AGFF Clone Wars, Prologue through Chap. 6
Craxton
will be posted as reply to the first message. (Cool- instant thread!)
Sean, you can post to the web page from this. (Or I'll send you my
master copy, if you'd rather. It's in WordPad format.) Very little
changes were done or needed, although I did make some minor revisions to
the Prologue. You probably won't even notice it without comparing the
two versions side-by-side. Anyway, here it is: AGFF Clone Wars!
Prologue
by Craxton
(apapted from an AGFF thread)
----------
There was carnage on AGFF. That, in and of itself, was not out of the
ordinary. But, even as scenes of carnage go, even on AGFF, this scene
was bizarre. A lone figure with black wings and clothes stood on a cliff
overlooking a battlefield. The battlefield below was populated by Relm.
Or rather, Relms.
Hundreds of Relms.
Thousands of Relms.
Most of them fake.
It had started out as another typical night on AGFF. A little flaming, a
little innuendo, a little off-topic discussion... the usual. The MilonZ
had made the mistake of opening up some old wounds. He had defiled Relm.
The man on the cliff (well, half-man, half-dragon, actually (with a
little Mooglish blood thrown in for effect)) was Craxton.
And, if this night was any indication, he was the last of the Defenders
of Relm.
He had torched MilonZ, of course. Doused him with alcohol, and then hit
him with a Fire spell. That had taken care of him nicely. Unfortunately,
defilers tended to travel in packs. Even more unfortunately, the
Defenders were nowhere to be seen.
To complicate matters more, Relm herself showed up. Several times.
Craxton had soon found himself engaged in mortal combat with a certain
Mr. Z. Or rather, several Mr. Z's. Z must have been some sort of insane
geneticist. He had created an army by cloning himself. Not only that, he
had made several varients on the clones, including Y's, W's, V's, and
several others. But Craxton was a formidible warrior. And the clones had
common weaknesses. Exploitable weaknesses. Craxton had defeated them
all.
So Z had played his trump card.
After felling several duplicate Z's, Y's, and others, Craxton had looked
up to see Relm fighting with herself. Or several selves. He had deduced
they were also clones created by Z, but not before the many Relms had
started sketching each other...
No, wait a minute, it had been the other way around... He had figured
out they were clones BEFORE they started sketching one another...
No, hang on a minute, there had only been TWO Relms...
Ah, hell. He couldn't figure it out. It had been a confusing night.
The point was, there were currently at least a thousand Relms having a
free-for-all down below. And Craxton's job as a defender (unofficial
defender, true, but the official ones were elsewhere...) was to protect
the real Relm.
Trouble was, which one was the real Relm?
Now, Craxton has in his possession a great many weapons. His primary one
is the Crystal KnightSword hung in a sheath on his belt. Not only was it
sharper than steel, but it's composition (the purest of elemental
crystal) allowed it to become a channel for any form of energy in
existance, including the eight elements. (Nine? Had FFVII introduced a
new one? He made a mental note to look into that.) If he was disarmed,
the razor-sharp claws where his hands should have benn, if he wasn't
half dragon, functioned almost as well. If he was faced with
a serious problem, he knew most every magical spell that existed, had a
large belt pouch (bottomless, like most item-carrying things in a FF
world) containing a variety of useful relics, and he could, if the
situation warranted it, transform into a thirty foot green dragon.
But around here, none of that counted for much.
Most of the Regs had already built up at least comparable arsenals, and
many had maxed themselves to level 99. Some had even declared themselves
gods. Brute strength rarely did any good, since everyone's brute
strength was more or less equal.
So the weapon Craxton relied on most was his mind.
Strategy was the key. With the proper appilcation of the appropriate
weapons, in the appropriate circumstances, a single combatant could
cause incredible damage. His annihilation of the Z clones had
proved that.
His annihilation of the Relm clones would prove it again.
Fumbling around in his pouch, Craxton withdrew a curious device. It was
a hexahedron made of gold, with All materias at each of the vertices.
The device was designed so that all the materias were linked together.
It was a HyperAll Relic. The spell Craxton was about to cast normally
worked on only one person. Obviously, he needed some help to cast it on
over a thousand simultaneously.
He concentrated on the relic and the carnage below, and spoke the
incantation to the Doom spell. He hoped that this would work. If not, he
would fail his duty in the most horrible way imaginable...
The ether bent and twisted to Craxton's will, and finally lanced out to
the crowd of battling Relms below. The spell engulfed Relm after Relm,
snuffing out the life within them all. But it wasn't snuffing
immediately. The spell's effects had been diluted so much, it would take
a few minutes for it to work...
"They wear Memento rings, dolt."
Craxton smiled and turned around to face the mastermind behind all this.
"Mr. X, I presume."
The figure looked slightly surprised "How did you know my letter?"
"It's the only one you skipped when making your clones. Plenty of Z's,
plenty of Y's, plenty of W's, V's, and U's, but no X." He smiled. "So of
course, X had to be the real you."
X smiled. "Clever, Craxton, clever. You are a formidible opponent.
But..."
X drew a long, steel sword, which was of course magical, although
Craxton didn't know what kind of enchantment was placed on it.
"...but this ends now. It's been fun, but I won't let you kill them. No,
I won't let them be killed. Nuh-uh. They are MY creation and they are
indeed beautiful!"
Craxton drew his own sword, which glittered in the dawn sun. He also let
his inner villian out to play for a while.
"Just how do you intend to stop me?"
"I intend to kill you."
"What about that little spell?"
"I told you, they have Memento rings."
Craxton laughed. "Fool! Don't you see that's exactly the point? The
source
of a Memento Ring's power is a mother's love. You know that, of course?"
At this, Mr. X slashed at Craxton, but the blow was blocked easily.
Craxton continued.
"There's only ONE genuine Relm, X..."
The swords clashed violently against one another.
"And this is the perfect way to find her..."
X blocked an overhead slash from Craxton.
"For, though you may clone bodies..."
Craxton leaped back to avoid a slash from X.
"Though you may duplicate abilities..."
X ducked, avoiding a potentially decapitating slash, and in the process
fell to a crouching position.
"Though you may mimic forms..."
X tried to leg-sweep Craxton, but Craxton jumped to avoid it.
"Though you may teach your clones identical spells..."
X rolled away to avoid another overhand slash, and quickly clambered to
his feet.
"Though they may sketch clones of themselves..."
Craxton parried a stab from the now-standing X.
"None of this can duplicate love!"
As if to punctuate that point, Craxton finally pierced X's defense and
knocked him to the ground again. X's sword landed a few feet away, out
of arm's reach.
Craxton held his sword triumpahntly at X's neck.
"Thus, there can be only one true Memento Ring. And only the one true
Relm can wear it. SHE will survive. Your vile perversions of her form...
will DIE!"
There was silence between the two for a minute. The sound of screaming
Relms filled the air ad interim. They were weakening and in pain, but
from their own attacks, not Craxton's spell. X smiled.
"And yet they still live." he said. "You know why? Cuz... I said so! Ha
Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!"
His laugh was interrupted as all the Relms, with the exception of one
standing in the center, fell dead.
"Dammit." said X.
Forgetting the madman, Craxton leaped of the cliff and glided through
the air to the battle-worn Relm. The real Relm, he now knew.
"Relm!! Are you all right?"
For a moment she was too stunned and weary to talk. She fell to her
knees, trying to comprehend what had just happened. "Yes... I think
so... I..." She was clearly scared and confused. Seeing her on the verge
of tears, Craxton pulled her close and comforted her. She was only 11,
after all.
The boomig voice of Mr. X assailed them from behind. "Fools. You should
never have turned your backs to me. Before this night is done, I shall
have cloned a whole, new large army of fooey Relms who are IMMUNE to
your Doom spells! I shall get my revenge on Relm yet! Farewell!"
Craxton turned around... and saw no sign of Mr. X. He stood up, still
cradling Relm in his arms. They both looked around, but X was nowhere in
sight.
"I have a bad feeling about this..." said Relm.
Craxton felt a sudden chill. "So do I, Relm. So do I..."
---------------
Chapter I
By Mr. X
------------------------------
After arriving back at Craxton's home, a little whiterock cottage
around the Greyshone Forest in AGFF, Craxton allowed Relm to borrow
some of his niece's old clothing and a bathrobe so she could wash
herself up in the shower, and be fresh and clean again. While she did
so, Craxton enthusiastically whipped some cheese onto some bread and
put it in the oven. When Relm left the shower, they could eat grilled
cheese sandwiches together and talk more about X, the army of fake
Relms, and how Craxton could be sure Relm was safe and sound.
'If only FuSoYa were here', Craxton thought to himself, as he put the
cookie sheet slowly into the oven, carefully inspecting the cheese
sandwiches one last time to make sure none of them would be too drippy
or not cheesy enough. Finally, convinced that the cheese sandwiches
were ready to be grilled, he shoved them into the oven and closed the
oven door. From the bathroom, he heard the shower start.
He sat down at the table and sighed to himself. Why had FuSoYa left
anyway? If FuSoYa had been around, this entire mess would have never
come to be and Relm's Unofficial Defender would not have had to do the
dirty work. Craxton could understand FuSoYa leaving temporarily...
After hearing that the Moon had been invaded, of course FuSoYa had
perfectly good reason to leave and attempt to save the last remaining
Lunarians. Craxton just selfishly wanted him back, so that he didn't
have to worry so much about the little cutie. And besides, it had
already been almost a year! Where could FuSoYa be...and could he be
dead?
Craxton removed such morbid thoughts from his head. He didn't want to
think about that now. Now he had a new task in front of him. He now
had Relm under his wing and, by bob, he had to make sure she was safe
from the madman Mr. X and all of his Relm look-alike cronies.
With a loud smash, Craxton was removed from all of his thoughts by the
sight and sound of an elbow smashing through the outside window.
Craxton stood up, taking out his Crystal KnightSword and stepping
toward the window.
Out of the window came a seventeen year old Relm, dressed in a bikini
and very little else.
"Hey, we're here to destroy the fake Relm," she said simply.
"Not a chance," growled Craxton, holding the Crystal KnightSword in
front of him threateningly.
"Oh, you poor fool," Relm said, sneering at him. "It's already too
late. We've got agents coming from all sides!"
Craxton barely had time to figure out what she meant when he heard a
girlish scream from the bathroom.
"Relm!" he cried in horror, rushing toward the bathroom and cutting
through the door.
The eleven year old girl, dressed only in a towel, ran screaming out
of the bathroom, dropping the towel as she went. Quickly, she picked
it up again, effectively covering herself, and stood, cowering, behind
Craxton.
And in the bathroom itself were not Relms, but, instead, several men
dressed in white coats.
"Who the hell are you guys?" Craxton thought out loud.
"The answer to that, my dear fellow," came a familiar malicious voice
from behind, "are my non-Relm ...friends."
Craxton turned around to see Mr. X, sneering in his direction. Beside
Mr.
X were about ten different Relms and about seven different men dressed
in white coats. Wrapped up in a cloak limply was a man, features
shrouded in the shadows of the cloak, held up on his feet only by the
support of several of the men in white coats. In fact, even as Craxton
watched, the man's head lulled forward unconsciously, though still
shrouded too much to be recognized. Craxton paid this man no heed,
instead turning his attention to his new nemesis.
