Shattered Perceptions
Chapter Fifteen
by Tim Francovich
Major Domo suddenly found himself looking down the barrel of a ridiculously large gun. "Talk," Cable ordered. "Fast. Before my trigger finger gets tired of waiting."
"Really, Mr. Cable, this is not what I expected. You're as touchy as Mojo (though not near as ugly)," Major Domo observed.
"If I remember Star's stories correctly, you work for Mojo!" Rictor exclaimed. "I say you shoot him, Cable."
"I'd prefer to get some information first," Cable answered wryly. "He also has access to a teleporter that we need."
"That is precisely why I have come," Domo asserted. "To offer you a portal to my world."
"Why would you do that?" Boomer demanded suspiciously. "You're on the other side!"
"Au contraire, my dear (did I use that properly?-Earth's linguistic variety is one of my hobbies)," Domo replied with a small bow. "I have been exiled from the mighty Mojo's presence since he found out about that little incident with Arcade."
"Tell us about that," Cable said flatly, his eyes narrowing.
"Do you have to keep pointing that gun at me?"
"It's a bad habit of mine. Live with it."
Major Domo sighed. "Very well. Let me put it as simply as I can," he began. "After a succession of Mojos, even I began to tire of the oppressive rule. I knew, of course, about Shatterstar's exile to your world and about Spiral's prediction that he would one day rule Mojoworld."
"Does everyone on this team have some sort of prophecy about them?" Boomer interrupted. "Sam's an External, Cable's the Chosen One--whatever that means--and now Shatterstar..."
"Tabitha." Cable's tone clearly indicated that Boomer's commentary was unwelcome.
"I grew anxious for Shatterstar to return," Major Domo explained. "So I hired the assassin Arcade to test his mettle, so to speak. I even sent him a few dog soldiers to waste. Unfortunately for me, Mojo found out about my little expenditure." He sighed. "The original Mojo never checked the books himself," he muttered more to himself.
"So you fell from grace?" Cable asked.
"I was lucky to survive!" Major Domo insisted. "Suffice it to say that I now work for those who seek to overthrow Mojo (Mojo V, I suppose I should say). But things are critical now. Mojo... V... has had Shatterstar kidnapped for his own amusement. Yet my recent test of Shatterstar indicated that he was not yet ready to assume his prophesied role... although Arcade was a bit upset..."
"Get to the point. Why are you here now?" Cable demanded.
"I am here to help you recover your teammates, of course," Major Domo replied haughtily. "My portal is at your service." He bowed and gestured to the glowing opening.
Cable lowered the gun slowly and nodded. "We'll take you up on that offer," he declared. "You will take us to Shatterstar, but if you try anything funny, you'll find out exactly why I carry this gun."