Pimpenstein meets The Dragon Lady ff/m, (*/f) x2

Author’s note: Sorry for the delay friends. Here’s part 3!

The Travels of Pimpenstein
Pimpenstein meets The Dragon Lady

Chapter 1
More Dinner Conversation

Everybody was looking at me with various looks. I knew that some of them, especially the three Coast Guard girls, didn’t believe me in the least. However, if this weren’t true, how is it that when I left, I was alone, and I only had my device with me? Now, upon my return, I came back in a large sailboat with Lina, and we are both very rich. Regina was looking at me quite intently as Lina and I were serving salad to everyone.

“Reg,” I said as I sat down, “If you keep looking at me like that, I will get the feeling that you’re trying to melt me down.”

“Sorry,” Regina replied, “It’s just that I didn’t think you and I would ever be together.”

“Yeah, in that parallel world, but anywhere else? Who knows?” I answered.

Amy spoke up, “You still have 20 months left unaccounted for Brand. Where were you after that?”

I didn’t answer right away. I took a deep breath and waited a few seconds before answering.

“The next world I went to was another, and its description will be explained as I continue,” I responded.

“Another world?” Jim asked.

“Yes,” I replied.

“Impossible,” said O’Shea.

“Are we gonna start that again?” I asked her.

She began eating her salad like she didn’t have anything else to eat. I got another bottle of wine ready, this one a blush variety.

“More wine anyone?” I asked.

Everyone except O’Shea had their glasses out. I filled them all and everyone got started while I began telling them about my time in the next world.

Chapter 2
My New Destination

The portal closed as I exited. As I began looking around, I noticed that this world was very different. Even though the landmarks showed that I’m still in California, the changes were extremely obvious. First, all the landmarks around me, which I knew since childhood, have changed. I later ascertained that I arrived in where this used to be Beverly Hills, but here it’s a slum. Second, the great “Hollywood” sign was now all done in lasers and it produced a spectacular light show. It changed from white, to blue, to red, then to yellow, and back to start the sequence over again. The third thing was that the downtown area of Los Angeles had tall buildings that seemed to stretch high into the sky; the tops of some were tickling the bellies of clouds as they passed. The bright neon could be seen for miles. However, as the buildings continued outward, they looked less and less glamorous, until finally the buildings at the city’s borders looked very run-down. Outside that, everything looked desolate.

“Mad Max meets cyberpunk,” I said to myself softly.

I looked at my device and found that I had two months in this world. The arrow was showing that I had to go south and it showed a color of light blue. Some distance to travel, but not much. I began walking to close the distance and find the location of the portal. After an hour of walking, I heard the faint rumbling of motorcycle engines. As I continued walking, the sound was getting louder, indicating they were coming closer. After a few minutes, they came and passed. Then they turned around and stopped right in front of me. The group looked to be small, about 7 strong, but they all looked mean and tough. One of them got off his bike, and he appeared to me to be the leader for he had the meanest look on his face, about 6’ 6” tall with a big build, not body builder quality though, more like from drinking too much beer. His scruffy beard didn’t add any charm to him either, it made him look more like a reject from the rock group ZZ Top.

“Look here guys, we got a lone traveler here,” he said, with voice sounding as rough as his beard.

“Let’s take him!” said the skinny guy next to him. He also looked malnourished.

“Come on then losers,” I answered with a voice as smooth and cold as ice.

I then dropped my large bag of diamonds and got into a fighting pose. My sword was already in my hand. My backpack stayed on me though, for it was small enough not to interfere if I ever needed to fight, like right now.

“This guy has guts,” one female voice said. She was dressed in biker leather like her friends, but she also had both of her ears pierced with three different rings on each with a gold ring on her nose. She also had on shades that were of the pince-nez kind. Her body looked like she worked out for the most part, with her blond hair fluttering in the night wind. She could easily pass for a corporate type in my world if she didn’t go out of her way to look tough.

Just then, one of them revved their motorcycle and charged right at me. The whole thing struck me funny in a way, like a knight jousting at the lists. As soon as this guy was close enough, I then performed a flying side kick that landed on his chest and sent the guy off his bike and he landed flat on his back. His breath completely knocked out of him. He was wheezing badly.

