Seyruun High Jinx –NEXT!
Chapter 25
The Mayor's In Trouble!
That guy looks more like me than I do!" — Zelgadiss
Amelia marched up the drive to the front gates of her home. Her task was to take on the press, answer questions, and buy her friends time to gather information inside unrecognized and unhindered. Besides, she had learned how to work journalists for information.
"Before I say anything about my father's current status, I'd like to know what other information has been issued from this office. I wouldn't want to waste your valuable time repeating things," Amelia began.
"No one had come forward to express any opinion, which is why we would like you to tell us whatever you can," one journalist said.
"All I can tell you is that...the mayor, my daddy, was rushed to Seyruun General Hospital shortly after ingesting a poisonous substance which brought on a heart attack. His condition is critical, doctors say, but I'm certain he'll pull through!"
"Such a brave young lady..." murmured through the crowd.
Meanwhile, Lina, Gourry, and Zel followed Phil through the garden to a less-known side entrance. Once inside, they secreted Phil into his private office and locked themselves in.
"We need to find out who's behind all this and notify the police," Zel said.
"The computer is all yours," Phil said, graciously giving Zel access to all his records.
Zel nodded and took the giant-sized office chair behind the monitor screen. "All right. First let's find out who's been put in charge of Seyruun while you are out of service. That might give us a clue as to who wanted you out of the running. Got it!"
"Let's see!" Lina said, spinning Zel's chair to the side. "Christopher! Your brother? He's next in line? He's not an elected official, is he?"
"Actually, the line of command is very precise. I had just placed him in the position to succeed me a few days ago, just as a precaution against the kind of action that was taken." Phil explained.
"That also makes him the most likely one to benefit from your demise," Lina began.
"So he musta done it," Gourry concluded. "He seemed kinda too nice a guy to do somethin' like that ta me...when I met him."
"Yeah, well the nicer they are, the harder they fall," Lina chanted.
Further conversation was put on hold when Amelia rapped at the door. "It's me! The coast is clear, at least the press is gone for tonight. Have you learned anything yet? What's wrong?"
But no one was looking at her. All eyes were focused past her to the young man approaching the open door.
"Hello. Oh, Uncle Phil, where did you come from? I thought...well, Amelia said...ah...I'm glad to see you in good health!"
"Alfred," the older man said, his eyes welling up with emotion. "These are trying times..."
Alfred nodded. He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. "I know. And... I have to tell you something...awful." He paused uncomfortably.
"Go on, son, you have nothing to fear from me. If you have any information which might be of use to us, which we might use to uncover the master of evil behind this black-hearted plan of injustice, then...you must tell me now."
"Okay. It's just so...hard."
With a little more prodding, Alfred told them that he believed his father was behind the takeover. Christopher was the acting mayor and he had tried to kill his own brother, Philonel!
Phil was in despair. "I have a very difficult time accepting all this. My brother, of all men... He has always been a man of peace and stability."
"Yeah, well he's our best candidate for the moment," Lina said.
Amelia gave her a withering look, "Candidate? Couldn't you have found a less...sensitive word, like 'prospect'?"
"Oh," Lina gulped. "Yeah..."
Amelia flung herself at Alfred, and, holding him snugly, cried out, "Oh, Alfred. It's not your fault. We'll do everything we can to bring him to justice and allow you to hold your head up high again!"
Zel looked on. Amelia had always been a bit over demonstrative, from his point of view, and always ready to deliver a warm hug, even if it wasn't particularly well received, but this seemed different. She seemed to really like him. Lina apparently did too. Alfred seemed to be a real likeable guy.
Zel hated him instantly. Lina was right, he noted to himself, That guy looks more like me than I do; that is, the me who'd never been in that accident.
Xelloss was in a good place. He was happy, contented, and dead tired. When at ease, his brain stopped exploding randomly, allowing him to daydream peacefully. He closed his eyes and looked back on his past experiences with girls and smiled. Each was so different. Starting with Martina...well, she was awkward and loud, but a brief experience, thankfully. Just leave it at that.
Kiki was cute and adventurous. She liked to take walks with him. She was young and unsophisticated, but also uncomplicated and undemanding. Nice and sweet, but with a tough independent streak that he admired. Oh...and she was French and returning to Seyruun soon, de bonne famille!
Eris. Well, if you ignored the fact that she selfishly used him to get to his best friend's father (and his stepfather), then she wasn't so bad for a two week fling. She was a change; older, attractive in a brash way, smart, and okay company when she wasn't being too bossy.
