A (Not So) Healthy Dose of Chaos: Memory Lane

Memory Lane

The A (Not So) Healthy Dose of Chaos Series

Book 3

Published by Edo-chan at Smashwords

Copyright © 2017 Edo-chan

First Published January 2017

Revised January 2017

Cover Illustration by Sexy Kat

http://sexy-kat.deviantart.com/

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. And you’ve been looking for these little tidbits, haven’t you?

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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Table of Contents

Chapter One

Or, A (Not So) Healthy Dose of a Review!

Chapter Two

Or, A (Not So) Healthy Dose of a Valentine!

Chapter Three

Or, A (Not So) Healthy Dose of a Pop Star!

Space-Time Manipulation with Silver! Park 2

Chapter Four

Or, A (Not So) Healthy Dose of Knights!

La Su Chi Ten

Chapter Five

Or, A (Not So) Healthy Dose of an Auction!

Chapter Six

Or, A (Not So) Healthy Dose of a Mind!

Chapter Seven

Or, A (Not So) Healthy Dose of a Concert!

Chapter Eight

Or, A (Not So) Healthy Dose of a Fox!

Fox Udon

Chapter Nine

Or, A (Not So) Healthy Dose of a Hospital!

Chapter Ten

Or, A (Very) Painful Dose of Memories

Betlin

Chapter Eleven

Or, A (Not So) Healthy Dose of Finding Things!

Chapter Twelve

Or, A (Not So) Healthy Dose of Conversations!

Afterword

For those who have waited almost

three years for the next installment

Chapter One

Or, A (Not So) Healthy Dose of a Review!

A silver-haired man dressed casually in a blue, button-up, short-sleeved shirt and black jeans took the steps at the back of a house, which led up to a deck and then to a back door. He stood there for a moment, looking at the door.

He’d been to the house several times; he knew it well. If he told the tenants how well he really knew the house, it would cause more problems than he wanted to deal with, at least until certain events would transpire, where he would have to do some more explaining.

That moment wouldn’t be coming for a while, so he kept quiet. He dropped hints at seemingly random intervals that he did know more than he was letting on, but he knew the people living in the house had already figured out that much.

He could see movement through the window of the door, which led to the kitchen of the house. He knocked with a ‘shave and a haircut’ pattern to let the person know he was there, and it quickly opened to a woman with pink skin and wearing a maid outfit.

Hi, Silver. We haven’t seen you in a while, she said, stepping back for him to enter.

It’s only been a week or so, Sasha.

Has it? Sorry, but I’ve been losing track of days lately.

Silver stepped in and closed the door behind him.

Losing track of days? Did something happen?

No, no. I’ve just been busy with the house, and a project.

A project? I can’t help but be curious.

Sorry. It’s a secret, she smiled.

I see, he conceded with a chuckle.

Silver was actually playing dumb. He already knew what it was . . . and most of what was going to happen, and many other things about those in the household.

The woman Silver was sharing a conversation with wasn’t from Earth. She was part of an exchange program where otherworlders came to stay on Earth for a period of time, experiencing what the planet had to offer.

About five years earlier, aliens had come to Earth like a cliche, in science-fiction fashion. They invited Earth to join a galactic group of planets and races. One Earth teenager went up into space, and a few years later, Earth joined what was known as the Entine Republic.

The custom when a new planet entered the Republic was to open an exchange program, where those who were interested in a new planet in the Republic could sign up for the opportunity to live on another planet.

One of those interested parties was talking to him. Silver was partial to her – Sasha Redford – because of her strength of character. The house she was living at was the second residence she moved to. The first house and landlord had been less human than most people on Earth. Through a fortunate coincidence, she was brought to the current home. Overall, her character showed that she was a survivor.

Ken’s not here, she said, referring to the owner of the house and her landlord. She poured a cup of coffee and handed it to Silver. He stepped out to take some things to the recycler.

I saw his car wasn’t here. I guess I got here a little too early . . . or too late, depending on your point of view.

Speaking of which, when you’re not around, where do you go?

What do you mean?

I mean, you’re a time traveler, right?

Silver nodded. He was, indeed, a time traveler. He had come back from the future for a specific mission. However, there were quite a number of variables that had to pile up for the mission to succeed.

Let’s just say I go home.

Sasha took that as her cue to not prod, and went back to preparing for dinner. The rest of the tenants should be home soon. Have a seat in the living room if you still want to wait for Ken.

Silver moved to the living room where the television was on, and being watched by two other female tenants. One was normal-sized. The other was not-so-normal sized, being only a foot tall. The normal-sized one was sitting on the couch, while the smaller one was sitting in a Victorian chair – made for her size – on the coffee table.

Hi, Silver! the small tenant energetically called out to him in her usual fashion.

