The journey through the underground station…eerie didn't even begin to describe. River stared at the bodies and frozen explosions of pitch black and for a moment her eyes showed black. "Ghosts, of those who died here at the hands of the Incubus." She murmured and shook her head, "Cào nǐ zǔ zōng shí bā dài. Dead before they could even scream."
Riddick shook his head, "Try to ignore them." He advised. Not much else they could do. He'd seen a lot of weird shit in his life. Bio raptors, Necromongers, even more disturbing human behavior in the various slams he'd visited. But this…this was something new. Half vegetable, half mineral and half animal…one too many halves but that felt like the only way to describe what he saw. Starburst of black, shining like obsidian, frozen spiderwebs and sideways stalagmites, tentacles sharpened to spear-like points reaching out for the humans as they passed through the tunnel tiled in white. "Tā shì suǒ yǒu dì yù jì nǚ de mǔ qīn," He cursed quietly.
Floyd had taken the spot next to Flag's side, Katana and Leila behind them, while Riddick and River led. Mal, Chato, Harley and Digger followed while the Purplebellies guarded the rear. Spent shells rang faintly as they moved with their boots and unidentifiable things and glass crunched underfoot. He and River moved silently, choosing their steps but no one else could match their stealth and in his ears every chime of metal and crush of glass echoed against the white tiled walls.
Maybe to break the silence, maybe to remind Flag that he wasn't a soldier but an equal, Floyd initiated the conversation, "You must really love this girl."
Flag had a smile to his voice, "Man, I thought love was bullshit. Dead serious." He shook his head, "Desire, mutual benefit, whatever. I mean, I get that, but… actual love? I mean, I rated that with aliens. Real ones, not metas."
That got a low chuckle from Mal and the rest of them and Riddick tilted his head back to see Flag nearly grin, "Lotta believers. No proof. And then I met June."
Riddick never would have thought he'd have anything in common with a by the book Alliance soldier like Flag. But the man had just pretty much described to a T how Riddick had viewed love. Fairy tales. Fantasy. Illusion. Delusion. Nothing real.
And then he spent a year with River Tam, working with her, talking, anchoring her and feeling fire and lust flood him each time. He'd never spent that much time with a woman before. Never wanted to. Now he couldn't imagine any other woman he'd rather be with. No one he wanted more. Was that love? And what the hell would a textbook sociopath know about love anyway?
Floyd took a deep breath, "Do what you gotta do." He advised sympathetically.
"Yeah," Riddick looked behind him again. "We got your back."
"Yì wú fǎn gù." River's solemnity faded momentarily as she flashed a grin back at the two men, "And we are due the third miracle." That simply confused Floyd and Flag but he got it.
Riddick nearly chuckled as he recalled his thoughts the first night he'd caught a glimpse of River Tam across that crowded bar. "Guess we are at that." He saw the stairs River had pointed out on the schematic and held up his hand to remind everyone that the enemy had ears too and everyone grew quiet as they approached the stairs.
the Enchantress had taken over the huge main atrium of the station. They'd gone through their tunnel to the stairs leading up to the huge hall and paused there for a moment. "You're gonna fight with us," Riddick looked at Chato. "No last minute panicking?"
"And if I lose control?" The man seriously didn't want to hurt them. Which Riddick could appreciate. He liked his skin in its original condition, not char broiled. River stifled a chuckle as she caught that thought and he grinned. Cào dàn he liked that they shared a similar sense of humor.
"We might just have a chance," Floyd commented as he passed them.
"Got River right here, she can grab hold of your mind, help you bring it down," Riddick reminded him.
"All right," Chato nodded.
Huge square pillars marked the border of the atrium and they managed to round the corner and distribute themselves behind the stone. Mal found himself next to Harley, peering around the corner at a tall willowy woman clothed in smoke and spiderwebs, dark hair, pale skin, a corona of power surrounding her. He hoped River wasn't listening to him too closely because he could not stop the incessant stream of curses running through his mind. If he worked at it, he could keep from vocalizing said swearing but with what he was seeing it'd be a near thing.
"Hey," Harley's soft voice asked next to him. "Everyone can see all this trippy magic stuff right?" He bit off the curse that sprang to his lips involuntarily and glanced back at Harley in curiosity. Why wouldn't she see it? Big, amazed eyes pulled away from the swirl of green and shadow to meet his gaze.
