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Book two in the Revenge of the Banned trilogy, An Error Has Occurred. Please enjoy. :)
Prologue
“Is it ready yet?” Asked Almighty Queen impatiently.
“No, ma’am.” Said the programmer. “It’s coming. But it’s not done yet.”
“Well, make it done faster.” Snarled Queen. “I want those RAFians punished pronto.”
“The longer we wait, the more their guard drops.” Pointed out Yorick Brown.
“The less we wait, the faster our revenge will be.” Countered AlothAssassin.
“That’s the spirit, Aloth.” Purred Queen. “The sooner our revenge will be…the HAPPIER I will be. And a happy Queen means…?”
“A happy queen means the longer we live.” Said Aloth and Yorick together dully. Every day Queen’s insanity grew and grew. She was as mad as a hatter. And demanding more and more tribute, more “worship.” She already had a new, crazy set of rules.
“Stop staring at me like that.” She suddenly snapped. “It’s bad for my skin. Rule number five. ‘Staring at Queen is bad for her skin.’”
“Yes, miss.” Said Aloth and Yorick in harmony. They both looked at the ground, and started to try and not think to loudly, or treacherously. They would be breaking rule number…
“You’re breaking rule number two!” Queen screeched. “Rules number two AND three. You’re thinking loudly, and you’re thinking I’m insane! I can read your thoughts! Get out! Get OUT!”
Yorick and Aloth fled. Breaking the rules would mean punishment.
“Now,” said Queen, turning to the programmer, like nothing had ever happened. “You’re SURE this would work. It was a pain enough leaving the Internet. I want to make sure my journey to the Lands Beyond wasn’t in vain.”
“Yes, Queen.” Said the programmer. “Don’t worry, it’s coming along fine.”
“Good, good.” Purred Queen. “Now, I’m going to go check on the prisoner.”
“Aww, you’re still all alone in the dark, aren’t you?” Sneered Queen through the bars at her prisoner.
The prisoner glared. “I will get out of here, Queen. But, what did I ever do to you? What did my friends ever do to you?”
“Oh, they did plenty.” Said Queen. “They did plenty. And you did plenty! That’s why I captured you.”
“My friends probably don’t even know I’m here! They probably think I’m hunting you down! Or am on a trip or something”
“Maybe.” Said Queen. “Probably not, though. So, just wallow in despair. Maybe they forgot you. Maybe they gave you up for dead.”
“No, never! They would never stop believing. Especially not—“
“Oh, shut up.” Snarled Queen suddenly. “I’ve had enough of your continuous whining. Shut up, and don’t think that your friends and family are ever going to find out.”
The prisoner glared at Queen. “When I get out of here, Queen, you are so dead. Watch you back. Because when I get out of here, I’m going to kill you. And that’s a promise.”
Slightly shaken, Queen walked back to the programmer. “Queen, your Highness! It’s almost done. I should be able to launch it by this afternoon!”
“Excellent!” Said Queen. “Soon, my dear friends the RAFians will be dead! All of them! DEAD! FINALLY PUNISHED!!”
Yorick and Aloth were discussing Queen in low tones.
“She’s barking mad. And dangerous.” Said Aloth.
“Fine, go on, desert. See how far you get before she kills you.” Said Yorick.
“Oh boy, she wasn’t happy when Dagger fled.”
“Nope. Not at all.”
“Well, she wasn’t happy after she got done with her period of pure insanity.”
After the battle for RAF had been lost, Queen, Yorick, and Aloth had fled to their cave. There, Queen’s mind had broke down completely. She had sat against the wall, staring at nothing, rocking back and forth, and muttering gibberish. Then, she would glare at the wall and start screaming inarticulately, punctuated with long streams of curses against Richard, the mods, and RAF. Then she would go back to staring and muttering again.
Eventually, one day, she had just stood up, gathered all of their meager possessions, and swept out of the cave, yelling back at Yorick and Aloth to follow. From then on, she had been getting more and more insane, eventually coming up with this new set of rules, such as don’t think too loudly, don’t think treacherously, don’t look directly at me, don’t make strange faces in my presence, bow before approaching.
“Um…guys? I’m…I’m back.”
Aloth and Yorick jumped up and drew their Dracons, pointing it at the approaching figure. For a split second, they thought it was Cloaky. Then, they realized that it was impossible for Cloaky to get out here, he was under constant surveillance, and the voice was female, though hissy, serpentine-like. They also realized that the pattern on the cloak was the pattern of…
“Dagger!” Said Aloth with a laugh. “Look who came crawling back on her belly.”
“Oho, Queen’s not going to be happy with you!” Said Yorick happily.
Dagger flinched. “Sh-shut up. I-I have good news. She’ll be ha-happy to see me.”
Yorick and Aloth crowed with laugher. “Happy with you! Right!”
Unbeknown to Yorick and Aloth, Queen couldn’t be happier. Their destruction would come this afternoon. In fact, it would come…
“Queen! It is finished! It is prepared to launch!” Cried the programmer, punching the last few keys on the computer. “Excellent!” Yelled Queen. “Launch it!”
The programmer pushed the launch button…
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Great as usual Seal :thumbsup:
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Whoa, Dagger doesn't scare too easily. Remember, I'm an Master of the Six Elements and she is not -- so, she isn't afraid of boulders being flung, fire, etc. So it takes a lot to frighten her.
That really says something about Queen, I think.
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Nice start Seal! Have you read the Artemis Fowl books by any chance? The way Queen is acting reminds me of a certain deranged pixie... :P
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Hahahaha, I hoped no one would catch that. But yes, like Richard is like Dumbledore, Queen is acting like Opal Koboi.
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lol, I thought so! The whole crazy routine instantly made me think of Opal, although Opal does get points for being a diabolical genius. Queen is just nuts! :P
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Lol, but Queen does have something up her sleeve this time. Besides, it's fun typing her as a psycho! :)
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Psycho people are the most fun to write. Awesoooome first post :D :D
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Great! I can't wait to read more. ;D
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I agree
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Awesome start!
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keep the chapters coming! :D
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I'm trying to make 'em longer--and school is very time consuming. I'll do the best I can.
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Take your time but hurry up.
but seriously take your tme
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Take your time but hurry up.
but seriously take your tme
But don't feel that you under any pressure. :P
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Well, I don't need to feel under pressure. Chapter One!
Chapter One--Peaceful Days
A few hours earlier from the Prologue
"Come on, Duff, get that gun and go!"
"Having one arm completely useless doesn't help you know! Slow down!"
"Oh, quit whining."
Horsefan1023 (Seal) mumbled something about tumbleweeds and turned over in her sleep. Eventually admitting defeat as the banter went on outside, she rolled over, and fell off of her bed.
"Ouch," she muttered, flipped over so her flippers were under her once again. Waddling out of her Profile Thread, she opened the door to the Social Board, and stepped out onto RAF.
Kit Cloudkicker, or Jess was standing at the top of the stairs, waiting for Duff. Duff, who had his arm seriously injured in the Battle for RAF, and was thusly useless, was struggling to tote a gun up the stairs with him. Eventually, Spartan 281 (Parker) took pity on him and practically threw the gun up the stairs. Duff followed it.
Sunlight streamed down, a few clouds scuttling across the sky. Horsie blinked and yawned. It was the weekend, and she desparately needed sleep before going back to RAFschool. At least Jess was her teacher, which made it amusing. Especially because Blue was also in that class.
A thumping behind her made her jump slightly. She turned to see Blocky97 walking towards her, pawing sleep out of his eyes. "Grah...can't they shut up? A dragon has to get some sleep around here."
"Blocky, you've been asleep for thirteen hours already." Said Faerie Larka, descending from the sky, though landing a little awkwardly, because of a ragged edge on one wing. Horsie gave a little shiver. Duff's arm and Faerie's wing brought back horrible memories...
One year and three months ago, AlmightyQueen, a banned RAFian, had teamed up with YorickBrown and AlothAssassin to take over RAF. Also in this group of thugs was Dagger, CloakedFigure's evil sister. They had gotten an army from who knows where and attacked. The damage was horrible, resulting in the loss of a life--Claire, a most respected member and a moderator. Her loss had been felt deeply by all.
Another loss had been that of CloakedFigure. He hadn't died...but he hadn't been seen for three months. After the battle, he had been gone for a year, hunting down Dagger, the one who killed Claire. Seal missed him.
There was also the scare with Jess and Blocky. They had both very nearly been killed, Jess by Aloth and Yorick, Blocky by another dragon and a score of scale-melting archers. Blocky was small--at least for a dragon--so they had inflicted more damage on him then they thought.
All in all, it had been an awful time for RAF. Many RAFians--including Horse--had been scarred for life, inside and outside. The reason that Duff was hauling a gun up the stairs was because he was on patrol duty. Checking for signs of Queen, traveling in pairs for safety, two pairs on each side of the wall, on either end.
Gaz came limping up to them. "Hey, friends," she said, her spirit not dampened by the deep gash on her leg that had disrupted the muscles. "I just read your book, Horsie. Ya know, Revenge of the Banned. Great job! Well...great as it can be with that topic. Not that I didn't like it. It was just...ya know."
"Depressing," offered Seal.
"Well, yeah." Admitted Gaz. "But you're a great writer. I loved it."
Phoenix004 closed his eyes and let out a long inward sigh. He, Richard, Esplin9466, and Goom were all in the Moderator board, the board for the mods to discuss RAF and any problems. Not open to the public. Four of the five chairs were occupied. Mike was thinking of the former occupent of the fifth chair.
Claire.
A year and three months and he still wasn't used to it.
He didn't think he would EVER be used to it.
"Has everything been running smoothly?" Asked Richard, breaking Mike out of his reverie.
"Yes," said Goom, and Russell nodded.
"Just some spamming here and there, but quickly dealt with." Added Russell.
"Actually, Richard," said Mike, "I think we may have a troll."
Richard sighed. "Username?"
"Thirteen-fifty three-eighty five-animorphfan-seventeen-thirty six-twenty two." Answered Phoenix.
There was a pause.
"That's...quite a mouthful." Said Richard.
"Yes." Agreed Goom.
"Alright, everyone keep an eye on...animorphfan." Said Richard.
"Yes, sir." Responded the other mods.
"Meeting adjourned."
Terenia [Teach] walked over to the Animorphs Role Playing Board. She met Chad28 coming out. "Hey Chad," she said. "Anything else in the GESB?" (Author's Note: For those few sad souls who don't know what the GESB is, it's a role play: Galaxy's Edge Space Bar)
Chad rolled his eyes. "Is there anything new? There's a mob, all trying to get their posts up. Better hurry before they practically rip down the whole thread."
Terenia laughed. "Yikes! Thanks Chad."
Mega Ultra Blue Chicken, or just Blue, rubbed sleep from his eyes. Then yawned.
A heavy impact on the back of his legs made him nearly fall over.
"C'mon, Blue!" Yelled Seal, butting at the back of his legs again. "Wake up! Wake up! Greet the morning!"
"Hello morning," yawned Blue again. "Hello Sealie. Why am I waking up and greeting the morning so fast? I just rolled out of bed!"
"Because I just started that new Harry Potter RP we were talking about! Post in it! Post! Postpostpostpostpos tpostpost!"
Blue stared.
"Er...Sealie? Have you had any sugar this morning?"
"Um, no. Why do you say that?"
"Liar," said Mr. Guy36, walking over, holding a bowlful of sugar packets. Empty sugar packets. "How dare you, you know sugar chugging is a techie thing."
"Sugar chugging?" Said another voice. Faerie practically plummeted from the sky. A weird fiendish glow was in her eyes. "Where's the sugar? Horse, I didn't know they had sugar packets. Where are they?"
"What have you done?" Asked Guy.
"This way, Faerie," said Horse. They ran off. As much as a seal can run.
Meta Knight, or Shorty, triumphantly posted. "And that's 5000!" He declared. "I'm a God!" A few people standing nearby congratulated him. The news soon traveled.
"Hey, Shorty." Shorty turned, to see demos666 coming towards him. "Congrats, I heard. God!"
A small impact butted into his legs. "Congrats, cousin." Said Seal. "I'm jealous! But congrats."
Those were the last days. The last days of peace. We had recovered from the loss of life. Enjoyed peaceful days. But these days were not to last. Hadn't we had enough tragedy? Enough pain?
Enough cliffhangers at the end of chapters?
But, cliffhangers aside, yes. The peaceful days were not to last. Unfortunately. Queen had yet another thing up her sleeve. It was time to find out what it was...
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LOL. Love the humor seal. Hilarious! +1
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Great job Sealsis
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Thanks guys! Lol, my favorite line is "Hadn't we had enough tragedy? Enough pain? Enough cliffhangers at the endings?" :P
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Yeah, that was good. Great job. Yay! I'm back in the story!!!
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Very good! Can't wait to see more!
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Hey...someone else got banned! Ho ho ho...*rubs flippers together*
It looks like I might have another villain to add to the mix.
In case you didn't know, the new banned member is "janewacher." I don't know WHY she was banned, but oh well. :P
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Hmmmm. . . . Not the one I was expecting -- those that were in chat that day know to whom I refer.
Excellent work, Horse.
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wow, she came here yesterday and already banned.
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Whoa -- she must have done something really BAD.
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SUGAR SHOTS! YAHOOOO!
Sooooo much fun :)
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Awesome start, Seal! I'll be eagerly awaiting more!
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S/he was a spammer. S/he started three topics, one in three different boards. The topic consisted of only an advertisement to sell perscription drugs at a discount price.
It's suspected that it wasn't a real person at all, but a SpamBot.
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The topics have been deleted, I hope. Anyway, doesn't someone have to MAKE Spambots, if that's indeed what she was?
I suppose it's ironic, in a way, considering the title of this thread "An Error Has Occurred".
On-topic, Horse, how's the next chapter coming?
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Lol, I have the chapter title and about three sentences. So...not that well. :P
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great chapter!
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Take your time. Quality over quantity, remember.
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Patience Seal. Take your time.
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I have plenty of patience, don't worry.
...I have plenty of laziness, too. :P
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Well you're doing better than I am, it's been forever since I've written more in my Fanfic. I still have no idea where the story should go.
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haha, I was wondering were that one went! it was good
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Really? Thanks. No one posted in my discussion thread, so I figured most people read a couple lines and forgot about it. Well with the HALO RP building up to the more exciting stage, I might be in the SPARTAN mind-set even more. So I may start it back up. I just have to decide the next step.
So speaking of writer's block and making plot decisions, how's A.E.H.O, Seal?
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It's done! Lol, here's Chapter Two.
Chapter Two--The Error
Mere minutes before the prologue
Dameg wandered around the grounds, humming aimlessly to herself. Tocade came up beside her. "Hey Dameg." She said. "What's new?"
"Nothing much." Said Dameg, sitting on a nearby bench. "Just thinking."
Tocade gave her a keen glance, guessing what she was thinking about, but said nothing.
They sat in silence for a little while, watching the sun shine on the newly installed lake, the reflections broken by Seal diving in headfirst.
There was more silence between them.
