Chibi ===== Page i Meimi looked around at the damp stone walls, set every now and then with flickering torches. She listened to her footsteps echoing up and down the corridor, and bit her lip. Finally she forced herself to look forward, at the giant in a suit of armor, leading her along...or was it simply a giant suit of armor? "Um--" The giant halted instantly, and she stumbled to a stop. Slowly, ponderously, it turned around. Meimi swallowed as she saw two yellow points of light shining through its visor. "Yes?" Meimi almost fell over. The person/thing/entity's voice was ordinary. Mundane. It wasn't even that deep. "Um," she said again. "I was just, well, is it much farther?" "About 30 of your paces." Meimi swallowed again. "Oh. Um...okay. Thank you." "Of course." The giant turned and began walking again, and Meimi fell into step behind it. She fidded nervously with the edge of her cloak. After a moment, she realized she was counting her own paces. 26, 28...at 32 she caught sight of a heavy wooden door set in the wall. The giant stepped up to the door and knocked twice. "Enter!" Meimi blinked. *That* voice had sounded...happy. She couldn't conceive of anyone actually being *happy* in the depths of this sunless labyrinth. Unless, of course, they were insane. The giant opened the door and strode in. After a moment, Meimi took a deep breath and followed. As the contents of the room met her eyes, she stopped stock still, eyes wide. It was a wizard's laboratory. It had to be; nobody else would have so much bizarre junk in their room. Unless, of course, they were insane. There were shelves and tables piled high with books and papers, lots and LOTS of books and papers, not to mention ink jars and quills. There were also various bits of glassware, a few genuine-looking crystal balls, a pile of gemstones that made her heart skip a beat, some chairs, figurines, bowls, pots, and even a large cauldron. There was also a lot of stuff that looked very important but that Meimi couldn't identify, like the rows of small black oblong objects or the crate marked 'Peanut Brittle'. Meimi didn't know what that was, but it sounded terribly arcane. The centerpiece of the room, however, was a huge book stand. It held an enormous book that looked to have thousands of pages. Both stand and book each looked heavier than Meimi herself. Perched on a seat behind the stand was a dimunitive old man with a long white beard, wearing a stained gray robe. Meimi had the strange impression that if book was to suddenly snap shut, the man would be lost forever. The giant cleared his (its?) throat and the man looked up from the tome. As he saw Meimi, his face lit up in an ecstatic grin. He gave a little wave. "Hi! I'm Xipiquieck the Knowledgeable! Welcome to my sanctum! And this," he gestured grandly at the huge book, "is my Tome of the Manifold Inconceivable!" Meimi nodded politely. Yep, definitely insane. ===== Page ii Third Impact Presents _____ |_ _|ome of the | | __ __ | | | \/ |anifold |_| | |\/| | ___ | | | | |_ _|nconceivable |_| |_| | | | | |___| by John Evans jevans@alum.mit.edu Chapter 1: The Tower ===== Page iii Table of Contents (Under construction) ===== Page 1 "Hello, sir," Meimi said. "Oh, no need for such formality, my dear," Xipiquieck said expansively. He waved at a chair next to his. "Come and sit down." As she did so, the wizard smiled in a way that was probably meant to be an attempt at something possibly along the lines of perhaps being grandfatherly. It made him look even more insane. "I'm here about the offer," Meimi said. Xipiquieck nodded. "Of course, of course. You have a story? A good one?" "Yes. Well, it's--it's very strange." Meimi's cheeks grew red. "Ah! My favorite!" Xipiquieck gestured to the giant. "Psych! Ink and quill, quickly!" The thing pointed to a large collection of ink bottles and feathers on a table right next to the wizard. Xipiquieck looked over at it, then laughed nervously. "Ah, of course. My bad." He took a moment to select a quill and dip it in some dark blue ink, then hunched himself over the open book and turned to his visitor. Meimi blinked. "Well?" Xipiquieck prompted. "...What? Oh! But what about--you know. Money?" Meimi fidgeted. "Oh, come on, money isn't *that* important, is it?" At the girl's look, the wizard paled. "Oh, all right, all right. But come on, I don't know how much to pay you until I hear the story, do I? But..." He considered. "I guess since you came down here and made the effort and such, I can spare 39 gold pieces or so, even