Al Moreno And the Crystal of Gosia

by Mason J Schneider

  Alfred pulled his knife from his belt. It was very odd looking, the blade was made from a sort of purple stone-like material, and it swung out of a white handle which appeared to be made of bone. Alfred cut the straps restraining Marcie as he replied.

  “That’s right, we’ve got a date.” Al winked and rubbed his hand playfully on the top of Marcie’s hair.

  For the next two hours they both tried to catch up on their sleep as Henry piloted what remained of the ship toward Jenni’s Roller-Rink. The shuffling noise continued to become gradually louder, but it still wasn’t close enough to wake either of the passengers.

  ***

  Bzzz Bzzz

  “Alfred we have arrived.”

  Bzzz Bzzz

  Alfred didn’t sleep past this alarm; his senses were back to being on full alert now that he was on a mission. He shook Marcie’s arm until she too was awake. Henry had landed the ship on a medium-sized parking lot outside of what looked like a teen-hangout from the 1950’s. A bright neon billboard lit up the sky in pink, reading: Jenni’s Roller-Rink. Alfred stood up out of his chair and stretched.

  “What the hell is that sound?” Marcie asked irritably.

  Shhherft Shhherft

  “It’s probably this damn ship, I doubt we’ll even be able to get this thing back up in the air.” Alfred replied.

  “Why are we here again?” Marcie asked, confused.

  “Follow me. Henry, you’re going in my pocket.” Alfred answered as he grabbed the golden egg and put it in the pocket of his jacket.

  Al led the way down the ladder and out the exit door hatch, which he closed after Marcie followed him out. She held his arm as they ran toward the entrance of the Roller-Rink. Lights of many colors could be seen flashing through the windows. Back inside the spacecraft a noise sounded in the main control room.

  Shhherft Shhherft

  A small white robot shuffled up the ladder. It dragged itself using only its arms until its body sat on the floor. Its legs were completely missing and one could see where many wires and metal components hung off from where they had once been attached. On its forehead there was an imprint of a leaf, which glowed bright green as the little robot spoke for the first time in a very long time.

  “Did someone request tea?” he asked the empty room, looking from side to side.

  His chest panel swung open and a dispenser was revealed with a cup sitting on a tray below it. Hot green tea flowed out of the robot and overfilled the small white cup, which fell to the floor spilling all over the ground.

  Tea-Bot attempted to move but slid in the spilled tea and fell hard against the floor. The exposed wires that touched where the tea had spilled sparked and electrocuted the small white robot. A fire ignited in the main control room.

  It spoke one last time, as the green leaf on its forehead slowly dimmed out.

  “Enjoy.”

  The electric fire grew larger and larger until it reached the fuel bay of the spacecraft- making the entire thing explode in a cloud of flames.

  5 Jenni’s roller-rink

  Alfred swung open a large glass door, and gestured for Marcie to walk in first. Inside was a massive roller-rink, with tons of people rollerblading all over. There were silver bleachers that ran all around the length of the outside of the ring. Here, several people sat and watched, but most were on the platforms in front of these seats. These people danced and cheered for the rollerbladers.

  BOOM

  “Hey, did you hear something?” Al asked Marcie.

  “No, I can’t hear anything over this music!” she replied, trying hard to shout overtop of the song that was currently being blasted through the speakers.

  Alfred shrugged and led Marcie over to a countertop to their right. Behind it leaned an older gentleman who wore a suit and tie. He had a big nose and long white hair that he had pushed back on top of his head, making him look like an elegant mad scientist.

  “Al Moreno! How long’s it been? Come here son, give me a hug, get ova’ here!” the man spoke in one of those accents where you always felt obliged to do whatever it was he was asking.

  “Papari, it’s good to see you old man!” Alfred reached across the bar and the two exchanged a hug over the countertop. Papari patted him on the back excessively before they let go- that’s just the kind of guy Papari is.

  “And who’s the lovely lady in the red armor?” Papari asked Al, turning to smile at Marcie.

  “This is Marcie, she’s a friend helping me out with some Rift business.” Al introduced her, and Marcie and Papari shook hands. Papari held her arm for a second, staring at the armor that enclosed her limbs.

