Chapter Three!

"Allies"

by Katherine Daystar

Ed reluctantly squinted his eyes open as unwelcome sunlight flooded through his window. He had not slept, as evidenced by the tangled sheets he had ultimately flung off the bed in frustration. He had been unable to take his mind off of his current situation all night. All his life he had been interested in science fiction books and games, but his experience with the genre only made him more aware of the serious dangers the previous day's events posed.

This was really happening… in the next room, an elf, a futuristic cyberpunk and an otherworldly swordsman lay sleeping, in his apartment, in his life. A more whimsical person would find all of this fascinating and exciting, the adventure he'd always been waiting for. To Ed, it was purely an inconvenience. More than that, it was a serious threat to his lifestyle. He shut his uncharacteristic anxiety out of his mind disdainfully. It was not like him to worry. He had things to get done today, and he didn't make a habit of letting other people's problems interfere with his agenda.

He sat up reluctantly as his ringing cell phone shattered his last hopes of falling back asleep. He flipped it open and held it against his ear groggily.

"ED! What the hell happened to the store?!" shouted a dismayed Tony, Ed's best friend and co-manager of the 7-11 beneath Ed's apartment.

Ed jerked the phone away from his ear until Tony's rant dwindled off, then brought it back to his face. "I know, it's a mess. Listen, are you downstairs?"

"Yes! And we open in half an hour! What happened last night?"

"Come up here, and I'll explain everything."

Ed threw on a robe and went to the door, stepping carefully around his three sleeping visitors. Jian sat up against the wall, his sword resting against his shoulder. Carrot was splayed out across the cushiony couch, snoring loudly. Maiysokat was curled on the carpeted floor. She had found one of his shirts over a chair and used it as a blanket, but it had slid off in her sleep. She made soft, restless murmurs as she tucked her legs further toward her chest absently. Ed considered lifting the shirt back onto the cold, delicate-looking creature before him, but dismissed the thought.

He opened the door to find Tony waiting crossly in the stairway. Tony was twenty-three and Chinese like Ed, but stocky and relatively short, with short black hair and deep, all-knowing charcoal eyes that made him seem taller than he was. "This had better be good," he demanded.

Ed nodded absently, confused as the world seemed to spin for a moment. He sunk dizzily forward as his relief at seeing another Earthling invited the sleep that had been denied him all night.

"Whoah!" gasped Tony as he grabbed Ed's ponytail firmly in one hand and held him upright.

"Release that man," ordered a low, steely voice from inside the apartment.

Tony dodged to the side as Jian lunged toward him with a katana, releasing his grip on Ed. Ed stumbled backward into the wall, then came to his senses. "Stop!" he shouted hoarsely, halting Jian's blade centimeters from Tony's neck. Tony turned a wide-eyed, incredulous stare on Ed as Maiysokat and Carrot appeared behind Jian, hands ready on their weapons to defend against Ed's 'attacker'.

"All of you get back! This is not an enemy, damn it!" growled Ed furiously, clutching Tony's arm and dragging his unnerved friend into the apartment.

"That's….elf…," murmured Tony as Ed pulled him into the bedroom and locked the door on the three strangers.

"I don't understand why he chooses to be in there alone with that suspicious person," said Jian candidly, drawing incredulous stares from Maiysokat and Carrot.

"But they…didn't they go in…" stuttered Maiysokat.

"The bedroom?" followed up Carrot.

"If…but…what does that mean?" said the blushing elf.

"Well, we can't afford to be picky. Whatever his lifestyle, it's not our business," shrugged Jian.

"Maybe we should, you know, go downstairs…" said Maiysokat, skin burning.

"Or we could listen in," said Carrot.

"That would be a violation of their rights!" protested Maiysokat.

"Ok, downstairs we g—"

"Fine, we'll listen in, but it's your fault," said Maiysokat, thinking to herself that she'd done a great job of pretending to be uncomfortable with the idea.

Ed sighed wearily and explained the previous nights' events to his astonished friend. Tony's jaw worked anxiously as the long-haired man spoke, clearly waiting for Ed to finish so he could say something.

