timescape

"Part IV: The Scent of Death"

by Christofori

(Be sure to read Part I, Part II, and Part III of TimeScape, as they contain plot and character elements which are vital to understanding this chapter.)

* * *

Things had been quite difficult for graal ever since that fateful night back in her room. She constantly asked herself, "Self, why did you let yourself become involved in this?! Why were you so curious to try out the blasted time machine that TOffe_ and MyztiQue built?! Why, GOD WHY?!!?!"

graal found herself running. Every time line she visited, she was always running. She couldn't run fast enough, she wasn't quick enough. Somehow, she had managed to get herself out of several sticky situations, but she feared that this time, things would be different.

Hunting Soul, her beloved. Why did he have to die? Where had he gone when he died? Back to the simple life he once new as a native? Had she ever really taken him from that place, in reality? Or, was this all just an abstract dream?

THUD.

Nope. Definately not a dream!

graal jumped nimbly out of the way as the rocket blasted past her and impacted (with an impressive explosion) a wall not far from where she had been standing. She earnestly covered her head as best she could, trying to protect herself from the debris madly flying around. If only this were just another war! If only it were as simple as punching in a code to get to sometime else!

You see, graal had lost her remote control!

Now graal was trapped in a time line she knew nothing about. The buildings around her were unfamiliar. There were no people.

Well, there was ONE other being, but graal found it hard to call the other being a 'person.'

"When are you going to give up, deary?" the other person screeched.
"Never!" shrieked graal. "You'll have to kill me if you want to live!"
"That's the general idea, sweety!" the other quipped back.

These sorts of exchanges were commonplace by now. Each time the other seemed to have graal right where she wanted her, graal would somehow evade, again and again. Likewise, graal couldn't seem to best her opponent, either.

So time after time, in time line after time line, graal and Anti-graal battled. Often with little concern for those around them; they, themselves, focused only on one goal; to eliminate their nemesis, the other graal. You see, to each graal, they were the right graal; the other was the imposter!

So how did the 'hero graal' lose her remote control, you might ask? Well, I'll tell you. In fact, I'll take you to that place, now, just so you can see it for yourself.

ZAAAPP!

* * *

Things were a mite simpler here. It was a time of thanksgiving, a time of reverance. graal and Hunting Soul had just narrowly escaped impending doom, yet again.

Anti-graal was on the warpath. For some reason, she believed that she had to eliminate graal and Hunting Soul, so that time would return to normal. But, which "normal" is the right one? graal's time line, or Anti-graal's time line?

Anyway, back to the task at hand. The remote control.

graal and Hunting Soul had just used it to escape. Now, they found themselves in some not-so-strange surroundings; it was a city, much like any city they had seen several times before. It was somewhat odd, though.

Buildings were falling over, crumbling from years of neglect. There were no lights, save the headlamps that graal and Hunting Soul had picked up in a previous adventure involving a mine and some shiny rocks. It certainly looked, to graal and Hunting Soul, that they were finally alone in this odd place.

Just then, graal heard a sound she had come to dread. It was Anti-graal, cackling away, high above them!

graal and Hunting Soul couldn't move out of the way fast enough (well, actually, graal could; the sound of the cackling made her jump reflexively out of the way). Unfortunately, Hunting Soul was crushed by a rather large chunk of debris.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOooooOOOOOOOoOooOOOooOOOOooooOoooOooooooOooOOooo!" graal screamed in horror. She couldn't do anything, she hadn't been fast enough. Hunting Soul was dead!

"You BITCH!" graal screached at the top of her lungs. In a fit of pure, unadulterated rage, she threw down the things she had been clutching (which included a newspaper from her immediately previous mishap, a socket wrench, candy bar, and the remote control). Instantly wishing she hadn't just done that, graal looked down in dismay as she saw sparks fly from the remote control, just as it dissappeared into thin air!

Just then, her vision clouded. It wasn't like when she was about to shift through time. No, this feeling -- it was somehow quite different.

graal was engulfed in rage!

Not only was her beloved Hunting Soul dead, but her only way out of this dastardly place had just.. vanished!

"All right, it's about time you learned your place!" graal shrieked to no one in particular.

Anti-graal watched with glee at the scene. Suddenly, though, she was surprised to see graal rush off in a seemingly random direction.
"Uh-uh, graal! You can't get away! Well, actually, I suppose you can run, but you can't.. damnit! That's SO cliché!" she stammered.

graal was running for her life! Somehow, Anti-graal had managed to accumulate a horde of weapons, and was able to bring them with her to every time line. She was following graal, trying to kill her and remedy the whole time line mishap! (Well, to Anti-graal, killing graal would remedy the situation, anyway.)

Suddenly, nothing mattered to graal. Nothing, that is, except killing Anti-graal. She had caused too much trouble already, and the only way to return things to normal (at least, as far as graal could tell), was to eliminate Anti-graal.

