Beat 77: Alterations, Altercations, and Something Else that Starts with
A
Well. That was interesting.
Lloyd opened his eyes
and stared at the ceiling -- at least he would have if a ceiling hung above
him. It didn’t. Blue skies and fluffy clouds stretched as far
as his eye could track, with the occasional seagull flapping about for shores
unseen. He sat up, expecting a solid
floor to make the task as simple as possible; splashing waves greeted his palm
instead, and a few gentle waves dashed across his body. His body,
he noted -- the extravagance of Lloydellina’s frame had been replaced with his
svelte (and still-bandaged) form.
This ocean again. Lloyd
stood up and patted his body down, taking in the serene surroundings. But why this time? Last time it was because the park’s Ferris
wheel nearly claimed my life. This time
it was because… He crossed his arms
and nodded to himself. Let me think here. I was trying to overwhelm Miss O’Leary’s
other self -- and myself, at that moment -- by trying to imagine the
circumstances that Miss O’Leary herself must face on a regular basis. A bit of empathy, assuming my terminology is
right. I can only wonder if it
worked…or, given my surroundings, if I’ve failed entirely.
He smiled
nervously. Or perhaps this is an overwhelming success.
Lloyd stepped toward
the lamp, and examined it like a barber checking out a pair of unruly
sideburns. “A lamp in the ocean is more
than a little curious. But considering
that I’m here as well, I can’t help but wonder if there’s something I should be
doing.” He stroked his chin. “So many mysteries and conundrums have cropped
up recently; if I can solve one of them, perhaps I can solve some of the
others.”
He slid a hand across
the lamp -- cool to the touch, as he expected.
“What am I supposed to be doing here?” he asked as his lips
tightened. “I didn’t stay this long last
time. So is there some sort of
interaction I’m meant to have with this lamp?”
He tried to rattle it, but it didn’t move a centimeter from its place;
he would have had more luck trying to lift a bus. That didn’t stop him from trying, though; he
pushed, and pulled, and kicked, and even tried taking a bite out of it. Nothing.
Nothing but a well-earned toothache.
As Lloyd pulled back
(and massaged his jaw), he looked up at the lamp. “What am I supposed to do?” he asked once
more. “What? What? WHAT?”
He thrust his fists into the air.
“TALK TO ME!”
awake
Lloyd’s eyes
widened. “Oh. Well, thank you for that, mysterious
androgynous voice inside my head.
I…think.” He looked around the
ocean again. “Wait, what exactly is
‘awake’ supposed to mean?”
waves
“Yes, I can see
those. What of them?”
thought
“Awake…waves…thought…I
would say we’re playing a game of charades, but if that’s the case then you’re
in flagrant violation of the rules.”
idiot
“Well, that’s not much
of a clue. Unless…of course! It’s the greatest clue of all!”
realize
“Realize? So if that’s the case, then the word I’m
dealing with must be…” He counted off on his fingers. “Three syllables, then? Oh! Is
it cantaloupe? I could certainly do with
a slice right about now.”
power
“Realize…realize, then power? So no cantaloupe, then?” Lloyd glanced at the lamp. “Hold on.
I’ve just realized -- that lamp isn’t on, is it? Granted I’d think it a bit difficult to find
an electrical outlet in the ocean, but still…”
He furrowed his brow, and counted off on his fingers once more. “Awake.
Waves. Thought. Realize.
Power. Setting aside the odd duck
of ‘idiot’, I think there’s a message here.
You’re trying to tell me something vital, aren’t you?”
He didn’t get an answer
-- but then again, he didn’t need one.
“Wait a moment…after I left this place the first time, I woke up with
the power to enter the audition room. If
my return here is constant with certain requirements and results, then...could
it be? Is this the means to awaken a new
power within me?”
potential
Lloyd couldn’t hold
back a laugh. “That’s it. That’s it, isn’t it? Something I’ve done recently has helped me
awaken to even more hidden potential.
Yes, of course; opening my mind to new possibilities -- my experience in
the audition room, my transformation, and my reawakened resolve must have
triggered some sort of mental metamorphosis.”
He tapped his foot against the ocean’s surface. “So that would mean that these waves --
they’re not merely ocean waves, but thought
waves. Whatever those are.”
The waves under Lloyd’s
feet jostled, and he nearly lost his balance.
He stayed upright somehow, but the lamp he’d failed to even budge
suddenly tipped over, and bobbed against the water. “Aha!
Just what I was hoping for!” He
leapt at the lamp and took hold of it, taking note of its innards; the light
bulb it housed seemed fine, but it rattled in place.
“It doesn’t seem to be
screwed in all the way. Perhaps if
I…” He took hold of the bulb and started
twisting -- one twist, then another, and one more for good measure. But before he could get the bulb secured, the
lamp shot out of his hands and stood straight once more. “What on -- I wasn’t done yet!”
The lamp just stood its
ground -- and then, it started to hum. A
green light emanated from the bounds of its shade, rising higher and higher
until Lloyd had full view of a volleyball-sized sphere. The sphere shot upwards, leaving an emerald
trail of vapor in its wake, and forcing Lloyd to crane his head upward. But not for long; he could hardly get in a
blink before it hurtled toward him like a meteor…and crashed against his torso
with about three times the force.