“Anybody else want a piece?” I challenged.

Two more charged. I merely slashed with my sword and cut the front forks of their bikes in half. They tumbled forward and met Mr. Concrete face first. They were out cold. Just then, the last three came at me in a wedge formation with the female in the lead. They then broke off at the last second and tried circling me like sharks circling a swimmer in the ocean. That was when I struck. With my sword, I slashed at each of their front tires that sent them flipping forward and they too were K.O.’d. Now the leader was left and he looked pissed. I calmly went back to my fighting pose as he got off his bike. I then turned my left hand palm upward and made the challenge gesture. He then charged in and threw a wild punch; I ducked.

“Strike one,” I mocked.

He threw another punch and I dodged it.

“Strike two,” I mocked again.

He threw one more and I then countered with a kick to his knee and then I did a spin kick to the side of his head. He was out cold.

“Strike three. You’re out,” I finished.

I went to his bike, now my bike, and looked it over. It had the Harley Davidson logo on the side, but it didn’t look anything like the Harleys I’ve seen in my life. This one was done almost like an arrowhead. This looked like it also has some nice features, but I had to look at them later. Right now, I just got the bike in gear, got my big bag of riches and placed it behind me, in the cargo area with my backpack, and looked back at my attackers with a look of contempt.

“So long punks!” I called out and roared off, heading towards the city.

Chapter 3
Code 3

As I’m heading towards the city, I began to notice that this L.A. was indeed different to my old one. I mean sure, I knew of certain places that you can go to find a good time, but this version takes that a little further. Within the “poorer” sections of the city, I found at least one “XXX” house at least 50 feet from each other. But I’m heading towards the heart of the city, where the mega-skyscrapers are. As I approached closer, I began noticing that the areas got more and more clean. Nightclubs becoming more frequent. Finally, I stopped the bike after seeing a 20 foot high wall. Following the wall revealed numerous ports where machine guns poked out, and concertina wire travelling all along the top. The only opening I saw was located on the road I was on and there showed a line of 5 cars. Two cops completely decked out in SWAT gear were searching each car one-by-one. At the fourth car, they stopped and one made a gesture of a raised fist. Just then, the driver got out and started shooting, but another cop came fourth and it looked like he was wearing something like a robotic exo-suit. He just walked over to the incident and hurled a large surge of electricity that somehow caused the driver to scream and drop to the ground, but also caused the car to make a sputtering noise and just die out. The “exo-cop” grabbed the front end of the car while the other two carried the driver’s body to a small building where a large door opened and the car was placed there and the driver’s body was carried inside. After the fifth car was searched, I heard a booming voice coming in my direction.

“Freeze! Don’t move!” the voice ordered.

There, another door at the checkpoint opened and a small car emerged, probably a standard police cruiser. As soon as I saw the car, I turned around and opened the throttle as much as the bike could allow. The pursuing car had its lights and siren on and one of the cops within started shooting. I evaded as much as I could, but I knew that it was only a matter of time before one of those shots would score. Looking down, I saw a button on the right handle bar glow yellow. I pressed the button and the rear view mirror was showing me the rear of my bike spewing out a thick cloud of smoke. On the left, an orange button was glowing now, and after pressing it, I heard the sound of liquid being gushed out behind, probably oil. The car went into a spinout and crashed into one of the buildings. I then turned onto a side street and went through a side alley and continued down until I went back on a major street again. After travelling down this street for a time, a group of motorcycles came out from one of the side streets and started to pull up alongside. They were all dressed in classic biker garb, but I noticed that their bikes were different. They looked like racer style bikes, done in a battleship grey color, but no striping. The one thing that caught my eye was the symbol on the front. It looked like the feminine symbol, but I instantly knew that it wasn’t for the symbol looked too elegant for that, it was more like the astronomer’s symbol for Venus. I didn’t have to contemplate further for the two riders alongside shot something like harpoons into each side of my bike while the two rear riders threw lassos and successfully got them on me. The final blow came when I felt a dart hit me on the back of my neck and I began to blackout as I felt my bike slowing down.

