REDD: Down the Rabbit Hole

Chapter 1

THE BATTLE ILLUSTRATED what humanity had become.

J.W. Grimm was to be brought in and charged for crimes against the Alliance. The video footage of his soldiers gunning down innocent Alliance soldiers was indisputable. The problem, of course, was that J.W. Grimm would never willingly turn himself in. Moreover, the Grimm Corporation had grown to match the size and strength of the Alliance itself. This battle, which now played itself out across several miles of Mars, was but the distraction.

R.E.D.D. Had been tasked with bringing J.W. Grimm in at all costs. It weighed heavy on her – the fact that so many good soldiers would die as a diversion – making her job ever more important. She'd stop at nothing when it came to arresting the head of Grimm. He was the strong one. If he were to be taken into custody his sister would learn to comply. What choice would she have? These Grimm soldiers fought for him not her – J.W. Grimm was the one who had their respect in the end.

The Alliance is reporting heavy casualties. Rick said.

No kidding. R.E.D.D. replied.

She often found pleasure in bickering back and forth with her ship's onboard computer. Not today. Not when so many brave men and women were suffering real consequences. As one of the Alliance's capital ships burst into billions of tingling sparks, taking thousands of good lives with it, R.E.D.D. forced herself to look away. She could still hear the thump of pounder cannons firing into the sky, their roar being answered with Alliance lasers, streaming themselves down to the surface in unison. R.E.D.D.'s ship was far too high in altitude to hear the small arms fire on the surface of Mars but she could see it; thousands of rifles firing whirlwinds of bright lead, forming a mural of light – so much death and destruction, yet so beautiful from this high up.

I've intercepted a few messages. I believe I know where J.W. Grimm is located. Rick said. Her voice as soothing as a saleswoman's pitch.

Try to get me close this time. R.E.D.D. replied.

I always do. Rick said.

Like hell you do. R.E.D.D. thought. She wasn't sure if her onboard computer was poking fun or utterly clueless. Either way, R.E.D.D. had seen plenty of times where her ship had landed much farther away than it should have. Good looks and battle prowess be damned, nobody enjoyed long walks with a basketful of weapons in-hand. Reaching up with her right hand, R.E.D.D. pushed a swatch of bright blonde hair back behind her ear.

Suddenly, the ship jolted forward and R.E.D.D. found herself sprawled out on the floor like an unsuspecting child.

The fuck? R.E.D.D. demanded to know.

Don't worry, they missed. We almost took a shot from one of Grimm's pounders, but I was able to maneuver us out of the way. You can thank me later.

R.E.D.D. planned to take issue with the so-called maneuver the next time Rick took her human form. Right now, there just wasn't time. R.E.D.D. readjusted her hooded cloak and sat back down in the ship's main chair. All leather, very few seams, and just enough cushion to make the trip enjoyable.

We're about thirty seconds out...and I'm picking up a lot of heat signatures. Probably Grimm soldiers, and you know they'll be accompanied by Grimm steel. Rick said.

Ah, yes, the mighty Grimm robots. I swear that I've met dead batteries with more intelligence than those-

Hold up – I'm picking up a heavily-encrypted message. I think maybe we should find an alternative way in, this looks like a trap. Rick said.

There's no time. Not with so many Alliance soldiers down there dying.

I'm serious here- Rick began.

Would you relax R.E.D.D. replied. Always with the nagging. she drew the word nagging out like a spouse at the end of her rope. I'm a super soldier and I have a basketful of goodies. Just let me go do what I'm good at.

Fine. Rick replied.

The small ship began to fan its flames and slow down considerably. Finally, it dropped to the surface (steel grated flooring of the Grimm Corporation's compound, in this case) and touched down, steel-to-steel.

Good luck. Rick said.

Yea. Like I need luck. R.E.D.D. smiled. She turned for a moment and her long blonde hair followed her. Readjusting her red cape's hood, the Alliance's toughest super soldier exited her ship.

THERE WAS A LONG WALK between R.E.D.D.'s ship and the only doorway in sight – a long, narrow catwalk, with the sights of a massive battle taking place beneath. R.E.D.D. kept her eyes on the door in question but could see enough of the battle below to understand that it would have lasting consequences for both sides. The Alliance had overrun nearly half of Grimm's very large (and militarized) compound but had suffered great casualties in the process. She wanted to be down there – on the surface of Mars – R.E.D.D. could absorb much of the battle herself, thus sparing many lives. But alas, this was not her mission. And so, well beneath her beautiful looks and signature red cape, another battle ensued – a battle between maintaining her composure as only a good soldier can and feeling a blitz of empathy for the fallen.