"So after they told me all this, I told them they could crash here until they clean up—What?" he demanded, exasperated by Tony's impatient stare.

"Well, I didn't want to tell you this, but there's a slight problem—,"

"Which would be?" demanded Ed, his voice rising prepubescently.

"The counter-strike server is down."

Ed blinked. "I can get it up again easily. That's it?"

"Not really. The statewide manager is paying us a short-notice inspection in ten minutes."

Maiysokat and Carrot squished their ears curiously against Ed's door, trying to hear what was going on within the bedroom. "It sounds like they're just talking," whispered Maiysokat. Jian leaned darkly against the wall on the opposite side of the hallway, sword in hand, monitoring his surroundings with wary interest.

He sprang to life metamorphically when a morbid scream sounded from Ed's room, forcing the snooping elf and cyberpunk to withdraw their ringing ears from the door abruptly. Jian drew his sword methodically as he kicked the bedroom door firmly open, only to find Ed lying on the bed, strangling a blue-faced Tony beneath him. Both men stared murderously at the frowning bodyguard.

"I apologize for the interruption. You two may continue as you please," choked Jian, retreating into the hallway with an embarrassed bow and slamming the door behind him.

When Ed and Tony emerged solemnly from the room two minutes later, the three houseguests were perched meekly on the couch in the next room. The two men strode past the spies without a word and left the apartment.

"Wait!" called Carrot as he reopened the door, stopping Ed and Tony in the stairway, "What should we do?"

"Disappear," Ed growled, and continued down the stairs with his partner.

"We can be very useful!" the blonde pleaded.

"You think you can help? Then put these on and get yourselves downstairs," said Tony evenly, tossing a wad of red fabric up to Carrot.

Carrot untangled the mess of cotton, beholding three aprons bearing the code-name "7-11" on them. "This layman's tunic hardly befits my genius," denounced Carrot, only half in jest, as he tied one with a precise knot around his waist. Jian shook his head at the impractical design, but donned the outfit without complaint.

Maiysokat hesitated for several seconds, staring thoughtfully at the garment. Ed's command echoed in her mind. "Disappear!" When the stares of the two men in the room drilled too deeply into her head to be ignored, she reluctantly fastened it behind her neck and prepared herself to associate with the two fellow aliens whom she hardly knew and the pair of managers whom she was sure despised her.

When the trio arrived downstairs, Jian and Carrot were promptly put to work stocking the shelves. "Take this stuff and put it on the shelves, and pick up the merchandise you knocked down during your little catfight yesterday," instructed Tony, casting a sharp look at Jian.

On the other side of the shop, Ed handed Maiysokat a wooden mop. He indicated with a stern arm the sticky slurpy syrup (ooh, alliteration) that had been tracked all over the floor. Maiysokat looked at the floor dully, recalling the previous day's experiences. Ed's angry glare drew her attention back to the task at hand. She began mopping absently, unwilling to meet his burning gaze, wishing that yesterday had never happened. She worried to herself what had become of the half-elves and her friend Tinarae, but knew there was no point in thinking about them now. She would stay here, at least until she repaired what she had destroyed.

Ten minutes later, a stocky, brusque-looking man bearing a shiny red 7-11 badge on his lapel waddled into a clean, orderly store. The two managers sat behind the counter quietly, awaiting their superior's inspection. The statewide manager stalked through the aisles menacingly, not speaking a word to Ed and Tony. He paused in aisle three and pointed critically at a spot on the shelf where a pile of video card boxes were stacked. "Since when do we sell computer parts?" the man barked.

"Those are very popular with the customers," said Ed, hoping the man would not realize he was using the shop as a base for his pc construction business. He felt sweat drip down his forehead. There was no way he would buy it. Nobody was that stupid.

"Oh," the inspector mused, continuing his trip around the room.

Ed felt himself going faint with relief. A sharp pinch from his observant partner was all that kept him from sinking to the floor. He really had to get some sleep.

The two men's breath caught as the inspector stopped again, lifting up a bright green bag. "What in the world are these supposed to be?"