Hi, Katrina. And Natalia.

The other tenant glanced at him, then back to the television.

Silver wasn’t partial to Natalia Greentyme. She had a haughty air to her, and for good reason: she came from a rich upbringing. She was the heir to a company, Greentyme Cosmetics, which her father ran. It spanned several galaxies, and feelers were being opened on Earth. Natalia’s goal was to check out Earth, make contacts, and see if it was a ripe place for expansion.

Silver, on the other hand, was partial to Katrina Faerblood. She never failed to put a smile on everyone’s face. She was usually happy to see everyone, and was just as friendly to that same everyone.

She was on Earth to observe chronological fluctuations, and gather data to send back to her planet.

Or so went her cover story.

She was actually from an organization called Onemill, which was a group of ‘space-time manipulators.’

A space-time manipulator – or manipulator for short – could harness chronological energy to reshape reality to a certain degree. It could be used for investigation, but also for combat, which was needed to fight off larger chronological fluctuations, called ‘chronological anomalies.’ Left to their own devices, several anomalies could cause a breakdown in reality, and that would be bad for everyone.

Silver had experience fighting them. Though Katrina had the ability to do so, due to her size and perception, she was what was known as a ‘Cataloguer,’ and the term was just as it sounded: a collector of information.

On the other hand, Silver was a ‘Coordinator,’ much like a grunt, doing most of the legwork for his organization. He was from the same organization as Katrina, but in a way he hadn’t told anyone.

There were three different female voices that came from downstairs, the first floor of the split-foyer home. The sound of the door closing downstairs along with it being locked was easy to hear, and the owners of the voices came up the stairs.

The ladies who presented themselves were three other tenants to the home.

The first was a striking blonde woman with a very ‘healthy’ upper body.

Boing.

That, and she had wings.

Silver was partial to her – Angelica Elegance – because she was a good person. She worked as a nurse in pediatrics.

The second – Cassandra Pyredom – was a normal girl by most standards. She was attractive, eyes of different colors, the left being green, and the right was blue. She had a sheathed saber at her left hip. She was from a planet where women were in charge, and men were relegated to housekeeping and support roles.

Silver was partial to her because she was also a good person. That, and she had a nice rear-end.

The third tenant was the quietest of them all. Alisa Maestral was studying electronics at the same college as Cassandra. She built things for her classes, and for other purposes. She was a mad scientist in some ways, but her talent was clear for anyone who actually looked. She had successfully duplicated a light-based sword from a certain series of science-fiction movies, albeit not as powerful as in those films.

She was also building something else Silver had provided materials for. That was the second reason he was making a visit that day, to see how it was progressing.

Alisa stared at him for a moment, and then went to her room. Silver followed.

Most people had the same reaction when they first saw the room: they would do a double-take, tilt their heads, mutter a ‘Huh?’ and then rub their eyes. The room was much larger than it was supposed to be for the house. It was all due to a small lamp-like device near the door.

Need a recharge, I take it?

Alisa nodded.

The lamp-like device wasn’t the item needing recharging. It was actually the closet. There was a small panel attached to the frame of the sliding door closet. Silver had given the panel to her not long ago, away from prying eyes. No one knew that he had passed it on to her.

It was simple: one pushed the button, closed the closet, and then opened it . . . to reveal something along the lines of a mechanical garage.

The device itself needed to be regularly recharged with space-time energy to keep working properly. Thankfully. the space would still exist even if the doorway ceased functioning for a while. In that event, Alisa simply wouldn’t have access to it until it was recharged.

They both walked in, and Alisa closed the closet door behind her.

In the center of the garage looked to be some sort of jet fighter, but one-sixth the size of what would be appropriate for a human.

How often have you been able to work on it? Silver asked.

Whenever Ken is out. It’s taken a long time to get this far. I’m curious where you got the materials from, but I’m afraid to ask.

Afraid? You don’t strike me as the one who gets afraid easily.

It was a figure of speech. In all honesty, I don’t want to know.

He kneeled down and stroked one of the wings of the fighter. How long until it’s finished?

At the rate Ken stays at home, it will take another ten years, she said flatly.

Can you speed it up? Silver asked, looking up at her

Can you keep Ken occupied?

Silver smiled.

* * *

A red-haired man pulled his car into the driveway of his home. Two other cars belonging to two of his tenants were already there. He hoped Sasha had dinner on the way to being finished, because he was feeling a little more hungry than usual.

He was Kenaeth Goldwrite. A few months earlier, he had opened his home as part of the Entine Exchange Program.

It was simple, in theory.

And theoretically, he should have had one tenant, or maybe even two, but certainly not six.

But, contrary to that theory, six he had.

He unlocked the door for the bottom floor and went upstairs. His tenants were already having dinner, minus Alisa.