  “That’s Altarian Rue Armor! Now how in Jupiter’s Jawbreakers did you get your hands on that?” Papari looked up, letting go of her arm.

  “Let’s just say it came to me by chance.” Marcie made it seem as if she didn’t want to discuss the origins of her armor.

  “Fair enough young lady, I’m not one to snoop!” Papari laughed and turned to Al who seemed puzzled by the interaction that had just occurred, “I assume you’re here to talk to someone in the Society?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Well look, that’s no problem at all. But the only one down there right now is Aaron Flux.”

  “Damn it, it had to be Flux...Ugh- I guess he might be able to help us out. Hey old man, open the secret gate, will ya?”

  “You got it Al. Hey, how’s about giving the folks a show why you’re here, like the good old times? When ya was just a little guy.”

  “Just for you old man, sure thing. Besides, I wanna see if Marcie’s got any fun in her at all.”

  Papari reached under the counter and pulled up a pair of men’s rollerblades. Alfred took them over to a nearby bench and began to put them on.

  “What size ya need sweetie? And hey Al, show me your Rift Blade, you know the protocol!”

  Alfred reached to his belt and held up the enclosed knife he had used to cut Marcie free earlier.

  Papari gave him a thumbs up and Marcie replied, “Give me a nine.”

  Papari reached back down and grabbed her rollerblades and wished them both a good time. Once they had on their wheels, they headed over to the gate to get into the rink.

  “I’ll open the gate when ya get done with the finale!” Papari called to them as they stepped out onto the floor.

  Marcie held onto Al at first as they rolled to the right with the flow of the other creatures and people going by. Surround speakers must have made up every part of the ceiling, except where there was a disco ball or shining neon spotlight. A funky techno pop song played.

  Marcie let go of Alfred’s arm and began to roll in time to the music. For a moment it almost looked like she was enjoying herself.

  “You have horrible, horrible taste in music. But you can blade baby, no doubt about it!” Al complimented and insulted her at once.

  They slowed down and watched as a creature that resembled an ostrich rolled by lightning fast. He was upside down, and was balancing his head on a single rollerblade boot- while his feet kicked madly around in the air.

  “Jeeze, people take this seriously.” Marcie said to Al as they continued to roll towards the middle of the rink.

  “You have no idea who you’re talking to. Get ready to see a level of rollerblading you never even thought existed.”

  “Okaaay then.” Marcie thought Al was joking, but his face was serious.

  Suddenly, as they were nearing the middle of the rink, the techno music stopped. And with the music everyone rollerblading, dancing, and cheering eventually paused as well. A voice came on over the speakers and all the lights dimmed.

  “Ladies, Lifeforms, and everyone in between! We’ve got something special for you all tonight!” it was Papari talking, “Please clear the floor for the Master Rift Rollerblader, King of the Rink, Al Morenoooo!” as he finished everyone in the crowd remained silent for a moment.

  Then a spotlight shined on Al, as well as Marcie, and someone from the bleach
ers shouted, “Oh my stars, that is Al Moreno, ooouu!” The whole place went wild.

  An elegant classical song came on over the speakers as the floor cleared and Al and Marcie rolled to the middle. The crowd continued to applaud them. Al put one arm on Marcie’s armored waist and took her other hand in his.

  “Alfred I’m an assassin; I don’t really know how to rollerblade! What even is all this?” Marcie whispered fiercely to him.

  “Hey calm down, it’s going to be fun! You should have a great sense of balance and speed. Just follow my lead and when the finale ends go to the middle of the rink where Papari will open the gate.”

  “What, no! I hate being the center of attention Alfred!” but he had already begun to rollerblade out onto the floor, dragging Marcie with him until she cooperated.

  The spotlight followed them as Alfred led Marcie through a very elegant dance, one which brought several creatures to tears in the crowd. Al noticed Marcie was smiling. The gentle music began to fade away and a really upbeat jazz number came on. Alfred picked up the pace and spun Marcie all around the rink. At one point she even rollerbladed between his legs, incredibly fast, and came back up- sticking the landing! The crowd loved it and cheered accordingly.

