CHAPTER 12: "Good While it Lasts"



The adventure had dragged on for way too long. An exhausted Vinny and Kayla finally made it back home. And, while risking temptation to give in all the way, they resisted only by virtue of being too tired. Vinny normally would have insisted upon returning to his own apartment; but fell asleep in Kayla's arms instead. She dared not take advantage of him in that moment beyond what she already had, realizing how important he was to her as a fellow human being. As a fellow Cortascian royal to be. As a fellow child of God. Still...she knew it wouldn't look good. Neighbors might spread rumors. On the other hand, she did have a felony record. Everyone just assumed she was a bad girl anyway, right?

Falling asleep a little early, the couple awoke around 5:30 AM. Some passionate making out later, and they realized that their friends from work would most likely pay a visit. Their work hours were fluid, and Hanom didn't need the elite team right that second. There'd be some obvious desire to want to hear more about the adventure from those who didn't get to be Percolated through. A shared shower lasting about 45 minutes later, and the two of them were on their way to Vinny's apartment to accommodate guests.

Vinny fired up the grill. After all: Team Volkonir enjoyed few moments as grand as the peace of all sitting on Vinny's balcony together and eating grilled food as nature surrounded them.



Vanessa: "Hey, messy hair! Got here as soon as I could! Sleep well?"

Kayla: "I see your cynicism is intact, per usual. And a tad hypocritical?"

Vanessa: "Carlos is ecstatic. He's even talking about growing a daddy mustache. But...I told him it will take another two weeks at least before I can take a test and be sure. As for the cynicism...be lucky we didn't attend the same middle school."

Kayla: "I was abducted in middle school. Doubt you can top that."

Vanessa: "Tomorrow should be a fun day at the office. Hanom wants me to bury the story of Jason's hospital stay, before it becomes a media circus. He told me not to worry about paying for it though. He's got that handled."

Kayla: "Sure is a good thing the multiversal barrier is shielding us. Inventing something that can do all that to another universe? I'd hate to be a part of that class-action lawsuit!"

Vanessa: "Yes, I suppose we have dodged a few bullets recently for the sake of Team Volkonir. I'm just thinking...you seem to be in a real hurry to become Queen Kayla of Cortascius."

Kayla: "Some diplomatic immunity in that, if I become a princess by reason of marriage to Vinny. And we're all gonna need royal diplomatic immunity pretty soon."

Vanessa: "How do you figure?"

Kayla: "How do you not? Hanom is critical to our success, but no longer to that of HanomCorp. His loyalty to Cortascius will become a liability after the merger with Sorisenshi is complete. They'll need to make him the outsource to the Mighty Kingdom, once it's restored, just to keep him out of trouble."

Vanessa: "So, some of will have to get other jobs? It's not like I've been at this one my whole life."

Kayla: "No, but me being Vinny's queen...about the only woman he respects more is his old mentor, Silnya Semaphry - wherever she is now. She was like a surrogate mother to him, especially following the death of his biological one. She basically adopted him, since Morlikus was too busy for the prince. And I'm about the only woman he would go to greater lengths for than her. And look at it this way: moving to Cortascius would also protect us from Hoshijo."

Vanessa: "The creep whose nose you broke that got you sent to prison?"

Kayla: "He's Hanom's adversary too. And he's got ties to both Hiktomoph and the Feds."

Vanessa: "Not sure I follow."

Kayla (sighing): "My love's real name is Prince Volkonir Moroti, of Mighty Cortascius. 'Vinny Amadeus Mason' is a complete fiction, one that Hanom helped craft to help our friend hide! All the immigration papers, et. al., it's more fake than Obama's birth certificate!"

Vanessa: "You think Hoshijo will get wise?"

Kayla: "Don't fool yourself. You're covering for Hanom too. And the Golden Lion Knight can't avoid being seen as much as he'd like to. Which means we have a trail of breadcrumbs for the enemy to follow. Vinny's an illegal alien; I'm an ex-con aiding an illusion, making me an accessory. Hanom's also an accessory, guilty of forgery in Vinny's case; and you're covering for his antics, so that's a count of obstruction. Carlos' mother is what she is, and they'll come for you to get to him to use him to get to her. And our inventions cause as many problems as they fix. We're all criminals; Vanessa. We've just been super lucky."

