Phantom Ch. 09

Chapter 9: The Brothers Khalid and Ahmed

Once upon a time, there were two brothers, Khalid and Ahmed. Khalid and Ahmed fought as children, as brothers did, but soon they learned to turn their aggression in other directions, as they became devoted followers of Laquinta, which was a very powerful presence in southern Egypt.

Things were well between the brothers until Ahmed went out and got married, against his family's wishes, to a woman named Latifa from the neighboring Hormel tribe. There was nothing wrong with the Hormel per se, but most of them were Schiar Laquintans, and Ahmed's families were Suttis.

Schiars and Suttis hated each other like poison. They both believed in Laquinta, the Great God of Blood, but each had slightly different ways of worshipping him. These slight differences were deemed heretical by the Schiars and Suttis respectively, and as a result, Schiars and Suttis had been trying to kill each other for approximately 1400 years. Sometimes they took breaks when they joined forces to fight unbelievers, but when the fight against outsiders was over, they would invariably return to their own intra-religious genocide once again. It had been going on so long that it was considered normal for Schiars to kill Suttis and Suttis to kill Schiars.

And yet... some Suttis were friends with Schiars. And some Schiars were friends with some Suttis.

When Ahmed saw Latifa drawing water at the well for her goats, and saw her heavy, Arabic breasts, he decided immediately he wanted to be more than just friends with her. He immediately struck up a conversation with her, based on the one thing he knew they had in common.

"Hello there," he said, going up to the well. "Do you love Laquinta?"

"Of course I love Laquinta!" her dark eyes flared, her eyelashes fluttering. "And you?"

"More than anything," said Ahmed, giving a broad smile.

It was all downhill after that.

Of course, they had to date each other in secret, given the animosities their religions had for one another. But finally the day came when Ahmed felt confident enough to introduce Latifa to his family... as his new wife.

Mother was apoplectic. Father's reaction would probably have been worse, if he hadn't died of an acute case of Ass to Mouth Disease from his favorite falafel stand. But Ahmed's older brother Khalid was the one with the truly angry eyes. "What have you done? You have married this pig, this Schiar? You have disgraced us all!"

Ahmed launched himself at his brother, and they pummeled each other furiously. They might have harmed each other seriously if Mother hadn't shot Father's blaster into the air and commanded them to separate.

It was obvious that Ahmed couldn't continue to live with the family, so he built a shack on the hill where he tended goats and promised Fatima that great things would be in store for them.

Only, they weren't. Ahmed came home one day to find Fatima hanging from the ceiling, the words WHORE emblazoned on her forehead.

He knew who was responsible. And so two days later, Ahmed returned to his childhood home and executed Khalid's wife, Mursha, and his five year old daughter, Shoha, while Khalid was out escorting the camels to market.

When Khalid returned from the market to find his own family dead, he hunted down Ahmed. Ahmed was waiting for him at his hut, and stabbed Khalid in the belly when he entered. Khalid, feeling the life draining from him, summoned up the energy to raise his blaster, and shot Khalid in the chest. Then they both fell down, side by side, and slowly died together.

"I hate you," Khalid whispered, his face inches from Ahmed's.

"And I hate you," said Ahmed.

And then they died.

Only, they didn't, not really.

They turned into kalaks. Ahmed became a Shade, and Khalid became a Fiend, which was somewhat more powerful than a Shade. The two were startled to find themselves in a glowing, spectral form. They were expecting to be transported to paradise where Laquinta promised them 69 virgins to pleasure them eternally, some as young as nine years of age, the age of one of Laquinta's seven wives.

But in this form... they didn't even have bodies. It took them a while to figure out that they could go inside other people's bodies, and longer to learn how to control them. When they did figure out their situation, both their thoughts turned to the same idea: extinguishing the other.

*********

For the next 94 years, Ahmed and Khalid murdered each other. Sometimes they were students in Oslo; sometimes they were construction workers in Pittsburg; sometimes they were random people in Los Angeles; but they were always near each other, always hunting one another.

At the moment, Ahmed and Khalid were strangling each other with their bare hands in the long study room in Sterling Memorial Library at Yale University. Normally the room, which could seat 200 students at the rows and rows of long desks, was totally quiet, no matter how many people filled the room.

