Vic and the Secret Door Chapter 50

The group made its way towards the sickbay which seemed to be where the doughnut was leading them this time. Eight pieces they had already managed to find, now eight more they needed to complete there task. They entered the sickbay and found that many of the beds where filled, but yet where the doctor run off to was unknown. 

Fai wandered over to one of the bodies on the nearest bed and looked it over. It appeared to be one of the crewmen of the ship as they where wearing the ships uniform. But for some reason it seemed they where all in some sort of stasis or coma, as when Fai looked closely he could see the rise and fall of the chest but trying to get a response was not getting anywhere. 

“They all appear to be in some sort of stasis or weird drug induced sleep.” He said with a curious look. 

Vic walked over towards the one Fai had been looking at, and watched his eyes widen in shock, since he was staring at the Enterprise’s captain. He only knew that face all too well, being he loved the original Star Trek enough to know the character. 

“That’s the ships captain. His name is James T. Kirk. But why he and everyone else seem to be in a sleep is unknown. Though it might have something to do with whats going on.”

Meanwhile there was a sharp and sudden bout of yelling and mild swearing coming from Ed who was over near a console and he was crouched down near it rubbing his head, while Ikkaku was laughing at him, much to Ed’s irritation. 

“Ah shutup chrome dome. Lets see if you don’t start getting colorful if you smacked your head on the corner of a metal console….”

He slowly stood up, rubbing his head as he seemed to pull something from under the console. He didn’t seem to overly enthused at his find, but it was apparently something that was of importance to Ed. A soft mewling sound was heard as the group all glanced to Ed, who was rubbing his head and clutching what appeared to be a small silvery haired kitten. 

“A cat?” asked Gawl with a odd look. Ed seemed to glance to the small cat in his arms. 

“Well cats aren’t overly important to me specifically but I think in this case, based on the kittens color, its supposed to represent my brother Alphonse. And he does have a thing for cats…”

Vic walked toward Ed and the cat and the doughnut reacted to the cat. The cat tried to paw at the doughnut.

“I guess for me, this cat represents my brother and the bond we share… and bond I would do anything to keep safe….”

The cat shimmered into a began to fade away, though not before giving Ed a wet kitty kiss on his nose. Ed scrunched his face as the cat vanished and the doughnut pulsed brighter. Vic held it for a moment before it seemed to shift in form, now looking more like a thin, jagged eclair. 

“I guess the key is starting to form…” said Zero, who was glancing over Vic’s shoulder. 

As Vic put the charm back around his neck, the ship shook violently once again, and Ikkaku glanced out the door that opened as he seemed to be making sure nothing was going on out in the halls. He kind of stumbled backwards back into the sickbay though and glanced towards the group. 

“Um…hope we had no plans to go left after leaving, cause there appears to be a hole in the floor. I assume there is some weird magic at work on keeping the air in the ship, since I saw black space and stars.”

Vic pursed his lips in a slight frown. “Forcefield’s likely. It sort of like magic, since it uses energy. But we’ll need to hurry, as if whatever is destroying the worlds is starting to take the ship, that means we need to get the rest of the stuff fast before the engine room gets affected. If the engine room disappears, then where in big trouble…”

Vic took a moment to think, seeming to try and test his inner Trekkie nerd skills by remembering the layout of the Enterprise. After a moment, he seemed to have figured something out since he motioned for everyone to follow him. He led them out of sickbay and through a few of the service ducts to get around spots where sections where missing. Time began to wind down little by little as the team took notice the ship was shaking more and more. So it was a matter of moving from place to place and finding the remaining stuff while not being chucked around since it seemed the internal dampeners where beginning to fail slowly. 

As they wandered and searched, they eventually got down to the final three, Zero, Gawl and Vic’s pieces to the puzzle. They where currently in the mess hall, when the PMoF popped from the ceiling suddenly which actually caused Ikkaku to jump back and scream and nearly fall over across a table. She was going with a short reddish orange hairstyle which probably reminded Ikkaku of Ichigo which probably was part of why it startled him so. 

“Not to be a impatient child, but you have just under three hours to go, and time is beginning to work against you. The worlds are almost completely gone and this space as you noticed is beginning to be affected. But soon even you will all begin to feel the effects as it begins to erase you as well. Minds will grow fuzzy, pain will become your companion…and if it gets far enough, you will disappear…”

She then vanished once more to leave them in a sort of shell shock. Zero mumbled something as he seemed to find something behind the counter of the mess hall. He lifted it up and set it on the counter. It looked like a bowl of some weird alien spaghetti with a sauce that looked like blood. But it was the fact there appeared to be a bracelet of sorts sitting in it that got his attention. He fished it from the bowl, holding up the blood covered item looking at it. It was the bracelet Yuki wore to control him. The sight of the blood though also didn’t help him either as it made his hunger haze his mind. He trembled softly as he slid the bracelet towards Vic whom had walked over near him. 

“It’s Yuki’s bracelet. It represents our interesting and complicated bond. Even when we don’t see eye to eye on occasion, I would still give my life for her…”

The bracelet sparked and vanished into the doughnut which began to change shape again. It was now looking more like a key with a doughnut on the end.

Zero glanced down at teh bowl and grimaced slightly, as he picked up the bowl and began to eat the weird stuff. He seemed to cringe and shudder a few times, though the weird blood broth it was in seemed to slightly take the edge off his bloodlust and the world wasn’t quite tinted with a hue of red anymore.

“Ugh…that was probably the most disgusting thing I ever ate, but whatever creature would enjoy eating it, must have a taste for blood, either because of a similar physiology or they just like it…”

Vic didn’t seem phased by his while situation, though he didn note afew of the group looked at him with a slight queasy look. Vic just smiled and shook his head.

