http://clampfix.fanworks.net/guests/quake3.txt </head><body><pre> LITTLE EARTHQUAKES: Chapter 3 Scribble. Scribble. Scribblescribble. A glance up from his notebook at the seismograph. The needle had already subsided. Fucking bison, the grad student thought, looking irritably back at his geophysics homework. Should just make them all into jerky and be done with...scribblescribble. What? he thought, looking back at the revolving drum of paper. Scribble scribblescribblescribble. Needles all over this part of the wall were moving, and not gently either. Oh shit, this one's for real. A foreshock? The magnitude was... *SCREEEEE!!* Red lights lit up over four different seismographs, accompanied by an audible alarm. The grad student lept out of his chair, sending pens and pencils flying as he reached for the phone. The first tangible shock arrived before the other side could even answer. * * * It had purple hair, spiked almost a foot over its tatoo-covered scalp. Shiny metal studs dedicated its nose, ears, tongue, and torso. As it cavorted close to the window, it bellowed an inarticulate laugh and brandished a piece of cardboard with "$5 to kick my face" scrawled in red English letters. Minako watched with rapt disgust as the scantily-clad figure came to within arms-reach of her cab, leering at her through the glass before turning its attention to the car behind her. Her glance darted to meet Artemis's, the cat still secluded inside her backpack. The cat looked back with a furrowed brow, sharing an emotional unison that came from years of working together. "Are you sure we should have come here," he whispered. "You're not the only person they can count on..." Minako turned her troubled glance downward, then looked back out the window at the dingy streets outside. Her hand, tucked under Artemis's belly, tightened into a fist. The feline sighed inwardly. Minako had never been one to give up easily, even when she was in pain... His ears suddenly perked. What was that he had just felt? Again! Some sort of tremor coming through the tires of the car and through the seat and Minako's legs. Not very strong, but... It was a person, not a monster. Just a person, she thought. (Person?) Just like her. Wasn't it? A flash of black drew Minako's attention toward the front windshield, in time to catch a sleek black car making a perilously tight turn onto the street ahead and begin accelerating toward her cab along the other side of the street. The control the driver exerted over the vehicle was obvious even at this distance as it straightened out precisely in the middle of its lane. Wow, she thought, that's a nice... Again! Artemis thought, pricking Minako's hand with her claws as he struggled to get into a better position. She glanced down, a question on her lips, but stopped as the tremor became strong enough for her to feel. "Shit," the driver yelled irritably from the front seat. "Not another quake! Now this is really starting to--" Minako shrieked as a sudden jolt rocked the car. The driver stomped on the breaks, tires squealing and tail lights erupting outside as other cars followed suit. An earthquake, Minako thought, the world seemingly slowing down as the shaking intensified. The black car flowed past, its windows reflecting the buildings along the street. Slow down, she thought urgently, please...as the cab finally stopped moving forward, she saw the car's tail lights light up as it abruptly swerved left and directly into the path of a large truck. As the two vehicles collided, a particularly violent jolt smashed her head into the padded headrest of the front seat and averted her gaze. * * * A chalice Rose wine Silk cloth Diaphanous, in the breeze It blows free in a forest *crack* the chalice shatters Dead silence * * * "Mina!" Artemis shouted, heedless of the driver's presence. He struggled fiercely to free himself from the backpack. Minako slumped back into the seat, putting a hand to her forehead and shaking it groggily. The cab driver was swearing profusely in English, but not loudly enough to drown out the clamor of honking and shouting from outside. As Artemis managed to get free of the backpack, Minako rested her head against the seat in front of her, eyes closed, and began undoing her seatbelt and trying to open the cab door. "Artemis," she began unsteadily, "we've got to...to go help that driver." "Mina, are you okay? Your head..." "Don't worry about me," she said hastily. "I'll be okay...just a bump." She managed to open the door and release the seatbelt, the footing outside unsteady as the shaking receded. "HEY," the driver yelled. "Your fare!" Minako tossed him a twenty from her pocket as she started running toward the wreck. Traffic was at a standstill as the drivers craned their necks to look at the buildings around or honked at the other cars. Minako could immediately see that the accident ahead was bad: the front of the truck had been thoroughly smashed by the impact, windshield little more than a tattered fringe. And the black car...the entire engine area was crumpled like so much paper, the roof smashed and flattened nearly to the height of the doors. It had come to rest _on_top_ of a station wagon, the sole occupant of the car apparently unhurt and crawling out of the broken passenger's window. Someone who might have been the truck driver was already out of the cab and regarding the wreck helplessly from several steps away. As Minako ran to within speaking distance he shouted out to her "Oh my god! He's gonna die! Call 9-1-1!" Ignoring his agitated gestures, she sprinted to where she could see through the shattered side window, Artemis trailing behind. There was blood, more than she had ever seen before in one place. Streaking a popped air bag, staining the twisted frame, and flowing over the part of a face. The eye was open and glazed, blood obscuring its natural color. The flesh not stained in blood was icy white. "Minako!" Artemis said urgently. "We've got to get him out of there! You've got to transform!" She spun quickly, not bothering to reply, and quickly dashed off into the first alley she saw. As soon as she was out of sight she reached into her pocket and drew out her transform pen. "Venus Star Power, Make Up!!" The magical energies surrounded her, filling her limbs and breast with light, though she had no time to enjoy it. Running back to the car, she saw immediately that there was no was to pry the door off by physical strength. "Stand back," she ordered the small crowd forming on the scene. I've got to control this, she thought, gathering her spiritual energy and focusing it on the metal wreckage. "Crescent...Beam!" The lance of light lashed out and struck the car, vaporizing part of the side and undercarriage and exposing the body that lay crumpled inside. Despite the astonished stares from the onlookers she reached into the car and carefully placed two fingers on what was left of his wrist. There was still a pulse. * * * SEKAI NO HATE CASE 1 (version Aleph) "Your fault." "What? Who--" "Your fault." "Your responsibility." "What is this? Where am I?" "You killed him. HIS child." "The punishment: death." "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?! WHAT'S GOING ON?! --on-- -on- .on." [SCREEEEEEEEEEEEECH!] (sickening crunch) (warm, wet pain) [buildings, faces, strange shapes all fading to black] "Your spell ended his life." "The punishment: Hell." "That wasn't my spell! I was sent by another! I didn't choose...wait! Then you are..." "The mark of the Evil One. The punishment: eternal--" "Darkness." (darkness) "How was I supposed to know! You abandoned us! Give me a chance--" (chance) "--to make amends! Please! I beg you! I..." "Clemency." "Clemency." "Your life for his. No protection from Them." "Protection? Who from? What are..." "Decided." "Decided." "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaa-" * * * Subaru stared in bewilderment around the crowded street. The two girls were gone. Walking aimlessly down the block, he noticed a slip of paper lying in the gutter. He picked it up, turning it over in his hand. It was ofuda. </pre><p><a href="./">Back</a></p><p><a href=http://www.dreamhost.com/donate.cgi?id=216><img border=0 alt="Donate towards our web hosting bill!" src=https://secure.newdream.net/donate1.gif></a></p></body></html>