Atomizer

Anya’s SUV pulled into Rylan’s yard as he watched from the kitchen door. Maya, now dressed in a clean grey t-shirt, skinny jeans and a ponytail, posted herself on the porch with her sword in hand. As the teens waited for Anya, Rylan’s adrenaline sank and the gravity of the situation hit him.

Anya’s killed and caused the death of a lot of people. And I’m just as guilty. As of now I’m in so deep I can’t call the cops anymore.. so how do I stop all of this?

Anya parked her truck in the yard and called out to Maya. They exchanged words and Anya exited the vehicle with her hands up in a mercy display to Maya.

“Maya, I’m unarmed. I told you I’m here to help you!” said Anya keeping eye contact with Maya. Anya carefully reached in her pocket and pulled out a grenade of some type. “You see, I brought an atomizer grenade so we can dispose of those dead bodies and that van.”

Maya squinted with suspicion, and lowered her sword. She stepped toward Anya and examined the grenade.

“That atomizer will cause an earthquake in this desert and the city. We’ll have to put two force fields around it to contain it. And doing that will suck us dry,” said Maya.

“That’s not a problem dear daughter-”

“Don’t call me that!” snapped Maya.

Anya smirked.

“Heh, heh...As I was saying. Even if you and I pass out from using our force fields our sweet Rylan will take care of us,” said Anya glancing at Rylan in the doorway, “Won’t you baby?”

Rylan didn’t catch Anya’s meaning. But Maya turned and stared at him, waiting for his answer.

They’re going to pass out using their force fields? What are these ladies talking about?

“Um, sure...I’ll take care of you both, I guess,” he said looking at Maya, who accepted his answer.

“Good!” said Anya, “Now Rylan, we need you to drag all the bodies into one pile behind the house, and Maya come with me. We have to flip that van over before some cop drives through here!”

“Hmph!” pouted Maya, but she followed Anya to the van.

The Suck

Rylan, fully aware of his situation, set about his grisly task of dragging the murdered corpses out of his home and toward a hidden corner in his backyard. His mind raced over his next step.

I can’t talk to anyone about this. I just have to clean this up and stay cool. But damn, I think I’m in a lot of trouble.. How could I let all of this happen?

He looked out at Maya and Anya by the flipped van.

And those two...one is a remorseless killer...and her daughter..

An image of a scowling Maya standing over a terrified biker framed in his head. “Fuck you and El Paso,” is what she said to him, before she struck him down without a thought.

“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” is what Anya told me about you, Maya...But what can I say? Nothing...you saved our lives.

Out on the road Anya and Maya used their force fields to flip and move the van behind the house. Afterwards they helped Rylan pile the corpses of the dead Son’s of Fire biker gang. However, Rylan noted that as the ladies used their force fields they grew physically fatigued, forcing a five minute break on the porch.

“Hey Maya, why are you and Anya so tired when I’m the one lifting the bodies?” asked Rylan.

Maya smirked.

“...On this planet we don’t have the external power charges that our gear needs to work,” she said displaying her wrist device, “So instead our gear uses our own body energy to function.”

“It’s called The Suck...because it truly sucks your life force to get these things working, hee hee!” joked Anya, leaning back in a chair with her eyes closed.

“Is that right? Even your swords?” asked Rylan.

“Heh, well in the case of our strikers they’re completely powered by our body energy,” said Maya, extending her sword blade. “See? This means my striker’s blade dies only when I die. However, the gun part relies on external energy.” She shifted her striker from a sword to a handgun for Rylan.

He examined the dark chrome colored pistol. The weapon had the same appearance as every sci-fi movie blaster he’d ever seen.

“When you say external energy do you mean bullets?” he asked.

“Yes, in a manner of speaking. Our pistols convert raw external energy into projectile energy,” said Maya pointing the weapon at the recovered van. “Basically if you charge it up it’ll create an energy blast.”

Anya chuckled at the conversation as she stood and stretched.

“Yes, yes, all good information. Oh and Rylan, our planet is called Eres, and it’s a beautiful world, similar to earth, you’d like it,” said Anya walking toward Maya. “Now let’s go My-My, those bodies won’t atomize themselves!”

