoying themselves. When all of the sudden, the chef ran out into the ballroom, from the kitchen entrance.
"He's got a gun! A gun!!" he yelled.
Tabitha ran up to him, followed by Steed and Emma.
"What? Who has a gun?" Tabitha asked.
The cook looked around wildly, as if he was confused. Everyone was crowding around, curious.
"Him!" he yelled, pointing to Kinju, who had made his way to the front of the crowd.
He turned to Emma and Steed. "But, you were there too! How is that possible.
Steed chuckled. "But we've all been in here. Kinju, Emma and I have all been in here."
The plump chef promptly fainted.
"Oh, my," Emma sighed.
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As soon as the gun was in sight, Emma was moving. She kicked, hitting Kinju's hand, knocking the gun across the kitchen.
The crazed man started to run. He knocked Tabitha to the ground and made way for the door to the outside. As he reached for the door handle, Wanda grabbed him.
"Get off of me!!" he screamed.
Tabitha got up. "What is your problem!?"
Kinju swung at Wanda, but she easily ducked. She quickly jabs him in the stomach. While he clutched his abdomen she grabbed and pulled on his ear.
"Now is not a good time for this! Things have gotten far too out of hand!" She scolded him.
"Ooww! That hurts!"
She glared down on him. "It'll hurt more if you try that again."
"I'm glad that's over," Tabitha whispered to Emma.
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Even though no one believed the cook, they had heard someone in the kitchen. Emma and Steed would barge into the kitchen the way the cook had made his hasty exit. Kinju would go outside and enter, from the outside exit.
"Ready, Mrs. Peel?"
"Always, Steed!"
They both had guns at the ready. They swung the door open, ready for anything. But The kitchen was empty.
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And, then BAM!
Someone outside and fired in on them.
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The bullet struck the wood next to Steed's head.
Emma and Steed ducked down, behind a counter.
More bullets were crashing through the windows.
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Steed and Emma were the first to get to the ground. Wanda pulled Kinju down with her. But Tabitha stayed standing, frozen, looking out the window.
"Miss, get down!" Steed yelled.
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Emma was startled too.
"Steed! I think I just saw James out there!"
He gave her a strange look.
"I'm not crazy! He's the one shooting at us!"
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"He is!" Tabitha yelled. Steed and gotten her to hide, barely missing getting shot.
Emma looked at her skeptically. "Who?"
"It's Kinju!" She said adamantly.
"But I'm right here you twit!" he hissed.
She glared at him. "Don't call me a twit!"
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And just as it started, it ended. An eerie silence overtook the kitchen.
Steed gestured for them to get back into the ballroom. They both ran for the door and ran out of the kitchen.
Tabitha was there before them. "What happened? We heard gunfire!"
Kinju walked back in.
"I know this is going to sound crazy," Emma said. "But I saw James, firing at us through the window!"
"Why, how silly! You're as confused as that daft cook! James has been here with the entire time!" Tabitha said nonchalantly.
"And I didn't see anybody out there," Kinju added.
"But that doesn't explain the gunshots. You were out there, you should've seen something! Unless, it is you who shot at us," Steed interjected.
Kinju laughed. "That is absurd! I went out there, saw that there was no one in there and came back."
Both Steed and Emma and Steed didn't believe him. Emma especially. She believed that she had seen James out there, but she also believed that their host was lying. It was all too confusing.
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Steed and Wanda had both checked, and their mysterious attacker was gone. Mysterious at least, if you chose not to believe Tabitha.
"I know what I saw!" Tabitha said angrily to Kinju.
Steed had tried to ignore their argument, but it had him thinking. What was going on? What if Tabitha was right and Kinju, another Kinju had shot at them? More then likely the attacked resembled Kinju and in the confusion and surprise of the attack, she had only thought she had seen him shooting at them.
He brought it up and wasn't surprised at the woman's reactions.
"I saw Kinju out there! I don't know how, but it was him!"
She certainly sure of what she had seen.