"Why did Queen do it?" Asked Tocade unexpectidely.
Dameg shrugged. "She's a phsyco."
"Why...why her? Why did Queen do that to her?"
No need to ask who was "her" and what was "that."
"Once again, she's a phsyco. But...I really don't know why she did all of it."
"I guess no one will."
"Nope."
"At least she's gone now."
"Yup."
Ah, fateful words.
One minute before the prologue...
KitsuneMarie walked over to the lake and sat down, watching for Seal. After what seemed like an impossibly long time, Seal surfaced. "Hi Kitsune!" She said cheerful, pulling herself onto the bank and shaking herself. "Seems like it's gonna be hot today."
"I see you're cooling down already," said Marie, backing away from the droplets flying from Seal's fur. "Woah, careful. My fur doesn't dry as easily as yours does, remember.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry." Said Seal, then just siphoning all the water off of her with a wave of her flipper, taking it off of Marie too.
"That's okay."
"So, did you hear about the--"
KitsuneMarie never got to find out what Seal said. At the moment, something came whizzing out of nowhere, flying over the wall and embedding in the ground. It was a small sphere of green, glowing stuff. It just sat there, in the ground. There was a faint beeping coming from it.
Then it exploded.
Not a huge fire-and-destroying stuff explosion. The sphere just blew up, sending the green stuff flying into the air. It hovered for a moment.
None of the RAFians outside moved. They all stood, staring at the hovering green stuff. Then, the green stuff went flying everywhere. A piece of it came shooting towards Marie. She gasped, closed her eyes, and waited for impact, and...
Impact never came. Kitsune opened her eyes a slit, and at once they flew wide open. Everything was white. Then, jumbled images flashed past her eyes. She couldn't make sense of them, one moment they were there, and the next they were gone, moving onto another image. Marie got the sense of being hurled about, jolted and bumped. Then, everything went white again, and black letters flashed before her eyes.
AN ERROR HAS OCCURRED!
The letters vanished, and so did everything else. The world went black.
"Is she awake?"
"I dunno. Where did she come from?"
Something jabbed into Jess's side.
"Shadow! Stop poking her!"
"I just wanted to make sure she was human."
Human? The dim thought pricked at Jess's mind. Human? But...I'm Tyclaireacorn...
"Still no reason to jab her."
"But I--hey! She's awake!"
"Um, ouch." Said Jess opening one eye. Then she opened the other. She was lying on the ground. A house stood not far away, and more houses beyond that. Two cloaked figures were standing over her.
"Uh, Cloaky?" She asked blearily.
"Cloaky?" Said the shorter of the two figures. "How do you know Uncle Cloaky?"
"Uncle Cloaky?" Said Jess, sitting up. Then she remembered. "Hey...you must be...Shadow, right?"
"Yes!" Said Shadow happily. "Then, if you know Uncle, you must be a RAFian! How did you get here?"
"I think that's what I'd like to know too." Said the taller figure in a soft, kind voice. "I'm Faith, Cloaky's sister, and this is obviously my daughter Shadow. You're injured." Added Faith, looking concerned."
"I'm Jess, nice to meet you. And...injured?" Then Jess realized where the pain was coming from. She raised her right forearm. A long, neat scoop was taken out of it. It looked almost like a Dracon burn.
"Come inside." Said Faith, helping Jess to her feet. "Shadow and I will patch you up, and you can tell us what happened."
"Hey, wait," said Jess. A full impact hit her, then. "I'm a human! What..."
Faith tilted her head to one side, and Jess guessed that under her hood she was looking puzzled. "Yes, you're human. Are you not supposed to be?"
"No...I mean, yes, I'm not supposed to be human. Before I came here...I was Tyclaireacorn."
Shadow, under her hood, stared. "What in the Nexus is a Tyclaireacorn?"
Jess sighed. "I'll explain later. Let's go inside."
Jax in a Box, or just Jax, groaned. One of his legs was pulsing pain. Heavy weights seemed to be pressing down on every inch of his body.
Then he realized that brick and boards were pressing down on every inch of his body. Except for a peephole just above his eye, he was completely buried.
"Uh, ow!" He said, coming to full consciousness. "Um...help? Is there anyone out there? Oww...Help!"
A board was lifted away, revealing the rest of his face. Jax blinked in the bright lights. Wildweathel was standing over him. "Hang on a second, Jax, we're gonna get you out of there!"
"You found someone?" A voice out of Jax's line of vision called.
"Yes!" Called Wild back. "It's Jax!"
"Is he okay?"
"Um, I dunno. Jax, are you okay?"
"Well, apart from being buried up to my neck and my left leg throbbing in pain, I'm fine! Hurry up!" Jax snapped, trying to pry his arms up. It didn't work.
Richard walked over. "Hang on one moment, Jax." Richard waved his hand, and all of the debris, bricks, and boards went flying off into a pile.
Jax tottered to his...foot. He didn't stand on the other one. When Jax looked down at his left leg, he gave a groan and turned his face away, slightly green. His left leg was badly broken.
Badly broken, as in, bent the wrong way.
"Urgh..." Wild said, turning away as well. "Okay. Let's get you to the hospital w..." He trailed off and looked around. Jax followed his gaze, and gasped.
The hospital wing wasn't there.
RAF wasn't there.
RAF had turned into the piles of bricks and boards that was strewn on the ground.
Estelore stirred and peeled her face off the pavement. A light rain was falling in her back as she sat up. It was cold and uncomfortable.
Wait a minute...cold?
How was a star cold?
Este looked down at herself, and gasped.
She wasn't even a star anymore. She was a human.
"Okay. Okay. Think Este. Think. Asimov's teeth. Where am I?"
Este looked around. Decript buildings stood around her, their monotonous colors reflecting in the puddles forming below them. The sky was dark, and rain was falling more heavily.
"A city. Okay. A city. But what city? I need to stop talking to myself. Geez."
Este spotted a tall building a distance away. It towered above everything else, and looked slightly less decript.
"Good lookout point. Alright, I'll head there. Go there, find a vantage point, see if I can see RAF. And stop talking to myself."
Estelore hauled herself to her feet and began to walk.
Da Gumbster, or just Gumby, opened one eye. He was laying on his back and looking up at a ceiling. A cave, it looked like. Rocks glistened, the rain on them shining faintly in the weak half-light. Stalactites and stalagmites hung down from the ceiling and rose from the floor, sometimes meeting in the middle.
Gumby opened the other eye and stood up. To his relief, his machine gun was lying on the floor next to him. He picked it up and examined it. No damage. Then he fully took in his surroundings.
Strange man-made cutouts, looking almost like crude chairs, jutted out from one wall. On the other wall, there was a small hole, pitch-black now, because of the weather outside, that gave weak light. The cave stretched back and dissapeared into darkness. Out the mouth of the cave, wet fields, small trees, huts and houses here and there, and a crumbling city showed.
Gumby's blood ran slightly cold as a passage from Revenge of the Banned drifted back to him.
To his right, the cave opened, giving a view of hills with a few scrubbly trees scattered across it. There was a hut here and there, and in the distance was a run-down old city. To the dragon's left, the cave disappeared into darkness. In across from him was a small door hewn in the rock. Blocky realized that what he was sitting on was cut out into a chair shape. It was slightly uncomfortable because he was a dragon, but at least he wasn't lying on the floor. With a chill, Blocky realized that other parts of the wall next to and across from him were cut in a chair shape. More spaces for more RAFians? He wondered.
Was this the cave? Gumby held the machine gun ready and peered about. Nothing. No sounds but the drip...drip...of rain falling from the top of the mouth of the cave to splatter on the rocks below. He guessed the cave was uninhabited now.
He ventured deeper, to where the cave grew more shadowy and echo-ey. The magnified sound helped Gumby to hear something. The steady rasp of breath, coming from somewhere on the floor.
Gumby looked around, finger resting lightly on the trigger of his gun. The sound of breath was deep and even. Sleeping or unconscious, he guessed. Gumby crept farther into the cave. His footsteps echoed creepily in the stillness. As he was about to step again, his foot hit something.
The breathing faltered, and was punctuated by an "Uh?" Sound. Something stirred. "Uh, what?" The voice said again. Slight scrapings and shuffling noises told Gumby that this unknown person--or thing--was standing up.
Gumby decided he would rather face this person--or thing--in the light. He lunged forward, grabbing the shirt of the person--or thing.
"Uh--waah!" Yelped the voice. "Ambush!" Limbs flailed desperately, beating against Gumby vainly as he pulled the person--or thing--out of the darkness of the back of the cave so that the newcomer was in the light. Gumby stood so that he was silhouetted against the light. Let him get a look at this person--or thing--before the person--or thing--got a look at him.
Gumby let go and backed away, raising his machine gun to point at the face of the newcomer. Turned out to be a person. Then, Gumby let the gun drop, his own jaw dropping in amazement. The person turned out to be...
"Taiyoh!" Said Gumby in a shocked voice. "How did you get here?"
Taiyoh stared at Gumby. "H-h-how d-d-d'you know my RAF username? Who are you?"
Gumby stared at Taiyoh. "It's me! Gumby! Can't you recognize me?"
Taiyoh stared at Gumby. "W-what? Gumby is an Arbiter! You're a human!"
Gumby stared at Taiyoh. "W-what? I'm a human? But...I'm an Arbiter!"
Taiyoh stared at Gumby. "You don't know your own species?"
Gumby stared at Taiyoh. "I was an Arbiter not five minute ago! Wasn't I?"
They stared at each other. "How did you get here?" They asked in unison.
Taiyoh blinked several times, moistening his eyes from all the staring. "You are Gumby, right?" He asked. "You're positively SURE that you're Gumby."
Gumby frowned. "I know who I am."
Taiyoh shrugged. "Just makin' sure. Anyway, as to the how did you get here question, I dunno. It was weird. BAck at RAF...something happened...I really dunno."
Gumby nodded. "Jumbled pictures, white lights?"
"AN ERROR HAS OCCURRED."
"Blackout."
"Yup. Happened to mee too." Confirmed Taiyoh. "Then next thing I know, I'm getting dragged out here and there's a gun waving in my face!" He looked at Gumby accusingly.
"Sorry," muttered Gumby.
"Only question is, WHY was there jumbled pictures, white lights, words, and so on? Why?"
And so, the title drop. AN ERROR HAS OCCURRED! As Taiyoh helpfully said though, WHY did all this happen?
Well, of course I know. I'm the narrator.
But, that's for you to find out. As I tell. So technically, I could leave you in the dark. Mwahahaha.
But I won't do that. the next chapter will reveal more beleaguered RAFians, all in who-knows-where.
But, more on all that later.
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Wow! Great part! Can't wait to read more!
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. . . You pegged Faith and Shadow, Horse.
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something I don't understand
[spoiler]wait... so I'm still my own species?[/spoiler]
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What don't you understand?
And, thanks, Cloak. Maybe I'm secretly stalking them, watching them, finding out their personalities. :P
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Great chapter!
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no, well...whatevs doesn't really matter
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No, tell me, I'd be happy to clarify.
...and you've got me all curious. :P
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Blocky, I think it's pretty clear that you're still a dragon. If not, I clearly misread something.
What don't you understand?
And, thanks, Cloak. Maybe I'm secretly stalking them, watching them, finding out their personalities. :P
Or maybe I've told you about them in great detail via chat over the months. ;)
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ah I forgot a comment. :>_<:
Great chapter seal. :thumbsup:
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Maybe he's confused that most RAFians were changed to pure human and he's wondering how he's still a dragon?
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What? Did I say he was still a dragon? Where?
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okey, everyone else is a human, an i'm still a dragon?
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What? No no no no no! I never said anything about you still being a dragon. Did I?
If you saw that, please quote it, and I'll correct you. 'Cause I don't remember saying anything about that...
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like when you said it was uncomfortable to sit in the chair as a dragon
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...*facepalm*
Gumby's blood ran slightly cold as a passage from Revenge of the Banned drifted back to him.
To his right, the cave opened, giving a view of hills with a few scrubbly trees scattered across it. There was a hut here and there, and in the distance was a run-down old city. To the dragon's left, the cave disappeared into darkness. In across from him was a small door hewn in the rock. Blocky realized that what he was sitting on was cut out into a chair shape. It was slightly uncomfortable because he was a dragon, but at least he wasn't lying on the floor. With a chill, Blocky realized that other parts of the wall next to and across from him were cut in a chair shape. More spaces for more RAFians? He wondered.
This was a passage from RotB. Gumby was remembering it. That's why it was in bold. I probably should have quoted it, but I thought it was pretty clear that this was the passage that was drifting back to Gumby...it would have been pretty random otherwise...
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oh okey, got it, alright thanks. :)
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Awesome update, as per usual
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yup indeed, How is the next chapter goin?
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A little, um, hitch.
I HAD a notebook full of ideas that I wrote down so I don't have to remember them all
And I can't find the notebook.
I'm sure I'll find it eventually--I'm redoing my room--so it'll turn up...but eventually is the problem.
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Aww, that really sucks Seal! I hope you find it! Believe me, I know how you feel. The same thing happened to me once when I was working on a story, took my AGES to find it!
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What story?
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Just some story about demons and other mythical creatures. Not worked on it in ages. Anyway, I wouldn't want to get too off topic...
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yeah... Sooooooo did you check behind your ear?
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...................
A notebook cannot fit behind my ear. Unless my ear is like the size of an elephant ear....
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so I take that as "I havn't found it yet"
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I believe that would be a safe bet, Blocky.
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When I do find it, there will be joyous exclamations all over this thread. As of now, no.
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aaaaaw poor sealie, I know how to make you feel better
*clicks on both of her dragons, gives her +1, and burns a tumbleweed*
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you never do that when I'm sad ::)
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You're not my Wonder twin :)...and you don't have any dragons
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I am one, that would be wierd if I did
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yes, you're too young for little dragons of your own(wonders if Dragons have "the talk")
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Awww. Poor Horsie. I hate it when I lose notebooks :(
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YES! I'M IN IT! This is an amazing story, keep it up!
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Thanks Gumby! I would LIKE to keep it up, but I can't *bangs head on keyboard* find *bang* the *bang* stupid *bang* notebook. *bang*
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I didn't know Horse was a headbanger.
Bad joke, sorry. Couldn't resist.
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Hope you find it soon, Horsie! It'll turn up soon, don't worry.
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Notebook?
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I jot down my ideas for future chapters in said notebook, so I can completely forget said ideas and focus on other things...
and now I can't find the notebook. Glrglshnarg.
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ah, sucks. You should keep them on your 'puter.
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well, this may be the end of AHEO
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Don't be so pessimistic, Blocky.
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hope it pops up seal
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sorry cloaky, hopefully it will pop up
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HAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(In case that didn't tell you, I found it!!!!!)
FINALLY
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Congrats.
Now Horse *pulls a pair of handcuffs from his cloak* let's just make sure *closes one end on Horse's flipper* that you don't lose it again. *handcuffs the other end to the notebook.
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Yay! I'm glad you found it!
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Good going cloaky.
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YAY!!!!