Maya scowled.

“Yaan! Don’t call me My-My either,” she whined.

“My-My? How cute!” laughed Rylan.

Maya balled her fists and squinted at Rylan.

“You keep laughing, I’ll show you-”

“Show him what? Baby pictures of you and your brother?” snapped Anya, “Don’t worry I have them all on my phone and I’ll show them to him later. I even have naked pictures of you Maya-Maya-pants-on-fiya!” sang Anya.

“That’s because you’re a pedophile!” snapped Maya.

“What? Rylan do you see how she disrespects me?” cried Anya.

Maya and Anya exchanged insults and Rylan laughed at them. Still, in all of their bickering and violence, he failed to understand how a mother and daughter could become such bitter enemies.

What the hell happened between you two?

The trio concluded their cleanup moving the van and dead bodies to one spot. When everything was set, Anya tossed the atomizer grenade on top of the van. Afterward Maya and Anya both covered the van and corpses with a combined full power force field.

The grenade inside exploded so violently it cracked the wall of the force field.

“Shit! Maya don’t let up!” shouted Anya.

“I know!” replied Maya.

Maya and Anya pushed their own body limits and maintained the field’s integrity, but the power drain forced them to their knees in pain. After seventy seconds the van and the bodies inside the field swirled into a crushing vortex and vanished without a trace.

Maya and Anya both retracted their force fields, gasped, and collapsed in the yard. Rylan ran to help them.

“Maya? Anya? Oh crap you guys really passed out!” he shouted at the unconscious ladies, their life force drained.

Rylan attempted to revive them but failed, so he carried them to his living room and placed them on the couch. He spread blankets on them, and sat their strikers on the coffee table. While they rested he inspected Anya’s black striker.

Wow, Anya’s weapon is scary looking... These people from another world and their strange weapons. Oh well, they’ll be hungry when they wake up, so it’s time to make my famous “Green Chile Beef Stew!”

Three Hours Later

While the ladies slept, Rylan cleaned the house from top to bottom, wiping away all blood stains. Afterwards he went back to the kitchen to taste his simmering stew.

“Oh, this is to die for! So good!” He patted himself on the back.

As he placed the ladle down a beeping sound echoed in the living room and Anya awoke from her sleep. In a daze she checked her wrist device and glanced at Rylan.

“Baby? How long have I been out?” she asked Rylan.

“Awhile! So I’ll make you a plate of this great stew cause I know you’re hungry!” said Rylan with pride.

Anya pulled herself up and sat next to the still sleeping Maya. She continued reading her wrist device while placing her hand on Maya’s head, and rubbing it. Rylan noticed and said nothing.

“My-My, sweet baby, you’re always so angry at me...but you just don’t understand...there are just things momma needs to do...things I have to do,” she whispered to Maya.

Rylan watched Anya touch Maya, and for the first time ever he felt sorry for Anya.

“Hey Anya...when’s the last time you-”

“Three years,” she snapped, “I haven’t hugged my children in three years. Because they hate me.”

Rylan didn’t want to press, but curiosity.

“Um...may I ask ...why Maya and Leif hate you?”

“Heh heh, it’s a long story. But if I had to tell you from Maya and Leif’s point of view, it’s something like this: Five years ago someone murdered my husband, their father, during a war. The war ended and now there’s peace...but I know who killed my husband and I won’t let it go...even if it means starting another war to get that person.”

She walked toward Rylan and stared dead in his eyes, “My husband’s name was Erik Alexander, and I won’t let his murder go unavenged...There, now you know from my kid’s pers-”

“Of course you won’t let Daddy’s death go, Mother! Because It’s always about you and what you want. That’s how you’ve always been,” barked Maya, now awake on the couch.

Rylan intervened.

“Maya, it’s cool. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked,” said Rylan. “Come on, get some of this stew.”

Maya, starving, walked to the table and sat across from Anya. Rylan ignored the tension and served both ladies hot plates. The ladies showed their appreciation by ravaging the food, and asking for seconds.

