Courting The Jester

Chapter Three

Rowen sat twirling in his chair, leaning back and staring at the ceiling. Above him hung all sorts of gadgets and machines and brightly colored bits of metal. Some were suspended by strings and some were simply plastered to the ceiling. Surrounding him were about ten old desks, shoved together in a haphazardly fashion. One other person was in the room besides him, but that person was standing on the long black counter that ran along the wall. Every once and a while a sharp sizzling noise would cut the silence of the room, followed immediately by a yelp and a few curse words. Rowen balanced an unsharpened pencil on the end of his noise as he turned, trying to find the exact center of balance in it. Every so often he would attempt to toss the pencil up and catch it on it's other end, but thus far had only managed to poke himself in the left eye twice. Which was what he was currently contemplating on; why was it only his left eye that got poked no matter how he tossed the pencil?
"Shit!" cursed the grad student on the counter, jumping back at another snap. In beautiful tandem with the word came a systematic darkening of all but three lights in the room. Rowen stared at the tip of his pencil, wondering if it was humanly possible for his left eye to contain some sort of biological electromagnetism that attracted the metallic end of his pencil, that his right eye lacked. He mused for a moment, then discarded the idea. He figured if such was the case than he would have had problems of the like formerly in his life. It would be hard to miss if metallic objects randomly came flying at the left side of his face…unless he had become accustomed to it? Hmmm…
"Rowen, man what are you doing over there?" complained Jay, shaking his hands to ease the pain in them from repeated electric shocks. "Can't you at least pretend to be helping with this? The Doc said for both of us to fix it. Both, meaning you too."
Rowen grunted and twirled one more time.
"You seem to be doing a perfectly fine job all by yourself," Rowen encouraged. "I don't think I could do any better."
"Of course you could do better, you're the prodigal child, remember? But along with the ability and the intelligence and the grasp of quantum physics that I or anyone else on Doc's research team will never possess, you contain a potential for laziness that's never been seen before."
"You've obviously never seen a white tiger at a Sunday afternoon picnic," Rowen replied. Jay shook his head at the blue haired man, sitting down on the counter and looking glumly at the dimly lit room.
"Ummm, no, don't think I have." Jay groaned and leaned back against the wall. "It's all her fault, you know," he muttered. Rowen looked over at him, slightly confused.
"Her?" Rowen asked.
"Yep. Her. Before I had all the concentration in the world and rewiring these lights would've been a cinch. But now every time I try to focus on something, all I see is her and I keep messing up." The way Jay kept saying "her" wasn't exactly pleasant.
"Trouble in paradise?" Rowen asked, despite himself. He usually tried his best not to get involved in other people's problems, romantic or otherwise. But Jay had been doing all the work so far while Rowen hadn't lifted a finger so it was only fair to listen to him.
Jay groaned again and closed his eyes before responding.
"She's just such a wench. I mean, I love her, don't get me wrong, but…argh! She makes me want to shake her! She's so cute and sweet and little and then out of nowhere BAM! I never thought that someone that small could yell that loud. And it's not like I even did anything!"
"Trust me man, we always have done something. We just never know what it is until they tell us."
"No kidding! Except I didn't do anything, I swear," Jay repeated vehemently.
"Did you cheat on her?"
"No."
"Lie to her?"
"No."
"Did you talk to any old girlfriends? They hate that."
"No. Well…it's not like the girl counted. I mean it was only one night, and that was a long time ago. And Amy and me weren't even together then. We'd split up the week before."
Rowen started to laugh. "It doesn't matter how long ago it was, man. If your girl knows then that's reason enough to be upset."
"No it's not," Jay gave Rowen a dirty look. Rowen lifted his hands placatingly.
"Hey, I agree with you," Rowen soothed him, "but girls are different. Their ideas of what's appropriate when being on a break and ours are different. What, did she catch you talking to the other one?"
"No, she caught us having lunch."
"Did you tell her first?" Rowen pressed.
"No," Jay admitted sheepishly. "Probably a bad idea, that one."
