Author's Note: Finally! The chapters done! My computer got royally screwed over and I had to wait until I got a new one to finish this chapter! And look, some spaceship action! I know there have been people who probably thought, "Where's the Outlaw Star in all of this?" Well, it's here now so admire its awesomeness! Oh yeah, and Gilliam's here also. Meh.
Disclaimer: I don't own Outlaw Star.
On with the show, here's Chapter 7 of Outlaw Star: Omega Project...
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The mind is a complex thing. But then again, even the simplest thing can be complex. Take people for example. Though someone may seem like a very out-going person, they might be much more complex than at first glance. The mind is no different. One simple thought may be linked to a more complex one. But what would happen if someone could cut those links. Would their thoughts scatter apart and distort their vision of what is what? Or maybe they would just forget? There is no real way of knowing. Remember, even the simplest thing can be complex.
It was past midnight. Everyone was asleep, all except Gene. He was having a hard time sleeping. Those last words that Jim said to him, before he hung up, were left ringing in his head.
"Sorry Gene, I gotta go. I might get in trouble if I talk to you anymore."
Gene looked up at the ceiling for a little while. He tried to sleep, but the words wouldn't let him. And a sound. There was a faint static sound. Gene finally sat up slowly. The sound was irritating enough without Jim's words. Gene stood up and scratched the back of his head. He sluggishly made his way down the stairs. After reaching the last step, he saw the videophone's screen was lit up. The static was coming from the phone. Gene walked over to the phone, agitated. His eyes strained at the light when he got closer. He stopped directly in front of the screen and just looked at it, narrow-eyed, for a few seconds. Then, the static began to part some. Gene could barely make out a person's outline. The background was dark...almost pitch black. Gene hesitantly picked up the phone and put it up to his ear. A whispering voice talked to him.
"Gene...Gene...Gene" it said.
Gene looked around, a little confused.
"Gene...help her...one purpose" the voice whispered.
Suddenly, just as the voice finished it's sentence, a blinding bright light burst from the screen. Gene fell backwards, onto the floor. He held his eyes, groaning in pain. The phone swung slowly, occasionally tapping the wall as it swung.
The voice whispered out from the phone. "...help Alpha...find Omega..." It said.
The voice continued to say those words slowly, while Gene cringed on the floor. The pain from the bright light was too much. Gene fell unconscious and his body went numb.
Chapter 7: Invaded, The Mind's Eye
Morning came and Gene felt an increasingly annoying feeling that someone was poking him. Gene grumbled and swiped sleepily at his morning wake up caller. The poking stopped and was replaced with a loud yelling voice in his ear.
"Gene! Wake up already! Gene!" yelled the person.
Gene growled and slowly opened his eyes. His vision had recovered. He was looking face to face with an annoyed Ctarl Ctarl. Gene's eyes narrowed and he frowned. He wasn't really in the mood to deal with Aisha.
"Making late night phone calls, Gene?" Aisha asked, looking at the phone in Gene's hand.
Gene sat his head up. He was sitting at the desk next to the videophone and the phone was in his right hand. He sat straight up immediately and looked around confusedly.
"When'd I get off of the floor?" he asked.
Aisha gave Gene an odd look. "Nya? What the hell are you talking about Gene? Iwasthe first one up and you were dead asleep right where you are now." She claimed.
Gene remembered what happened last night. The static, the light and the voice. What it kept repeating until Gene passed out from the pain.
"Are you even listening to me?!" Aisha shouted.
Gene grumbled again. "What time is it?" he asked, standing up slowly and hanging up the phone.
"9 o'clock." Aisha responded.
Gene's eye twitched. "9 in the morning?! Why're you making such a big deal out of me being asleep still?!" he yelled.
"We're supposed to be looking for Jim, remember?" Aisha said, with an angry look in her eyes.
Gene almost instantly remembered his last talk with Jim. "...Yeah, Jim." He said, gloomily.
