Sequel time, part 2
Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread.
#2: Deepening Madness
The giant tables of the food hall were filled with more food choices than where scarcely imaginable. The crew of the 'Nirvana' and asteroid belt sat, mingling with the earth army people. The men originally from Tarrak were not the least bit perturbed by the presence of so many women, have had to work with them for quite some time. Jack sat with the Captain, Commander, Vinn, Jura, John, Meia, Hibiki, Dita, Bart, Celtic, Duero, Parfait, and Barnette, of course. The female officer, Jenny, and also Jacks personal assistant, Connie, who was still a bit dumbfounded, thinking she was going to be brutally murdered at any second. Jenny kept casting dirty looks at Barnette, seated next to Jack on his other side. Barnette whispered into Jack's ear, earning another dirty look.
"Why does she keep looking at me like that?"
"It is just, that she has never seen anyone else aloud this close to me before, and it's making her uncomfortable." He whispered back. He was so happy that Barnette and the others where going to join him, he could hardly control himself.
"Hey, Vinn, you never did drop out of the army, did you?" He asked.
"Well, not really, no."
"So then, since you are in the Tarrak army, and I am now in control of the planet, and the military, that would mean that you are under my command now, and I could order you to go to war, right?" Vinn's face turned slightly white at the prospect of leaving to fight.
"Well, technically, yes."
"Ok, well, just checking." He heaved a sigh of relief. "So, how has everybody been?" The question was directed at everybody. They spent the next hour or so catching up. Jura was the last to answer.
"I'm expecting it in about 5 months!" She said, the happiness and feeling of superiority wafting in her voice.
"And here I thought you were just getting fat! So it turns out Vinn can do something right every now and then." Jack said, laughing, as Jura and Vinn turned red.
"So, how did you start this?" The captain asked, munching in the remnants of her meal.
"Well, after you guys left, I sat around for a couple days, thinking about my next move. I decided if I was going to do this, I was going to need some big planets on my side. So I set off for Tarrak. When I got near, I found 5 Tarrak craft attacking a small Majaleian ship. So I destroyed the Tarrak ships, and thought I'd see why they had been attacking. I mean, it is rude for a man to attack a woman, but five men against one lady? Anyway, I found that Jenny here was the only one left alive on the ship, so I offer her a job. She accepted, and then I moved an took Tarrak single handedly, after only one, rather gruesome battle, with high casualties. I gave them a small demonstration of my capabilities afterward, involving a rather large and barren section of land, and they decided it was in their best interest to surrender. I told them what they would be providing me, where to send it to, and returned to where Jenny's ship floated, too heavily damaged to fly, and had a crew expedite repairs. I only had my Vanguard, so I couldn't take on another person with me. It was two days before her ship was fit to fight, and we, plus the ten male ships under my command headed for the neighboring planet, Majale. Th problem was that Majale had heard about Tarrak, and had sent an intercept force to head me off, Somewhere around 50 ships. I am somewhat more limited in space combat than on the ground, so, needless to say, it was not going to be good, being about 5 to 1. The battle was intense, but Jenny managed to surprise me when she took the biggest ship of the lot out, without a scratch on her own ship. It must have been the command ship, and spread discord through the rest of the fleet, allowing enough time to take a few more out while they re-coordinated. I had made planet fall, and had convinced the leaders to surrender peacefully, and with minimum casualties. Cease-fires were called, and one of my male ship's decided to fire on the now inert Majale ship's. I had the man who gave the order thrown in the ship's brig, and he was the first soldier on the battlefield on the next planet I took, and he didn't last long. After the Battle, I had only 4 of the male ships left. And the intercept team had around twenty of the original fifty. I decided that I would make Jenny the fleet commander and second in command, because I had seen her actions save my other people more than once that battle, and she had disabled a large number of the enemy ships. I found women are more capable then men in a lot of ways, so I made all of the higher officers' women, as well as my personal entourage. Women had a compassion for life that most men lacked, but could also make key decisions and go through with them. For the most part, they were not as hot headed and eager to die as men are on the battle field." He gave a meaningful look at Barnette, and she got his meaning, and smacked him upside the head. He had missed her so much, that even her abuse was welcome with glee. He had kept the picture of her in throne room since he took over. He had found it on the floor, after the 'Nirvana' had departed a year ago. "So then, we returned, conquering a few more wolds on the way back. Most of the crew live on the ships they serve on, and they have to get the supplies to keep themselves going for themselves. It would be to costly to have a set crew to restock everyone, so they just send a small ship to the surface supply storage's and get what they need themselves. So, enough about me, besides destroying my ships, what have you been up to?" They all plowed into accounts of their exploits over the past year, until late into the night. "Well, I'm glad you chose to join me. I have heard rumors of another group trying to recruit planets in a distant galaxy to help them to thwart me. Anyway, if you just follow Luke, he'll show you all to your rooms, and you can rest here while in this system." Luke appeared at his side while he dropped the information, and led them off, with the exception of Barnette, to their rooms. "Aren't you going with the rest, you don't want to get lost in this place."
"I thought I might bunk with you." She said shyly. Jack's eyes widened, and Jenny just stared, having waited to talk to Jack about his trust in these strange people.
"…um,… ok, I guess." He stammered, surprised by her tone. Jenny stood and left the room, for god knows where.