But today the room was raucous, as the sounds of Ahmed and Khalid fighting each other filled the hall.

"Security, someone call security," a wimpy beta-male voice bleated. A circle of students gathered around Ahmed and Khalid, who were in the bodies of two students, desperately trying to kill the other. None of them interfered.

Suddenly two members of campus security showed up, a skinny 90 pound girl, and an even skinner 85 pound girl, both dressed in black, both with multiple face and body piercings.

"All right, break it up, break it up you two," said the 90 pound, who was clearly in charge. She moved to separate them as Khalid, on top of Ahmed, finally got a chokehold. Khalid barely registered the girl trying to pull him off. He flung her away with a dismissive hand. The 90 pound girl flew into the edge of a book case and cracked her skull. She fell to the ground in a daze.

The other 85 pound girl, traumatized by what had happened to her companion, fainted by her side.

"Now I have you, Ahmed!" said Khalid. He squeezed, and squeezed, and the life drained out of Ahmed's host. In moments, Ahmed stopped moving.

And then everyone was treated to an amazing scene, as Ahmed's kalak emerged from the dead body, and Khalid's kalak emerged from his. They chatted with each other amicably as they flew up and up and through the library ceiling.

"You always win. This is no fair," Ahmed complained.

"How could it be unfair? Your infidel was just as strong as mine," said Khalid, chuckling. Shades and Fiends looked very much alike, both glowing sheets vaguely in human form, with glowing red eyes, but Fiends had more bulk and substance to them, so Khalid was a little larger than Ahmed.

"But you are a stronger ghost. I always have trouble taking control of my infidel."

"That is because you displeased the Great God of Blood by marrying a disgusting Schiar whore-pig."

"Hate you, Khalid!" The shape of Ahmed started to swirl dangerously around the shape of Khalid as they flew above New Haven.

"Hate you, Ahmed!" Khalid yelled, fighting him back.

*********

They both eventually calmed down, as they always did, and agreed to play a new game. Khalid had spotted a packed football stadium from the air which had definite possibilities.

But first they raided a local police station and took control of two officer's bodies, officers who were armed with concussion pistols. Concussion pistols were generally non-lethal... unless they were set to setting eight.

Khalid and Ahmed set theirs to setting eight.

Then they drove to the stadium in their new bodies. Then Khalid said, "All right. Go inside. I will give you five minutes."

Khalid watched his brother go in. He waited, tapping his foot. He was so impatient that he actually only waited three minutes before going in.

He started scanning the crowd. How to find Ahmed?

He needn't have worried. There was a flash of energy and Khalid felt something whizz by his shoulder. He looked up and saw a man with a compression pistol duck into the crowd.

Ahmed had switched bodies, naturally.

What followed then was a game of hide and seek. Whenever Khalid had trouble finding Ahmed for more than a minute or two, Ahmed would emerge from whatever seat he was crouching in and fire at Khalid. Khalid laughed as the man to his right got shot in the shoulder. Ahmed always was a lousy shot.

People started screaming in terror as Ahmed and Khalid stalked each other. More than a few people fell to crossfire between the two of them. The brothers were not trying to hit other people, but neither did they care if they did.

Finally Khalid confronted Ahmed behind a refreshments stand. Ahmed kept popping up and firing at Khalid. Khalid, in response, fired through the stand, putting a smoking hole in Ahmed's chest.

Ahmed cried out, and a moment later a Shade floated upwards. Khalid abandoned his body and did the same, ignoring the screams of the people around him. "I won again," Khalid chortled.

"I almost won!"Ahmed grinned.

"Did you see the way the infidels were gawking when I shot you through the refreshment table?"

"I was busy dying, Khalid, I did not have time to look," said Ahmed.

"You should have seen the expression on their faces," said Khalid. "They looked like they were wetting themselves!"

Both brothers laughed as they floated away.

********

The Doctor and Sophie were having dinner in a hotel in New Haven, Connecticut, when all of a sudden Sophie's breasts heaved and her eyes grew wide. The Doctor knew what that meant. Sophie immediately whipped out her Pad and punched up her virtual keyboard.

What's happening, Doctor?

"Quiet!" the Doctor hissed.