The flip side of Eris was Sylphiel; less emphasis on the intellectual and more on the emotional. Her needs were too simple and basic to fulfill; that is, for Xelloss to be satisfied long. When he thought that having a family was first and foremost in his future, she seemed to slip into the dream effortlessly, but he had grown and moved on, leaving her to find another, better man molded to her traditional play-house role. That, and he was hurt by her casual dismissal of his attentions immediately on finding a man to act out the fiancée role, without letting him know ahead of time. It had opened his eyes to dangerous flirtation and insincerity. Although she had returned to the comfortable 'friend' status after awhile, the two rarely spoke together.
Luna. How he admired that lady. Tough as nails, but with a heart of gold. Loyal to her friends and deadly to her enemies. He always hoped to be on her good side. He didn't understand why she found him so attractive, but he was glad she found something, some hidden quality in him, to admire; it humbled him.
Amelia would never be a love interest, but instead a girl that shaped his knowledge about them. Probably the most charitable person on the planet. She accepted Zel, Val, and him, treating them with respect from the moment she met them, despite their flaws. She was a terrific listener, mediator, and most importantly for him, a friend. Xelloss smiled as he imagined happily living in the guest room of her house, after she married Zelgadiss. If she wasn't so obviously fond of his best friend, he'd...still think of her as his favorite little sister. The fact that she was in any way related to Nahga astonished him.
Filia was an enigma. At times he felt she hated him to the deepest depths of her soul. She would have no respect for his feelings or opinions. Then, there were those, albeit rare, other times when he thought she actually admired him, both physically and intellectually. She certainly had had her hands all over him without flinching (in order to massage ointment onto his sores following his syndicate training sessions) and sought out his company on several occasions. Her snooty attitudes and sharp tongue really irritated him, as did her obsession with appearance. That he could get under her skin and annoy the heck out of her rewarded him with an odd little pleasurable tingle. He did admire the way she meshed the clan world with that of a Seyruun High cheerleader and their band. In fact, the Filia of the Cephied clan was a young woman that attracted him a great deal. Too bad he rarely had contact with that version of his friend.
Lina, ah...Lina Lina Lina. Lina Inverse. Her name rolled off his tongue so easy. She thrilled him to his core over and over every time he saw her, heard her voice, or pictured her in his mind. She fit perfectly in his arms and danced his breath away. And the dreams... He wondered if she had ever dreamed of him? Maybe his dream-Lina and her dream-Xelloss could be happy together? He couldn't say why he was willing to obey her every command, but he knew he would drop anything to help her, and he was afraid that he might jump off a cliff if she told him to do it. She was beautiful and explosive and sharp and the most exciting person he had ever known. Life with Lina would never be dull. If only she felt the same way about him.
Candy/Laila. He nearly called her 'Lina' once, and performed a clumsy save of face by turning it into 'Laila', her real name. She didn't mind, she said. Her previous boyfriend, Kerel, had called her Laila also, but he had known her since middle school prior to her taking the 'sweet' nickname. Candy was also a 'cuddler'. More than anything, she loved to be held, and he was happy to comply. She liked to spend time with him, just him. When they were together she made him feel important, as if he was the center of her universe. When they were out, it was the same way. Kind, caring, adoring, pretty, and smart, Candy made an ideal girlfriend; that is, if they had more time to spend together.
Like right now… they were studying together. She was nestled in his arms, leaning against his chest. He was propped up with pillows and resting against the backboard of her bed, legs outstretched and intertwined with hers. They shared a math book which was currently resting on her stomach.
"This is nice, isn't it?"
"Hmmm, the best," he agreed. He smoothed her chestnut brown hair with one hand. A light caress. He regretted having missed meeting her parents and learning more about her. "So pretty..."
"My hair! HA!" She laughed and slapped playfully at his hand. "More like ordinary, what with the rainbow of exotics in your band."
"That's true, but that doesn't make it any less nice." He brought the strand up to his lips and kissed it gently. Life just didn't get any better than this, he convinced himself. "May I brush it?"
That made her smile. "Okay. Brush is ... on the pillow? How did it get there? So, do you get problem 12?"
"Yeeeesss, would you like me to explain it?" he asked. He drew the brush slowly through her lengthy hair, starting with the ends and working up until he could make long, smooth strokes from her scalp to the tips with no knots.
"Hmmm, sure, just tell me the solution so I can hear the sound of your voice," she sighed. "That feels so nice and relaxing..."
His chuckles jiggled the book.
"Stay over..." she craned her neck around to look at him. "Please? Say you will. My roommate won't be back until tomorrow. You have your gear. And it's really late now, after midnight. Please?"
"Okay. Let me give Zelgadiss a call and let him know." It didn't take much to convince him to stay. "Funny... there's no answer...eh, hello? Is that you, Ze...? Yes...ah..."