"Mr. X..." he growled.
"Why, hello, Craxton," said Mr. X cheerily. "I've decided to give you
a second chance. Give us the fake Relm and we'll let you live. How's
that sound?"
"Over my dead body," growled Craxton.
"Very well," sighed Mr. X, shaking his head. "I didn't want to do
this, but... Men, show him our captive!"
One of the men dressed in a white coat, with a whip of one hand,
completely took the hood off of the shaded man's head, exposing...
Edwyn.
Craxton's eyes widened.
"Uncle Eddy!" screamed Relm, voice ringing with horror, from in front
of Craxton.
Edwyn's eyes were slammed shut and his head hung limply at his front,
but his features were recognizable even so.
"Wh-wh-what have you done with him!?" Craxton shouted, voice quivering
with rage.
"He tried to kill my friends, the newbieverbs," Mr. X explained. "And
I couldn't have that. My friends and I decided he was better off
drugged unconscious where that rebellious nature of his could not
affect our... business plans. He knew too much. He had to be stopped.
"You see, Craxton," Mr. X continued soothingly. "What you've stepped
into is much larger than you might believe. This is not just some case
of simple Relm Defiling. Hell, no. This is an entire organization, one
which has been planning to change AGFF for the better for a long, long
time. Edwyn stood in our way. Your fake Relm now stands in our way. We
cannot allow this.
"But being the kind, compassionate folk that we are," Mr. X finished,
"we have decided not to kill you... or Edwyn... if you give us your
Relm and stay silent about this whole affair from here on out. You
don't concern us enough to need to die. To us, you're ...
insignificant, for lack of a better word. Now, give us the fake Relm!"
Craxton's mouth tightened. "No."
Mr. X shrugged his shoulders."Very well, then. I'm sorry it had to
come to this.
"Men!" Mr. X shouted. "Drop Edwyn."
The men dressed in white coats did just that, allowing the unconscious
Edwyn to fall forward on his face.
Mr. X pulled out a gun, giving a wicked grin Relm's direction. "Say
goodbye to Uncle Eddy, Relm!!"
Mr. X paused. "1.." he pulled the safety on the gun, with a loud
click.
"2..." Mr. X pointed it the direction of Edwyn's head.
"Wait! Stop!" cried Relm, rushing forward.
"Hey..." Craxton began. But Relm was already too far ahead of him for
him to pull her back.
The men in white coats pulled out large, evil-looking revolvers,
pointing them at Craxton, stopping him from moving forward.
"Now, let her make her own decisions," sneered Mr. X. "She's a grown
girl now, aren'tcha Relm?"
"Don't hurt him... Please," Relm said, shivering and tightening the
towel around her.
"We won't need to," Mr. X said with a smile. "Sorry 'bout this."
Before Relm could react, Mr. X pulled out a large syringe and plunged
it into her right arm. She let out a loud exclamation, then fell back
to the ground next to Edwyn, just as unconscious as he. The towel fell
off of her to the floor.
"Relm!" cried Craxton, stepping forward.
"Stop or die," growled one of the men dressed in a white coat,
stopping Craxton in midstride. He fired a shot at Craxton's feet as a
warning, forcing him back a step.
Mr. X, meanwhile, stared down at Relm's uncovered body admiringly.
Then he threw the towel over her again and picked her up off of the
floor.
"You're a sick puppy, X," growled Craxton. "And you'll pay for this. I
swear it."
"Take Edwyn!" cried Mr. X to the men in white coats. "All but Agent
069 and Newbierelm. You stay here to watch over Craxton while the rest
of us make our getaway. And Craxton," Mr. X added over his shoulder.
"You don't have to worry about your precious Relm. I won't touch her
sexually. As you've already seen, I've got enough Relms... closer to
my age, at that... to keep me quite happy enough in any case. All we
need her for is to take some of her blood tissue... then we kill her!
Mwa ha ha ha ha...!"
And then Mr. X disappeared from view, followed by several men in white
coats carrying Edwyn and several older Relms. Leaving only one man
dressed in a white coat and one Relm, a disgusting parody of the cute
little girl Craxton knew, drooling and staring at him.
"What do you want, Relm-wannabe?" growled Craxton through gritted
teeth.
"i JJUSTE WAANTEED TOO SEYY Y YOU, CARXTAN. THENKE YEW FAUR DIFENDIING
MEY!!!!1!!1!!1!!1"
'Oh, great,' Craxton thought to himself. 'A Newbieverb Relm. Will
wonders never cease?'
"Look, Craxton," growled the more civilized man in a white coat, also
known as Agent 069. "Why do you go to the trouble of defending the
fooey little slut, anyway? After all, all she does good is sleep with
other people. That photo taken of her and Interceptor proves that! And
you know as well as I that she's FuSoYa's lover, 11 or not! What do
you see in her?"
"That photo was not proven to be a real photo, for one thing," Craxton
countered. "It was a frickin' Hentai picture. And there is absolutely
no proof whatsoever that she has ever slept with FuSoYa. Since Strago
died, he's been her legal guardian! Where do you come up with these
silly little rumors?"
"Believe me, we know," said Agent 069 knowingly. "We know."
"Ah."
"SAAAIIY, CARKTON!!!1!11!!!" wailed Newbierelm. "EIEI ELWAIYS BENE
WONDIRINNE... WHEY DOI I IGILTHC UP THI SCREAN INE FF3333???/?/??/"
Agent 069 turned irritably toward Newbierelm, obviously about to ask
her to shut the hell up. Craxton took this moment to act.
"LIT3!" cried Craxton, summoning a small bolt of lightning down on
Agent 069. Agent 069 fell backwards in surprise, dropping the gun
clattering to the floor.
"VANISH!" cried Craxton, pointing toward the gun. "X-Zone!"
"Damn you," cried Agent 069, leaping to his feet. "You're going to pay
for this one...I promise!"
With that, the secret Agent ran forward at Craxton. Calmly, Craxton
raised his Crystal KnightSword and watched, semi-amused, as Agent 069
impaled himself on it.
Choking and coughing, Agent 069 fell back, eyes widening in surprise.
"It just goes to show you," Craxton said calmly. "That attacking a man
with a sword -- and I'm not talking a GFS sword -- when you're angry
is generally a bad idea."
The Agent looked at Craxton as if he were confused, then a glimmer of
understanding entered his eyes. He nodded. "I'll remember that," he
gasped. Then he collapsed, dead to the floor.
"AIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!11!!!1!1!1!!1!" screamed Newbierelm, running away.
"HEE KELLIED MIE AGINT FREIND!! HEEOLP!@!!1! HEEOLP
NOOBEEREELM! HEEOLP!!!@!!1!!1!!21!11!2!!!!!1!!1!"
And with that, Newbierelm had fled.
Standing there, Craxton looked toward the floor, minorly annoyed that
the Agent was bleeding all over his carpet, then thought of Relm once
again.
Relm, poor Relm. She tried so hard to be a sweet, cute little innocent
girl growing up... but these dysfunctional negative influences kept
showing up in her life. And now even Craxton had failed at defending
her. Where had all of the other Defenders been? Where was FuSoYa?
"I need to have a talk with some of the other so-called 'Defenders',"
murmured Craxton to himself. "They didn't lift a finger to help before
and they didn't help now. I'll give them another chance, though,
before renouncing their titles as simple lies. If I can get them all
together, perhaps we can form a rescue mission, and bring back Relm
into safety....
"But, first," Craxton said, staring up at the moon evenly. "I need to
find FuSoYa."
------------------------
Chapter 2
By Kim Wild
-------------------
In the distance, Lord Bob stood mightily as he witnessed the scene
before him. Relm was being dragged, screaming with fear as Mr X and
his cronies, dressed in white suits, placed her hurriedly into the van
waiting for them. Lord Bob's fireproof cloak fluttered in the breeze
and the Doomblade sword strapped across his back began to glow.
Although Lord Bob did not know Mr X, he reminded him of someone else
he knew on AGFF, but he couldn't put his finger on the connection.
Something told him that what Mr X was up to was not good for Relm or
AGFF.
Lord Bob turned silently and began to ponder the situation. Relm was
in big trouble, he knew that much, and as a defender he felt it was
his duty to help her in her time of distress.
He began to make a phonecall. To AGFFSDIAIA.
*******
Craxton looked down and sighed. His mobile phone began to ring.
"Hello" answered Craxton impatiently. " Ah Greg, just the person I
wanted to speak to. I want you to get everyone you can to go to the
AGFF Community Centre. Now. It's urgent."
*******
The people of AGFF were huddled together in the Community Centre. The
place was for some reason very cold indeed and none of the lights
worked properly. Thankfully, this wasn't a problem for the regulars as
it was still moderately light outside. The room itself was fairly bare
as it only contained some tables and chairs but it was the decorations
which left much to be desired. The walls were a bright pink and the
carpet was illuminous green. Josh sneered at the tasteless room.
"Geez, the people who painted this place must have been colour blind".
Everyone nodded in agreement. The room fell silent again. Present in
the room were Eyeglazer, Jason, Michael, Linda, Greg, Small Girl,
Spoony, Gann0n, Cherubae, Dana, Rachel, Omatu, Atma and Josh. Bordom
was beginning overcome some of the regulars although this time
Eyeglazer was not taking the blame.
"Why are we here anyway." asked Eyeglazer in his usual monotone voice.
"Craxton wouldn't say" said Greg stiffling a yawn. He glared at
Eyeglazer. Eyeglazer just shrugged.
Jason laughed. "It has probably got something to do with Relm"
Linda beamed. "I like Relm. She is a lovely girl"
Jason almost spat out his coffee. "She is a fooey slut!!!!!"
"She is not!" cried Small Girl.
Michael smiled approvingly. "You tell him Small Girl!"
Small Girl smiled back. "Thanks Goldman-sama!"
"Oh yes she is" said Jason standing up. "She is the root of all
fooeyness I hold. Fooeyness flows from her like water flows over
Niagra Falls!"
"SHUT UP!!!" shouted Linda and Spoony angrily.
Jason began to laugh mockingly. "Fooeyness burns within her like a
forest fire. She is_THE_Fooey One. The TRUE Fooey One!"
"Right that's it!" Linda, Michael and Spoony began to advance towards
Jason. He began to smile evilly and danced around the tables.
"She isn't on FooeyNet because her fooeyness is beyond comprehension.
But_I_see it. The fooeyness is strong with her family."
Linda, Michael and Spoony rushed to attack Jason. Gann0n and Cherubae
jumped to Jason's defence.
"You just can't handle the fact that Jason is telling the truth can
you?" said Gannon.
"Relm is NOT a fooey slut" shouted Linda angrily.
"You are in denial!" yelled Cherubae. "Relm is as Fooey as they come"
"Why you..." Linda slapped Cherubae around the face. Cherubae tried to
scratch out Linda's eyes and the two of them were scrapping on the
floor. Gann0n tried to punch Michael but missed, only to get a kick in
the stomach from Spoony. Jason headbutted Spoony and soon the six of
them were in a massive fight.