Both would have to wait.

Grimm robots appeared from the doorway and began firing off their lasers. R.E.D.D. felt more aggravated than threatened, sitting her basket down and standing back upright with two large pistols in hand. A half-dozen of the Grimm robots fell, becoming nothing more than smoldering piles of metal, but more of the units continued to exit the doorway.

I'm picking up multiple signatures – likely robots. Rick's voice said.

You think? R.E.D.D. replied with sarcasm. God.

She bent over and allowed her cape to deflect the shots. In the meantime, R.E.D.D. began digging in her basket of goodies like most of us dig through the junk drawer in our kitchen. Not this. She thought. Why the hell did I even bring this? Finally, she seemed content by grabbing two peaches and smiled. Moments later, she was gone.

The Grimm robots continued to rattle off lasers for a moment and finally processed the idea of R.E.D.D.'s disappearance. Perhaps they'd hit her with so much gunfire that she'd evaporated into thin air? Then again, there's a good reason why the human mind will always outperform the mind of anything synthetic.

R.E.D.D. appeared behind them and pressed her thumbs into the stem area of the peaches. She tossed them into the crowd of Grimm robots. Peachy.

There was a bright pink flash followed by a thunderous boom. These Grimm robots would join their brethren in becoming nothing more than scrap metal for the plundering. Probably at the hands of one of the thousands of outlaw salvage ships that ran amok throughout the galaxy. They'd become the scourge of society, but none of them seemed to be bothered by that fact. The pay was far too excellent to care. Vulture in, strip a downed ship to its bones and then sell your findings to a local shipyard. There was plenty of money in that.

I'm picking up a ship. Rick said.

There are lots of ships. R.E.D.D. replied. Thousands of them, to be exact, each fighting down below in a battle that would certainly become etched throughout the echoes of history.

This ship is pulling away from the fight and coming straight at you. Rick replied.

Moments later a slender ship, black with rigid sliver points, landed less than a hundred feet away; blocking the entrance in the process.

Now what? R.E.D.D. asked.

The ship sprayed steam from its underbelly as its engine went into an auxiliary mode. Soon, a familiar face emerged.

Oh..my..God, R.E.D.D. said with frustration. You seriously have no idea how tired I am of killing you.

Snow smiled. Her grin was unique and unmistakable, as was her perfect alabaster skin.

That trend ends today, Snow replied with absolute certainty. She turned and looked at two very tall figures that began to exit the ship. Let Mr. Grimm know that we've arrived and get him onto the ship as soon as you can. Have his soldiers escort him...I may need you.

Both of the extraordinarily tall men were draped in large black capes. Thick black beards fell from their chin in unison, yet their faces showed the experience of hundreds of years. Gold revolvers dangled from their waist, half-visible beneath the opening in their robes. Most notably, each of them wore a long gold necklace with a strange milky-blue crystal inset at the center.

R.E.D.D. caught sight of J.W. Grimm exiting the compound. He was under heavy guard, of course, and Snow and her goons only made matters worse. Quickly, Snow reached to the back of her waistline and grabbed hold of her favorite item – a piercing hand ax. It was thin and tactical, and this instrument of fear had ended the lives of hundreds – perhaps even thousands.

Snow threw the ax without warning, end over end, and it was hurled with enough velocity to split a small tree in half. R.E.D.D. ducked to her left and caught the ax with her right hand. Staring back to Snow as if to say bring it, bitch.

Snow's job wasn't to kill R.E.D.D. - only delay her until J.W. Grimm could make his safe exit. But she wanted to kill R.E.D.D. - God did she want to. Having finally come across someone she couldn't best, that was something that did not sit well with Snow; a super soldier herself turned assassin.

Snow pulled a small gun from her leg holster; it was a Scorpion-style machine gun, built into pistol form. The stinger as Grimm Corp. liked to call it. She held the gun's trigger down and it let loose a fury of lead hell, hundreds of shots biting into the ground around R.E.D.D. like sharks' teeth. With the stinger's long clip exhausted, Snow ejected it and reached for a second. R.E.D.D. used the opportunity to lift herself from the protection of her red cloak (and its bulletproof tendencies) and begin firing her own pistols. These weren't fully-automatic, but R.E.D.D. shot them with marksmanship.