Chapter 4
Interrogation

I slowly began to wake up from my drug induced slumber. Voices started to become more distinct as I was gaining consciousness. I decided to keep my eyes shut and control my breathing, to make the owners of these voices believe that I was still out, if they were nearby. Also, I wanted to listen. I wanted to hear what they were saying so I could not only get some answers, but also how L.A. turned into something like a cross between Mad Max and Blade Runner. That would have to wait however, for what demanded my immediate attention was that I’m now lying on my back and there was a cold sensation of metal. With the feeling of air all over me, I deduced that I got stripped down to just my skivvies while I was out. I could also tell that they had tied me in an “X” fashion with my feet just dangling from the edge. So many questions flowed into my mind, but right now, I just wanted to listen for any information about my current state, my captors, and about my current plight. As I listened, I didn’t like what was being said.

“… he sure looks like him doesn’t he?” said an unknown male voice.

“He’s a dead ringer. All he needs is the tattoo,” replied an unknown female voice.

“He could’ve had it removed after he moved to ‘The Zone’,” another female voice said.

“It’s possible,” replied Female #1.

“So what now?” asked the male voice.

“I don’t know.”

“Come on guys. Let’s think about this. What do you guys think Lady Venus’ reaction’s going to be when she finds out?” responded Female #2.

“She’s coming?” asked the male.

“Yes,” answered Female #2.

“I don’t think we need to worry right now. She won’t be here for…” stopped Female #1 in mid-sentence.

“What’s wrong?” asked Female #2.

“He hasn’t moved for some time now,” replied Female #1.

“He is tied up you know,” said the male voice.

“I think he’s awake. He’s listening to us,” said Female #1.

“How can you tell?” asked Female #2.

“I just know. Only one way to find out.”

Just then, I felt a long sharp fingernail go up-and-down the sole of my left foot like a paintbrush. I focused my attention to block the sensation, but I knew it was only a matter of time before this would overtake me. After I heard the metallic door open and close, the sound of heavy metal creaking a little, I felt two more hands go all over my sides and one of them drifted over towards my midriff. As soon as this happened, my eyes shot wide open as I gasped and felt the feeling of distance as darkness began to close in. I fought with all my will, but it looked like “he” was winning.

“No… no… NOOOOOOOOOO!” I screamed as I shook my head from side-to-side.

Just then, it suddenly stopped. I felt so exhausted that I was breathing heavily and felt a few drops of sweat forming on my brow. Shaking this off took a lot out of me. As my breathing began to slow, I looked around to see my new surroundings. I was locked in a cell that was probably twice the size of a basic prison cell. Sure enough, I was tied down to a metallic rack made up of pipes that were made of steel for the most part. This rack kept me above the floor, but because of the piping, this meant that my two tormentors could even go underneath and still be able to tickle me anywhere if they wished. No other furniture could be seen. My two tormentors caught the most of my attention. The one at the “foot” looked to be around 5’9”. Her biker leather was basic, but also elegant at the same time, for there appeared silver piping stitched along the seams of her leather pants and on the cuffs of her jacket I saw hanging by the door. This indicated to me that she possessed a rank of some kind, an officer perhaps. Her hair was a fiery red that went down to her shoulders. Her body slender, but muscular. She was wearing a black tank top. Her gray eyes matching her cold hard stare. The other girl was wearing a similar outfit, and she looked younger, maybe around 22, but her long black hair, her eyes, everything about her reminded me of…

“Reg? Reg, is that you?” I asked.

“No. Regina was my twin sister. She was taken from me by you, you bastard!” she barked.

“Sister? Regina never had a sister,” I answered.

“Don’t play dumb with me! I saw what you did to her! She died right in my arms you monster!”

With that, she reached into her pocket and pulled something out, her thumb pressed a button and a three inch blade immediately snapped out and locked. A switchblade! She was just above me and ready to bring the blade down when a voice shouted with firm command.

“Stop!” shouted the voice, and the voice sounded familiar.

“Lady Venus!” she said as she snapped to attention.

I breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed a little as the “sister” compacted her switchblade and placed it back in her pocket. Her eyes shot a look pure hatred at me while she did this, but managed to keep control.

“Take him to the other room,” ordered Lady Venus.

“Right away,” complied the red haired biker.

Just then, she and Regina’s look alike went to opposite ends of the rack I’m now on and together they began rolling me out into the adjoining corridor. After a few minutes, they brought me into a service elevator and went down a couple of floors. From there, they turned and brought me into this large room that contained a very large bed, a dresser with a big mirror and a simple seat in front, a table with four chairs, and lastly, a large armoire with mirrored doors. After being brought into this room, the red haired biker left, but Regina’s look alike stayed. Looking around some more, I found the other lady who gave the order to bring me here. She was Mica’s twin in every way except for the scar that went from her left eyebrow, going across the bridge of her nose, and finally ending at the lower right of her jaw. It looked like that the scar would not be there if only she got stitching for it, but she never received the treatment. Her eyes told me that she had something dire planned for me.

“Well,” Lady Venus began, “This is definitely going to be good. I’ve been looking forward to tickling you to oblivion for a long time.”

“Why?” I asked, “I’m not the guy you know and loathe. What’s going on?”

“See?” ‘Regina’ responded, “He’s sticking to his story. He really believes that he’s innocent.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Lady Venus replied, “Right now, he’s our prisoner and I’m sure that we can use him to bargain with.”

“I don’t want to bargain him. I want him dead,” ‘Regina’ answered.

“I know, but our people are hungry. We need food. However, that doesn’t mean that we can’t have some fun with him.”

‘Regina’s’ eyes flickered for a moment and her face changed to a very evil smile. She looked in my direction and I didn’t like the look on her face at all.

“Ah, I gotcha,” she said.

“I knew you would,” Lady Venus said and then looked in my direction, “And by the time we’re done with him, he’s gonna wish that he was dead.”

I kept my composure the whole time; I knew what they’re planning to do. Therefore, I decided to try one last bluff.

“Look ladies,” I began, “I didn’t realize that you guys were in such difficulty. Just let me go and I’ll make sure that all of you are taken care of. I promise.”

“Uh-uh,” Lady Venus responded, “We could get at least 10 times that by doing it this way.”

“Enough talk!” ‘Regina’ intervened, “Let’s get started.”

“I agree,” said Lady Venus, “Get ready to die laughing Brand,” her voice was dripping with sarcasm as she said my name.

With that said, the two of them got down to my level and went on opposite sides, Lady Venus on my left with ‘Regina’ on my right. As ‘Regina’ went towards my feet, Lady Venus got on her back and crawled underneath. They both then started with ‘Regina’ slowly tickling my feet with Lady Venus on my sides. As soon as their fingers made contact, I arched up by reflex and yelped.

“Cut it out!” I yelped, “Please! Let me go! I can help you!”

“You’re still sticking to that story,” ‘Regina’ answered, “No way. Besides, I’ve been waiting for my revenge for a long time.”

‘Regina’ got on her feet and went to the armoire. When she came back, she brought with her a large leather belt and got it strapped it onto my waist; she then fastened it on the metal rack I was on. I knew why, to prevent me from arching up again. When she finished, she got back down and resumed tickling my feet while Lady Venus resumed on my sides. With that belt, I couldn’t move at all, and with those four beautiful, but evil hands, the sensations got worse with each passing minute. Needless to say, I was gone, right in “Ha-Ha Land”.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! PLEHEEHEEHEEZE! STAHAHAHAHAHAP! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

“Wow! You said he was ticklish Lady Venus,” ‘Regina’ said, “But I didn’t think that he was THIS ticklish.”

“Indeed,” Lady Venus answered, “This is turning out better than I hoped. And I hope that he can hold out; I want this to last.”

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

And they did make it last. They went all over me trying everything they could think of. Those long nails of theirs were awful, and with the skill these two had, they were definitely masters. All the while I was trying my damndest to hold out, but I knew it was a losing battle. After an eternity, they did stop and I was sucking up much needed air. They both got on their feet and looked at me with hard looks.