Rowen laughed again and leaned back, finally not twirling his chair any longer. He was starting to get dizzy.
"There you have it. Self made misery. Not quite yet "Dr." Hashiba recommends lots of sucking up."
"Thanks," Jay replied dryly. The other grad student brushed off his hands and stood up again, peering up at the ancient lighting above him. If only they would just build another building for the growing science department there, instead of sticking everyone in every little nook and cranny they could find. Then maybe they could actually have stuff that worked without being tinkered with.
"Hey, Rowen," Jay asked after a moment of poking at wires. "You're not dating anyone are you?"
"Nope. Why? Amy looking for someone else?"
Rowen ducked the screwdriver that came flying at his head. Towards the left side of his head. Hmmm.
"No jackass. I was just thinking about the fact that I never really see you with any girls. I mean, I see you flirt now and then, but I don't see you ever with anyone."
"So what?" Rowen asked, rolling his pencil down his arm, eyes half closed in the dim light. He looked about ready to fall asleep.
"So why? It's not like you couldn't get any girls. You might be butt ugly with freakish blue hair but the brains would go a long way with lots of chicks."
"Be nice," Rowen murmured, rotating his arm underneath the moving pencil. Jay shot him a grin, but his eyes narrowed.
"So what's your deal? Why the life of solitude? Even the most irritating girl can have some, ummm, positive qualities." Rowen shook his head at what the other was implying, but kept his focus on the task at hand. He switched his pencil to his left arm without losing momentum.
"Not my deal, man," Rowen said quietly.
Silence, then, "Someone pulled one over on you good, huh?"
Rowen froze and the pencil hung balanced on his wrist. He said nothing in reply.
"So who was she?" Jay pushed, head disappearing into ceiling, muffling his voice. His head popped back out, a black smudge on his forehead. "Undergrad? High school? Some piece of tail gone wrong?"
Rowen continued to say nothing. His eyes focused on the back of the room, into the dark corners. Jay continued to talk.
"Some get too attached. That's a good reason to be careful. Plus, you never know what's floating around these days on some of these chicks…"
Jay was interrupted by Rowen climbing up on the counter next to him. Rowen pushed around him, disappearing inside the ceiling up to his armpits. Jay heard a clunk, then another. Suddenly the room was flooded with light. Rowen dropped out of the ceiling and jumped off the counter, Jay staring incredulously at him.
Rowen grabbed up his pencil and headed out the door. Jay's voice stopped him.
"Sorry man, if I was pushing too far."
Rowen paused in the doorway and stood looking out for a moment. Suddenly he turned and looked intently at the other man. Jay almost stepped back from that expression.
"Do you love her?" Rowen demanded quietly.
"Yeah," Jay stuttered, "yeah I guess so."
"Then thank your lucky stars she puts up with you." Rowen said, voice thick. "Lots of them ditch when things get tough. Don't give her a reason to."
"Yeah, okay," Jay replied uncertainly. He'd never seen this side of Rowen before. Not that any of them at the university really did. Rowen nodded and turned away.
"Sorry to bring up bad stuff," Jay murmured, but Rowen was already gone. Jay looked irritably at the now perfectly working lights and sighed at the wasted time. Shaking his head yet once more, he climbed down and gathered his stuff to go. As he flipped off the lights, Jay thought about the blue haired man's words. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Amy's number, before locking the door and going off to the rest of his normal life.

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Rowen stomped across campus to his car, irritated beyond all belief at the guy he'd just left. Rowen's personal life was his own, and he didn't appreciate someone trying to dig into it.
"What personal life?" Rowen muttered at himself, yanking open his car door, noticing that he'd once again forgotten to lock it. Rowen scowled even more and flopped into the driver's seat. Sage kept telling him that he'd get it stolen one of these days, but the deplorable condition of the vehicle was a second security system. That in itself made Rowen even more mad, and he was cursing under his breath by the time he managed to get the ancient thing started.
He was late, he'd promised Ryo that he'd be at Mia's by now, and it would take him at least an hour to get there. Maybe forty-five minutes if he hurried. Rowen pulled out of the parking lot, realizing that his jaw was aching. Which was easily explained by how he had his teeth gritted ever since he'd left the office. His temples were starting to throb.
