MISTAKES AND REDEMPTION
                              By the Flashman

        He squinted against the light that glared harshly from
the other side of the opening cell door.  For the last... he'd
lost track of how long he'd been imprisoned, that was the only
real light he'd seen since he'd fallen asleep at the keyboard,
reading a fanfic that described the latest exploits of the AAA
and waking up in the darkness.
        He also knew the figure that was standing there, framed
in that light.  The figure turned it's head to look at someone
outside the doorway as it said, "Yes... master.  I will be there
on time.  Always good to add another member to the team, right? 
Yes... master.  Thank you... master."
        The figure then turned it's head back to look at him,
stepping inside the cell and closing the door.  When his eyes
adjusted back to the darkness, he could make out the form better.
        A man with incredibly pale skin dressed in black from
head to toe, including a pair of black sunglasses that covered
his eyes and a black canteen with a black cobra head shaped top
clipped to his side.
        The man who had been born from a fever and medicated haze
of confusion... and who'd been strengthened from a depression so
black, that the one chained to the wall hadn't known if he'd been
awake or dreaming as the words were shamefully typed.
        Dark Starr.
        Sitting down next to where his author was slumped over in
his bonds, the hentai goth said nothing at first, simply looking
at him.  Finally he spoke, saying, "Dad... can I call you dad,
Christian?  I can?  Gooddie!  Dad, how long is this going to
continue?  It's not like it's going to kill you... whereas
keeping this behavior up most likely will.  To be quite honest,
Dark Sonic is begining to wonder if there's any reason to keep
you around."
        "No..." the author whispered, his voice cracked from the
almost non-existent supply of food and water he was given to
survive, "Don't wanna."
        "You HAVE to," Dark Starr growled, "Keeping all that
delicious darkness... all that anger and rage at the world,
locked inside can't be healthy for you.  What better way to get
rid of it then to just let it go and write.  Let it make me...
and the Horde of course, stronger."
        "No..." the author moaned, "I won't. No more... no more
of you... I want you to die... why won't you die?"
        "Because," Dark Starr replied, "I and several others like
me, have found a way around that little problem.  Besides,
there's that little part of you that DOESN'T want me to die...
the part of you that NEEDS me to express itself when you're
unable to do so.  All I'm asking is that you let him come out and
play for a little while."
        "NO!" Christian cried, "NO!  I won't do it!  You're not
real... you can't be real..."
        Dark Starr's expression changed from one of gentleness to
one of annoyance in a heart beat.  He took his canteen off his
belt and unscrewed the cap.  Using his other hand, he held
Christian's face steady as he held the canteen under his nose. 
"Smell it..." Dark Starr growled, "I SAID SMELL IT!  IT is real! 
THIS is real!  *I* am real!  YOU can make me even more real!"
        "No... please..." Christian moaned.
        "Why do you insist on this course?" Dark Starr snarled,
"What have your 'good' fiction gotten you?  NOTHING!  *I* am the
one who truly got you noticed!  People will always notice an
atrocity before an accomplishment and it is better to be INfamous
then UNfamous!"
        His expression changed, softening again as he said, "All
I ask is a few pages, only a few minutes work and I can guarantee
that you will be let go with no farther harm done to you."
        "No..."
        Dark Starr's expression didn't change this time as he
said, "Your cousin is still dead.  Stephen still took his own
life, despite how nice you tried to be to him ever time that he
visited you and your family.  There's no reason to hang on to
your precious 'morality'.  Look how effective it was in saving
someone you loved."
        Christian weakly raised his head, tears streaming down
his face. "You are real," he said, "No one in fiction could be
such a complete and utter bastard."
        Dark Starr shrugged, "I am my father's son... albeit, I
am the black sheep of the family."
        "But... then... is HE real?"
        "Who?
        "You know who I mean... HIM."
        Dark Starr's fist clenched so hard that it trembled and
his knuckles turned an even paler shade of white as he said, "I
don't know who you're talking about."
        "He IS real, isn't he?  Darkness can't exist without
light, right? So he's gotta be real."
        Christian started to laugh, a bit of madness in it as he
said, "Oh, when HE finds out about you, he's gonna come right in
and kick your ass royally!  Oh, yeah!  Then I won't have to worry
about you ever again!  Nope nope nope!"
        Dark Starr pulled back his fist for the Stomach Punch,
then stopped and growled, "Bah.  You're not worth even that
much."
        The hentai goth hit his author on his right temple with a
backhand, knocking him out.  Taking a sip from his canteen, Dark
Starr turned around an walked out, leaving the prison in the
darkness once more.

* * *

        Watching from just outside the time stream, a slightly
older (if only by a few months) version of the man hanging on the
wall sighed.  It would have been so easy, if he'd gone back to
get something to break the chains with, to just step into that
portion of time and pull himself out of there.
        Unfortunately, he'd tried that once before and the
changes to the time stream (which had only been reversed after a
lot of begging and pleading for NotReallyHere's help), he knew he
could not do anything.
        Fortunately, he also knew how the story would turn out in
the end.  On one of his routine checks to see if Dark Sonic was
attempting to repeat an author abduction as he had done in the
time leading up to King of the Net, NotReallyHere would stumble
upon Christian and eventually free him, dumping him in front of
the Powers That Be of the AAA... and then promptly being taken to
a hospital to be properly cared for until he recovered.