Pesimism begone
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Chapter Three--RAFians Awaken
(Author's Note: Oh boy. I get to play Esplin as a human. ;D)
Esplin whirled around, staring wildy before turning and staring in a different direction. Goom put his hand on Esplin's shoulder. "Relax, man. Normal people don't stare around like that.
Esplin remained tense, snapping his head in a different direction, and nearly falling over. "I'm not exactly normal, Goom. I feel like a human nothlit. Lit. Lit. Nottthhh. No stalk eyes! And two legs. Two. Tuh."
Goom shook his head. "You've spent how long among us? And you still aren't used to it?" Russ looked affronted.
"Like I spend most of my time here as a human! Hew. Hew-man. Myyyyyy. My time. Ti-muh."
Goom rolled his eyes. "Thank goodness all the food is gone. And at least you know better than Ax--so you won't eat a brick or something."
Russ shook his head. "I'm not stupid, Goom. Guh. Just...the words! Sounds. Ssssss. Fascinating, for an Andalite. Ing. Iiiiiing."
Goom chuckled. "Quoth Marco--everyone loves a good 'ing'."
The two mods stepped across the crumbled RAF, searching for trapped RAFians.
"Help! Is anyone out there?"
They stopped.
"Who's there?" Called Goom. "Keep talking--we'll follow your voice."
"Uh, it's me, Guy. What happened? I'm planning out things for the Audiobooks, and then suddenly I'm buried under here. Thank God nothing's broken--I think."
By then Goom and Russ had located Mr. Guy and pried away the rubble enough to pull him out of the rest.
"Who-knew-RAF-could-generate-so-much-rubble-and-crap" grunted Goom as he yanked on Guy's arm. Eventually, the belagured RAFian came popping out. "Ugh! Thanks...?" He stopped. "Uh, who are you?"
Russ smiled gently. "Well, Guy..."
"Ow." Terenia sat up. She had a brief moment to take in her surroundings--a small mundane-looking room with a computer sitting nearby. Then she went cross-eyed.
She had to be cross eyed to keep in veiw the Dracon pointed at her head.
"What a pleasant surprise." Said Queen, flicking the Dracon setting to max. "I never expected a RAFian to be dropped at my doorstep."
Terenia stared hard. Queen! The one who had killed Claire. She tensed. Queen, seeing the movement, laughed. "Oh yes. Try it. Get a Dracon between your eyes."
Terenia stopped, gritting her teeth with frustration. She finds Queen and gets taken prisoner. Figures. Queen smiled. "Don't worry. We'll be moving to a new location soon. Our other prisoner is there now. You'll know our prisoner." Queen walked out of the room, giving a significant look to a camera in the corner. If she tried to leave, she would be killed.
Terenia felt a chill, and not just because she had been captured by Queen. You'll know our prisoner? Another RAFian? Now...who had been missing for a while? The answer came to her in a flash.
Cloaky!
There was a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Cloaky had been captured? That wasn't good.
You don't know that he's the prisoner. Argued Terenia.
Who else could it be? Responded Terenia.
Uh... Said Terenia.
Ha. Laughed Terenia.
After she was done arguing with herself, Terenia took another look at the room. Her eyes did the typical pass-over-then-snap-back-in-awe to the computer screen. Her stomach sank even lower as she saw the screen.
RAF was on the screen.
Terenia was in the Lands Beyond.
Gaz came to with a start. Rain was pouring from the heavens, saturating her face. Dull, gray, crumbling skyscrapers stretched above her.
She sat straight up, and shook her head, water droplets spinning from her wet hair. Where am I? She wondered.
"Thank heavens you're awake, Gaz!"
Gaz stood straight up and whirled around. A damp-looking girl in a yellow sundress (which stood out like a sore thumb against all the gray) was standing behind her. The girl had long golden-yellow hair, tanned skin, and oddest of all, glowing yellow eyes. It was like she was a sun.
"How do you know my name?" Said Gaz warily. "Who are you? And where am I?"
"Answer to question three: I dunno. Answer to question one: I'm a RAFian too. Answer to question two: I'm Estelore."
Gaz ran forward and hugged Este. "Este! Thank God you're here--what happened?"
Este shrugged. "Beats me. I'm about to post a new chapter of RAFGone, and suddenly some green stuff comes whizzing out of nowhere, and bam!--I'm peeling my face off of the pavement. I haven't been wandering for five minutes."
Gaz nodded. "Where are you headed?" She asked.
"Uh, nowhere in particular," admitted Este. "Actually, that tower." She pointed at a semi-crumbled skyscraper stretching above the rest. "Hopefully there we can get a good view of there we are."
Gaz nodded. "Like the observation deck of the Sears Tower. You can see the whole city from up there!"
"You mean Willis Tower."
"I REFUSE to call it the Willis Tower!"
"Ya, ditto. I was just kidding. Let's get moving."
"Agreed."
"Wake UP!"
"Oh yeah. Pounding his head with a chunk of ice will work."
"Sure it will. Just gotta give him another whack!"
"Don't--!"
THUNK!
"Ow!" Blocky said, sitting straight up, hand flying to his aching head. He stared accusingly at two strangers, one boy and one girl. The girl was in her twenties, he guessed, and the boy was a teen. The girl had fox-red hair and amber eyes. The boy was "black", with black hair, but icy blue eyes. He had a slightly stocky build, whereas the girl was smaller, and looked lighter on her feet. "What'd you do that for? And while you're at it, who are you?"
The girl stuck out a hand to help him up. "Sorry about that, Blocky. Blue is a blockhead--no offense."
"Uh, what?" Said Blocky, grabbing the girl's hand and using it to help him stand up. "Thanks. But, did you just say..."
"Blue?" Interrupted the boy. "Yeah, it's me, Aidan. And she's," he ****ed his head at the girl. "KitsuneMarie. Glad to see ya."
Blocky stared at them. Then he realized that he was standing, but at relatively their height. He should have been towering about seven feet above them. But now he was shorter then them? Blocky held out his hands, and looked at them. Human hands.
"Wha-!" He yelled, jumping. "Human hands! You're human? I'm human? What?"
"Calm down, Blocky," said Marie reassuringly. "We don't know what happened, but yes, we're all human. I saw this sphere of green stuff plummet from the sky. Then it exploded, and green stuff flew everywhere, one piece went into me."
"I only saw the green stuff." Put in Blue. "But then there was white light, jumbled pictures, more white light, words...then I'm waking up."
"I woke up a little bit later, to find Blue pointing an ice sword at my head." Added Marie. "Once I convinced him of my innocence, we started walking, and found you. Blue had a hunch--and he was right, you are Blocky."
"Uh, how did you figure out who I was before I woke up?"
"This." Blue held up a small keychain, a picture dangling from the end, incased in a plastic square.
"Um, what is it? And please don't say a keychain. I can see that."
"Look at the picture," said Blue passing him the keychain.
Blocky looked. It was a picture of his avatar! At the bottom, in black letters were "thank's to goom." The text he put below his avater.
"We have them too." Said Marie, holding out hers. Sure enough, there was the fox head, with the "now with opposable thumbs!" text typed.
"Cool!" Said Blocky. "But, uh, where are we?"
"Far as I can tell? I have no idea." Said Blue. "At least I retain my ice powers."
Blocky conjured an ice block. "Funny, I couldn't do that before."
"Maybe it's because you were an ice dragon before," said Marie. "But it'll be useful if...if..." she trailed off, eyes wide, staring over Blue's shoulder.
Blocky and Blue whirled around. What could only really be described as an army was marching up the hill toward them. Many carrying guns. They all had high-tech looking helmets on, obscuring their faces. The leader nodded something to two others, and the three of them raised their guns.
"Damn," breathed Blue, tensing. "What do we..."
Blocky didn't hear the rest of his sentance. He felt sometheing penetrate his side, and then everything went black.
So, another exciting chapter, I hope. It took me a while to gather all this information, you know. You should be grateful I have it all in a nice book for you.
All of the RAFians seem to be in some kind of predicament. But why?
I think the why is pretty clear, actually. Well, the why as to why they're there. But whatever.
Next chapter cometh.
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AWESOME, What was the cencored word supposed to be?
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Oh no! Queen got me! And I'm in the Lands Beyond! Ah! Write more! Now!
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Excellent, Horse.
In fact, I see those avatar keychains as identification at a RAF convention. . . .
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AWESOME, What was the cencored word supposed to be?
You can't see that? Oh, it's d a m n.
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sweet chap seal. *looks* I see no Joel though. :(
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he ****ed his head at the girl.
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So, hurry up and post the enxt one.
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he ****ed his head at the girl.
Oh, t i l t e d.
So, hurry up and post the enxt one.
*stern look* Don't rush me. Patience is a virtue, Mr. Canada.
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I know that, I just don't care.
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strang, must of been an exedental censor
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Okay, I leave the house at 7:30 in the morning, get home at 3:20, have approximately 30 minutes of free time before I leave for play rehearsal from 4:00 to 8:30 every day this week. I spend my 30 minutes of free time between school and rehearsal doing homework, and sometimes I do homework after rehearsal too.
I'm busy.
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5 hours? Why? The showchoir can get by with one hour a day and get first place in an compitition!
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Because half of our cast is five and six. That's why. And we only have a week to do this show.
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I see
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Because half of our cast is five and six. That's why. And we only have a week to do this show.
*remembers Shadow at that age. . . .*
*Shutters.*
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Shutters? You mean like window shutters? :P
Yeah, but they won't shut up. It get's annoying.
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5year olds always follow me around and ask me stupid questions like "can you swim?" or "what does red look like?"
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Yeah--I was wearing a Cubs t-shirt the other day, and the number on the back was 38, and now (well, not now, the play is over) they all insist that that's how old I am, and they won't shut up. Wouldn't shut up. Whatever.
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lol, safe at last
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. . .
Aren't we getting off-topic?
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yes, yes we are
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That's a big part of RAFlife though isn't it?
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but delays are still delays, even on raf
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Awesome new chapter Beth! Glad to see you found your notebook.
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Chapter Four--Three Guesses
"Taiyoh?"
Taiyoh and CANADA turned around. Someone was hurrying towards them, sqeezing through the small hole across from the "chairs" in the wall.
"Taiyoh! It is you." Said the someone, who was a girl. She had blond hair, but unaturally bright green eyes, with a line of blood running across her face. Then, as an afterthought, she added "Tai. Tuh."
CANADA raised an eyebrow. "Former Andalite?" He said.
The girl turned toward him. "Yes. Who are you? My name is Aliciana, or just Alic. C. Allllllllllll."
Taiyoh smiled. "Alic, hey! Yeah, meet my new friend, his name is OH CANADA."
Gumby rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the introduction."
Alic looked surprised. "So I'm not the only one who became human. Hew."
CANADA shook his head. "Nope, I think it's all of us RAFians. Tai here was already human, so it didn't affect him. But...hey, just noticed that. Oh, geez, how did I not feel that before?" He raised one hand.
Tai recoiled slightly. There was a hole in Gumby's hand, completely circular. Literally, a hole. He could see the wall of the cave through it. He examined himself. There was a long shallow scratch down his leg, from the top of his knee to his ankle. "Ow," he said, then sat down, then looked thoughtfully up at Alic. "Hey Alic. You're a former Andalite. Got any theories about this?"
Alic narrowed her eyes. "We need to get back to RAF. I have a theory, but it's not good. Or at least if we can see RAF from here..."
The trio went outside and peered across the horizon. The same thing that Taiyoh had seen earlier just after his talk with Gumby--wet hills, scrubbly trees, crumbling city, little huts, and...
"RAF should be there." said CANADA, pointing at a dark lump on the ground far away, just what Tai had been thinking of.. "But where did it go? All I see is a pile of...rubble..." he trailed off, realization dawning.
"What happened to RAF?" Cried out Taiyoh. "What sort of sick thing would do this? I bet we're not the only RAFians humanized and scattered."
Alic closed her eyes. "I think I know. A virus."
"A virus?" Said Gumby and Tai together.
"Yes. This was very cleverly programmed. Individual parts of the virus must have targeted each RAFian, then support structures, or just the walls in general. RAF can be repaired. But what if another virus comes?"
"Who do you think launched it?" Asked CANADA.
"I can think of one description, and one person who fits that description. Who do you think is smart, yet cruel, persuasive--as in able to hire someone to do this for them--probably more than slightly insane, and holds a grudge?"
Taiyoh's mind ticked through a list of possibilities, eventually coming down to one.
"Queen." Said CANADA grimly, confirming Taiyoh's guess.
Alic nodded. "Queen. My guess is our resident psycho banned is back."
"...and then he said 'Shadow, quit getting under your mother's feet, come here and help me with these dishes,' and I said 'Sure Uncle Cloaky--after she gets this--'"
"Shadow!" Interrupted Faith. "She doesn't need to hear the story of your life."
Jess winced as Faith wrapped a bandage around her arm. "Thanks," she said, indicating the quieting of Shadow as well as the bandage.
Faith nodded. "Now, I think I'd like to know how you got here."
Jess shook her head. "I don't know, quite honestly. I was just getting up in RAF, suddenly, bam! I feel like I'm being chucked around, there's white light, all these jumbled pictures, and then more light, these big black letters, saying "An Error Has Occurred!" then nothing. Then I feel like my head has been split in two, my arm is half gone, and I'm here."
Cloaky's sister waited for Jess to be done with her small tirade, and then closed her eyes in thought. "I've never heard of anything like that...if you can stay here alone and look after Shadow, then I can look into it if you want."
Jess smiled and nodded gratefully. "That would be appreciated. Thank you very much, Faith. If there's anything I can do for you..."
Faith smiled. "I'll give you a shout."
With a small swirl of a cloak, Faith poofed.
"Oh, this'll be fun, Jess! Mom can be so strict sometimes. I hope you're funner! So, Mom NEVER lets me eat too many scoops of ice cream. Can I pleeeeeeeeease have more than two scoops, Jess?"
Jess turned around and raised an eyebrow. "You eat ice cream here?"
Shadow nodded enthusiastically. "We Realm Walkers get food from all over the universe. We're--that is, Mom and I--very fond of ice cream. So....can I have more than two scoops?"
Jess put her head to one side and considered. "Hmmm...you can have three...you're hyper enough already."
Shadow perked up. "It's better than two! Thanks Jess!" And she bolted out of the room.
Jess rolled here eyes. "I hope I haven't created a weapon of mass destruction."
Richard surveyed the remians of RAF, and sighed.
Ever since the mysterious collapse, the other mods and himself had been all over, pulling RAFians out of the rubble, and trying to find out what happened. A few hours ago, Goom had had some flash of insight, and ran off. Richard could see him now, examining a brick in his hand. Something seemed to make him satisfied, and he started walking over to Richard.
The founder of RAF walked up to Goom and tipped his head to one side inquiringly. Goom held out the brick. "Look," he said.
Richard looked at the brick. "Oh my God! It's...a brick." He said.
Goom shook his head. "Not just ANY brick. This brick is evidence."
"Of what?"
"Of what killed RAF. Look, here." Goom pointed to a tiny green streak along the side of the brick. It might have been paint, until Richard noticed that it pulsed and flickered. There was a slight hum of power coming from it.
