Chapter Three: The Epiphany
Part I
I follow behind MB, or as he is here, Comissioner Bruce. Behind me, Venom follows, keeping watch on me. He still doesn't trust me. I guess, if what they say is true, I wouldn't either.
We turn a corner in the hallway, and stop in front of a door. It's brown, nicely carved oak with a shady glass window in the upper center. On it, MB's name is written in the block lettering. Only, strange enough, instead of black...his name is in red. Just like...home.
Bruce opens the door, and steps inside, hitting the lights. He walks to his desk in the far back of the room. As I survey the location, I notice papers cluttering the desk and chairs. Piles of them, even the bookcase is filled with papers.
I hear Bruce let out a sigh, and I turn to face him. Catching me off guard, I notice a man sitting next to him in the only clear chair. The man looks familiar, short hair, light skin, and a fine armani suit covering his body. I know this man...I know him well.
"Syn," Bruce starts, noding to me. "This is SSF, District Attorney for LA law. He's helped us put away some of the worst criminals in the city, but his best work was with Officer Mortal on the drug running operations."
"SSF?" I ask, staring at the man. "That an acronym?" Bruce stares at me with a dry face, dissapointed and aggitated by my question.
"...Yes." He says, putting his hands together on the table. "I've informed SSF that you aren't the man we've been hunting for these years. You're the same...yet different." My old friend from another world stands, and hold out his hand to me. I smile to him, and move to take his hand in mine. Suddenly, without warning, he throws a punch at me, surprising me. His fist hits my jaw, and I stumble backward. "SHUT UP, ****E!"
"Ow!" I shout, grabbing my jaw and massaging it as it shoots off painful pangs. "What the hell, I thought you said you told him!" Bruce grins as he watches me continue to hold my jaw.
"SSF has been diagnosed with multiple personality disorder. That's what makes him such a good DA. Four men with four different methods often makes criminals crack under the pressure. We let it slide because...well, he's just too damn good."
"Sorry about that, buddy." SSF says with a smile, his voice differnt now. He walks over to me and begins patting me on my shoulder. "Good to meet you." I stare at him with an untrusting expression, and reluctantly shake his hand as he greets me in a completely different demeanor this time.
"Yeah...okay." I respond. SSF moves back to his chair, and I continue to stand, looking for an open seat, but still finding none.
"Alright, Syn. No use beating around the bush." Bruce starts, leaning back in his chair. "I'm not quite sure what kind of a man you are, but I know who you are here. As you know, your counterpart here is evil. A traitor, and a felon. Now, judging by the events that brought you here, I'd say I can trust you." I grin to him, folding my arms over my chest.
"Why is that?" I ask with a curious smile.
"Well, officer Mortal picked you up in the outskirts. Apparently, they used force and put you under high stress situation. If you were a violent man, I'm sure Mortal and his partner would not be standing here." I nod to him in agreeance, analyzing his analysis.
"Fair," I say, noding my head. "But, we still have a mystery. I know all of you where I come from. But...you're all different. Sure, you all exibit similar traits or appearances, but...this isn't my world."
"Just like you aren't our Syn." He says, rubbing his chin. "The DNA analysis puts you at 100% identical match, yet, you don't have any scars. Your polygraph showed no signs of deception. Hell, even your name is different."
"Still," I say with a suggestive smirk. "Couldn't I be your Syn from six years ago? Couldn't I just be another version in time?"
"No, not time." He responds, leaning forward onto his desk. "Space."
"...space?" I ask, confused by his meaning.
"Different theories say that there are different...dimensions. Each dimension is like the other, but they have variations. Differences making them unique."
"...whoah, whoah, whoah." I start, waving my hands in the air. "You saying I'm from another dimension? That...this place is another place all together?" He smiles, and nods.
"Yes. That's exactly my point. I can tell you aren't Syn the Mercenary. Even if this was all a clever ploy, no one can change their mannerisms."
"Oh?"
"You've been surveying every area we enter. You look for the openings, the rooms, the doors. You notice the small things, papers on the desk, the disposition of someene's posture or face. You've been acting in a way no one can fake, Syn. No man can hide his true self, no matter how well he tries." Wow...he's right. That's an amazing analysis. To think he studied me that closely in the five, seven minutes we've been talking.
"Alright," I tell him, my boy relaxing slightly. "You've got me sold. This is another reality, a shadow of my world. Or...my world a shadow of this. But, how did I get here?" Bruce sighs hard, blowing the papers on the desk, making their corners rise and then gently fall.
"I've been trying to figure it out myself." He starts, his mind deep in thought. "It's impossible, by all definitions. This is almost as unlikely as a man returing from the grave." He takes a pause, and the room stays silent. He looks up, and stares me in the face with an awkward smile."But...that's been done before, right?" I smile back to him, and nod. Resurection...dimension hoping...things man's mind can't possibly comprehend.
"Great, great." SSF says, his voice different again, most likely another personality speaking this time. "So you brought me here to witness a phenomenon." He grins widely as he sits back in his chair. "Are we going to talk anything...important?"
"Yeah, I suppose you're right." Bruce says, the mood loosening slightly. "We should talk about the current situation. As you know from that broadcast, we're facing a major threat at the moment."
"Major threat is putting it lightly." Venom mumbles.