“You’re strong, I’ll give you that,” Lady Venus said to me, “You have a lot of stamina to last a full hour, but you won’t last much longer.”

“Not to mention that after we’re done with you, you’ll wish you were dead,” said ‘Regina’.

“Please. No more,” I pleaded.

“We’re not done yet, but don’t worry. I think you’ll like this part,” said Lady Venus.

With that, Lady Venus stripped down to nothing. She then got on top of me while making sure that my manhood was in her. ‘Regina’ got back down to tickle my feet some more while Lady Venus tickled my sides again. Since I was tied down real good, I didn’t have much say on the matter. Then, Lady Venus moved her hands to tickle my midriff.

No need to mention what happened next.

Chapter 5
Intermission

I was collecting the salad bowls from everyone while Lina was getting the first pot of coffee ready. I just finished putting the bowls away when Commander Longwaters said the one statement that was on not just hers, but on the minds of her execs as well.

“I find it hard to believe that you would go completely insane from just a little tickling,” she said.

“There’s a lot more to it than that Commander, a lot more,” I said, “And I’m not in the mood to talk about it.”

“Why not?” asked Steele.

I answered, “Because I’ve already explained it once, and once is enough.”

Mica decided to come into the conversation, “Don’t stop now Brand. What happened afterwards?”

“All in good time Mica,” I said while checking on the coffee, and then I turned to my friends, “Can I interest any of you in fruit, or dessert?”

Everyone present all shot their hands up, so Lina and I got out the ice cream and quickly got him or her served. When the coffee was ready, I got out the cups while Lina got out the cream and sugar. When everyone was ready, I sat down ready to start on my dessert and on the next part of my story.

I turned to Longwaters, “It really surprises me that you guys haven’t figured it out by now.”

I took a sip of coffee, “Here’s what happened after being in interrogated.”

Chapter 6
The Next Level

I woke up in the morning feeling extremely exhausted and with a pounding headache. It felt more like a hangover, like I partied all night. I found myself waking up between the covers of the nice large and soft bed. ‘Regina’ and Lady Venus were already gone. I slowly got up out of bed and walked around the room for a minute, only because the door was locked and my vision was a little fuzzy. A short time later, someone was knocking on the door. I quickly got up from the bed and opened it. The door responded to my hands somehow. The person on the other side of the door was another girl maybe 19 years of age and wearing a black outfit like the red haired biker I saw but she also had on a white smock. In front of her was cart with food, coffee, and some orange juice.

“Here,” she said, “Eat and freshen up. Lady Venus wants you to meet with her and Rene in the meeting room when you’re done.”

“Thanks,” I answered, “Tell them I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

The girl left and I began eating in earnest. I didn’t realize how hungry I was. All the time eating, I began wondering why I could now remember “him” having his way with Lady Venus and Rene. After finishing my third cup of coffee, the answer came, “he” actually got worn out by those two. After finishing with my meal, I quickly got cleaned up and dressed and then went over to the meeting room where Lady Venus was sitting on a simple chair at the opposite end of a badly beaten conference table. Two other chairs were present, one of them was occupied by Rene with her back towards me and the second was empty on the other side of the table. Lady Venus stood up and waved to me as I entered.

“Hey Brand,” she called, “Take that seat and let’s talk.”

“Good,” I replied, “It’s about time we got some fog lifted here.”

I sat down and I chose to start the conversation. I started about where I was really from and how I got here. Lady Venus then returned the favor by telling me about this world and how it got to its present state. It seems that this America suffered economically until the big crash in 2011. In the aftermath, China called to collect on America’s debt and in turn collected by seizing land and all assets from companies all along the west coast. After that, riots broke out in all the major cities and L.A. was hit the hardest. Lady Venus even said that China launched some nukes to quell the problem, which worked for the nukes destroyed the surrounding areas and all the people residing there ran like thunder to any and all nearby cities. It was here that any large corporation had some serious power for they now could hand pick labor for mere pennies and they began protecting their assets by fortifying their respective territories and employing private police for added security. Of course, all Chinese & Japanese companies had serious holdings in all major aspects like housing, energy, food & clothing, and transportation. She also said that the biggest drop came when Microsoft merged with a company named Shonuku Corporation and that made the Shonuku Corporation the most powerful company in the world.

