Moreover, they made the most energetic reprisals on their opponents, and

as they were distinctly the tough and fighting element, justice came to her

own with a whoop.

Theodore Roosevelt- “An Autobiography"

“Look, can you use it or not?”  Abel gestured to the walkie-talkie, rapidly losing his patience.  “You are a damn Wave Phase, right?  You should be able to use whatever GOS bullshit this thing is emitting to find the other one.”

“The GPS is working fine.”  Story didn’t bother to look up from her video game as Princess Peach skidded across frozen blocks in Super Mario Bros. II.  “God, buy a TV or something, Abel.  It’s embarrassing how little you know about the world.”

“Story.”  Chason wanted to go back to his kingdom and hide in the gloom.  He did not want to be stuck at the Wave Palace, arguing with a lunatic.  Story was addicted to vintage video games and even the repetitive synthesized beeps and sound effects were too close to music for Chason’s peace of mind.  He felt a clawing sensation inside of him and struggled to ignore it.  “Can you help or not?”

“Theoretically, yes.  It’s a really high end little device, with the GPS and all.  Anything that works off a satellite like that, I can manipulate.  And, since I’m soooo talented, I can probably defy some laws of nature and find the other one of those things for you.”  She arched a brow and shot Chason a quick glance.  “The question is… what’s it worth to ya?”

Chason didn’t blink.  “I’ll pay whatever you want.”

“Oh, let’s not be trite, Chase.”  Story frowned in concentration as the Princess balanced on a stream of water from a digital whale.  “What is it worth?  I mean, unless the Reprisal sucks at war games, you’re not going to convince me that you guys just accidently lost one half of your little toy there.”  She waved a distracted hand at the walkie-talkie.  “You’re looking for somebody who has the other one.  So, who is it and why do you want them?”

“Why do you want to know?”  He retorted.  Story wasn’t interested in much beyond her Nintendo and Atari collections, so it sure wasn’t any concern for other Phases making her ask.

“I don’t know.  I just think it’ll be fun to make you tell me, since you obviously wanna keep it secret, so much.”  She grinned.

Chason stared up at the vast ceiling of the Wave Palace and sent up a brief bid for help, even though he no longer believed in anything that might assist him.

Story was such a pain-in-the-ass.

Unfortunately, there were very few Wave Phases left and she was actually the most agreeable of the lot.  The Wave House controlled electromagnetic waves.  Microwaves, infrared waves, radio waves and so on, came from them.  Like most Wave Phases, Story was tall and slim, with a golden brown hair.  The streak at her temple was bright pink.

Things would have been so much simpler if the Reprisal had ever recruited someone from the Wave House.  Then, they could have their own Phase tell them where Nia, or whoever had left the walkie-talkie, went after the hospital.  Wave Phases were notoriously odd, though.  You never knew when they might up and switch sides on you.  Chason would’ve allowed them join the Reprisal, anyway, if one had actually asked.  He didn’t care who fought and died as long as they took Air Phases with them.  He’d let in a Radiation Phase, after all, and that House had always been aligned with the Wave House, since they took care of X-rays, UV, and radiation.

And if Chason gave that radioactive bastard a sword, he would’ve armed anybody.

“The walkie-talkie is part of an investigation.”  He said at length.  “That’s all you need to know.”

“Investigation of what?  The Air House?  Wait… Are Parald and Gion having sleepovers, now?”  She guessed.  “Calling each other from their sleeping bags on little radios?”  She chuckled at her own image and adopted a static-y voice.  “Come in, Air-hole.  This is Rubber Duck.  Over.  Hey, did you ever see that Convoy movie?  I mean wow!  Classic cinematic cheese.  Speaking of which, Chase, don’t get too close to my electronics, huh?  You’ll wreck my Blu-ray player with your energy.”

Abel’s jaw clenched, obviously wanting to go for her throat.

This was why Chason had been forced to leave the safe cocoon of his own personal Fortress of Solitude and traipse over to the Wave Kingdom.  Because, Story and Abel just didn’t like each other.  Nobody actually got along with either one of them individually, but putting them together just magnified the dysfunctional personalities.  When Chason had to be the rational one in a conversation, you knew things were bleak.

He shot the television another glare.  A little slot machine game had popped up awarding Story extra lives.  The jangly tune it emitted as it spun had Chason cringing.  “Can you turn that off?”  He snapped, more harshly than he’d intended.  “Just shut the fucking noise off.”

Story glanced at him, sharply.

Oh shit.

Chason glared back, even though he now expected her to kick him out of her kingdom and then release the hounds, for good measure.

Instead, she dropped the controller and crossed to the sixty-eight inch plasma TV hanging on the wall of the throne room.  She jacked the volume as high as it would go, so the sound echoed endlessly in the cavernous room.

Abel covered his ears with his palms and cursed fluidly in Elemental.

Story smirked, triumphantly.

Chason felt himself pale.  It wasn’t the Andrews Sisters, but the music was still unbearable.  Listening to it was like having a sandblaster turned on high and aimed at his skin.  The sound reverberated off the empty spaces inside of him, until he couldn’t even think.  He backed away from the TV so fast that he hit a table and knocked a vase onto the marble floor.  It shattered into a million, irreparable pieces.

Chason didn’t care.

The small part of his missing heart where his Match still lived moved under the sounds.  Like it might remember and feel something other than hatred.

No.  No.  No.

Turning, he headed for the door.  He’d explode if he didn’t leave.  And if he exploded someone would get hurt.  Chason knew his temper and what it could do.  He didn’t want to harm Story.  Mara had always liked the girl.  Besides, then he’d be utterly screwed, since Story was the only one who could find the other walkie-talkie.  The noise overwhelmed what little control he managed to hang onto in his fragmented life, though.  He couldn’t know what he’d do if he stayed.

The music shut off.

The sudden secession of noise was almost as jarring as the pounding video game soundtrack had been.  But, at least, there was no more music.

Chason stopped, his hand on the door.  He whirled around to confront Story.

She stared back at him with iridescent blue eyes that saw far too much.  Then, she swore and backtracked to pick up the walkie-talkie.  “GPS works off radio waves.  I can bounce radio waves like Pong, simple and easy.  The rest of it…Well, you’re just lucky, I’m a super-being and all.  The Geek Squad doesn’t offer the services that I do.  Hang on.”  There was a large pulse of energy and then she grinned.  “Oh, yeah.  Hail to the queen, Baby.”

“What the hell does that mean?”  Abel demanded, still pulling on his ears as if his hearing had been damaged.  “Did you find it?”

“You didn’t get that?”  She looked over at Chason.  “If I had an army, they’d watch Army of Darkness all the time.  I’d make them.  I mean, it’s a given.  You suck at leadership.”

Chason ignored all of that and refocused on the only things that mattered.

Capturing Nia and Ty.

Getting the Quintessence.

Killing Parald with the Fall.

Ending the world.

His vengeance.  His simple, beautiful path to utter silence.

“Did you discover where the other walkie-talkie is or not?”  He demanded, coldly.

“Yeah, I got it.” She went back to the sofa and picked up her controller.  “God, don’t be such a dick.  I’m being nice to you, aren’t I?”

Actually, yes.  For a Wave Phase, she was being very nice, as a matter of fact.

But, Chason didn’t care.

“Where’s the walkie-talkie?”  He pressed, feeling anger swelling inside of him and welcoming the sensation.  “Just tell us so we can go get it.”

“There’s three more of them, actually.  And I can give you the exact coordinates of their location, ‘cause they’re all together.”  She smiled. “Seriously, the Reprisal owes me, big time for this.”