if your story sucks. Maybe as much as 169 or so if it's good." He looked back at her. "So?" After a moment, Meimi closed her mouth. "Oh! Of course, um, okay." She settled herself. "Okay, I was walking--" "HOLD IT!" Xipiquieck screeched. Meimi jumped. "W-w-w-w--" "Don't you KNOW how to start a story?" he snapped. "Didn't your parents ever tell you any stories as a child? Come ON!" "...oh." Meimi edged away from him on her chair. "Um, all right. I'm sorry." "No, it's fine, it's fine." Xipiquieck fluorished his quill. "Now...let's hear the story." ===== Page 3 Once upon a time... There was a girl who lived with her parents in a forest near a town. Her parents were woodcutters, hunters and farmers; they grew and gathered the bounty of the forest, and traded what they didn't need for what they did. This meant trips to the town market every week or two. On this particular day the girl was walking through the forest with a basket of delicacies made from various fruits and vegetables; maple syrup, blackberry preserves, candied cactus and the like. She wasn't as big or strong as her parents yet, and so couldn't carry the big bushels or push the cart...But she was proud that her parents had trusted her with the basket of goodies. So the girl walked along, and then as she was nearing town she came upon a scruffy-looking dog sunning itself on a boulder. The dog looked at her and smiled. "Hello, little girl," it said in a growly sort of voice. "And where are you going on this fine day?" "I'm going to the town market," she replied. "How is it that you can talk?" "Years of practice. Going to town with your basket of goodies, eh? I have to warn you, it's a dangerous place today." "Dangerous? Why?" The girl looked at the dog in alarm. The dog glanced around shiftily. "I can't say," it whispered. "Even the trees have ears." With that, it slunk away. ===== Page 2 "Something about this story sounds familiar," Xipiquieck mused. Meimi blushed. "I know, but, it gets different," she mumbled. The wizard beamed. "Oh, don't worry, my dear. It's fine. In fact, I simply adore your narrative style." He tapped the quill against his chin. "You know, now that I think about it, the dog seems more like a spiritual guide sorta thing than a wolf." "...What's a spiritual guide?" "Hm? Oh, nothing important, my dear." Xipiquieck set himself over the page again. "Go on, go on." He smiled down at the page. "That candied cactus definitely sounds interesting. I'll have to try one sometime." Meimi stared at him. "What are you talking about?" "Nothing, nothing. Please continue." ===== Page 3a Finally the girl got to town. Immediately she noticed several things that were different compared to the last time she was here. First, there were lots of men in dark blue armor milling around the town square. Second, everyone who wasn't a man in dark blue armor was running around screaming. Third, there was a huge metal tower sticking up from behind a couple of houses. The girl stopped and stared at the spectacle before her. After a moment an armored man came up to her. He gave some sort of salute. "Hello, miss. Could I speak with you?" The girl turned to the man, and instantly felt her heart flutter away. The man was young, rugged, handsome and boyish all in one, with dark eyes that pierced into her soul and a mouth full of preternaturally white teeth. He smiled. "May I ask your name, miss?" "Mai. Er, I mean, Meimi," Meimi replied. She felt her cheeks grow warm. He raised an eyebrow. "I see. Well, I'm Lieutenant Dirk Fargo, under the command of General Protection Fault. And we--" He turned and looked at the tower. "Well, we came here with the Tower, and we're not quite sure what's going on." Dirk turned back, and smiled radiantly. "I don't suppose you could help explain things?" He glanced around. "Everyone else can't seem to stop running around and screaming." "Well, what do you want to know?" Meimi asked, watching the light glint off his teeth. Dirk put on a pensive expression. "For starters, the name of the town." "The town," Meimi said dreamily. "Huh?" She blinked. "Um, I mean, I don't really know." Why did it seem so hot all of a sudden? "I live in the forest, you see, and, um. I don't know much about the town, really. I'm sorry. I just came in to sell..." She quickly brought her basket up to his face. "Here! Try a candied cactus, I made them myself!" Meimi smiled, remembering how hard her mother worked over their woodburning stove to get the candies just right. "Why, thank you, miss." Dirk reached in, then