Jay had really gotten to him with that conversation. Who cared what Rowen's love life was like, who's business was it anyways. It wasn't like he didn't have the opportunity to date; it wasn't that he was an unattractive loser. So what if he chose not to go sleeping around, which he was pretty sure Jay had done. So what? What would it get him? It wasn't as if lots of mindless sex had ever appealed to him. It wasn't as if it had ever done him any good.
"Glad to know I'm just a piece of ass to you!"
"You're the one that started this!"
The sudden words sprang up in Rowen's mind but he couldn't place them or who had said them. Dark mood going even darker, Rowen gripped the steering wheel and accelerated down the road. Ryo was going to be pissed and had been pretty touchy lately. Not that Ryo wasn't always touchy anymore. He used to be somewhat easygoing, Rowen didn't know when that all had changed.
"What's wrong with you! Why are you acting like this! It's that armor, I told you-"
"Shut up! Just…just leave me alone! You don't even know what you're talking about!"
Rowen didn't know why he'd thought that either. He ground his teeth even more, hearing them squeak. Rowen's mind was racing. He could feel his pulse in his temples, signaling a bad headache coming on. He was so angry with Jay. His life was his own; his choices were his own. If she didn't want to be a part of it then that was her choice, her loss. Her? Who was he even thinking of? When had he ever had a relationship anyways? He'd always been running solo. Sage used to tease him about it. But then Sage stopped…
"Stop it! Stop it, you're hurting him! Stop it! You guys are friends! This isn't right!"
"Friends don't do this…friends…They don't do THIS!"
"Oh god, he's killing him! Stop!"
"Stop it," Rowen muttered, shaking his head. His temples pounded. What was he thinking about? His mind always thought too fast, but this time was different. It was like stuff he should know but didn't. Rowen had always been one of those people who could get lost in their own thoughts for hours, not even realizing that he was thinking the things he was thinking. But this was like remembering stuff he didn't know. Stuff he used to know?
"You knew this is wrong! You knew! And you never even once tried to stop it!
"I can't fix this! None of us can!"
"What the hell!"
"What the hell?" Rowen gasped, vision blurring. He let off the accelerator as a car blared their horn behind him. Rowen realized he'd drifted into another lane and quickly jerked the car back in line. He must be getting sick. He didn't understand. He could ask the guys. Sage or Cye…
"Oh god, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"
"Pick one! Pick or they both die!"
Death, dying, why was he thinking of this? Who…what? He couldn't…
"I can't! I CAN'T!"
"…I can…"
"NO!"
A sharp snap sang through his head, like whiplash. With a startled cry, Rowen jerked back into his seat, pain ripping through his forehead. He slowed even more and pulled off on the side of the road. Another snap and…
"Bring her."
"You can't have her! Over my dead body!"
"That can be easily arranged."
"We'll stop you! You can't fight us all!"
"Silly child, what makes you think there's anyone but you left?"
Snap!
"What did they do to you? Please, I want to help you."
"Don't look at me…"
"Please-"
"DON'T LOOK AT ME!"
Snap!
"I love you…"
"But?"
"But it's not enough to stop this."
"No don't! We can get through this!"
"We've already lost…"
"No!"
"It's too late…"
"It's too late. It's too late. It's too late."
Rowen realized he was shaking, clutching the steering wheel for dear life, rocking back and forth. He had been whispering. Whispering what? It was too late for what? What was happening? He was drenched in sweat and his temples throbbed like he had a migraine. He sat that way for almost ten minutes before the tremors subsided. Rowen didn't really know what had just happened. The pain increased…
He had always wanted to know. He had always needed to know. Knowledge was his gift. The fight for control of it was his weakness. Let go. The armor had told him to let go.
"How do you let go of something you don't understand?" Rowen asked the empty car. The car didn't respond. Rowen hadn't really expected it to.
Let go.
"How?" Rowen whispered to himself.
