No Man Is an Island

Erika Widowmaker watched Wolfram fret with wide jade eyes as she sipped her Irathiant brandy, finally saying calmly, "Sandy is still in the infirmary, with her ribs still healing, and I imagine our diminutive Liberata doctor is probably busy sitting on her to keep her from coming, so that is why he is delayed. That may be what is keeping Volodja as well. Chloe MacGyver is in the War Room in command, but I imagine she will be here as soon as she is relieved from duty, however she just relieved me of duty so don't expect her anytime soon. Lena and Marcel are still MIA, as we haven't heard hide nor hair of them, but it is still early in their venture, so nothing to be alarmed about yet. Lady and Atticus I expect any minute now, probably Lady is putting the twins down to sleep after their meal. I understand Caprice has been very active lately, getting into all sorts of trouble, although neither Lady nor her nanny seem to know why."

Erika frowned making the scar that crossed her left red clay colored cheek become more vivid, sipping her brandy again and saying in a low tone, "As to Belle... well she seems awfully withdrawn since they got back from the east coast. Trevor Tyler and VBI rolled out the red carpet for her, but she seemed more bewildered than anything by it all as I understand it, and they didn't stay long after every location there that she went to turned out to be something totally unlike what she was expecting. She now seems to prefer staring at the four walls of her room, so I wouldn't expect to see her here to - "

As if on cue, Belle Starr walked stiffly into the room, no trace of her once usual sashay, a look of sadness in her big blue diamond eyes as she looked for a face she might recognize, then came over when Erika beckoned her to sit next to Erika. Belle did so, slouching in her chair as she asked for a beer. Erika remembered when only champagne would do for Belle, but still smiled slightly after ordering one for her as well as herself.

Erika raised her bottle, than made a toast, "To the Protectors, long may they persevere, wherever they may be and in whatever they may be doing! Speaking of which, my plane is ready to take me to Capital City in the Votan Collective and after the party, I fear I must depart, for my son Chancellor Cael needs me much more than The Protectors do!"

Just than Lady Christianna and the Commander of The Protectors, Atticus Batman entered the room arm-in-arm and all became quiet as they watched the elegant if mismatched couple of the small chalk white pretty Castithan girl with the enigmatic smile and large brooding Irathiant armored giant approach their table.

  The Constantines were sitting near Wolfram and both sipping some of Atika's tea while listening to Erika and Wolfram. However as the older people at the table were talking about heavy stuff such as injuries and death, the two youngsters chose to just quietly sip their tea and enjoy everyone's company. Kaj on the other hand was sitting at a table "talking" with Security chief Lebeau while Remy shuffled some playing cards. In all actuality while Remy was teaching Kaj to play Bourre' (pronounced boo-ray, A card game invented by Cajuns), the two men were having a heated discussion about Hulkers versus sharkgators; which s of course is a topic that Remy brought up to distract the big man while they played.

  Part of  the discussion went like this: Kaj vexed at Remmy's opinion that Sharkgators could easily beat a Hulker said with a little annoyance, "Swamp rat you have to quit drinking that stuff you are getting from Doctor Von Eschen. It has fried what few brain cells you have if you think a shark gator is any match for an angry Hulker on land."

  Remmy Lebeau responded light-heartedly with, "Ma Cocain (Cajun for large)friend, ya bein bracque (crazy) iffin ya be dinkin dat yer over-grown cuz can be takin a hungry Sharkgator!!"

  As Kaj thought about it and stared at his cards, Remmy yelled very cheerfully and enthustiastically, "Laissez les bon temps roulet (pronounced “lay-zay lay bon ton rule-ay”)! Let the good times roll!" then he slammed his cards down and declared himself the winner of whatever stakes they were playing for.

  Just then Lady Christianna and the Commander of The Protectors, Atticus Batman entered the room arm-in-arm and all became quiet as they watched the elegant if mismatched couple of the small chalk white pretty Castithan girl with the enigmatic smile and large brooding Irathiant armored giant approach Wolfram's and Erika's table.

  Seeing them Remmy said, "Since dey bein dogeter, dat girl, she dun found her Joie de vivre (pronounced "zhwa-d-veev"! It means exuberant enjoyment of life)! An it be good ta be seein it.....from bote o' dem!"