Bitch, Snow said, taking cover behind the two shadowy figures – wizards, as they were called.

Do it. Use the damn crystals. I intend to end this bitch once and for all.

We cannot use the crystals blindly, one of the wizards replied. His voice deep and rasp, like a giant. We need time to compose a spell.

This ends now, Snow ordered of the two wizards. Do it.

Both of the tall shrouded men looked to the other. There was already a look of regret on their faces. Snow knew nothing of the deep consequences of casting the stones without a preplanned spell, but they had no intentions of telling her. They'd seen Snow kill for far less than that. Reluctantly, each of the wizards pulled his necklace from around his neck and gripped it tightly. As the creamy blue stones began to glow, they were both held high into the sky.

Snow watched as J.W. Grimm entered her ship and she understood that he was now safe. The Alliance might sack the base – in fact, from the looks of it they would sack Grimm's Mars installation, but so long as he escaped the movement would continue. Snow once again returned gunfire with R.E.D.D., who now held two pistols firmly at the ready.

Another place, another time, another dimension far from here. To the darkness we pray, another time, another day. one of the wizards chanted loudly.

As the Alliance soldiers made their way onto the catwalk they were met with a blinding white light. It was enough to stop them in their tracks. Seconds later, the white light had faded away and taken every physical being with it. Grimm robots remained and would be dealt with accordingly. As for R.E.D.D., Snow, and the two wizards – no trace remained.

Chapter 2

ALICE LITTLE HELD ONTO the steering wheel with both hands.

Another bumper car slammed into her, and then another, as laughter could be heard throughout the small bumper car frenzy beneath a tent – eventually framing itself out to include all of the laughter and chatter of the thousands in attendance at the 1997 Magic Valley County Fair, or so the banner read.

Alice was having what we all experience in life; a moment of recollection that we cannot quite explain. Perhaps it's a moment of Deja Vu or some memory conjured up from long ago. For Alice, it was a feeling of familiarity without explanation. Something larger than her, larger than any of us, now tugged at her from some far away place as she continued to grip the small plastic steering wheel of the bumper car.

Sweetie, the ride's up. a man said. He was dressed the part of a carny: blue overalls with grease stains and the smell of cheap beer that would stop an alcoholic in his tracks at ten paces. He grinned wide, exposing grizzly-black teeth. Alice nodded and helped herself from the bumper car. A line of people waited their turn, many of them with the gimmick bracelets ride all night for $29, but she'd not purchased one and had come to the fair alone. Alice didn't fully understand how she knew it – she just did. Everything in her mind felt both wrong and right at the same time.

Alice walked away from the ride and found that there were countless others – The Sky Wheel stood high among them all as carnival music played. She could smell popcorn and ribbon fries. Alice could remember the things that mattered: her college courses, her shitty job as a barista, her love of comics and a subsequent part-time job at the comics shop. Yet a part of her remembered nothing. A cloud of hopelessness now followed her and though she couldn't explain what it was there was something, and it haunted her.

Alice made her way into the parking lot and tonight the air seemed crisper than normal – the trees greener. The sun was beginning to tuck itself in for the night and Alice opened the door of her red Honda Civic. Closing the door behind her brought near silence with only a few muffled screams of happiness from the county fair rides. Alice looked up into the rearview mirror and felt as though someone else stared back. Brilliant blue pupils reflected back and she studied them for several moments.

What the hell is wrong with me? she asked. Not that anyone was there to answer.

After several moments of breathing deeply, Alice put her key into the ignition and started it up. The Backstreet Boys were playing on the radio and that simply would not do. She snatched an ACDC CD and plunked it in. Shoot to Thrill began playing.

There we go, bitch.

AS SHE DROVE DEEPER in Magic Valley, it was just as you'd imagine: a smaller city on the brink of exploding into something much bigger. Magic Valley was beginning its own journey of growth – once known for its rural background, the small city was now teetering on the brink of becoming an industrial giant. Military contracts had started to trickle in and with the government's promise of steady jobs came an increase in population. It was 1997 and the world was obsessed with space exploration. Humans are curious by nature and wanted to know what lay beyond the stars of our night sky. There had to be more – more hills of grass to lay upon and gaze up into a sky blushed with purple and twilight freckles – each with their own story to tell. Our race had always been filled with the dream of exploration. The next great voyage was space. Now that the dream of the people fell in line with governments around the globe, there would certainly be a race to be the first to answer all of the questions that our night sky begged to ask.