Sophie, her eyes glazed, started slowly typing with one hand. First a C, then an L, then an E, then an A, then a V... then... then... an E.

And then she slumped, and life returned to her face.

What's happening?

Sophie just had a sending.

"Are you all right, Sophie?" said the Doctor.

"Yes," said Sophie, looking around as if she had just arrived. "What did I type?"

"Cleave," said the Doctor.

"Cleave?" said Sophie. "Cleave, as to cut?"

"Apparently," said the Doctor. "Your last sending was Otis, if I recalled. Otis. Cleave. Otis Cleave. It sounds almost like a name."

"Yes, it does," said Sophie. She rapidly started manipulating her Pad, so did the Doctor.

Doctor where is Sophie getting this information from?

We don't know.

Could it be from a kalak?

We don't know.

"There is no one named Otis Cleave," said Sophie looking up. "Doctor?" He was still bent over his Pad. "Doctor? Did you find something?"

"Yes," said the Doctor gravely. He held up his Pad. It showed a man's face which was half black, and half white. "His name is Otis Cleaver...."

"And? What is it, Doctor?"

"And... we've already met." His face was deadly serious.

********

Back in his hotel room, the Doctor sat morosely in bed.

Otis Cleaver was the Penguin, and the Penguin was Otis Cleaver. And... the Doctor had met him. Some 14 years ago, when the Penguin had taken over his body and forced him to kill Yael and all his friends. Before the Penguin had gone inside of him, the Doctor had seen a man who was white on his left side and black on the right. The Doctor hadn't realized it at the time, but that had been the Penguin in his Poltergeist form.

The ghoul they were hunting was the same ghoul who had made the Doctor kill Yael.

Oh my God!

"That's right, you read my mind. You know what I was just thinking, don't you?"

Yes. Doctor, I didn't know! I'm so sorry!

"There's nothing to be sorry for," said the Doctor. He picked up his Pad. "Otis Cleaver, born 2254, died 2282. Born with a skin deformity that made his left side white, and his right side black. Married to Shoshanna Gronstein in 2278. Murdered said wife in 2279 after discovering her having an affair with another man. Embarked on a reign of terror until he was caught and apparently killed." The Doctor looked up. "Well, that explains a few things. It says here he was tormented because of his deformity. It probably made him hate the world. No wonder he wants to blow everything up." He tossed the Pad aside. "The question, however, is who is passing this information onto Sophie, and why."

It could be another kalak.

"If so, the question again arises... why? How does this help us? We knew the man is a lunatic. This just confirms it," said the Doctor.

A lunatic who killed your wife and friends.

"A lunatic who made me do it. And then made me watch the results," said the Doctor. He could feel his muscles tensing up.

********

Sophie sat in the hotel bar. The Doctor said he wanted to be alone for a while. She didn't know why he had reacted the way he did, but she could guess. The ghoul they were hunting must have some connection to the one who killed the Doctor's wife. Sophie had seen holos of Yael, she was very pretty, with dark straight hair and a small nose... vaguely like hers.

Sophie looked up, and saw a man staring at her, from a few seats away. She had never seen him before. Instead of looking away, as most men did, this one broke out into a smile. Sophie did too.

It was Jack. Like all poltergeists, he could take any form he liked. Sophie had never seen him in the same form twice. He had sat there for a while, watching Sophie nurse a drink, thinking of all the delightful ways he could kill her.

He had intensely enjoyed hanging Alyssa Kleinberg, especially in the nude. He had enjoyed watching her gag to death, bereft of air. Air was such a little thing, such an invisible thing. And yet people needed air to live. As she hung by the rafter, Jack had watched her areolas turn blue which made him smile.

Jack would love to suffocate Sophie. She had such a beautiful neck. But Jack also felt the need to batter her first, to give her black and blue marks all over that lovely face. The idea of battering her body with bruise marks made him hard all over. First he would make love to her. Then he would batter her. Then he would kill her.

Jack knew he could go over and talk to her. He knew at that moment she was lonely, and vulnerable, and he knew just what to say to get her to talk to him. But Jack wasn't interested in talk right now. He just enjoyed staring at Sophie, thinking about the perfect fuck, and the perfect death.

And then he sighed. She was too perfect. Too beautiful. She did look just like Jenny Smoothstone, who had broken his heart before he broke her neck, all those hundreds of years ago. No, he wouldn't kill Sophie. Not yet. Not now.