Vo stopped at the door in a moment of hesitation as he replayed his latest journey with Belle in his mind. In fact, it was a disaster. He thought that their visit to Boston would trigger some pleasant memories for Belle about the time they spent there together, and which, in its turn, would help her remember more and more of the past events from her life before she was captured and brainwashed. Contrary to his expectations, Belle had her own virtual memories about that place which came into conflict with what she saw on their arrival. It was the time when Belle finally realized she would never see all those people she remembered from the simulation again. Vo tried to sweeten that pill as he could but it was still a traumatic experience. Vo felt that instead of getting the grip on the real world, Belle started rejecting it more than she did at the day they found her. It was understandable, given that from what she told, the simulation forced her to experience another episode of losing her world and everyone she loved, and this time it happened to her again. It seemed like after all the experience, Belle become afraid of getting close with anyone or anything from this world s if she was afraid that it could disappear again and change into something completely different with her losing everything she had gained again. Of course, it wasn't the way Vo wanted her to go as he tried to get her back into this world and he knew he would keep trying. He could accept that Belle would never come back to be the person she was before as he understood all this experience she had to undergo would never leave without a trace. He also could accept that he and Belle would never be an item anymore. But ultimate goal was to make sure that no matter what had happened to her, Belle would find her place in this world despite how alien it looked for her now. "If I cannot give you a brand new world, at least I can help you swim through this one," was his motto during those days they spent visiting various places which Belle thought might be familiar to her. The only thing he was afraid was that his best might be not enough. That, of course, was not going to make him stop trying.

Vo pushed the door and entered the room. He smiled upon seeing Belle as it was a good sign for him that she didn't stay in her room for too long. He also thought that Belle had enough problems already to add to them by seeing all his concerns on his face. He greeted the people who were already at the room and sat next to Belle but not too close so that it won't make her feel uncomfortable… at least not more uncomfortable than she already did.

"Hey Belle," he said casually while tasting the fondue Ralph made for them, "How about we take a tour around the Bay Area? I can show you a couple of nice places to meditate at or some nice people to chat with or simply drive around and see how people live out there. We can take ATVs, or the white challenger or the Black Durango or even Taffer's Titan truck for that. He still sleeps after the long flight but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't mind if we borrow his vehicle. I asked him some time ago and he agreed."

Erika Widowmaker smiled slightly when she saw her brother's multi-color goatee, but when Atticus Batman ate the sticky fondue and it too was decorating his beard, she had to laugh heartily, which was not something she did often. As his wife, Lady Christianna, gently removed the sticky cheese bits from his facial hair with a cloth napkin as she obviously restrained a giggle, Erika looked around the table at the faces of the assembled Protectors, and wondered yet again if her leaving was a good thing. Many of them were still recovering from physical injuries from their last venture, such as Sandy Bell, but other were recovering from the even more troubling mental injuries, like her good friend Belle Starr. Erika wondered if it was a good time to leave, but knew there was never a "good" time to do anything separate from her Protectiors' duties, because one adventure always led to another, and as the humans put it, it was only a matter of time before the proverbial shit would hit the fan yet again. Furthermore, each of the Protectors was a strong individual in their own right, and together they were unstoppable, so both Sandy and Belle would heal in time, with the help of their friends in The Protectors.

Her son, Cael, on the other hand was not as strong and was basically alone, even though he was the duly elected Chancellor of the Votan Collective and a charismatic politician and peaceful leader. He kept a terrible secret, that of another personality, the Votan assassin Kabule, brainwashed into him by the evil Mistress of Judgement, leader of the Inquisition and Lady's mother. Cael struggled to keep control of both his volatile other self as well as the war mongering factions in his government who would like to see the Collective at war with E-Rep. He needed his mother, a savvy former civil servant herself, to essentially watch his back while he went forward with his policy plans to benefit the peoples of not only the Collective, but the world.

Erika was surprised that her daughter Kara had decided to go with her, bringing her two young children to see their uncle as well. Although Kara was not aware of her brother's mental struggle, for Erika had not informed her for her daughter too had suffered mental manipulation at the hands of the Mistress of Judgement and was still recovering herself from that Castithan witch's machinations, Kara must have had some sixth sense feeling that her younger brother needed her. Kara, after a tearful farewell to the big bioman Protector that she loved, Kaj, assuring him she would be back soon, was already on the plane getting her children settled there, so that the Votan Collective crew was only waiting for Erika to embark before taking off to South America.

Erika stood up, saying sadly, "I'm afraid it's time for me to leave. My plane awaits, but if any of you need me for any reason, you know where I am," As she hugged her brother and sister-in-law and shook the hands of the rest of the assembled Protectors, she whispered to Belle a personal note, "You might not remember, but I do, that you saved my life in the past and we became fast friends afterwards; neither being something I have occur often in my life. If you ever have need of me, or even just need a listening board, please don't hesitate to call me. You have my private number on your hailer."

With that said and a few more goodbyes, Erika hurried out of the mess hall and to the plane. As the plane took off, and she looked through the aircraft's window at the shrinking view of Fortress Kshaa, she could not shake a sense of foreboding that the shit was indeed about to hit the fan yet again for the Protectors, although she didn't have a clue as to why she felt that way.