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Very certain indeed.
Steed respected Emma immensely, but if everyone in the ballroom was sure that James hadn't left then there was a strong possibility that she had been mistaken.
"Even in light of recent events I propose a toast!" Kinju called out.
It was met with cheers of agreement from the guests. Servers had already circulated with trays of glasses.
Emma noticed that instead of a fine wine or champagne, the glasses were filled with water.
"To second chances and new beginnings!" said Kinju. He raised his glass and everyone, except Steed and Emma, echoed. They all believed that Miko Kinju wasn't the man they thought he was.
There was silence as everyone drank. Emma was about to take a sip when Steed stopped her. He poured his drink into the floral arrangement on the nearest table. Emma, confused, followed his lead.
A glass slipped from someone's hands and crashed into the ground. Emma was startled. No one seemed concerned. Everyone was just standing there. She looked at Steed.
"Play along," he mouthed.
Everyone was in a trance. Then it hit her. Kinju's research in turning water into a way to brainwash people. The perfect way to trap the people. Pour into the area's drinking water. Why not use it on society's best? If Kinju brainwashed them into recommending that he get funding, and God only knows what else, then he could have whatever he wanted.
"Listen fools," said Kinju. Everyone was in a trance except him James and Tabitha. The waiters looked they had been brainwashed already. "You all do as I command. Then I will be unstoppable!"
Unstoppable, Emma thought, if we weren't here.
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By now, the rest of the guests at the party had found out that one of Kinju's butler's had been killed. That and the fact that the murderer was still out there and he wasn't done killing. Everyone, except Steed and Emma had left. The mysterious Wanda had just disappeared and Kinju had even calmed down a bit.
"We will not leave until we have stopped whoever the murderer is," Steed informed them.
"Do not bother yourself! We can handle it!" Tabitha assured him.
"That's insane. I insist we stay," interjected Emma.
Tabitha was getting as desperate as Kinju. Only, not for the same reason, it seemed.
"Yes! Just go!"
Steed and Emma exchanged looks. "Well, if you insist ..."
She almost yelled. "I do!"
Steed shrugged. "Then we will leave the situation in your hands."
Steed and Emma walked out of the mansion and to his car.
As he started the engine Emma said, "I can't believe we're just leaving!"
He smiled at her. "You actually believed that? I believe I have a hunch on what's going on."
They drove out of the driveway and onto the road. But then he pulled the car off onto the side of the road. They got out and sneaked back to the mansion, through the woods.
They reached the edge, near the house. They could see Tabitha at the doors of the mansion.
"Now what?" Emma asked.
A twig snapped behind them. Emma and Steed turned to see James pointing a gun at them.
He was about to squeeze the trigger when ...
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"Listen carefully my new slaves," Kinju said loud and clear.
Steed reached into his coat for his gun.
"Steed!" Tabitha yelled pointing at him.
Kinju also saw and was reaching for his gun. Emma raced forward knocked the gun out of his hand. Kinju punched her and she fell back. She quickly got up, but Kinju and James had gone to get Steed. Her only opponent was Tabitha.
"You won't ruin our plans!" Tabitha sneered. She clumsily lashed out at Emma. Emma grabbed her hands, pulled her in and kneed her in the gut. Tabitha Ghames fell over subdued.
Steed wasn't having it so lucky. Kinju had Steed around the neck, while James was punching him.
"Two against one? That's not very fair," Emma said pulling James away.
"What took you so long my dear?" asked between gasps for air. Steed took advantage of the situation and threw Kinju over his shoulder. He landed on the ground with a THUD. Emma had been pushed back, hard into Steed.
"I was bust over there you know!" she said.
The sound of a gun's safety being turned off averted their attention to James. He stood pointing a gun at them.
He was about to squeeze the trigger when ...
* * *
The three of them had arrived at about the same time Emma and Steed had. One in a T-shirt with "23" on it. One in a nun's costume, cut from halfway down the thigh and from waste to chest. And the third in a white pant/shirt outfit and an afro.