  Eventually the jazz began to die down and a loud bass started to boom throughout the rink. Marcie looked at Al as if to say “What now?”

  “Just head to the very center, I’ll meet you there. Great moves by the way!” Alfred yelled through the intensifying music.

  To the right of the center of the floor, platforms were electronically sliding away and four objects rose up from below the rink. The first three were hoops that were held in the ground by posts. The fourth was a ramp- and quite a tall one at that. The hoops were in descending heights- so that the closest one to the end of the ramp was the highest, and the last one was the shortest and landed near the middle of the floor.

  Alfred listened to the crowd roar in applause as he made his way to the top of the ramp via a platform in the floor that lifted as he rolled onto it. When he got to the top he paused and blew kisses from each hand into the crowd. They couldn’t get enough of him. Just then, the outside rings of the hoops were illuminated in fire. The crowd oo’d and awe’d. Marcie looked a bit concerned and moved farther away from the flame’s reach.

  “Sir, you realize I’m still in your pocket?” Henry spoke up from inside Al’s jacket, he sounded frightened.

  “To be honest I totally forgot, but it’s too late now- hang on Henry!” and with that Al let his body weight lean him forward and he began to roll down the ramp.

  If someone in the crowd blinked during those next few seconds- they would have missed it all. Alfred flew off the curved ramp and went soaring up toward the high ceiling. Marcie watched as he flipped in the air and somehow caught the golden egg that slipped out of his jacket pocket while he was upside down. While doing so, he went through the first fiery hoop. By the second he was halfway back to being right side up. And through the third he managed to swing his body the rest of the way around- landing on his feet and rolling steadily over to Marcie.

  “Al Moreno everyone!” Papari announced to the crowd, who in turn cheered louder than they had all night.

  Marcie and Al rolled over to the middle, and from somewhere in the floor a dense smoke started blasting out.

  Alfred coughed a little as he explained and took off his skates; indicating for Marcie to do the same, “So no one sees.”

  He led her to a square shape that had opened up in the middle of the floor. Marcie peered down and her armor formed new red metal boots around her feet.

  “Wow, that’s handy. Ladies first.” Al said as he followed her down in just his socks.

  The floor closed back behind them a few moments later. Lights had been turned on and ran overhead every few steps they walked down. Al slid past his companion to lead the way into the depths of Jenni’s Roller-Rink.

  “So you run around fixing things in the Universe, and on the side you’re a um...professional rollerblader?” Marcie couldn’t help but laugh a little as she spoke.

  “Pshht, not professional. But yeah I got pretty good here as a kid. Jenni’s Roller-Rink has been here ever since I can remember. It was built as a cover-up for the Rift Sanctum below- a.k.a. where we’re heading.”

  “So where was Jenni? Oh no, she hasn’t passed away has she? And why were you here as a kid?” Marcie asked, nervous that she might have struck a sore spot.

  “No, no. Haha! Jenni is Papari’s wife, and she’s usually in the back office doing paperwork. You see, Papari was in the Rift Society a long, long time ago. But he only stayed in for a few years. Something happened to him one day I guess. He saw something he insists to this day he can’t even speak about on the planet Dorphnok. So he left the Society as a Rift Resolver but stays on as an honorary member. Him and his wife opened this roller-rink above the Sanctum a few years after he left. As for me, I’ve never known my real parents, and those two adopted me when I was fifteen. They took care of me but I never really looked at them as parents. I was just grateful for what they did for me. With the Sanctum right below me as a kid I was seeing a lot of Rift Society members, and the day I turned eighteen I went off to join the training academy.”

  “I see. It must have been a hard life without any parents.” Marcie sounded as if she could relate to Al’s past.

  Alfred said nothing regarding her comment but instead announced “Just a few more steps, we’re almost there. And don’t let this Aaron Flux guy get to you he’s kind of-”

  “Kind of amazing, handsome, fiersome, heroic? Which one was it that you were going to say, Al old pal?”

  They had walked down into a massive underground room. There were all sorts of strange equipment and devices and artifacts spread out on lab tables around the outside. In the center there were several brown leather couches and chairs as well as a large monitor that sat on a stand in front of them.