"Huh? What's wrong?" Aisha asked, a bit confused, tilting her head to the side.
"I talked to Jim last night, on my way back from Fred's. Thera interrupted, and then Jim suddenly hung up on me." Gene explained.
Aisha looked even more confused. "That doesn't make any sense." She remarked.
"I think Thera's controlling Jim or something." Gene said.
"How?!" Aisha asked, surprised by Gene's statement.
Gene crossed his arms. "Well, when I was fighting her, she threw off my aim and tossed hunks of rubble at me with her mind." He shook his head. "I wouldn't be surprised if she could control people's minds. Kinda like that cactus, ya know?"
Aisha just stood there looking at Gene with a dumb-founded look on her face.
Gene grumbled again then turned his attention to the morning light. The light suddenly became excruciatingly bright. Gene covered his eyes, in pain, and turned away. "Damn it!" he yelled.
He sat back down in the chair. He covered his eyes with his hands, hunched over in the chair.
"Hey, Gene, you okay?" Aisha asked, confused.
Gene opened his eyes again and shook his head and sighed. "Yeah, I'm all right." he murmured.
Locke emerged from Aisha's room, rubbing his eyes while holding his new computer. He looked around drearily, walked over to the couch and sat down. He sleepily typed "Good morning" and showed it to Gene and Aisha. He laid his head down on the arm of the couch and yawned.
Gene felt relieved, a change of subject. "I see Melfina gave you your gift." he said, turning his attention to Locke.
Locke sat back up and typed, "Yes, I really like it. Thanks Gene", with a small smile on his face, and showed it to Gene.
Suddenly, the phone began to ring. Gene grumbled and looked at the phone. He didn't have a good feeling about answering it. Luckily, Aisha picked up the phone.
"Hello?" Aisha asked curiously.
"Put Gene on the phone..." a voice demanded harshly.
"Hey! What's with the attitude?!" Aisha shouted into the phone.
"Are you deaf? I said put Gene on the phone, now!" the voice yelled back.
"Now you listen here, whoever you are. If you think you can just tell ME what to do, you've got another thing coming to y--"
"Back off, Ctarl Ctarl!" the voice screamed.
Aisha was suddenly thrown backwards, by a bright light, and went crashing into the couch. Locke watched, in surprise, Aisha go flying into the side of the couch. The phone landed on the desk, next to Gene. He picked it up slowly and heard a familiar voice.
"Why, hello there Gene. How're you?" the voice asked.
"Thera! What do you want?! Where's Jim?!" Gene yelled. He looked around, trying to remember how to trace phone calls.
"Are you still complaining about little Jimmy? He being a good boy, don't you worry." Thera claimed, smiling innocently.
Gene growled angrily. Locke silently walked over and pulled a cord out from his computer. He plugged it into the phone base then gave Gene a thumbs up. Gene was confused but he turned his attention back to Thera anyway.
"Why the hell did you call, Thera?" Gene asked.
"Only to invite you all." Thera answered.
"Invite us to what?"
"To a little get-together. You do want Jim back don't you?"
Gene didn't respond.
"Of course you do. Since your little friend, Locke, is tracing the call, you should know where to meet me..." Thera answered Gene's silence. "Goodbye, Gene Starwind. I hope you follow your heart when you choose what to do." she giggled then hung up the phone.
Gene hung up the phone and turned to Locke. Locke showed Gene what the computer screen.
"The second moon of Megan? That's a weird name for a moon." Gene commented.
Locke shook his head and typed, "I think it says Me-Gann."
"Hmm, hey, where'd you learn how to trace calls?" Gene asked.
Locke thought for a second then typed, "I don't remember. I'm not sure how I even did it."
Gene shook his head. "Well, either way, thanks to you we know where to go to find Jim." he remarked.
During the phone call, Suzuka had come inside and Melfina had woken up. Both of them were sitting on the other couch. Gene was caught by surprise when he turned around.