"That's what killed RAF?" Said Richard. "Do you know what it is?"
"I have a hunch." Said Goom, peering at the brick once more. "But I can't confirm it without my lab, which is part of RAF, which is...well, turned into bricks."
Richard narrowed his eyes. "Your lab is underground. There's a chance that it might have survived."
"My God," said Goom. "You're right. Come on! It's by the Bored...or, by where the Bored Board used to be, at least."
The mods picked their way across the field of rubble, and Richard found the spot. "Here it is." He said, flicking his hand, and clearing the rubble off from a concealed metal hatch in the ground, a ring of small lights around it glowing green. Settling the rubble into a neat pile nearby, Richard snapped loudly, and the hatch opened. Another metal disk lay beneath it, big enough for someone to stand on.
Goom made a mock bow. "After you, sir." He said. Richard smiled.
"Thank you, Sir Goom." Richard said, giving him a mock bow as well, then, stepping onto the disc, he snapped again, and the disc below his feet descended rapidly, like an elevator. The sides of the shaft whizzed by, illuminated by the occasional light, as the hatch above had closed.
Above ground, the lights turned red as the hatch closed over Richard's head. After a minute, they turned green again. He snapped, stepped on the disc, snapped again, and went downwards, after Richard.
As he stepped off the elevator, he noticed Richard booting up the machinery. Then it hit him.
"Everything is still intact!" He said happily. Richard nodded.
"The...whatever it was...must not have been able to get to this place. It is a big secret, after all."
Goom hurried over to a tube, pressed a few buttons nearby, and stuck the brick inside it. Richard watched as blue light enveloped the brick, apparently scanning it. Goom pressed another button, and a computer screen and keyboard popped out of the side. Goom's fingers flew over the keyboard, and a bunch of numbers and symbols popped up. An image of the brick appeared. Goom pressed a few more buttons, and the blue light focused on the streak of flickering green inside the rust-colored brick. More numbers and symbols popped up.
"Come on," said Goom, pressing some more keys. Eventually, some words flashed on the screen.
SCAN OF UNKNOWN ENTITY COMPLETE
Goom hit enter, and two more words popped up below the message.
PLYENCENTANIUM NANOS
(PRONOUNCED PLY-EN-SEN-TAN-EE-UM)
"Plyencenwhat?" Said Richard.
"Plyencentanium nanos." Said Goom. "That isn't good."
"What are Plyencenwhatever nanos?" Richard said.
"Plyencentanium." Corrected Goom. "And basically, it's a long fancy name for a certain type of virus."
Richard looked outraged. "So some stupid Internet virus killed my forum?"
Goom shook his head. "A virus did kill your forum. But not some 'stupid Internet virus.' Plyencentanium nanos are special."
"How so?"
"Well...Plyencentani um nanos...it's a smart virus."
"A smart virus?!"
"Yeah."
"Good God, you better not mean like the one in TAS."
"Oh, Lord no. Plyencentanium nanos aren't that smart. But, they can get targets."
"Targets?"
"Yeah. Someone programmed these nanos to target RAF. Do you know what that brick is?"
Richard examined the brick closely. Then his eyes widened. "That's one of the bricks that holds up the support structures! Take this out, and the whole support structure will collapse."
Goom nodded. "I found some other support bricks. They all have traces of the nanos on them too. And I'm guessing...aha."
Goom reached out and tore a strip of Richards sleeve off. "Hey, what was that for?" Said Richard. Goom didn't respond, but put the strip of fabric in the scanner. He repeated his button pushing, and eventually the screen put up a picture of the strip of cloth, but there was a blue streak, outlined in white. Richard's shirt was blue, but if you looked closely, you could tell that the outlined streak was a tiny bit darker. It seemed to flicker and pulse. "Hey...that's..."
The screen supplied his answer, saying ERIALYAMIC SHARDS (PRONOUNCED AREA-LIE-A-MICK)
Goom sighed. "I should have known. Erialyamic shards teleport targets. Someone shot Erialyamic shards and Plyencentanium nanos into RAF, where they hit their targets--"
"The support structures and the RAFians." Interrupted Richard. "And now the quite obvius question is who. I'll give you three guesses, Goom."
Goom snorted. "I'll need four. There are four people who I KNOW did this."
"Queen."
"Yorick."
"Aloth."
"Dagger."
So now you know who. And how. And probably why.
There's really not much to say on this chapter.
So...the narrator will leave now.
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great chapter but no shorty....still.
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That was a good chapter! Loved it!
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Great job! The story's coming together!
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awesome, I thik you may be nominated for another rafaward
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Excellent, Horse.
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Yay, new chapter! Great job, horsie!
One error I caught: light 'illuminates', not 'aluminates'. :P I think you got confused thanks to our very own Aluminator.
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yes indeed very nice ;D
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Chapter Five--More Than Just a Bloody Nose
Sakki sighed and leaned against a tree, looking around.
It had only been ten minutes since she had woken up, no longer a VOCALOID and with the last joint and up of her left pinkie finger missing, and already she was lost and confused.
She seemed to be in a meadow of some sort. The grass was thick, green, and luscious, the tree she was leaning on was in full bloom, covered in flowers, the temperature was perfect, the air was clear and fresh, the sun was shining, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, many flowers grew around, and butterflies fluttered from flower to flower.
And Sakki was miserable.
She stepped away from the tree and continued to wander. A bird whizzed by her head, singing merrily. She wanted to shoot it, just to take some of her anger out. Then she saw it in the distance--it looked like a castle of some sort. Whatever it was, it was a large structure. And it was pink. Very bright and happy pink.
"Yuck," said Sakki, but she walked toward it, hoping to get some explanations. It would take some time to get there...but she had to, what else could she do?
"Wander in the meadow of paradise forev--oof!" Sakki wondered aloud, then gasped in surprsie as she tripped over something, and went sprawling. Sakki instantly jumped to her feet, ready to fight off whatever tripped her. There was someone lying in the grass, sleeping. She peered at that face. It was familiar...hey! Faerie! It was Faerie! But she had no wings!
"Dynamite," muttered Faerie in her sleep, turning over. Grass tickled her nose, and she sneezed and woke up.
"Faerie!" Said Sakki in relief, kneeling down. "Are you alright? Why were you sleeping? Where are we?"
"Sleeping?" Said Faerie indignantly, holding her head. "Augh...my head. And, I wasn't sleeping. I just was...well, I dunno. Unconscious? No idea where we are. And...Sakki? Is that you?"
Sakki nodded. "Yeah, it's me, humanized. You're human too."
"WHAT?!" Said Faerie, jumping up. "No...no...no wings?"
"Nope. No wings."
"Aw, man, what the he--"
Suddenly, Sakki clapped her hand over Faerie's mouth, cutting off the profanity that was about to come out."
"Mmmff!" Protested Faerie, trying to pry away Sakki's hand. "Mfflff!"
"Shhh," whispered Sakki urgently. "Something's coming."
Faerie yanked Sakki's hand off her mouth and whispered, "What? Where?"
Sakki pointed to a hill behind Faerie. "I hear something. It sounds like....singing."
"Singing?"
"Yeah, listen."
The faint strands of a song came to them.
"...Isn't...lovely...place. ..my...pony...littl e"
"I can barely hear them." Whispered Sakki.
"Shut up!" Said Faerie. "They must be far away."
The song was getting stronger now.
"Everywhere you...smiling face..."
Sakki did not like the sound of this song. It was far too...happy. The sound came closer, now completely in earshot.
"Running and skipping, merrily tripping, watching the morning unfold."
Sakki paled. She recognized the tune to this song. Long ago, long LONG ago, she used to listen to this...
"My Little Pony, My Little Pony, what does the future hold?"
"My...my little...PONY?!" Gasped Faerie. "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"Shut up!" Whispered Sakki frantically, but the ponies had come over the hill. They stared at the two RAFians.
"Look! Friends!" Said one pony.
"Yes!" Said a different pony that sounded exactly the same as the first one. "Friends! What are your names, friends?"
Sakki was trembling violently. Of all places, here?! Here?! She was going to die of over-friendiness.
Faerie leaned over and whispered to her, "Friends? Yeah, see how friendly I am when I lop your head off!" She straightened up and called to the ponies. "I'm...I'm Faerie. Spelled F-A-E-R-I-E."
"An--and I'm Sakki." Said Sakki. "We'll face them together, Fey," she muttered out of the side of her mouth.
"Faerie and Sakki! Friendly names!" Said a third pony, sounding exactly like the other two.
"Yes!" Said a fourth, again sounding exactly like the three before it.
"Come with us to the celebration castle!" Pony 5 said.
"We shall have a feast!" Said Pony 6.
"Because friends are here!" Exclaimed Pony 7.
Faerie and Sakki looked at each other. "Help us, God." They said in unison.
Guy picked up a piece of plywood and carried it over to a large pile of plywood. He dumped his piece on the pile and looked around. Richard had ordered that each material be sorted into a separate pile. Weathel and Shorty walked over to him, both carrying the same plywood to put in--oh surprise--the plywood pile. They were arguing.
"It's fine for you, Wild. I had a sword, could fly before, and now--"
"Oh, come on, Shorty. You were a puffball before. Isn't this better?"
"No!" Said Shorty, whirling around to face Wild, as he had reached the pile before him. Guy ducked so he wouldn't get hit with his plywood.
"Watch it!" Said Guy, interrupting their debate. "You nearly took my head off with that board."
"Oh, sorry." Said Shorty, turning around and placing the board on the pile. "So, any Missings found?"
They now referred to the majority of the RAFians--the ones missing--as Missings. With a capital M.
Guy shook his head and looked down. "Nothing. We've pulled everyone out of the rubble, we're sure of that. But no word of any Missings."
Wild smiled sadly. "We'll find them. I heard Richard swearing that he'd hunt everyone down if it's the last thing he'd do."
"Yeah, he did." Confirmed Shorty. "He also said--hey, who's that?"
They all turned around and stared quizzically at the approaching figure. He wasn't a RAFian, they knew that.
"Um, who are you?" Said Wild.
"What the--" gasped Guy suddenly. "Tim?! What the hell are you doing here?!"
Tim frowned. "I have no idea. Where are we?"
Wild and Shorty looked at each other. "Um, Guy? Who is this?"
"Oh, this is Beth and I's brother, Tim. The non-RAFian. Beth calls him BoringBro"
"Oh, you." Said Shorty. "She's talked about you before."
"She has?" Said Tim.
"Yeah. It wasn't very flattering."
"I can imagine."
"Um, Tim?" Said Guy. "You should go away now. This isn't exactly a good time to get sucked into RAF--literally. You must have clicked the "REALLY enter the forum" button."
"Yes, I did." Said Tim. "Was I not supposed to?"
"Uh, no." Here, I'll take you to Richard, he'll beam you out of here. But first, why were you on RAF in the first place?"
"I was bored, and had nothing to do. So I hit the button."
"Wow, reeeeeal smart of you. Haven't I told you what that button would do?"
"Yes, but..."
Guy and Tim walked away, leaving Wild and Shorty at the pile. "I hope we find people soon." Said Shorty.
"Yeah," said Wild. "When Guy was kidnapped in the Banned War--before Horsie was kidnapped, of course--she nearly went mad with worry. I have a feeling this may happen again."
"I can't imagine Guy going mad."
"No, but I couldn't imagine Horsie like that before either."
"That's true..."
"This is as much psychological warfare as much as physical warfare," murmured Wild thoughtfully. "Queen is smart. Insane, mind you, but very, very smart..."
"So, how long have you been wandering around here?"
Gaz and Este were walking around the city, heading for the tower. It was getting closer, but they were still some distance away.
"Only about 10 minutes before I found you. In the 10 minutes I was wandering, I nearly got attacked twice by gangs."
"Gangs?"
"Yeah. But I left them slightly crispier than before."
"What?"
"Maybe it comes from being a star, I dunno, but I'm a firestarter now. Look."
Este held out one hand, palm up. A little flame appeared there. After Gaz got a good look, it went out.
"So, gangs are a problem in this city." Said Gaz, as if Este had not just started a fire on her hand out of the middle of nowhere. Being a RAFian meant stepping somewhat out of the ordinary.
"Yes. They are."
Gaz sighed and stuck her hands in her pockets. "I thought this couldn't get any worse--hey, what's this?"
Gaz pulled something out of her pocket, and examined it. "It's too dark, give me some light, please."
Este stuck out her hand and started another little flame. Gaz examined the small square in her hand. "It's a keychain," she said. "There's something on the end...it's a little plastic square with a picture in it. Hey! The picture is my avvie!"
"Really? Let me see," said Este, taking the keychain with the hand that wasn't on fire. "You're right. And it even has the text at the bottom."
"Do you have one?"
"Let me check."
Putting out the fire, Este rummaged in her pockets. "Hey, I've got one too! And...yeah, it's my avvie alright."
"Must be some side effect of whatever tossed us here."
"Yeah, maybe."
"Hey...wait. Do you hear somemthing?"
Gaz and Este both stopped and listened intently. Ignoring the slight drip-drip of the rain--which was wearing off--Gaz heard it again. Distant shouts and laughter.
Mixed with screaming.
"What is it?" Said Este.
"Whatever it is, it's more than just a bloody nose."
"Gangs," gapsed Este. Without any thought of personal safety, the two hurled themselves down the street and sprinted toward the sound.
As they got closer, the sounds amplified. But the screams slowly dissapeared, as the jeering went on. It wasn't a good sign.
Eventually they burst upon the scene. A group of people in hoodies were kicking and punching at a small figure on the ground. It was a girl--a young girl from her point of view. (Author's Note: My point of view of young is much different from most people's point of views of young.) Gaz guessed she was maybe 13. Way too young for this. She wasn't moving. Just a slight twitch every time they landed a blow.
It was terrible. And the gang...was laughing. Laughing their heads off. As if beating up a defenseless teenager was nothing. One yelled "Clear out of our city, girl!"
"Now you tell her," muttered Gaz too herself. She was frozen to the spot, witnissing something that happened in this painful reality, and in the painful reality of the Lands Beyond. That such violence existed in the world was a fact painful to absorb. However, far from being frozen, Este decided to fight fire with fire--pardon the pun.
Este ran forward and yelled, "Clear off!" She raised her hands, palms out.
Gaz was reminded of Sam Temple. (Author's Note: Those who have read Gone know what I'm talking about. Those who haven't GO READ IT RIGHT NOW.)
Fire shot from Este's hands at the gang.
For some reason, they cleared off very quickly.
Estelore and Gaz ran over to the girl. She looked terrible. Blood soaked her from nearly head to toe. Her right leg was bent funnily, and there were already bruises developing. She almost looked like a zombie, and was ominously still.
Apart from the damage, the girl had shoulder-length hair that was a most unusual color. It was a blueish whitish color. She also had glasses--that were smashed. She was wearing a light blue t-shirt and jeans.
Este felt for a pulse. "She's alive," she said in surprise.
