Spanner 18.2: Lost Girl Homecoming

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Chaos Angel Spanner — Chapter 18: White Riot in the Streets
Part 2: Lost Girl Homecoming (Final Revision)

...they are drifting in a pleasant limbo together, Shira and Kira and the girl with no name, not knowing if they are alive or dead, not knowing where each of them ends and any of the others begins, happy simply to be in each other’s presence, all three of them for the first time...

—a giant fist comes down to crush them, they scatter; a black cape blots out the sky and descends toward them; the Crusader appears between them, dwarfing them — the twins know immediately what to do.

They flit about, dangerously close, pricking the giant into rage; he tries to swat one only for her to vanish elsewhere, till soon he flails helplessly as they continue to torture him—

Suddenly the nameless girl appears almost his size and still nude; she activates her Shield and Repulses him out of their dream, screaming in another migraine, as a strange woman laughs...

12 october 2014.
...and the girl with the violet eyes opens her eyes to find herself in a strange bed in the arms of the girl of her dreams. She looks into those beautiful almond-shaped emerald eyes...

—and shudders violently at the realization that this is not the cinnamon girl she knows. “Kira—” The twin sister rolls onto her back. The nameless girl catches her breath. “I thought you hated me...”

Kira smiles and rolls back into her arms. “I felt Shira’s love for you so intensely, I couldn’t help falling in love with you myself. Leila...” She kisses her sister’s lover deeply.

The girl sighs. “That’s not my name anymore.”

Kira looks at her strangely. “What is it now?”

“I don’t have one anymore.” The girl winks.

Shira, embracing her from behind, tells her twin, “That’s a long story you’ll be hearing when I get you back home.” She nibbles her lover’s ear, making her squeal.

Kira grins. “So you’re the girl with no name. Now let me love you so hard you’ll never have to tell us apart again.” She shocks the girl with the hardest, most passionate kiss she can give her — the twins roll her onto her back, each suck a breast hard, bite it, make her scream in painful pleasure — Kira on her mouth, Shira on her cunt, Kira tastes so sweet, Shira tortures her so good, she squeezes Shira’s breasts while Shira squeezes Kira’s, all reason falls away, they build to extreme ecstasy, fuse into one—

seattle. The Party controls of city, but the factions are now fighting each other over the right to wield that control. Fleets of black armoured Hummers filled with Corporate-hired mercenaries sweep the streets looking for not just uppity civilians to kill and/or arrest but Patriot factions turning their fury against them out of warrior resentment of their “betters.” Corporates and criminals take advantage of the strife to launch a massive crime wave, taking for themselves anything they can get their hands on, stealing even from each other, violently settling vendettas, waging faction and gang wars of their own.

The war extends to the airwaves:

Col. Green: Reduce Babylon to ruin! Make the un-American rabble beg for death!

Brinkman: Attention to all Party members: I am still Party vice chairman of this state. I will not allow any factions to defy my control. Any factions that defy me, I will declare rogue and purge immediately. Keep it up, and I’ll throw you to the... uh, military emergency administration.

Everson: I am the Party leader of this city until I have chosen my successor. I command you fools to stop this insubordination immediately, or I will punish you without mercy.

Scofield: The ruling Party administration has failed. It is corrupt. We, the Patriot faithful, declare it illegitimate. In the name of the Conservative Revolution and the eternal dominion of the American Empire, I hereby proclaim myself Party chairman of both state and city.

Col. Green: Disregard those traitors. They’re liberals in sheep’s clothing! Jesus America showed himself to me and gave dominion to me and me alone! All who defy my authority are traitors. Destroy them!

cpmc seattle. The strife extends to the Fearsome Foursome themselves. Jack Becket hisses at his bearded werewolf cousin. “This is all your fault, Walter.”

Brinkman spurts, “Don’t blame me, Johnny, blame yourself! You’re the one who dragged Grandfather here to his death!”

Holmes shoots a blank into the ceiling. All attention turns to him. “Stop it, you fools!” He points at the monitors. “Look at them,” he snarls. “This is what the world thinks America stands for. What they’re really doing is exactly what the terrorists want!”

“They’re defying my authority,” says Everson, “that’s what they’re doing.”

“They don’t think you have any authority at all, Shepherd. After all, you let your King die.”

Fleer yells, “It’s the terrorist Spanner what killed him!”

“Seems to me,” Litton says, “some of our leaders think all the Becket authority died with the King.”

“We’re still in control!” shouts Jack.

Suddenly all the monitors turn blue. Jack says, “Oh, shit.”

