DISCLAIMER: Own nothing; make no profit.
A/N: This fic was written as a birthday present for The Lightning Flash. I promised her a one-shot involving Kellamy; I kept one of those promises. Happy birthday, Anna!
CHAPTER ONE: INTERSECTING DESTINIES
Once upon a time there was a green-eyed sorcerer, who was born human, a long time ago.
He was destined to destroy and bring Chaos to the land, or so it was said. He was also destined to die. Twice.
This is not his story.
Once upon a time there was a green-eyed Lady, the daughter of a noble human family, and few recognised the powers she possessed.
She died young.
It was said that Destiny, who was rumoured to be a rather temperamental old bird at the best of times, got rather upset about the Lady's premature decease.
This is not her story either.
-
Lord Kellamy del'Fuerte, Dark Elf and gentleman mercenary, presently under the service of Chaos, drummed his heels against the wall in time to a repetitive series of notes he was humming under his breath, hoping he'd manage to annoy the two others in the room.
It really was a most tedious and inconvenient situation.
The young green-skinned man hung chained to the wall of a dark underground room, his wrists wrenched above his head and attached to a long wire. The other end of the wire happened to be attached to a machine sitting on the other end of the room, operated by a blonde woman while her younger companion watched.
"Chosen one," the man with spiked red hair said, slouching against the wall. "Hah."
The blonde woman, bending over the machine to stroke a few keys, laughed, not unkindly. "You always were too sceptical. This is our duty, and Destiny," she said with satisfaction.
She turned to Kellamy. "Stop that humming," she said. "We'd prefer it if you saved your strength, and so would you."
"As you wish, madam," the Dark Elf said, with some considerable hint of sarcasm. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"
The redhead glared at him. "You can shut up for once," he said.
"Such stimulating company, as always," Kellamy responded, but fell silent after that.
The blonde woman turned back to the machine. "Almost ready," she said. "In five minutes will come the only point in time where the worlds align, until another three hundred and thirty-two years have passed. So Destiny has willed it."
"Yeah, yeah. Destiny," the redhead muttered. "You sure you want mine?"
The blonde woman smiled at him. "You just don't want the competition," she said pleasantly. "Don't worry. She'll be…well, a she, for a start, and they've done all the calculations down in Tech. She's Destiny's chosen one. Besides, almost all of mine appear to be desperately in love with his." She pointed to Kellamy, still hanging on the wall.
"Should I be flattered, madam?" he asked.
"No. She's a conniving, treacherous bitch. Not that different from you, really," the blonde said calmly, and pressed a few more keys, studying the screen. Flashes of activity appeared on it, brightly coloured figures moving so quickly as the camera's view shifted they were nothing but an indistinct blur.
The blonde turned to Kellamy. "By the Code of the Lightning Knights I am required to inform you that you have a fifty percent chance of survival, del'Fuerte," she said matter-of-factly. "Of course, it's only justice; you have been found guilty of blatantly and openly aiding and abetting Chaos."
"I collected a paycheck from her, you mean," said Kellamy. "I never aid or abet, blatantly or otherwise, unless it's a paying job; so hard on the constitution, you know how it is." The jaunty tone of his words belied the worried look on his face.
The red-haired man looked at a large dial set into the side of the machine.
"Hey—" he began.
"I know," the blonde said. "Merging in five." She moved her short plait over her shoulder to keep it out of her way, and ran her fingers over the keys.
The chains binding Kellamy's wrists began to spark as a current started to flow from his body to the machine. His body began to jerk and he closed his eyes, biting his lip to avoid crying out.
"Four."
Sparx dodged a blow from Staffhead, bringing her sword up and preparing to fire.
"Three."
Kellamy's body arched, feet scrabbling for a purchase on the wall, face twisted in pain, a thin line of blood beginning to run down his chin.
Sparx turned at the sound of a howl behind her, flinging herself away just in time to avoid the metal fist.
"Two."
He started to scream, the high piercing sound filling the room. The redheaded man put his hands over his ears.
She placed two fingers in her mouth, whistling the call, looking hopefully overhead."One."
Kellamy collapsed back onto the wall, his eyes closed and face pale. The stream of blood continued to drip down his chin.
Green flame hit her from behind, and she didn't know if she cried out or not…"Zero."
Confused, spinning into space, into nowhere.
Not the Portal again…
-
The young red-haired woman materialised in the centre of the room, sword drawn, looking wildly around her for enemies.