But soon.

Winking at her, he got up and left.

********

Ahmed and Khalid were playing hide and go seek.

Ahmed was hiding.

Khalid was seeking.

The rules were as follows. Ahmed could hide anywhere on the 4th floor of the massive World Government Unsocial Services building in downtown Syracuse, New York. The World Government ran a large number of programs from this office, including income maintenance dispensaries, teaching new mothers how to feed their children breakfast, settling new Laquintan refugees from Ramada into the community, and running workshops to teach everyone the benefits of HappyHappys, how to figure out your gender, and how white people could best fight their inherent racism.

The fourth floor was a veritable maze of cubicles filled with Unsocial Workers performing work that was vital to the community.

Ahmed had taken over the body of one of the workers. It was Khalid's job to find him.

Khalid casually roamed the rows of cubicles in the body he had appropriated, a young man named Yasir who was actually a follower of Laquinta. He had no visible identification, as workers did, but no one felt confident enough to question him, for fear of being labeled Laquintaphobic. Khalid walked the aisles, making eye contact with every worker he could as he walked.

Suddenly, he stopped by one worker. "Who are you?" he said roughly.

"I'm... I'm Dilbert Hines," the man stammered. "Can I help you?"

"Get out of my way!" said Khalid, shoving past him.

Khalid didn't know how he would know which body Ahmed was in. He just knew that when he found him, he would know.

Khalid walked down more rows of cubicle, apparently randomly. He questioned one or two more drone like workers. He had the feeling of being watched, like there were eyes focused on the back of his head. He turned around, but saw nothing.

"Can I help you?"

Khalid turned to see a blonde woman with large decadent western breasts smiling at him. Western women were all the same. All whores. If Khalid weren't busy playing the game, he would-

He stopped, and took a second look at the woman. And a third. Could this be Ahmed? Could Ahmed have taken this lowly female's body to mock him?

He grabbed the woman, and stared into her eyes. She squealed. He pushed her away. No.

He kept walking. He walked right past a man faced away from him, typing away on his virtual keyboard... and then Khalid did a U-turn and walked back to him. The man turned around, aimed a compression pistol at Khalid, and shot him in the chest.

*********

"Finally!" said Ahmed, over dinner at a local restaurant. They had both appropriated new bodies, for obvious reasons. "I got you!"

"Tired of losing, eh?" Khalid grinned, taking a bite out of his falafel. They never made it like they were supposed to in this decadent America. Never. But it wasn't bad for what it was.

"It felt so good to shoot you, my brother," said Ahmed.

"Next time you will have to hunt for me," said Khalid. He had such mixed feelings. On the one hand, he had a burning desire to kill Ahmed. On the other hand, Ahmed was still his brother. Somehow, killing each other over and over had somehow brought them closer together. Truthfully, Khalid didn't really know how he felt about his brother now.

*********

The Bollinger family was celebrating Thanksgiving. And they had a special guest: a Mr. Abu Jihadi, an official from the World Government Department of Family Nutrition, who had come to make sure the family was enjoying a nutritious meal.

Mr. Abu Jihadi stood in the kitchen, watching like a hawk, as Dorathea Bollinger made all the various dishes, one by one. In reality, of course, Mr. Abu Jihadi was Khalid.

They were playing a new game. One member of this eight member extended family was Ahmed, but Khalid didn't know which one. If Khalid attacked an innocent person first, he would lose. And so he simply watched as the food was prepared, and the family sat down for dinner.

Papa Stinson wanted to say the benediction, but when he began, talking about the white man's God, Khalid couldn't bear it. He slammed his fist down on the table, making the dishes as well as the Bollinger family jump. "You profane Laquinta with your false words!" he yelled. This was all a game, but even in a game, there were rules!

"What... what should the prayer be like, Mr. Jihadi?" Papa Stinson said.

"I will show you!" Khalid put his head down and put his hands together in prayer. "Praise be Laquinta, we thank you for this bountiful feast. Please deliver the heads of all unbelievers to us, and may the rivers flow with their blood. May their women become our concubines, and their sons our slaves. Deliver the world to your servants, and we will destroy and enslave the unbelievers as you command. Amen." He looked up, and glared at the Bollinger family. One by one they stammered "Amen". After all, they didn't want to be considered Laquintaphobic, especially not on Thanksgiving, did they?