Let go. You already know. Many things have been forgotten. The knowledge comes with control. Control comes with letting go.
He was aware that he was having a conversation with his head. He was aware that normallyhe would spend a great deal of time trying to figure that out. Sage would have just accepted it, which was why Rowen had always thought he was better with all this psychic mumbo jumbo. The pain hit a point where he felt like his head would split apart.
Let go.
The pain started to spread down his neck and shoulders and into his back. Rowen dimly thought that the psychic version of himself was pretty pushy, but he took a deep breath.
"How do I do what you…me…whoever you are, want me to do?" Rowen asked, knowing how bizarre this all was.
You already know how.
You've done this before.
You know…
"Know what?" Rowen whispered as pain overtook his entire body, and he started to black out.
What they did…

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"Anyone know where Rowen's at?"
Ryo got a chorus of grunts in response. Ryo sighed and looked at his men. They looked tired, all of them, and Cye seemed especially strained. He was standing apart from everyone like he was uncomfortable being there. It was weird behavior, but consistent since Cye had passed out. Ryo hadn't talked to Cye about it, since Cye had been making it clear that he wanted to be left alone. Ryo had expected the Ronin of Torrent to go home, and only come back for their practices, but Cye had stayed. Whatever was going on with him, he at least was sticking to the security of the group. Ryo knew that Cye was worried about them being separated and attacked like when Suzunagi had appeared. At least he had been a couple weeks ago. Now it was hard to tell exactly what Cye was thinking.
"Well, we start without him," Ryo stated. The others nodded, content to follow his lead. Ryo had never truly liked the position that he was in when it came to them; he had never really felt like he deserved to be their leader. But that was how they viewed him, and Ryo had never wanted to let the guys down. He also figured that if he sucked at it enough, they would demote him and find someone else. That thought was oddly comforting. Maybe he could mess things up enough…
"You're fine Ryo, let's just go work, okay?" Cye said suddenly, voice tight and distracted. He didn't even seem to notice that he'd spoken without Ryo saying anything. Ryo's eyes widened momentarily and he exchanged a look with Sage and Kento, but he quickly smoothed his face. He smiled at Cye, hoping to project feelings of support. Cye looked plenty frazzled and Ryo was starting to really worry about him.
"Okay, Cye. No problem."
White Blaze suddenly came bounding over to them, pausing briefly to brush up against Cye before moving to Ryo. Ryo reached down to run his fingers into the long soft coat, but the tiger moved away and flicked his tail.
"What is it boy?" Kento asked, "Is something wrong?"
White Blaze just growled deep in his throat and looked off towards the east, where the road approached Mia's house. They all exchanged a look and were immediately in their undergear. White Blaze's warnings were obvious and always correct.
"What's up?" Ryo asked his tiger, looking in the same direction. White Blaze continued to growl. Sage looked around, starting to get a weird feeling. The skin on the back of his neck crawled, and he felt like someone was watching him.
"Hey guys?" he said, "I think we've got company."
"You mean the big bad has finally decided to show up?" Kento said loudly, making a fist. "About time, what took you so long?" he shouted at the surrounding trees. He was about to shout something else when suddenly Cye went pale and staggered next to him. Kento reached for his arm, but Cye yanked away, falling to his knees and retching the small amount of food he'd been able to eat that day.
"Cye!" Ryo cried, leaning down next to his friend. "What's the matter?" Ryo laid an arm on Cye's back and for the first time in a while, the Ronin of Torrent leaned into him, getting as much contact as he could.
"It's so…" Cye gasped, body shaking as he dry heaved once more. He wiped his mouth and stared out in the same direction White Blaze was still growling in. "It's so wrong!"
"Well whatever it is, come out and fight us!" Kento yelled, shaking his fight challengingly. "We're ready for you!"
"No!" both Cye and Sage yelled simultaneously, and both staggered as if hit by something. Only Ryo's arm around Cye kept him from being thrown to the ground, and Ryo's arm stung from the sudden force exerted on it. Sage had fared worse and was thrown to one knee. Ryo looked at the blonde warrior and went deadly still. Sage looked…afraid.
