Queen's Gate: The Time Traveler

Queen's Gate: The Time Traveler is the second of the three novels detailing Alice's adventures.

Prologue: Change of the Ruler
Under the Southern Cross, full of OOParts like the map of Piri Reis, there was a structure with radars and lens keeping watch on the base of Irukinuf’s religious organization. It was the Vimana, the Treasure Hunter Alice’s mobile base. But, Alice wasn’t there. In the Vimana’s control room, there was the homunculus that served as support for Alice, Hatter, operating the main panel, with March Hare by her side. After Alice, Irukinuf, Dorothy and Rin crossed the Gate, it was now closed. They were checking for any updates on the situation, and trying to contact Alice. Then, the both of them noticed a familiar face showing up on the camera, Dorothy’s underlings. Hatter went to their location, and as Scarecrow came to, she accompanied them to the medical board.

Before the “Gate Opener” made it there, the “King of Tentacles” Swodar Nyarmain was talking with Moonlight, one of the 12 apostles of the “God of Tentacles” Irukinuf. Irukinuf had the ability of “Tentacle Communication” to connect different people together. Another person joined them, Rasputin, another of the 12 apostles of the “God of Tentacles”. But Rama and Leonidas, unsatisfied with how Swodar was managing the situation, had orchestrated a mutiny, and with the help of Faye Wright, they attacked Swodar. Swodar asked Moonlight for help, but she remained still. Faye laughed, not even someone with such charisma as Swodar, also known as Solomon, could oppose them. With Swodar out of the way, the apostles argued between each other, and Leonidas threatened Moonlight. Faye argued with Leonidas and Rama, as she waited for when Alice and Dorothy would arrive.

Alice went through the Gate. It seems she was now in what the Greek mythology called Hyperborea. She had been separated from Dorothy and Irukinuf, and a young Swodar Nyarmain greeted her as “Miss Alice”. When Swodar mentioned the “Gate Toucher”, Alice recognized her mother’s nickname, the person she had come to this world in search of. Swodar kept talking about how the arrival of the “Gate Opener” and the “Gate Toucher” had been predicted by the “Book of Prophecy”. Alice was told to follow Swodar, while she made sure that her weapons, the guns Angra Mainyu and Aeshma and her whip, were in working order. When they entered a certain facility, the atmosphere made Alice pull her guns out of their holster and grip them tightly, but Swodar smiled and reassured her that everything was fine.

They were at Yikilth, a place in Hyperborea once ruled by an entity called Neos-Irukinuf. Swodar told Alice that a woman called Lewis, as was written in the Book of prophecy, had arrived to fight Neos-Irukinuf. Alice recognized her mother’s name, and Swodar told her that there was a “Delay Field”. Her mother was a Treasure Hunter, but also happened to cause trouble wherever she went, and it wouldn’t be easy to reach her.

Chapter 1: Hyperborea’s Collapse
Swodar explained that Lewis had used the power of the Hyperborea Crystal to open the Gate in the first place, but it had run out of power and she had had to remain there. The Hyperborea Crystal was another OOPArt, that Lewis used. As Swodar explained, the gate hadn’t just been a simple gate, it was the “Queen’s Gate”, the door to another world. Alice worried about Dorothy, who seemingly had ended up with Irukinuf, but the problematic one wasn’t him, but Arukinuf. Hatter had warned her to be careful of the fusion of Irukinuf and Arukinuf. Swodar announced that they had arrived to the Hyperborea Crystal Power Plant, and told her to wear a “shield belt” to protect herself. But then, Alice got the feeling as if something was changing. Was it a prank by Lewis? Alice could see the donuts Swodar had previously offered to her, maybe it was an image projected by the Hyperborea Crystal. Along with the chocolate-coated donuts, the image also included leaf tea, the simple, old style one that her mother enjoyed. Dorothy was with Irukinuf, but had no idea where the songstress Rin was. If they wanted to open the Gate once again, they’d have to cooperate for now, so Dorothy took the staff along on her way to meet the “Gate Opener” Alice once again. Thanks to Irukinuf’s powers, Dorothy had a vision, that involved a pyramid and the Gate. Irukinuf mentioned Arukinuf, as Dorothy already had heard, that was the one who posed danger to them.

Close to Hyperborea, where Irukinuf had landed, there was a woman. She was the one who had once battled the entity known as Neos-Irukinuf, the “Gate Toucher” Lewis. As Swodar and her had discussed, she was now free-diving, looking for a certain component necessary for the Gate. As she looked at the Gate, she thought she had seen for a moment a girl she knew. “…Dorothy?” That was a girl from the Baum family that had her daughter Alice had known for years. Also, she was the beloved daughter of her former partner, Glinda.