I interrupted Lady Venus for a moment, “Okay. I see now how the state of the world came to what it is now, but what does that have to do with you guys?”

“That’s because the Shonuku Corporation rules this area with an iron fist,” Lady Venus answered, “If you do anything that displeases them in any way, you’re arrested and taken away. You’re never heard from again.”

“Also, you have to do things their way,” Rene chimed in, “You see, according to them, we’re the enemy. Because we like to think, we like to read. We’re into freedom of speech, and freedom of choice. If you want to live in “The Zone,” you have to live their way. How they want, where they want, when they want. Or you can come here, and maybe starve to death.”

“And what about the Brand that lives here?” I asked.

“He works for the Shonuku Corporation,” Lady Venus replied, “He’s a senior manager in their software division. He designs video games and security programs for them.”

“Is that all?” I asked.

“No,” said Rene, “There’s a girl there too, and from what I’ve heard, she’s the CEO’s daughter.”

“Hmmmm. I had a feeling about that, but I didn’t think that it was that high up.”

“Right, and from I heard, she’s got him wrapped around her little finger real tight.”

“I see. Excuse me ladies, I need to check something out. I want to see something and I have it stashed in my bike. I want to meet with you right after.”

“We want to come with you,” Lady Venus said, “You’ll never find your way around here without one of us.”

“Alright, let’s go,” I replied.

Chapter 7
A Plan is Forming…

I left the conference room right afterward and went straight down to the garage where my bike was being kept. Rene was behind me the entire time. Lady Venus had to leave to do a patrol and said that she’ll be back within an hour. After entering, I went to my bike and opened the cargo area where my large bag of diamonds laid and my backpack as well. Here, I took out my device and looked at the readout, showing that I had roughly 45 days left here, roughly 6 weeks. After placing that in my pocket, Rene led me to my temporary quarters here. I laid down on the bed there while she sat down in one of the two only chairs in the room.

“What do you have planned?” Rene asked.

“Let’s say that I have a way to capture our mutual enemy and maybe cripple the corp that holds L.A. in thrall,” I replied.

“I’m listening,” she responded.

Here I began telling her how I could hack into the corporation’s mainframe, cause some trouble, and even break in and cripple our target. She smiled. Now I won’t bore you with the details, but when the time came to put the plan into action, I ventured out to the gate entrance of “The Zone”. There, the guards saw me and recognized me right away and had me put to the side, so to speak. Here, the guard supervisor called and when he finished, he came in the room I was waiting in and said to follow him. He led me to vehicle bay where my bike was and he told me to get on. He then got onto his bike, which looked like mine, but didn’t have the gadgets mine had. We both left and with him leading the way, I was taken to the heart of “The Zone”. Here, the places were mansions and the guy led me to this one mansion at the end. It was beautiful, large gardens, fountains, a tennis court, even a hedge maze. The mansion was nothing to sneeze at either. After the gate opened, we went to large driveway and stopped. The guy got off and told me to do the same. When we got to the door, it opened and a butler stepped out. He handed out a small bag to the cop and the cop left quickly. The butler then turned to me.

“This way sir,” he said.

Here, the butler led me up some flights of stairs and down a hall to what appeared to be a bedroom. It looked more like a small apartment and the real shocker was that this looked exactly my apartment back home. There were even pictures of me and Lina together. Just looking at that almost got me to fall back in a faint, but I caught myself and managed to get a few deep breaths in until my senses cleared. Looking at the picture again, I noticed that Lina had on a beautiful Chinese dress in red with a green dragon on it. She looked great. Looking around further I noticed there was a computer in the main room. I turned it on and sat intently for a long time. The password was easy for it appears that this “Brand” thinks just like me. I got into the company’s server and mainframe really easy too. After some searching, I found some interesting evidence. There was a report to the CEO regarding to the death of Regina. Other reports showed that someone was hired to impersonate this Brand and frame him for the murder. Another piece was a recording of one guy talking to Brand telling him to run. I copied these onto a thumb drive and pocketed it.