“Hrk! That’s sure to leave a few ribs broken!” But in spite of his moaning -- and his body
skidding a dozen yards across the ocean -- Lloyd held the sphere atop his
chest. As he sat up, it burst into
hundreds of green marbles. The sphere
vanished. But in its place, he now
held...
change
Lloyd looked back at
the lamp. Its green glow had long since
vanished, and it stood watch over him like a guard tower. “You want me to continue going forward?” he
asked. “You needn’t ask me for such a
thing; I’ve every intention of pressing onward, no matter where it may lead. And now that I have this, I suspect I’ll be
having a slightly easier journey.”
someday
“Yes. Someday -- one day soon, I shall
succeed. That, I promise you. Thank you for your words of wisdom, o magic
talking lamp.” He turned aside. “How many people have had the chance to say
that?”
someday
someday
restore
me
--STAGE SHIFT--
Lloyd blinked
rapidly. “I’m back,” he said airily,
taking note of the audition room -- and with it, his rabbit-eared form. He eyed his palms. “Did it work?
Did I manage to gain some new power?”
He didn’t have to wonder long; he caught a glimpse of the desk in the
distance…and with it, the green light pulsing atop its surface.
“You little bastard --
what the hell did you do?!”
Lloyd’s shadow
stretched before him, and for minutes at a time looked ready to strangle
him. “You really think you’re getting
away from me that easily?” Deirdre asked; she might have been featureless at
the moment, but Lloyd could have sworn he saw the veins thumping atop her
fingers. “I don’t care what’s going
through that head of yours -- it belongs to me.
You belong to me. And I’ll be damned if I’m about to let you come out on top!”
Lloyd’s eyes darted
back and forth between the shadow and the desk.
He didn’t bother with any niceties; he just broke into a full-on run
towards the desk, going as fast as his high-heeled legs would allow.
He traveled a whopping
three steps. On the fourth, a forest’s
worth of thorny vines wrapped around his shins.
“You didn’t think I’d
let you get away that easy, did you?” Deirdre asked with a bone-chilling
chuckle. Her shadow caressed the lower
half of Lloyd’s body. “Whatever you’ve
got going through your head, I don’t care.
I’m about to blow your mind -- and once I do, you’ll be all mine. Forever.”
Lloyd hadn’t just lost
control of his legs; voltage seemed to crackle within his limbs, forcing them
to twitch and spasm out of place. His
arms refused his commands, and moved of their own -- or rather, Deirdre’s
accord. Their destination? Lloyd could quickly guess; his hands looked
eager to take hold of some particularly ripe melons.
“Your mind can’t handle
this, boy! One touch is all it’ll take
to shut you down and turn you into putty in my hands!” A wild laugh filled the audition room as
Lloyd struggled to hold his arms in place.
“Don’t bother resisting! You know
this is exactly what you’ve always wanted -- so just sit back, turn your brain
off, and leave everything to me!”
“I refuse!” Lloyd clenched his teeth. “The minds of others may not be worth much in
your eyes, but to devalue them -- to underestimate them is certain to ensure
your defeat!” He clamped his eyes
shut. “Allow me to show you true
power! As they say…mind over matter!”
“What are you --
w-wait, what are you…? WHAT ARE YOU --
OH!” The shadow backed off of Lloyd, and
retreated further and further with hands raised to guard. But Deirdre couldn’t protect herself; she
gripped her head and wobbled about, but her feeble efforts didn’t do a
thing. Lloyd had long since launched his
attack -- and he didn’t have to throw a single punch.
He just had to use his imagination.
And he’d chosen to
imagine Mrs. Overdose’s feet.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
Lloyd laughed to
himself. “Ah, that takes me back.”
Ka-POOF!
A puff of pink smoke
shrouded Lloyd whole. Before it could
fully dissipate, Lloyd -- the real, male, non-full-figured Lloyd -- sprang out
of the cloud, and dashed clumsily for the desk. “I’m me again!” he cheered, a
few blinks away from tears. “That must
mean my dear host is…!” He glanced over
his shoulder; as the smoke cleared, he caught a full glimpse of Deirdre,
wrapped up tight in a mass of thorns, and clawing furiously at her skull.
“Get them out of my
head!” she wailed. “GET THEM OUT OF MY
HEAD!”
“I would be glad to,
ma’am!” Lloyd stumbled over the desk and
assumed the proper position. “I’ve got
all I need to begin my offense in earnest!”
He took hold of the green sphere.
“It all starts with this!”
The sphere shone
brighter, and just like before it burst into a spread of marbles. And in its place -- in Lloyd’s lifted hand --
laid the key to his future.
A quill pen. A quill pen, with a green feather fluttering
in his grasp, and a tip soaked with emerald ink.
Lloyd looked at the
pen. He looked at Deirdre. He looked at the pen. He looked at Deirdre. He looked at the pen. “I have no idea how to use this.”
TO BE HEARTINUED…
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