Avion Symphony, Chapter Four

Petunia took a deep breath.

From out of the ruins they came, silently, ghosts that had come back to haunt their crumbling shell of a school. The Avion Girls Task Force steeled themselves.

Niki had gathered her army.

And onto a few in a distant galaxy who weren’t asleep in their beds, piano-notes throbbing from Petunia’s backing-track fell like the first drops of rain.

It was Miss Fitzgerald’s form. No Villanelle, as 4-H-N already knew she had by that time resigned her place, and no Mariko or Takotchi for whom Niki had something far worse lined up. That was why the Avion were here. Everybody else, five boys and four girls, arrayed themselves about the rubble that had been old Houkase High’s clock-tower.

They stood in shadow, their faces grey. The blue and white of the girls’ uniforms were darkened as if steeped in oil, while the boys’ tunics were blacker than black.

Softly, Petunia began.

Whisper that you love me,

Say that you’ll be true,

Tell me that you need me

And I’ll give my heart to you;

And I’ll be yours forever,

Forever, and a day;

’Til the stars in the sky no longer shine

And all the flowers fade away.

Freckles led the charge. The enemy flew downhill to meet them, and really flew, for they had taken on more of Niki than she reserved for them. In their hands were spectral blades or other misty distortions of Avion weaponry. Niki hadn’t known when to stop. People seldom did, once they’d started doing the sort of thing she’d done.

I hope that we will marry,

And I will be your bride;

It wasn’t only Niki who’d once held such a hope. When they all were first-years and their school was standing strong, its paved expanses had resonated with daydreams of early love.

Bells will ring, the choir will sing,

And I’ll be by your side…

But Niki had become convinced pain and hate were hers alone. That too was ever thus, for her classmates weren’t the empty receptacles she’d trusted they were. What she put into them had fed on what was there, and glutted itself. Moreover, each was now Avion enough to be able to see through the Task Force’s disguising aura. They knew who it was they fought, and in many cases that was suddenly the same as who it was they hated.

Petunia hit the second chorus while her android vocalists kept pace a beat or so behind, spinning the song in different directions as they wove in and out of each other.

Whisper that you –

Avion Two, Biko, clashed with a girl who came at her hissing: “Foul-tempered little brat! Jealous of me…couldn’t stand not being the best…!”

(You love me)

Biko downed her with the handle of her Avion dagger. “Sorry, Akiko,” she panted. “For what it’s worth, you’re right.”

Say that you’ll be –

Kitty’s replacement as Avion Three, Kara McCraig, faced her own boyfriend and froze. Biko in a blue blur shot to the outcropping and swatted Kieron away.

(You’ll be true)

“Listen, Kara,” Biko began. “What Niki’s done to them – it’s just another kind of mind-control. She’s making them act like this.”

Tell me that you –

But Kara’s lip trembled.

“No, Biko,” she said faintly. “I looked into his eyes. He’s the way he was about Laurie. I thought he was over it, but he’s not. Everything they’re feeling is real.”

(That you need me)

Danielle Davey in 4-H-N’s old Avion One colours was on the defensive, driven back by hammer-blows from Hiroyuki’s yo-yo as he railed: “Never noticed me…how I felt…!”

And I’ll give my –

Abby was on top of Chie, raking at her cheeks with her fingernails, screeching over and over: “I wanted him and you took him!”

(My heart to you)

Freckles felled the long-haired boy nicknamed Streak and turned. So doing she stared on the corrupt likeness of her twin.

And I’ll be yours for –

“Father’s little favourite,” he said to her coldly. “Good at keeping secrets, aren’t you? Sat back and laughed at me and Chie all that time. Some sister. Some friend.”

(Yours forever)

The features for which Freckles was named stood out stark against her pallor. Her hand trembled, but gripped her knife.

Forever, and a –

“Please, Chester,” she whispered. “Don’t make me do this.”

(And a day)

Whereat Petunia and her automaton duo chimed in together, harmonizing for the last:

’Til the stars in the sky no longer shine

And all the flowers fade away.

Those who had loved and learned here warred on. Perhaps the only one who fought without pain was the animalistic lizardlike girl known as Slice – for Villanelle explained to 4-H-N that Suzie had regressed – who with baleful snarls scrabbled over the stones, dashing Ruddy, Hiroshi and Pigtails aside with one swipe of her sinuous tail. Amid rhythmic melodious rills Petunia commenced the final verse:

We’ll face the world together,

At the rockpile’s very summit Niki sat on a slab, watching.

For the future’s ours alone;

Her Avion costume wasn’t the one 4-H-N remembered. Of course it wasn’t. That happened when someone was technically the same person yet changed beyond recognition. Freckles and Kirsty had worn different Avion costumes.

4-H-N thought of that giggly valiant little pink-haired girl, always ready with a mid-air cartwheel when The Baron’s latest robot went down. Her friends had meant the world to her, Takotchi even more.

Through all the years our love will grow

And build a happy home…

The old Niki, even if she had done this, would have cried for all that she had lost. This Niki merely watched, shedding not a tear. There wasn’t enough left of her for that. Only ugly battle-noise, and from faraway stars the tinkling of a chorus as it reached its close, sounded out the requiem for this fallen angel.

I’ll love you every day,

Promised Petunia.

Whispering your love.

How 4-H-N wept. She wept as if making up for Niki’s inability to do so, a small huddled figure in a pink nightdress, face buried in her hands.

Somehow Villanelle still had the milk-jug. She poured out a glass for 4-H-N and handed it down to her.

“You look like you could do with this,” said she.

“If you’ve travelled through time to be here, Villanelle, then take me back with you,” 4-H-N sobbed aloud. “I’ll find a way to stop this. I’ll save Niki, and all of them. Please…”

But there was no need for Villanelle to tell her it couldn’t work that way. Patiently the former waited while 4-H-N cried it out.

There was quite a volume to work through. It felt as if everything special from that time in her life was gone, every secret either shattered or laid bare. It was all 4-H-N could do for several minutes to try and bring her tears under control.

“Was it over, Nellie?” she then asked, in a tiny voice. “Was that the end?”

Villanelle smiled and sat down beside her, putting an arm around her shoulders. 4-H-N didn’t know it, but someone had done the same for Villanelle once, long long ago.

“I wouldn’t say that,” she replied. “In the far future, I lead a team of little girl robots like me. Who do you think gave me that idea?”

END OF CHAPTER FOUR