“Albert,” said Randy “do you mind if I call you Al, Albert strikes me as being much too formal.” “As you wish Sire.” Replied Albert. “And let’s lose the Sire crap OK?” said Randy “If I am so well placed in this land of yours, and exactly where is that, by the way, how is it that I don’t know squat about this place?” That Si…, Randy is a rather long story.” Al said. At that moment the serving girl entered the room with a platter piled high wuth what appeared to be hamburgers. “Ah,” said Randall “It appears that I shall be occupied for a while, so why don’t you start with why my memory of this place is like a block of swiss cheese.” “Let me start with your first question.” Said Al “In a nutshell, you are at the center of the Multiverse. Some would refer to this place as ‘The Gump’ or the well of souls. But we fondly refer to it as The Nexus. Given acces to the correct Portal, you can gain entry to any point in the multiverse. For the last 80 days, subjective time. You have resided on Earth with no memory of the existence of the Nexus.” Why am I buying this load of crap? I should be rolling on the floor laughing at this crazy guy, but something is ringing true here. Thought Randall “Go on. “said Randall “Why is It I don’t remember anything about this place?” “There was a problem with your retrieval Randy.” Said Al “You were retrieved by the Countess Maria Magdalena who has carried out hundreds of these retrievals without incident. But, this time something unprecedented happened and she was unable to complete the process. If you are quite finished with your repast, there is something I must show you.” “Lead on Al.” said Randy. Al led Randy out of the room and down one of the corridors he had been in earlier. As they turned left into another corridor they were met by a young red headed woman. “Well hello lover,’ said Dana. ‘had I know it was you I was drawn to, I would have engaged turbo speed!” “I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure miss! Randy exclaimed. “Oh, you’ve had the pleasure, as have I.” Dana said “And quite a few times at that. What’s the scoop Albie? Is this an act or can it be that he really does not remember me?” “Mr Vines,” said Al “Allow me to introduce, or shall I say reintroduce you to Miss Dana West, formerly of Lansing, Michigan, Earth Prime. Dana. I was just about to show Mr, Vines to the retrieval chamber.” “By all means Albie, if you are going to get all formal on me then this has got to be some serious shit!’ exclaimed Dana. “Here we are.” Said Al as he opened the door leading into a rather large chamber. In the center of the chamber were several beds. One of which was occupied by what appeared to be a life sized doll. Randy stopped short as he gazed upon the form on the bed before him. Dana frowned as she looked upon what appeared to be a mannequin of a strikingly beautiful woman with long black hair and Hispanic features. “Contessa?” Dana asked. “Gypsy?” Randall said. Randy turned to Al as the color drained from his face. “This woman has been haunting me for over sixty years. She was at my ‘death bed’ and told me we were bound for a new beginning.” “Randy,” said Al “this is what remains of the Contessa Maria Magdalena Santos-Perez-delaVega. It was her self assigned mission to watch over you on Earth Prime after her departure from there. The Contessa is a spirit walker and one of your most experienced retrieval agents. Needless to say, something went wrong during your retrieval and she was unable to guide you properly back into the Nexus stream. Part of her mission was to reintegrate you into your Nexus persona. We found you both on the floor in the Portal chamber. We have not been able to make contact with her ethereal persona in order to determine what the problem is.” “Well shit!” exclaimed Dana “This is a fracking fine kettle of fish now isn’t it?” ——– Something is not right here! I should not be phasing in and out of my body like this. Can it be the excitement of being with him again? But no, get a hold of yourself Maria. He is still only a man even if he is THE Man. The Contessa Maria Magdalena Santos-Perez-delaVega repositioned her grip on Randall Vines. She had to get him through the Portal before the last spark of life left him or the recovery process would be that much more difficult. There it was again, that unsettling feeling that something was not as it should be. She had this feeling of unease ever since she had materialized so that she could recover Randy. It would have been so much easier if she could have remained in her ethereal form and just guided him to the portal. But she had waited too long and there was no way he was going to get there on his own power, She could remember only one or two other times in their 900 year history when he had been so dependent on her. There it was again, she had just tripped over her own feet again, or had she? There was an unaccustomed stiffness in her left ankle and her left arm was not responding as it should. Another twenty feet to the shimmering outline of the elevator shaft that hid the Nexus portal. She was not imagining it, her body was becoming stiff as though dipped in plaster. The portal had flashed a sickly green color when she had stepped through from the Nexus. That must have been when she’d been attacked. But by what. Or by whom? No matter, she thought as she crossed the portal, we will soon sort this out. DUNCAN TO ME. Suddenly she found herself on the floor and unable to move. She released her spirit from her body and looked down on herself as Duncan Jones entered the room. Duncan ran into the room and bent over the contessa. “My lady!” he cried out, “Whatever is the matter? Do you need help with His Majesty?” Out of the corner of his eye he thought he could see the spirit form of the countess, but she did not solidify as she usually did and she finally faded from his sight. He picked up her still form and carried her to one of the beds in the other room, He then went back and picked up Randall Vines and gently deposited him in one of the other beds. He thought he heard the contessa’s voice telling him to go and get the chancellor. Yes, he thought, that is what I will do, I will fetch chancellor Einstein. He will know what to do. With that thought in mind, Duncan Jones rushed out of the room. The form of the contessa materialized once again. She gazed upon the still form of Randy Vines, his youth fully restored upon passing through the portal. A single tear rolled down her face. Querido she thought, this is not how I imagined our new beginning would go. Have I brought you home only to lose you again? With that thought on her mind she slowly faded from sight once again.—–Updated Nov 7, 2020, 4:15 PMJul 11, 2013, 11:08 PM
xus: The Return chapter one part two