Date: Wed, 4 Oct 1995 13:25:13 -0400 Reply-To: PandakIII@AOL.COM Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Lord President Subject: Only The Beginning The following has been excerpted from my Online Fan Fiction Magazine and is posted with the consent of the author. If you wish to subscribe to the magazine send your request to pandakiii@aol.com. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Our next story is the first original story we received for this magazine. It was written by Richard L. Foland Jr. and is set in the Highlander universe. Any and all comments should be sent to the author at folandjr@aol.com. The author has the following to say about his story: "I wrote this in an hour one afternoon and think it came out quite good. A couple of notes though -- Domino's Pizza is a trademark of Domino's Pizza Inc. and all original characters and ideas in this story are Copyright 1995 R L Foland Jr." Only The Beginning by Richard L. Foland Jr. Erie, Pennsylvania - 1995 Ian double checked the address. The lights were on, so he grabbed the pizza and hurried to the door. He knocked several times and was about to leave when the door suddenly flew open. The man framed in the doorway leveled a shotgun at Ian. The blast threw him backward into darkness. *** "Our top story tonight. A Domino's Pizza delivery person was shot at point blank range with a shotgun while attempting to deliver a pizza this evening. Details are sketchy, but we have been told that the driver is in serious condition at Hamot Medical Center. We'll have more on this story as it develops." *** "Pizza Delivery Person, Ian Andrews, returned to work today. Mr. Andrews, you may remember, was nearly killed last weekend when the person he was delivering to shot him. Doctors are calling Mr. Andrews speedy recovery a miracle." *** Ian's first day back to work and they were making him stay inside and make pizzas. He hated making pizzas, especially after doing it for nearly a year. He had hated it so much that he had asked to be made a driver. Of course, it was his third day back on the road that he had been shot. So, maybe delivery was bad luck for him. He had just sent the last driver home and was sitting down to do his paperwork, when he felt rather nauseous. He left the office to find something to settle his stomach. At that moment one of the windows shattered and a huge man wielding a sword charged Ian. Ian grabbed the closest thing to hand with which to protect himself, a three foot long fork, used to keep dough from bubbling in the oven. The maniac with the sword swung at Ian's neck. Ian deflected the blow with the metal portion of the fork's handle. The maniac swung again and again Ian deflected the blow. A third swing whistled past Ian's head as he ducked under it and jabbed the points of the fork into the maniac's stomach. There was a howl of pain and another swing. Ian deflected the sword into the tile floor and kicked his adversary where it would do the most good. The maniac recovered almost immediately and swung at Ian's head. This time the sword stuck in the wall and Ian just stabbed at his enemy repeatedly, until he was forced to retreat a little. Ian grabbed the abandoned sword and yanked it from the wall, a simple matter of leverage which seemed to have escaped the larger man's grasp. The maniac saw this and laughed. "You can't kill me with that! You don't know how!" Ian swung the heavy blade and caught the maniac in the side as he tried to dodge. Another swing which caused the maniac to change directions successfully kept him from reaching the fork which Ian had used to defend himself. A third swing caught the larger man across the shoulder, nearly severing his arm. "Another time, boy!", howled the maniac as he started running for the window. In a desperate attempt to stop his escape Ian, also running for the window, swung the sword with every ounce of strength he had. The blade sliced neatly through the maniac's neck and his head toppled to the floor. His body took a few more steps towards the window and fell to the ground as well. Ian watched horrified as a blue aura surrounded the body and spikes of electrical current reached out for him. He tried to run but he couldn't. In the ensuing electrical cataclysm boxes burst into flames, fluorescent lights exploded and the gas ovens detonated, levelling the store. Ian awoke in the parking lot, next to the headless body. He could hear the sirens approaching. He quickly rifled through the maniac's pockets and, grabbing the sword, jumped in his car and fled the scene. He managed to get out of the area before the emergency vehicles arrived. Later that night, Ian went through the articles that he had gathered from the maniac's body. The only thing he found of any use was a slightly burned piece of paper with some names and addresses typed on it. They were all neatly arranged in columns and scrawled in pen at the top was his own name and Domino's address. The first typed name on the list was Richie Ryan and the address was in Seattle, Washington. The rest of the address weren't in the US. Ian thought about the events of the last few days and decided that something strange was definitely going on and that this Richie Ryan might be able to shed some light on the subject. At the very least, Ryan needed to know that someone might try to kill him. Within an hour Ian had packed a suitcase and with the sword on the seat next to him he was driving west. "Whatever I find out in Seattle, one thing's for sure. This is only the beginning," he said to himself as he crossed the Ohio border. =========================================================================