“I’ll assume you feel a little better now though Zero?” 

Zero nodded a bit. “Yeah that gross stuff may have not been appetizing, but it took the edge off the bloodlust for now.”

Tamaki looked at Zero with a creeped out expression. “So are you like a vampire or something?”

Zero actually smirked. “Actually I am…sorta…”

Tamaki seemed to get a bit nervous and gravitated towards Fai. “Just don’t eat me…I don’t wanna be cursed…”

Vic sighed as he managed to get the group moving again to see if they could find the thing relating to Gawl. The wandered past a cargo bay on the way to the engine room, and doughnut began to glow softly. Vic and crew began to search the one cargo bay and eventually they found a weird looking object. Gawl held it up and seemed confused at first, though after a moment, he seemed to recognize it. It was a Generator’s core. Without it, a generator wasn’t a generator, and usually didn’t really live long without it either. “I think this is supposed to remind me that my life is a gift even though my life was manipulated and changed to turn me into a combat machine and hopefully a puppet for people to control. Even though its part of my life and my existence now, I know I would give it all up to protect my friends…”

The core shattered and became a sort of glittery dust, before being absorbed by the doughnut. 

“Now all that’s left is my piece to the puzzle…” said Vic. “Let’s hurry to the engine room…”

Time was running short though as the group ran towards the engine room as the ship began to break away around them. They had to take a few alternative routes, ending up slipping out of a maintenance tunnel in the one wall to get into the room itself, because the way got eaten by whatever was taking the worlds.

As the group finally all gathered in the room, several of the team found a open space and sat down, feeling lightheaded and dizzy. The thing destroying everything was beginning to affect them all as well. The PMoF was standing near one of the consoles watching them. 

“You have made it this far, but now time runs ever so short. The thing you need is two fold and true Mr. Mignogna. Part of it has journeyed with you all this time, the other is somewhere in here. But hurry, for time is almost up….”

As if to punctuate the situation, the ship shook and lurched violently causing most of them not already sitting to grab hold of something lest they get flung across the engine room. Vic looked around and after a short bit of time, began to panic. Then he saw something wedged under one of the other consoles and pulled it free. It was something wrapped in cloth. He pulled at the cloth to get to what was inside. What he was looking at was one of the many art books his Risembool Rangers had made for him over the years. He seemed to smile at the book and the memories it held for him. He knew Michele was nearby, though she was also seeming to watch over his characters, some who where beginning to fade away. 

“My work is one of the many things important to me, but so is my dear Michele and my precious Rangers. I have created so many memories and experiences because of these things. If I had to give up something of value to me, it would be these things, even if it broke my heart to do so. That for me would be my greatest sacrifice….”

The doughnut began to glow and Vic pulled it from his neck one last time watching the book vanish into the object. The doughnut item glowed and reformed to form a intricate shape. It appeared to be a small pin like object that looked like a plate with a doughnut, a script, a music note and a Flamel Cross on it. For some reason he had a feeling the item needed to go to the PMoF, so he walked towards her and handed it to her. She took the item and smiled proudly. 

“What am I? Answer it well and the worlds shall become whole again. Name me and give me meaning…..”

Vic glanced to his fading characters and to Michele before looking back at the PMoF. 

“You are the Physical Manifestation of the Fandom. You are the fans and there dreams, there will, there souls. You are the creative force and light that drives us. You are the characters who’s personalities that I and so many other have given life to and in turn inspired the fans to create stories that go beyond what the original creator built for them. The thing created may not always work well, but they continue the lore and the magic….”

“That was very well put and interesting Mr. Mignogna…” the PMoF replied as she took the pin and pinned it to her chest. She opened her arms outward and closed her eyes as the form shifted one final time. The form had long black hair with green highlights. They wore a red sweater and black pants. 

“Red Dawn Mr. Mignogna….Red Dawn, and with a bright new morning and bright new beginning’s….”

Suddenly the world around them all exploded into light which drew the whole group in for one last time. Around them in the tunnel of light, worlds began to form and filled with life once more. As each world was rebuilt, the characters who had been part of the journey found themselves pulled back home, but not without at least a curt goodbye before vanishing. Eventually the last of the characters faded from the tunnel of colorful worlds and light and it ws just Vic and Michele. He held onto to Michele tightly as the tunnel seemed to disappear around them. He closed his eyes for the last part, not sure what would happen. He opened his eyes when he felt as if they landed on something soft. He glanced around to find himself back in his living room. Michele was sprawled on top of him, though she moved over so Vic could get up. He looked around and took notice of the clock. It seemed as if all the stuff had happened hadn’t affected the time in the real world, for it was maybe a few minutes later. He glanced to the TV as he heard the sound of the opening theme of Star Trek playing. The episode was the “Trouble With Tribbles”. He leaned in and cuddled with his fiance, figuring they could wait for a commercial break to grab some snacks. He considered telling his friends about the whole thing, but they might just think he was crazy.

Meanwhile elsewhere the Physical Manifestation of Fandom smiled happily as she along with some many others, finished penning up many fanfictions, ending up everywhere from Fanfiction.net to Livejournals and so on. But what was unique was the fact that the very journey Vic had been through was a special magic all its own, as it had been a very powerful fanfiction that had come to life of its own because of the strength of the ones who wrote it. So it became real and the story was now told. The Physical Manifestation of Fandom grinned softly, knowing that sometime soon, the adventure Vic and the others had experienced would be read by millions, and one day by Vic himself.

The title of this magical fanfiction the fandom wrote? 'Vic and the Secret Door….'