“Rylan this is so good! Oi, I just want you to cook for me all the time!” said Anya.

Rylan blushed and nodded in approval, “Well I do my best. You know I cook for Maya, Leif and Chloe every night!”

“Now why would you tell me that Rylan? You know I’m jealous of you and Maya, hee hee!”

“You would be!” said Maya with a smile, but she kept her eyes on Anya, waiting for her to…

...stare at her wrist device again.

“What are you scanning, Mother?” asked Maya, glaring at her.

Anya glanced back with a false innocence.

“Why nothing, I was just checking something-”

“Yes, the atmospheric ampsediun readings you’ve been checking and referencing since you drove in the yard?” shouted Maya.

Anya smirked and turned to Rylan.

“Rylan honey, when you explained to Maya what happened today...about us stealing the diamonds. How I killed the three bikers. Did Maya seemed surprised at all?” she asked Rylan.

Rylan, still eating his stew, glanced at both ladies and with his head down he answered, “No..Maya didn’t seem surprised at all.”

“Of course she didn’t” said Anya, placing a tiny flat object on the side of her wrist device under the table. “Do you know why?” she asked him.

“......No..”

The table grew silent as the ladies locked eyes.

“Because, dear Rylan, unlike my beautiful son Leif, who takes after his father in every way…my beautiful daughter Maya, on the other hand, is Mommy’s Baby Girl ...and takes after me-”

“I’m nothing like you!” shouted Maya.

“Oh? Is that a fact? So then why are you lying to Rylan about why you’re here, Maya,” said Anya, tilting her head with a smirk. “It certainly isn’t to collect a bounty on me...is it?”

Rylan, not sure who to believe, slowly turned to Maya.

“Um..Maya..is there something you’re not telling me?” he asked her.

But Maya kept her focus on Anya, who raised her left arm and displayed an external attachment on her wrist device. Maya recognized the attachment.

“Oh no- Rylan! Get down!” screamed Maya.

Anya fired a force field blast directly at Maya, but she saw it coming. Maya leapt on the table and slashed Anya’s force field blast with her striker. Charging at Anya, Maya swung her sword down for a direct slice. But Anya flashed her own blade and deflected Maya’s strike, forcing both ladies back. Now they faced each other in Rylan’s kitchen.

“I knew you were scheming the minute you got here, Mother!”

“Hm hm hm hm! I’m sure you did dear daughter. But there’s nothing you can do about it...because I know your force field is down to twenty percent,” Anya raised her left arm. “But I’m over three hundred percent!”

Anya aimed her left fist at Maya and fired multiple force field blasts. Maya deflected the blasts with her lightning fast sword, but knew she couldn’t keep this up.

“Dammit!” she cried and bolted for the kitchen exit, under fire from Anya.

“Come back you titmouse!” screamed Anya as Maya escaped the house.

Rylan ran toward Anya in hopes of reasoning with her. As he approached she tossed a tiny round object at him.

A marble?

The tiny object instantly multiplied in size and transformed into a giant transparent bubble. The bubble sucked Rylan through it’s clear walls and trapped him inside.

“What the fuck- Aaaah!” he screamed as the bubble shocked him with energy.

Rylan fell to the floor of the bubble prison and figured it out.

This bubble is a force field, an external force field from that little marble she threw at me.

Rylan tried kicking the clear wall, but nothing. He had an idea. He sat down in the force field and concentrated.

Feel the surge.

In seconds ampsediun energy swelled in his glowing palms.

Heh, I’m getting good at this!

With his energy surrounding his fist, Rylan punched the force field wall, however.

“Graaaaaah!”

He howled in agony as a blast of counter energy erupted inside the force field, stopping him cold. He collapsed clutching his chest and gut.

Of course Anya figured out how to stop me...what the hell was I thinking?

From inside his force field prison in his Kitchen Rylan couldn’t see or hear the outside battle between Anya and Maya. The only thing he could do was sit still and have faith…

..that Maya could actually beat Anya.

Hey...You never know.