Post by Fiona McFly on Jan 2, 2019 13:15:31 GMT
Chapter VII
“EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG”
3 January 2019 + 0330 GMT
Back on the Fredericksburg ranch...
With Fiona McFly fast asleep inside the old farmhouse, we see the time travelers Debbie Fisher sitting on the front porch in their heavy winter’s gear as a cold rain fell from the skies above. It was quite a miserable night to begin the New Year of 2019, but they weren’t there to purposely catch a cold from the weather. On this starless night, they were going over the fine details of their mission to keep Debbie’s younger self’s spirits raised.
DEBBIE FISHER:
Ya should be sleepin’, hunny.
TOMMY VERCETTI:
I was gonna say the same thing about you.
Debbie chuckled as Tommy took a deep breath, his voice solemn and deliberate.
TOMMY:
Amba...err, Deb? I...umm, I think I’m havin’ some complications, complications that could affect this mission.
The old woman perked up her right brow.
DEBBIE:
Wha--?! What’s wrong!?! C’mon--
She began to cough furiously, a sign of her lung cancer, and she took a sip from a piping hot mug of Earl Grey she had made for herself.
DEBBIE:
Spit it out.
Tommy cleared his throat, knowing damn well what he had to say was going to get him into some very serious trouble.
TOMMY:
I’m beginnin’ to have…feelin’s...for her. I think I’m fallin’ in love with Fiona.
Debbie’s face turned red, her eyes widening like saucers as she scowled at her travel partner...
DEBBIE:
Oh, no...no-no-no-NO-NOOO!!!! Ya don’t...ya…
...before slamming her thermos down on the wooden deck, spilling its contents all over the place.
DEBBIE:
You don’t FUCKIN’ say!
Tommy was taken aback by the unusual swear word; Debbie’s voice, still maintaining her Texas twang, grew increasingly pointed and harsh.
DEBBIE:
I’ve heard many whoppers back in my day, but nothin’ like this! How many times must I sit here and run somethin’ through your dad-gummed skull--you don’t belong here, Bobby! Neither one of us!! You’d be breakin’ every single one of them temporal prime directives you so uphold to your heart like...rice ‘n’ wine, and for WHAT!?! To satisfy some feelin’ in your heart!?!
TOMMY:
Oh brother...here ya go again, hidin’’ behind rules and regulations! What did they give in return for my service to this country...shit, I ain’t got nothin’ in our time! Nobody! All I’ve got is a job that don’t pay very well, an eviction notice on my apartment front door, and lots of other problems that make me wanna turn my laser pistol to my head and vaporize myself!
Tommy was just as harsh with his tone with the old woman as the latter was.
DEBBIE:
I understand--
TOMMY:
Like fuck you don’t! You don’t know what it’s like to be the son of a former President of the United States! You don’t know what it’s like to have the press shadow your every move at almost every turn. You ain’t got a goddamn clue as to what it FEELS like to be stalked by those who seek to use your body for their own bathroom material!
Debbie sighed, frost coming from her mouth as her breathing slowed.
DEBBIE:
I am Fiona after all...the granddaughter of a diplomat, one that’s been asked by photographers to pose nude for various magazines in the past.
TOMMY:
And one who threw away an entire career in the sports field ‘cuz you couldn’t accept the fact that you wasn’t better than anyone else.
Tommy’s statement had one purpose in mind: to shock the Ambassador right down to her very core. Yet he began to notice something that, quite frankly, he had never seen before from the elder statesperson. She had begun to clap loudly, as if she was giving someone a sarcastic round of applause for exposing some grandiose truth to the world.
She…smiled. She let out an evil, demonic snicker.
And he was about to drop the gloves and let the cat out of the proverbial bag.
Tommy’s voice, featuring a standard Manchester dialect, grew into a loud hiss, his visage sneering at this old hag as the gloves came off in earnest.