"Something wrong with your phone?"
"No." Xelloss' voice went cold, the blood left his face. "Listen, Candy, I've got to go..."
Her moans cut off his sentence.
"I'll come right back, or call and let you know..."
"But you just got here! Didn't you just leave those guys? You've been with them the last five days!" She didn't try to hide her disappointment.
"It's an emergency, I think. And no, I can't tell you about it yet...but I will...later! Please...don't cry. I know these last couple hours don't seem like much, but I've loved every minute because I've shared them with you. Please trust me. This is really serious or I wouldn't just take off on you, 'kay?"
"You...just...got...here..." she sniffled.
"I'm sorry...really sorry. You know I want to stay with you...yes you do...but..."
"But..."
"I need a car. Right now. Who has one that might let me borrow...?"
"John has a car, and I bet he'll loan it to you too. I'll go down with you," she offered, resigned to lose Xelloss again to the Slayers.
As they watched Xelloss drive away, John turned to Candy and drew her close in a friendly hug of reciprocal disappointment. "Oh, he'll come back to you, you know that. You've got what he's looking for in a mate. Me? Well…at least I have something he wants…"
"What's that?" she asked with a sniffle.
"A car!"
Zelgadiss wondered why none of the others noticed, or if they did, why they hadn't said anything. Well, Lina had mentioned in passing that Alfred looked like him at the lunch table, but not like…identical! And how about Gourry or Amelia?
Gourry did do a double-take. He looked from the handsome, young Alfred to the younger, scarred Zelgadiss. He noticed how similar the two guys were, and that, had Zelgadiss not suffered that accident, the two might be brothers, nearly twins. What he also observed, was Amelia's reaction. None; that is, she seemed oblivious to the degree of likeness in the two men. She did, however, react to Alfred's company. It was clear she really liked her cousin. A lot. Gourry looked down at Lina, who was speaking nicely and behaving rather 'girlish', for Lina. Lina, it seemed, liked Alfred too. Gourry was afraid to meet Zel's eye, though. He wasn't sure how attuned to the others' feelings Zel was, but the likeness was hard to miss...at least Gourry thought so.
Now Gourry sees it, Zelgadiss thought, catching a flicker of guilt in his friend's eyes. Now that we are standing together, he sees it. Oh, yeah...and now he understood Amelia's attraction to him. He wasn't Amelia's 'cause', he was Alfred's stand in, or something puerile like that. Zel looked away. So his instincts had been right from the first; she was too young and he was a freak. He made a decision at that moment. He would call the doctor tomorrow, after classes and make that appointment he'd been putting off all summer. He would let the doctor run some more tests on his scar tissue and see what could be done. Maybe Xelloss would go with him...
He was looking out the door, past Alfred, and so, he was the only one to see and prepare for the onslaught. Activating his incredible agility with his remarkably quick reflexes, Zel pushed Phil out of sight and toward the rear exit to the office conference room. "The door! Shut the door!" Zel gasped. "Gourry, get him outta here!"
Gourry didn't think twice. Phil was in danger, again. He leapt across the room, ripped open exit the door and half shoved, half carried the heavy man to safety.
"You too!" Zel said harshly. He strong-armed Amelia and thrust her in after Gourry and her father.
Lina and Alfred stood in the doorway ready to take on the flock of reporters and lawyers squeezing past the mansion's staff. "Stay with them, Zel. If me and Alfred can't stop these bozos, Gourry'll need all the help he can get!"
Zel gave her a sharp nod and slipped to the back of the room and past the exit, closing the door behind him. "Lina's good at fast-talking. She should be able to fend them off. We certainly don't want to face them after lying about the mayor," Zel explained to the others.
Lina looked askance at young Alfred. Damn, he was cute! And nervous. "Hey, don't worry. I'm pretty good at this kinda thing," she said with a confident grin...
"Okay, I really appreciate you helping me like this. I feel so...responsible, you know, for my father's mess, but I'm no fast talker." Alfred gave her a warm smile that made her knees go weak.
Lina turned to the oncoming group, hands on her hips, face determined. "State yer business, then get your butts outta here! I'm tired and gotta get up for school in the morning." She maneuvered around so as to block their way past the computer monitor where Zel had been searching for leads.
"I have a source with proof of misconduct in the mayor's office." A tall woman with a sinewy figure and wearing a deep pink suit stepped to the forefront. Lina noted with disgust that she had done a poor tint job to her hair, black roots showing at the base of the pink and red streaks.
"Well yer source is wrong. Go home like a decent person and make an appointment in the morning, Ms… whatcher name?" Lina asked.
