The Ghost Light

Maggie hovered three feet off of the ground, her arms outstretched like a lover about to embrace the wind. Her hair flowing about her as if it had a mind of its own. She looked both angelic and demonic at the same time. 

Her eyes were closed and you could see the tips of her fingers begin to glow. A fluorescent effect giving her an eerie glow.

Goner's eyes widened and he backed away; he had never seen her do anything like this before. 

He turned and fled as his horror factor kicked in, making him cry out like a little boy.

Like a Piece of Driftwood on the Sea...

In a seedy hotel room in Las Vegas, on the nightstand is an overfull ashtray with a dozen butts laying about like frat boys after a kegger. Also on the nightstand sits three empty bottle of Jack Daniels next to a bottle that's just been cracked.

The room is dark except for the neon glow of a sign which shines through a small crack in the curtains. The sound of the television is low.

Max Cube is lying on the bed, unshaven and holding a glass of jack on the rocks while a lit cigarette smolders away in his hands. He is watching but not watching television, his eyes focused on the images but not taking anything in. Like the stars in the sky they are far and distant.

} Small Talk - for J.G.

"You sure this is the place?"

Angst glanced over her shoulder at Suki and smiled. "Have I ever lead you astray?" She dismounted from the motorcycle and waited for Suki as she took off her helmet and put it on the bike. Angst reached inside the saddle bag and pulled out some band-aids and began to apply them over her fingers.

"Well," Suki said. "There was the time in New York. You know CBGB's..."

"Let's not go there now," Angst told Suki as she handed her a strip of band-aids. Then adding with a heartfelt sigh, "Though I guess we can never go back there again in this reality."

Suki slung her school bag over her shoulder and made sure the Godhammer was inside. She really didn't want to be caught off guard, especially in a place like this. She took out a book of matches and opened them and peeled the front row off and handed it to Angst. Each stick had a symbol on them.

"And then there was this time in the dance club where you started a fight, a fight I'd like to remind you that I broke up."

"It wasn't my fight to begin with," Angst interjected.

Nexus Force

"Yo Max, pass me another beer," Dexter said; he was leaning against the meat counter, picking at an open container of luncheon meat. 

Max reached behind him and pulled out a can of Coors and handed it Dexter. He didn't think that the shop owner would mind, since there was no sign of anyone at all.

"Listen...," Aqua said as she rain down the aisle; she was carrying a boombox. She placed the stereo down on a shelf, there was nothing but static. "It was there a moment ago." 

"Who hasn't heard that before?" Goner questioned. "We've been hearing nothing but white noise ever since we arrived in this godforsaken wasteland."

Max cocked his head to one side and he could here a faint voice amongst the static. He smiled. "This means we are not alone in this shifted version," he said. "We got work to do!"

"It's about freakin' time," Dexter said as he downed the warm beer and tossed the can over his shoulder.

Mistaken Moments

Maggie took a deep breath. She had reached her limit, she had been on the run for hours and they still seemed to be one step ahead each time. It was time to face the music once and for all.

"It's do or die," she said aloud, as she wrapped a fresh bandage on her arm. Making sure it was secure enough to staunch the flow of blood.

At the far end of the street she saw four figures emerge from the shadows. One of the cell team held a "godhammer". The others carried various other weapons.

As they came closer Maggie let out an astonished gasp at what she saw; a woman warrior, hardened by time, leading the cell forward. There was no mistaking it, she saw her herself.

Her double self, eyes widening as she caught site of Maggie.

"What the hell is this?" her double asked.

Chance Encounter in a Coffee House

Max Cube blew wispy smoke across the table at the man in the blue suit, wondering why he hadn't gone to Peru. Now he found himself sitting in a coffee house across from someone he had killed several times over in various universes.

"You know she is the key to this," the blue-suited man said to him.

"I wouldn't exactly say a key," Max replied after he butted out the cigarette. "She's more of a legend."

If I Die Before I Wake

"Interesting," the man said as he stood back and looked at the limp body of Maggie. "She never screamed out."

He placed a couple of bloody tools on a palette and stood back to admire the corpse he had just made. He reached for a camera and snapped off a photo and smiled.

"What a subject," he said with such sadness. "Such a pity."

He touched his hand to her chin and lifted up her head and stared at it for a brief second before letting it fall limp. He thought about kissing her lips but never acted on impulse.

He turned to his next victim and with a hand to his lackeys he said, "Dispose of her."

The man approached Max, who was strapped down on a steel slab. Metal bands strapped across his body to hold him from escaping.

"Your friend was an interesting subject," he said to Max. "I hope you fare as good as she did."

Max started to chuckle.

"What is funny?"