Greg, Atma and Dana looked at each other bewildered. Rachel whistled
innocently as Omatu began to inspect the dead flies in his coffee.
Eyeglazer just stared into space.
"Who makes the coffee around here anyway?" demanded Omatu looking at
his mug in disgust. Greg pointed to the far end of the room.
FrostyDoom waved. Omatu groaned.
Dana started to look worried. "Don't you think we should stop them
somehow? Now even Small Girl has joined in. It could turn messy"
"Nah" said Atma cheerfully as he put his feet up on the table "It will
liven the place up a bit. Besides, I want to see Linda mince their
asses into a pulp. Morons."
Greg ducked as a plate whizzed past his ear and smashed into a wall.
"So how are you-" BANG!
Linda smashed a chair over Jason's head who fell to the floor. Gannon
threw a plate which hit Linda on the die of the head, forcing her to
the ground. Atma lept up in fury.
"No-one treats her like that.!" He went to join in the fight but fell
to the ground in boredom as Eyeglazer began to receipt the history of
the accounting system used in 1908. Greg stared at him. Eyeglazer
stared back.
"Oh forget it!" sighed Greg.
Craxton came into the room and looked in shock at what he saw.
Regulars were fighting each other and the whole place looked as though
it has been the target of a bomb blast. The tables and chairs were in
pieces and broken shards of plates were scattered all over the floor.
The only thing that was left intact in the room was the table that
Greg, Dana, Omatu, Josh, Eyeglazer and Rachel were sitting around.
"Hey Craxton! Come over here!" shouted Josh eagerly.
Greg chuckled " Hehhehe.....'come'"
Josh pushed Greg off the chair "Shut up you sicko!"
"Hey, it's not my fault, I have GFS!!"
Rachel rolled her eyes. "I wished Unright would hurry up with that
cure!"
"Speaking of Unright" said Dana slowly "Where is he?"
Greg shrugged. "Probably in the lab"
Craxton arrived at their table. "What in Bob's name is going on here?
Oh, it doesn't matter"
Craxton cast mute on the group of fighters. Everyone, surprised at the
loss of their voices, turned to face Craxton.
"I need your help urgently" Craxton pleaded. "I am intending to find
FuSoYa on the Moon. I need him to help me find someone. Now who is
prepared to help me?"
*******
Mr X chuckled to himself as the white suited men brought Relm into his
underground chambers. He turned to Agents 66 and 67.
"Take her to the torture room"
He smiled wickedly as his men took her into the room at the far end of
the chamber. There was no way that anyone could possibly find out his
plans. Relm was his now and his plan which was to change the heart of
AGFF was coming together at long last. There was just one more thing.
"BC!" He shouted.
A man ran over to him.
"Yes sir?"
"I want you to go and see Unright." smirked Mr X. "I need you to get
him to get some samples from Relm." BC turned to go but Mr X stopped
him.
"Don't under any circumstances let it slip the real reason why you
want these samples. Otherwise we will never get him to do it. Do you
understand?"
"Yes sir." BC ran out of the chambers. Mr X muttered to himself. And
now power will be mine.
*******
BC made his way to Unright's laboratory. On the outerdoor was the sign
"Keep Out. Top Secret!". He smiled to himself and then walked in
anyway. Unright was huddled over what seemed to be a sack. He was
surrounded by endless rows of test tubes, containing the most potent
and unusual of substances.
"What are you working on this time?" asked BC. Unright jumped and
covered over the sack with some cloth.
"What do you think you are doing disturbing me like this? Didn't you
see the sign?!!!" he cried frantically.
"Relax man" said BC soothingly. "I didn't mean any harm"
Unright relaxed a little. "I am sorry. It is just I am working on
something very secret that no-one must know about"
BC nodded. "How about a little peek?" He leaned over and tried to see
what was in the sack, but Unright grabbed his hand.
"Did you want something or did you just come here to pry?" inquired
Unright angriliy. BC backed away and Unright relaxed again, although
he still kept a tight hold on the sack and it's covers.
"Yes, I was wondering if you could carry out some...... tests?"
"What sort of tests?" asked Unright suspiciously, glaring at BC as he
walked slowly around the room.
"Oh the standard. Blood tests, DNA samples that sort of thing" Unright
nodded at BC.
"That won't be a problem. Why do you want these tests and samples done
though?"
BC froze. "I...err....can't tell you."
"No explanation. No tests"
Unright turned away. BC sighed.
------------------------
Official Defender of Celes Chere
Unofficial Defender of Relm Arrowney
Wielder of the Crystal KnightSword
Hater of Powergaming
Future King of Final Fantasy VI FanFiction
Available for acting jobs in the NY area. Willing to travel if the
role is good. E-Mail sbel...@hotmail.com for more information.
Current Favorite Quote:
"<SNIP, SNIP, HACK, HACK, CHOP, *sound of chainsaw* BRRRRRRRRZ!...>
<*heavy demolitions equipment is brought in*>
<KA-BOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!*>
Lets see here...
Person with 400 line sig...
Person who quoted the entire 400 line sig...
I rest my case."
-Ixnorp, referring to HEC's .sig and Hitokiri Battousai's refusal to
snip it from his reply.
Craxton
implementing in AGFF." He lied. "We are taking samples of every person
in AGFF so that when they enter the newsgroup, the computer will be
able to match them up to the DNA and blood stored in its memory banks.
If the person does not match up to the records, then any imposters or
trolls can be found and thrown out of the group. Of course it is in
its early stages at the moment which is why we don't want anyone else
to know about it. Wouldn't want anyone else to know about it" He
looked at Unright to see if he bought the lie. He did.
"Okay" agreed Unright. "Since it is going to be for commendable
reasons I will come over and take the samples as soon as I can"
"Excellent!" said BC. And with that he walked out of the lab.
*******
Lord Bob stood by the road, waiting patiently.
"Well, well look who it is" said a voice behind him.
Lord Bob turned around and saw in front of him Agent Kain and Agent
Kim. He smiled.
"Well, I never knew you two were working for the AGFFSDIAIA"
Kain and Kim looked at each other. "Well, it is a bit complicated"
began Kain "but we are really there to keep an eye on the leaders
there. I believe that they are in a conspiracy against AGFF"
Kim shook her head and Lord Bob just looked at them.
"Well," said Kim "You told my boss that someone had been kidnapped and
you want us to check it out" Kain took out his notebook and pen and
looked at Lord Bob intently.
"Do we know who it was that was kidnapped?" inquired Kain.
"Yes" said Lord Bob "It was Relm Arrowney"
Kain dropped his pen in shock. Kim just stared into space.
"THE Relm Arrowney?" asked Kain excitedly "FF6 Relm Arrowney"
Lord Bob looked puzzled. "Yeah. So?"
Kim glared at Lord Bob. "Relm doesn't exist. She is just a character
in a computer game."
"But I have seen her post here on AGFF." cried Lord Bob. "I have seen
her in the flesh"
"It is impossible" said Kim impatiently. "Relm was created by a video
game programmer. She is not real. Whoever you saw was not Relm."
Kain looked at Kim in exasperation.
"You can't tell me that after all we have been through together, after
all you have seen, that Relm does not exist."
"There is no concrete evidence that she does" said Kim. "Kain" she
turned to face him. " We have worked on the Relm Files for the past
four years and despite all the Relm sitings and eye witness accounts,
there is no scientific basis that Relm is a real human being"
"Sometimes things can't be explained Kim" Kain sighed.
Lord Bob was even more confused now. "The Relm Files?"
Kain began to explain.
"Four years ago Kim and I were assigned on a project titled the Relm
Files. It is about the investigation into the existance of Relm and
how people have seen her on her travels. We have follwed up upon
sightings and eye witness acounts and have even seen her personally in
various forms. I have been trying to collect evidence that she exists
but the evidence I gather is either destroyed by the AGFFSDIAIA or
circumstantial. I believe that someone at AGFFSDIAIA is covering up
the existance of Relm to stop anyone finding out what their true plans
regarding AGFF are. I have been longing to prove her existance ever
since I encountered her with my sister when I was 12. I firmly believe
she exists and once I have the evidence, I can prove that she does
exist once and for all."
Lord Bob nodded. "Well, your chance is as good as any. Your job is to
try and find where Relm might be kept and then report back to me. Once
we have enough information, an investigation can then be started."
Kain looked happy. Kim just sighed again.
"Whoever was kidnapped was not Relm. It is just not scientifically or
realistically possible for Relm to exist on such conditions. However,
a girl has been kidnapped and regardless of who she is" Kim glanced at
Kain " She needs to be rescued."
"Then you will help find her?" asked Lord Bob anxiously.
Both Kain and Kim nodded.
Lord Bob smiled. "Excellent. But first we need a plan of action....."
-------------------------
Chapter 3
By Lord Bob
------------------
Craxton sighed. The meeting had NOT gone well. In addition to the
first,two
more brawls broke out between the Relm Defilers and the Defenders. In
the
end, almost nothing had been accomplished. Fortunatly, he did get a
volunteer. Spoony was going with him to the moon, and they were both
strapped
in chairs in the charter rocket filght service. He hopped to be able to
find
Fu, otherwise they might as well give up against the hordes of defilers.
*****
After giving the AGFFSDIAIA agents a breifing on what had happened and
on what
he knew, they started thinking out their plan. Bob and Kain started
discussing math as Kim left briefly to phone AGFFSDIAIA HQ to get
information.
"Now," she said as she came back, "these files are Top Secret. We're
not
supposed to let you see theese, so you never even knew they existed.
Alright?"
Bob noded.
"Sure."
Kim opened the folder she had. Inside were several pictures, which Bob
reconized as Mr. X, or someone very like him. Kim pulled one out.
"This is Mr. X." She said.
She pulled out another
"This is Mr. Z."
And another.
"This is Mr. Y."
Bob was slightly confused.
"They all look the same!"
Kain nodded.
"That's because they're all clones. We BELIVE Mr. X is the original,
but we
have no way of knowing for sure."
Kim got out another pictuer, of a bunch of men in white coats.
"Theese are agents from T.H.E.M. It is also belived Mr. X is the
ringleader,
and that they are plotting against the leaders of AGFF."
Kain spoke up again. "The coats, the van, the kidnaping, it all fits
in. The
only question is what we want to do about it, and how are we going to
save
Relm."
"Ahem?" Kim asked, "Relm? She is a vidiogame charecter. She dosn't
exist."
"Really?" Bob countered, "And what about... Vincnet Valintine? He's a
respected poster, and he's a game charecter."
Before Kim could say somthing about that, Bob went on.
"And Kain!" He exclaimed, pointing at Kain, "Don't tell me HE dosn't
exits!
Or are we both crazy, hmm?"
Kim gave in. "Alright, alright! I give! You saw Relm! Sheesh."
"So," Kain said, "are we going to visit Mr. X, or do you have a
different
idea?"
"Let's pay him a visit." Bob replied, grining evily.
------------------------------
Chapter 4
by Dave
--------------
It was a bright, sunny afternoon, and Dave lay stretched out beneath a
large oak tree. A bird chirped melodically, the sound of a gentle
stream drifted through the forest trail. Dave drowsed peacefully,
having sex dreams involving the entire female cast of Final Fantasy 7.