"Yeah," Mal assured her. "Why?"
Harley gave him a wryly sheepish grin, "I'm off my meds."
"You, young lady, are dangerously charming at times," Mal shook his head. He did not need to adopt another girl. Especially not a girl River had said exceeded her own brand of violent crazy. And definitely not a girl who came with an even more violent, insane male counterpart. Especially not a girl he'd seen several times in close conversation with River. The two of them and their history aside, he really didn't want two genius women ganging up on him. Which would for certain happen if he got ideas about taking Harley in.
"I got my moments," She winked at him as if she knew exactly what he had been thinking. Right. Not a Reader. A genius head doctor. And not the scalpel and bone saw type.
Floyd's sense of humor left a bit to be desired at the moment, "That's your old lady, huh?" He nodded at Flag.
"Yeah," If Flag's nod got any more terse his neck would snap.
"Well you need to handle this shit, all right?" Floyd shook his head, "Get up there, smack her pì gu, tell her to knock this shit off." The man acted more like a cat than River did, poking and prodding at exactly the wrong and right time. He'd heard it said that cats had the ability to be annoying and endearing simultaneously. Gorram, Deadshot seemed to embrace that quality with a vengeance.
"I do not think that'd be wise," Flag returned.
"Floyd," Mal pointed a finger at him, his mouth jerking up in an unwilling grin. "If she finds us because I've busted my gut laughing I will haunt your pì gu until you can't aim."
"Sorry Mal," Deadshot gave him a grin that had not an ounce of repentance in it.
"You know…I could do with my life being a little less interesting, all things considered," Mal muttered.
"This is what you call interesting," Harkness muttered with a shake of his head.
"Serenity's definition of interesting," Riddick commented, dark amusement in his low voice. Little River must have been telling tales if the big gǒu niáng yǎng de knew what he meant.
"Definition," Digger asked as Mal shook his head.
"Oh god oh god, we're all gonna die," River quipped.
"Oh," At least Harkness got it. "That kinda interesting. Could do with less of that meself."
Floyd just grinned while Flag took a deep breath, "I'm gonna draw out the big one. My boys will detonate the bomb underneath him."
Mal nodded and from behind him heard Harkness, of all things, making a pass at Katana, "You know, we should get a drink sometime."
"Like a trained ape, without the training," Mal muttered. And who'd have ever thought he'd be quoting Simon Tam, otherwise known as one of the must straight-laced, uptight, rigidly mannered males in the 'verse.
When she spoke, her voice echoed with rain and wind, soft as thunder and loud as a kiss. Pure power, the kind that had come long before humans and could exist long after, "I've been waiting for you all night. Step out of the shadows. I won't bite."
Mal shook his head as Harley tilted hers to the side as if considering it and with a 'what the hell' shrug, began to round the pillar they stood behind.
"—The hell," Flag muttered.
Floyd shook his head, "Grab her."
Mal reached out and snagged Harley by the waist before she could make a target of herself pulled her back behind him. "Hang onto her," He advised Chato who had helpfully come up behind them. The pyrokinetic nodded and pushed Harley's hand down so her pistol wasn't aimed right at Mal's head. "Thanks," Mal muttered.
"Why are you here," the Enchantress's voice seemed to reach inside him and twist, pushing into each crack and spreading them wide to gaping wounds. "Because the Soldier led you?" Hard to tell if she meant Flag or him, might be Flag, as nasty as she sounded. Sibilant, sensual darkness, spreading over them, a mist of sound. "And all for Waller? Why do you serve those who cage you?"
Mal shook his head, he had a bad feeling and looked back at River whose eyes had gone dark as the Enchantress continued speaking, seeping into his bones like poison. "I am your ally. And I know what you want. Exactly…what…you want…"
Once it was said that the prairies of Shadow stretched out so far under such a clear sky that a man could see from here to God's plan. Blue skies overhead, the scent of cattle and horse, along with the droppings of the aforementioned animals, grain and sweat.