"Good morning Gene. So you have figured out where Jim is?" Suzuka asked.
"Uh, yeah. After some breakfast, we're leaving right away!" Gene stated.
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A few hours later, at the spaceport, the Outlaw Star was preparing to launch. Everyone sat in his or her seats, with Melfina in her tube. Locke stayed in his room, which was actually the laundry room. Mostly because Aisha didn't want to share her room with a kid everyday. All of the supplies had just finished being loaded.
"Aisha, why don't you just let Locke sleep in your room?" Gene asked the Ctarl Ctarl.
"I already told you! I need at least some privacy once in a while!" Aisha replied.
"Yeah sure, whatever. Still, I feel kinda bad for him. He could've at least sat up here with us." Gene commented.
"He chose to stay back there on his own accord. He said he didn't want to get in the way." Suzuka remarked.
Gilliam interrupted the conversation. "Gene, all cargo is loaded and all systems show green. And we have just received launch clearance. We're ready for lift-off." he said.
"All right, thanks Gilliam." Gene said.
"And where exactly are we headed to, Gene?" Gilliam asked.
"The second moon of Me-Gann." Gene exclaimed.
"Distance 20,000 kilometers. ETA is approximately 14 hours." Melfina announced.
"Ok, Outlaw Star, now lifting off!" Gene exclaimed.
The engines revved up and the Outlaw Star took off into the afternoon sky. About 6-7 hours into the voyage, everyone had gone to sleep and Gilliam had the ship on autopilot. All was quiet and peaceful. Although, Locke sat in the control room against the left wall. He was staring at his computer screen. The light from the screen emitted a dim light down the main hall. He occasionally typed something and read it. The typing eventually woke Aisha up. Having the best hearing in the galaxy had its downsides. She sleepily walked from her room and into the control room, where she found Locke still staring at his computer. Locke didn't notice Aisha until she sat down next to him. He was startled and he almost screamed, but he quickly recognized Aisha and calmed down.
"What're you doing up so late? You should be asleep." Aisha commented.
Locke typed. "I'm not very good at hiding, am I?" He gave Aisha a half smile.
Aisha read and replied with a smile. "I'm just too good at finding you."
Locke looked back to his screen and sighed. "I never knew why..." he typed.
"Nya? What's wrong?"
"Why did they experiment on me? Why am I so important to the Pirates? I want to know why." Locke typed.
"Oh, don't worry. You'll probably find out eventually." Aisha said, trying to cheer him up.
Locke looked up at Aisha then smiled and typed, "I hope you're right."
Aisha smiled back. "Come on, I'll let you sleep in my room. It's better than that cold laundry room." she said, messing up Locke's hair.
Locke's hair fell down over his face but he brushed some aside and smiled again, shutting off his computer afterwards.
They both stood and went off to Aisha's room. "Hey, maybe I should teach you how to fight sometime, huh?" Aisha joked.
Locke just scratched the back of his head and laughed a little. The two enter Aisha's room and finally go to sleep.
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Suzuka was meditating quietly, sitting on her bed. She thought of many things, one thing being Kyen. He and Hitoriga had killed her entire family. After killing Hitoriga, she thought it was over. But a year later, Kyen reappeared. How is he still alive? Suzuka had used three secret techniques on him the last time. She thought of ways she could kill Kyen. Until...the screen on the computer in her room turned on. Suzuka broke her concentration and looked at the screen. Words appeared before her.
Suzuka read them quietly. "'I have three...and you makes 4...just one more...' What is this?"
Suddenly a bright light leaped from the screen and blinded Suzuka. She covered her eyes and fell back. After some time of extreme pain, she passed out.
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Thera stood on the barren wasteland moon of Me-Gann. Three small orbs spun around her head, only to be joined by another orb. Thera giggled to herself.