"Those are pickle flavored potato chips," said Tony, unable to hide the defensive undertone in his voice.

"Who in the world would eat this?" he demanded, waving the bag disdainfully.

Tony's eyes widened. "Please! You'll break them!"

Ed stepped in for his emotionally overwhelmed friend. "Every time we restock those chips, they sell out the same day." He neglected to mention that Tony was the customer who purchased them all with his employee discount every other Tuesday when the supply truck arrived.

The inspector moved on to the slurpy machine. "This appears to be out of order," he sneered disapprovingly.

"As of yesterday, sir. We're expecting a mechanic to arrive this afternoon."

The inspector stroked his stubby chin thoughtfully, making sure to wait long enough to rile up his subordinates before providing his assessment of the store. "Well, I'll give you one thing. This floor is spotless. You pass…this time," said the inspector, stealing a hot dog from the takeout rack as he swaggered out the door.

Ed and Tony shared a mutual sigh of relief as the man left.

"You can come out now," said Tony to his feet. Jian and Carrot climbed out from beneath the counter. Carrot was muttering something about putting a scratch on 'Spikey'.

Jian rose to his feet and looked Ed in the eyes. "Has your lord left?"

Ed twitched. "Yes."

"Then we should find the location of Maiysokat."

"What?" asked Tony.

"I thought she was down there with you," said Ed.

"When the inspector arrived, she ducked into the supply room," said Carrot, tearing himself from the apparatus on his arm.

Tony crossed the room and looked into the closet, but saw no trace of the elf. He frowned as he noticed the rear door half-open. He turned to the three men who were looking at him expectantly. "We've got a little problem on our hands."

"What do you mean, she left?" Ed demanded, exasperated beyond all patience.

Tony, Jian and Carrot didn't bother responding, since it was pointless to belabor the point. The girl had vanished, and there was no trace of her in the close vicinity of the store.

"Do you know why she might have gone?" asked Tony, surprised by his concern for the missing elf. Then again, he thought, his concern was not at all unwarranted. A foreigner like her had little chance of safety in this world that was so unlike her own.

"Now that you mention it, she did seem kind of quiet and upset all morning," pondered Carrot, stroking two fingers over a lock of his hair.

"Why was she upset? Did any of you say something to her?" Tony urged.

Ed blinked as he suddenly recalled what he had said that morning. That couldn't be it…could it? A pang of uneasy guilt struck him.

"No! This can't be! If our only female character flees the plot, nobody will read our story anymore!" wailed Carrot, slamming his fist into the counter with a "say-it-ain't-so" grimace.

"We could give her role to him!" decreed Jian, pointing decisively at Ed.

Ed glanced down at his long hair reflexively before coming to his senses. His homicidal glare was enough to silence further discussion of that proposal.

"Well, if you won't take her place, then Jian and I are going off to search for her," said Carrot.

"No!" shouted Tony and Ed in alarmed unison.

"You two stay here. The last thing we need is more of you running around loose. Tony, watch the store. I'll go find her," said Ed, walking unsteadily out the door and closing it sternly behind him.

All was silent inside the 7-11 for several moments.

"At this rate…" said Carrot.

"The long-haired one, being the only searcher, will locate the elven female, heroically retrieve her from some immediate crisis at the last possible moment, and return her to the safety of this building," predicted Jian.

"And undoubtedly the fair maiden and the reluctant hero will discover one another, and overcome racial boundaries to fall passionately in love," added Carrot thoughtfully.

"But that plot would be revoltingly predictable."

"So we're going to conveniently forget the logic of Ed's instructions and set off on our own search!"

"Where do you people get this stuff? He'll just drag her back here so she can be his indentured servant like the rest of you," speculated Tony.

The young man's words were lost on Carrot and Jian, who were far too excited by their own more-interesting theory. He could only stare blankly as the two strangely-clad aliens made their decision. He twitched as Carrot strode self-importantly face-first into the swinging door, then, muttering something about archaic technology, allowed Jian to operate the contraption. Before Tony could blink, the two were out of sight, on their own in the 21st century.