TOMMY:
Yeeeessssss...that’s the dirty little secret you’ve been hiding all this time--cancer be damned. That’s the reason why you broke the Outatime Act in the FIRST PLACE, so you can corrupt the very core of a woman who’s had to deal with her husband’s death for an entire year…’cos it turned out you wanted to bring out the worst in her. That judge ought to be ashamed of himself for letting you off scot-free just ‘cos you were some glorified public servant; had he known about your little dark side--
Instantly, Debbie Fisher had switched to her original Irish-British accent, taking on a sinister side as the true mastermind behind her younger self’s plight.
OLD FIONA:
How fucking DARE you…!
TOMMY:
No...how dare YOU poison the mind of a human being that has a love and passion for her sport yet can’t express that love in the right way ‘cos YOU are the one leading her down the wrong path, and in doing so, you flat-out lied to Terri Morasco, your FRIEND! I don’t care if the Fiona Magdalene McFly of 2019 is your younger self, to me she’s still a living, breathing soul that doesn’t deserve to be put through the hell she’s had to go through in her life, and I’m not gonna stand idle and watch you throw all this poison from your mind into hers!
Old Fiona was rendered speechless, yet her evil grin still remained as Tommy began to reveal the truth by showing off the very same holographic projection device he had taken from the future.
TOMMY:
Wha-wha-what now…doesn't that upset you, your lack of remorse for what you’ve done, you lack of compassion for other people that aren’t you. You lecture me and others about things like Humanity, yet you forget that it was your own, dear Granpapa who was one of the founding members of the Irish Republican Army, and your daddy was only emasculated in that pub ‘cos he done fucked the pooch and got himself busted by the authorities, which made him fall out of favour with the rest of his cohorts.
Tommy’s fury raged as he pressed the Apple logo button, revealing a holographic image of Old Fiona that barely registered under the barely-functioning light bulb.
TOMMY:
This very gadget--not mine, but YOURS--is more than just a simple holo-projector. It’s a 500 gigabyte flash drive that contains the REAL truth behind what REALLY happened that day in 1990, about why your mother took you from your native land and resettled you in Texas, about your true feelings regarding wrestling, and about your daddy’s side of your family! Oh...and let’s not forget how you talk about breaking the Outatime Act, yet you broke it by smuggling this bloody thing into this period to begin with by leaving it on the Epoch’s passenger side floor-board!
Old Fiona growled, her Satanic demeanour becoming more prevalent by the second.
OLD FIONA:
You LIE!!! You speak ill of me Granpapa…
TOMMY:
Not according to these records you’ve kept in your personal memoirs. Your Granpapa and his mob started the very civil war he tried to prevent from ravaging Northern Ireland! Your daddy cheated on your mommy with another woman--a woman named Regina Kimble--and the result of that affair...was the eventual birth of your half-brother Luke. You might know him as the drummer in a charity album that never materialised, a Queen-esque musical pastiche YOU YOURSELF bailed out on ‘cuz you wanted to think of yourself as morally superior than that guy who gave you a chance to explore your hidden talent, a guy you affectionately called “Mr. Nigel.”
Old Fiona sat there on the bench, a steady flame sparking from inside her soul as Tommy kept agging her on.
TOMMY:
When you were done using her, then what else did you have planned?! Oh yes…Sean Morita, the temporal mechanics professor who originally stole an experimental time vehicle built to resemble a Ferrari from his OWN time--2058, on YOUR orders--and ended up in 2018 at right around the same time you started to try and improve your own timeline this past August! Oh he crashed it into Lake Arlington, went into hiding, and yadda-yadda...when that happened, you took matters into your own hands. According to this flash drive, he wound up being the man you allowed yourself to get drunk with one night whilst listening to Bohemian Rhapsody and had an abortion to cover your sorry ass and throw him under the bus for your own benefit!
That tiny little flame in the old woman grew and grew as the rain got heavier and heavier.