"She's awake!" Said Gaz in even more surprise. It was true. The girl's eyes were open--they were a piercing blue--and she was looking at Gaz. Her eyes seemed to widen a fraction of an inch, and was that...recognition Gaz saw there? The girl weakly moved a blood-slicked hand and reached for her pocket. She put her hand in her pocket and scrabbled around, but couldn't grip whatever was in there. When she finally found purchase, the her remaining strength failed and she closed her eyes and fell limp, unconcsious.
Gaz and Este looked at each other. "She seemed to recognize me." Said Gaz.
"Yeah. Is she a RAFian?"
"How could she be? She's so young."
"Yeah, she must be what...around...13?"
They stared at each other, color slowly draining out of their faces.
"Her pocket." Said Este.
"Maybe..." Said Gaz. She moved the girl's hand out of her pocket gently. There was somthing in it. Uncurling the fingers, Gaz removed the object.
Este lit up her hand.
Gaz looked at it. The remaining color drained out of her face.
She wordlessly passed it to Este. She examined it.
"No...I wouldn't wish this on any RAFian...but..." Whispered Este.
The object was a keychain. It has a picture attached to it, that was encased in a plastic square.
The picture was a small baby harp seal.
-
The suspence grows! Duh-dah-dah!
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well, major action in that chapter! ;D
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that is awesomesauce. another RAF award maybe?
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*gasp!* dun dun dunnn!!!
That was an awesome chapter! Was wondering what I was up to. lol.
Can't wait to see what happens next! ;D
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Action is what I do best. ;D
Thanks, everyone. I've been in more of a writing mood lately, so hopefully the next chapter will be up quicker than this one.
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great!
that last one did take a little bit, though
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Lol, no, it took a loooooong time. I was too lazy to work on it.
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laziness is not good
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ooh, great chapter sealie!!! Can't wait for the next one! :D Quick, write! GO!
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Finally caught up. Tis wonderful :)
But...but I'm human? And...My Little Pony? SERIOUSLY?! GRAUGHTLEIOGDISFH:IH!
*whimper*
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Exactly why I chose you to be there, Fey. ;D
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So so cruel
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Mhm. I know.
[spoiler]It'll get worse... >:D[/spoiler]
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*Dramatic Squirrel* OMG!
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Makes me happy I'm piling wood.
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Chapter Six--The Lab
"See how he likes getting thwacked with a chunk of ice."
"Oh, Blocky, don't--"
THUNK!
"Ow!" Said Blue, sitting straight up, hand flying to his aching head. He stared accusingly at Blocky, who was holding a chunk of ice and looking satisfied. "What'd you do that for?"
Blocky thought for a moment. "One, revenge, two, to wake you up."
"This really isn't the time to be hitting each other with blocks of ice." Said Marie. "Where are we is a more important question to face."
The three RAFians looked around. They seemed to be in a giant glass tube of some sort, in the middle of a large room. There were blinking lights and computers lining the walls, with more gadgets and gizmos scattered around. Most of it was along the walls, however. There was a small gap, where two glowing...things stood that caught the eye. One looked like a tube with a chunk taken out of the side, but perfectly evenly so that it was mostly just two metal discs connected by a sheet of metal. The discs glowed gently with blue light, and even in the tube and at the distance they were at, they could hear and almost sense the energy humming through it. The other one was identical and standing next to the first one, except it glowed with purple light. Above these things was a large flat screen monitor. It was off, but cords ran from these tubes to the moniter.
Blue, Blocky, and Marie looked around, taking it all in. Eventually, Blue ran his hand along the wall of the tube. "We're obviously prisoners. But, glass? Not a good idea. We can break right through it."
Blocky's face cleared. "Right! All we need are sharp instruments. Ice, you think, Blue?"
"Yeah," said Blue, raising his hands to create his breaker. "Make it sturdy, but with and edge."
Blue and Blocky began constructing such things out of ice. They raised their hands, and ice formed in the air. Gently moving their hands around the breaker, the former dragon and the ice ninja formed it and shaped it according to their criteria. Kitsune watched them.
"It probably won't work, you know." She said thoughtfully.
"Why not?" said Blocky without looking up from his work. "It's only glass."
"Look around you!" Said Marie, waving her hand at their surroundings. "This doesn't look primitive. It has to be better constructed than glass if they wanted to keep foreign specimens like us prisoner.
"Foreign specimens?" Said Blue, looking up. "We're foreign?"
"I'm guessing," said the ex-kitsune, scratching her ear. "Look at that." She pointed at a nearby console, which had cords connecting to the tube. The keyboard had strange runes or something on it. "That's not any alphabet I know."
"Hmmm." Said Blue. "I suppose you're right. But it doesn't hurt to try, I guess."
"Yeah," Said Marie, sitting down and running one hand thoughtfully along the glass as she examined the console screen nearby.
Eventually, Blue and Blocky finished their tools. "Ready, Blocky?" Said Blue, hefting his ice thing a bit higher in the air.
"Ready, Blue! At the same spot and at the same time?"
"Yeah, on three. One...."
Marie stared hard at the console. On the screen was a picture of the tube, with cords running to console. It seemed that electrical currents were running along the cords and into the bottom of the tube.
"Two...."
She thought hard about what that could mean. In a flash it came to her.
"Don't do it!" Gasped Marie, jumping up.
"Three!"
Blue and Blocky swung forth their ice things, not hearing Marie, too focused on their task.
THUNK!
ZZZZZZZZZZAP!
The bottom of the tube lit up, electricity pouring in from the cords attached to the console. Unfortunately, there were only three things for it to travel into.
Blue, Marie, and Blocky.
Blue fell to his knees, the electricity seeming to set every atom on fire, pain seared through him, these volts had to be fatal, (Note from Guy: "Volts hurt, Amps kill. It may hurt, but he will not be dead...but put volts anyway, more people will understand") how could they not be, causing such pain?
Gentle darkness washed over him once more.
"Benny, didja see the look on that chump's face when we came out of the alley?"
"Sure did, Mercy! Priceless."
"I got a photo, dudes."
"Great! Let us see."
Mercy snatched Bergson's phone out of his hands, looked at the picture, guffawed, and gave it to Benny. Bergson grabbed at it, but Benny held it away, then looked at it, laughed as well, and handed it back to Bergson.
"Ey, Mercy, where we smackin' next?"
Mercy turned and smacked Babe, the one who had asked the question in his annoying whining voice. "We smackin' right here, Babe. We smackin' you for bein' such a whiny little brat. Jesus, yer like a 5 year old."
"Don't call me Babe! I ain't no babe!" Whined Babe. "I told you, th'name's Blade, 'cuz I have this blade 'ere." He held up a pitiful little pocket knife.
"I'll keep that in mind if I care at all, Babe," said Mercy carelessly and turned away.
Mercy was the leader of what he called "The Smackers." They were a ruthless gang that prowled around the city and beat up helpless passers-by. Each one had a nickname. Mercy gave the reason of his name about 10 times a day. He always said. "Ya know why I'm called Mercy? 'Cause I didn't kill ya. I'm merciful!" Babe, was, well, a Babe in the gang's eyes. A "Whinin' baby." Bergson and Benny were just modifications of their names. And the others would be revealed later.
"But that gal was creepy," said Panther (an African-American guy who crept in the shadows) "She shot fire out of 'er 'ands."
"Yeh," said Tank (a huge beefey dude who had a fist like a bullet) "She burned me wrist. I'd like to give 'er a kick up the--"
"Hey," interrupted Mercy, not caring about Tank's problem. "What say you we go give that firestarter a smack. She scared us of from our intended smackee!"
"Yeh!" squeked Rat (a scrawney little thing with unusually sharp teeth--that unfortunately for the victim he used) "I say we give 'er a good smackin'! Teach 'er right!'
"Fine. Give me a good 'smacking' if you want." Said a dangerously level voice from the end of the alley the gang was resting in.
The gang whirled around to see the firestarter that they had just discussing. She was standing there, glaring at them. Her eyes were and voice were positively murderous. A voice called from behind her--"Este, this isn't the time! We have to get Horsie to safety!"
"Who are yew to offer yerself up for a smackin'?" Blustered Hunter (a shotgun wielding maniac) "We decide 'oo we smack, tank yew."
"And we wouldn't want to smack such a pre'ee litt'le thing, would we?" Said Vulture (a guy who was thin as a rail with a beaky nose) "Just come 'ere, sweet'art and let's 'ave a chat."
"I wouldn't chat with you, you foul, evil, scrawny little ****roach!" Spat the firestarter. "And if you're trying to flirt, you're doing a horrible job. I feel sooooooo attracted to you because you said you weren't gonna "smack such a pre'ee litt'le thing."
Vulture stared, so did the gang. Nobody could take that standing down, Vulture had to do something. Before he could, however, the firestarter smiled wickedly. She raised her hands, palms out.
"That's right. Burn."
When she said "Burn," fire poured out of her hands, rushing towards the gang. Vulture screamed like a little girl and ran, beating at flames that appeared on his shirt. Mercy dove behind a dumpster to avoid the flames, cursing the firestarter.
"No! No! Augh, no, mercy! Noooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooo..." Wailed a voice from the middle of the alley
Mercy peeked out from behind the dumpster. "Benny!" Cried Rat from beside him. "Mercy, Benny's gettin' burned alive!"
"Shut up!" Whispered Mercy, slamming Rat's face into the dust. "She'll 'ear us."
Benny's voice gradually cut off. The sound of the fire stopped as well. "I know you're still there!" yelled the firestarter, pure anger in every word. "Yeah, come out and chat, whoever you are! Beating up Horsie and no doubt others? I'll give you what you DESERVE!"
The whole gang was completely silent in their various hiding places. A slightly quavering voice spoke from somewhere behind the firestarter. "Este...you're really scary sometimes, you know that?"
The firestarter, Este, took a few deep breaths. The sound traveled to Mercy from his hiding place. "Yeah, I know, Gaz." She said. "I know. But it had to be done. It...it had to."
"We have to go, now." Said Gaz. "Horsie might not make it."
"Right, I'm on my way." Este's voice was slightly unsteady now, as if she couldn't believe what she'd done. Their footsteps echoed as they started walking away.
Mercy waited, holding his breath until Este and Gaz were gone. Then there were slight grunts from them, like they were carrying something. Probably the girl, Horsie or whatever. When he was sure they were gone, Mercy stood up, leaving Rat sniffling over his bleeding nose and walked over to Benny. Bergson was already there. No surprise, thought Mercy. They were best friends--they came to the gang together. Bergson put his fingers on Benny's wrist, feeling for a pulse.
"Well?" Said Mercy after a little while. Bergson dropped his friend's wrist. There was pure anger and fury set in every line on his face. "Dead." He said shortly. "Benny is dead. And I'm gonna kill that firestarter. I don't care what yew say, Mercy, I'm goin' t'kill 'er. She killed 'im. She killed 'im, Mercy."
Mercy couldn't really feel much sorrow--he wasn't friends with anyone. He just had followers. But letting Bergson get his revenge meant that Bergson would be happy, happy followers meant loyal followers, and besides...Este...he was pretty sure that was a RAFian.
"Don' worry, Berg." Said Mercy, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "We gonna smack her reeeeeeal good. So good she won' get up. But first we give a report. I reco'nize their names--Este, Gaz, Horsie. I think they RAFians. So, yeh. First, we report to Queen. Then give that firestarter a good smackin'."
Alic stumbled.
Yet again.
Taiyoh steadied her. "Is it really that hard?" He said in wonder.
"Yes. You have no idea. Uh. Ideeeeeeeeea." Said Alic.
"Must you do that?" Said CANADA, checking their position to make sure they were heading the right way.
"Yes." Said Alic, then grinned, and added as an afterthought. "Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees."
CANADA rolled his eyes. "This is gonna be a long walk."
"Not really." Said Taiyoh, shading his eyes and looking into the distance. "We've been walking for about half an hour, and I guess we're about halfway there."
"Another half-hour with her going bun-zuh and falling every few steps?"
"Yep. Pah." Said Alic. "At least there's no food anywhere. Then you would really be in trouble!"
"Good God lady, control yourself." Chuckled Taiyoh.
"And, Gumby, I am not falling every few--oof!" Said Alic as she tripped.
"Yeah, my point exactly." Said CANADA with a smirk.
"Oh, shut up," said Alic, punching him not so lightly on the shoulder. "Tuh. Pah. Shut-ah up-ah."
"Hey," muttered CANDADA softly, rubbing his arm.
"Guys?" said Taiyoh suddenly. Alic and Gumby stopped, realizing that Taiyoh was slightly behind him, stopping and staring ahead. Their friend raised his arm and pointed behind them, slightly off to the right, towards the city. "Who's that?"
They both turned and looked where he was pointing. Three figures were coming towards them, at a run.
"They're running." Said CANADA, tensing instinctively. "Why are they running? And who are they?"
"Let them come," said Alic. "They may have answers. And you have a gun."
The people continued to approach. "Who are you?" Called out Taiyoh, stepping forward to stand evenly with Alic and CANADA.
The three people halted. Then they continued at a walk. "My name is demos666." Called one of them in a deep, cold voice, a strong, dangerous looking man with pitch black hair that swept over one eye, and the other one which showed was red. "And these are ThinkAgain," a gracefully built young man with light blue eyes and brown hair nodded "and Genies9." A tall, slim woman with blond hair and blue eyes gave a little wave.
Smiles of relief broke out on Taiyoh, Gumby, and Alic's faces. "Demos! Think! Steph!" Said Alic, stepping forward, then adding "Ffffff. Steffffffff. Um, sorry." She added after a look from CANADA. "It's us--Alic, CANADA, and Taiyoh. Yoh...never mind." She looked at her feet and muttered "Mind-uh."
"Alic!" Said Genies happily, running forward and hugging her. "I'm so glad to see you! I haven't seen anyone but demos and Think since I woke up!"
"Woke up?" Said CANADA as Alic disentangled herself from Steph's hug. "What do you mean?"
"I was unconscious--these guys too." She said, scratching her arm thoughtfully. "I woke up in the middle of the field--demos was standing over me with a knife. I flipped out on him and nearly got a knife rammed up my throat. It was only when I gasped out my name and told him that his demonsis was Jess that he let go."
"I had to make sure you were you, didn't I?" Said demos. "Fine thing that would be if you were someone disguised as you and stabbed me as soon as my back was turned."
Genies frowned at him. "No apologies, I notice." She said, then turned back to Taiyoh, Alic, and Gumby. "We walked for another minute and found Think waking up. I practically had to strangle demos to stop him from attacking him."
Demos said nothing.
Think stepped forward and cut in. "I was confused to see this girl," he gestured towards Steph "Wrestling with this guy," he nodded to demos "and yelling 'Let the poor man have a chance to speak before you ram a knife up his throat!' I was on my feet and running in an instant. Then I heard the guy yelling, 'Genies, look what you've done, now he's running!'"
"Then the guy who was running stopped." said demos, taking up the story. "He turned around, and walked a few steps toward us, then said 'Genies? Did you just call her Genies.'"
"'Yes, I'm Genies, Genies9.' I then said." Said Genies. "'And you are?'"