So, needless to say, graal and Anti-graal kept at it. They battled for what seemed like an eternity.

* * *

Actually, I'll clue you in on one slight detail. The place where graal and Anti-graal had just appeared was, in fact, a predestined place. It was devoid of all other living life for a reason. You might recall that things in IRC seemed to look quite different not long after graal first dissappeared. Things really began to take shape.

The shape that they took could be seen as a city. It's analagous to the Matrix, I suppose, in a strange way. However, we're not going to dwell on a seemingly pre-inspired version of this story which might subsequently mirror the plot of said famous work of fiction. No, we're going to do something different.

Anti-graal was furious. graal was getting away! Unable to tolerate this, she picked up a semi-automatic hand gun and lept wildly from the dainty rooftop she had once precariously occupied. She screemed as she fell, suddenly realizing how stupid it had been for her to have lept from such a height.

With ease, Anti-graal landed on the ground with a thump. She stood after a moment, brushed herself off, and then began running madly in the seemingly random direction graal had gone.

* * *

graal took refuge near a dumpster so she could catch her breath. Just then, she realized that her choice of a stopping point wasn't really all that ideal, as a foul stench engulfed her. Coughing and waving her hands in front of her face, as if to disperse the smelly void, she stood and took a moment to get her bearings.

graal was somehow on the outskirts of the city now, she saw. She had run so far.. she didn't really know how far exactly, but it must have been enough. Surely, Anti-graal wouldn't be able to find her.

Just then, graal heard it. A gut-wrenching, blood-curdling howl. "Nope," she thought to herself. "Not far enough!"

graal took off again, running further and further from the city.

* * *

Anti-graal stopped to get her bearings. It just so happened to be the same spot where graal had been, moments before.

"Ah, I can smell her stench!" Anti-graal mused, as the odiferous wave of rotting garbage washed over her.

"No, wait.. it's something else," Anti-graal realized, after she realized that she was standing next to a dumpster.

Just then, she caught a whiff of it.... It was that particular aroma that she was all-to-familiar with. "She HAS been here!" Anti-graal squealed with delight. "I can smell her unmistakable perfume! It lingers, ever so, drawing me onward! I just HAVE to find out what brand it is! It's so.. so... enticing!"

Anti-graal soon took off again, following the sweetly perfumed trail where graal had gone, moments before.

* * *

graal was becomming quite tired. She stopped again to rest. She looked back over her shoulder as she sat on the ground, towards the strange city where she had narrowly escaped her fate. She couldn't make out anything; no skyline, no crumbling buildings.

"Good," she said to herself. "Perhaps I've come far enough."

graal took a few deep breaths, and then stood again, now walking; again, in the same direction: away from Anti-graal.

Before long, graal's headlamp started to dim. She had noticed that it seemed to be dying; the batteries that powered it slowly but surely losing their charge. Before long, her headlamp had died completely. She threw the useless hat off to the side of the road she found herself on.

"This is it, self!" she said. "Now I'm alone, with no light to guide me. I might as well wait here; I know she's bound to be right behind me. She's going to kill me and there's nothing I can do..."

graal trailed off, something she wasn't really too accustomed to doing. She found herself staring off in the distance.

A strange bluish glow seemed to be coming from one particular direction. Off in the horizon she stared, towards the glow.

"What the hell is that?!" graal asked herself.

Without waiting for an answer, she quickly decided to find out for herself. She ran blindly towards the light in the distance.

* * *

Soon enough, graal could see it. It was a magnificant sight! The only source of light in this otherwise dead world, a world she felt she had caused. You see, along the way, graal was thinking about the things which had brought her here. At first, it seemed simple; her mission would be to destroy Anti-graal, and then somehow things would return to normal. She soon wondered, though, if it would really be that simple. Not that eliminating Anti-graal would be a simple task, at any rate!

Anyway, graal could now see much more clearly the object which produced the bluish light. A mountain, off in the distance, which seemed to be engulfed completely in lightning!

"Wait.." graal thought to herself. "I've seen something like that before! That's it! It's the time machine! It's in that mountain, I'm sure of it!"

Just then, everything seemed to be falling into place for graal. If she could make it to the mountain, and somehow get inside, she would be in the lab where TOffe_ and MyztiQue had created the time machine! She could then go anywhere, or to any time, she pleased!

"Hold on," she told herself. "It can't be that simple, either. If I go somewhere else, Anti-graal will just follow me again. Or worse yet, she'll already be there, waiting for me!"

graal sat in thought. Surely, there was SOME way to end it all! There had to be!

graal sat down, thinking.
"There's got to be a way! There's always a way! There HAS TO BE a way!"

"A way for you to DIE!" Anti-graal screached.