He stared, couldn't help himself, stared at the land around him, the wood and wire fence he'd been mending, the dirt road leading to the edge of the property and looked back. The long low house he'd been raised in, double roof to keep off the heat, gutters to collect the rain, porches surrounding all four walls. One of the dogs under the porch yipped as a rider appeared on the horizon and the screen door to the kitchen opened.
Dark brown hair with some lighter streaks of silver now, hazel eyes, a bit wrinkled at the corners from smiling too much. Near as tall as he was, her hands rested on her hips, arms akimbo as she called to him, "Malcolm Reynolds, I've been hollering your name for goin' on ten minutes. Now come in for lunch or go hungry."
"Yeah Ma," He responded automatically. No one ever argued with Eileen Rose Reynolds. Not if they wanted their ears to go unscathed.
Chato's voice, echoing through his mind. "I can't change what I did."
Riddick's low growl, "And I can't change what I am."
"What we endured and who we are," River's voice supporting them.
"And neither can you," The three of them, in unison and he was standing in the train station, Shadow and all that lived on her, a Black Rock and ghosts except in his memories.
"It's not real," Chato gripped his shoulder.
"Āi yā… I know. Wǒ cào I know…," Mal took a deep breath and used the moment to strap his heart back into one piece. Around him, the others were having similar problems.
Harley looked overjoyed, high as a kite but happy with it, "He married me."
Floyd muttered, "I killed the bat."
"No, you don't want that," Riddick growled the denial.
"What?" Harley looked dismayed, "I want that." Mal guessed her vision had been a bit sweeter than Deadshot's.
"She's trying to play games with you man," Chato looked over at Flag and Lawton.
Riddick's chest was doing a glowy blue handprint thing as he nodded, his growl vibrating with power, "It's not real. Tā mā de wǒ shī míng liǎo. But it ain't real, no matter how sweet it'd be."
"He's right," Mal nodded and Flag echoed him. For a moment Mal wondered what Flag had seen. What had the Enchantress shown the others? What pain from their past had been torn out of their hearts and used for her twisted purpose? What desire that they knew could never be satisfied.
Digger had bent over, breathing hard, "Cào dàn!"
"It's not real," Flag took a deep breath grim with purpose.
Mal exchanged looks with Chato and nodded. She knew they were there, no sense hiding. He motioned for GQ and Alpha squad to stay where they were. Better that they aim from some cover. Leila gave him a wink as she crouched next to the soldier with the broken arm and Mal couldn't help grinning back as he rounded the pillar and walked with Chato, Riddick and River down the stairs to the main atrium.
That voice… he hoped that Flag's June didn't sound remotely like the Enchantress. That voice seemed to sink claws into his chest and pull out every pain and sorrow to be ground under her heel. "How long have you been able to see?"
Chato answered her, "My whole life." Riddick nodded grimly and River lifted her chin, staring the Enchantress down. "You can't have them," El Diablo challenged. "These are our people right here."
Well the man had balls that was for damn sure. Mal smirked as he descended the stairs. Didn't seem to make much never mind to Enchantress though, "But it is our time." She gestured to the world around them, "The sun is setting and the magic rises. The metahumans are a sign of change."
"Lady," Floyd shook his head pointing at her emphatically. "You are evil!"
Enchantress didn't seem to take that too well, speaking in another language, unintelligible to everyone. Okay, everyone but River.
"She commands, 'Brother, make them bow to me'," River translated. "And Incubus comes." Then she got a look at what she'd called Incubus, "Shén me zài tiān mì de xié'è de tā mā de." She had to have picked up that particular curse from Riddick, Mal thought absently. She hadn't been talking like that before he'd been put in Belle Reve.
Mal forced his feet to stay where they were instead of walking backwards like they wanted. Incubus, as River called him, made Riddick, the largest male of Mal's acquaintance, look small. "Nǐ tā mā de tiān xià suǒ yǒu de rén dōu gāi sǐ."
"Dà xiàng bào zhà shì de lā dù zi. Somehow he looked smaller on the cortex," Digger muttered.
"Oh… wā kào…" Floyd shook his head
"Āi yā ," Harley stared.
Katana drew her sword and River did the same, Riddick already pulling his gun as Katana asked, "Who is this…some tiān shā de èmó come from hell…"
"Oh, tā mā de wǒ shī míng liǎo; this is gonna be bad," Flag was already aiming as the thing stalked towards them. The man had a positive gift for understatement.