That meant jobs. Specifically, for Magic Valley, that meant jobs building ships. Even though the shipyards (as they would later become known) were in their infant stages, somehow Alice Little knew deep down that they would eventually cement this small city as one of earth's most important.

As she passed each plot of land; each building in motion, Alice saw them for what they would eventually become. She didn't know why, only that her mind had planted its legs in front of her and deep down, Alice understood that her feelings were true. The Rite-Aid drugstore on the corner would eventually become (in the year 2029) a three-story complex that housed military officers that would oversee the ship-building process. The factory out on Pinehurst Road that produced cars for one of the nation's smallest automotive manufacturers would eventually become the central shipyard known as MV1. Not for another 27 years, mind you, but Alice knew it.

It was the type of knowledge that wore on a person mentally. Alice Little was no different. She longed for a day when such knowledge would find its way out of her head and she'd be able to move on with her life, worrying about things like oil changes and how to improve the speed of her dial-up Internet connection – not what the future had in store for Magic Valley.

SNOW KNEW WHAT THEY thought. As she stood there, at the front office of Magic Valley's only police station, she could hear their whispers. She could smell the lingering scent of coffee. Not the good stuff, but the bargain bin variety. Someone had doubled the scoops and brewed the hell out of it. The officers glanced back at her and continued to talk. Finally, the shift lieutenant approached her.

Mrs...?

Snow. Just call me Snow.

You're reporting seeing various things...in the woods. Wolves-

Werewolves, Snow corrected. I've dealt with those accordingly, now I need to know where the wizards are?

Ma'am, the lieutenant said, doing his very best to hold his smile until after she'd been helped. The only wizards I know of are in Washington, and they can't play basketball worth a shit. If you'll excuse my language.

These two wizards I speak of...I need to find them. They are the key to everything, don't you see? Now it would be better for all of you if I found them sooner, rather than later. Snow replied.

Ma'am, it sounds like you're stressed. It could be that you're on some sort of new medication? Maybe what you do for a living is-

Kill people, lieutenant, Snow replied with utmost calm in her voice. I kill people who need to be killed. I have a mission to complete and I cannot do this effectively until I find the two wizards.

The lieutenant glanced back at two officers, each of them already understood the task at hand. They stood to their feet and approached her slowly. Their official guess was that she'd found some medication that wasn't responding as advertised, or that she'd bought her medication somewhere on Hickory Street, which was Magic Valley's most-notorious illegal drug area.

Lieutenant, I just want to find the wizards and then I'll gladly be on my way. Snow insisted.

Ma'am, I can't let you do that. I don't think you're stable enough to be out there until we get you the help you need. the lieutenant replied.

The wizards?

The lieutenant gave his men the OK and then dashed in to detain Snow, quickly finding it easier said than done. As the first officer grabbed hold of her, she clenched his wrist, bent it back, and snapped his upper-arm in two places. She armed herself with his 9MM as she pushed him away. Snow quickly shot the second officer and found that the lieutenant now stood in fear. He'd not gone for his own sidearm quickly enough. Now he was completely exposed and at her mercy, looking down the barrel of a police-issued handgun and thinking about nothing but his wife Maggie and his two daughters.

Please. he pleaded.

Are there any vending machines here?

The fear remained, slowly joined by a look of confusion. Um...yea, yes ma'am, he said it with the type of desperation you'd expect from a used car salesman closing in on the deal. At the end of the hall and to the right.

Thank you. Snow fired three rounds, all of them piercing the lieutenant's chest, thus ending the life and career of one of Magic Valley's finest. She turned and killed the third officer who lay in the floor crying, nursing his arm. She'd never know about Maggie's health issues or the fact that her husband had stayed on the force in order to give her the health coverage she needed, or the fact that both of his daughters dreamed of becoming basketball stars one day. That kind of information was irrelevant to a killer but mattered a whole hell of a lot as the lieutenant took his final breath.

Snow walked to the rear of the building and looked through the vending machine selections as calmly as a factory worker with an hour lunch break. Ah, she said, spotting the infamous honey buns. She fired a shot into the machine and wasted no time reaching in and grabbing not one, but two honey buns.

Now, if I could only find these damn wizards.