Marcel Lestrange made his way through the rain forest, pressing stubborn plants under his heavy boots or cutting them with a the blade of his knife if they dared to resist. When he wanted to reach his beloved girl, then everything on his path, like local flora and fauna had to surrender and let him pass or...Have you heard about cutting down rain forests for industrial purposes? Well, Marcel was capable to do the work of the whole logging camp as a solo mission when he needed to rescue Lena Marr even if it meant clearing acres of rain forest by himself.

The turbulence their jet was caught, was really unnatural. Even Marcel's superior piloting skills did not help to fight it because all electronics on board went off.  As a result their jet crashed and Marcel was thrown off from the cockpit after crash landing. He landed safely into the mud pit, disturbing only couple of local crocodiles. Poor reptiles did not had a chance against the great white shark as Marcel was. Fortunately they realized it and backed off right away, saving their lives. Rest of Marcel's path (after climbing out from the mud pit) was filled with chopping and slashing, until...

....Until Marcel Lestrange wiped off the streak of blood from his relatively high forehead because he saw...

We are more than willing to satisfy your curiosity and tell what  Marcel Lestrange saw. Marcel Lestrange saw an elderly gentleman with hydrogen blond hair peacefully jogging on the jungle track. Man wore purple track suit and ear plugs. He was obviously listening music while he jogged, but soon his ears were open to different kind of sounds when Marcel put his machete to his throat and hissed: "First you will introduce yourself. And when that formality is over you will help me to rescue my girlfriend!"

"Well, my friend," said the man. "I do not know you. But since you are trying to be ...ee...convincing, then let me introduce myself. I am Doctor Euthanasius Todt. I am following my morning route to keep me in shape. And you are trespassing at moment. If you don't have a valid reason to be here, you will be vaporized for good. Why, you want to know? Mainly because I want to preserve my privacy. I already destroyed your plane with my turbulence shield (Dr. Euthanasius checked his hand attached computer to get a conformation about the plane crash). And I did it for good, so can you give me a reason not to destroy survivors from the crash landing as well. Let us make a deal - you remove your machete from my throat and I consider cancelling the order of destroying every unfamiliar and thus unwanted life form from my island as a return. After all -  I am a kind man."

  As Erika had given Kaj a handshake and walked to the plane, Kaj's mind once again drifted from his game with Remy and back to Kara who he loved and knew he would miss her and her children terribly. However as Kara's brother needed her, he knew better than to stand in her way. Besides he knew quite well how stubborn Erika's whole family could be, including her once-thought dead younger brother, Atticus Batman. So after a tearful goodbye with her and her two wonderful children they boarded the plane to get ready for take off and Kaj wandered slowly and glumly towards the Mess Hall to join the others.

  It was actually in the corridors that Remy had ran into the sullen giant, also on his way to the Mess Hall. As the Chief of Security, Remy prided himself in knowing what was happening in the base and what he knew at this moment was that Kaj's girlfriend Kara and her children were leaving with Erika to head to the VC city in Brazil; and obviously the very empathic gentle giant wasn't taking it well, for he seemed very morose at the moment. So Remy accompanied him to the Mess and started a conversation with Kaj to help calm him; and remembering the cards he always kept in his pocket, Remy quickly decided how he would help Kaj take his mind of his sadness for a few minutes and perhaps win some of Kaj's well-earned scrip while he was at it. So that is how Kaj found himself being suckered into playing several games of Bourre' with Remy and enduring Remy's asinine conversation about how all things even remotely Cajun could beat whatever he chose to bring up at the moment because Kaj could tell it was Remy's way of trying to help.

  During that current sulky moment, Kaj got Chloe's order to go get an appropriate aircraft ready. Just then Atticus came over and said, "Kaj, I think given the circumstances that you should prepare both the Vigilant and the Riot. That way no matter which one is taken, the other is ready at a moment's notice if we request Lebeau and his commandos be sent to aid us. So Remy that means you better prepare your commandos as well, just in case." Then Atticus, headed out of the room and towards the War Room.

  As Kaj watched Atticus leave, he thanked Remy for the games. Then Kaj headed to the hangar to make sure that the Vigilant and Riot were ready and the Garilu was docked with the Riot and also at the ready, so the team could take whichever craft they felt was best for the newest life-saving venture that they now faced. He also made sure that the Gargoyle copter was also ready in case it may be needed for something as well. As Kaj left to make his preparations, Remy put away his cards. Then Remy left to prepare a commando team, incase the Protectors request their aid.

*SPOILER ALERT! Belle's alternate reality was the Fallout 4 world, so if you plan on playing that game, the post MAY ruin some surprises for you!