People started eating food, all except Khalid.

"Aren't you hungry, Mister Jihadi?" Dorathea asked.

"No-"

"But please try the-"

"Shut up, woman." Khalid noticed with satisfaction that Papa Stinson flinched when he said that, but otherwise did nothing. It was this way with all unbelievers. You could violate their women right in front of them and all they would do is bleet like sheep.

The family started to eat--and drink--and Khalid watched every movement. A few moments later, Carey, one of the older sons, got an odd expression on his face. He started coughing. Then one of the other members of the family started coughing. Then they all did.

"What's... what's happening?" Papa Stinson rasped.

"You are all feeling the wrath of Laquinta," Khalid explained.

He watched with satisfaction as they fell out of their seats, one by one, and slowly died. In moments they were all on the ground, unmoving.

Ahmed's kalak slowly rose out of Michelle, the older daughter. "You cheated!" he cried.

"Not at all," said Khalid. "I killed you, didn't I?"

"Along with a family of infidels," said Ahmed. He couldn't resist a grin as he looked down at their bodies. "I have to admit, that was a very creative move."

"Thank you," said Khalid.

"And now, why don't you stop playing games and get serious?" said a new voice.

Khalid looked up. A man with a half black and half white face appeared in the Bollinger family dining room.

"Who invited you, freak?" said Khalid.

"I did," said the man. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is the Penguin," he added, looking expectantly at Khalid.

********

"But you like killing," said the Penguin.

"Yes, I like killing Ahmed," said Khalid.

"And I like killing Khalid," said Ahmed.

Khalid smiled at his brother.

"No you don't," said the Penguin. "Please, stop lying to yourselves."

"What do you mean?" Ahmed asked.

"I've been watching you," said the Penguin.

"You have?" said Ahmed.

"Yes. Whatever this started off as, this is no longer about killing each other. Don't you see? You enjoy hunting each other down, but what you enjoy most is killing the bodies you're in, and bystanders around you. You're Laquintans, and you enjoy killing infidels."

"Do we?" Khalid said, sporting an identical grin to Ahmed.

"You do," said the Penguin. "That's why you should want to help me blow up the world."

"But... if you do that, everyone will die," said Khalid.

"That's right."

"Including followers of Laquinta."

"Ah... yes, but they will all instantly be transported to paradise, and given their 69 nine year old virgins, is that not correct?"

"I... suppose," said Khalid grudgingly.

"Then join my holy cause."

Khalid and Ahmed exchanged glances for a long moment. Then Khalid, the elder, spoke for both of them. "I do not think so."

"Why?" the Penguin asked.

"Because it is said that Laquinta will return on the Day of Slaughter and destroy the Infidels, leaving the rest of the world untouched for his followers. But how can he do that if the world is destroyed?"

"These are minor technicalities-"

"No," said Khalid.

"Really-"

"I said no."

The Penguin sighed. "And I really had such high hopes for you gentlemen."

*********

The Bollinger family dining room caused a lot of emotional pain for the Doctor.

It was completely empty now, but he knew what had happened here four days ago. He looked at the dining room table. He could only imagine one of the family members, forced to poison the rest of her family.

Just like he had been forced to kill Yael and Wally and all his friends.

The Doctor didn't react visibly, but of course Alanna knew what he was feeling. She was tactful enough not to comment as he wrestled with his anxiety.

The Doctor held up his scanner. "He was here, approximately four or five days ago. Some of the DNA has faded, but it was definitely him. And... the two others we have been tracking as well. They have been travelling together, or one has been following the other. I've picked up 22 more DNA strands I can add to the Penguin's profile... assuming they're his, and not the other two's."

Sophie looked at the dining room table. She knew what had happened here. "They poisoned a family, a family just trying to enjoy Thanksgiving. Why would they do that?"

"They're ghouls, Sophie," said the Doctor.

"Not all kalaks are like that. These are Fiends and Shades," said Alanna, speaking through the Doctor. "The dead, reanimated because of some hate or grudge driving them."

"A pity that this family didn't come across one of the nicer ghouls, then," the Doctor commented.