"Mazenda," the woman answered. Without budging from her spot, she jabbed an accusing finger at Alfred. "And that, young man, let me see... Alfred ul Brozzo Seyruun, you are specifically mentioned in relation of misuse of funds." She closed in on him in a threatening manner. "I understand you had some very substantial outstanding college loans after graduation, which have mysteriously been paid in full two weeks following your job here with the mayor...who is...your uncle, is that correct?"
"Uhhh..." Alfred began.
"Yeah, he's Phil's nephew, but as for the rest...sounds like a loada crap someone's come up with to frame a good man...make that two good men!" Lina answered. She noticed the reporters were trying to work their way around the desk. "Hey! Where the hell do you think you're going!"
Lina, busy with the press, clustered around her and blocking her view of rest of the room, didn't see Mazenda sneak past until she had made it all the way to the rear exit door. "Hey! You get back out here! That's a private office, well so's this, but you can't go in there!"
Alfred made a desperate move to stop the woman, but she was too quick for him. It was as if she had a sixth sense or x-ray vision. She reached the door in two strides, flung it open and barged right in.
Lina had her hands full, though, with the press of press and keeping them away from the mayor's desk, littered with the documents she and Zel had been pouring over, the mayor's computer monitor open to a database of his expenditures.
At the sound of the door opening, Zel spun around and drove his hard head into the midsection of whoever was entering. In spite of the size differential – Mazenda was at least six feet tall-- the tall woman bent double and fell to her knees. "Ugh!"
Both Phil and Amelia were about to criticize him for his rude greeting, when the woman jumped from the ground cursing and executing a perfectly controlled box-kick. Gourry thought that she should pick on someone her own size, and so, made a grab for her arms, but she was fast and well trained.
"Who is this woman! What are you doing attacking my friends? This is my house and I didn't invite you!" Amelia shouted.
Not that it did any good. Mazenda was hitting hard. Zel's karate training was no match and even together with Gourry's brawn, without their swords they were about to be clobbered. Amelia's eyes raced around the room searching for a weapon of some sort. Her glance stopped on an old justice-of-the-peace gavel of her father's. She made a leap for it while the woman's back was turned.
"Got it!" she cried jubilantly. "Now it's time for you to meet the Hammer of Justice!"
Lying on his back in a pile of fallen books, Zel moaned and felt his side for cracked ribs. Something was vibrating…his cell phone! With Mazenda focusing momentarily on Amelia, Zel pulled out his phone; it was Xelloss. "Mayor's… attack…I…"
Mazenda, recovering quickly from the hammer attack, launched one of her own aimed at Zel's cell phone.
…
Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, Lina had her hands busy stuffing important documents in drawers, shutting down the computer, and protecting Alfred from the reporters' offensive questions. Her efforts were distracted when she heard the unmistakable groans of Zelgadiss being pounded into a book case. "That's not yer every-day lawyer in there," she growled. She re-doubled her efforts and began pushing and shoving the press out the door without regard to who and how she achieved that goal. She could tell her other friends needed her, but she wasn't about to leave the mayor's office unguarded in a room full of nosy reporters. "Come on, Alfred! Help me get these idiots outta here!"
"Argh!"
That, Lina knew, was the sound of Gourry getting his stomach kicked, a sound she was personally familiar with. But, it was one thing when she did it and entirely another when it was some evil witch! With a phenomenal show of strength and wrath, Lina lashed out at the lingering men, punting one out the door and into the front hall, and booting the other two in quick succession to follow up on his lead.
"That's it!" she gasped. Slamming the door with a final jab of her foot, caused it to jam and lock almost magically. "Now to the next fight!"
"B-but it's locked! How do we get in to help them?" cried Alfred.
"You don't," intoned a voice venomously. "You have me to keep you company. Now, if you would show me the list of the Mayor's campaign contributors, we can get started."
Lina spun around to see a man Mazenda's equal in height, wearing a lurid green three piece suit and short blue-green hair worn like a softie ice cream cone. "Gods, another freak," she muttered. "Who do you think you are, breaking past a locked door?"
Now that the door was once again wide open, Lina could see the mayor's night staff in the distance, frightened and watchful. Christopher rounded the corner, clearly just roused from his bed. "What's going on here! Who are all these people! Alfred!"