Suddenly, a flock of birds flew down the natural corridor formed by
the two hills which bordered the stream. Dave sat up, shaking his
head to clear the sleep. Something had to be coming down the trail to
scare the birds like that.
He got to his feet and waited. After all, there was no reason to fear
the newcomers. They were probably just some fellow AGFFers, looking
for a discussion on something or another.
Or were they?
A sense of growing anxiety was building in Dave as he heard the
rhythmic sound of marching feet heading down the trail. There was no
organization in AGFF who marched. Most of them either sauntered or
teleported.
At the last second, Dave decided that he might not want to meet these
newcomers, and slipped silently behind a large tree trunk and waited
for the marchers to pass.
Dave did not wait long. Like a great segmented snake, ranks of people
filed mindlessly by, all of them in perfect step with the next. Their
faces were nondescript at his distance, so Dave slowly crept to a
nearer tree to observe the passing of the marchers.
Getting a good look, he drew in a sharp breath, horrified. The were
all Relm.
Dave could almost feel the fooeyness radiating off of them.
His first instinct was to pull his revolver, the Phantom Slaughterer,
and deal with the Relms in the easiest fashion, but as hundreds of
them filed past, Dave saw that he would run out of ammo in both his
gun and cartridge belt before he had taken them all down.
"This is a fascinating development." Dave thought to himself as even
more Relms walked mechanically past.
Finally, after counting an even five hundred clones, a man dressed in
a dark suit which contrasted to his white lab coat walked by. He was
not in step, and showed no real interest in being so.
He carried a small palmtop computer, and was intently monitoring
several charts on it's screen.
Dave was perplexed, and thought he might try an experiment to find out
the nature of the Relms.
He hurried to the head of the procession again, sneaking behind trees.
He tossed a small pebble at one of the Relms, which struck her behind
her ear. She didn't show any sign of having noticed. Dave repeated
this experiment twice more, with identical results.
"Hmm..." he thought, "They aren't too bright."
He hurried ahead of the caravan and strung a wire across the trail,
about two feet off the ground. Then, Dave climbed a tree overlooking
his trap.
Dave didn't have to wait long before the troop once again rounded the
corner.
Closer and closer they came to the wire, showing no signs of seeing
it.
The first rank tripped and fell over the trap, and we quickly followed
by the second. A few moments later, the third and fourth ranks
dropped atop the first and second. Within a minute, nearly 70 Relm
Clones lay prone on the ground.
Then the rest of them stopped.
Dave drew the Phantom Slaughterer, ready for whatever might happen.
The man in the lab coat walked to the front of the troop, muttering
angrily. When he saw the trip wire, he pulled out a small device.
"Shit," thought Dave, "thermal sensor."
The suit drew out a small piece, probably a PPK. Dave checked his
revolver, and found all was well.
The suit's eyes remained fixed on the thermal sensor as he walked
slowly towards the tree in which Dave was perched.
He stopped, and looked up. Looking down into the man's face, Dave
leveled his gun to the area of the man's face which would have a
sizable chunk of brain behind it.
"Who're you?" Was Dave's challenge.
It was answered with the profound language of gunfire.
Dave flinched at the bullet bit into his cheek, cauterizing the wound
instantly by it's heat. Not deep, but painful as hell. Dave fanned
the hammer of his piece lightly, each time squeezing a round off that
bit into the suit's head. Dave stopped firing when the man hit the
ground, never to rise again.
Suddenly, the Relm clones sprang back to life, each of them producing
small knives from somewhere in their clothing.
Dave quickly reloaded and hopped out of the tree, on the opposite side
of the Clones.
He ran into the forest, with the clones pursuing him at an unholy rate
of speed. His revolver was effective enough on them, but he knew that
he only had 44 shells in his belt, and that there were still over 400
Relms chasing him.
The situation was dire.
Dave downed six more clones, and reloaded on the run.
He knew from memory that a rather peculiar geological formation was
around the next corner. Dave hoped that the clones had less balls
than he, because he was certainly dead if they had more.
A sheer precipice had been carved out of the living rock from aeons of
water and wind erosion. In the bottom of this huge crevice in the
surface of AGFF, there was a mighty river. It had flowed since the
beginning of time, and was the main water system in the planet.
Dave ran to the edge of this chasm and looked down to the glassy water
beneath. The drop was over 300 feet. He stood at the edge, waiting for
the clones.
They covered the distance in small time, and were nearly upon Dave,
even as he mowed them down rapidly, leaving piles of dead upon the
grass.
Finally, Dave holstered his revolver, and leapt into the gorge, hoping
like hell he wouldn't bellyflop and kill himself on the landing. He
also hoped to Bob that the Relms didn't like long drop offs.
He seemed to fall for an eternity, nearly hypnotized by the surface of
the water beneath him. Finally, he hit and was plunged into the warm
river. Dave surfaced a moment later, and spit out an amount of dirty
water.
He was relieved to see the clones hadn't followed.
"Well, fuck," he declared, "I can tell this is going to get worse
before it gets better."
-----------------------
Chapter 5
by Slipgate
----------------------
Dave decided to let the water carry him along, coming
up for breath periodically. He'd see if there was somewhere
he could get out, since these walls were too steep to climb
back up, and he didn't want to go up there again in case
those Relms were waiting. He waited a while before coming up
for the first breath to make sure that he was in the
underground waterway flowing out of the place he had jumped
in, out of sight of the Relms. Otherwise they'd know which
direction he was going and try and get him later in his trip
through the water.
Elsewhere, Craxton and Spoony were nearly at the
moon. They began to make preparations for going into orbit
and then landing. They hoped that they could find FuSoYa in
time, before... they didn't want to think what Mr. X would
do. They had to find FuSoYa and hurry back.
Meanwhile, the other defenders, the defilers of Relm,
and the peculiar Kain and Kim were in a van large enough to
fit them all. However, a consequence of the size of the van
was how quickly it guzzled gas. They were gunning it towards
Mr. X's fortress across various types of terrain. The van
wasn't handling some of the types of terrain as well as
others. The gas was depleting.
Bob was at the wheel, since he had taken charge of
the operation since Craxton left to find FuSoYa. He saw a
road and decided to go on it, for at least a while, to stave
off their running out of gas. However, the van had used up
too much gas already and shortly after getting on the road
it sputtered to a stop. Everyone swore. Bob tried to get it
to move more, but it was no good.
Kain was at this point very excited about getting to
Mr. X's fortress and finally seeing Relm. He volunteered
immediately to get out and push. Kim turned to him and said,
"Kain!" Kain was adamant about getting there, he was so
close and he couldn't be stopped when he was nearly at the
vindication of his years of searching! So, despite Kim's
complaints, Kain got out, but couldn't push the van alone...
it was too big with too many people in it. So more people
got out and pushed, and it was still no good. Eventually
everyone was outside the van trying to push, and it was
moving finally, but not fast at all.
"We can walk faster than this!" panted Mary. "Let's
just leave the damn van at this rate!" she said. Everyone
paused for a breath. Kim look around them. It was
deserted... and very hot. It was only making them hotter and
sweatier to try and push the van. Walking would be
better, but it was so hot, and she didn't know where they
were. She doubted that a source of water was near. She
wasn't sure that they'd survive walking. All for a person
who clearly couldn't exist... she was disgusted that it would
end this way.
"Damn it! We have to get there somehow! But we
can't go in this desert, we'll all die!" Bob shouted into the
dry air. Everyone looked at him, the defenders (and Kain)
with a terribly defeated look in their eyes, whereas the
defilers didn't seem to care as vehemently about Relm's
safety (since to them Relm was fooey). But they were all
worried about making it alive. Kim's teeth were gritted.
Inexplicably, he heard a voice in return not from
among their group. "Is someone there?" it said. It sounded
like Dave! He was the AGFF Gunslinger, and always was a good
shot with his gun. Bob shouted back, "Yes!" All of a
sudden, Dave came crawling out from underneath an overhang to
the west, sogging wet. Mary grabbed a towel from the van and
ran to him, handing it to him.
As Dave stopped shivering, he told them his story.
The defenders tightened their grips on their weapons slightly
when he described the Relm clones as fooey, but the defilers
smiled. Craxton would have probably drawn his sword at that
statement. Upon hearing about the gunfight in the tree, Bob
said, "You shot Mr. X?" Dave asked, "Who?"
Bob told their story. He began with what Craxton had
told them about when he contacted them, and then the story
since then. Then Dave finished his story. "So why are the
defilers along for the ride?" Dave asked. "Simple," Mary
replied, "If there's no real Relm left there's nothing left
to defile!" Bob added, "Clones are defilable stuff anyways,
even for defenders!" Dave grinned. Since he had come from
an underground river exposed to the surface in a really small
pond under the overhang, the group stored as much water as
they could for their journey.
Dave asked, "Do you suppose Mr. X is still alive?"
Everyone was quiet for a moment. Kim didn't think someone
would survive multiple gunshots to the head, but she didn't
say anything. After a pause, Bob grimly replied, "Whether he
is or not, we have to eliminate the clones and save Relm."
Dave asked, "Mind if I come with you, just in case he is?
I'll have nothing left to defile either if Relm is gotten rid
of...." They thought about it and decided to go for it. He
was good with his gun, after all. They got ready to set off
for Mr. X's fortress again. Hope had returned to everyone's
eyes, and Kain looked relieved. Kim was still skeptical of
the existance of Relm, everyone could tell. They all thought,
"Wait till she sees her with her own eyes."
Meanwhile at Mr. X's fortress, Mr. X and his troops
of Relm clones had gotten back. Mr. X surveyed his
permanently cut and scarred face. How dare that infidel do
this to him, the great Mr. X? A synthetic beep informed him
that the artificial skin mask was done.
He applied the artificial skin. It made his face
look normal again, but underneath still lay the ravages of
Dave's gun. Mr. X swore a blood oath to make Dave wished he
had never crossed paths with him. He would get revenge.
Dave would pay.
Dave knew none of this, as he cheerily set off for
Mr. X's fortress, and while the others had to be prepared in
case he was still around, Dave didn't think Mr. X was still
alive. Neither did Kim. How wrong they were...
They had traveled about an hour when they saw a
shrouded figure walking slowly along nearby. They decided to
take time out to see who this was. As they approached, Bob
suddenly got a very serious expression. Green cloak
shrouding a seemingly harmless stooped figure... it had to
be.
He stopped them. "I know who that is..." Bob
whispered to them. Thankfully they were out of earshot, and the
figure hadn't seemed to see them yet. "Who?" asked Kim.
"That's.... Slipgate." Bob whispered. Only Bob and Craxton
knew about Slipgate, and for different reasons. But they
both knew all too well who he was. Kim asked sarcastically,
"What's his stance on Relm?" "Shh!" Bob whispered. "His
stance is neutral. And I wouldn't recommend... bothering
him." "Oh come on, we could use all the help we can get!"
Kim said, running ahead to talk to him.