Jack was walking down the halls, Barnette by his side. She had insisted on a tour of his castle, and wouldn't take no for an answer. They walked down a hall lined with decorated shields, some spattered with blood, and other substances. This is when she noticed just how different Jack was. His gauntlets where sharper, and more deadly looking. The points on the tips of his boots were longer, and small spike jutted out from along the sides. His cloak was longer and more ominous looking. She thought it was normal for him, but she didn't see the thing hiding behind his happiness in his eyes that would not be a good thing. In truth, Jack had started slipping into madness, the weight of his rule, and the incomparable power surging through his body. He could shatter entire planets like grinding rocks into dust, slaughter entire nations without a scratch, and it was threatening to take him. It had both receded and grown since the return of the 'Nirvana, but he didn't notice, as he walked into his room, Barnette at his side. His cloak swirled around, and settled into nightclothes, as Barnette changer in the bathroom, having procured a spare pair during the tour. They climbed in, bid each other good night, and drifted into a calm sleep.
Jack was staring into a pair of small, purple eyes. He blinked the sleep out of his own eyes, as Barnette's face swam in around the set of eyes. The only problem was that this was not Barnette. The girl was to small to be her, and as he woke up more, noticed several small differences in the face.
"Finally! You can stay awake for more than five minutes, can you?" She said, her small voice slightly high pitched.
"Er, sorry?" Jack said, still bewildered by what he was seeing. Looked around, stretching. He was sitting at a wooden table, little flowers coving the top, except for the place his head had just occupied. He was wearing a blue long sleeved shirt, and a pair of black pants and shoes. He wondered where his boots, gauntlets, and cloak were.
"Well, you promised to help me make a wreath for mommy, but you dosed off." She said, spreading more flowers onto the table. He was shocked at how well the girl could speak, because she looked no older five or six.
"Mommy?" He asked.
"Yes, mommy. Jeez, what ever you've been working on has really thrown you out of whack. Mommy went to the store to get a few things, and we decided to surprise her when she got back. I went to get the flowers, and you said you'd show me how to make a wreath!" The little girl was a little exasperated now.
"Where are my gantlets and other gear?"
"You mean those old metal things, and that tattered rag?" She said, eyeing him curiously "You packed those away a long time ago, remember daddy?"
Jack sat bolt upright in his bed, disoriented, and sweating. After a few seconds, he realized that it was all just a dream, and remembered where he was. He looked over at the clock, the word "daddy" etched in his mind. It was 5:30 in the morning. He got up, and his cloak reformed around him. He left the room, Barnette still fast asleep, not troubled by strange dreams. He scratched his head as he walked into the kitchens, and started a pot of coffee. As he took his hand away, he saw blood spreading over his hand. He then noticed the large cut he had made into the side of his head. He was surprised, he had never cut himself before, was he really so perturbed by the dreams. He grabbed a cup, filled it, and walked to the throne room, sipping his drink distractedly.
"I wish I knew what he is doing in there!" Barnette huffed, pulling at the door of the throne room. It had been two weeks since she had returned to earth, and every morning when she woke, Jack would already be locked in this room, and didn't come out until nightfall. Very few people were aloud in, mostly just a tall man in dirty coveralls, caring a shipping manifest. Jenny had walked up, wanting to go in and talk to her leader. She didn't like Barnette very much, and so much had change since she first came here, and Jenny didn't like it one bit. Part of it was that she had been Jacks favorite before, and another was she was jealous. Now she saw an opportunity to drive Barnette nuts.
"You know, he does spend allot of time with Connie in there." Jenny whispered into Barnette's ear.
"What do you mean?" Barnette asked, anger piercing her voice.
"Well, I have heard the guards saying some interesting thins lately." Jenny said smugly, and walked off, leaving Barnette banging on the door, fuming. After a minute of banging, she accidentally slammed her hand palm open on the door. She drew her hand back, seeing a small dot of green light left behind. Of course! She had seen Jack do this before. He'd make a point of energy on the door, and then walk through the newly made energy gate. She walked forward, and into the door, smacking her face into the solid metal. Oh yeah! She thought, rubbing her face. You have to stretch out the energy field. She stuck her two index fingers into the dot, and pulled it into a horizontal line. She then grabbed the line, and pulled it up and down, creating a glowing green doorway inside the door. She could see through it, and saw jack sitting motionless in his throne, the girl Connie next to him. Barnette stepped through and into the room, the guard giving a start at her sudden appearance.
"Oh, you're here, quickly, come sit here." He motioned to his left side, and another chair, identical to the one on his right, built up from the ground. "Hurry, you might want to see this." She decided to sit, for now, and see what had him flustered. He put his hood on, hiding his face, as Barnette sat, arms crossed. She looked on the giant view screen, and saw something she never expected. A Harvest cube type flew past the planet mars, and stopped. It was a shade of bright ivory, instead of one of the six paexis colors. The image faded, and switched to a view showing six people in shimmering white robes, all wearing metal gauntlets. They looked like Jack, only in white. Barnette was to shocked to say anything.
"Well, the six Crystal Cardinals, to what do I owe this intrusion? Jack growled up at them. One stepped forward and answered.
"Well, that is a little rude. I heard that you have gained control of the six paexi, and implemented your own controllers." The man's voice sounded familiar to Barnette, but she didn't know why.
"What's it to you?" Jack shouted back.
"Well, even rude in the presence of a lady, and an extraordinarily beautiful lady at that. I must apologize for his rudeness, ma'am." The man bowed at Barnette, she simply blinked amazed.
"Get to the point! What do you want." Jack yelled, angry with the man.
"You know perfectly well what I want. When the paexi are gathered, and their powers are all granted to a single person, the two sides must fight. I was wondering who would be entrusted with the power, and I must say I'm disappointed."
"Well, I should say the same to you, Cage." Jack said back, his voice cold. The man on the screen took his hood of, and she saw Jack's face staring at them.
"Who is that?" Barnette asked, and the Man with Jacks face answered, pointing at Jack.
"That, is my evil twin!"
End of chapter two!
More twists than a soap opera, but with half the brain tumors, and amnisia!