"Yeah, we should run," Floyd agreed guns already out and shooting. The thing's arms seemed to extend, or maybe that was a trick of Mal's eyes as ropey vines of energy shot towards them and they all dodged out of the way.
Taking cover seemed to be the thing to do, though Mal did manage to smack his chin on a stone column base and bite his cheek. "Leastways I didn't split my lip," He muttered as he took a shot at the thing. "Coulda been ugly."
Flag shouted into his earwig, "Bravo! Bryan come in. We're in position." Mal couldn't tell if the Colonel got a response, if he did River wasn't repeating it. His little girl had her sword in one hand and her pistol in the other. Every shot she fired hit the big gǒu niáng yǎng de and yet still did no damage.
Finally Mal's earwig squawked, "This's Jakeb. Bryan's down. We're almost in position."
"Thank the tā mā de dear and fluffy lord," Mal did his best to not shout while conveying to Flag that the men were in position since Flag had the schematic and he didn't. Unfortunately with all the noise, he was forced to resort to his best ranch hand yell to get the man's attention. "They're almost there!"
Flag heard him, finally, and after a quick look at the schematic, gestured, "We gotta get him in that corner. That's where the bomb will be." Mal nodded, easier said than done.
Boomerang, Katana and River along with Riddick were trying to keep Incubus busy, Katana even cutting off the thing's hand with her sword. Which worked just fine, except he regrew it in five seconds. Mal got to join in the fighting for the half minute he lasted before getting swatted into Flag. Floyd had already gone through a clip of bullets and all he'd gotten for his trouble was a backhand and an empty clip. "Chato come on, we can do it," Riddick shouted as he dodged a blow and threw one of his own. The firewielding meta had been holding back, unable to attack without hitting one of them, though the gun in his hands had been getting plenty of work.
"We'll get him there," Chato agreed. "I lost one family, I ain't gonna lose another."
"You're sure the two of you can," Mal knew what Chato could do, but all he'd seen Riddick manage was knife work and shooting. Granted, it had been impressive knife work and shooting but still.
"Let me show you what I really am," Riddick growled. Mal had to admit, in the middle of everything, which included dodging magical extending ropey arms, the growling still had a very unsettling effect.
"Over here!" Chato ran forward, Riddick right behind him, and flames roared from his hands.
Incubus backed away, and then kicked Chato in the ribs sending him flying across the room. Mal cursed and with Floyd began to shoot at the giant. They couldn't do much, as was evidenced by Digger and Harley flying in another direction and not of their own volition.
And then Riddick made his move.
Author's Note: So a little different from the movie but I wanted to show Mal's 'vision'. And I didn't want Riddick or River to get caught in that magic, just like Chato, they see more. Integrating Riddick, River and Mal into this has been trickier than I'd originally expected. Two more chapters left. So we're almost done with this bit folks. Then we'll pick up in the second half of Don't Make Any Sudden Moves and we'll have one more piece to this series after that's finished.
Chinese Translations:
Cào nǐ zǔ zōng shí bā dài (fuck your ancestors to the eighteenth generation)
Tā shì suǒ yǒu dì yù jì nǚ de mǔ qīn (She's the mother of all the whores in hell)
Yì wú fǎn gù (honor does not allow one to glance back (idiom); duty-bound not to turn back / no surrender / to pursue justice with no second thoughts)
Cào dàn (fuck)
pì gu (butt)
gǒu niáng yǎng de (son of a bitch)
Āi yā (interjection of wonder, shock or admiration)
Wǒ cào (holy fuck / lit. 'I fuck')
Tā mā de wǒ shī míng liǎo (Fuck me blind)
Shén me zài tiān mì de xié'è de tā mā de (what in the sweet unholy fuck)
Nǐ tā mā de tiān xià suǒ yǒu de rén dōu gāi sǐ. (Fuck everyone in the universe to death)
Dà xiàng bào zhà shì de lā dù zi (To have the explosive-type diarrhea of an elephant)
wā kào ((lit.) I cry)
tiān shā de èmó (Goddamned demons/fiends)
tā mā de wǒ shī míng liǎo (fuck me blind)
gǒu niáng yǎng de (son of a bitch)
tā mā de (fucking)