"OMG!" graal screamed, as she jumped to her feet. Instantly, she turned to face Anti-graal, who had somehow managed to sneak up behind her.
"It's your perfume, deary!" Anti-graal said. "I simply must know, before I kill you... What kind is it?"
"My.. perfume?!" graal shrieked. "You want to know what kind of perfume I'm wearing!?"
"Why, yes, of course! They don't make anything quite so extravegant where I'm from. Just tell me, what kind is it?"
"NEVER!" graal thundered. "I'll not let you in on one more detail of my life."
Just then, graal reached into her pocket, and withdrew a small flask. She held it up for Anti-graal to see.

"Ooh, you want this, don't you?" graal said, gesturing to the flask. "Here, take it. It's my perfume," she said, as she held it out towards Anti-graal.

Anti-graal dropped her weapon. Her bottom lip was quivering slightly.
"You.. you want me to take... your perfume? I thought you wouldn't give it to me!" Anti-graal said, understandably confused.

"Well, I didn't say that exactly," graal said, quite seriously. "I just said I wouldn't tell you what kind it was."
At that, Anti-graal cocked her head, as an insane smile creeped across her lips. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?" she asked. "You want me to take it, don't you... but how can I trust you? It's probably laced with some sort of poison..."
"Oh STOP IT!" graal screamed. "Just take the damn perfume, if you want it so badly! Here..."

graal opened the flask, allowing the sweet aroma to escape. She held it even closer to Anti-graal's face.
"Smell it... you want it! Take my sweet perfume. Just take it," graal offered. "Give in to your sick desires!"

All the while, graal had slowly been inching herself towards the gun Anti-graal had dropped.

Anti-graal seemed to be weighing her choices in her mind. Should she take the perfume, the scent which had somehow dominated her very soul, which had become much more important to her than simply killing graal? But, if she took it, would it be safe? Or had graal somehow tainted the sweet essence with some unsightly poison?

* * *

And thus ends this chapter of TimeScape. Tune in next time to see what happens! Will Anti-graal give in to the pressure and take the perfume, and if so, did graal poison it, as Anti-graal fears? Stay tuned!

The End!
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* * *

Just kidding, folks!

* * *

Anti-graal reached for the flask.

Just then, graal dropped it!

In one swift move, graal managed to let loose of the flask and swing her other arm down towards the gun. She grasped it and pointed it right at Anti-graal's face, just as the flask shattered on the rough ground.

"Nooooooooooooooooo!" Anti-graal wailed. "I can't believe you destroyed it!" she shouted. Anti-graal instantly dropped to the ground, her face hovering mere centimeters over the shards of glass which had once housed the sweet smelling aroma. She took in several deep breaths, attempting to capture the essence of the perfume one last time.

graal slammed her foot down on Anti-graal's head, mashing it against the ground as Anti-graal bellowed. The sound was made even more poignant by the sounds of tiny shards of glass splintering delightfully against Anti-graal's cheekbone.

"Believe THIS, bitch!" graal spat, as she pointed the gun directly at Anti-graal's heart. graal squeezed the trigger.

C L I C K . . .

graal looked at the gun in disbelief. She squeezed again.

C L I C K . . .

She squeezed again and again; each time in horror as nothing happened. Nothing, that is, except...

C L I C K . . .

"Hahahahahaa!" Anti-graal laughed as she upset graal with a quick move of her arms. graal toppled backwards, landing somewhat uncerimoniously in a seated position a few feet away.

Anti-graal stood, brushing the dust from her clothes. She paid no attention to the shards of glass protruding from her face, nor the blood oozing out from around the needle-like fragments.
"You actually thought I'd leave a loaded gun just lying there for you to pick up?! HAA!" Anti-graal laughed meniacally. graal couldn't help but notice the crazed look in Anti-graal's eyes, as her disfigured face was illuminated by the ghostly blue glow from the mountain engulfed in lightning not all that far off in the distance behind graal.

Just then, Anti-graal reached in to one of her pockets, and produced a smaller handgun. She pointed it directly at graal's face.

"Prepare to meet oblivion!" Anti-graal cackled.

Before anything else could happen, graal dissappeared in a bright blue flash.

"DAMNIT!" Anti-graal squealed. "Of all the insidiously bad timings..."

Anti-graal reached into yet another pocket and withdrew her own remote control, and began madly mashing buttons. Before long she, too, had dissappeared; though it was in a bright red flash.

* * *

graal found herself in the midst of the city once again. Astonished at what had just happened, she thought for a moment, asking herself how it could have happened. She had, after all, lost her remote control; she wasn't sure how she could have been whisked away at just the right moment...

But then it occured to her. She remembered! The machine still continued to operate, but now she was no longer in control of WHEN she transitioned through time.