The tall man looked askance at Christopher briefly, and then returned his glower to Lina. "Not that it has any bearing on the task at hand, but you can call me…Kanzel. Now, to the matter of importance…"
Xelloss swore again, and then swore he'd stop swearing if he ever found the right street. There it was! He came to a screeching halt in front of his home, and leap out of the car, leaving the engine running. He nearly broke down his front door in his rush to unlock and push his way in, and then raced through the living room to his bedroom. In a single heave, he thrust away his hanging clothes to reveal the back of his closet. His staff stood ready. It was not just a priest's staff but one displaying a ruby orb, exhibiting for anyone who recognized its significance that its holder was powerful--one of the highest order of the syndicate. Xelloss grabbed it and an innocuous-looking brown leather shoulder bag hanging off a hook beside the staff, ran back through the house, slamming the door on his way out, and then jerked open the borrowed car's door and shoved transition into gear. With a roar he was tearing up the road to the mayor's mansion. He hoped he'd be there in time.
The only matter of importance to Lina right now was to get past the back exit to her friends. "Listen, I got no time for you and your demands right now so wouldya take a hint and get the hell outta my face and outta here!"
As an answer, Kanzel leveled an attack on her personally. "I have enough dirt on you, little girl, to indict you and all your family on charges of murder, treachery, and desecration of holy lands. So, unless you want to add more to that list, step away from that desk."
"What! My family! Why you conniving old goat. I'll show you some desecration on the personal level!" Lina shouted as she launched herself bodily at the man's throat.
"Miss Lina!" Alfred gasped.
"We must help her!" Christopher yelled. "We can't let her do this alone!"
Lina had Kanzel in a stranglehold he had not been prepared for. A couple of sharp kicks to the diaphragm and he was gasping for air, but she tightened her grip on his neck. His face darkened, his knees buckled.
"You're strangling him!" Alfred cried out aghast at her strength.
Kanzel collapsed face down onto the hardwood floor. Without pausing to enjoy a self-congratulatory moment of triumph, Lina struggled to her feet and pounded on the door. One, two, three… the lock disengaged as the door splintered and gave way. Lina burst into the conference room to join Gourry, Amelia, Phil, Zelgadiss, and Mazenda.
Proud of his daughter's bravery and strength, Phil joined the brawl with his own form of justice. "Smashing Jump Attack!" the mayor bellowed, and flying feet first at the Mazenda woman, knocked her halfway across the long table which stretched from one end of the room to the other.
"Lina!" Gourry shouted in warning. He was showing signs of wearing down as he limped toward her. His hair was knotted and flying, bruises along one cheekbone discolored his handsome face.
She was too intent on assimilating those details to stop what happened next.
Kanzel moved quickly once he got his breath back. He couldn't believe that he'd let that girl get past his guard like that! As he made for the door, he avoided her, instead jumping onto the table and back down to capture Mayor Phil.
All Lina noticed was a blue-green blur, and then a nasty voice threatening them again.
The action froze. "All right, children, listen closely to what I have to tell you or I'll kill the mayor instantly." He looked around the room, as if counting the players. The moment his eyes landed on Lina, they stopped. "It's all up to you, sweetheart. Either join us, or this man dies."
"Us? By us you must mean…the syndicate? Is that what yer getting' at, buster?" Her upper lip turned up into a snarl. Phil wasn't the target at all! It was her all along that they were going for! "Well, I'll haveta think about that offer…" she was about to quip something more, but Kanzel interrupted her.
"You do that. I'll just wait out side."
"Don't do it! Justice shall prevail!" Phil shouted. Kanzel throttled him and twisted his arm behind his back. It must have been painful. Phil grunted and broke out in a sweat, but courageously he also bared his teeth.
"Oh, Daddy!" Amelia wailed. "We'll find a way to save you and keep Lina on the path to righteousness!"
"Yeah, you old buzzard! Forget it! Lina Inverse can't be had by nobody, 'specially syndicate slime. Got that!" Lina shouted as Kanzel and Phil receded.
Kanzel backed out of the door to the office again, Phil tight in his clutches, passing Christopher hovering just outside the entry. "I leave you in good hands," Kanzel said slyly to Lina.
Good hands? Zel and Lina's eye met. Had he meant Christopher was now going to show his cards?
Mazenda shook her head to clear the bright lights and cobwebs from her impact with the table top and rose slowly to her feet. Before she could begin spouting her lines, however, Phil's brother, Christopher, pushed forward.
"Here it comes," Zel muttered. Lina nodded and frowned up at the tall, slender dark-haired man.
"I'll quit if it will help. I didn't come here to hurt my brother or his family in any way." Christopher said. "Just leave now…leave these people in peace. And don't hurt the children…"
Huh? They wondered if this meant that he was not behind the entire fiasco after all, as Alfred had told them?
Xelloss broke his vow to himself and cursed his bad luck. The car he had borrowed from John had run out of gas at the bottom of the hill. It would be a long, tiring climb on foot to the mayor's now! Xelloss tossed the bag over his shoulder and gripped his staff like a walking stick, then leaving the car where it had died-- in the middle of the road-- he broke into a smooth lope.
