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They were finally confronting their enemy head-on. In Queen's Park, in the shadow of the Legislative Building, Brianna, Duncan, and Richie faced off against a most unsavory-seeming trio. The center one, the tallest, was a gaunt, bony Caucasian man with high cheekbones, sunken eyes, and long, greasy-looking blond hair. On his right stood a sinister-looking Asian male with a thin mustache; on his left, a stocky dark-skinned character with a sharp aquiline nose, sloping forehead, and full lips. "That guy looks like some kind of Native South American," Brianna thought, her head swimming in pre-battle adrenaline. "Maybe an Aztec, or a Maya -- or maybe one of those Moche of Peru, who worshipped the Decapitator God and drank human blood...and why the hell am I thinking about Pre-Columbian Archaeology at a time like this?" She was pulled out of this meditation by the sound of MacLeod's katana sliding from its Immortal-orifice-encased sheath. Beyond him, she could see Richie had produced a tremendous European two-handed broadsword. She followed suit, producing her own katana from its hiding place. Duncan, having assumed the role of leader, spoke to his cohorts. "I'll take the Aryan in the middle. Richie, you take the Asian." "I'll take Archaeology Boy, over here," Brianna, said, indicating the object of her previous scrutiny. They had to declare their opponents, because according to the rules of Immortal Kombat(TM), they could only fight one-on-one. Ganging up was forbidden. Once any two Immortals squared off, no additional parties could interfere. MacLeod drew himself up to his full, impressive height. "I am Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod!" he roared, and charged. Seconds later, the Aztec (or whatever he was) bore down upon Brianna with a huge scimitar. The battle was joined. "CLANG!" The Immortal's curved blade flashed in the moonlight as Brianna, needing no thought, hoisted her katana up to stop the killing blow. Again, he swung, and again, with a mighty "CLANG!" she parried. Brianna was no slouch when it came to one-on-one combat. GI JOE boot camp, and the Bene Gesserit school had honed her reflexes and she knew how to keep up her end in a fight. However, she had never been trained in actual swordfighting. She found she was picking up the basics quickly, though. There was another "CLANG!" as she stopped her foe again. He drew back, and they circled each other warily. He was peering at her like a bird of prey, feeling her out. Brianna wondered if she might actually make a good account of herself in this combat. Her opponent wasn't much larger than she, and he didn't have much of an advantage of reach. He was muscular, but she could work around that. "CLANG!, CLANG! CLANG!" He attacked again, this time more quickly. Now she was aware that Duncan and Richie were also fighting their opponents nearby -- she wished she could watch -- especially Duncan, to whom fighting and dancing were like one. But she had to pay attention... Her Immortal opponent swung at her at a strange angle, a peculiar upward thrust she hadn't been expecting. She awkwardly batted it away with a downward blow, but she felt the impact all the way up the hilt into her arm, making it tingle unpleasantly. Again, he drew back, and then rushed at her in a confusing blur of motion. It was becoming apparent that he may not have had an advantage in physical attributes, but he did have the advantage of skill. "SHIT!" she screamed as his blade finally connected with her forearm, slicing it open. Blood poured over the sleeve of her Toronto Raptors jacket and hot pain filled her. It quickly subsided as she realized the Immortal Healing Factor was kicking in, and if she hadn't been fighting for her life she would have been fascinated to watch the skin and muscle knitting back together before her very eyes. She cursed again as the Immortal came around for another pass, and nearly sliced open her thigh -- only her quick reflexes saved her and the purple leggings. The Immortal grinned wickedly, looking very much like the images of the bloodthirsty gods of Ancient Mexico. "You will lose, little girl," he said with some kind of accent (could be Spanish). "You are outclassed." He stepped up the pace of his assault. Out of her peripheral vision she could see Mac and Richie were still engaged with their foes. Besides, they couldn't help her anyway. "What the hell was I thinking? This guy could have hundreds of years of training on me! I am going to lose," Brianna thought morbidly, as the Immortal swung at her, and she parried more slowly and clumsily this time. She yowled as the blade did at last connect with her thigh. "Damn him, he's toying with me!" she realized. He had figured out he could kill her any time. He just wanted to see her bleed and suffer first. That got her angry. And it gave her an idea. She'd seen it on an episode of "Highlander," in fact. Of course, the tactic hadn't worked against the immensely old and evil Immortal Kronos, the Horseman of the Apocalypse -- but hell, it could work against this joker. Besides, he was going to get tired of playing around soon enough. And there was nothing in the Rules of the Immortal Game that said she couldn't use any advantage her other talents might give her in a fight. She called up the power of the Bene Gesserit Voice. "You are moving slowly," she intoned, her voice taking on an odd, resonant tone. "You are mired in a thick fog...you can barely