jerked his hand back. "Ow!" A small drop of blood appeared on the tip of his finger. "Oh! I'm sorry..." Meimi slung her basket over one shoulder and quickly reached out. Then she realized she was touching his hand. She looked up, and their eyes met... ===== Page 2b Xipiquieck dabbed at his eyes. "Ah, young love..." "Wait!" Meimi protested. "It wasn't like that at all! I mean, he was cute, but I didn't...fall all over him!" "No, I guess that's a different story," the wizard said. As Meimi blinked, he continued. "Anyway, it doesn't really matter what *really* happened, does it? I'm really enjoying this story so far." He fairly radiated happiness. "That's not--But it *didn't* happen like that!" Meimi bit her lip as she heard herself starting to whine. "I'm serious," she said quietly. "And my name's not Mai either. Why would I say it was?" "Envy?" Xipiquieck suggested. "Anyway, you gotta understand, love is like magic in these stories. Sometimes it just has to happen to further the plot, you know?" "But the story happened whether I was in 'love' or not!" "Perhaps, perhaps. In any case, please continue." He set his quill over the page again. "I don't even know what a cactus is," Meimi muttered. ===== Page 3b *SPLURTCH* Meimi blinked. Dirk looked past her, and his face paled. "My god, it's them! Quickly!" He grabbed her wrist and began pulling her toward the Tower. "Wait, wh--ack!" Meimi staggered along, her fruits nearly spilling out, but she managed to keep everything in its proper place and even yell "What? Who?" "It's the Gametures!" Meimi risked a glance back and saw a bizarre horde of monsters swarming out of the forest toward the Tower. She saw something that looked like a sculpture of a horse's head, a bunch of red and black disks that leapfrogged each other, something that looked like a torso with no head or legs, but four arms and a symbol inscribed on it, and a horde of rotting corpses in identical red and white uniforms. And that was just from one glance. Not only were there dozens, perhaps hundreds of monsters, but a group of children also ran along behind the monsters, exhorting them onward. "Go, Snideline!" "Go, Thingamabob!" "Go, Snorkeling!" "Go, Vulvix!" "What are they?" Meimi called. "Gametures," Dirk yelled again. "Magical creatures that the kids keep in portable games that they carry around." Indeed, the children seemed to be waving around a number of small, oblong objects. "Something must have really upset them to make them follow us all this way, but we don't know what!" He looked grimly at the agonizingly slowly approaching Tower. "If only we could delay them somehow..." "Wait! I've got it!" Meimi skidded to a stop and threw down her basket to rummage through it. "Meimi, come on!" Dirk ran back and tugged at her shoulder, but she shook her head. "I know I can do this. I know it!" She pulled several jars of fruit preserves out of the basket. Opening the lids, she put a piece of candied cactus in each one, then reclosed them. Ignoring Dirk's entreaties, Meimi closed her eyes and began to concentrate. After several moments she felt the power begin to awaken in the heart of the confections, and her eyes flew open. The jars of preserves rose into the air and began to spin. As Dirk watched, awestruck, she screamed one final word and the attack jellies rocketed away toward the advancing enemy. She grabbed Dirk and threw him to the ground. *SPLURTCH* ===== Page 2c "Wait! Wait! WAIT!" Xipiquieck blinked. "Hm? What is it?" "That never happened!" Meimi snapped, eyes blazing. "Jellies aren't explosive! I can't make them fly either! I don't even know any magic!" The wizard tapped the quill against his chin. "Hm. But you *did* make it to the Tower, correct?" "Well, yes..." "How?" Meimi's mouth opened. Then it closed. Her eyes widened, and her mouth twisted. "I...I don't know." "Hm. Then it might as well be this way, correct?" Xipiquieck reached out and patted her hand. "You don't need to worry, my dear. You don't have to worry about anything." He dipped his quill in the ink again. "Please continue," he said merrily. ===== Page 3c Meimi slumped against the side of the metal box, and sighed with relief. She watched listlessly as the criss-crossing metal bars moved by, outside. Dirk kneeled down next to her, and smiled. "That was wonderful, Meimi." She looked up at him and returned the smile. "Thank you. I'm glad I was able to help." Meimi suddenly realized how close they were. She looked into his deep brown eyes, and he looked back into hers. For a moment, time