Vanessa: "In other words, it's only a matter of time before you have to either become a queen or go back to jail?"

Kayla: "Afraid so. As a royal, I can protect all of us! As just a covert pretending to be a regular HanomCorp employee? I can't protect anyone, not even myself! I love this life we have now. You, me, Vinny, Carlos, Hanom. It's simple. College. Fight Gwirmalesh's monsters. Try not to let anyone but the Treaders get killed. Avoid the government finding out what we're really doing. But it can't last. This isn't who we're meant to always be. And we can only live this lie for so long. I still don't know what happened to my father either."

Vanessa: "You know you can't keep what you have; and have an interesting mental strategy to avoid becoming too attached."

Kayla: "Vinny and I will always be attached now. But you're right about the rest."

Vanessa: "Eat, drink, and be merry then, I say. For if we fail our mission, we can at least hope to share a cell together."

Kayla: "Amen. I'll drink to that."

Vanessa: "A toast then. To royalty...or recidivism."



Masato: "For a celebration, those two hens sure are into doom and gloom."

Vinny: "Just trying to stay sober. They're right, you know. We've never had it so good as we do right at this very moment. And I am speaking from over 400 years of experience."

Masato: "Very true. And if you do make it home to Cortascius, I fear that means the whole Earth will need the Spectral Hare Samurai to step up."

Vinny: "We will have other Weavers. If the Knights of Cortascius are too busy defending Cortascius, we can always Weave some Scouts into the Tapestry to defend our Earth interests."

Masato: "Sort of like...our own Rangers?"

Vinny: "If we have to."

Masato: "I hope you can make a lot of them. The Gwirdon Elites in Tokyo are questioning their continued loyalty to the cause of Gwirmalesh. They are content to settle for the Tokyo underworld. Which means they will seek to make their own monsters, without his regard. They will make new ones, tired of his failed stock. The failures in Bozeman have done nothing to convince them otherwise. I yearn for good food in Tokyo again; but I realize I will have my hands full when I return."

Vinny: "We all will. It would be my sincerest hope to find a way to get my father's trinket back from Gwirmalesh somehow. With it, he can track down Silnya - or what's left of her. Kayla would be an awesome Crystal Swan Knight, if Silnya is no longer up for it. And Carlos a great Red Serpent Knight. And in time, maybe we can find a new Silver Ferret as well. I'm aware the Golden Lion cannot do everything - not for long. Thus is the bitter-sweetness of our moment here...one of borrowed time."

Masato: "Speaking of Gwirdons...I do believe that's some over there right now, looking for trouble!"

Vinny (looking over where Masato is gazing): "Well! Son of a-!"



Side note: For best results with this scene up until the ending, play "City of Sunshine" by David Malinich.

A small group of Treaders gathered in the distance, menacing the nearby road and terrorizing truck drivers in particular.

Hanom (on phone): "Vinny? Masato? Yeah...one of the trucks on that highway near your apartment building has a device in it that can use the Tapestry to create a soldier with virtually unlimited arsenal. Essentially a hammerspace weapons vault turning real soldiers into versatile real-life video game heroes."

Carlos: "Aw, man!"

Vanessa: "What do you need me to do, boss?"

Hanom: "Stand by for now. I'll call you if anything urgent happens, Vanessa."

Kayla: "Vinny, Masato...you two know what to do! Carlos and I will catch up."

Vinny: "Right. Golden Lion, Cortascius Defend!!!"

Masato: "Gōsutousagi, Cortascius o mamorou!"



Carlos ran back to his apartment as fast as he could, as did Kayla hers. They knew the drill as well: switch into patrol outfits as fast as humanly possible, program their transporters, and head to their designations ASAP. Vinny and Masato activated their respective motorcycles, and arrived on the scene to chase the Treaders off. They followed a few of them down a trail, where the Treaders scattered.

Carlos: "I've secured the device."

Hanom: "Good. You and Kayla get it back to me as soon as you can. Vinny, Masato, keep scouting the area. I find it troubling that Hiktomoph hasn't shown himself yet."

Vinny: "Maybe the device wasn't that important?"

Hanom: "It's never that simple."

Masato: "Whatever it is, we'll be ready!"