"Ah ha ha ha ha, oh this is just to fun! Now let's see, should I kill them in their sleep? Or maybe just wait until they arrive and kill them all together. Oh, they both sound so good. I do love slow deaths...on the other hand, killing them with their own thoughts is so much more pleasurable. What do you think Jimmy?" Thera turned around to Jim, who seemed more like a puppet than a living person anymore.
Jim didn't move or make any kind of reaction whatsoever.
"You're right, I do need to be more creative, killing them with their own thoughts is the way to go. Thank you, my little Jimmy."
Jim groaned slightly and turned his head a bit. Thera giggled devilishly then began concentrating.
"I still have to get the boy, but that can wait a little bit. It's time to play." Thera giggled.
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Gene lay peacefully on a quiet field of grass, with not a care in the world. At least until Thera appeared sitting next to him. Gene quickly sprung up and looked at Thera with a confused look on his face.
"What're you doing in my dreams, you bitch?!" Gene shouted.
Thera giggled innocently. "You're not dreaming anymore, silly, I'm controlling your mind. I could kill you right now and just move on to the rest of your friends. Isn't that great?"
Gene was taken by surprise. "What do you want?" Gene asked, trying to talk his way out of this situation.
"Simple, I just want you all dead. I know I can't kill that Melfina girl or the child, Locke, because Lord Kyen said to take them alive. Anyway, after I kill you all, I just fly over with my ship and take your ship along with Melfina and Locke. And no blood spilled either; it's one nice clean massacre. Ah ha ha ha." Thera laughed after her explanation.
Gene smirked. "Even you can kill us, it's not like Melfina and Locke will just let you take the Outlaw Star." he pointed out.
"That's where you're wrong. Once I take over Locke's mind too, it'll be much easier. I don't even have to any hard work at all."
Gene stood up. "You do know I'm not going down without a fight, right?"
Thera stood, with her innocent girl act gone. "Fine, amuse me. Although, it won't do you any good. I guess I can multi-task while I kill Suzuka and the Ctarl Ctarl.
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Aisha was having a pleasant dream, reliving her fight with Iraga, when she was pulled away from her fight and confronted by Thera.
"Hey, what's the big idea?!" Aisha complained.
"Tsk tsk. And here I was thinking you might have better people manners than your phone manners." There snickered.
"Huh? You're the one who was one the phone earlier today aren't you?!" Aisha demanded to know.
"Yes, and I'm surprised you didn't pass out from the pain like Gene and Suzuka. Nothing less for a Ctarl Ctarl, I suppose."
"What're you rambling on about?"
"To get the point, I'm here to kill you. But first...can you handle the pain of guilt? Let's see. Come on then, hit me!" Thera provoked Aisha. "Not like you could even hurt me, weakling!
"You're asking for it!" Aisha growled, swinging at Thera.
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Aisha punched at the air in her sleep, while saying something about staying still so she could hit someone. The ruckus woke Locke up. He sat up off of the floor and watched Aisha for a moment. She seemed like she was having a nightmare. Locke walked over to Aisha's bed and shook her slightly, trying to wake her up.
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"Oh, looks like its time! Come on! You can punch harder than that!" Thera gloated as she avoided all of Aisha's punches.
"Stay still so I can hit you!" Aisha demanded.
"Over here!" Thera shouted, appearing to the right of Aisha.
Aisha turned, only to be blinded by a very bright light. She cringed but retaliated with a hard left hook. The hit landed!
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Suddenly, Aisha's eyes sprang open and emitted a really bright light. The light blinded Locke. He stumbled back a bit and then was suddenly punched very hard in the head. The force of the punch sent him crashing into the wall on the other side of the room. Locke fell to the floor, his head was split open and he fell unconscious.
Back inside Aisha's mind, Aisha was completely unaware of what she had done. She was a little confused as to what happened. She felt the hit land, but Thera appeared fine.
"Nya? What the hell?!" Aisha said.