As Lewis went towards the Gate to investigate, she heard the voice of another girl, who angrily called for her master Irukinuf. It was Rin, following the trace of Dorothy and Irukinuf. When Lewis talked to her, Rin cheekily introduced herself as the “Songstress”, and accepting her challenge, Lewis pitied her a little. She gripped the pistols at their holsters, but she knew she probably wouldn’t need to use her full power on her. Rin used the power of her manipulating voice to tell her to discard her weapons, but Lewis didn’t need them to beat her, and grabbed her. To Rin’s surprise, Lewis told her she was going to teach her some manners, pulled up her skirt and her panties down, and started spanking her. Even after she started crying, Lewis didn’t stop until she was satisfied. When she was finished with Rin, Lewis prepared her hatchet-cannons, Zarich and Taurvi, she’d probably need them. But by the time she got to the Gate, Dorothy and Irukinuf were long gone. She praised the ability of Glinda’s daughter, and resumed her work on the Gate.

Meanwhile, Alice had followed the donut images, and had reached the place where Lewis had been free-diving. Leaving Swodar behind to his work, Alice readied her pistol-daggers Angra Mainyu and Aeshma, if she encountered Irukinuf, maybe she’d need to use the Hyperboria Crystal to enter her Boost mode again. Moving on, she did find Irukinuf together with Rin, and to her shock, Dorothy was with them as well. Now that Rin had found her master Irukinuf, she was intending to get her revenge for her still red butt cheeks under her skirt. Alice hurried to Dorothy’s side, and they fought the cocky Rin.

Suddenly, Dorothy had a vision about what happened near the Gate with Lewis and the Songstress. As they were fighting Rin, Irukinuf couldn’t help the girl, as it needed a priestess to recharge its power. Then, Dorothy saw her chance and, grabbing Rin like Lewis had previously done it, she pulled her skirt up and her panties down and spanked her. Once Rin surrendered, Alice used up her remaining energy to throw her through the Gate. Now, they really needed the energy of a priestess to activate the Gate once again. Swodar thought back on the Book of Predictions, maybe now that Lewis and Alice were there, they’d be able to defeat Arukinuf and Irukinuf. Alice and Dorothy kept going forward along with Irukinuf, in search of Lewis. Interlude: Two Traitors

The apostles that had arranged the previous mutiny, Rama and Leonidas, were sure their plans for the Gate in 2012 would go right, and talked about two other apostles, Solon and Harald.

Chapter 2: Field of Tentacles Edalb
Guided by Irukinuf, Alice and Dorothy arrived in Edalb, looking for priestesses to restore Irukinuf’s energy. Alice felt some powerful energy and, despite Irukinuf saying she needn’t worry, grabbed her pistols from their holsters, just in case.

Advancing a little further, they met three girls that identified themselves as the “3 Irukinian sisters”, Hyiwa, Haipa and Garuu. It seemed like they were the priestesses that could restore Irukinuf’s energy to reopen the Gate, but a ritual was needed. They brought in the Holy Mother Kwun, and she started the ritual. When she saw Kwun sucking on Irukinuf’s tentacle, Alice got a bad feeling, but said it was nothing when Dorothy asked her about it. Of course, it still was the proper ritual. On the following morning, Alice and Dorothy talked with the 3 Irukinian sisters and Kwun, and were told about the witch Lewis, it looked like they respected her mother for separating Irukinuf from Arukinuf, and she may have helped them in the past. Now that she knew a little more about what her mom had been doing in this world, Alice and Dorothy kept looking for her.

Interlude: Prince and Queen
In Eurasia, Rama and Moonlight, wearing an haute couture suit and a china dress respectively, were playing a game of bet poker against a golden blonde in a magnificent dress. When they revealed their cards, the blonde woman had gotten a Queen Four of a Kind, while Rama had only managed a Jack Four of a Kind. No wonder they called her the “Queen Glinda”. She was indeed the mother of Dorothy, Alice’s current partner.

Chapter 3: Fusion of Terror
Now that Irukinuf had regained their energy, Alice and Dorothy made their way back to the Gate, unaware that there was a woman near there with Arukinuf, waiting for Irukinuf. Relying on the “power” of the “good luck fairy”, as they usually called Dorothy, the group followed the route to the Gate, but they encountered a threat. She was the Gate Watcher, a giant female blue ogre. Alice equipped her pistol-daggers, entered her Boost state and swung at her, but she could only get a moan out of her. Rather than damaging her, it was more like she was doing something naughty to her. But still, Alice couldn’t give up if she wanted to meet her mother again.