TOMMY:
How does it FEEL, Ambassador, to know that you’ve been caught red-handed by a man who was recruited from the past--2017--to do a favour by the gentleman who would become the greatest President in United States history! How does it FEEL to know I took on his son’s name and appearance as a way to shadow you and prevent you from becomin’ even more corrupt?! How does it feel to know to not feel anger, hatred, or even guilt over knowin’ that the very family you held near and dear to your heart will forever be tainted because you had to play the Naughty Nanny in front of the whole damn world!?!
Tommy reached behind his neck and pulled sharply forward; we hear the sounds of ripping as the life-like bald-headed mask he’d been wearing came off in a snap. We see Tommy’s true visage appear amidst a brilliant lightning flash--a scarred, stubby-bearded one with a military-style haircut.
TOMMY:
You feel NOTHING! It doesn’t even COMPUTE with you! You NEVER loved them...especially…Jack. Gaither!
Suddenly, the fuse blew.
Old Fiona let out a high-pitched shriek before jumping on top of Tommy, sending him reeling into the house with a fury of rights and lefts. The man knew he was outmatched by her wrestling and martial arts abilities as he was sent crashing head-first through the living room’s glass coffee table, shattering it to pieces. Bloodied, Tommy tried to deflect each blow before the enraged elder, running on adrenaline, placed her hands firmly around his neck, choking him out. Vercetti was gagging for breath as she dug her long fingernails into his skin, drawing blood.
Eventually, he was able to extricate himself from from her grasp and reached into his backpack. He pulled out a gleaming silver pistol-like device--his 2058-manufactured FBI service weapon--and aimed it right at the old woman, who had picked up a large shard of glass with her bare left hand and was now preparing to use it like a knife. Tommy stood at the ready, his body quivering at the mere fact that he was totally defencive and very much unwilling to utilise the weapon.
OLD FIONA:
(cackling)
You don’t want to do the deed, lovely. That weapon is set to kill…
Old Fiona’s cackle was unmistakable as Tommy’s entire frame shook from head to toe in outright fear and uncertainty. The man shook his head slowly, taking a deep breath as he lowered his laser pistol. At that very moment, we see the current Fiona McFly racing onto the scene in her pink nightgown, wide awake and angered at the damage done to her house; she stared daggers at her future self and her best friend, watching as the latter pressed himself against the wall.
TOMMY:
You’re right...I don’t want to do it, I can’t do it. I don’t want to hurt nobody...but you are gonna pay for what you’ve done. As soon as the guys at Ridley Airfield tell me it’s ready to fly, I’m taking you back to 2058 in the Epoch where you will stand trial for your crimes. No one is above anyone else...even an Ambassador with years of service to her record.
Fiona’s eyes lit with anger as she stared at the sight before her, her voice as shrill as a pissed-off housewife.
FIONA MCFLY:
WHAT THE BLOODY FUCKING HELL IS GOING ON HERE, TOMMY!?! I WANT FUCKING ANSWERS!!!
Tommy closed his eyes and spoke softly. He knew that the time was right for him to tell her the truth, the real truth about who was the real villain in this story.
“Tommy Vercetti happens to be one of my favourite video game characters, but honestly...I’m not originally from 2058, nor am I actually James Gilmore’s kid. I used that name, along with the name of Bobby Gilmore, as a cover...a smokescreen to conceal my true identity. I...am Luke Kimble, your half-brother.”
Fiona stood there, rendered speechless at the revelation. It was at this moment in time when she realised what her inner sensations--the frequent warm or cold bursts of energy that often course through her body at certain times--meant.
Upon looking at her older self, Fiona felt cold, conflicted, and lost.
Yet upon examining her half-brother Luke, she felt the opposite...warm, loved, and most importantly, happy.
LUKE KIMBLE:
This woman--your older self--has been holding you back and corrupting your mind from the very beginning. Everything you’ve known about our family, specifically Grandfather and Dada…is wrong.