* * *

        He'd been surprised when he'd heard he had three visitors
waiting for him to be coherent enough to talk.  He'd been even
more surprised when two of them had been Timothy and Alicia, who
he'd seen on the AAA: King of the Net tape they had shown in the
rec room about a week ago.
        The third was a rather large man.  "Hiya," the large man
said in a friendly way with a thick Canadian accent, "Name's
Jamie 'Jolt' Jeans."
        Christian looked up and muttered, "First Christopher and
now you... boy, they grow'em big in Canada."
        "Huh?" Jamie asked as he blinked.
        "Nothing," Christian said a little more loudly as he sunk
back into the bed, glad that the cold feeling of the bed pan
wasn't there anymore to cause him discomfort (the bed itself was
doing a good enough job of that).
        "Well," Jaimie said as he gently shook Christian's
offered hand, "As someone else who's been a prisoner of Dark
Sonic, I thought it'd be a good idea for me to be here to help
you if you need it, okay?"
        Alicia picked up his medical chart and read the name,
"Christian Rogers..."
        She then looked up at him and asked, "AKA Flashman?"
        Christian nodded.
        Still looking at him, and a small look of pity in her
eye, she asked him, "AKA Dark Starr?"
        Tears of shame coming to his eyes, he nodded weakly.
        Tim patted him on the shoulder, "Believe me... we all
have our demons to hide."
        "I know you've been through a lot," Alicia said, "but Tim
and I have, too..."
        Tim looked at Alicia.  Alicia looked back.  After a
minute, Tim sighed and said, "Alright... but ONLY if he agrees to
it."
        "They must be good friends," Christian thought, "...to be
able to communicate like that."
        Looking back at him, Alicia asked, "Chris... what do you
remember of when you were in our office?"
        Christian chewed his lower lip lightly before replying,
"Not much. Just someone dropping me on the floor, saying 'Look
what I found, guys', and then waking up with a nurse changing my
bed pan..."
        As the faces of the two Powers began to turn to one of
disappointment Christian added, "Although... for a moment... I
don't know why I remember this so clearly... I got this mental
image of... I don't know what it was. It looked like a Furrie...
but one that was part cat and part mouse... you know what I
mean?"
        The two Powers then smiled (Christian's mind nearly
melted upon seeing the smile on Alicia's face) and nodded at each
other.  "What?" Jamie asked, "Did I miss something?  What's so
important about seeing something like that?"
        "Because he got it from the future," Tim replied, "More
importantly, the AAA's future.  He's one of us."
        "One of you?" Jamie asked.  Then it hit him, "WHAT?!  Oh,
that isn't FAIR!  I've known the BOTH of you for so much
longer... been through so much CRAP since the AAA began and now
you're telling me HE'S a PTB?!"
        "Not a full one," Alicia said, "He's got some power...
and since he's getting visions of the future, he's probably got
some time-related ability, too, but he's not gonna be as powerful
as we are.  He's a kinda... Chibi-PTB."
        "Ummm..." Christian interjected, "What are you guys
talking about?"
        Instead of answering with words, the two Powers each
placed a hand on the side of Christian's head (Christian's mind
nearly melting into goo again at Alicia's touch).
        "Don't get any ideas," Tim whispered to him, "She's
already got a boyfriend... at least for the moment."
        "Figures..." Christian sighed.
        Suddenly, the bed-ridden boy's eyes went wide in shock as
white energy flowed from the Powers hands and into himself,
awakening something deep within, letting knowledge and power flow
into his entire being.
        Leaping out of bed, Christian stood at a full military
attention and saluted Alicia and Tim as he said, "Chibi-PTB
Christian Rogers, given general overseeing control of the AAA in
the year 2021 AD, reporting for duty!"
        The two Powers chuckled.  "I could get used to that
pretty quick," Alicia commented, "Right Tim?"
        Tim tried to keep a slightly better control of his
amusement as he nodded in agreement.
        "It's not fair..." Jamie continued to grumble, "It's just
not fair..."

* * *

        "I thought I'd find you here."
        Christian turned to look at Alicia and the shadowy figure
behind her. "How'd you get here?" Christian asked, then smiled as
he added, "Not that I'm unhappy to see you, boss."
        "I'd say I had help..." Alicia began.
        The shadow finished, "... but I'm NotReallyHere."
        Alicia looked at what Christian was looking at and asked,
"Why do you keep watching this stuff?  ESPECIALLY the part where
you're in that dungeon?"
        Christian sighed, "Guess it helps me remember what I have
to atone for... why I have to make sure the AAA of the future is
run the best I can run it."
        "We all make mistakes," Alicia said, "We all do some
pretty STUPID things.  I can live with mine... and I know you can
live with yours."
        "I hope you're right."
        "I KNOW I am."
        Alicia patted Christian on the shoulder and the Chibi-PTB
looked at the full PTB and said, "If..."
        Alicia raised a finger and growled at him, "I'm having a
good moment with a good friend.  Don't you DARE jinx it!"
        "Yes, boss." Christian replied as he went back to looking
at random moments in the time stream.