  “I was going to say he’s kind of a... Jackass.” Alfred finished.

  “Why thank you Alfred, I thought you were going to insult me!” Aaron Flux replied, quite surprised.

  “He did. He just called you a Jackass.” Marcie spoke up, now getting a good look at Flux.

  He looked to be about the same age as Al, but he was a few inches taller and had dark black hair that was combed neatly back. He had blue eyes that bordered on a violet hue and wore a long-sleeved shirt made of an elastic material.

  “Precisely! I thought he would have called me a lion or a shark. Or something else laughable and weak! But the Jackass was one of the fiercest predators during the third millennium- they were said to have been outranked only by the Argentine Lake Duck on the food chain!”

  Marcie glared at Aaron for a moment and then looked at Al.

  “I don’t think that’s right…” she said slowly.

  “And you are, other than stunningly gorgeous?” Flux asked, trying to pull away one of Marcie’s hands as if to give it a kiss.

  Alfred gulped as he saw the look change to fury in her eyes. Quickly she moved her arm upwards, smacking Flux hard across the face and leaving him shocked, holding his head in his hands.

  “Marcie.” she answered, regaining her composure as quickly as if she had just swatted an irksome gnat away from her face.

  “Wow you really do like the feisty ones, don’t ya Moreno?” Aaron had stood back up. His cheek looked bright red where it had been smacked.

  “Aaron just shut up; I need to talk to you about something.” Al began.

  “Yes, yes, what brings the wandering Resolver back to thy humble Sanctum?” Aaron joked, sitting down in one of the leather armchairs. He picked up a remote and clicked something on it, making the monitor turn on. A planetary news show was being broadcasted. A human woman wearing a red button up suit was sitting behind a newsroom counter. In the top right of the screen was an image of what looked like a sun.

  “We bring you live footage of the planet Hemphion- where scientists say that the planet w
ill overheat and be comple-” Alfred quickly grabbed the remote and turned off the monitor.

  Aaron looked at Al as if to say, “What the hell man?” but Al just shoved Aaron’s arm and mouthed out the word “idiot” to him. Al looked over expecting to see a crying or enraged girl in red armor, but Marcie was just now sitting down in a chair across from him and didn’t look like she had heard anything. Alfred sat down, relieved.

  “Alright look Flux, I have the crystal- now I just need to get to Gosia. I wasn’t briefed on exactly how to get there and the only other times I’ve had to deal with Gosia he came to our dimension. Do you know how I can reach him?”

  “Whaaat! They gave you The Crystal of Gosia case? I put in for that one forever ago, and they said I wasn’t intelligent enough to talk to a God like Gosia. That he wouldn’t appreciate my personality- can you believe that?” he looked at Al in disbelief.

  “No way! You? Incompetent?” Marcie replied, letting the rudeness come out in her voice.

  “Yes, look Flux- just tell me how to get to Gosia.” Alfred was getting impatient.

  “It’s simple my friend. You take a possession of the god you’d like to pay a house call to- in this case it’s Gosia’s Crystal. Then you, being a Rift Resolver, take your Rift Blade and stab down directly in the center of the object. It won’t damage the crystal- it being the possession of a god it would take a lot more than that. Anyway, that’ll open a portal for you to travel to see old Gosia.”

  Just then Henry spoke up, and Alfred removed him from his jacket pocket and set him on the table between Al and Aaron.

  “STAB? What is he saying Alfred? Sir, you wouldn’t stab me would you? Oh Motherboard, Oh Have Mercy, sweet mother of my sacred circuits.” he ranted in a panicked voice, flashing his golden lights all over the room.

  “Woah...what the hell is that?” Aaron put his hands in the air and scooched away from where Al had set Henry.

  “It’s the crystal. Which happens to be connected to my A.I. Henry here. The crystal permanently enhanced him, basically giving him life and allowing him to be a sort of super intelligent program that can connect to databases and technology throughout the universe. But since I haven’t removed the crystal yet he’s been really annoying and talkative because of all the extra energy. Well he’s pretty annoying no matter what, but you know.” Al explained.