Wearing a only a plaid shirt and khaki pants so much more casual that Vo Kshaa was used to seeing Belle Starr wearing when she went out in public, Belle watched the scenery of the Bay Area fly by as Vo drove them in a comfortable but unfamiliar white Challenger from Fortress Kshaa to The Crater, not recognizing anything but the Golden Gate Bridge, which she only knew from pictures for it was a famous San Francisco landmark in both her realities, although she had been told she had driven over it herself thousands of times before. In the Commonwealth, a reality she was told by the Protectors she was brainwashed into believing was real, land vehicles were just large paperweights, for the EMP pulses from the nuclear Great War had destroyed all such transportation, although the Brotherhood of Steel had aircraft that rivaled that of the Protectors. However in her memory of before the Great War, she had always preferred others to drive or mass transit for she was a lousy driver, even hitting a tree with the family car just backing out of the driveway. Belle had been told that in this reality she had been some kind of super-powered policeman, patrolling by car the highways and byways of the Bay Area, protecting "innocents" from the dangers of this world.

Belle couldn't believe she could be that naive in ANY reality. In her experience, no one was totally "innocent", with the possible exception of Piper and children, although even the former told lies if it got her the truth for her newspaper and the latter had been used as bait in elaborate traps aimed at tricking or eliminating Belle, for whatever reasons. Her whole search for her infant son when she woke up from her forced cryogenic sleep had proven to be such a trap. Belle figured that it must be the age difference of her existences in the two realities, for she awoke in this one a twenty two year old girl but in her memories of the Commonwealth, she had been thirty-two, and a decade of experiences, even fake ones, could really change how one viewed the world.

Belle woke up from her mental reverie as they drove up and parked next to The Crater, evidently the main watering hole in the Bay Area, and just outside the fence surrounding the trailer park where Belle evidently kept a trailer, although she didn't remember the little blue trailer even when Vo allowed her to open the door, presumably hoping it would awaken her memories of it. As she walked in the cramped trailer, full of boxes of files and obvious keepsakes from adventures, Belle smiled as she realized that it didn't matter what reality she found herself in, she was a bad house keeper. The smile widened on her beautiful freckled face as she beheld with her blue diamond eyes an unexpected surprise sitting on her bed, and she quickly grabbed and held to her bosom the small worn teddy bear she found there.

Belle sat on the bed, still staring at the small stuffed toy with sparkling blue diamond eyes, informing Vo as to her sudden pleasure in her rich Bostonian accent, "You know, in The Commonwealth, I had to forage a lot to survive, especially in the first few months, in supermarkets, gas stations, and even abandoned homes, and almost always I would find one of these little critters there! Although I took apart most of the stuff I found there to make things more useful in a post-apocalyptic world, these little guys I always tried to preserve intact! When I started founding settlements, I would always leave one of them on the bed of the first habitation I built, just after setting off the beacon that would lead potential settlers there. I though I was doing it as a sign of hope, not just for them, but for me - that I would find my infant son Sean safe and sound! I guess that wasn't the reason after all, but what this little fellow signifies I don't have a clue, and why here he only has one-eye here and the ones I found had both their eyes, I haven't a clue!"

Vo silently watched as he leaned with his back against the door as Belle wandered aimlessly around the small trailer, occasionally picking up an item and immediately putting it back down, looking for anything that might trigger a memory but finding nothing, until admitted defeat with a sigh, saying, "I'm done here! Let's get a beer!"

As they entered the bar next door, the human bartender, endlessly polished the bar's surface with a discolored rag, smiled warmly at Belle and asked, "The usual?"

Although he obviously recognized her, Belle didn't know him or what "the usual" was, so she just ordered, "A beer please - a cold one if you have it!"

The bartender raised on eyebrow in surprise, but didn't ask why she didn't order her usual bottle of Champagne with two clean wine glasses, but instead engaged in the time honored practice of bar keeps everywhere, that of gossiping, as he said, "You friend Chase Lonehart was just here. Guess he's starting a new business, something called historical savage, and was recruiting personnel for it. From what I understand, he's gathering a team over at Topnotch."

Belle absentmindedly handed over a script card that Vo had arranged for her, having to admit that it was a much more sensible currency then the Commonwealth's bottle caps, which she thought terribly cumbersome and stupid, but now thinking that historical salvage didn't sound that much different than the foraging she had done in abandoned stores and homes in the Commonwealth. She was familiar that such places were not usually as abandoned as one might hope, for they were often the haunts of ghouls, rad roaches, and even raiders. She had become quite adept at dealing with such unexpected dangers; coming out of them safe and sound and with the loot!

After giving the bartender a hefty tip for the information and then downing her beer quickly in a single swig, Belle turned to Vo with a warm smile, asking sweetly, "Listen, I know you have your duties and I don't want to add to them by your worrying about me if I go on this mission, so why don't I just stay in the little blue trailer - maybe something I didn't see in a quick visit will trigger a memory or two! However, I sure would appreciate it if you would drop me off at this Topnotch place on your way back to Fortress Kshaa, and maybe I can get a job with this Lonehart guy! I'm intrigued with the idea of historical salvage and you know, idle hands are the devil's workshop!"