Alanna could practically feel the tension rippling across his arms and legs.

********

That night, the Doctor took his pills, but could not fall asleep, tossing and turning in bed.

Having trouble sleeping, Doctor?

"I'm used to sleeping on the ceiling. How can any sane person sleep on the floor of a room?" the Doctor asked.

Alanna knew what the real problem was. The site of the Bollinger family massacre had unnerved him. Let me help you. Lie on your front.

"What?"

Turn over and lie on your front.

The Doctor reluctantly complied. He felt his back starting to be massaged.

"Oooh," he said.

Does that feel good, Doctor?

"Yes," said the Doctor. "It feels like you're rubbing the knots in my back."

You have very tense muscles, Doctor. When people are nervous, their muscles often contract.

"Yes," said the Doctor. "Ahhhh," he added, as a sore spot in his back eased. "But... how are you doing that? You can't manifest yourself physically like that."

I'm not. It only feels like I'm rubbing your back. In reality, I'm just stimulating nerve endings. When I'm in your body, I can do that.

"Ooooh," said the Doctor, as a crimp in his calf eased up.

Good?

"Yes," said the Doctor.

I used to do this for Alyssa, sometimes.

"You must miss her."

Of course.

The Doctor felt the massaging sensation moving to his other leg. He moaned in pressure as a knot eased. "I miss Yael. That ghoul used me to kill her, just as it used someone in that family to poison the others."

You weren't responsible, Doctor. You couldn't fight it.

"Couldn't I?"

No. The Penguin is a Poltergeist. Poltergeists are as powerful as Phantoms. You must rid yourself of any doubt.

Gradually, ever so gradually, Alanna's phantom touch and words helped the Doctor drop off to sleep. When he awoke, he was more refreshed than he had been in weeks.

*********

The inherent problem was that Khalid was a Fiend but Ahmed was only a Shade. As a Shade, Ahmed had to struggle with reluctance of the body he was controlling. That always gave Khalid an advantage in battle.

So Khalid decided to give Ahmed an advantage in advance, but an advantage which would also mock him. They entered the home of the Dubersteins. Ken Duberstein was the father, Nancy Duberstein was the mother, and Lisa Duberstein was their 20 year old daughter. Ahmed went inside Ken... and Ahmed went inside Lisa.

Lisa was younger than Ken, and more agile, but Ken was much more muscular and was 50 pounds heavier, a distinct advantage. Before they began, they both cooperated to tie up the mother, Nancy, so she couldn't interfere.

She protested as they tied her arms and legs with strips of electrical cord. "Ken, Lisa, what are you doing?"

"I'm sorry, Mother, but you can't be allowed to interfere," said Lisa, tying her mother's legs tightly.

"Interfere with what?"

"Father and I are going to kill each other, in front of you," Lisa grinned. They had considered killing the mother outright, but thought it would be more entertaining if she were allowed to watch.

"No! No, you've gone mad! Call World Government social services-" her voice was suddenly muffled as a gag was put in her mouth.

"Indolent cow," Ahmed grinned, in the body of Ken, the Father. He could feel Ken squirming inside of him.

What is happening?

You are about to kill your daughter, for the greater glory of Laquinta.

No, I won't do it!

You will!

"Are you ready?" Ahmed asked.

"Almost," said Khalid. He was rapidly taking off his clothes, Lisa's clothes.

"What are you doing?" Ahmed asked.

"Getting comfortable," Khalid explained.

Ahmed knew that Khalid was not getting comfortable. Always the wily tactician, Khalid knew that Ahmed would have trouble controlling Ken, his host, who undoubtedly would have qualms about strangling his own daughter. Khalid was trying to make it even more difficult by having the daughter strip nude in front of her own father.

Ahmed couldn't help but admire the 20 year old's firm body as he stripped her nude. Her breasts were not as large as Fatima's, of course, but she had a lean, muscular body which under other circumstances he would have enjoyed using as a concubine or slave.

"Lisa, no," Ken cried out, momentarily taking control of his mouth.

Khalid smiled at him in the whore's body, letting him know that he enjoyed the effect it was having.