Thera giggled, as her plan had worked perfectly. "Now, care to see what you've just done? I'll let you wake up for a little bit."
Aisha regained herself for the time being. She sat up in her bed and looked and where Locke should've been sleeping. Then she saw him. He was lying near the wall, bleeding and unconscious. Aisha jumped out of bed and went over to Locke. Thera's voice echoed in Aisha's head.
"Ah ha ha ha, see what you've done? Oh, the poor child. Having his own friend give him such a beating. You're lucky you didn't kill him."
Aisha was speechless. She just looked down at Locke with wide, shocked, eyes. She put her hands on his shoulders and shook him lightly as to try to wake him up.
"Alright, you've had your time. Back to sleep with you."
Aisha quickly passed out next to Locke's unconscious body.
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Suzuka stood alone in a void of nothingness with her sword drawn. Thera appeared behind her, laughing.
"You tried this the first time we fought. What makes you think that you'll succeed this time?" Suzuka asked.
Thera laughed and played with some of her hair. "Well, even if I can't kill you, I can still kill everyone else. And I could just keep you here trapped for eternity."
"I can't allow that to happen. I still have to kill your lord. Kyen will be the only one to die aside from you." Suzuka claimed.
"I'm the one in control here! You can't do anything to stop me." Thera boasted.
"You forget one thing; you're in my mind. I control what I think and you could never harm me." Suzuka remarked.
She quickly turned around and darted past Thera, quickly striking with her sword.
Thera clutched her side. She gasped. "Why?! Why can't I kill you?! I had control! Damn it!!!" she screamed out, before falling to the floor and disappearing.
"Because you are not in control of your own mind. How do you expect to control someone else's when you can't even decipher reality?" Suzuka answered.
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One of the orbs circling around Thera's head vanished. Thera broke her concentration for a moment to throw a fit.
"She thinks she's so high and mighty, huh? We'll see how good she feels about herself when everyone else is dead!" Thera yelled.
In her rage, she turned and kicked Jim. He went tumbling back but he still held no reaction. Thera began concentrating again. Playtime was over; she was in a mood to kill.
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Gene aimed his Caster at Thera as she reappeared. Thera's express was scary in itself.
"What's wrong? Did you look in the mirror?" Gene asked, snickering at his joke afterwards.
Thera finally snapped. She immediately and quickly began chanting a Tao spell. "Fei Ga!"
Gene fired off his Caster, canceling the attack.
"So tell me, why'd you call last night? What'd you mean by "Help Alpha find Omega?" He asked.
"I don't know what the hell you're talking about, and I don't really care. All I want you to do is die!!!!" Thera screamed in response.
"I just realized, you can't touch me inside my own mind. They're my thoughts, and you can't control what I think!" Gene said with a smirk.
Thera growled. "You really are stupid! I have control!!! You won't ever see you stupid little partner ever again!!!" Thera yelled, readying another spell.
"If you were in control, I wouldn't be able to get this!" Gene said, pulling a #4 shell and loaded it into his Caster. "Eat this!!!" he pulled the trigger and a small dark ball floated out towards Thera
The attacks collided but Thera's spell was absorbed by the ball then continued towards Thera.
"I've had enough of this! I'm having a much more pleasant time killing that Ctarl with her own guilt! Don't expect a good morning when you wake up! You'll be lucky if Locke's alive either..." She said before being absorbed by the ball. And once again, her concentration was broken. Jim was still lying on the ground where he had last been. Thera kicked him again, more fiercely this time.
"Even if I can't kill them...I can still have my way with you, Jimmy." Thera claimed, looking down at Jim's seemingly lifeless body. "When I get back, it's your turn to die." She added in with a more happy tone of voice.
She once again began concentrating.
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Locke being punched into the wall had woken up Melfina, the only one not being harassed by Thera. She curiously walked around the ship, looking for the source of the loud noise.
"Gilliam, do you know what made that loud sound a moment ago?" Melfina asked as she walked into the control room.
