Gizzie's Deli: Soft Light Reviewed by gizzie

Title: Soft Light Reviewed by Gizzie part of Gizzie's Deli on EP
Author: gizzie@ix.netcom.com copyright 1998-2000
URL:http://home.i1.net/~bakke/deli/ OR http://home.stlnet.com/~bakke/deli/
Archive: Archive anywhere as long this header is attached.<br>
Disclaimer: The X-Files and its characters, is the property of Chris Carter, TenThirteen
Productions, and Twentieth Century Fox. No copyright infringement intended. Any
similarity to characters, alive or dead, or situations is purely coincidental
and nintentional.

Soft Light
by
Gizzie

"Still, in all, remains the three,My echo, my shadow and m-AAAAAAUUUUUUGGGHH!!!!"

I KNEW there was a reason I prefer those 45 watt bulbs.....

Some poor sap in a fleabag Virginia Hotel just wants to see who the hell is knocking on the door across the hall from his, when he goes to look out his peephole, he steps into the shadow of the man across the hall, and disappears in a streak of black STUFF. The guy across the hall MUST be Peter Pan, 'cause how ELSE would his shadow get UNDER the door, unless it was detached from his feet? Peter Pan guy takes off in a panic, the maid is gonna be pissed when she has to clean up that black stuff.

Mulder and Scully arrive at the hotel, but not to get a room, Scully is there to help her former student, who has just been bumped off, I mean, bumped UP, to detective. I hope Newbie Detective Ryan did not bother to fill out all the forms for her extended health care benefits, she is wearing a virginal white trench coat, which may as well be a red shirt, and I think her badge says "Ima Doomed", but I could have read it wrong. She explains that there have been two similar cases and makes eyes at Mulder, who LEAPS to the theory of spontaneous human combustion, which causes a spontaneous reaction in Ryan (squidge!)

Mulder connects the train station to two of the victims, he has Ryan send two policeman to the station, where low and behold the Peter Pan guy, Banton, has been holing up, the benches are uncomfortable, but the food is good, and the lighting is diffused, the better to not fry anyone, my dear. But of course, he goes outside JUST as the police come for him, and they step into his shadow, which is on BOTH SIDES OF HIM, and they both ash away to black streaks.

Meantime, Mulder has been watching security tapes from the train station, and he notes that Banton is in EVERY shot, on the same bench, he either got stood up for a bad date, or he REALLY likes it there. Mulder has the magic camera guy blow the image up, 'till he can read Banton's jacket logo, he worked Polarity Magnetics, the same place the first victim worked. Ha-HA, the plot thickens...

At PM, they meet Banton's partner, who says Banton has been missing since an accident, where he got zapped in an accelerator, and he did NOT meet Sam Beckett, but he DID get his shadow burned into the wall, and what he has left is PMS (particle mutating shadow). Wow, and I thought the HEADACHES were a bitch..... They go back to the train station and corner Banton, who, of course, runs outside and stands under a killer light beam, but Mulder has enough sense to shoot out the light bulbs,and he DOES NOT MISS, just as Scully is about to step her little feet into Banton's shadow. Banton gets locked in the funny farm corral, where he tells M&S that the government wants to SUCK HIS BRAIN...cool.

So, here comes Detective Ryan and her local goon squad, she plays SUPER COP, and gets M&S pushed out of the action. Mulder contacts Mr X for help, but he refuses, but he pursues his OWN agenda later, showing up at the hospital with two "paramedics", who promptly get zapped into nothingness, and X, no dummy he, lets Banton escape.

Banton goes back to his old partner, seeking help in destroying the particle accelerator, and LOOKIE HERE, here comes Detective Ryan, on her own, SHE's gonna be the hero.....WWRROOOONG!!! Banton reluctantly steps forward, and DOWN she goes, ba-BYE now, see what happens when you don't play well with others?? And now the PARTNER locks poor Banton in the accelerator, he is PART OF THE CONSPIRACY...oops, not anymore, X blows his head off.

M&S arrive in time to save NO ONE, Detective Ryan is a black spot on the carpet, Banton appears to be gone in a burnt shadow on the wall, Mulder goes to X and accuses him of using Mulder to find Banton, and Mulder tells X he DOESN'T WANT TO PLAY WITH HIM ANYMORE, so nyeh-nyeh, but X insists he didn't kill Banton.

At the funeral, where I assume they buried the chunk of carpet that Ryan disappeared into, Mulder tells Scully that Banton's partner is now missing, and he thinks they been had, and maybe Banton didn't get blasted after all. This proves to be right, as the last thing we see is Banton, now a test subject of X and some OTHER mystery man, hooked up to all kinds of head stuff, getting his brains fried out. About the only thing this guy will be good for after this is driving a taxi, someplace quiet, like Nantucket............

End