And then it began. In moments Ahmed and Khalid were rolling around on the floor, punching, kicking, biting--all forms of combat were permissible in the eyes of Laquinta. The fat cow of a mother screamed as Ahmed and Khalid rolled over her. They both disentangled themselves and got up, laughing.

Ahmed clearly had the stronger body (Ken's), but Ken fought him almost as strongly as Lisa did, making it harder for Ahmed to deliver punches and kicks.

"I'm sorry, baby girl!" Ken cried out, as he punched Lisa in the face.

"I'm scared, Daddy!" Lisa yelled, as she kneed her father in the belly.

"It's going to be all right, baby girl!" Ken cried out. But even as he said that, he slammed his fist into Lisa's head, and she went crashing to the ground.

Time to finish it. Ahmed jumped down on top of Lisa, intending to strangler her. But Lisa was ready for him, and pummeled him with her fists and rolled around so she was on top.

A trap! That Khalid was a wily one!

Ahmed tried to roll again so he was on top, but Ken fought for control of his body. Ahmed was so distracted that Khalid was able to sandwich Lisa's groin so that it sat on top of Ken's throat. As the pressure of Lisa's pubic bone started to crush his windpipe, Ken found himself looking straight into Lisa's v shaped pubic hair. He looked up and saw a wicked expression on her face. He gasped for breath, but slowly but surely he was being strangled to death by his little girl's vagina.

Ahmed/Lisa gasped for breath. The end was near, he could sense it.

"Excuse me, are we interrupting something?" said a new voice.

Khalid looked up, and saw a man in a floppy hat and black coat and a young woman in a tight shirt and shorts staring at him.

"If that's your father, and I think it is, I'd very much appreciate it if you'd stop strangling him with your vagina," said the Doctor, breaking out in a grin.

Ahmed used the opportunity of the distraction to push Lisa's naked body off of him. He sat up, still in Ken's body.

"Who are you?" Khalid demanded.

"I'm the Doctor. And this is Sophie," said the Doctor.

"What is it you want?" said Khalid.

"We want to talk to you about someone called the Penguin."

"I know of no such person," said Khalid.

"Oh, but I think you do. We've been tracking you, and him, for the past few days," said the Doctor. "You make your trail rather conspicuous, with all the murders you commit."

"The lives of infidels are of no consequence," said Khalid.

"Well, then you wouldn't mind telling me the whereabouts of the Penguin, then, would you?" said the Doctor, giving an irritating smile.

"I do not know where he is. He came to us with an offer. We refused it. He left."

"An offer to blow up the world, no doubt?" said the Doctor.

"Yes," said Khalid.

"And I suppose you gentlemen refused because you are both such fine humanitarians."

"What is... humanitarian?" Ahmed asked.

"It is a sheep, Ahmed. A sheep who allows himself to be slaughtered," Khalid grinned, slowly getting up. Ahmed did the same.

"He didn't happen to mention where he was going next, did he?" the Doctor asked.

Khalid just stared at the Doctor, assessing him, as he spoke to his brother. "Tell me, Ahmed, do you think you could kill the man, if I take the girl?"

"Definitely," said Ahmed, and as he said it, he was charging the Doctor.

But he might as well have been moving in slow motion. The Doctor drew his Infinite Infinity Repeater and blasted Ahmed. Ahmed screamed and Ken's body fell to the ground. Sophie had her IIR out and shot Lisa right in the titties. She screamed and went down as well.

Both bodies were motionless. Out of the corner of his eye the Doctor saw the terrified expression on the mother, Nancy, as she was still tied up. "Help her," said the Doctor, going over to the father and daughter, feeling for a pulse.

Sophie went and started untying the mother.

"They just both went crazy!" Nancy Duberstein cried, as soon as the gag was removed. "Are they all right?"

"The daughter is fine," said the Doctor, feeling for a pulse. Sometimes the IIR killed the host, and sometimes not. He felt the father's neck. "I'm sorry, your husband is dead."

No!

Alanna flowed out of the Doctors body and into Ken Duberstein in one fluid motion. For a moment nothing happened. And then Ken took a breath. Then another, and another. He opened his eyes.

"What just happened?" said Sophie, running over.

"Sometimes kalaks have the ability to revive a host at the moment of death, if they are quick enough," said Alanna, through Ken's mouth. "We cannot heal truly traumatic physical wounds, but if it is simply a matter of restarting the life functions of an individual, sometimes, occasionally, we can make a difference."