"Christopher's on our side," Gourry said aloud what the others were just coming to realize. "So, who let these other guys in here?"
Alfred entered the room with a sigh. "I did," he confessed, and then with a satisfied smirk he continued, "I staged this whole attack. And, Miss Lina Inverse, Kanzel and Mazenda will kill Phil as per my orders."
"You're part of the s-s-syndicate!" Amelia sputtered in disbelief.
"Me? No, I just use them for my own purposes. I was done with school, being told what to do and when…I saw what my uncle here had and decided that I wanted to become the new mayor. The power I'd have at my disposal! So, I shopped around and found a couple of ex-Gaav syndicate guys to help with my takeover."
"Oh, Alfred!" Amelia cried. "How could you do such a low-down, dirty, detestable, unjust thing? After all Daddy has done for you!"
He was about to answer his sweet cousin, when Kanzel returned with a comatose mayor Phil in tow.
"What are you doing back here?" Alfred snapped.
"Waiting for Miss Lina's final decision," Kanzel directed towards Lina and avoiding Alfred's hostile glare.
Alfred was furious. "I ordered you to kill him! That's what you are paid to do—take orders from me!"
"Alas, we have our own plans, now that we have identified just who she is. I don't think we will kill the poor mayor here just yet," Mazenda said for the first time since Phil's attack on her.
"You can't do that!" Alfred screamed. "You do as I say! I have a contract! You syndicate people are bound by your contracts, I know that!"
Mazenda moved forward and in a single motion, snapped his neck with a lightening fast punch. His eyes rolled back into his head and he fell heavily to the carpeted conference room floor.
"Alfred!" Amelia cried out in horror.
Mazenda folded her arms across her chest and shook her head. As the last spark of life left Alfred's young body, she said emotionlessly, "I had no contract with you, Kanzel did. Ha, ha…ha…" Even her laugh held no humor.
Amelia fell to the floor by Alfred's side and lifted his head, cradling it loosely in her arms, "Oh, Alfred…how could you? But even so," she paused, then looking up and pointing a finger up at the evil woman accursedly she barked, "You had no right or reason to kill him. There are courts and laws. He should have gone to trial!"
Mazenda smirked, "Oh, I know…I am a lawyer, after all. Even a half-wit like him could have damaged my reputation in a court room, however. Now, my business is with you, Lina Inverse."
Lina steeled her nerves for an attack.
"A Miss Sherra has told… people… about a musical production of yours. She says Lina knows more than her superiors think and will use that musical to get at the syndicate."
Zel blinked and swallowed. How did Sherra deduce all that? He risked a quick glance Lina's way, but she was intent on the woman in front of her.
"Nonsense…" Lina muttered.
Kanzel cleared his throat, "We want Lina to join us and stop working on that musical at once. See, we want the power of Gaav's open position back in our hands, where it belongs. In fact, too large of a power base is being stockpiled and wasted on you children here in Seyruun. We want you, Lina, and your ability to draw Misters Val Gaav, Zelgadiss Greywords, and particularly Xelloss Metallium back into the syndicate fold as well."
Not far off, Xelloss stepped past the front door to the mayor's mansion. All was quiet. The office staff was gone, as far as he could tell. Then he heard a familiar voice in the distance, separated by halls and doors, but his heart skipped a beat.
Lina snarled in retaliation, "That's been tried before! It didn't work then either! You think I wanna destroy the lives of my friends…and bring Amelia and Phil under the syndicate's big fat thumb? The answer is NO! Not last time, not this time, NOT EVER!"
Xelloss sprinted in the direction of that melodious voice (which, if it were a flame, would be flaring like a beacon in the gloom, making this simile actually work) calling to him…
Kanzel yanked on the heavy, slumped—but breathing—body of the mayor, "He's still alive. His life is in your hands."
"Perhaps, but it certainly is not in yours!" Xelloss chirped in his singsong voice.
"Xelloss!" Both Mazenda and Kanzel shouted, clearly troubled by his sudden manifestation along with his staff, the symbol of power far beyond their scope. He was untouchable. Xelloss' appearance shocked both Mazenda and Kanzel into a moment's indecision, just long enough for him to grab Mayor Phil and exit back out the door he had just entered and disappear immediately.
Amelia shouted, "Justice will triumph in the end!"
By silent agreement, Lina and Gourry moved in tandem, Lina to the right and Gourry to the left of the tall syndicate woman. Before their movement registered in her mind, they had her down on the floor, Gourry weighting her down and Lina with a death-grip on her wrists. Christopher, seeing his chance to get involved, whipped off the tie closing his bathrobe and tied the evil woman's hands together.