"'A RAFian!" Said Think, now just reenacting the meeting instead of saying "I said." "'Thank God!'"
"'You still haven't told use who you are.'" Said demos sharply.
"'Oh, sorry.'" Said Think nervously. No doubt when he said that when it actually happened, he was thinking of the knife. "'I'm Think--ThinkAgain.'"
"And then they hugged and everything was happy, and we started walking and saw you." Said demos, getting slightly impatient. "And then here we are."
"Well," said CANADA, "RAF is that way." He pointed towards RAF. "Shall we walk?"
"Strength in numbers," said Steph, stepping forward. "Let's go."
Marie groaned inside her head and came to full consciousness. She was staring up at the top of the tube, lying there, twisted in an awkward shape, no doubt from the shock. Pain splintered through her. It seemed that every atom of her body had little needles jabbing it. She tried to sit up. Even more pain--was that possible?--filled her, then the big thing hit her.
She couldn't sit up.
Panic filled her. Paralyzed! She was paralyzed! What was she going to do, she couldn't move, how could she call for help, and what about Blue and Blocky?
"Do not be afraid."
A cool, level, reassuring voice filled the chamber. Marie was reminded of Prince Elfangor, first encountering the Animorphs.
"The shock will not kill you. It has just caused temporary paralysis. Soon it will wear off."
Marie said nothing. She was physically unable of saying anything. So she said nothing.
"Your companions will soon awaken. Please relax--we have no intention of harming you."
After a few more minutes, Marie's muscles relaxed. She sensed the paralysis was gone. She began to disentangle herself from the knot shape she was in, and more pain filled her. She stopped, breathing heavily, orienting herself.
"Wait for a little while." Advised the voice. "Allow your muscles to relax some more."
"Urg," moaned Blue, a little to her left. "Wah--argh!"
"Do not move!" Said the voice. "Relax. Lie still. Your body is still recovering."
"Uh...Marie...Blocky ..."
"Do as he...she...it...say s." Said Marie in a hoarse voice, working to choke out the words.
"Please, do not speak. Breathe deeply. You too, Blocky97."
"Who...they...my name..." Croaked Blocky to Marie's left.
"As I said, please do not speak. Do not strain yourself."
The three lay still for a little while longer. Eventually, Marie was able to slowly sit up.
"Yes, you have rested long enough. Feel free to move. But slowly."
Soon, Blue and Blocky were sitting up as well. Wincing, they stretched and flexed, stretching and relaxing their muscles to throw off the stiffness according to murmured instructions from the voice.. Marie did the same.
Once they were all stretched out and relatively relaxed, Blue licked his lips, and said. "Um...whoever is listening...I assume you're still listening...where are we?"
"You are at the Peletaran Research Laboratory." Said the voice. "Your unknown specimens are being processed as we speak."
"Peletaran...who are the Peletarans?" Said Marie.
"We are a group of advanced peoples living in what we call The Cliff ("Real creative name," muttered Blue) and separating ourselves from the primitive peoples in the Internet."
"Where is The Cliff?" Said Blocky stretching his arms. "I've never heard of it."
"Not many know of The Cliff. The few who do know about it either live here or alone around here. The Cliff is about as far away from The Center of the Internet as can be. Go three miles more west and you hit The End of the Internet." (Author's Note: The End of the Internet is a joke online. I couldn't think of any other way to show the distance from The Cliff to RAF, so the Internet is not round. The Internet is flat, and it has an end.)
"The End!" Cried Blue. "But that's hundreds and hundreds of miles away from--"
Blue broke off as Blocky clapped his hands over Blue's mouth. "Shut up!" Hissed the former dragon. "We don't want them to know about us."
"I'm afraid, though wise, your choice does not matter, Blocky97. When you were still unconscious from our tranquilizer darts, we accessed your memories. We know you are KitsuneMarie, former Kitsune, Blue the Kid, a former, well, according to you, 'Ketran/ice ninja thing.' And we know, obviously, that you are Blocky97, a former ice dragon or ice block. And we also know that RAF, where you are from, is near the Center of the Internet."
There was a stunned silence. The voice laughed gently.
"As I said, RAFians, we are very advanced."
"Can't you let us go?" Said Marie.
"I am afraid not, KitsuneMarie."
"What?" Cried all three of them at once. "Why?"
"You are alien. You are fascinating pieces of research. We must keep you here until we are done examining you."
"Alien?!" Yelled Blue. "Right now, we're human! You're not human?!"
"I am afraid not, Blue the Kid."
"Show yourself!" Challenged Blocky, gesturing angrily at the tube, but not touching it.
"Very well. Do not be alarmed. We will tell you our story of the Peletarans and The Cliff. You will not relate it, so there is no harm in telling you."
"What do you mean we won't relate it?" Said Marie.
"We shall show ourselves now."
"Thanks for answering the question," muttered Blue.
Nothing happened for a second, then Blocky said "Look!" He was pointing at the strange device, the two metal discs connected by a sheet of metal in the back glowing with blue or purple light. The one glowing with blue light was beginning to glow brighter, and brighter, till it was white. A high pitched humming came from it. Eventually, there was a flash of light, like lighting bolts flashing in the room--like they wanted to think of electricity--and there was a....thing standing on one disc.
It was tall and extremely thin, with four long arms, three fingers on each arm. It's legs were also long and thin, a cloudy gray color, and looked like they should be unable of carrying any weight, as they were so thin. The face of the thing was the same cloudy gray color as it's legs, with dark purple eyes. Like the theme of the creature, it was long, and thin, the cheekbones pronounced, the nose rather beaklike, the mouth a thin slit with no color. It had no hair, but two long oval things Marie supposed were ears were attached to either side of the head. But it was none of this that made Marie recoil.
The creature's torso was transparent.
Two hearts were clearly visible, along with three lungs, swelling and deflating at an alarming rate. Other organs were also visible, not moving--luckily for Marie's stomach--but still there. The creature's slit mouth curled into a smile, and it lifted it's top right arm, which held a small black ball to it's mouth. It spoke, and the voice echoed around the tube once again. Marie realized there must be speakers somewhere in the tube, and the black ball must be some sort of microphone.
"I can see you are alarmed by my appearance." Said the thing. "It is alright. My name is Feletaros. I am pleased to make your aquaintance."
The trio said nothing, until Blocky found his voice. "You said...you said you would tell us about the Peletarans..."
"That is correct." said Feletaros. "Let me begin..."
"Doesn't this place have a hospital?" Cried Gaz, looking around wildly.
"Based on what we've seen..." said Este, her gaze panning from side to side. Her eyes landed on a door. "Look! We can ask for directions there."
The two had carried Horsie awkwardly away from where she was attacked, but now it was clear that they shouldn't have carried her at all. They were looking for a hospital, something.
Gaz nodded. "You go--I'll stay with Horsie, I don't think it's safe to move her any more in this state."
Este nodded as well. "Good plan. If The Smackers or any other gang come, give a shout, I'll come and help."
When Gaz murmured her agreement, Estelore ran towards the door she saw, and knocked politely, though vigerously. The door slowly creaked open, and an eye appeared in the crack between the door and the wall.
"What do you want?" Cautiously asked the person in the doorway.
"I'm sorry to come to you like this, a complete stranger and all," said Este. "But I was wondering if there's a hospital anywhere in this city. It's...kinda urgent."
The door opened an inch wider. "Is someone...injured?"
Throwing caution to the winds, Este nodded. "Yes. My friend. It's...bad."
The door opened fully, reavealing a woman looking to be in her mid-sixties. Her hair was a soft shade of gray, with a few reddish streaks here and there, revealing that she wasn't terribly old, but by no means young. Here eyes were a dark green, and she was slighly short. There was an altogether kind look about her. She smiled at Este.
"My name is Emma," said the woman, inclining her head politely. "The hospital closed years ago, no one bothered to keep it running, but I used to work there. I still have some knowledge of medicines and whatnot. I can help you friend, if you'll let me."
Este siezed the chance and nodded quickly. "Yes, please."
Emma smiled. "Let me get a stretcher...it is best for people to keep the injured as still as possible, and carrying her by hand wouldn't fufill that qualification. Then please take me to your friend."
Emma disappeared from the doorway, calling "Julia! Please bring me a stretcher!"
A few moments later, Emma reappeared, with a 18-year old girl with long red hair, wheeling along a stretcher "This is Julia, my grandchild." When Este looked surprised, she smiled and said "Evan and I--my late husband Evan--married young, and so did my child, Kate. Julia is their offspring." She looked fondly at the girl, who was looking steadily at Este, her eyes showing no emotion.
Estelore gave a little cough. "My friend, Emma..." She said quietly, reminding the woman about Horsie, as she was just about to go on a long story of their family.
"Right, right..." Said Emma. "Julia you go get..." She looked inquiringly at Este.
"Estelore." Said Estelore. "But most just call me Este."
"Ah," said Emma, looking mildly confused at the unusual name. "Ahem...Julia, go get Este's friend, I shall stay behind and prepare."
"Mmm." Said Julia, pushing the stretcher, and then looking at Este. She quickly led the way over to Gaz, who was keeping watch over Horsie.
"Who's this?" Said Gaz.
"This is Julia." Said Este. "Julia, meet Gaz. Gaz, meet Julia. Can we hurry?"
Ignoring Gaz's "Nice to meet you," Julia lowered the stretcher on the ground, and muttered "Put her on the stretcher. Try not to move her so much."
Gaz frowned briefly at Julia's rudeness, then knelt by Horsie. She slid her arms under the young RAFian's back, while Este gripped her legs, with a brief mutter of "Awkward..."
"On three?" Said Este. Gaz nodded, and Este said "One, two, three."
They lifted Horsie briefly off the ground, and slid her onto the stretcher. Julia nodded, extended it back to full height, and started wheeling it back to Emma's house. Gaz and Este glanced at each other.
"She isn't very friendly." Gaz said quietly. Este shook her head.
"What can we do? Her grandma, Emma, is nice enough, though. Emma used to work at the hospital."
"Used to?"
"Hospital closed down years ago, she said. But, come on...let's go."
Estelore and Gaz followed Julia back to Emma's house.
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Great part! Love it!
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awesomesauce seal.
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Nice, very nice! Question, is Mercy based slightly off my Character form the Maw RP?
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I jacked the name, yeah. :P I was just thinking and letting my mind wander, and then I decided that that would work. Thanks for the inspiration! ;D
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Welcome!
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Wooo, I'm so behind on reading fanfics! I just caught up! Thanks for including me in the cast! Very exciting, Seal! I can't wait to read more.
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Thanks, Marie!
Unfortunately, I'm getting busy with school, Orchestra, Student Council, and homework lately, so the next chapter might not be up for a little while. I'm making good progress, but it's slow and steady.
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im not special enough to be in this :(
is this because of all the clubbing seal jokes?
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Dang it! Sorry, Shank! You'll be in it soon.
I'm running out of ideas of where to send people. o_0
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SEAL! COME BACK TO US WITH MORE CHAPTERS!!!
That is all.
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Agreed! I must know what happens next!
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I'm sorry! I've been very lazy lately, and editing RotB to post the final version later so that people don't have to dig through the discussion thread to find the chapters.
I'll start typing again tomorrow, I promise! I didn't realize it had been so long.
EDIT: I lied. Next chapter.
Chapter Seven--Stories
"No, Shadow." Said Jess patiently for the forty-second time.
"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeaase? Just a biiiiiiiiit more?"
"No, Shadow." Said Jess, mentally counting forty-three.
"Well, then, can I go outside?"
"Certainly not." Faith appeared in a slight swirl of cloak in the middle of the room. "It's raining, you'll get wet and sick."
"You're no fun," pouted Shadow, springing upstairs to her room.
"I haven't able to find anything out yet, Jess. I'm sorry." Said Faith, shrugging. "I've been to the scientists that I'm on speaking terms with."
"Nothing?" Said Jess dully.
"Nothing." confirmed Faith.
"Would Cloaky know?" Said Jess, tipping her head to one side thoughtfully.
Faith bit her lip. "He...might." She said delicately.
Jess's head snapped up to look at her, a ray of hope beaming through her. "Can you ask him? Have you seen him?"
Faith's hung her head miserably. "We haven't seen him for over three months now."
Jess shook her head sadly, her hope vanishing. "Neither have we. He dissapeared after Claire's anneversery."
"He came to visit after that." Said Faith quietly. "He came to us, said 'It's been Claire's anneversery. It's Dagger's fault. I'm hunting her down. I may not see you for a while. Be well.' Then he vanished. Why is he hunting down Dagger if Claire got married? And how is it Dagger's fault?"
Jess smiled, but her sadness and anger showed in her eyes. "It's not Claire's wedding anneversery...it's her death anneversery."
Faith's head snapped up. "And this is DAGGER'S fault?!" She yelled. A normally gentle Faith had suddenly started shouting. Anger radiated from every line in her cloak. "No WONDER Cloaky was hunting her down!"
"Mom?"
Jess and Faith looked up, the latter's shouting interrupted by the small voice. Shadow's head was poking down from the top of the staircase. She looked a little wary. "Mom, what's wrong?"
Faith forced a small laugh. "Nothing, dear, nothing...go back to bed. I'm sorry to have bothered you."
Shadow hesitated, clearly not believing her mother. "Mom...you know I'm not five anymore." She said.
Jess chuckled. "No, you're...how old are you? Eight?"
Shadow stuck out her tongue at Jess, a gesture Jess couldn't see. "Nyah," She said, and vanisehd again.
Faith turned back to Jess, and opened her mouth to speak. Then, it seemed like lighting filled the room. Jess fell flat on the floor and covered her head as the electricity crackled around her. She hoped that none of it would hit her. Eventually, it abated, and Jess carefully looked up, unharmed. A lone cloaked figure was standing in front of them.
"Well, well, well." Said Dagger silkily. "This isn't what I expected. A RAFian, here? Clearly Queen's plan worked better than expected..."
"DAGGER!" Yelled Faith. "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE, NOW!"
"Oh, trust me, I have no pleasure being here." Said Dagger, turning away and marching towards the stairs. "It's just a grubby little task I must do. Now, is she upstairs...?"
Faith gave a little gasp. Her voice radiated hatred, anger, and fear as she spoke. "No, not my daughter you--"
Dagger twirled around. "Aha, as wise as ever, I see, Faith, knowing my mission. But that tells me she IS upstairs, thanks much..."
"NO!" Shouted Faith, and in mirror movements, Faith and Dagger both twisted their cloaks and vanished. Jess, grumbling about not being able to teleport, ran upstairs.
As she burt into the room where all the commotion was coming from, Jess immediately tripped. "Jess, move!" Yelled Faith, and instinctively, Jess rolled. Dagger's foot came down where her head had been. Jess saw Dagger's leg, and kicked it, hard, springing to her feet and running towards Faith. Faith's arms were resolutely wrapped around Shadow who was spitting hatred at Dagger and trying to free her hands to use them. Dagger was yelling threats unheard because of Faith and Shadow's yelling, hopping up and down one foot and shooting energy bolts at them. Then, Faith leaned over, grabbed Jess, twisted her cloak in a teleportation spiral, and they vanished into nothingness.