"You... you saved him," said Sophie. She exchanged glances with the Doctor. Both looked astonished.

"Yes," said Alanna. "And now it is time for me to return to the Doctor."

Nancy, Ken, and Lisa watched with astonishment as a glowing kalak rose out of Ken's body.

"No," the Doctor whispered. He had his IIR in his hand. He could have shot Alanna and ended this. Instead, he simply said, "No. Please, Alanna, don't." His voice was filled with so much pleading, so much heartache, that Alanna felt truly sorry for what she was about to do.

Alanna sank back into the Doctor's body. He resisted her instinctively, but not intentionally, and she soon settled within him.

Sophie's eyes grew wide as she watched it happen. She knew that Alanna had been his rider, but had never seen her take possession of him. Alanna sensed the hurt and shame in the Doctor as he felt sorely debased in front of Sophie.

"I'm... sorry I had to do that in front of you, Sophie," said Alanna, through the Doctor.

"Yes, you're always sorry for something, aren't you?" the Doctor snapped, recovering his wits. Ken, Lisa, and Nancy stared at him with gaping mouths, but the Doctor ignored them.

"Does this give us any more information for tracking down the Penguin?" Alanna asked.

The Doctor took out his hand scanner and operated it. "No. He wasn't here. I was hoping we could track him through these two. But now that they're gone, we've lost a lead." He tilted his head back on his head. "Still, we have added some more of his psychic DNA to his profile. We should have a somewhat easier time tracking him now." He looked at Lisa Duberstein, who was still standing there totally nude, looking astonished. "Young lady, do you realize you're not wearing any clothes? If you don't put something on, you'll catch your death from cold."

********

"What do you have for me now, Galina?"

The Penguin was in a bad mood. First Samaraa had rejected his entreaties, and now the Laquintan brothers. He felt sure the Laquintans would have been amenable to his plan. But no, they only liked killing their way.

That was the problem; he needed a kalak who was both strong enough to take control of a host, and one who was willing to carry out his plan. Malign kalaks wanted to kill, but they liked to do it in person; the abstract destruction of the entire planet didn't interest them. And those few who were willing often weren't strong enough.

The Penguin had endured so much torment during his short, unhappy life. The world had hated him. The world had laughed at him. The world had despised him. Only Shoshanna.... Shoshanna had been his lifeline in a cruel world. When he learned that Shoshanna had gotten a HappyHappy, when he saw Shoshanna in bed with another man... something had broken, deep inside of him. Killing Shoshanna with his bare hands hadn't been enough. It was only the beginning. The Penguin wanted the whole world to suffer. No, more than that, he wanted the whole world to end.

And it would, when he found another kalak to help him launch the Nova Missiles.

Galina brought in a new recruit. Galina, a Lemure, had been quite the disappointment lately. He had only asked one thing from her, one thing, and she consistently failed him. Maybe it was time to be getting rid of Galina.

"What have we here?" the Penguin asked.

Galina was in the body of a young dark haired women. Galina ran through bodies quickly, but always seemed to prefer brunettes with jet black hair. This newcomer, by contrast, was a blonde, with a wicked smile.

"A new recruit," said Galina.

The Penguin stared at the blonde with knowing eyes. "What is this... a Shadow? A Fiend?"

"A Lemure, Great One," said Galina.

"A Lemure!" Lemures were not nearly strong enough to do what was required. The Penguin felt the rage within him, the rage he always felt within him, bubbling mightily. He raised his hand, and a crackling ball of energy appeared in his hand.

"Wait!" Galina cried. "This Lemure isn't like the others. Kelly, show him."

The blonde looked at the Penguin, totally without fear. She drew a long blade from behind her back. Then she plunged it into her own stomach.

The blonde screamed, and fell to the ground. Even as she was screaming and jerking in her death throes, a glowing figure emerged from her body, a glowing figure with red eyes.

"Impressive," said the Penguin, and the energy ball in his open palm vanished. "How did you do that, child?"

"I am no one's child," came the gravelly voice of the Lemure.

"Have you a name?" The Penguin asked.

The Lemure nodded. "I was known as Kelly Gray."