seemed to stand still. Then there was a soft tone, and the doors slid open. "Dirk! Hey, Dirk's back!" "All right! You made it, Dirk!" "Dirk! Darling!" That jolted Meimi out of her reverie rather quickly. She straightened up and stared as two women ran into the metal room and grabbed onto Dirk. They both seemed older than she was; one was pale-skinned with brown hair, the other brown-skinned with pale hair. They glared at each other, then at her. Dirk cleared his throat. "Uh, hi again, ladies." "Another, Dirk?" the pale one said archly. "Aren't I enough for you, Dirk?" the other purred. At that moment a scruffy-looking dog trotted into the room. "Why, if it isn't Meimi," the dog growled. "Fancy meeting you here." Meimi stared down at the dog. "You again!" "That's right. Kotae the Talking Dog at your service." Kotae indicated Dirk and his entourage with a shake of his head. "Should I introduce you?" "I don't think so," Meimi muttered. "I think I should be going." ===== Page 2.5d "You couldn't leave the Tower, though, could you?" Xipiquieck asked. "Well, no, but I didn't mean that," Meimi replied. "I just had to get out of that room. By that time I was really needing a bathroom, for one thing." ===== Page 2d Meimi stared. "What the hell was THAT?" Xipiquieck blinked. "What?" "That! I never said *that*! Why would I tell you that *anyway*?" She crossed her arms and huddled in her chair. "It's too much information!" "There's no such thing as too much information!" Xipiquieck patted his book lovingly. "Come on, come on, you're doing great. Just a little bit more and we'll stop for today, I think." ===== Page 3d "Well." Dirk cleared his throat. "I guess we've found all three Fates. Now the next stage of our mission can commence." "What's that, Dirk, darling?" the brown-skinned woman asked. "Well, you see--Gah!" Meimi, unable to take it any more, ran up and shoved Dirk hard in the back. He stumbled forward into a dark-skinned man, who grabbed him by the waist and raised him in the air. A big guy with an almost shaven head grabbed Dirk's head and pulled him down to the ground. Kotae winced at the impact. "Ow. That always hurts." ===== Page pi "Okay. Okay, that's it." Xipiquieck blinked. "What, finished already?" "Yes!" Meimi stood up. "This is too weird! Your book is screwing everything up!" "Now, now, I'm sorry, dear," the wizard said soothingly. "How about this. I can explain some of what happened to you. Meimi paused in the act of getting up from her chair. "What? You can?" "Sure. Like that bit about the Fates." He took out a poster with three women on it. "Look familiar?" Meimi blinked. "...Yeah! Those two--they look a lot like the ones I saw on the Tower!" "Precisely!" Xipiquieck looked at the poster. "And you look exactly like the third one." "...Huh? No I don't. I've got brown hair." "Hm? No, it seems you have black hair." Xipiquieck motioned to her head. "What are you talking about? I've always had brown hair." Meimi put her hand to her head, and suddenly her eyes widened. She traced a long, long strand of hair down, held it in her hand...and looked at it. "My...my hair..." Meimi fell to her knees. "What...my hair...and the book...and..." She started to cry. "What? Awww..." Xipiquieck reached down and patted Meimi on the shoulder. "It's okay, dear. It's very pretty." He motioned to his giant. "Psych, show this girl to a room." Meimi stood and let the giant lead her away. Xipiquieck shook his head. Then he placed the poster between the pages of the book, and closed it. After a moment, the edges of the poster vanished as a soft crunching sound echoed through the room. The poster disappeared completely, and there was a soft belch. The wizard patted the book affectionately and smiled. "Good Tome." ===== Page XX To be continued... ===== Appendix A Okay. I admit it. I am a self-reference mark. This story is a story where anything can happen. Especially wall-busting. Fourth and otherwise. Go ahead and go nuts. Bring in things from other stories. I'd like for everything to keep as original as possible, but, hey. It's chibi, what does it matter? "Go play, have fun." The one restriction, I think, is that there should always be an anime flavor to the story. (...Though I don't know if I even managed it with *this* chapter. Ah, well.) John Evans jevans@alum.mit.edu Beware the Radish http://www.chaoseed.com/btr/ 7/7/00 ===== Appendix B Bloch rubbed his chin as the Tower rose into the sky. "We can still catch them. We have to." "Oh, shut up, you psycho," Wifty growled.