"I have been coming up with a new song, my friends!"
Faerie could have nearly moaned aloud, but was afraid they would take it for something "happy!" or "nice!"
She, Sakki, and the ponies had been walking towards the large ghastly pink castle, which they learned to be called the Celebration Castle. They had spent the whole walk laughing at jokes that weren't funny (such as "Why did the pony cross the road?" "Why?" "Because she was nice!") or creating songs that all went something like this, what Pony 7, a mint green pony with a pink mane and tail and a mark on her rump (called the "Cutie Mark"--every pony had it) that looked like three mints, was singing.
"Happy happiness all around
the happy sights and the happy sounds
from side to side and up and down
happy family--Pony Town!"
"Very well done, Minty!" Cried a pink pony with a lighter pink mane and tail and three balloons as her Cutie Mark. "But no song will ever rise above the Theme Song!"
"Yes, Pinkie Pie!" Said a peach colored pony with a purple and pink mane and tail, the mane in a ponytail, and a butterfly as her Cutie Mark. "Nothing can beat the Theme Song!"
Gasps and squeals of horror rose from the other ponies, and Minty looked over, eyes wide.
"Scootaloo!" Said Minty, her plastic-looking legs trembling. "The word you said is mean!"
Scootaloo (Faerie agreed with Sakki's look of disgust and her whisper "Scootaloo?") looked confused. "Wh-what word? Oh, Minty, how could I? A bad word! What word, what word?"
Trembling, a white pony with a few different shades of purple in her mane and tail, one lock of pink in the mane, a horn like a unicorn and a heart with sparkles around it for her Cutie Mark, leaned forward and whispered, "B-b-beat."
Scootaloo looked horrified. "Everyone, I am sorry, so sorry!" She moaned.
Pinkie Pie patted her back. "There, there, Scootaloo. You can have some Happy Cake when you get home."
Scootaloo seemed to grow three inches. "Happy Cake! You really think They would let me, Pinkie Pie?"
"They would let you have Happy Cake anyday. They are kind, They can cheer you up.
Sakki and Faerie, mesmerised and sickened by the scene, tore their eyes away from the disgust of the happy and nice words issuing from the mouth of the ponies. They found comfort in each other's gaze, and Sakki whispered what Faerie had been thinking. "Happy Cake? They? What is going on here? And Happy Cake sounds like a drug. Drugs? In my little pony?"
"I have no idea." Said Faeire, just as baffled as Sakki sounded. "I mean, They sound conspiritorial to me, but--"
Sakki interrupted with a peal of laughter. "My Little Pony? CONSPIRACIES? Faerie, you're out of--"
"Yes, friend Sakki, laugh! Laughter will make Scootaloo feel better, and if we are unhappy, They get concerned. You laugh too, friend Faerie!"
"Heh, heh." Said Faerie weakly, looking down at the endlessly green grass beneath their feet and wishing it was brown and dead. Anywhere but here.
"Once, The Cliff belonged to humans." Said Feletaros, scratching with long talons (Blocky found himself wishing for his huge claws back) at the back of his neck. "Advanced people--for humans, at least. Scientists. They considered their knowledge to superior to the other human's knowledge, so they went into the Internet, found the least inhabited part, and settled here. I believe we are somewhere in the Gambian Internet."
"I've never even heard of Gambia." Muttered Blue.
"Exactly why the humans chose it." Said Feletaros, smiling. "They began to use their knowledge. Abuse it. You see, they had discovered the secret of life."
"Life?" Said Marie, leaning cautiously against the side of the tube, as if she feared she might get zapped.
"Life." Confirmed Feletaros, striding over to one of the consoles and checking it. His stride was bizzare, more of a shuffling slide than anything else. His feet were insubstantial blobs that seemed to not retain shape, but flow and squish however he walked. "Yes, life. How to twist it, how to mutate it. Humans, of course, already knew too many ways to end it. However, the monumentous thing they had discovered was how to create life."
"Create it!" Exclaimed Blocky, pausing his pacing of the tube (6 paces across every time) to stare at their bizarre captor. "But that's impossible. U.S. scientists are studying it. It's impossible."
"Ah. The U.S. Yes, I confirmed where you reside off the Internet from your brains." He slid over to a different console, punched a few buttons, and a map of the U.S. appeared. Three dots appeared on it, showing the exact location of their homes.
"How long were we being your guinea pigs?" Said Marie, half scared and half bold.
"Three days, three hours, three minutes, and thirty-three seconds."
There was silence. Feletaros looked at them.
"Are we Peletarans not allowed to have a sense of humor? When we saw the three days and three hours, we decided to wait to replace you in the Relaxation Vault after three minutes and thirty-three seconds."
"Relaxation Vault?" Said Blocky. "Really?"
"We discovered the strange coincidence between this and the human game Portal--which we find very amusing to do in real life--after we named the chamber."
"How is this relaxing?" Said Blue, wincing as he found a new ponit of pain from the shock to stretch. "Getting ZZZZZZZZZZZZZAPped?"
"I apologize." Said Feletaros, not looking up as he perused through functions on the console. Gibberish runes and other stuff popped up on the screen above his head. "It is a safety precaution. Something of that strength hitting the wall is considered...well, tougher than humans are. To these tougher specimens, it would merely be a painful shock to warn them not to do it again."
"We aren't normal humans." Said Marie softly, running one hand along the wall of the tube as she did before.
"No," agreed Feletaros. "But, anyway. My story. As I said, the humans had figured out how to create life. These were twisted humans. They only had greed and their own needs when they began to use the gift. They turned on their own, on the more peaceful of their own. They decided to use their lives for their experiments."
"Let me guess." Interrupted Blue. "They created the Peletarans."
Feletaros dipped his head to Blue. "You are wise as well as strange. Correct. The Peletarans were created from the humans. The scientists used people of their own kind, forced them into the experimetns, and mutated them beyond recognition into Peletarans. I remember my human life--and yet, as a Peletaran, I see how foolish it was to be human. But, I digress...the Peletarans were made. Advanced fighting machines, to one day come back to the Lands Beyond the Internet and control Earth when an army was made!
"It soon became clear to the Peletarans that we were smarter than the humans. We did not have human thoughts and feelings to impediment us. We saw that what the humans were doing was wrong. And so we fought back. We did not want war, we wanted merely to experiment. Use science for the good of the world. Not fight everyone in it. So we fought. Of course, being smarter than the humans and better equipped with natural weapons for the cause, we won.
"We could not just drive the humans out. They had discovered life once. They could create it again, and learn from their mistakes they made with the Peletarans. We could not kill them either. We did not have the darkness in our heart to kill."
The RAFians looked at each other, sadness shadowing their eyes. Once they would have said that, but Queen ripped their old lives apart. They had been forced to kill so that they could survive. Forced to end other's lives. It would haunt them to the end of their days.
"So, we decided to show the error of their ways to the humans. We used their lives and created new Peletarans. Peletarans that looked different, so as not to strike fear, but Peletarans that could live peacefully for science."
A new image appeared on the screen. It was a Peletaran that looked very much like Feletaros, but with noticable differences. Its whole being was one solid color, a kind of a silver--its torso too. No transparant parts anywhere. Its eyes were lavandar. It didn't have talons, but hands with long thin fingers attached to all four arms. It also looked less muscled than Feletaros. Now that he thought about it, Blocky noticed that though he was thin, Feletaros was almost like a spring. He could see that Feletaros was almost superhumanly built. The Peletaran on the screen was not. Also, Feletaros's teeth were razor sharp and the teeth beside the front two teeth were longer, and...green. Violent, acid green. Screen-Peletaran had normally shaped white teeth.
"The first Peletarans were fighters. Talons in their fingers, talons on their toes, pointed teeth, poison in the upper lateral teeth (Author's Note: The lateral teeth are the teeth described earlier--teeth next two the front two teeth) and even a whip on each lower arm."
"A whip?" Said the RAFians together, confused. They didn't see a whip.
"Yes. A whip." Feletaros held out both lower arms, and what seemed to be cloudy gray thick cords rose out of them. They were very long, and their thickness could very easily be deadly. The cords cracked once in the air, then went back down onto their captor's arms. They realized that the whips were tightly wound around the arms of a Peletaran, and the precisely same color, therefore blending right in.
"We created the new Peletarans so that they would not fight, but be scientific. Like we wanted to be. We also changed their brains so that they would not have the fighting instinct that the original Peletarans have."
"And...you've stayed here, away from society because you thought the world would be afraid of you and because you didn't like the human ways and so you've done experiments and science since then?" Said Blocky.
"An admirably succint and yet accurate summary." Said Feletaros.
"And you're keeping us here..." Began Blue.
"For science?" Finished Marie.
"Again, admirably succint and yet accurate."
"But we want to go home! Find out what happened! See if everyone else is there!" Said Blocky, banging his fist on the glass.
"I am sorry for imprisoning you. You will be able to leave soon, and create a new life."
"A new life?" Said Marie, standing up. "But we like our current one as RAFians. What do you mean?"
"I am afraid I cannot tell you." Feletaros sounded regretful. "But our existence must remain a secret. For now, rest. Wait one moment..."
He slid/shuffled over to the console by the tube and punched some keys on it with one long claw. Blocky, Marie, and Blue suddenly felt like gravity turned off. They drifted into the air, suspended like three, weird, struggling balloons.
"Feletaros, what is going on?" Yelled Blue, paddling at the air. "What are you doing?"
"Put us down," Yelled Marie, trying to find purchase on the smooth glass wall.
"Wait one moment." said Feletaros softly, and he punched a few more keys. The floor beneath them sank down into the ground and slid out of sight. After a few moments, a new floor slid in, this one complete wtih three beds. Gravity turned on again, and they crashed down to the floor with a thump or two. Only two thumps, because Blue landed on bed and bounced a few times. He got off the bed, giggling.
"Oww..." Moaned Marie, wincing and putting one hand on her ribs.
"I apologize." Feletaros's voice echoed through the tube again. "We are still perfecting that part. Now, rest, these beds are--"
"Feletaros! Feletaros!" A new, faint, panicky voice came. The three looked around and saw a different Peletaran coming in. He or she was exactly like the Peletaran on the screen--a newer one. Feletaros looked up. They realized the mic in one of Feletaros's hands must have been very sensitive, because it was picking up this Peletaran's voice too.
"Lellina." Said Feletaros, an affection lighting up his eyes when he saw the newcomer. "What is wrong?"
"Feletaros, it's the other new ones. They've--" The new Peletaran, Lellina, cut off. "Feletaros, is that me on that screen?"
"Ah, yes, I apologize, Lellina," said Feletaros, sliding over to that console again, and the screen went dark as he prodded a few keys. "I was merely showing the difference between the original Peletarans and the newer Peletarans, and decided to use you as an example."
"Must you always show our experiments the difference?" Said Lellina.
"Yes. Trust me, Lellina, dear. I wish I was like you."
Blocky and Blue exchanged glances. "Dear?" Said Blocky. "Feletaros likes her?"
"And she likes him." Said Blue. "At least, I'm assuming it's a she. Feletaros could be gay, you--"
"Shush!" Said Marie. "I want to hear what's happening."
"Anyway, Feletaros," Lellina was saying. "It's the other new ones, they've--"
"You are using contractions, dear." Interuppted Feletaros gently, with a meaninful tilt of his head towards the tube. Lellina spotted the RAFians watching them.
"Ah. Yes. I'll tell you outside, you were just shutting down, weren't you? I didn't mean to interrupt."
"Yes, I was." Said Feletaros, sliding with her toward the door, then adding as an afterthought. "You know, you are still using contractions."
The door slammed behind them, and Feletaros's voice echoed one last time through the chamber. "Settle down. I will turn the lights and the machines off soon."
The RAFians looked at each other for a moment. "What's so special about using contractions?" Said Marie eventually.
"Ah, KistuneMarie," said Blue, imitating Feletaros's voice in a pretty good impression. "Not using contractions makes you sound more scientific and less barbaric, what we Peletarans want to sound like."
Marie and Blocky chuckled. Then, real Feletaros's voice echoed through the tube. "Settle down, or the lights will turn off and you will be left in the pitch black and be unable to find your way back to your beds."
The RAFians blinked at each other, then climbed into a bed. It was actually very comfortable. As soon as they were nestled under the covers, the lights above them and the machines winked out, leaving them with nothing but haunted thoughts to circle around their heads.
"How did she get like this?" Said Emma as she bustled around, doing whatever she was doing. Horsie was lying on a bed in the middle of the room, Gaz and Este were sitting around trying not to notice how messed up she looked, and Julia was...somewhere.
"Gangs." Muttered Gaz staring at the ground. If Horsie died here, Gaz would feel awful. If only I had got to her sooner, the thoughts in her head muttered treacherously, if only I carried her faster, if only...
If only, if only! Too many if onlys. They chased each other in her head, driving her insane.
"Will she...she..." Began Este, examining a fly buzzing around the light in the middle of the shabby gray room.
"Will she live?" Said Emma, scrutinizing Este for a moment. "Maybe. Likely. She's a fighter, isn't she?"
Gaz and Este nodded. "When she was brought in--she's been kidnapped before--the first thing she did when she woke up was scream several words I didn't even know she knew and try to kill her kidnapper, even though she was bound down. During the battle--she was in this ginormous battle before too--she fought like three people..."
Emma raised her eyebrows. "Kidnapped, enormous battles? Eventful life."
"Yeah, pretty much so."
Julia leaned against the door to her room, listening silently. That was her job. Listen, and don't speak. Horsie's story came in through the door.
"Her brother, Mr. Guy, joined the forum. She did too, seeing him on the site. RAF was peaceful. Then Queen came..."
Julia zoned out slightly as the already familiar story of Queen was told.
"...started kidnapping people. First to go was Blocky97. Then...me. After that, Guy--Horsie's brother--and CloakedFigure. There was a huge battle, then. We won, but Queen managed to capture Duff. Later, her goon, Dagger, who was disguised as a newb, captured Horsie and Faerie Larka. After that, the mods went on a desparate rescue mission and managed to get Blocky, Duff, and Gaz back. After that, there was another huge battle, only this one was perhaps twice as big as the other one. We won, but one of our mods, Claire...well, Claire was killed. After that, we lived in peace for a while. But then...the strangest thing happened the other day. This pod of green...stuff fell from the heavens. Then it exploded and went everywhere, and there were these pictures...light... words...suddenly I'm waking up in this city with Este standing over me."
Julia sighed and went back to the computer. She quickly typed up an ISM--Inter-Site Message--or a message from one website to another. This one was to Queen's website.
Queen:
RAFians Estelore, Gaz, Horsefan here. Horsefan beat up by gangs. Emma caring for her. Este and Gaz unharmed.
She pressed the send button and smiled. "I'll soon have much more than a tottering old granny in a crappy old home. The day I met Queen changed my life."
Another villan!
Everything is linking back to Queen--she has spread her evil everywhere.
Will the RAFians all get home safely?