Where’s Alisa?

On cue, she came down the hall, followed by Silver.

Ken’s eyes narrowed when he saw Silver. You haven’t been by lately. I was wondering when you would show up.

It’s not as if I’ve been gone for months or anything.

If you had, there’d be a lot more peace and quiet around here.

You know, Ken, every time you say something like that, a little part of me dies inside, Silver announced, dripping with mock sadness.

Then I guess I’m not trying hard enough! Ken retorted.

Ken had been studying the confusing art of space-time manipulation from the very man he was hurling insults at.

Antagonists had come to do antagonizing things to members of Ken’s house, and to a few not from Ken’s house. In order to deal with them, Ken had to learn how to fight and manipulate reality.

Throwing balls of explosive energy, flying, and moving several times faster than a normal human should be absurd, but as insane as it sounded, it was doable.

Ken had fought and done all of those absurd things. One of the antagonists came to Ken and Silver for help, and became an ally of sorts. When the fight with their boss had finished, things were supposed to come back to a sane degree of normalcy. However, Silver gave Ken the ominous warning that it was just beginning.

It’s not to say there wasn’t a ‘silver’ lining, with all of the manipulating mumbo-jumbo. He met two other allies that could do the same things as he did. One was the owner of a doll shop, and she had a sentient doll.

The other was a girl younger than Ken, named Matrona Midsong, with nice legs.

Both were also from space-time manipulating organizations: like-minded manipulators who patrolled space for breakdowns in space-time, and corrected them. Apparently, both were from organizations different than Silver.

Ken wasn’t partial to Silver because he knew too much and wouldn’t give the house a head’s up when danger was about to literally appear on his driveway.

It was a catch twenty-two. He had to trust Silver to teach him how to manipulate space-time and deal with any potential problems, but Silver wasn’t telling them about any problems that would be coming.

No one had been permanently injured during the fights they had been in.

So, what did you come here for? Don’t tell me that the new villain of the week is going to show up, Ken muttered.

Heavens no. I merely came to say hello.

"Riiiiight. And if your lies were any more apparent, I’d be able to pick them up and whack you over the head with them."

* * *

When people think of energy, they may think of electricity. Something generated by burning fuel to funnel electrons into metallic streams of various materials – wires – to power lights, laptop computers, or those toasted sandwich makers that were all the rage decades ago but later were nowhere to be found.

Most people didn’t consider energy something that could physically be thrown like a softball.

However, Kenaeth Goldwrite and Silver weren’t ‘most people,’ and they were quite aware of, nay, accustomed to gathering energy as a physical force and throwing it like said softball.

Eschewing throwing it, Ken propelled the ball of energy at his opponent – Silver in his case – which was dodged by the target – still Silver – quickly moving to the side.

They were under a special curtain of space-time which ‘phased’ them out of reality, into one of their own. This was necessary to prevent nosy people from trying to figure out what they were doing, as Ken and Silver were going through a mock fight, like they usually did, as a form of training.

Ken brandished his only weapon: a steel pipe. He used it as part weapon, and part space-time ‘focus.’ Silver had mentioned to him early in the chaos of his tutelage that a ‘focus’ helped a manipulator gather space-time at an easier rate. Ken honestly could say he didn’t see a noticeable difference, but it was still comfortable to have some sort of object to beat humans, supernatural creatures, and other kinds of adversaries over the head that wanted him to assume room temperature.

Silver went on the offensive, charging at Ken by flying across the ground. Flying was faster than walking, and helped build enough inertia to make a physical strike a lot harder than brute force alone.

Ken was aware that Silver had used space-time to enhance his strength, so there were a number of options that he quickly considered.

One, he could attempt to counterattack . . . and get clobbered by Silver.

Two, he could attempt to dodge . . . and get clobbered by Silver.

Three, he could attempt to block and somehow come up with the next step in his fully absent strategy.

Ken decided on the third, and quickly did something called an ‘Overlap,’ which allowed him to copy attributes of himself from a parallel reality. He would need strength and speed.

Ken parried Silver’s strike, and as Ken had guessed, Silver spun and attempted to attack again.

When Silver wasn’t around, Ken attempted to find different strategies with manipulating space-time. He tried different sizes of energy to throw, beams to shoot, and adding impact to his attacks.

In the middle of Silver’s spin, Ken realized he wouldn’t be able to bring his pipe back to deflect the attack. Evading was also probably a no-go.

He braced with his left arm, and projected with space-time energy.

Silver’s staff smashed against a wide, blue object. It was translucent, but anyone looking at it would see a large glowing object attached to his left arm.

It was a shield of the western European variety, something a stereotypical knight would use. It wasn’t that Ken considered himself a knight. He needed a shield, and that was what he could come up