Dark Deeds

Legal Stuffs: I don't own PSO. I mean, I own the copy but nothing else except a few characters from my stories. Don't sue me, I have nothing.

Chapter Three

As soon as we were back on the Pioneer 2, Tomiko started to shake me like a rag doll, shouting in my face.

"What the HELL were you thinking? Running off like that on your own, you were lucky not to get killed! We had a plan, dammit!" She gave me one more shake, then let go and backed off, panting. I think I might have been on the edge of tears by that point.

"I didn't even know we had a plan!" I shouted back, fists clenched. "I just heard the patrol coming and hid! What else was I supposed to do?"

"Uh, Tomiko, she was kicking the crap out that Rappy when you came up with the plan, remember?" Both of us turned to stare at Bolt, who somehow managed to look apologetic without doing much.

"Fucking Rappy," I muttered. I hate the little bastards, I do.

Tomiko gave me a really piercing look then. I almost squirmed, but I forced myself to at least try and look nonchalant. I almost succeeded, too.

"You mean you came up with your own plan completely off the bat?" I blushed. "Okay, I'll bite. How'd you do it?"

I pulled the butt-ugly hat off and tossed it off the platform, letting it fall to whoever had bad enough taste to pick it up.

"Actually, it's pretty simple. Practically nobody on the ship can swim, so they left the water side of their complex open. I just ducked in the river and swam over. My MAG created a distraction while I scared the crap out of the idiot these clothes belong… to… Hey, wait, where is he?" I panicked, and started pressing buttons on my Hunter unit like a loony. I almost fainted with relief when the little unit materialized at my shoulder – it must have ported itself back into my inventory while I was busy. I hugged the little thing, not entirely successfully holding back the tears.

Anyone ever tells you Hunters don't really care about their MAGs, kick them in the shins for me.

"Actually, that was pretty smart." Tomiko actually smiled. "You didn't lose your ID, did you? Because they cost money to replace."

"Puh-lease," I said, watching Bolt and Elenor with quiet amusement. They're so cute together, even if he is that much taller. I flipped open the red jacket to reveal the shiny surface of my ID. "What do you take me for?"

"Rule Number Three: Don't smart-ass the boss."

Tomiko put an arm around my shoulder and we sauntered back to the Guild. I won't go too far into the details, but needless to say Doctor Montague was ecstatic, Elenor was ecstatic, Tomiko was trying not to let on that her apprentice had done most of the work, and Bolt was staring at Elenor's ass. Blatantly.

The best moment of all, though, was when Doctor Montague kissed me. Mmmm. He tasted of apple pie and motor oil. A surprisingly yummy combination, heh.

(Tomiko just read that part and snorted cola out of her nose. Neat!)

The second best bit was just after I got the Tekker to identify my wand. I swear, it's the only time I've ever seen Tomiko speechless! PRICELESS! Bolt has that on video too, and plays it to stop me ripping him apart every time he plays my reaction to Mouse.

At that point we all realized that I was late for class, and Tomiko sent me scurrying away like my ID suggests.

(Author's Note: From this point onwards, scenes written entirely in italics take place away from the narrating character.)

"I've got to admit, she can think well on her feet," Tomiko said, watching the young FOmarl haring off to the intra-ship teleporters. "I wouldn't have had the nerve or the smarts to try something like that when I was an apprentice."

"No, you would have just run in, all spells blazing," Bolt replied, chuckling wickedly. "She's got more potential than her brother. Reckon we should have Rune look her over?"

Tomiko mused for a moment. "Give her some time. I want to study her methods more. If she keeps showing the smarts, then yes, we'll talk to Rune."

"I can't wait to see that!" Bolt chuckled, his supposedly inanimate faceplate bending into a grin. "So, ice cream?"

"Thought you'd never ask."

It's never a good idea to be late to class at the Guild Training Centre. Even worse when the teacher happens to be Eodred 'The Scary Bitch' Rahde. Even worse than that when you're out of uniform.

My punishment? A run in the Simulation Chamber. Sure, they're not fatal, and any wounds incurred during the run are fake, but they hurt like they were real and Eodred enjoys tormenting people.

"Don't worry, just a normal training run," she said as I climbed into the Simulation Suit. I worried more, naturally. No such thing as a normal training run, not when she's in charge.

I fixed the goggles over my eyes and entered the Simulation Chamber. When it's deactivated it just looks like a normal room, but no trainee makes that mistake more than once. I closed my eyes for a couple of seconds to avoid the always-nauseating transition from offline to fully operating simulation.

I didn't recognize my surroundings at all. At best they put me in mind of an android production facility, except that the rooms were too large and there wasn't any actual production that I could see, just a few disabled Gillchic units.

"This simulation is based on Hunter data brought back from the Mines on Ragol," Eodred's voice said into my ear. Just hearing her voice, you'd think she's a sweet person, but that's before she starts chuckling maniacally. "If you manage to survive the first two areas of the run, there's a special surprise at the end."

I think I swore. Hell, I know I swore. Bolt's friends had ever-so-kindly provided me with a few new words to use, and I did so with style.

Then the Gillchics activated.

Originally designed as mining units, it didn't take much alteration to their programs to turn the Gillchics into walking death machines. They have rock-cutting lasers in their 'hands', highly sensitive sensor units, and a spray of chemicals usually used to neutralise dangerous gases, but confuses the senses of humans and Newmen when used in normal air.

I took stock of the situation pretty quickly. Four Gillchics, one me. The odds were against me, but I had several advantages. 1.) I'm fast. Really fast. 2.) There's a significant charge time on the laser. 3.) I had Foie. They didn't.

I leapt over the swing of the first Gillchic and landed on the outstretched arm of the second. I used that as a launching board, jumping over the last two Gillchics and racing to the far end of the room. I blasted a few Foie spells at them and enjoyed the fireworks display. It also turns out that Gillchics explode into shards of metal when their power units are destroyed. Who knew?

So it pretty much went like that. Jump, run, Foie, rinse, repeat. I also managed to finally get my head around the Zonde technique as well, when I was about to be on the wrong end of a Sinow Gold's claws. Pressure seems to bring out the best in me.

Things didn't get really screwed up until near the end of the second half of the run.

You see, there's these security machines, Garanz models I believe they're called. They're huge, maybe six or seven feet square – big enough to dwarf Bolt, as I found out eventually – and they're basically walking tanks. They have enough missile launchers in them to make the most tweaked-out android jealous.

I was getting pretty badly beaten up by the thing. In order to get close enough for me to hurt it, I had to get within range of the missiles. And I can't cast faster than missiles can fly. I'd already taken some pretty heavy hits, and I was close to passing out from pain.

I was completely dizzy, and I had a detached feeling not unlike when I have my blank moments. Then I felt a surge of some power deep inside me, like the strength I call upon to use Techniques, but subtly different and much, much stronger.

My hand rose in front of me, almost without volition. The power grew and I felt it suffuse my entire body. I had the kind of feeling that a light might have when you first flick the switch.

"TANDLE!"

Bolts of electricity flew from my hand and utterly obliterated the Garanz unit. It also did enough damage to shut the entire system down, leaving me alone in the Simulation Chamber. Smoke was pouring through the air, sparks too, and I could hear panicked shouting from outside.

I just stood there and stared at my hand. What had I just done?