Meanwhile, Dorothy had moved on, heeding Alice’s advice about leaving the Gate Watcher to Irukinuf and her. Looking around the building she had sneaked into, she saw some names written into plates, in Edalb’s alphabet: “Flight 19”, “Charles C Taylor”, and “FAI”. Also, there was a message by the witch Lewis, that seemed quite recent. Then, she pulled a switch involuntarily, and she saw Lewis, Alice’s mother. “…Auntie?” “That voice is Dorothy, right?” It was then that Lewis saw Dorothy: “I was right, it’s the cute, cute Dorothy-chan.” Dorothy told her about Alice in need of help, and they headed back to Alice. When Alice made it past the Gate Watcher, a familiar face was waiting for her behind the door. “…Teacher Faye?” The woman in the red dress that just welcomed her was her former teacher. In fact, Alice realized something else about her. “…Rin?” Faye mocked her for not realizing before: Faye had once been Rin, now grown into adulthood.

Now with Arukinuf in her hands, she just needed the “Gate Opener” to control the Gate. Alice tried to reason with her, but failing, prepared her weapons. In the middle of their fight, Arukinuf suddenly got closer to Irukinuf. Alice tried to warn Faye to stop it, but it was too late.

Dorothy and Lewis were hurrying towards Alice. Lewis told Dorothy about the time Arukinuf and Irukinuf had become one, their powers combined had affected the Gate and provoked an accident in their world, in America’s Bermuda Triangle, that had become known as “Flight 19”. That’s what the plates Dorothy had seen before meant, including the one that read as “FAI”, that is, “Fusion Arukinuf Irukinuf”. They had to hurry to prevent that from happening again, and Lewis got her weapons ready. Still, she smiled, it was fine if Alice was at the Gate, that girl was the “original one”, the one qualified to integrate with the Gate. Arukinuf and Irukinuf had merged together. Faye proclaimed their victory before the “Gate Opener”, but Arukinuf, not needing her anymore, attacked and knocked her out.It could very well be the toughest opponent of Alice’s yet, but she was ready: “Boost On! Overboost!”

Interlude: The Queen’s Return
Glinda came back to the Baum Foundation. Scarecrow was glad that the former Treasure Hunter, the “previous good luck fairy” was back with them. After telling her the current situation, Glinda turned her gaze to the monitors, and started giving operations to Scarecrow and Löwe. They had to get ready for whatever could happen next.

Chapter 4: Irukinuf’s Ambition
Alice went into Overboost and swung her daggers with her increased speed, but no matter how she attacked, it wasn’t enough, and the Hyperborea Crystal was running out of energy to keep her Overboost state. When she was about to give up, she tried a last gamble, and using the last strength that remained in her Overboost, she raised up her Angra Mainyu and aimed at the Gate. Faye had woken up, and once again in control of Arukinuf, had the upper hand on Alice. And just when Alice said her last goodbyes in her heart to Faye, thinking she had to blow up the Gate… They heard a sudden, devastating .600 Nitro Express rounds shot, that hit Faye. They both recognized the woman holding the hatchet-cannon Zarich. Alice didn’t expect to see her mother there at the Gate, but Dorothy arrived and explained what had happened. With Lewis there and her powerful weapons, it didn’t take long for Faye and Arukinuf to be taken care of. But then, Irukinuf wrapped itself around Lewis and took her hostage. Now that no one could stand in its way and it already had the energy to cross the Gate, it didn’t need to follow them anymore.

Alice protested at first, but between Dorothy and Lewis, she was convinced to let Irukinuf and her mother go.

Interlude: Samurai’s Daisho, at the Ready
Another of the 12 apostles of Irukinuf, Minamoto no Yorimitsu was discussing the situation with his underling, Hikita Bungoro. With Irukinuf’s latest movement, maybe they’d have to act sooner that they thought.

Epilogue: Great Return
The priestesses from Edalb had heard about was going on and were coming to the Gate. Meanwhile, Alice had started to hit the Gate: they had no idea how they could activate it again to follow Irukinuf, and Dorothy and her were now trapped there. Dorothy told her they may had a chance, if what her mother said was true, Alice was the “original one” that could operate the Gate. When the 3 Irukinian sisters arrived, they confirmed that they would be able to go back home, but they had to perform a ritual for 2 people. Alice and Dorothy held each other’s hands. As the ritual progressed and they hugged each other, Dorothy let out a couple of moans that made Alice angry, but Dorothy replied that it wasn’t her fault. And then, as they finished, the Gate activated once again, and Alice and Dorothy jumped into it. Dorothy was relieved they could go back to their world, with Scarecrow, Lumberjack, Löwe…

But what would happen with the Gate?