“I’m sure you want to see these Rene,” I said to myself.

I then went into my personal files and found all kinds of neat stuff in there regarding security programs and the like. Here, I made some modifications to them which will allow Lady Venus and her strike team inside without much fuss. If all went well, we could cripple the main computer and Shonuku would be very vulnerable to attack. All that remained was to wait. Lady Venus said that she would launch her attack later this evening.

Meanwhile, I looked around more and I found something of great interest. In one of the desk drawers, I found some blueprints for not only the exo-suit I saw when I first arrived, but also for what appeared to be a laser gun and a working prototype as well. I took these with me and went out into the main mansion. I ran into the butler and asked him where my bike was.

“It’s in the garage sir. Follow me,” he answered.

He led into the garage and found my bike there. I thanked him and placed the items into the cargo area. Going back to my “apartment”, I sat down on a nearby chair and began thinking on my portion of the attack. Minutes later, the door opened and when Lina entered, I gasped. She turned to face me, and she dropped her sack of groceries she was carrying. She then ran over to me and hugged me very tightly. Instantly after that, she began smothering me with kisses. All the time this was happening, she was also crying.

“I never thought I’d ever see you again,” she wept, “My father told me you were dead.”

“Your father?” I asked.

“Yes. He was told by his friend, Mr. Sharps. They said that they couldn’t find your body.”

Lina told me about my disappearance, and how she laid awake many a night for months. She then took me by the hand and led me out.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“I want to tell my father that we want to get married right away,” she answered, “I don’t want to marry Mr. Sharps, not now, not ever!”

Her voice was sounded shrill when she mentioned Mr. Sharps’ name, so I deduced that Mr. Sharps was not her top choice. We went over to her father’s study and he answered. He seemed very joyous that Lina wanted to marry me. So he hastily got on the phone and made plans for our wedding tonight. I was sweating the whole time, not about getting married, but about the planned attack. This was a snag I didn’t like.

Chapter 8
Contingency Plan (Race Against Time)

It was around 7 p.m. when everybody gathered for the festive occasion. At that exact time, the music began playing and all present began taking their seats. As the music changed to the “Wedding March”, Lina began walking down the aisle with her father. She looked absolutely stunning in her wedding gown. The tux they fitted me in was nice as well. As she reached the end, the minister began his words. He didn’t get too far in when the giant flatscreen in the room turned on and on it appeared to be a man in his mid to late fifties. He appeared to be very portly and had the face just like a pig. He began speaking right away.

“Attention! All present at the Shonuku Mansion! This is Robert Sharps. I understand that Brand is there waiting to marry Lina. I can tell you that he’s not him. He’s a fake! I have the real Brand here and I can prove it!”

The camera turned to my duplicate here and he looked like he’d been tortured for several weeks at least. The camera then focused on his right arm and there it showed a tattoo looking like a Navy anchor. The camera then focused on Mr. Sharps again.

“Unless I’m married to Lina and given all controlling aspects of the company within two hours. Not only will Brand die, but the imposter’s associates as well.”

The camera panned over to another corner of the room, and there were Rene and Lady Venus bound to metallic racks like the one I was tied up in. They were barefoot and their jackets were removed. There were several boxes located around and several metallic tentacles emerged out of some and they began tickling their intended victims, just under their arms and on the soles of their feet.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STOP! PLHEEHEEHEEHEEZE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

“NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO! NOT THERE! THAT TICKLES! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

“Remember, two hours!” Sharps said and the screen flicked off.

People all around began murmuring to one another. Lina’s father did his best to calm everyone, but everybody were too engrossed to listen. Lina turned to me.

“Is it true? You’re not my Brand?” she asked.

I answered, “Yes.”

Everyone fell silent. Lina’s father looked shocked and puzzled. “How can that be? You look just like him!”

I took off my jacket and rolled up my right sleeve. No tattoo. I then rolled my sleeve down.

“I’m not the Brand you two know. I’m from another world,” I explained.

“All right. But how are we going to rescue those two and my Brand?” Lina asked.