"Nothing much," Max said in a raspy voice. "Just that you have made a big mistake."

"What do you mean?" the man said as he turned to see the latch come from from Mags' limbs. And the lackeys began to remove her form. The man snapped to attention as he saw Mags open up an eye.

"You don't know the level of pain that you have brought upon yourself," Max said.

On the Run, Forced to Flee...

The rain continued to fall and showed no sign of letting up soon. Max could tell that morning was coming since the sky seemed to lighten up a bit. There was a hint of a smile on his lips, another night gone by.

Max raced through the bushes since time was of the essence now. Suki kept up pace with him, constantly looking over her shoulder. She stumbled a little and was about to fall but Max caught her arm and kept her steady.

"I don't think I can run anymore," Suki said with so much exhaustion.

"Daylight is just moments away," Max told her. "Just for a few more minutes, kay."

Suki forced a smile and continued to run on numb legs. 

"I hate this world," she muttered.

"Because of the vampires?" Max questioned.

"No," Suki replied. "It doesn't have a Timmy's."

Games Without Frontiers

Max's eyes flickered at the crisp blue sky overhead, where clouds blocked and puffy floated overhead much akin to an old NES video game.

His head pounded as if a small insect had crawled inside and now was munching on his grey matter. His eyes hurt as if thousands of small needles where being jammed into them.

"Where in the hell are we?" Angst asked. She sat up and glanced around. "Sure is pretty though."

"I rightly don't know," Max answered truthfully. He was suffering from what appeared to be jet lag and couldn't get his bearings.

"You okay Max?" Frank asked.

"Yeah," Max replied.

"You ever see that Disney flick Tron? I think this is something like that?" Frank stated.

"Tron?" Angst repeated. "What is that?"

"It's about a world of programs playing games to survive," Frank gave her the reader's digest version.

"You mean Reboot?" Angst asked. "I like that show with Bob, Dot and Mike the TV. Really hated that Enzo though."

MAXical Mystery Tour

Like Twilight for Chocolate

Suki slid across the floor, her arm outreached grabbing for the Godhammer. Around her bullets ate up the concrete, showering dust around her. It was a hailstorm.

She reached the gun and continued to slide behind some cover, and that began to disintegrate as well. She went fetal as she felt the gun in her hand and she pressed the trigger for it to charge up. Dust specks rained around her, turning her black hair into silver.

She could hear the faint hum and the gun began to give a faint glow like a distant star in the twilight sky. Another few seconds and those bastards wouldn't know what hit them.

Cube Hype

Madison Hall walked swiftly next to the orderly down the stone stairs. She didn't know what to expect when she had received her new case. Madison was glad to be given such a subject to study, it would be a definite book or two, and she would probably do the talk-shows.

"He's down here," the orderly said. "This is where we keep our special cases."

"I know," Madison said matter-of-factly. "I've read his dossier."

"Let me tell you sister," the orderly said with a hint of a wry smile. "Reading and seeing are two different things."

Madison thought the orderly was shining her on. With her being new to this ward, they probably wanted to scare her with hidden bogeymen ready to spring out and get you.

The orderly reached up and punched a set of keys and a buzzer sounded and the door unlocked.

"Is he kept alone?" she inquired.

"It's hard to say," the orderly replied. He made sure that the door was shut behind them and he hit the locking mechanism. "He might not even be there."

"What do you mean?" Madison inquired. "Does he escape?"

"It's hard for me to say," the orderly said. "Some times he goes for a few days, but he always reappears here. Haven't you read his file?"

Madison stopped in her tracks. "You mean to say that he is gone physically? Not mentally?"

The orderly kept walking down the white corridor.

Madison proceeded to walk in, analyzing the new data which the orderly was telling her. She felt the orderly was pulling her leg, trying to get a shine on the new face in the crowd.

The orderly approached the door at the end of the hall which was labelled: Project Cube.

The Delicate Perceptions of Cubes

Max looked up and smiled at the waitress as she walked away from the table. She gave him a wink and he nodded his appreciation of not having to call her for a cup of coffee.

"Still got the charm," Pretty said as he slid into the seat. He was dripping in sweat and his long coat seemed to be bulging with items. Though Max could see that Pretty was pretty comfortable.

"Yep," Max replied, then he took a sip of coffee. "What have you got for me?"

"Something new and exciting," Pretty said as he put a cloth bag on the table. He pushed it towards Max. "Got it from a fallen LEGACY cell team. Got there before the blue boys could make the scene."

Max didn't bother on opening the bag just yet. He had good judgement in Pretty's observational technique. 

"You let me know how it works," George said as he slid out of the seat. "Sorry to make this quick but I got a deal going on the other side of the river."

"Thanks, Pretty," Max said.