Zelgadiss had a similar idea, but a different target and poorer communication. He dove for Kanzel's feet, while Amelia pushed over the bookcase, which had already emptied most of its contents onto Zel earlier, and trapped the syndicate man's left leg.
Kanzel gasped. Lina shouted at him, "Not even to save Phil's life!"
With his free leg, Kanzel lashed out, knocking Lina to the carpet. She hit hard enough to knock the air out of her, and lay still.
"Lina!" Zel croaked. Most of the bookcase had trapped him as well.
So those two had a connection he might use? Kanzel reacted promptly. He wrapped his fingers about Zel's neck, threatening to snap it off. "Even to save his?"
Amelia's eyes darkened. Lina wasn't moving. Someone had to take a stand. "No. Her life is her own, so's mine, and Gourry's and…and all of us. No body owns us; nobody will. Even…to s-save his life."
Zel's eyes closed. "That took courage…" he thought. He felt the fingers around his neck slacken, then leave.
Kanzel extricated his leg, and although it was hurt, it was strong enough for him to put weight on and stand. "Then, I'll kill you all…starting with finishing you off, Miss Lina Inverse…"
But Lina had been 'playin' possum'. She was fine. Like lightening, she shot off the ground and landed full force into the man's chest, mashing him into the wall. Gourry crushed the man's scull with the largest book he could get his hands on, The Laws and Justice System of Seyruun, Volume 1.
Lina had taken a big risk, tricking them all, but it had paid off.
"Alfred was consumed by his own ambition," Amelia said sadly as she helped Zelgadiss to his feet.
"Hmmm," Zel nodded in agreement. "Wonder what took Xelloss so long?"
"I wonder where he took Daddy!" Amelia said. "Oh, Miss Lina, that was very risky, but so brave of you to do!"
Gourry was mad, though. "I thought you were hurt bad, Lina. Consider my feelings at least next time!"
"Ah, sorry," Lina replied shyly to Gourry. The concern, hurt, and love glowing warmly from his eyes cut deeply to her gut, flooding her with guilt. "It just came to me to try it, ya know?"
"Yeah, I know," Gourry smiled, "Ah, Lina? Oh…I was gonna ask ya somethin' but I forgot."
"Later, then," she grinned. "We got some cleaning up ta do yet!"
Phil, was slowly shaking off a drug-induced haze following an antidote injected intravenously by Xelloss. Xelloss was quietly explaining where they were and what he was doing in a calm, deliberated manner. He put away the needle and bottle of medication, buckling shut his shoulder bag. When the mayor was sufficiently revived, he began to digest Xelloss' words, make sense of them and nod his head in understanding.
"So, we have to stay out here, okay?" Xelloss was repeating to make sure the man comprehended his situation. "To keep you safe. Amelia and Lina will be safe. Yes, I think I can guarantee that much, but no one else." Xelloss smiled faintly. He wished he had some way to help the others. Maybe if he left Phil unguarded and snuck inside, but he knew that careful monitoring of the mayor was absolutely necessary until he was completely recovered.
His thoughts were interrupted by the purr of a finely-tuned car engine turning over and the whine of a powerful turbo-charger kicking in. Someone was leaving, and in a hurry. Xelloss forced his sore legs to carry him from the hot tub enclosure where he and Phil had been hiding, to the driveway. There, off to the side, was a black sports car pealing backwards down and out the curvaceous drive. He hadn't the energy left to run after it in pursuit. So he stood and watched it fade into the darkness, wondering who might be driving.
The sun was still hours from rising, although Monday morning had already arrived by the time the horror of the past few hours came to rest on the minds of the young people. Christopher sat propped in an easy chair head in hand. His son lay on the floor dead in the room next door, along with a nearly-dead man partially responsible for all of the trauma. His thoughts were dark and sad. Also in that room was Mazenda tied and gagged, but not watched. Gourry, Amelia, Zel, and Lina were all gathered opposite Christopher conferring about what to do next.
Zelgadiss wanted to call the police and no one was arguing, but his cell phone had been damaged in the fight and he was trying to find another. "Amelia, where's yours?" he asked, a tad exasperated.
Gourry, although he'd said he forgiven her, was still netted by Lina's near-death trick. He was now trying to exact a guarantee from her that she would never, ever risk her life again in such a way. "Ya gotta promise me that much, Lina, right?" he begged, more than a tad exasperated.
"In my purse, but...I can't remember where I left it," Amelia replied with frustration and fatigue showing. "Oh, there on the side table, I guess."