[test pattern interrupts the broadcast on all channels]

Robot voice: We are currently experiencing technical difficulties. Please stand—

[A cartoon version of Spanner appears with a man in a business suit over his lap; instead of spanking him, he makes him scream by pulling dollar bills out of his overstuffed pockets, one by one]

Spanner: Greetings, TV Land. Right now all there’s a riot going on. The pious Patriots are trashing Babylon while the Corporate kids stealing everything they can get their hands on. They’re partying in the streets, drinking while underage, calling their fences who will pay for their ill-gotten merchandise in cocaine, preferred drug of the decadent rich. [plucks out a dollar bill; the “victim” screams and writhes as if being spanked] They’re practicing the lessons they learned at daddy’s feet: Take what you can get. Take the money and run. The money is the life. He who dies with the most toys wins. [plucks another dollar bill; “victim” screams again] They’ve seen the example of their fathers, and they’re following those examples as only youth spoiled rotten by infinite wealth can. [another dollar bill, another scream] What daddy does to other companies and to the people generally, the sons are doing to expensive merch. [ditto] It’s about time the victims started spoiling the fun. [plucks another dollar bill; piratecast ends mid-scream]

telesphere. The official news presenters return mid-scream. The embarrassed network programmers interrupt the interrupted news with patriotic music videos of the military marching bands playing Sousa.

whistler’s lab. The twins and their nameless lover return fresh out of the shower and still nude. Luna throws herself into Kira’s arms and cries her heart out; Jennifer and Karen draw them and Shira into a group hug. Liz yells “Hey you guys!” and throws their clothes at them.

While they dress, Zac explains, “We’ve upgraded your internal computer systems for more memory, more solid-state storage, better integration with your brains, and the ability to modify your powers with software plugins.”

“Well!” says Shira, “tell me all about it.”

“I mean anything, from Materia to Pokémon.”

“Seriously,” says Kira.

“You mean like a Persona,” says Shira, “or a Glitch?”

Zac replies, “Exactly.”

Suddenly Shane scratches Shira’s neck so that she bleeds. “Ow! What was that for?”

“Maybe he wants to tell us apart?” asks Kira.

Shane smirks deviously. “What if you still can’t?”

Shira’s eyes go wide. She puts her hand to the wound. It has already scabbed up. She looks at her fingers. No blood. “Oh my god—” Kira gasps. Everybody stares at them stunned, especially the girl with the violet eyes.

Will Becket: It has come to my attention that factions within our own Party have ordered their member to riot within the city of Seattle. I agreed to establish an emergency administration for this state because its public management company went completely out of control. I will not allow disorder even from the Party itself. If Party leaders do not bring these factions back under control, I shall be forced to suppress them, with military force if necessary.

Col. Green: Little Willie thinks he’s a big shot just ’cuz he kilt the Big Wog. No way he can put an end to our American Revolution. The hell he can! We’re gonna double our resistance! If Little Willie thinks he can stop America, I’m gonna take him down myself and send him to Devil’s Island along with the other blasphemin’ liberal commonist traitors!

Will: (annoyed) I said I will not tolerate social disturbances, especially from renegade factions of the Party.

Spanner: Poor Commander Becket. He thinks this is a political rally when it’s really a religious jihad.

bremerton marina. Aunt Reva and Uncle Eddie hug Kira all the way while Karen navigates the houseboat back to its slip, where all her siblings (brothers Sage and Shin, sister Saffron, and half-brother Wally Breydon) and cousin Connor await Kira’s return. Jennifer and Connor help their cousins tie the boat to the slip.

Then one of the twins emerges, smiling mischievously. Knowing her, they all realize it’s Shira, and they laugh. Then Kira comes out — with a collective scream they swarm the boat and wrap Kira in a massive hug, sobbing and wailing and showering her with kisses as if she had been miraculously brought back from the dead, though she repeatedly assures them that she never died.

But then Radica whistles for silence. All attention turns to her. She points at Kira. “If you really are alive, then didn’t your sister Talia turn terrorist for nothing?”

Silence. Shira and Kira look at each other. They nod in recognition. They know exactly what must be done.

technosphere. R. G. Litton leaves a message on the Chinese-censored official Internet. His video quickly spreads throughout the Darknet.

Litton: Attention Spanner and the conspiracy behind him. We already got your number. We know what your plan is. Soon we’ll find out who your puppet masters are, and then you’re over.

You think anarchy’s such a blast, ‘angel of chaos’? You’re denying the simple truth. The great mass of men’s too stupid to live. Well, let’s see how your ‘chaos’ holds up to Jesus America’s power. Bring it on!

copco seattle. Bram Rodchenko glares across the table at his interrogator. Not Jack Becket, or Diana Becket Shockley. Will. “Why won’t you torture me, superhero?”

Will shrugs and smiles ironically. He holds a freshly lit cigar in his right hand. “That Jack Bauer stuff bores me to pieces.”

Rodchenko does not laugh. “You’re the real terrorists and you know it.”

Will takes a long deep drag on his cigar and blows out the smoke leisurely. “I learned everything I know from my father.” He leans toward Rodchenko. “So did you.”

“Hmph. That dirty Wog you done et? Chickenshit hiding in a cave. He couldn’a done 9/11. Only your late grandpa, the man on the grassy knoll, coulda pulled off something that fiendish.” He grins maliciously. “Old fiend got what was coming to him.”

“And the dirty Wog too.” Will licks his lips, making Rodchenko grimace. He puffs his cigar. “So you were claiming responsibility?”

Rodchenko laughs. “Listen to you, superboy! If the Chinks can’t do it, we can’t. We’re just soldiers trying to take our country back.”

“Then why do you soldiers identify with an evil word like ‘socialist’?”