~THE END OF OUTATIME, PART II~
+++
~OUR STORY CONCLUDES IN OUTATIME, PART III~
“EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG”
3 January 2019 + 0330 GMT
Back on the Fredericksburg ranch...
With Fiona McFly fast asleep inside the old farmhouse, we see the time travelers Debbie Fisher sitting on the front porch in their heavy winter’s gear as a cold rain fell from the skies above. It was quite a miserable night to begin the New Year of 2019, but they weren’t there to purposely catch a cold from the weather. On this starless night, they were going over the fine details of their mission to keep Debbie’s younger self’s spirits raised.
DEBBIE FISHER:
Ya should be sleepin’, hunny.
TOMMY VERCETTI:
I was gonna say the same thing about you.
Debbie chuckled as Tommy took a deep breath, his voice solemn and deliberate.
TOMMY:
Amba...err, Deb? I...umm, I think I’m havin’ some complications, complications that could affect this mission.
The old woman perked up her right brow.
DEBBIE:
Wha--?! What’s wrong!?! C’mon--
She began to cough furiously, a sign of her lung cancer, and she took a sip from a piping hot mug of Earl Grey she had made for herself.
DEBBIE:
Spit it out.
Tommy cleared his throat, knowing damn well what he had to say was going to get him into some very serious trouble.
TOMMY:
I’m beginnin’ to have…feelin’s...for her. I think I’m fallin’ in love with Fiona.
Debbie’s face turned red, her eyes widening like saucers as she scowled at her travel partner...
DEBBIE:
Oh, no...no-no-no-NO-NOOO!!!! Ya don’t...ya…
...before slamming her thermos down on the wooden deck, spilling its contents all over the place.
DEBBIE:
You don’t FUCKIN’ say!
Tommy was taken aback by the unusual swear word; Debbie’s voice, still maintaining her Texas twang, grew increasingly pointed and harsh.
DEBBIE:
I’ve heard many whoppers back in my day, but nothin’ like this! How many times must I sit here and run somethin’ through your dad-gummed skull--you don’t belong here, Bobby! Neither one of us!! You’d be breakin’ every single one of them temporal prime directives you so uphold to your heart like...rice ‘n’ wine, and for WHAT!?! To satisfy some feelin’ in your heart!?!
TOMMY:
Oh brother...here ya go again, hidin’’ behind rules and regulations! What did they give in return for my service to this country...shit, I ain’t got nothin’ in our time! Nobody! All I’ve got is a job that don’t pay very well, an eviction notice on my apartment front door, and lots of other problems that make me wanna turn my laser pistol to my head and vaporize myself!
Tommy was just as harsh with his tone with the old woman as the latter was.
DEBBIE:
I understand--
TOMMY:
Like fuck you don’t! You don’t know what it’s like to be the son of a former President of the United States! You don’t know what it’s like to have the press shadow your every move at almost every turn. You ain’t got a goddamn clue as to what it FEELS like to be stalked by those who seek to use your body for their own bathroom material!
Debbie sighed, frost coming from her mouth as her breathing slowed.
DEBBIE:
I am Fiona after all...the granddaughter of a diplomat, one that’s been asked by photographers to pose nude for various magazines in the past.
TOMMY:
And one who threw away an entire career in the sports field ‘cuz you couldn’t accept the fact that you wasn’t better than anyone else.
Tommy’s statement had one purpose in mind: to shock the Ambassador right down to her very core. Yet he began to notice something that, quite frankly, he had never seen before from the elder statesperson. She had begun to clap loudly, as if she was giving someone a sarcastic round of applause for exposing some grandiose truth to the world.
She…smiled. She let out an evil, demonic snicker.
And he was about to drop the gloves and let the cat out of the proverbial bag.
Tommy’s voice, featuring a standard Manchester dialect, grew into a loud hiss, his visage sneering at this old hag as the gloves came off in earnest.