“I’ve got a plan, but I’m going to need your help sir,” I said.

“Anything you need and it’s yours,” Lina’s father said.

“Okay. Here’s what I need you to do…”

I then explained to him what I need done and he was in total agreement. After which, I got out of my tux and into my leathers that Lady Venus gave me. I got my bike started and as soon as I was ready to leave, Lina came out in a leather jacket and blue jeans of her own.

“Where are you going?” I asked as I was putting on my gun belt.

“I’m going with you,” Lina answered, “You won’t be able to find your way around without my help.”

“Okay. Just make sure you’re out of the way when the fighting starts.”
“Don’t worry. I can take care of myself.”

She got on behind me and held on tight as I left the garage in a hurry. We made our way to the building where we knew where the transmission came from. We got in the building, and began our trek inside. There were resistance every now and then, but overall, we managed to make our way towards the “heart”. All we had to do was follow the laughter. There, I saw Lady Venus and Rene being tickled by those metallic tentacles. Sure enough, Mr. Sharps was there too and he had on a look on his face that showed like he was in complete control.

“Welcome. I’ve been expecting you,” he said.

“I’m sure,” I said, “Let them go.”

“Oh no, for I plan to keep them as leverage,” he answered, “With them, I can control the entire city and beyond.” He then laughed very evilly.

“I think not. Now Lina!” I ordered.

Lina then ran over to the racks where Rene and Lady Venus were bound. She pressed some buttons and they were immediately released. They ran as fast as they could to the door. They were still pretty tired from their ordeal, but they managed to make it to the door.

“Come on Brand!” Lina shouted, “Let’s go!”

“Not yet!” I shouted back, “There’s something I need to take care of first!”

With that, I pulled out a grenade and yanking out the pin. Then, I tossed it towards my foe. Mr. Sharps just laughed and disappeared.

“There will be another time!” he shouted, “And I will be victorious!”

“Wrong!” I shouted and left through the door.

As I ran through the corridors, explosions began from the room I just came out. Apparently, that room was very close or right next to some large gas tanks, and the grenade set it off. The explosions got worse with each passing second and they were catching up at a frightening pace. I knew I wasn’t going to make it. Just then, Lina came charging down the corridor in my motorbike. I jumped on and we managed to exit just as one tremendous explosion plumed out the exit we came out of and the entire building section collapsed. Waiting for us were Lady Venus, Rene, and the entire entourage of their people and Shonuku’s security force. Lina stopped the bike beside her father.

“Thank God you’re safe Lina,” he said as he wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

“I’m alright father,” Lina replied.

He then turned to me and said, “Thank you.”

“No,” answered, “Thank them,” I then pointed to Lady Venus and her gang, “If it weren’t for them, none of this would be possible.”

“What now? What are we going to do? How will we live?” asked Lina’s father.

Lady Venus stepped up, “I’ll tell you all what we’re going to do. We’re gonna go out drinking and get plastered. It’ll be great!”

“No!” said my other self, “We need to rebuild!”

“Not until we get married Brand,” Lina interjected.

Everybody was in a heated debate whilst I got into the cargo compartment of my bike and pulled out all my gear. I checked my gizmo and found that 10 minutes remained and counting down. Whatever I was going to do here, I had to act fast.

“Stop!” I shouted and everyone faced in my direction, “Here’s what you guys are going to do.”

I turned towards Lina, her father, and my other self, “You guys are going to get married, then rebuild, and then…”

“Yeah?” asked Lina.

“… you guys are going to get a little dirty,” I then faced towards Lady Venus and Rene, “You guys, a whole lot clean. And somewhere in the middle, I don’t know, but you’ll figure it out.”

“Damn straight!” said Rene.

“Almost forgot,” I reached into my pocket and pulled out the thumb drive and tossed it to Rene, “Here, it has all the evidence to clear Brand of murdering your sister.”

I then looked at my device once more and found that I had less than a minute, but the arrow is now blue. When the timer reached zero, I pressed the button and that familiar portal came out.

“Get America back!” I shouted and jumped into the portal…

… on my way to my next destination.

To be continued…