“For the reason you hate it.”

“You have bombs and computer viruses, soldier.”

“But not amazing superpowers like yours. Slaying a demon like that takes an angel.”

Will raises an eyebrow. “An angel of chaos...”

shira’s apartment. When Hope hears the knock on the door, she knows exactly what it means. She holds her breath all the way from her recliner to the door. She peeks through the peephole and sees two of her youngest daughter — is it two, or is she just seeing double? She lets her breath out, opens the door, and sees there are indeed two, dressed identically. One of them starts to cry and throws herself into her mother’s arms; they sob and wail with joy. Shira hugs Kira from behind, kisses her face and neck, and lets herself cry with them. The lost girl has come home at last.

The racers set their hoverboards on the rack next to the door. Jennifer, Connor, and the nameless girl take out the groceries and begin fixing a reunion-party feast. Liz and Radica look around their rival’s apartment. Only with much searching do they find her hoverboard racing trophies. Shira says, “As you can see, I don’t like advertising my wins at every opportunity. I let the media do that.”

Ric arrives in time for the party to begin; Kira holds him too tight and kisses him like a long-lost lover; Liz and Radica look at them strangely; Shira winks. The nameless neighbours and Ayla are already eating. The tall brown-haired woman says, “We didn’t know you had a twin sister.”
Shira shrugs. “You never asked.”

Charlie and Desiree arrive with Luna and Melody. Luna eagerly leads them to Kira; they group-hug her. Charlie tells Melody, “This is Shira’s twin sister Kira.”

Melody gasps. “That’s not Shira?”

“Kira, this is your niece Melody.”

Kira hugs her and gives her a huge smile. “I’m so happy to meet you!”

Eventually the unasked question shadowing the whole occasion is finally asked. Ayla asks innocently, “Why are all those men so angry?”

“They think it’s the only way to be men,” Shira answers bitterly.

“There’s this whole ‘revolution’ thing we’ll have to explain to you in detail,” Kira adds.

The girl with the violet eyes says, “They could at least have been tactful.”

“That’s so unlike ‘Real Americans,’” says Shira. “To them, tact’s a mortal sin. Reeks of democracy.”
“Speaking of which,” Hope interjects, “there’s an election coming up.”

“Officially denied, of course. Real decisions are supposed to be made in smoky boardrooms, not polling places.”

“They’ll never even allow it,” the slim Asian girl says.

“Right now,” says Hope, “the boardrooms are so preoccupied with their own squabbles, they can’t possibly stop us.”

“That’s what the riot’s about,” says Desiree. “They’re trying to stop it, ‘by any means necessary.’”

Shira returns with Arvid’s SD card. She hands it to Kira, who studies it. “They wanna bully us, we’re already prepared.” She winks.

penguindrome. Desiree, the twins, and the girl with the violet eyes arrive just as the bright-eyed girl declares, “I can report this.” Everybody stares at her.

“Really?” asks Shira.

“Are you sure you’re willing to be a TerrorVision target?” asks Simon.

Alex says, “Your own father will kill you himself.”

The bright-eyed girl protests, “Then how does she get away with it?” All eyes fall on the girl with the violet eyes.

She smiles at the bright-eyed girl. “I’ve got amazing superpowers.” Her smile disappears. “You don’t.”

The bright-eyed girl digs into her purse and takes out a wad of cash. “I’m betting money I can prove you wrong.”

Desiree gives her a wad of her own. “I’ll match that and throw in my own superpowers.”

Scope takes out his wallet and adds his money to theirs. “I’ll double that and raise you a newscopter and crew.”

“Well.” Shira crosses her arms. Her frown slowly morphs into a wickedly mischievous cockeyed smirk. “I’ll match everybody and throw in free pizza and cerveza.” The KCUF crew cheer; Alex grabs a bucket so they can throw in their bets.

technosphere. The response to Litton’s Challenge spreads the opposite direction. Within minutes after it first appears on the Darknet, it spreads all over the official Internet. Before long, all the official news channels are showing it.

Spanner: As you probably already know, one of the Party’s top propagandists has issued me a Challenge. He said certain things that are True but not fact: one, that the people are stupid by definition; two, that the Party is invincible by definition; and three, that I have already lost, by definition.

Here is the fact that contradicts the official Truth: Wealth, power, and Egoism make a person stupid. The reason is that they make one overconfident. Overconfidence leads to mistakes. Combined with panic, the result is disaster.

The Patriot riots currently trashing Seattle are the result of overconfidence combined with panic. The Party, it seems, has decided to reverse a disaster by causing another disaster. We cannot expect their closed minds to get off this slippery slope that leads to the cliff. If this is invincibility, the coming ‘victory’ will make Pyrrhus’ victories look like... victories.

Rat Bastard, consider it brought.

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Copyright © 2013 Dennis Jernberg. Some rights reserved.

[Revision 4 Final, 3/5/13: Changes from Revision 2: contains scenes from 17.6, 18.1 and 18.3; some R2 scenes now in 18.1; everything else heavily modified to fit Fourth Revision continuity. Original R2 section title: “Fight Club City Smashers”.]