"I don't haveta do nothin'. Look, I was laying there hurting, then I just saw this opportunity to get everything over with once and for all," Lina said wearily.
"If it worked," Gourry pressed his point.
"Which it did." Lina asserted, the fatigue definitely showing in the apathetic manner she argued. "Now what's that? Zel? You hear that?"
Zel had a cell phone glued to one ear and a hand pressed against the other. He heard nothing, so Lina marched across the room to the open doorway. "Mazenda? That you makin' noise in there?"
She was gone. "Zel! Gourry! She's gone! Escaped! Amelia, is there some kinda secret exit to that conference room we didn't know about!" Lina shouted.
"I don't know! I mean, there must be, but I didn't know! Oh, no! Where could she have gone!" Amelia cried. "Daddy! She's after him. I just know it!"
Zelgadiss agreed that that was likely and raced around the room, fingering the walls, testing for a hidden doorway. "Found it! Here, behind the bookcase that fell over, it's an exit to the outside."
"Alfred must have learned about it and told Mazenda and Kanzel in case they needed a quick getaway." Amelia glanced down at Alfred one last time before chasing after Zel. The cloth which had tied Mazenda's wrists together was wrapped around the young man's head, loosely covering his eyes and mouth. In death as in life, he clueless as to how the syndicate really operated.
…
Phil discovered that his legs could support him. He tottered uneasily out of the enclosure and out to where he saw Xelloss gazing at nothing. He leaned heavily on the shorter man's shoulder and asked, "See anything interesting?"
"Perhaps. Do you own a black sports car?"
"No, nor does anyone living with or employed by me or my office. You see one?"
"Yes. Someone just left in a big rush." Xelloss tensed. The sounds of familiar voices chattering and noisy footsteps were coming their way. Both men turned to see Zelgadiss followed by Amelia, Lina, and Gourry running towards them.
"Daddy! You're all right! Xelloss, you too!"
"Yes, yes...I'm just fine. But..." Phil began.
Zelgadiss sprinted past them. He never slowed down. "The car just left!" Xelloss shouted after his fleeting figure.
"Come on!" Lina yelled at everyone. "Mazenda's getting away!"
Phil couldn't keep up; he knew that, so he waved them on. Amelia elected to wait with him. Now that she had him back, she wasn't going to leave his side.
The screech of tires preceded the sickening crush of metal and shriek of colliding masses in the dark. Then came the inevitable sirens as police and emergency vehicles wound their way up the hill.
"That was fast police action!" Phil exclaimed.
"Zelgadiss must have gotten through to Detective McGywn," Amelia told her father.
"I can walk," Phil told his daughter. "We might as well go see if we can help."
"Okay, but take my arm. It's dark."
McGywn was directing the younger officers around the crash site and up the road to the mayor's mansion. "Where the driver of this other car got off to, I dunna know. See if you can find anna clues around the perimeter. Yeah, keep the folks back. Oh! Not those kids, though, let them through. Ah, Zelgadiss, Lina... Gourry... and I suppose... yes, there he is. No mess is complete without Xelloss, eh?"
Zel and Lina greeted the detective with all the familiarity that past dances with danger warranted. "Hi."
"I dunna suppose any of you can identify the dead woman?"
"He can," Gourry said, pointing to Xelloss.
Xelloss wrinkled his nose at the bloody mess beneath the tarp. "Her name was Mazenda. Just Mazenda. A syndicate identity. Beyond that I can say little right now. She and her consort Kanzel were operatives under Gaav at one time, but if you give me a computer and a few minutes I can probably link them with a new local guy. Oh my..."
"What?" McGywn asked. He looked around trying to follow where Xelloss' line of sight was focused.
"Ah...that car. That belongs to a friend of mine..." Xelloss started to say.
"Oh, no..." Zel groaned. He hadn't really looked at the crumpled mess, but the pale color could easily have been silver. The car demolished beyond repair was most likely to become his. He had been wondering about Xelloss bringing his staff along, but now he considered ripping it out of his hands and breaking it over his friend's head.
"I borrowed John's car to get here after I tried calling Zelgadiss. I got this far when it ran out of gas. I guess in my rush I just left it in the road and..."
"Hey, it stopped Mazenda, didn't it?" Lina grinned.
"Dead in her tracks," Xelloss smiled in return then twirled his staff. It was a significant gesture, she knew.
From the Authors:
Where are the pictures?
Seyruun High Jinx has a home. Please go to the author profile for Kaeru Shisho and choose the link. You will find the Pumpkin Drawing Contest results as well as pictures under Seyruun High Jinx NEXT. Pictures for each of the other stories are associated with their links.
KS
End Seyruun High Jinx –NEXT! Chapter 25.