She came up to the shrouded figure and said, "Hello,
sir, I was wondering if...." Before she could finish her
sentence, the shrouded figure stopped, and without turning
towards her, she heard a voice with an odd edge to it say,
"Who goes there that disturbs me!" The shrouded figure
turned towards her. She couldn't see a face or eyes under
the shroud. It was spooky. She took a step back.
"Who are you! What business do you have speaking to
me?" the shrouded Slipgate said. Bob had ran up behind her
and quickly addressed him, saying "My apologies, milord, for
her bothering you." They seemed to know each other. The
shrouded one, Slipgate, said, "Bob? Is that you? Who is
this?" He replied, "Kim Wild, milord." Slipgate seemed to
get irritable. "Don't call me milord. I'm not a lord. I'm
quite different from these human denominations of power...
but then you should be quite familiar with that." Bob smiled
and said, "My apologies, Slipgate." Slipgate said, "So I
notice you have a large group of people together. Odd...."
Bob asked, "What's odd?"
Slipgate said, "You have defenders of Relm and
defilers of Relm together here. And,"... he paused. He
closed his eyes, though the others did not see this action.
He seemed to be mentally focusing or meditating or something.
Kim felt something odd, and then the sensation passed.
Slipgate opened his eyes and continued, "and a disbeliever
that she exists. A most odd group, wouldn't you say? So,
what's the story? Oh, and why isn't Craxton among you then,
if the defenders of Relm are here?"
Bob explained to Slipgate the story of all that had
happened so far, recollecting their own remembrances and
Dave's. As Slipgate listened, he seemed to lean innocently
on a staff. Kim and the others (besides Bob) though had seen
that there was something odd about this character... he had
somehow read Kim's thoughts, for one.
When Bob finished his story and Dave finished his,
tying them together into how they ran into each other,
Slipgate lowered his head slightly. He seemed to be mentally
focusing again. Kim felt another odd sensation, and this
time everyone in the group did. Then, miles and miles away,
Mr. X felt an odd sensation, but then it passed.
Slipgate spoke up now. "Kim, I see you don't believe
in magic either. Or magical power or beings?" Kim nodded,
slightly unsure of how to explain this mind reading
medically. "Kain," Slipgate began, "If you survive your
journey, I believe you know what you will find. And it will
be there. But the vindicating moment is the finding, if you
succeed to live long enough." Kain was both excited and felt
an ominous worry at this message. "The rest of you,"
Slipgate continued, "are indeed in this quest for the reasons
you have told each other."
He knew about Mr. X's maniacal desire to kill Dave,
but he chose not to speak on this. He hadn't investigated
Mr. X's plans for Relm. To tell Dave this or to find out the
plans and inform this ragtag group would be to knowingly
change the future from unfolding as it should. He looked at
the future. It looked uncertain... many things could happen.
He knew one thing though. Cloning was evil. It
tainted the harmony of the universe, and clones were always
pale evil counterparts. He had no opinion on Relm and on
whether she lived or died, but he knew that the Relm clones
must be destroyed, and never again produced. He knew that he
would be held accountable, knowing such clones existed, in
whether or not he assisted in exterminating them. If he did
not, may Bob have mercy upon his soul.
He looked at Bob. Bob knowingly looked back. Bob
purposefully concealed the full extent of his power as God of
AGFF. He was a Relm defender, but if he overused his power
he would destroy all of AGFF trying to save Relm. Part of
being a God was using your power responsibly.
Slipgate decided. "Well, Kim," he began, "prepare
for a surprise, then." He held his plain wooden staff up,
and it seemed to undergo metamorphasis in his hand. It was
now a sword, glowing a hard white light. Kim's mouth fell
open. But that wasn't it yet. A lightning bolt came down
and struck the blade, coursing through the blade and into
Slipgate. As they watched, Slipgate flew high into the air,
then underwent a metamorphasis into a giant green dragon with
a huge fleshy wingspan.
They were all amazed. Kim and some of the others
were entirely flabbergasted, while some of them had seen
Craxton undergo metamorphasis into a type of dragon, but
certainly not as large as this one... he also didn't seem to
have the little antenna that Craxton had, and he had wider
eyes. Slipgate said now, in a slightly changed voice, "Do
you believe now, Kim?" Kim was speechless.
Slipgate addressed the audience of speechless people
and said, "Some of you knew about Craxton's ability to
undergo metamorphasis into his draconic form. Practically
none of you know me, though. Well, that is a story that you
must hear, to understand myself, my power, and Craxton
himself." All of the AGFFers present decided it was worth
the time to hear about this. "Long long ago," Slipgate
began, "The Dragon King Bahamut mated with a lovely human
female. I am the child of that union." They nodded, but Kim
couldn't understand how totally incompatible beings could
have mated and produced a child... Before now she had thought
dragons didn't exist, anyways. Slipgate continued, after
giving her a spooky knowing look. "I later mated with a
human female... wonderful creature...." Some of the people
had by now figured where this was probably going, but they
had some surprises yet in store. "This female happened to
have had an ancestor three generations previously who mated
with a moogle. Her ancestor's name was Krile." Some of them
took a step back at realizing the connection with a Final
Fantasy 5 character. Kim was still speechless. She didn't
think Krile had been real, much like Relm. Slipgate
continued, "So the human female I mated with was mostly human
but had some mooglish blood as well. Our child was part
human, part dragon, and had some moogle blood as well. You
all know Craxton, of course. He is my son. The antenna with
the pink nub and his narrow eyes in his draconic form are
attributed to his mooglish blood." Nearly everyone looked
like a light bulb had gone off in their head, after finally
having an explanation for those two strange qualities of
Craxton. He continued, "We both can undergo metamorphasis
into our draconic or humanoid forms. Due to our relation to
a diety, we know all magical spells that exist."
While everyone (save for Bob) was stunned speechless,
Slipgate closed his eyes and communicated mentally with his
son in the heavens above. Way up in space, Craxton suddenly
felt the familiar mental presence that was his father. His
mouth gaped open. Spoony noticed and asked, "What's wrong?"
Craxton said, "Nothing at all. My father has decided to help
the others on Earth." Spoony asked, "Your father?" Craxton
grinned. "Yeah, my father." he said. He'd have to explain
to Spoony.
After they regained a grasp on reality, Slipgate
asked, "Well, we must be getting to Mr. X's fortress. Would
any of you care for a ride?" With that, he turned around so
they could climb aboard if they wanted. He was so large he
could comfortably fit all of them on his back. One by one,
the humans got on board. Bob decided to avail himself of the
ride as well, even though he wasn't... anyways. Once
everyone was aboard and gripping hold of his back, Slipgate
gently took off.
Kim was shaken, Kain was beaming. He whispered to
her, "Pretty soon you'll see Relm!" She tried to shoot him
an exasperated look, but she had just seen too much today
that couldn't be medically explained. Especially the
crossbreeding of non-compatible beings... and the existence
of impossible ones...
Her mind swirled as they began to head for their
destination. Little did any of them, even Slipgate, know
what to expect in the future. Even Bob did not know of what
awaited them as they set off, in the name of Relm...
-------------------
Chapter 6
by Craxton
------------------
------------------
The Crystal Palace of the Lunarians was in something of an uproar.
Barely half an hour ago, the Palace Guard had been put on full alert.
The reason for this was tragic and simple: FuSoYa, the leader of the
Lunarians, had been killed. Every regiment immediately started
canvassing the huge castle, looking for the murderer. He led them on
quite a chase, too. As of right now, the chase had ended and he was
holed up in the mini-museum on one of the Palace's highest floors. So
the state of alert had been relaxed somewhat. The killer was now
trapped. There was only one door, resting atop a high, open staircase
stretching down into a chamber below, that lead into or out of the
museum, and the killer had locked and barred it as best he could. Add
that to the fact that a whole regiment of the Palace Guard was currently
outside that door, waiting for him to come out, and noone was worried
much.
--
Craxton
the door with spears. The rest lounged around, some of them admiring the
exhibits outside or the spectacular view through the panoramic,
crystalline windows (a view which was somewhat spoiled by the line of
invaders camped out just about 1000 meters from the base of the palace),
waiting for the laser torch they had called in. There was, after all,
nothing to worry about. The killer was trapped.
Or so they thought.
Presently one of the guardsmen at the door stopped, and motioned his
partner to do likewise. Then he put his ear to the door.
"What?" the second asked.
"Shhhh! Hear that?"
The second began listening to the door intently, as well. "Something
like a... rumbling?"
"Not exactly. More like a purr or something."
"A PURR?"
"Yeah, a purr. Sounds like it's getting closer, now."
"That's no purr! A purr is softer, more melodious. Besides, there aren't
any animals in there. What's going to purr?"
"Well..." He listened more carefully, now. "It's not EXACTLY like a
purr, now that you mention it. Something very low, mechanical, warlike
almost. Like a growl... but not quite. Getting very close now. Something
like... like..."
The thought struck them both at once. "An engine."
Right on cue, the killer crashed through the door, riding a Lunacycle.
It was basically a hovering motorcycle designed to achieve high speeds
on lunar terrain. It looked something like a cross between a Star Wars
speeder bike and a FFVII motorcycle, a combination that had no doubt
inspired this escape. The two soldiers were knocked down the stairs. The
killer looked down at the regiment bliefly before starting down the
stairs on the cycle. The regiment, in turn, looked up at him, noticing
the black clothing, claw-like hands, and jet-black, leathery wings
protruding from his back.
The killer was Craxton. And his visit to the moon was not going well.
-------------------
It had started off well enough. The flight from the AGFF Spaceport to
Moonbase Kujata had been a little rough, but nothing serious. The base
itself hadn't been too bad, either. It had the look and feel of a
frontier town crossed with a military encampment. Two long streets
traversed it's length, one north-south, one east-west. Near the
spaceport at the center, they both curved, forming a large circle around
the spaceport. In fact, the spaceport took up almost a full quarter of
the base. The rest was banks, bars, stores, restaurants, bunkers,
bunkers, and more bunkers.
The bunkers hadn't been part of the initial design. Originally, Moonbase
Kujata had been designed as an initial colony. A stopping-over point for
further colonization. The plan was first to set up a viable, self
sufficiant community. The colonists would learn to farm the lunar soil,
serve as a permanent human presence on the moon, and eventually, with
the permission of the Lunarians, expand. Most of the bunker area was
originally designated as farmland.
But things had not gone according to plan.
Barely two months after the colony first landed, the invaders had
appeared. They had struck without warning, destroyed most of the
Lunarian settlements, and kept the remainder holed up tight in the
Crystal Palace. Plans for a self-sufficiant colony were quickly
scrapped, and Kujata becam a military encampment. They now had a
radically different problem. The corporations that had collaberated on
the Lunar colonization project hoped to send aid to the Lunarians, and
thus had sent soldiers up. Unfortunately, like corporations are apt to
do, they had skimped on the funding.
As a result, Moonbase Kujata barely had enough soldiers to defend
itself. It was spared destruction only because the invaders seemed to
have very little interest in it. With the exception of a few skirmishes,
they had not attacked Kujata since the siege began. They were focussing
on the Crystal Palace, and would probably not attack anywhere else until
it was captured.