"We mean you no harm," the blonde woman said. "Put that sword away, please."
The redhead looked at the other woman for a long moment, taking in the details of her uniform, and complied.
"Who are you?" she asked. "Should I know you?"
"Not exactly," the blonde woman said, smiling serenely. "I go by Louisa Lightning…."
"And I'm Tim, but people call me TNT because I'm a real blast to know," the red-haired man said, offering the newly-arrived woman his hand.
She shook it. "I'm Sparx, Lightning Knight," she said. She looked at the blonde woman curiously. "Are you related to Ace?"
"Not exactly," the woman called Louisa said for the second time.
"What do you mean?" Sparx said. They probably brought me here on that machine; they at least owe me an explanation. "Look, you got me here, tell me what's going on!"
"We'll get around to it," Louisa said. "I'm sure you're tired from the dimensional travel, and it's rather draughty down here."
Sparx missed the second half of that statement; she was staring at the man chained to the wall.
His delicate features reminded her of Lady Illusion, though it was clear he was of the opposite gender. He hung limply from the wall, his head bowed and his eyes closed, a bright red line running down his chin.
"Who's that?" Sparx said sharply, walking over to him.
"Lowlife scum," Tim replied.
"A convicted criminal, his life force extinguished in bringing you here," Louisa elaborated.
"He's alive," she said, touching the man's neck with a gloved hand and feeling a faint pulse. She saw the blood on his chin, where he'd bitten through his lip, and gently wiped the smear from his face.
She felt a slight spark of electricity between them as she touched him, and looked up into his face as his eyes opened. He stared mutely at her with dark green-flecked eyes, and she thought he was asking her for help.
She turned, glowering, to the other two.
"Let him go," she said. "This isn't right."
"You don't understand the situation," Louisa told her calmly. "Servant of Chaos. Convicted criminal."
"Office ornament," the man said, his voice raspy and strained. "They couldn't resist my pretty face…"
"I said let him go," Sparx said fiercely. "I know what's right and what's not. It's the Code, remember?" She tried to reach a hand to the chains, but she wasn't tall enough.
"No," Louisa said. "I have orders."
Sparx materialised her sword. "Not even criminals deserve this," she said.
"Don't waste yourself fighting for him," Louisa said, her voice still calm. "It's not your destiny."
"Forget about destiny!" Sparx yelled.
Tim drew a sword from a sheath on his back. "I wouldn't mind a little action," he said. He quickly glanced at Louisa, who had folded her arms across her chest, before addressing Sparx. "That is, if you really want to fight for him—"
He was cut off as the wall behind him exploded.
Sparx coughed as the smoke cleared, looking up to see a large woman standing in the wreckage of the wall, her head surrounded by a frizzy cloud of greying hair. One of her eyes was bright red, and glowed fiercely in the dim room.
The chains holding Kellamy started to shudder and spark, and Sparx saw him land gracefully on the floor.
Louisa fired up her wrist cannons, and Tim pointed his sword at the woman.
The woman had a blade clutched in both her hands, a thin rapier that looked too small for her, and she threw it to the green-skinned man. He fumbled the catch, his hands discoloured from the time he'd spent chained, and only just managed to hold on to it.
Sparx powered up her sword. She wasn't sure which side she should be fighting on, but even if the green guy was evil, he didn't deserve what those two had done to him.
Under the woman's power—besides the glowing eye, Sparx noticed, metal covered most of the left half of her face and body; a cyborg, then—the machine shuddered, and electrical sparks headed for the direction of Louisa and Tim, who did their best to block them.
"You should have listened to your friend," the woman said. "Or is she?"
"She tried to help me," the green-skinned man said. He placed a clumsy arm over Sparx' shoulder, hurrying her towards the woman.
Louisa fired a wrist cannon, narrowly missing the woman, who had dodged just in time.
"Two of you in one place. They just don't make decent villains these days," Louisa said, preparing to fire again.
"Use my energy," Sparx heard the woman whisper. "Get us out of here…"
Tim lunged with his blade, and the green-skinned man brought his rapier up to block him just in time.
Sparx used her sword to shield from Louisa's blows. The three of them were stuck between the two Lightning Knights, doing their best to hold them off.
The machine exploded in a shower of blinding light.
"Now…" the woman whispered, and Sparx was aware of the green-skinned man gripping her shoulder as she felt her body disappear, ripped into a thousand pieces and reassembled again…
A/N: Feedback? Why yes please. How did you guess? Honesty is appreciated.