"To arms, guys!" Ryo yelled, pushing up to his feet and jumping to a place that positioned him in between and slightly in front of both Sage and Cye. He grabbed at the armor orb in his pocket, closing his hand tightly around it. He could see Kento following suit. He closed his eyes and waited to feel the metal strapping itself around his body.
Nothing happened.
Ryo's eyes widened with surprise and he looked quickly at the others. Kento looked as surprised as he felt. Neither Cye nor Sage had made any move to put on their armors.
"What the hell?" Kento gasped.
"It won't help," Cye whispered, terror in his large sea-blue eyes. He dug his fingers into the ground underneath him, staring in horror at something Ryo couldn't see. Sage just remained fixed in a half-kneeling position, face drained of all color. Ryo could see him clutching at his kanji orb but not calling his armor. Then suddenly Ryo understood. A wave of pain and suffering and terror hit him like a wall; a dirtiness that sank into his bones and a vileness that made his stomach turn.
"Well looky here. A one, a two, a three, a four. A child, a bastard, an orphan, a whore. But where is the fifth? Didn't he want to come with? I do prefer to fight more."
"Was that supposed to make sense?" Ryo shouted at the voice that drifted around them, fighting the overwhelming urge to vomit.
"Shall I make it more simple for you, Ryo of the Wildfire?" the voice taunted, shifting from the east to the west to the north. Ryo kept jerking around to find where it was coming from. He heard Kento throwing up behind him. He didn't blame him.
"How about this, and please try to keep up. I kill in odd numbers, and you're missing one. I like what I like, it's how I have fun. Strata is missing, which tears at my heart. And I planning on eating yours so…be a dear and go fetch him for me."
"Is this sick bastard trying to rhyme?" Kento gasped, also casting around for an enemy to fight. "Cause he's doing a pretty bad job at it."
"Come now, is that a nice thing to say? You were raised so polite, child, what would your mother say?"
"He did not just bring up my mother!" Kento snarled. "Armor of Hardrock!"
Again nothing happened. White Blaze had lowered himself to the ground and was growling in every direction, snapping his tail back and forth.
"Very well, I see. You are incapable of giving even a decent account of yourselves without the fifth. Of course you should have remembered that…Oh wait! You wouldn't have remembered that. How foolish of me. Well, thanks for the reunion little ones. Don't forget me in your dreams."
"Sick," Ryo murmured, just as the wave of vileness swept back to where it came from. Still the voice rang out.
"Oh, and little ones? Here's something to remember me by."
The ground tore apart. The sky ripped in half. All noise turned to a glass-breaking shriek. For one split second, one blessed relief, all existence stopped.
And then the world exploded.

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"Where is this place Mia? I thought you used to live a lot closer to town."
"Stop griping Nikki, we'll be there soon enough," Mia admonished her passenger. Nikki looked over at her and stuck out her tongue. Mia laughed and swatted her arm.
"You're acting like Yuli, now," Mia said. Nikki rolled her eyes and gave Mia a dirty look.
"That was just plain mean, Mia. After all I've done for you."
"All you've done Nikki is complain. But don't worry, when we get home I'll make us both something to eat and everything will seem better."
"You know that only worked on the guys, right?" Nikki asked her friend wryly. Mia had the grace to blush and laughed at herself.
"Well it was worth a shot. Plus, I am hungry. Not that I have much to eat there, but there's got to be something."
"Wow this traffic is really bad for being outside the city," Nikki commented. "Do you think there's an accident up ahead?"
"I don't know but-"
The world exploded.
Mia screamed as suddenly the rental car was lifted off of its tires and smashed into the vehicle to their left. All she heard was creaking steel and shattering glass. Nikki never made a noise as her side of the car was crunched in. Mia saw a splatter of blood on the windshield, and calmly realized in some disconnected part of her mind that her friend was probably dead, and that their car was being spun in the other direction. She calmly saw the cars previously behind them trying to stop, and she even saw the look of terror on the truck driver's face as he barreled down on them. Then there was a crashing noise and a bright flashing light and everything went dark.