Craxton had thought on all of this as he gazed at an orbital picture of
the structure. It was badly damaged, but holding together. In fact,
underneath the crystal outside, the palace walls were pure Adamant, so
it would be up for some time. This was fortunate. For Moonbase Kujata as
well as the Lunarians.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
Craxton turned around to see his travelling companion, and the acting
leader of the Defenders of Relm, Spork the Spoony Bard. "Even after all
the fighting," he continued with a smile, "all the scars, all the
damage, it's still beautiful."
"Yeah." Craxton said. "I just hope it's still standing when we reach it.
How do we get there?"
"That won't be easy." Spoony responded. "The invaders, whoever they are,
basically control the entire territory around the Crystal Palace. The
siege line holds about 1000 meters from the walls, and the surrounding
mountains are constantly patrolled. If we went overland, we'd get
caught, and the invaders never take prisoners. They also have some sort
of atmosphiric warships with them, so an arial approach is out. The
mothership took heavy damage during the initial invasion, and is
currently grounded and being used as a base of operations about forty
miles north-northwest of the palace."
"So the best spot to try and break through their defenses is the
southeast quadrent of the mountains."
"Yes, but it won't be that simple. Even there, the ground and air routes
are way too risky. The only feasable way through is the caverns."
Craxton closed his eyes, put his left hand on his forehead, and ran it
slowly back through his hair, moaning "Oh no. Not the caverns."
"I'm afraid so, Craxton. The invaders try to keep the caverns
well-patrolled, but they're too complex, and mapping doesn't seem to be
the invaders' strong point. I've been here several times before the
invasion, so I'll be able to find my way through. It's not perfect, but
it's the best chance we've got."
Craxton sighed. "Okay, once we've got FuSoYa, how do we get out?"
"That's going to be tougher. You see, the Palace doesn't connect to the
caverns. Chances are, we'll emerge from one of the many meteorite
craters on the surface, hopefully within the siege line. From there,
it's a mad dash to the palace walls. Fortunately, the Palace has gun
emplacements that will be covering us."
"If they don't assume we're with the enemy."
"They'll recognize me."
Craxton nodded. "Good. But that doesn't answer my question. How do we
get back here?"
Spoony heaved a long sigh. "I don't know."
"What do you mean, you don't know?"
"I mean, I don't know. We won't be able to get out the same way we get
in. Hopefully, the Lunarians have some sort of emergancy evacuation
vehicles that will get us past the siege line, but..." he trailed off.
"But?" Craxton asked.
"But, since the siege began, noone has gotten out of the Crystal Palace.
It's practically suicide. It's impossible to reach any the craters
without alerting the invaders to our presence, and if we're running
towards them, the palace guns won't be able to cover us effectively. It
will take the flying vehicles fifteen minutes to get airborne, after
that, we're effectively toast."
He sighed again. "Several people have tried to make the run since the
siege began. None have lived."
"Wonderful."
"If we want to find FuSoYa, we have to try."
"I know, I know. Where do we start?"
"There's a motor pool at the eastern end of the base. We can pick up a
hovercar there that will take us to the edge of the mountains. There, it
will be simple to find an enterance to the caverns."
"Okay, then." They started off to the east. After a while, Craxton
turned to Spoony again.
"Hey, Spoony, why is this place called 'Moonbase Kujata'?"
Spoony thought for a minute, then shrugged. "Because 'Moonbase Knights
Of The Round' sounds silly?"
------------------
'None have lived.' He had said. And now Craxton was forced to not only
attempt what noone had survived trying before, but to do so without the
help of the Lunarians. The thought of attempting such a feat did not
please him.
First of all, though, he had to get out of the palace. And the only way
to do that was to go through these guards.
It only took a moment for the shock of Craxton's unexpected enterance to
wear off. The guards scrambled to their feet, assumming combat stances.
Quickly, Craxton gunned the engine and charged down the staircase. He
drew his sword, but knew that he would never be able to take down all of
them. Could he go for the exit? No, the guards were all over the place,
and once word of this incident got the alarm raised again, there was no
chance he could elude them. Sooner or later he'd run into a corridor too
narrow for the cycle, and that would be the end.
He needed to get out of the palace NOW. And he'd better have a plan
formed by the time he reached the bottom of the stairs. He shot a quick
glance around the chamber spotting two interesting exhibits- a steel
"canvas" with a modernistic etching on it, hanging from the ceiling by
two taut iron cables, and an abstract sculputre directly beneath and
behind it. And the window directly behind the sculpture...
Now THAT was an idea. Not the best escape plan, but it'd have to do.
The guards were beginning motions and incants, preparing to hurl spells
at him. Hoping his Blue Magic was up to snuff, Craxton began the Matra
Magic incant.
As Craxton reached the bottom of the stairs, missles came seemingly out
of midair and began flying everywhere. Craxton made sure two of them
struck the painting's cables, causing it to fall to the floor and lean
against the sculpture, creating a makeshift ramp. The rest he sent
everywhere, making sure they caused as much chaos as possible among the
guards. Craxton turned the cycle towards the ramp and charged at it,
full speed.
The guards were thrown completely off by the missiles. Most of them
stopped their spells to dive out of the way or take cover. One managed
to squeeze off a Bolt spell, but missed.
Craxton pulled the nose of the cycle up and hit the ramp head-on. He
sailed over the sculpture...
And crashed straight through the window.
He was now past the guards and out of the palace, but now he had two
more problems. One was the fact that he was easily a thousand feet above
the ground, and, unlike in FFVII, there was no highway to catch him.
What worried him more was the fact that once he hit the ground, he'd
have to deal with the siege line. He knew what the invaders were capable
of...
---------------------
The trek through the caverns had been difficult. Craxton had his sword
out at all times, even when climbing the brief but steep inclines that
were seemingly everywhere. Spoony, likewise, held his harp constantly at
the ready. The caverns were such that you could turn around and instanly
be confronted with trouble, in the form of one of the Lunar creatures,
or one of the invaders. It was a long, confusing, journey, with Spoony
pointing out the right paths through the maze of natural passages.
After a few hours, they stopped to rest a minute.
"How much further?" Craxton asked.
"I'm not sure. I'd guess we're a bit more then half of the way there."
Craxton groaned. "Five more HOURS of this?"
Spoony looked at him. "You know, you complain quite a bit, for a
warrior."
"Huh?"
"You complained about the caves, you complained about the invaders, you
complained about..."
"Just griping, Spoony. Just griping." He paused, then continued. "You
know some people. Not really happy unless they have something to
complain about. Well... I guess that's kinda like me, sometimes."
Spoony shook his head sadly. "Very unhealthy, you know."
"Huh?"
"If you have to have something to complain about, chances are you
eventually start LOOKING for things to complain about. I've seen more
then a few people become Defilers like that."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Don't know what I've got worth complaining about
anyway. I mean, another few hours trudging through this place is NOTHING
compared to what's going to happen if we don't get to FuSoYa."
Spoony nodded. There was a brief silence before he chose to come clean.
"Why do we need FuSoYa?"
Craxton looked surprised. "What?"
"When this whole mess started, the first thing you recommended is that
we go looking for Fu."
"Well, of course! He's the leader of the DoR, the Guardian of our
protectee! He's going to have to know about this."
"Why?"
Craxton almost laughed. "Why else? To lead us!"
"Well, no doubt. No doubt we need a leader, but why does it have to be
FuSoYa? I mean, call me treasonous if you will, but I think saving the
entire Lunarian race from extinction is kinda more important then
rescuing Relm and killing off some clones, don't you?"
Craxton became silent for a minute. "If what X told me was close to the
truth, this could threaten all of AGFF. Fu should know, at least. We'll
tell him about the situation, then let him decide for himself which
cause is more important."
There was another akward silence.
"That doesn't exactly answer my question, though." Spoony said. "Why
FuSoYa? Why is he the only one who can lead us?"
Craxton sighed. "Spoony, don't get me wrong. You're a fine warrior, in
your way, and Fu did well putting you in charge when he went away.
But... I just don't think you've got what it takes to lead a large
force."
Spoony raised his hands, almost defensively. "Hey, no argument. I can
hold my own in a melee, sure, but for a leader, we need someone who can
organize, someone who can plan, someone who can do strategy." He paused
to see if Craxton was getting it. He wasn't, so Spoony continued.
"Someone like... you."
Craxton was shocked. "Me?"
"You."
He shook his head vigorously. "Out of the question."
"Why not? You have all the characteristics of a good leader."
"Look, I'm not even a member of your organization, officially. Plus,
most of the others barely know me. You think they're going to trust me
as a leader?"
"True, perhaps. But that's not really it, is it?" Craxton turned away.
"Something is holding you back." Spoony continued. "Keeping you from
committing yourself to the cause. What is it, Craxton? What is it that
torments you?"
There was a long, long silence. For a minute Spoony thought he had gone
to far. He had gotten too personal, too private. He turned away,
resolving to forget the entire conversation. He was about to recommend
they continue their journey when Craxton answered him.
"I can't be trusted to protect the ones I love."
Spoony was caught a bit off-guard "Hmm?"
Craxton heaved a slow, painful sigh. "Relm... to me... to all of us, I
guess, she's like... a daughter, almost. Can't say I've ever had a
daughter, myself. Not that I wouldn't want a family somewhen down the
line, just... you know... never found the..." his voice suddenly became
more pained. "...never found the right kind of woman, I guess."
"Is that so?" said Spoony. He meant it as an aknowledgement, but to
Craxton it sounded like an inquiry.
"Well... no, not exactly... I... I did, once, but... she..." Spoony was
clearly dredging up painful memories. "I've never..." Craxton continued.
"Never really told anyone about this, but..."
Abruptly, Spoony shushed him. Craxton looked at him quizzically. "Whay,
you're the one who..."
"SHHHHHHHH!!! Listen!"
Craxton realized that Spoony had been listening to something else,
probably since he last spoke. Waving his previous thoughts away from his
mind, Craxton listened. They were standing in a chamber where several
tunnels intersected, and from one of them, he heard footsteps. Very,
very, very soft footsteps. The person making them was probably taking
great pains not to be heard.
The footsteps stopped rather suddenly, perhaps realizing detection. The
tunnel from whence they came was situated so that neither Spoony nor
Craxton could see the mystery being, but it was almost certainly one of
the invaders. Spoony motioned Craxton to wait and, holding his harp in a
combat position, tiptoed over to the tunnel. When he was a few steps
away from the tunnel enterance, he turned briefly, nodded to Craxton,
and then threw himself into the invader's line of sight.
"FRE..." Spoony began to yell, but stopped abruptly as his face became a
mask of shock and horror. Craxton heard a sound like a gun being fired
and a hiss, and then a rocket came shooting out of the tunnel. Spoony
jumped aside and the rocket missed, exploding instead in the wall behind
him. A second rocket soared out of the tunnel and impacted the floor
almost directly behind Spoony, throwing him across the chamber. The
footsteps started again, much faster this time. Doubtless the invader
was charging toward the chamber. Craxton held his sword at the ready,
prepared to engage the invader as soon as he exited the tunnel. He
watched the tunnel exit like a hawk. The footsteps moved closer, closer,
closer. The invader emerged from the tunnel...
Holy shit!
It was a Quake marine!