"Let's do this," the woman with the afro said.
"We're ready!" the one in the shirt said enthusiastically. Which was fairly uncharacteristic for him.
* * *
A furry manlike creature leapt at James. His gun went flying. James grabbed the creature by it's neck and threw it against a tree. Emma barely had time to notice that it looked like a wolf-man of some sorts. He wore a yellow shirt and jeans. She was even more surprised at what happened next.
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The shot fired. Only not from James' gun. From somewhere else. The bullet knocked the gun out of his hands.
"What!?" he yelled in frustration.
A black woman in a white outfit had a silver gun pointed at him.
Tabitha and Kinju had regained consciousness and had gotten up.
"Don't take another step," the woman said.
Tabitha didn't listen and made a break for it. The woman fired twice. Tabitha stopped dead in her tracks. No blood, no wounds. Her dress fell to the ground. The bullets had broke the straps on her shoulders. She stood there in her panties, and no bra. She covered herself as best as she could and blushed a dark red.
Kinju was furious. "Who are you!?"
The woman smiled. "You can call me Yowanda. Now hit the floor sleazebag!"
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James reached for his gun. Steed tried to get it before he did, but was unsuccessful. He pointed the gun at Steed's face, smiling.
An unearthly screech came from the trees above them. It made the hairs on Steed's neck stand up.
Something with demonic wings and a tail and a mangled nun's suit dropped in from above. She landed on her feet and kicked the gun away. She grabbed James' hand and pulled him up. She smiled evilly.
"Get off of me!" he yelled.
The other creature staggered up. "What took you so long Dimi?" it asked.
She turned to face him. "You looked like you were having fun fur ball."
Gunshots fired from within the mansion.
"I guess that's out cue, Kayne," Dimi said dragging James behind her, headed for the mansion.
"Come on!" Kayne said following her. Steed and Emma followed.
In the sunlight, Emma would've thought that the demonic looking creature should have burst into the flames.
At the steps of the mansion, the door flung open and Tabitha faced them with a gun.
"You fool! couldn't you kill them!?" She glared at James, then looked at Dimi and Kayne confused. "Who the hell are you?"
Dimi held out her hand.
"Inversion!" she said. A beam shot out of her hand and hit Tabitha, square in the chest. Everything Emma could see through it were different colors. Inverted, she thought. Tabitha went flying back inside.
"Come on," Dimi said. Kayne followed her into the mansion. Steed and Emma felt compelled to follow her. What was going on? How did these strange ... people play into this? How come James was alive?
They walked across the glass floor, several exotic fish swam beneath their feet. Dimi kicked the doors to the ballroom open.
Emma gasped. There were all the guests in some sort of trance. What startled her the most was that there was also another Emma Peel, John Steed, James and Tabitha already in here. Though this Tabitha was practically naked. Kinju and the woman, Wanda, were also here.
"Hey, Yowanda! We got 'em!" Dimi yelled.
She turned to them. "Good job team."
The two Steeds and Emmas were facing each other now.
"You can't be real!" the Emma form outside said.
"But I am! It's you who can't be real!" said the other one.
"I must admit. This is interesting," Steed said while examining his other self.
The Emma from outside grabbed Steed. "Not again! It's clones! It has to be clones again!"
"Calm down Mrs. Peel," her Steed said. "I'm sure there's a logical explanation."
Tabitha, that Dimi attacked with her inversion, came running in. The two Tabitha's saw each other and fainted.
Dimi tossed James to the ground. He looked up to see himself.
"Oh my god!" he whispered.
"Tabby!" yelled the nervous Kinju as he came running in. "I heard gunshots! What-"
When he saw his double, and everyone else with there's he stopped dead in his tracks.
"Yes, what! "What the bloody hell is going on!" yelled the not so frightened Kinju.