"Catman_prb and his close friend The Sensei of Cheese have joined forces once more in their "on again off again" alliance. It appears this time, they are finally ready to make their move."
"Make their move?" I ask, hoping to gain more insight into this world's versions of my two foreign friends.
"Yes, they have been throwing around the idea of world domination for some time. But...Sensei has always been busy with his agenda, and Catman his. Something has brought them back together, though. And it appears this time, they are completly in agreeance."
"Yeah," I say, breaking the thought. "So what kind of threat are we talking?" I start, moving toward the desk. "Because...I'm not really convinced those guys can be that threatening." As the words leave my lips, a deep silence follows. Every eye on the room stares at me, burning a hole into my body. Their faces are serious, worry is in their bodies. Perhaps I underestimate the threat.
"Don't be fooled, Syn. These men are not to be taken lightly. Catman is a master of zoology." Bruce leans back and opens a drawer in the desk. He grabs two manila folders, and tosses them onto the top of the desk. "Catman developed an obsession with the Felidae Felis at a zoo in London. He continued his obsession, delving deeper into it until he eventually went mad."
"So...he's addicted to cats?"
"That's one way of putting it. He respects them, seeing them as gods. He believes they are smarter than humans, and feels that they have and always were the dominant race."
"...cats." I say, staring at Bruce with a curious look. "He thinks...cats...are smarter than humans."
"Yes...that's what I said." He responds, noding to me sarcastically. "He's been building his criminal empire for years now, amassing an extensive collection of felines. His most prized cats he keeps with him at all times. Seven of them. One named for every deadly sin. He believes that each of them embodies the sin that he named them for, seeing it as a sense of higher thought and reason."
"...how is this legal?" I ask, still confused by what he's telling me.
"It's...it's not." He responds, giving me a strange look. "He's evil..."
"Right, right." I say, nodding my head. "So what about Sensei?"
"Sensei has an obsession too. He claims his ancestors invented cheese. He tried to get the rights to all cheese, hoping to gain an empire from the funds he would receive. But, no one believed him. He was seen as a liar and a con artist, and shunned from society."
"So...he's teamed up with Catman because he wants to get back at everyone for...not giving him the rights to cheese all across the world."
"Yes." As I see the seriousness in his face, the thoughts that this is a joke fade away, and I am left with an awkward feeling.
"Right..."
"Sensei and Catman have been working together for the past decade, but they often break apart, only to unite once more. Unfortunately, this time, it looks like they are going to pose a threat."
"What brings them back together?"
"Their daughter." He says, pointing to one of the files on his desk. "Rachel."
"Ah," I say, reaching forward and grabbing the file off the desk. I open it, and look at the picture inside. Nice girl. Eighteen, long blond hair, and a threatening demeanor. I skim her file breifly, and get the basics of her backstory. "So...who's daughter is she? Sensei's or Catman's?"
"She's both of theirs." Bruce responds in an emotionless voice.
"No, I mean, who's wife...or girlfriend was the mother?" Silence follows my question, and I look up from the file. I stare at Bruce and he looks at me with a look of certainty. I see only seriousness in his expression, and I look back down to the paper. "Okay..."
"The three of them make up an formidable force. The daughter is just as evil as her fathers. In addition to Catman's feline adversaries, Sensei has a well trained group of ferocious polar bears. Their base is in the arctic for just that reason. Polar bears can only survive in that climate."
"Catman has been researching sabertooth tigers for the past few years. He's wanted to try a resessitation program and possibly recreate them. All scientists have denied him this wish, and I'm sure that is what sparked his recent move to begin his plans." After skimming through the multiple pages in the document, I toss it back on the table and look at Bruce with a determined expression.
"So...let's get this straight." I start, rubbing my face roughly as I take a deep breath. "Catman and Sensei have joined forces to conquer the world. Catman's plan is to gain appeasement by being given a sabertooth tiger skeleton, in hopes of recreating a sabertooth tiger which I'm guessing he wants to do this so he can make an army of them, and continue his dreams of world domination." Bruce nods to me, and I nod back.
"Okay. Now, Sensei wants to join with him because he wants revenge at the world for shunning his family as the true discoverers ...or ...inventors ...of cheese, right?" Again, he nods, and I continue. "They both live together with their daughter in an arctic fortress...and their army of deadly carnivores, and they apparently from that news message have the ability to control every cat in the world should his demands not be met." I let out a sigh, and put my hands in my pocket. "How's that?"
"Not bad, Syn." He smiles.
"Okay, so here's what I don't get. Why does a police department in LA care about fighting a threat in another continent? Isn't that work for the government?"
"We're more than concerned policemen, Syn." Bruce says, leaning back in his chair. "We're devoted men. Men who care about justice and world saftey." I look at SSF, and stare at him closely.
"...and a district attorney is here...why?"
"We'll need someone to convict them after we capture them." He says with a proud smile.
"...yeah." I respond in an unsure tone. "Still, I have two questions."
"As always." He says with a grin.
"You expect a small precinct from California to travel to the arctic circle, fight off an army of polar bears and tigers, two crazed evil masterminds, and their adolescent daughter alone?" Suddenly the air whistles, and a breeze brushes by my face. The papers on the desk fly up and float in the air. I hear a slight bang, and my eyes are drawn to the wall.
t:
:heart:
