Tristan Parkes: Day of the Dementors

Tristan and Ashlee entered the Projector Room, and Tristan fired up the projectors. To Tristan's surprise, the black area that was present on the map before was gone. "What on Earth?" asked Tristan, looking puzzled.

"What's wrong?" asked Ashlee.

"Look, the black area is gone. That lead-lined box doesn't block magical radiation, so it's not that. The gem isn't in town anymore."

"Do you think we could track him?" asked Ashlee.

"I don't suppose he has some sort of personalised GPS unit, does he?" replied Tristan.

"He has a mobile."

"Well, I might be able to track him through the phone system, but only if it's turned on."

Ashlee smirked and replied, "I reckon it would be. It's always ringing at the shelter. Drives the dogs nuts!"

"Hmmm... I could try doing a reverse-temporal scan. That could give us an idea of what he's been up to with the gem since he got away. Trouble is reverse-temporal scans take a long time, even with twenty-second century technology."

Ashlee sighed. "What did I say about talking English?"

"I could have the TARDIS scan the magical bands backwards in time, but it would be slow. Is that simple enough?"

"Yep. So, shall we get started?"

"I'll just start the computer running the reverse-temporal scan, then we'll head for the control room and try tracking Matt through the phone network."

Tristan tapped the control pad a few times and then put it back in its holder on the wall. "Done, let's tap into the phone network."

Arriving in the control room, Tristan headed for one of the consoles around the walls and started furiously entering commands. "I'm into the phone network. I need Matt's mobile number in order to track him. Do you know it?"

"Yeah. The countless times he's snuck it into my mobile, hoping I'd call him... Hang on, I might have his thirteenth attempt still." Ashlee fiddled around with her mobile for a minute. "There you are," she said, handing the phone to Tristan.

Tristan entered the number displayed on the screen of the mobile phone, and the screen flashed the words "Ringing" and "Tracing".

After a few seconds, Matt answered the phone.

"Talk to me."

Tristan leaned close to a microphone mounted near the computer and asked, "Matt Carson?"

"Er, yes. You called me, remember?" replied Matt, sounding a little confused.

"Just making sure I was given the right number. You stole something from me last night. Something, I might add, I legitimately paid you for." The screen was still flashing "Tracing", and Tristan momentarily turned off the microphone. "Got to keep him on the line long-enough to track him. If you have any suggestions, give me a tap on the shoulder and I'll turn off the microphone again."

Ashlee nodded and Tristan turned the microphone back on.

"Hey, baby. Remember me?" said Ashlee.

"Ash?" asked Matt.

"Don't you dare call me Ash! Only my friends are allowed and you're not one of them," she growled. "You tried to kill me." Imitating a shrink, Ashlee asked Matt, "How does that make you feel?" Tristan was laughing silently to himself at this, reminded of his great-grandfather's voice talents.

"Now, babe. It wasn't anything against you," said Matt, in an oily voice.

Ashlee interrupted Matt. "You held a gun to my head! You shot me! Of course it was something against me!"

"Babe, gimme a break! I've got the worst headache," moaned Matt.

"You're gonna have more than a headache when I'm through with you!"

"Mr. Carson," said Tristan. "That gemstone was giving off some very dangerous radiation. Let me have it and I'll make sure that it is properly handled. You have no idea what the radiation from that gem was like. I wouldn't be surprised if you end up dead within a week."

Matt just laughed and replied, "Too bad! I've found someone who's willing to pay a great deal for this. I won't have it in about two hours."

"How much is a 'great deal'? I bet my government authorisation can top your offer."

The screen suddenly started flashing the word "Located", followed by a latitude and longitude. Tristan turned off the microphone and said to Ashlee, "Keep him talking while I set our destination." Tristan headed over to the central controls and punched in the coordinates obtained by the trace and set the TARDIS going.

"You know Matt?" said Ashlee. "Since I'll probably never see you again, I've got something to say."

"And that is?" inquired Matt.

"You suck at kissing! Too sloppy, too much tongue, you have no idea where to put your lips and I swear your teeth haven't seen a toothbrush in years!" Ashlee switched off the microphone and grinned at Tristan. "Sorry. I couldn't resist!"

Tristan just laughed at this. Then added, "He's in for a surprise when we materialize in front of him."

Ashlee grinned evilly. "Oh, can we do it now? Please?"

"Any second now," replied Tristan, and the TARDIS materialised. Two seconds later, a loud electric-sounding thump could be heard from outside. "He just crashed his Ute into the TARDIS shields. That impact should have sent him flying a good fifty metres," said Tristan with a nasty grin.

Ashlee gave out a loud whoop. "Come on! Let's kick some sleazy arse!"

"Let's get that gem before more Dementors show up. Good thing I fixed my Pattern Buffer."

Tristan and Ashlee then headed out the door of the TARDIS and approached Matt's overturned Ute, which was lying on its roof by the roadside. Matt was struggling to get out through the window.

"Hi! We were in the neighbourhood and we thought we'd drop by!" exclaimed Ashlee, cheerfully.

"Hand over that gem, Mr. Carson," said Tristan in an official tone.

Matt let out a very impressive string of very strong swear words.

"The gem, Mr Carson," said Tristan impatiently. "Where is it?"

Matt glared at Tristan. "Like I'm gonna tell you!"

"Oh, I think you will," replied Tristan with a nasty smile on his face. "I've got the technology of the twenty-second century at my disposal."

"Wha?" asked Matt, looking flabbergasted.

"That's right Matt, I'm not from the government. I'm from the future and unless you want me to blast you into a pile of goo, you'll tell me where that gem is located," said Tristan, sounding quite menacing.

Matt laughed insanely. "Yeah, sure. And I'm the freaking Queen of England!"

Tristan conjured up a crown and tossed it to Matt. "Here you go, Your Majesty. Every Queen needs a crown."

Matt screamed and fainted.

"Wimp," said Ashlee.

"Did that seem too easy to you?" asked Tristan.

"What I'm wondering is: Why the hell do you have a crown in your buffer?" questioned Ashlee.

"I don't," replied Tristan. "I conjured that up with magic. It's only temporary. It'll revert to air in a few hours."

Ashlee laughed at this. "Ok. So, lets find that gem." She proceeded to walk over to car and not so carefully threw Matt out of the way, onto the bitumen. "I'll check the front, you check the back."

"Got it," acknowledged Tristan. He proceeded to take the cover off the back of the Ute and a number of items fell out, including several boxes. Unfortunately, the search of the boxes turned out to be fruitless. "Well, I can't find it, you have any luck?" asked Tristan.

"Nope," replied Ashlee. "He must have stashed it somewhere."

"Well, let's get this idiot back to the TARDIS. I have a few methods that might persuade him to tell us where the gem's location. Mobilicorpus!" Matt's body floated up into the air and Tristan steered him into the TARDIS.

"What if he wakes up?" asked Ashlee.

"I'll take care of that," replied Tristan. "Stupefy! That should keep him out for about another hour."

"Nicely done, Mr. Parkes. Shall we?"

"Certainly, my dear." Tristan steered Matt into the chair he had Ashlee in earlier on in the day. He then proceeded to conjure up restraints and activated the probes. Tristan and Ashlee then went and stood at the computer some distance from the chair. Tristan pointed his wand at Matt and snapped, "Enervate!" Matt promptly woke up.

"Wha?" asked Matt, who then started screaming and wriggling. "Let me go, you psycho!"

"Psycho? Me? I don't think so," said Tristan. "Now, tell us: where is that gem?"

Matt tried to spit at Tristan, but wasn't able to get a shallow-enough angle, and the blob of spit just landed on the floor halfway between the two of them. "Bite me!" snapped Matt.

"If I was a vampire I might do just that, Matt, but lucky for you, I'm not," retorted Tristan.

"But I might just do that if you don't talk," said Ashlee, scowling.

Matt smirked and asked, "Is that a threat or a promise?"

"What do you think?" snapped Tristan, with a tone of voice that said that Matt was about as stupid as they come.

Ashlee folded her arms and said, "Just tell us where it is before I make you. Or Trist. I'm not choosy."

Tristan activated the equipment for memory access and asked, "Now, where is that gem?"

"Like I'm really gonna tell you," sneered Matt.

"Maybe not voluntarily, but you will," replied Tristan, tapping a few controls on the computer.

The interior of an abandoned car appeared on the screen, focusing on a hand closing the glove box. The view turned down to the box Tristan had put the gem in and a pair of hands grabbed the box. The view looked down at the floor and quickly left the car. The box was thrown onto a pile of scrap metal, then the view turned around and started to move away from its previous location. When a muddied metal sign reading "Dump" appeared on the screen, Tristan took a snapshot and directed the image to a screen above Matt and asked: "Where is this?"

Matt jumped in shock. "Wha? But how?"

"Like I said earlier: I have the technology of the early twenty-second century at my disposal," explained Tristan.

Ashlee walked over to Matt. "Tell us, Matt. Or," she shoved a fist into Matt's face, "you won't look so damned pretty anymore."

"I don't think he has much in the way of looks to begin with, Ashlee," commented Tristan dryly.

Ashlee grinned at Tristan. "But he thinks it. May as well work with what we got."

"Good point. Continue."

Ashlee turned back to Matt, grinning evily. "Now, we can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way. Personally," Ashlee cracked her knuckles, "I never minded a bit of hard work."

Matt gulped, looking very scared.

"I could go and get some Veritaserum," offered Tristan.

"What?" asked Matt and Ashlee simultaneously.

"It's a very powerful truth potion," explained Tristan. "Just three drops in the mouth and he'll be spilling his innermost secrets if we ask him."

Ashlee smiled slyly. "Go and fetch it. I'll just play with him while you're gone."

Tristan left and came back with a bottle of clear liquid with an eyedropper in the lid. "Here we go," he announced. "Enough Veritaserum to make a hundred people reveal their innermost secrets."

Ashlee was whispering in Matt's ear, grinning meanly, and Matt had wet himself out of fear.

"Do something to force him to open his mouth so I can drip in three drops of the potion," instructed Tristan with a mean grin.

Ashlee smiled slyly. "You asked for it," she whispered in Matt’s ear and bit it, hard. Matt cried out in pain and surprise and Tristan quickly dripped three drops of the potion into Matt's open mouth.

"You've got some blood on your chin, Ashlee," pointed out Tristan.

"Now what?" asked Ashlee, wiping her chin in mild disgust.

"Right, Matt, where have you hidden that gem?" demanded Tristan.

"An old blue Holden with a missing door, about five metres into the dump two kilometres from here," replied Matt immediately, looking very surprised that he had just blurted that out.

"See? I told you the potion would make you tell the truth. Three drops will last for about half-an-hour."

"So, shall we pay a visit to the dump?" asked Ashlee.

"I think so," replied Tristan. "I'll just get the computer to find its location on a map, we'll take the TARDIS there and Matt can lead us to the gem." Tristan looked thoughtful for a moment, then asked: "Should we leave him in here until we're at the dump, or should we take him to the control room?"

"Oh, I don't know. You decide." Ashlee gave a wicked smile. "I wouldn't mind a little more play time..."

"I'll call you when we arrive, then." Tristan left the room, and headed to the control room. Once there, he called up some maps on the computer and located the dump Tristan selected the dump's location off the map and set the TARDIS going. When the TARDIS arrived at the dump, Tristan cloaked it as an old truck. He then went over to a touch-screen mounted on the wall, hit the onscreen buttons for the intercom, and then the medical bay annex. A view of Ashlee bent over Matt appeared on the screen, and Tristan announced, "We're at the dump, Ashlee. Time for that slime ball to make himself useful, for once."

On the screen, Matt was screaming in fear. Ashlee turned to face the camera and pouted. "Aww. No fair. I was just getting to the fun part." She momentarily turned to Matt and snapped: "Shut your yap!" Matt promptly clamped his mouth shut.

"Well, cut the ropes and bring him to the control room. I'll be waiting with a gun, and I've locked all the doors except the ones for the medical bay and control room, so he can't hide anywhere," said Tristan. "I've also got bulkheads in place to provide only one route to the control room. I suggest you make use of that gun I gave you the other night to make him co-operate. Over and out." Tristan tapped the "Close Connection" button on the screen, and the medical bay annex image vanished from the screen. It was replaced with the usual menu that appeared on the screens that could function as intercoms.

Ten minutes later, Ashlee arrived in the control room with a stungun in Matt's back and Matt with his hands in the air.

"Here we are! Did you miss me?" called out Ashlee, in a cheery voice.

"Nice to see you managed to handle him. What's with the black eye you gave him?" inquired Tristan.

"He thought he'd go for a little run without me."

"I hope he's learned his lesson." Tristan opened the doors and stepped out, with Ashlee following with the stungun in Matt's back. "Right, Matt. Show us where the gem is located."

Matt led them through the debris of the junkyard and eventually came to the car. "It's in there," said Matt with a shudder. "I hate rats. There's a whole family living in there."

"If you hate rats so much, why did you hide the gem in a place filled with them?" asked Tristan, remembering how Matt had left the car so quickly in the memory-display.

Matt shuddered again. "I didn't see they were in there till I hid it. 'Course I got out of there as fast as my legs could carry me."

"Then you can join your ratty little friends for a reunion," replied Ashlee, pushing him towards the car.

"Do I really have to do this?" moaned Matt with a pained _expression on his face.

"YES!" Tristan and Ashlee immediately replied.

Matt reached into the glove box and pulled out a gun. "Now, drop it! Or your pal here gets it."

Ashlee squeaked and dropped the stungun.

"Oh, great. This again," said Tristan dryly. "What is it this time, Matt?"

"Payback," snarled Matt. "Now, kick the gun towards me."

Just as Tristan was about to comply with Matt's instructions, there was a sudden red flash of light behind Matt, who spun around to face a second Tristan.

"What the-? Trist? You didn't tell me you had a twin!" exclaimed Ashlee, looking a bit confused.

"I don't. At least, not biologically," replied Tristan.

"Then who the hell is he?!" demanded Ashlee, completely bewildered.

"Tristan Parkes," replied the second Tristan. "Now, Matt, you drop that gun, or I'll curse you into next week."

Matt didn't need any more persuasion. The gun fell to the ground. "Would someone like to tell me what the hell is going on?"

"If I knew, I'd tell you," replied Ashlee.

"Oh, I think I know," said Tristan, with a grin. "I'm just not going to tell you." Tristan whipped out his wand and aimed it at Matt.

Matt fell to his knees, snivelling, "I wanna live! Don't shoot!"

"I don't think we'll kill him, but let's just stun him really well," said the second Tristan.

"Can't argue with that," replied Tristan.

"STUPEFY!" cried both Tristans, and Matt collapsed, out cold.

"Would someone PLEASE tell me what is going on!" demanded Ashlee.

"A temporal loop," replied the second Tristan. "I'm from the future. My earlier self will be going back in time any second now to complete the loop."

"Bye, Ashlee. See you in minus five minutes," said Tristan. He drew a red circle and green box around himself in the air, touched his wand to the circle and vanished in a flash of red light. A small piece of the ground vanished along with him.

"So, you fixed the time-travel bug, huh?" asked Ashlee.

"No, that was a time-travel spell," replied the man who had previously been the second Tristan. "Not many wizards can perform it on their own. To my knowledge, only my great-grandfather and his direct descendants can."

"Oh, cool," replied Ashlee. "So, seen any good movies lately?" she asked, with a grin.

"Really, Ashlee. I only went back in time by five minutes to stop Matt."

Ashlee laughed and replied, "Yeah, but we gotta do something till the other you gets back."

"I am the other me. The two of us are the same person. The version of me who appeared behind Matt was the one who was standing next to you before I appeared. I'm the same person, just five minutes older, due to the time-jump." Tristan sighed. "I'm just making things confusing, aren't I?"

Ashlee held her head in her hands. "Lord, grant me patience!"

Tristan decided to have another go at explaining what happened. "Because I appeared in the past, I had to go back in time to make that happen. So you were standing with one version of me, while there was also another version, five minutes older, standing behind Matt. When my younger self went back in time, he became me. Does that make sense?"

"Listen, I've just been threatened with a gun, re-lived my worst memory and did a whole morning shift I wasn't supposed to do!" ranted Ashlee. "Forgive me if I'm a little slow," she added sarcastically.

"Oh, don't worry about it," said Tristan. "Temporal Mechanics gives almost everyone a headache. Very few people can really understand it. Don't burn your brain out trying to make sense of it if it's too hard for you."

"All I need is a stiff drink and I'll be a bloody rocket scientist," grumbled Ashlee.

"Alcohol won't do your mind any good. Let's grab that gem and go."

Ashlee headed over to the front of the car and looked around before letting out a scream of frustration. "Great! Just bloody great! This is exactly what I needed!" shouted Ashlee, kicking the car in temper.

"What now?" asked Tristan.

Ashlee sat down with her head in her hands and moaned, "I don't know. All I know is my head is killing me."

"What's happened now?" sighed Tristan.

"Duh! The bloody gem is gone! What do ya think?!" snapped Ashlee.

"Oh, no! This bloody thing is giving us the run-around," moaned Tristan, who gave a short sigh, then added, "I'm willing to bet that someone else found it while Matt was gone."

Just as Tristan was finishing his sentence, Matt woke up, and asked, groggily, "What? It's gone?"

"Yeah! Now, listen. I'm tired, I'm hungry and I'm really pissed off. So you better tell us where that gem is or I'll pulverize you!" bellowed Ashlee at Matt.

"I don't know!" shrieked Matt, desperately.

"What do you mean you don't know?" snarled Ashlee.

"I put the damn thing in the glove box like I told ya. If it's not there now, I don't know where it is."

Tristan looked thoughtful for a moment, then asked: "Matt, do you know anyone as dishonest as you?"