ALICE SAT AT HER DESK when she should have been sleeping – a crime that we're all guilty of sometimes. Her studio apartment was small, but it's what she could afford. A small bed covered with a black comforter rested on one side of the apartment, while her desk, a small reclining chair, and a bookshelf, stood on the other side of the room's wooden divider. Oddly, there was no television. Alice could have bought a small one for sure, but never had an interest in one. Reading was important and a love of art trumped all.

She sat at her desk and sketched out a character that she'd come to know and love – a character that resided only in her head, though one day, maybe one day, that character would somehow make its way into an actual comic book.

R.E.D.D. - Recon Enforcement Defense Design. The ultimate badass of science fiction, as Alice had so affectionately called it. A comic book project that had taken up pretty much all of her free time, and was a project of absolute passion.

She was a beautiful girl. Quirky, hip, she even spoke a lick or two of Japanese

and enjoyed the study of other cultures. Translation: Alice didn't really have time for a boyfriend, and that had been the case for quite a while. There had been a few, of course, but she tried to forget them. Especially Mitch Cousins and his obsession with using his cell phone at dinner. Alice hated that shit.

As she inked in part of R.E.D.D.'s massive gun on page 21 of the issue she'd come to know as The Mars Incident, something felt different. Not quite right yet truer than it ever had before. Alice studied the drawing of Agent R.E.D.D. and even swayed her head to the left in order to look at it from another angle. Slowly, she began to roll her neck and came to the conclusion that she'd escaped sleep for far too long. Maybe someday. She thought, often dreaming of a time when there were no more financial struggles. A future where her comic book was a breakout success across the globe and people would recognize her as some kind of creative master – not just some girl who was making their coffee.

Alice was just like any other artist – broke. She'd heard all about how it was better to be happy than rich, and drawing certainly made her happy but damned if she wouldn't take the money, too. There was a constant war of passion vs. reality inflicting pain inside of her each and every day. Those who knew Alice were split in their thinking, too. Some of her friends encouraged her to continue chasing her dreams. That's what life is all about. Others tried to help her accept a more realistic goal. Conform with society and do what you have to do. Alice hated it – despised the thoughts of giving up in order to get ahead, but sometimes the thought crossed her mind. She feared that there would come a time when the struggle was no longer worth it.

A short while later, Alice fell asleep at her desk.

SNOW STOOD IN THE LIVING room of a large house that was situated on the very outskirts of Magic Valley. Maria Von Housen, real estate mogul and owner of the house in question, lay dead on the kitchen floor, filleted like a salmon. It wasn't the killing that bothered Snow, she'd long moved past that feeling of conscience. In her mind, the killing was sometimes necessary. For her, it was a matter of survival of the fittest. Snow needed a large house in which to base her operations, the house needed to be far enough on its own to avoid arousing suspicion, and she needed to find those damn wizards. They were the key to everything. Forty-one year-old Maria Von Housen just happened to be in the house that Snow had chosen as hers. Therefore it was Maria's time to go.

Unlike Alice Little, Snow remembered everything. She understood that the Grimm Corporation would begin in Jonathan Grimm's garage in the year 1998 and be passed along, one family member to another, until a time that she was familiar with. They would begin with simple weapons research and eventually create things that the United States Army would come to depend on during times of war. The settlement of Mars would follow, as would the dissolution of countries and the formation of the Alliance many years later. The Grim Corporation would become a key part of the Alliance and ultimately, it would rival the Alliance. Snow believed that she was on the right side of this war, she was sure of it, in fact.

She needed the wizards because they were the key to her returning home – finding her way back to a time that she knew. Snow wasn't sure if they remembered but she needed them to. Killing R.E.D.D. was also a priority, but not the first priority. Snow could just as easily leave her behind here in the 1990s to rot away with history. Though she would rather put an end to R.E.D.D. once and for all, ensuring that the red-caped thorn in her side did nothing to alter history and somehow change the Grimm Corporation's rise to power.

I'll need to go through Magic Valley one building at a time, Snow said. If it was a plan it was a half-ass plan at best.

She held a gas station equivalent map of Magic Valley up and, black Sharpie in hand, began mapping the town out across the living room's bright white walls. They will have to frequent one of the major areas of business. she added.

Snow would avoid the private homes, understanding that her wizards would have to eventually show their faces somewhere that people went. Concert halls. Shopping malls. Restaurants. Somewhere. She hoped that they at least had enough intelligence between the two of them to stay in Magic Valley and not go wandering off, though she had her doubts. The wizards were