Raising his weapon, the marine fired another rocket. In his shock,
Craxton barely managed to dodge it.
"i GONNNA FRAG U BIUaCJH!!!!1!!1!!!"
It was obviously a taunt, screamed in an alien langauge Craxton vaguely
remembered hearing somewhere before. Where? He couldn't think about that
now, because he had to dodge another rocket. And another. And another.
That thing sure reloaded fast, he thought.
"dIEW, LOZeER!!!!!1!!!1!"
Drawing on his draconic agility, Craxton lept about the room, bouncing
left and right to dodge the rockets, each leap bringing him closer and
closer to his assailent. Finally, from a postion a few feet in front of
the marine, he lept over a rocket, and straight at the marine's throat.
Instinctively, the marine raised his weapon to protect himself, so that
Craxton missed his opponent's flesh but managed to knock the rocket
launcher away. Not feeling up to a hand-to-hand confrontation, the
marine quickly retreated into the tunnel. Craxton dared not follow. His
opponent almost certainly had another weapon, and Craxton would not be
able to dodge as effectively in the cramped space of the tunnel. So, he
watched the marine, his sword at the ready, daring him to make the next
move.
The marine did. Grinning maliciously, He drew a fearsome looking weapon
emitting a greenish glow. Although he was no fan of FPS games, Craxton
nevertheless recognized the lethal BFG 9000. It was an incredible
weapon. Even if he dodged it, Craxton would never survive the cave-in it
would cause.
Fortunately, the BFG was an energy weapon.
Craxton stood straight upright, holding his sword straight up in front
of him and slightly diagonal towards his enemy. He gazed into the
Crystal KnightSword's blade, concentrating on the small, barely visible
etchings inside the translucent crystal. They were very, very thin,
almost microscopic, and impossible to see unless you knew they were
there. Craxton concentrated on them, pouring the force of his mind into
them, until they started emitting a very, very faint, green-whitish
glow. Without breaking his concentration for a second, Craxton said to
the marine "What you waiting for, punk?"
So intent on the etchings that resembled writing, Craxton didn't see the
marine's smile broaden. He didn't see him raise the weapon and point it
directly at Craxton. He barely heard him say, "l8ERr, LAMmER." He didn't
notice the collossal noise the weapon made as it was fired. He didn't
notice the green ball of energy that screamed towards him, until it was
inches away from him. As Craxton continued to focus intently on the
etchings inside his sword, the blast contacted them...
And stopped.
Trapped within the blade of the Crystal KnightSword.
The marine stared for a minute, dumbfounded, wondering if he'd been hit
by lag. Then, through the green light of the frozen BFG blast, he saw
Craxton smile. Craxton drew the sword back, moving it to an almost
straight horizontal position on his right side, held an impressive
"action" pose for a second, and then swung the sword directly in front
of him, throwing the marine's blast right back at him.
The marine gaped for a second, then started running, but too late.
"SIHT!!!!!1!!!1!!1!1!!!!!!11!!!" Was all Craxton heard before the energy
struck the invader, vaporizing him and bringing the entire tunnel down.
Craxton heaved a heavy sigh, wiped the sweat from his brow, and went
over to Spoony. "You okay?"
Spoony was still conscious, though bleeding heavily. Craxton closed his
eyes for a second, and muttered a healing spell. A feeling of warmth
swept over Spoony, and he stood up. "You okay?" Craxton asked again.
Spoony waved him away. "I'll be fine."
"Can you still walk?"
"I think so."
"Good. We better get going. That explosion's going to attract attention.
Which way?"
Spoony indicated the appropriate tunnel, and they set off again. Spoony
was limping, and Craxton had to support him for some of the way.
"Craxton..." Spoony asked after a few meters, "What WAS that you did
back there?"
"Huh?"
"With the BFG blast."
"Oh, that." he smiled mysteriously. "Just a little trick someone taught
me once."
"Who?"
Craxton sighed wistfully. "The woman of my dreams."
------------------------
Keeping the nose of the cycle up, Craxton fired the thrusters. This
slowed his descent somewhat, but he was still falling. The situation was
grim- limited fuel, and he had to slow his descent enough to land
softly, without over-correcting. The Lunar atmosphere had barely enough
air to breathe comfortably. If Craxton applied too much thrust, he'd
find himself shooting through the ionosphere before long.
Craxton was reminded of that dumb Windows 3.1 game that he was never
good at.
Easy now... just a matter of the right amount of thrust at the right
time, with a decent amount of time between the bursts... not really
hard... don't think about the fact that you always wound up blasting
craters halfway to Alpha Centuri...
Miracluosly, he reached the ground safely.
Heaving a sigh of relief, Craxton looked ahead.
He sighed again. "Out of the frying pan..."
Nearly 600 meters in front of him was the siege line. The invaders had
registered his approach, and were readying their weapons to fire. The
only way out was through them, and the cycle was already closing fast.
He couldn't hope to take on a veritable legion of Quake marines on his
own. And if he didn't get through fast, the Palace guns would open fire
on him. But how could he hope to breach the siege line?
After a second's thought, he reached into his belt pouch and search
around a bit. He had an idea that would hopefully work. Still, though,
he could not help but feel very insignificant. It wasn't the first time
he'd felt that way...
--------------------
After the encounter in the tunnels, he had to half-carry Spoony to their
destination. After a while, they had headed to one of the higher
tunnels, where meteorite craters poked out onto the surface
occassionally. They found one about 430 meters from the palace, which,
Spoony said, was about the best they could hope for. The site of the
Palace was chosen for it's geological stability, and the craters were
non-existant from about 300 meters in- what ones did exist had been
sealed by the Lunarians when the invaders arrived. The mad dash to the
palace wall, with rockets zooming at them from all over and the palace
cannons trying to shoot them down, was insanely stressful, but they made
it.
Once inside, Spoony had been escorted to the medic to treat his
injuries. The rockets had given him a complex fracture of his left leg,
a few bad legs, and some light internal bleeding, but the medics were
able to fix him up. Luckily they had a technique for manufacturing
synthetic Fenix Down. FuSoYa had obviously been alerted to his old
friend's presence in the castle, because he showed up while Craxton was
in the waiting room, reading up on the latest damage reports. (Well,
it's not like the lousy magazines were any better.)
When Fu entered, Craxton immediately rose. "FuSoYa!" he called.
The aged Lunarian turned to face him. He was imposing, even at such an
advanced age. The Lunarian Blade hung at his side, ready for action at
any moment. The hair on his head seemed to have migrated to his chin,
and turned a deep, birght white, implying a wisdom far beyond anything
you perceived. He fixed Craxton with a pair of imposing, determined
eyes. Craxton had never met Fu before- Fu had left AGFF before Craxton
arrived- but, nonetheless, this did not seem like the same Fu who had
led the battles against the Defilers (at least, this was not the Fu
Craxton had heard of.) He had turned somehow... cold.
"Yes?" he said, after a long silence.
Not knowing what else to do, Craxton bowed deeply, then stood again. "My
name is Craxton." he said. "I came here with Spoony."
"Did you now?" FuSoYa seemed rather uninterested. "And what is your
relation to Spork?"
"We are... well, comrades in arms, you could say. I am a... an ally to
the Defenders of Relm."
Fu cocked an eyebrow. "Are you?" There was a pause. "You claim to be an
ally of the Defenders. Spork was left in charge of the Defenders when I
left. I assume, therefore, that your reason for this visit involves
Relm?"
"Yes, Mister... Ummm... Sir, I mean..."
"'FuSoYa' will do just fine."
"Yes, sir."
Fu nodded. "What happened to Spoony?"
"We ran into one of the invaders in the caverns. He was wounded in the
battle."
Fu's stare became colder. "Now you are lying. We can barely hold off the
invaders with the advantage of the castle walls, and they never leave
their enemies alive. Yet you and Spoony run into one and survive?"
"Yes, sir. Ask him if you don't believe me."
"I will, thank you." FuSoYa looked Craxton over, noting the sword
resting in it's sheath, the spartan clothing, and the claws. "You are a
warrior, I take it?"
"I am, sir."
"A soldier or a mercenary?"
"A... freelancer, sir."
"A mercenary."
"No, sir."
FuSoYa sighed, and crossed his arms, clearly awaiting an explanation.
"Well?"
There was a brief pause. "I serve what cause I choose, sir. But I don't
do it for money. And I don't turn traitor for a larger reward. A
mercenary tends to do both."
Fu nodded. "An important distinction. Have you ever been debriefed?"
Craxton nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Good. Report to tactical. I'll tell them you're coming. Afterwards, you
will be assigned quarters, and combat position. We need as many people
as we can to defend the palace. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to see
to my friend."
And he dissapeared through the doors to the recovery ward.
-----------------
Craxton withdrew two items from his belt pouch. One was a small, red
materia orb, the other was a fire ring. He slipped the ring on, then
focused his energy on the orb, drawing forth the power of the ancient
spirit empowered inside.
The invaders looked up in shock as Irfrit burst through the ground with
a roar. Casting a quick glance around the scene, he found his summoner
by instinct. Craxton pointed to the enemy lines, then showed Ifrit the
Fire Ring. He hoped the Esper would get the idea...
He did. Grinning, Irfrit transformed into a raging fireball and charged
the enemy lines. But not at full speed. Once he was in front of Craxton,
he slowed down, allowing Craxton to ride in his fiery wake. Craxton
silently thanked the gods for giving him a hoarding impulse.
The invaders fled in horror as Irfrit crashed into the siege line.
Marines ran in horror or got burned to ashes. Fuel tanks exploded,
starting a chain reaction that crippled a large portion of the invaders
defenses. Prefabricated mess halls, briefing rooms, and porta-johns were
knocked aside or plowed under by Irfrit's flames. One of the air
fighters had a wing blown off and the rest of it half melted.
After about ten minutes, Irfrit's power faded, and he vanished. But by
then they were well past the siege line. Craxton looked back just as a
beam of energy impacted the ground just to his left. Following him was a
small, jet-like vehicle, looking something like a cross between a small
ID4 fighter and the Epoch from CT. Amidst the chaos back at the siege
line, one of the arial fighters had managed to take off. Now it was
after him. And out for blood.
-----------------
Craxton
about Relm, he had seemed unconcerned about the welfare of his friend,
and he left in a hurry when the conversation looked like it was about to
turn to something relevant. He had seemed threatened by Craxton,
especially after he told them about the incident in the caves. But not
as if afraid for his life. Threatened in the sense that he might be
threatened by a fly: he might be forced to expend the energy to swat
him.
It nettled Craxton quite a bit. He chalked it up to the strain of
commanding a war and the fabrication of stories he'd heard on AGFF.
Nevertheless, he had trouble sleeping that night.
Around one o'clock, he threw the pillows off, stood up, and decided to
go for a walk. He donned his clothes, grabbed his belt, and headed for
the door. He hesitated about weather to take his sword, then decided it
was better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.
He sauntered out into the corridor and down the passage. This level was
designed to be more functional then luxurious. The real spiffy ones, at
the upper levels of the spires, were off-limits- they were extremely
vulnerable to attack.