"I believe you all deserve an explanation," Yowanda said. "OK. I'm sure you've all heard about there being an infinite number of alternate universes and dimensions and such, right? Well, your two universes are having a bit of trouble. Somehow they're ... well, merging I suppose. It started when some people from one of your universes crossed over into the other. It was just a small rift, but with the prolonged exposure, it grew into a rare phenomenon. I really don't know what it's called. It's just our job to stop 'em."
The Kinju who planned to brainwash the partygoers burst out laughing. "That's ridiculous!"
"It may sound it, but it is. Now shut up. That laugh annoys me," Yowanda said. he did, remembering who held the gun.
The ground started to shake.
"What next, one of the James' said.
"Everything's too unstable!" Kayne yelled. Chunks of the ceiling were already falling.
"Run!" one of the Steeds yelled.
Kinju, the power-hungry one, ran for the kitchen exit. His double had fainted like the Tabithas.
Kayne, Yowanda, Dimi, the two Emmas, Steeds and James' ran for the foyer and the main door. A large part of the arch above the door fell down and blocked the door, just as they ran through.
Then Emma realized why Kinju had ran for the kitchen exit instead. They were now standing on a giant aquarium! The ceiling and walls here had also started to crumble. A small piece fell a few feet away from a James and crashed through. From that hole, small cracks started lacing through the entire thing. More bits of ceiling were falling and crashing through.
"We aren't going to make!" someone yelled.
They were about halfway across now. Yowanda looked up. A giant chandelier and the ceiling it was attached too were breaking free.
"Dimi!" she yelled.
Everyone looked up and saw it break loose and plummet to them.
Time seemed to slow down. Dimi raised both of her arms up. Black energy erupted from her body as she charged up. The glass broke beneath Kayne and the James'. As they fell in it was almost upon them. A white glow unexpectedly accompanied Dimi's black.
"Inversion!"
And all was still ...
* * *
Steed was in the hospital with a concussion. Emma had come to see him.
"Mrs. Peel, what a lovely surprise!" Steed said, trying to sit up.
"Oh, no you don't! Lay back down! You're in no condition!" she scolded him.
"Well, will you at least tell me what happened?" he asked her as she sat down.
"Of course! But most of it's a blur actually. But I can say that after the earthquake they found James, dead! But it wasn't really him. It was his twin brother Charles. You see, James was a secret agent from the Agency! He was suppose to give another agent Kinju's plans. Only Kinju found out! He had James killed and replaced him with his brother so the agent wouldn't get suspicious. Kinju was quite a madman! They haven't captured him yet, either!"
"Why, that's just dreadful!" Steed said. "I'm just glad to see you're faring better then me!"
Emma got up. "I'm in a rush unfortunately, so you get better quick!"
"Anything you say Mrs. Peel!"
The End
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Steed was in the hospital with a concussion. Emma had come to see him.
"Mrs. Peel, what a lovely surprise!" Steed said, trying to sit up.
"Oh, no you don't! Lay back down! You're in no condition!" she scolded him.
"Well, will you at least tell me what happened?" he asked her as she sat down.
"It's fascinating! Though I can't remember much."
"I can't remember much about what happened either, but that's probably due to the concussion!" Steed said laughing.
"Yes. Anyway, you remember when James was about to shoot us, even though we thought he was dead?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Well, apparently it wasn't James! It was his twin brother Charles! James was a secret agent from the Agency! He was suppose to give another agent Tabitha's plans. I guess she found out at the last minute and had his own brother dispatch of him. It's just barbaric. Tabitha had planned to use the Kinju's studies to gain herself power. And she could have! Luckily the police have her in custody!"
"That's good to hear!" said Steed.
Emma got up. "I'm in a rush unfortunately, so you get better quick!"
"I will Mrs. Peel. Don't you worry!"
The End
Cerv23: Yay! I finished it! Even with the computer closing the window making me write things over and over .... I hope you liked it. To find out what happened to Dimi, Kayne and Yowanda read my White Tower series. Of course you'll have to wait for me to write it when i get back from Michigan in a week.