"I believe it came from Aisha's room. She's a noisy sleeper, so I assume it's nothing to worry about." Gilliam responded.
Melfina nodded. "Oh, ok. Good night."
"Good night, Melfina."
Melfina made her way back to her room. As she was passing Aisha's room she stopped. She was curious, that sound was a little too loud to be just Aisha sleeping. Melfina opened the quickly and walked inside the room. It was very dark and there was virtually no light at all in the room. But the light from hall was just enough for Melfina to see Aisha and Locke against the wall. She rushed over and knelt down in front of them. She saw Locke's head was split open and Aisha's left was slightly bloody. Melfina ran to Gene's room to get help. She swiftly opened the door and jumped on Gene
"Gene! Wake up! Aisha and Locke are hurt!" She shouted.
Gene slowly came around. He was enjoying his earned rest but after he heard what Melfina was saying and what Thera had said before, he quickly sprung up out of bed. They rushed back to Aisha's room.
"Look Gene, Locke's head is bleeding. And so is Aisha's hand." Melfina stated.
Gene took a closer look. "Aisha's fine, she's sleeping. That's Locke's blood on her hand. Thera must've made her do this..." Gene explained.
Aisha groaned a bit. She looked like she was in pain.
"Ah, damn it. Thera is trying to kill her." Gene said.
"What about Locke? His head's been split open!" Melfina asked.
"Don't move him. Find something to wrap around the wound."
"Okay."
Melfina ran off to find something to wrap up Locke's head with. Meanwhile, inside Aisha's mind...
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Thera was hitting Aisha around. Aisha didn't retaliate at all. The shock from seeing what she had done to Locke was still affecting her. Thera was really enjoying herself as she kicked Aisha in the ribs repeatedly.
"Ah ha ha ha! Aw, what's the matter? Feeling to guilty to fight back? That's to bad. 'Cause I'm not done playing with you yet." Thera laughed gleefully.
"Fight back...."
"It's such a shame. A proud Ctarl Ctarl, dieing like a stray cat." Thera boasted.
"She's only fooling you...She has no control over your mind...get up and kill her!"
"Once a reject always a reject, I suppose."
"C'mon, you animal!"
Aisha finally recognized the voice. It was Gene trying to encourage her to get up and fight. She stood up and got into a fighting stance. She looked really pissed off.
"What do you think you're doing?" Thera asked, surprised.
"You're just bluffing. You don't have any control at all, do you?" Aisha asked.
"O-of course I do! You have no means of escaping my control. I suggest you shut up and die!"
"I can't stand people like you who think can just use others for their own enjoyment!" Aisha yelled, lunging at Thera.
Thera was barely avoiding Aisha's onslaught of punches and slashes. Not much time passed until Thera was hit time after time and was brutally beaten to the verge of death.
"Fine...H-have it your way. I can still kill my little Jimmy. He's completely helpless and does whatever I want him to." Thera said, coughing up some blood then vanishing.
Back in reality, Aisha sighed and resumed a normal sleep. Gene and Melfina left Locke and Aisha where they were. Locke's head was banged up pretty bad so he should've been moved anyway.
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On Me-Gann, Thera's concentration was finally broken completely. Instead of taking her rage out of Jim, she hugged him and smiled devilishly.
"Now it looks like I can finally punish you. I've been waiting for this moment ever sense I first set eyes on you." She said, patting Jim's hair.
Jim quietly whispered three words...
"...Gene...help me..."
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That was fun! A little confusing most likely. But just shows you how mentally disturbed Thera really is, huh? Anyway, big fight next chapter and guess what, Jim actually does something! Woohoo! I apologize to all of the Jim Hawking fans out there for this chapter. If it made you upset about what Thera's doing to Jim, that'll all change next chapter. Jim goes back to normal. Oops! Spoilers, sorry. R&R please, thanks! Look for chapter 8 soon...