He wandered aimlessly for a while, until he came a stretch of the
corridor outside Fu's quarters. The door was slightly ajar, and from
inside, he heard Fu talking with someone over a vidlink. he was about to
walk on when he heard a shout from within.
"YOU COULD HAVE BLOWN YOUR COVER, BOB DAMN YOU!"
The voice froze Craxton in his tracks. For he recognized it.
It was Mr. X.
He leaned closer to the door, but couldn't hear much of anything.
Desperately curious, he went in. The living room was fairly spacious,
with most of the standard amenities: chairs, couch, coffee table,
entertainment center that would impress the guys who put up Stonehenge,
and so on. The voices were coming from a side room. Craxton crept
stealthily to the open door, careful not to be seen from inside. As he
got closer, he heard the words "eliminate Spork," "complete domination,"
and "slap you with a trout." He wished to hell he could make out exactly
what they were saying...
Intent on listening, Craxton accidentally jostled a small pillar. The
vase on top (always has to be a vase, doesn't it?) wobbled back and
forth a bit, then, before Craxton could stop it, fell to the floor and
shattered.
"What the hell?" Fu exclaimed. Craxton looked around for a hiding place,
but found none within range. Fu charged through the door, holding the
Lunarian Blade at the ready. He saw Craxton and, before the other could
react, he cast "Hold." Craxton soon found himself bound in a standing
position by four rings of energy. Completely helpless.
"Well, well, well..." said Fu. "It appears he is more of a threat then
you thought, boss." Taking a remote control from the coffee table, he
pressed a few buttons, routing the vidlink through to the collossal
entertainment center. The face and upper chest of Mr. X appeared, clad
in a black hooded robe, leaning on some table that was cut off the
screen, and steepling his fingers. It was obviously meant to look
imposing, although to Craxton it looked like X had just stepped out of
the shower.
"Ah, Craxton." said X. "So nice to see you again."
He chuckled slightly. "You know, if you're going to be a threat, you
could at least be a significant one. Running off to the moon to fetch
your brave leader at the first sign of trouble?" He chuckled.
"Pathetic."
Craxton beared his teeth, then changed his expression to a grin. "At
least I don't waste my free time genetically engineering perverted sex
toys. HornyRelms, 'Super Slut' Relms, NewbieBoinkRelms, what's the
matter, did your other creations get over their oedipal complexes too
soon?"
The amused expression vanished from X's face. Craxton continued. "I
mean, if the only way you can get any is by putting a prostitute's
psyche-prints in a twelve-year old body- and an artificial one at that,
well, you've got some problems."
X glared menacingly, but Craxton refused to take the hint. "Do you keep
a supply of lobotomised Tifa clones for when the guests come over? A
Faris for the occassional transvestite night? Do you have a Rydia to
whip you sometimes?" He laughed. For a second X looked like he would
have struck Craxton if he were really there, but then a thought struck
him, and he returned Craxton's grin. "I have a Celes for that. But *I*
use the whip."
Craxton's grin vanished. Growlling angrily, he strained against the
rings, but to no avail. Mr. X simply chuckled.
"As I was saying," he continued, "My friend and I were discussing how
best to sack the Crystal Palace. I don't think I've properly introduced
you yet." He gestured at Fu again. "Craxton, meet FuEySoYa, my finest
creation to date." the fake Fu bowed. "Not some crude regrowth of an
existing genetic pattern, but an exact copy of the real FuSoYa, right
down to the molecular level. It took some work to create him. I don't
think you fully realize how long this project has been going on,
Craxton. I've been planning for these next few weeks since before you
came to AGFF."
"Really?" Craxton said. "And what, praytell, happens in the next few
weeks?"
"Ah, yes." said X. "The obligatory
villian-explains-everything-just-before-killing-the-hero monologue." He
chuckled, then checked his watch. "I'd love to indulge you, Craxton, but
I have some pressing matters to attend to. See you later. Or not. FuEy?"
FuEySoYa turned to the screen. "Make him dissappear. Then send him to
the Cleft of Dimension." X chuckled again, then shut off the vidlink.
FuEySoYa cracked his knuckles and smiled evilly. Craxton tried hard not
to smile back.
What X had ordered would free him. Effect spells from FF games tended to
overwrite existing conditions from other FF games. Some sort of conflict
with the etheral formations, he thought. But Craxton noticed a small Gem
Box attached to FuEySoYa's belt, meaning he wouldn't have enough time to
use his freedom.
At least, that's what they thought.
"Goodbye, dragon-man." said FuEySoYa. "It's been nice knowing you." He
then cast Vanish.
Craxton fell to the ground, free of the rings, but still visible.
FuEySoYa, surprised that his spell hadn't worked, cast it again. And
again. And again. Still no effect. Had he looked beneath Craxton's
tunic, he would have discovered the source of his difficulties: a Prism
Pendant, a magical device designed to negate the effects of a Vanish
spell.
Surprise rapidly changed to fear when Craxton rose from the ground.
FuSoYa quickly began chanting a more dangerous spell. Lacking time to
draw his sword, Craxton simply leaped at him. A slash from his draconian
claws cut a deep quartet of gashes in FuEy's chest. FuEy drew his own
sword, but another slash knocked it from his hands. "Now..." Craxton
said, ready to interrogate him, but FuEy wasn't about to give up yet. He
shot a fire spell at Craxton's face. FuEy was panicked, so he missed.
But it still hurt like hell. Siezing the advantage, he ran for the door,
digging in his pocket as he went. As he withdrew a small item, Craxton
tackled him to the ground. FuEy was now flat on his back, with Craxton's
angered face staring into his. "WHERE IS FUSOYA?!?!?!?!" Craxton
bellowed.
"Uhhh... Ahhh... Uhhh..."
"ANSWER ME!!!!!!"
"I... I... I don't know!"
With a growl, Craxton slashed the clone's throat. Blood spurted from the
jugular vein as FuEySoYa sucked wind and died.
Afterwards, Craxton calmed considerably. Killing FuEySoYa had been
unwise. He could have gotten some information, or possibly a bargaining
chip of some sort. He normally didn't get like that in the heat of
battle, but Celes Defiling pushed him to beyond the limit. And FuEy's
fire spell hadn't helped. Ah, well, nothing he could do about it now.
FuEy had been an abomination of nature anyway.
He picked up the item the clone had been reaching for. A Warp Stone.
Obviously, the clone had a quick escape plan for emergencies. Too bad it
didn't do him any good. Perhaps he should search the corpse...
"Hey, you!"
Craxton wheeled around to see a guard standing in the doorway.
"Hello. I was just about to come get you. This former..."
He was cut off by a Bolt chant. He jumped aside, barely managing to
avoid it.
"Sir, It's not what you..."
This time it was a Fire chant that cut him off. Again he dodged, and the
blast tore a hole in the monolithic entertainment center. Craxton
realized he could not reason with a man who believed him the murderer of
the Lunarian leader. He could kill the guard easily, but that was
against his principles. The guard didn't realize FuEy had been a fake.
So Craxton took the only option available. He pressed his thumb to a
small circle on the Warp Stone and dissappeared in a flash of light.
The Warp Stone landed him in a chamber which was unknown to him. He knew
the guard would alert others, so he ran for an exit, and down the
corridor he found himself in. Five minutes later, an alarm blared and a
voice told all guards to find a man with black wings and bring him in.
Three minutes thereafter, Craxton turned a corner to find a dozen guards
standing there. He reversed direction and proceeded to lead them on a
merry chase.
-------------------
Which led him, eventually, to where he was now. Riding a Lunacycle
across the lunar landscape, chased by an enemy fighter. The fighter was
still a ways off, and Craxton was going slightly faster then him to
begin with, but the pilot's aim was improving. One blast narrowly missed
the engine. Another he was forced to swerve wildly to avoid. Craxton
cast Wall. All he had to do was hold off until he could oudistance the
pilot. Which shouldn't be...
He looked ahead, and saw a gaping canyon only 100 meters in front of
him.
He almost cried. It was times like this that truly made him wonder why
he went on. Always battling, always questing, always charging into the
fray... for what? Searching for FuSoYa had brought him only a series of
skin-of-his-teeth escapes. Sooner or later, his luck and brainpower
would run out at once, and then he'd be dead. Why not just let it end
right now?
He thought of everyone back at AGFF. Nice people, to be sure, even with
the occassional flame, but worth continuing his pointless existance for?
No.
There was only one person worth living for, and she had died long ago.
While he had watched helplessly.
He ran through his .sig file mentally. Was there anything worth fighting
for in there? Really? Wielder of the Crystal KnightSword... Future King
of FFVI FanFiction... Unofficial Defender of Relm...
Relm...
And suddenly, he realized giving up was not an option. Relm, who trusted
him to protect her, was in danger. And he had to save her. Period. He
may not have joined any organization or taken any oaths, but Relm
trusted him.
He couldn't betray that trust.
Still, that didn't solve the immediate problem. Namely, that he was
caught between a hostile aircraft and a gaping chasm, and fast speeding
toward the chasm. HGe couldn't jump it. He couldn't go around it. He
couldn't stop before he hit it.
Well, that was all there was to it.
He looked over his shoulder again, half-turned in the seat, and gave the
aircraft the finger. Then he drove straight into the canyon. The bike
curved downward, like a diver executing a graceful swan dive from the
high board, tumbled in the air, hit the ground, and, almost
nonchalantly, exploded.
-------------------
"PhUQuE!" The pilot thought a minute later. "WhATTa PHJirE!!!1! wHaZZZa
gASs N DaT ThIUng?"
He was sitting in the cockpit of his AiRKiLL@, watching the bike, far
below, burn on the canyon floor. It was, indeed, making a great fuss
about being blown apart. The pilot looked over the area, trying to find
his quarry, but saw nothing.
The radio crackled. "Y0, PiL0tDeWd!"
The pilot grabbed the microphone-thingy and tumbed it on "sUp, K0nTr0L?"
"U gIb DA l@m3aZZ BiK3R-DeWd y3T?"
The pilot explained, as explicitly as possible in his limited dilect,
what had happened during the pursuit.
"pHuQU3!!1!!!1!!1!!!!!!!1" control exclaimed. "D00d hAd B@llZ, D3nY-N U
a fR@G LiK3 DaT. ThiNK H3's AliV3?"
"nO1 C0ulDa sURvIv3d DaT, DeWd."
"K. ReTUrN 2 BaS3, 0r wHaT3v3R."
"K."
He took one last glance at the blaze, then shook his head. "D00d h@d
B@llZ, @lRigHT."
He turned around and flew back towards the siege line.
A few minutes later, Craxton emerged, very much alive, from a small cave
in the face of the cliff, thanking any gods that might be listening that
the pilot hadn't noticed Craxton had wings.
He breathed a deep sigh. For the first time since this wretched night
began, he was out of immediate danger. Now he had to get home. But how?
He sure as hell couldn't go back to Kujata. The palace had a radio
link to the base, and word of the "assassination" would reach
them before he could get there. There were a few other settlements on
the moon, but none where he would be trusted over the word of the
Lunarians. None where anyone knew him.
Wait.
There was one.
And, with any luck, that person would also be able to get him back to
AGFF before the news reached them.
Jumping from his perch, he spread his wings and flew off to the west.
------------------