lift your arms..." The Immortal took on a blank-eyed expression. His movements slowed to a crawl. Dang, this hoodoo's working! Brianna thought triumphantly. "You are getting sleepy," she commanded aloud. The Immortal's eyes began to droop. Brianna took up her katana, and took a deep breath -- then swung for the neck. There was a "THUNK!" as the head came off and hit the ground. And then the Quickening came. First, she was filled with a strange, warm sensation rising up from her loins -- it felt, she realized, just like sexual arousal! She felt suddenly weak -- her knees buckled and she fell to the cold grass, dropping her blood-slicked katana. She writhed and moaned as the most immense, mind-boggling orgasm she'd ever had wracked her body. Screams were wrenched from her throat. Then she yelped as the first of the electric shocks hit her. She could vaguely see the white lightning that was arcing from the headless corpse to her own body -- but she sure as hell could feel it. Her body spasmed between sexual climax and tiny shocks of pain that almost felt good in and of themselves. What was worst about them was that they were hitting her at random and kept taking her by surprise. Then the images started flooding her head. Like a speeded-up movie, she saw an entire life pass before her -- she couldn't sort out all the scenes, and some of the images were more feelings than pictures. She saw an arid plain, and stone pyramids (not Aztec, she knew now -- Toltec) and people in brightly colored clothes, and battles with men in feathered headdresses, and the White Men in their Silver Coats, and deaths and diseases, and cities and oceans and more cities and men and women and strange animals and new machines and so many faces of so many people and so little time and too much time...and she felt a deep rage and a fathomless sadness overwhelmed her, and she was filled with a desire to KILL, KILL THEM ALL....! And then it was over. She was herself again. And she was lying face up on the damp ground, with dried blood all over her, looking up at the full moon. She was exhausted, and her limbs felt rubbery, but her wounds were all healed. "Brianna?" Richie's face appeared over her, blocking the moon. "Hey, there," she said breathily. She smelled smoke. "What...did you get them?" "They're all dead," Richie replied softly. She could hear he sounded somewhat tired and out-of-breath himself. She felt hands on the back of her neck, and now MacLeod was looking down at her. He had put her head in his lap. "It's okay, it's over," he whispered. "We killed them all." "Then...you had Quickenings, too?" Richie nodded. She sat up, feeling woozy. "Man, what a rush...I feel like I've just been fucked by 14 hippos." "This was your first Quickening, wasn't it?" MacLeod asked her gently. "Does it show?" she gave him a wan smile. "The first one is usually knocks you flat like that," Mac replied. "As you get used to them, you can recover more quickly." "Well...I told you I wasn't very old, for an Immortal." MacLeod nodded, and gallantly helped her to her feet. From a standing position, she could see the carnage: three bodies, three heads, scattered swords, and a whole swath of burned grass. "So, it was, in fact, a trap," Brianna concluded. "Yes, but I don't think they expected us to win," MacLeod said. "Certainly, I don't think they reckoned with you." Richie smiled at her. She was glad to see his aspect toward her had softened. "I saw you pull that voice trick," he said. "Did you learn it from the Immortal Cassandra?" "Well, sort of...but... second-hand, you might say." Suddenly, in the distance, they heard sirens approaching. "Oh, shit, the fuzz!" Richie exclaimed. "Where are we going to put these bodies?" "Have no fear!" Brianna grinned, then swayed a bit, as she was still unsteady on her feet. MacLeod caught her and held her up. It felt good to be in his arms. Must focus, she thought to herself, and reached into her handbag. She pulled out a tiny oblong device, black and silver, that fit entirely in the palm of her hand. "What's that?" Richie asked. Still grinning, Brianna turned to one of the bodies and pointed the little device at it. A red beam of energy burst from the widget, enveloping the body, which glowed for a second -- then vaporized into nothingness. "Cool!" Richie enthused. "Damn -- that's like something out of 'Star Trek'!" It was, in fact, from the Star Trek universe, Original Series, to be exact. A type-1 phaser, set on kill. It was one of those little things she had thought might come in handy -- like the cell phone. Too bad it hadn't occurred to her to use it at the BEGINNING of the fight...oh, well...she hadn't been thinking straight. With the futuristic ray gun, the bodies and heads were disposed of in short order. There was nothing they could do about the burned grass, though. "Time to split," Brianna declared, picking up her dead opponent's discarded weapon and pocketing it in the Immortal Orifice. Richie and MacLeod did the same. "We have to get back and pick up Brian from St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church," Brianna said. MacLeod nodded. "Brianna, after that, are you up to one more escapade tonight?" "Sure," she said as they hastened from the scene. The Quickening effects were wearing off by now and she felt normal again. "We need to break into the morgue," Mac said, "and use your little device on one more body..." "Why Duncan, I thought you'd never ask!"
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