TOMMY:
Yeeeessssss...that’s the dirty little secret you’ve been hiding all this time--cancer be damned. That’s the reason why you broke the Outatime Act in the FIRST PLACE, so you can corrupt the very core of a woman who’s had to deal with her husband’s death for an entire year…’cos it turned out you wanted to bring out the worst in her. That judge ought to be ashamed of himself for letting you off scot-free just ‘cos you were some glorified public servant; had he known about your little dark side--
Instantly, Debbie Fisher had switched to her original Irish-British accent, taking on a sinister side as the true mastermind behind her younger self’s plight.
OLD FIONA:
How fucking DARE you…!
TOMMY:
No...how dare YOU poison the mind of a human being that has a love and passion for her sport yet can’t express that love in the right way ‘cos YOU are the one leading her down the wrong path, and in doing so, you flat-out lied to Terri Morasco, your FRIEND! I don’t care if the Fiona Magdalene McFly of 2019 is your younger self, to me she’s still a living, breathing soul that doesn’t deserve to be put through the hell she’s had to go through in her life, and I’m not gonna stand idle and watch you throw all this poison from your mind into hers!
Old Fiona was rendered speechless, yet her evil grin still remained as Tommy began to reveal the truth by showing off the very same holographic projection device he had taken from the future.
TOMMY:
Wha-wha-what now…doesn't that upset you, your lack of remorse for what you’ve done, you lack of compassion for other people that aren’t you. You lecture me and others about things like Humanity, yet you forget that it was your own, dear Granpapa who was one of the founding members of the Irish Republican Army, and your daddy was only emasculated in that pub ‘cos he done fucked the pooch and got himself busted by the authorities, which made him fall out of favour with the rest of his cohorts.
Tommy’s fury raged as he pressed the Apple logo button, revealing a holographic image of Old Fiona that barely registered under the barely-functioning light bulb.
TOMMY:
This very gadget--not mine, but YOURS--is more than just a simple holo-projector. It’s a 500 gigabyte flash drive that contains the REAL truth behind what REALLY happened that day in 1990, about why your mother took you from your native land and resettled you in Texas, about your true feelings regarding wrestling, and about your daddy’s side of your family! Oh...and let’s not forget how you talk about breaking the Outatime Act, yet you broke it by smuggling this bloody thing into this period to begin with by leaving it on the Epoch’s passenger side floor-board!
Old Fiona growled, her Satanic demeanour becoming more prevalent by the second.
OLD FIONA:
You LIE!!! You speak ill of me Granpapa…
TOMMY:
Not according to these records you’ve kept in your personal memoirs. Your Granpapa and his mob started the very civil war he tried to prevent from ravaging Northern Ireland! Your daddy cheated on your mommy with another woman--a woman named Regina Kimble--and the result of that affair...was the eventual birth of your half-brother Luke. You might know him as the drummer in a charity album that never materialised, a Queen-esque musical pastiche YOU YOURSELF bailed out on ‘cuz you wanted to think of yourself as morally superior than that guy who gave you a chance to explore your hidden talent, a guy you affectionately called “Mr. Nigel.”
Old Fiona sat there on the bench, a steady flame sparking from inside her soul as Tommy kept agging her on.
TOMMY:
When you were done using her, then what else did you have planned?! Oh yes…Sean Morita, the temporal mechanics professor who originally stole an experimental time vehicle built to resemble a Ferrari from his OWN time--2058, on YOUR orders--and ended up in 2018 at right around the same time you started to try and improve your own timeline this past August! Oh he crashed it into Lake Arlington, went into hiding, and yadda-yadda...when that happened, you took matters into your own hands. According to this flash drive, he wound up being the man you allowed yourself to get drunk with one night whilst listening to Bohemian Rhapsody and had an abortion to cover your sorry ass and throw him under the bus for your own benefit!
That tiny little flame in the old woman grew and grew as the rain got heavier and heavier.