Quickly realizing that she had precious little time remaining before Anti-graal would surely find her, graal stood and began running through the city again. She passed the foul smelling dumpster again, and soon found herself on that same road leading away from the crumbling city... again.

"If I can just make it to the mountain!" she gasped as she ran. She held nothing back this time; she was sure that Anti-graal could be right behind her. She was running out of time, all over again!

She soon saw the familiar blue haze along the horizon, and knew that she was coming closer and closer...

Before long, graal did indeed make it to the strange mountain. She fumbled around the outside for a time, looking for a way in.

* * *

Anti-graal was pissed. She had had graal right where she had wanted her!

"WHY COULDN'T SHE HAVE JUST DIED?!" Anti-graal hissed as she ran. "Why, WHY, WHYYYYYY!?" she continued, the hissing soon turning to a low rumble as her voice lept forth, sweeping across the crumbling city like a banshee's cry.

* * *

graal was inside!

She couldn't believe her luck. Somehow, she had managed to find a hidden entrance to the mountain, and luckilly her code for the remote control also worked to open the inner doors to the facility!

graal quickly keyed a sequence on the control pad, and the doors slid shut behind her. Relieved, she sank down to the floor, attempting to catch her breath.

Before long, hastened by the realization that "hellOOO, Anti-graal's still after you!!!" graal stood, and ran into the control room.

She saw the familiar shapes of the supercomputers with their blinking lights, and the jar-shaped recepticle that was the time chamber itself.

"Hellooo?" she shouted, hoping that someone would be there to hear her.

After a tense few seconds, graal decided that she was, indeed, alone in this place.

"Okay.. now what should I do?" she asked herself.

Just then, graal heard what sounded like a low rumble.

She soon realized that the sound was drawing closer and closer, and that could mean only one thing.

"OMG!" graal screamed. "She's already here!"

"Okay, think think THINK!!!" graal prodded herself. "What would... William Shatner... DO?" she asked, complete with the actor's infamous pausing to ensure he had adequate amounts of screen time.

Just then, it hit her!

"That's it!" she said with determination. "That's what I have to do!"

Just then, the doors exploded, and Anti-graal walked in through the flames.

"Good GOD!" graal screamed as she rushed to the nearest control panel.

"Oh NO YOU DON'T!" Anti-graal screeched at the top of her lungs. She raised a flame thrower and began dousing everything in flames, just as graal reached the controls.

"Must... finish... this!!" graal breathed, as she madly pounded the controls. She entered a few last key sequences as she felt everything around her begin to melt.

"What are you DOOOOING?!" crowed Anti-graal, as graal turned to her, a look of satisfaction on her now scarred and scorched face.

Just then, an alarm began to sound. graal looked smugly at Anti-graal as she continued to burn (which was of no consequence to her at this point).

Anti-graal looked up at the ceiling in horror as the words "SELF DESTRUCT SEQUENCE ACTIVATED. SITE DESTRUCTION WILL COMMENCE IN 5... 4..." filled the air around her.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Anti-graal screeched, all the while engulfing graal further in torrential amounts of fire.

"3..."

"2..."

"1..."

"BEGIN."

Just then, the entire mountain exploded in a mad shower of pyrotechnic glory. Chunks of rock, engulfed in flames and bursts of lightning produced by the core of the time chamber, hurtled outwards in all directions.

Anti-graal was no more.

* * *

It was a quiet, pieceful day. The sun was shining, casting it's warm glow across a plain of new white snow, which had fallen the night before. Birds were chirping away, as if without a care.

grl awoke to this, such a beautiful sight. She yawned deeply and stretched, and fumbled across the room to her window. She opened it to smell the pleasant breeze.

It had felt like such a long night, too. She was glad that today was her day off; it would give her a chance to rest after such a long week.

A long week! grl had just been through hell, almost literally! But wait...

Something was different. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, though. Distracted for a moment, grl remembered the open window. She turned to it, and closed it.

After a brief shower, grl dressed and went downstairs. She fumbled around in the kitchen for a while, trying to think of something to fix for breakfast.

"What's with all the racket?" her mother asked, making her way down the stairs.

"MOM!!!!" grl cried, dropping the pan she had just been stirring eggs in. She rushed over to her bewildered mother and gave her a massive bear hug.

"What's all this?" grl's understandably confused mother chuckled.

grl released her mother, and took a step back. "I dunno mom... just..." grl trailed off. "Well, it's hard to explain," grl continued. "I just felt like I hadn't seen you in years!"

"Well that's silly, we just went to see the movie last night!" grl's mother exclaimed.

"Yeah, you're right!" grl said. Sudden joy overcame grl, and she returned to making breakfast, as she and her mother continued to discuss the things that they had always talked about... before...

* * *

And thus ends the saga of TimeScape!

The End!
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