TOMMY:
How does it FEEL, Ambassador, to know that you’ve been caught red-handed by a man who was recruited from the past--2017--to do a favour by the gentleman who would become the greatest President in United States history! How does it FEEL to know I took on his son’s name and appearance as a way to shadow you and prevent you from becomin’ even more corrupt?! How does it feel to know to not feel anger, hatred, or even guilt over knowin’ that the very family you held near and dear to your heart will forever be tainted because you had to play the Naughty Nanny in front of the whole damn world!?!
Tommy reached behind his neck and pulled sharply forward; we hear the sounds of ripping as the life-like bald-headed mask he’d been wearing came off in a snap. We see Tommy’s true visage appear amidst a brilliant lightning flash--a scarred, stubby-bearded one with a military-style haircut.
TOMMY:
You feel NOTHING! It doesn’t even COMPUTE with you! You NEVER loved them...especially…Jack. Gaither!
Suddenly, the fuse blew.
Old Fiona let out a high-pitched shriek before jumping on top of Tommy, sending him reeling into the house with a fury of rights and lefts. The man knew he was outmatched by her wrestling and martial arts abilities as he was sent crashing head-first through the living room’s glass coffee table, shattering it to pieces. Bloodied, Tommy tried to deflect each blow before the enraged elder, running on adrenaline, placed her hands firmly around his neck, choking him out. Vercetti was gagging for breath as she dug her long fingernails into his skin, drawing blood.
Eventually, he was able to extricate himself from from her grasp and reached into his backpack. He pulled out a gleaming silver pistol-like device--his 2058-manufactured FBI service weapon--and aimed it right at the old woman, who had picked up a large shard of glass with her bare left hand and was now preparing to use it like a knife. Tommy stood at the ready, his body quivering at the mere fact that he was totally defencive and very much unwilling to utilise the weapon.
OLD FIONA:
(cackling)
You don’t want to do the deed, lovely. That weapon is set to kill…
Old Fiona’s cackle was unmistakable as Tommy’s entire frame shook from head to toe in outright fear and uncertainty. The man shook his head slowly, taking a deep breath as he lowered his laser pistol. At that very moment, we see the current Fiona McFly racing onto the scene in her pink nightgown, wide awake and angered at the damage done to her house; she stared daggers at her future self and her best friend, watching as the latter pressed himself against the wall.
TOMMY:
You’re right...I don’t want to do it, I can’t do it. I don’t want to hurt nobody...but you are gonna pay for what you’ve done. As soon as the guys at Ridley Airfield tell me it’s ready to fly, I’m taking you back to 2058 in the Epoch where you will stand trial for your crimes. No one is above anyone else...even an Ambassador with years of service to her record.
Fiona’s eyes lit with anger as she stared at the sight before her, her voice as shrill as a pissed-off housewife.
FIONA MCFLY:
WHAT THE BLOODY FUCKING HELL IS GOING ON HERE, TOMMY!?! I WANT FUCKING ANSWERS!!!
Tommy closed his eyes and spoke softly. He knew that the time was right for him to tell her the truth, the real truth about who was the real villain in this story.
“Tommy Vercetti happens to be one of my favourite video game characters, but honestly...I’m not originally from 2058, nor am I actually James Gilmore’s kid. I used that name, along with the name of Bobby Gilmore, as a cover...a smokescreen to conceal my true identity. I...am Luke Kimble, your half-brother.”
Fiona stood there, rendered speechless at the revelation. It was at this moment in time when she realised what her inner sensations--the frequent warm or cold bursts of energy that often course through her body at certain times--meant.
Upon looking at her older self, Fiona felt cold, conflicted, and lost.
Yet upon examining her half-brother Luke, she felt the opposite...warm, loved, and most importantly, happy.
LUKE KIMBLE:
This woman--your older self--has been holding you back and corrupting your mind from the very beginning. Everything you’ve known about our family, specifically Grandfather and Dada…is wrong.
~THE END OF OUTATIME, PART II~
+++
~OUR STORY CONCLUDES IN OUTATIME, PART III~
Well howdy there pardner.