I'll tell you later...
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Yay for updates! Seal, I love your descriptions. You're a very talented chica, you know that? :)
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*looks up chica*
Aw, thanks Marie! I discovered that I was very close to being done with the chapter, so I just finished it up. I nearly forgot how fun it was to write. >.<
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Just for saying that, you are an English teacher's dream come true.
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Haha, I'm glad! I've always wanted to make Ms. Klein's day. ::)
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You sure get a lot of feedback on your fanfics, lucky...
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Youre totally gellin
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Awesome new part!
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...
*looks at chapter I'm posting right now*
*smiles*
Chapter Eight--Probably the Shortest and Most OMG Chapter You Have Ever Read
"Aloth, why don't you escort our guest to her room? I'm sure she's dying to lay down for a while," Said Queen, smiling evilly at Terenia, who was handcuffed and gagged.
Aloth s****ed, then pushed Terenia through the hallways of the Banned's new home. (Author's Note: The bleeped out word is s n i g g e r e d)
Terenia had been interrogated about life on RAF. The only info she gave away was that life was peaceful now. She said nothing about the patrols, the scars, or the changes in RAFlife. She made it sound like everyone was exactly the same. She even lied that estrid had been promoted to mod because Claire was dead. (Author's Note: For now, I'm keeping the staff as Richard, Goom, Russell, and Mike, and formerly Claire, because I said that Richard wanted to honor her memory by not apointing new staff, and besides, why would he appoint new staff while the RAFians are scattered everywhere?) So, all in all, in Terenia's version, it was like everyone was peaceful and had gotten over Claire's death.
Though they didn't believe her, the Banned just smiled and nodded. And now she was being shown to her room--or probably more accurate her cell.
Aloth gave her one last push, then said "Stay there." He began a long and complicated process to unlock the cell door. Terenia looked between the bars. There was someone else in the cell, though the person's face was hidden in shadows. Could it possibly be Cloaky?
Aloth, before he opened the door, turned to Jessi, undid her gag, and took off her handcuffs. Then he punched in one more code, pushed open the door, and almost literally threw Teach inside.
Terenia hid the floor with a thump and skidded a few feet. She heard footsteps, and her cellmate helped her to her feet, saying, "Up you come, Terenia. Are you okay?"
Terenia was about to answer when she saw her cellmate's face. At once her mouth fell open with shock, and she nearly fell over. This...but how? "Wha...but...you're...you're dead!" Said Terenia, her mind going blank with surprise.
"I am?" Said Claire.
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Oh. My. Freaking. Goodness!
This is quite a chapter! I don't recall the last time a book chapter gave me such a jolt...
Great work! I can't wait for more!
[spoiler=Technological mutterings /w/ a potential plot spoiler]
So, we have a couple of possibilities here.
#1 (preferred): Terenia ended up in an alternate (parallel) universe where Claire was still alive. Given some of the others' destinations, as well as Claire's surprised reaction to the news of her "death", I wouldn't be too surprised if this was the case.
#2 (nasty possibilities): the nanovirus has the ability to alter... the very fabric of spacetime? Or perhaps worse? I don't want to even think about what could happen if this is the case.
I don't think there is a logical third scenario, but I could be wrong.
[/spoiler]
(Just a thought: I've read RotB, so I know the background. I doubt there are many who haven't read it, but you might want to link to it on the first page, just in case someone hasn't. This chapter's effect is totally dependent on the reader having read RotB first)
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WOW! That was surprising! :o
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Chapter Nine--A Little Explaining That People Have to Do
"Alright, you've got some explaining to do, Claire!" Said Terenia once she could form a coherent sentance.
"Explain what? You're the one who's saying I'm dead!" Said Claire, who was almost as confused as Terenia.
"Horsie and Cloaky both swore you were dead!" She said. When Claire still looked confused, Terenia sighed and launched into her story.
"After the battle, Cloaky chased Dagger as she ran from you and Horsie chased Cloaky as you were chasing Dagger. You know that."
"Right." Said Claire.
"Then the horde came up the hill and attacked."
"Right."
"And you shielded Horsie."
"Right."
"Then numbers overwhelmed you."
"Eh...sorta right. But go on. I'll tell my version later."
"Horsie and Cloaky both lost sight of you here. There was pure chaos going on now. When Queen called the horde back, the people left you. Horsie crawled over to you and said you had no heartbeat."
"Um, wrong."
"Then another wave came charging up the hill--retreating--and Horsie lost sight of you again."
"Right...?"
"When the people cleared away, you were gone, and there was a heap of ashes where you used to be."
"Okay," said Claire, holding up her hands. "Time for the real version. Up to the part where the numbers overwhelmed me was right. So I get separated from Horsie, and get beaten to the ground. I'm doing good at first, then one sneaks up from behind and conks me on the head with God knows what. So I'm on the ground, and they're all beating the crap out of me when suddenly Queen calls and they all leave. I'm barely conscious when Horsie crawls over and starts feeling for a heartbeat. She must have missed it, because she wasn't there for long before the second wave come charging up. I hear Aloth yelling, then some people are suddenly carting me away. The heap of ashes must have been the plants I landed on because when I fell on the ground I was kind of on fire. Then they beat me unconscious and I end up here, where I've been for, like, a year. So THAT'S why you didn't look for me...you thought I was dead!"
Terenia stared in silence. After a few seconds, she said "This is...kind of sad. We all were mourning and crying, Richard gave a whole speech in your honor, we all donated some money to buy you a grave, Richard and the other mods decided not to replace you to honor your memory, and it turns out that's all pointless because Horsie made a mistake."
"That's very sad." Agreed Claire. "Would you rather me be dead and it all to have a point?"
"No!" Said Terenia vehemently. "I was just saying that it's sad."
It was raining.
Shanker turned on his back and gave a feeble croaking laugh of joy, openining his mouth and letting the fall into it, soaking his parched and dying body with water. He had never been happier.
Shanker had woken up a few days ago in the middle of the ocean--no longer a vampire. After the green stuff had flown his way, he had immediately woken due to the fact that he was several feet underwater. Kicking his way to the surface, Shanker had assessed his situation. No food, no water, no land in sight, and no idea where the heck he was. He had remained alive by floating and treading water until he found a piece of driftwood. It was fairly large, enough for him to lay on with room to spare. Unfortunately, with no food or water, that wasn't much of a difference. As the sun beat down cruelly, Shanker had slowly began to thirst and starve to death. And he might have been going insane from boredom too.
But now it was raining, and this water was clean and fresh--no trace of the salt he had grown to hate. The only problem he had now was lack of food.
After a while, Shanker was still enjoying the feeling of the rain on his face, even though he felt like he was going to explode from drinking so much water. He closed his eyes blissfully, enjoying the silence, except for the rain pitter-pattering on the water.
SPLOOOOSH!
Shanker sat straight up, and gripped the driftwood as a wave sloshed up from...something. He examined the water, and saw three dark shapes approaching fast...
"M-mom! Where are we?" Exclaimed a young, frightened voice.
"Don't worry Shadow, we'll be okay. I just teleported us to the first place I could think of. We'll make a plan." This voice was kind and gentle, with a reasurring note in it.
"Can you make a plan fast?" Said a delightfully familiar voice. "I'm soaked!"
"Jess?" Croaked Shanker, his voice hoarse from thirst and unuse. The three figures bobbing about in the water turned to face him. Two were cloaked--God knew how they were staying afloat with all that fabric--but one was clearly Jess.
"Shanker!" She exclaimed, swimming over to his piece of driftwood. He scooted over so that she could sit on it as well. "What the hell are you doing all the way out here?"
"You tell me," he said hoarsly. "Just mindin' my own business when suddenly some green stuff comes shooting at me and after some really weird stuff I see, I'm here. How did you get here? And who are those people?"
"My name is Faith," said the older cloaked person. She pointed at the piece of wood, and it suddenly elongated, making room for them all comfortably to sit. She helped the smaller person up on the wood, finally climbing on herself. "I'm Cloaky's sister. This is--"
"I'm Shadow!" Interrupted the smaller one in a bright, cheerful voice, apparently unaffected from her dunking. "I'm Cloaky's niece! It's nice to meet you!"
"Er, you too." Said Shanker cautiously.
"Why don't we catch up in a more comfortable place?" Said Faith. "Where would you like to go?"
"Back to RAF!" Said Shanker and Jess in unison.
"I want to see what happened," said Jess.
"Very well." Said Faith. "Shadow, hang on. No--don't jump on my shoulders! Here, take my hand. Alright, Jess, Shanker, you ready? Hold on tight."
With a slight twirl of cloak, they all vanished, leaving nothing behind but a piece of wood.
Captain Tyler was on the phone.
"Mortar. Mor-tar!" He said exasperatedly. "You know, you stick bricks together with it. How much? Well, how am I supposed to know? Just send enought to build a really big building! No, I don't want to rent some robots! Just send the mortOOF!"
All the breath was suddenly squished out of Tyer as fell to the ground under the weight of some wet people. The phone clattered out of his hand, and he reached for it. Once he grabbed it, he said "Don't do anything! I'll call you back!" Once he hung up, he said "Alright, whoever you are, get off of me!"
"Captain Tyler!" Exclaimed a familiar voice, and as the weight got off of him, hands pulled him up. "I'm so sorry for squishing you!"
"Jess Girl?" Said Tyler in disbelief. "You're back! And you're wet!"
"Yes I am!" Said Jess cheefully. "And, uh, I went for a little swim. I don't like it either."
"Quit complaining," said another familiar, yet croaky voice. "I was out there for days. Soaked 24/7! I hate salt now."
"Shanker, you're back too!" Said Tyler, thumping his friend on the back. To his surprise, this caused Shanker to fall onto his hands and knees.
"Careful, buddy," He said, pulling himself back up. "I've not had any food for days, I'm a little...unstable."
"Oh." Said Tyler. "No food for days? Why? Where were you?"
"The middle of the ocean."
"What?!"
"You tell me! I have no idea."
"Who are these people?" Said Tyler, staring at Faith and Shadow.
"They're Cloaky's sister and neice, Faith and Shadow," explained Jess. "I showed up right by their home, and when Dagger showed up and attacked, Faith accidentally teleported us right into the middle of the ocean, where we found Shanker."
"Oh. Nice to meet you," he said to them with a slight nod. Shadow was looking around in awe at the now slightly organized looking piles of rubble. "Well, come on," continued Tyler. "This is some good news for a change! We can cross you off the Missings list." He began walking away. Shanker and Jess glanced at each other.
"Missings?" Said Shanker.
"It's the people who are right here at RAF," said Jess sarcastically. "Those are the missings. Come on."
"All right, let's review this one more time." Said Richard, holding a pen above a long list of names. "The main missing members are Steph, demos, Este, Gaz, Horsie, Think, Shanker, Jess, Taiyoh--hey!"
Richard looked up indignantly as someone snatched the pen out of his hand, uncapping it and firmly crossing out the names "Shanker" and "Jess" on the list. The Admin's face broke into a wide smile as he recognized the holder of the pen.
"Shanker! You're back!" His smile vanished and was replaced by a concerned frown. "My goodness. You look awful."
"Thanks a bundle," Shanker croaked sarcastically.
"You know what I mean," said Richard. "What happened?"
"I ended up in the middle of the ocean." Explained Shanker again. "I barely survived long enough for it to rain, but then luckily Jess found me."
"Jess? Where is she?"
"Right here, Richard!" Said Jess cheefully. "I was better off than Shanker here. I ended up right outside the house of Cloaky's sister and neice. Richard, meet Faith and Shadow."
"I've heard lots about you, nice to meet you Mr. Richard!" Said Shadow with her usual candor, grabbing Richard's hand and shaking it enthusiastically.
With a slight chuckle, Richard said "It's nice to meet you too, Shadow. Ah, and you must be Faith, nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too, Richard." Said Faith evenly, shaking his hand in a much more gentle manner than Shadow's yanking.
"So I find a piece of driftwood and--hey!" Began Shanker, but ended with the protest because of the pen being yanked from his hand.
"We can cross Steph, demos, Think, Alic, Taiyoh, and CANADA off the list!" Said Stephquiem happily, scratching out said names.
"Steph!" Cried a voice. Everyone turned to see Aluminator (Author's Note: His name is probably different, I'm just keeping it as Aluminator for now.) sprinting around the piles of brick and board before glomping Steph with much enthusiasm. "You're back!"
She laughed. "Lumy! I missed you!" She held him at arms length, surveying him up and down. "You look fine." She declared. "You must have stayed here."
"I did," confirmed Lumy, examining Steph. "And you look hungry, tired, and wet. I'm guessing you were out in some meadow?"
"I was," confirmed Steph with a smile. "It wasn't that bad, I just need a meal and a nap."
Lumy pointed to a tent nearby. "That's the eating area since RAF was destroyed. Tocade is cooking dinner, I'll tell her she'll have to cook for eight more than she thought." Then he looked over at Cloaky's relatives. "Or will it be ten more?"
"Eight more," said Faith. "Supplies must be relatively low. We'll eat at our place. If you'd like, we could help with the repairs. And get other people who are willing to help."
"Would you?" Said Richard, his gratefulness completely obvious in his voice. "That would be appreciated more than you can imagine."
Faith surveyed the rubble and the rather bedraggled groups around it. "Oh, Richard," she said softly. "I think I can imagine.
Mercy spat on his hand and held it out to the leader of the Fannysmackers. Said leader, Pig, (Author's Note: Whoever gets that reference gets free cookies.) spat on his own hand and they firmly shook.
"A nice pretty castle place, eh," said Pig, watching Mercy through narrowed eyes.
"S'what Queen said," confirmed Mercy.
"Just remember, Mercy," growled Pig, thrusting his finger into Mercy's face. "The Fannysmackers ain't gonna take no orders from the Smackers. This deal to take over this DAF place," Mercy sighed at his inaccuracy. "is only a not- forever deal. After we get our share of the plunder, we're out and we'll be ready to kick your asses anytime."
"Get your filthy finger out o' my face," snarled Mercy, grabbing Pig's finger. "And I know it's a temporary deal. Oh, and trust me. Once this is over and you come over to where we Smackers are ruling a nice big castle, we'll be ready," he sharply bent back Pig's finger, smiling at the snap of bone and the howl of pain from Pig. "for anything you throw at us. Now let's get a move on. Queen is expecting me."
Nursing his injured finger and pride, Pig followed Mercy, scowling. Mercy smiled, obviously pleased. He lead the way over to a building with tall, grand doors, standing out among the drab, dreary city. He knocked on it. "Who is it?" Came the high, cold voice.
"It's Mercy, Your Majesty," said Mercy. "I've brought the hostages and the Fannysmacker's leader."
"Ah, come in, come in. Don't bring the hostages just yet. Let me talk to the...Fanysmacker's leader."
Yorick opened the door (it nearly hit Pig in the head) and gestured silently for them to come in. Mercy led Pig down the hallway. It was an off-white color on the inside, with a contrastingly plush red carpet on the floor, leading up to Queen on her throne. She surveyed Pig disdainfully with bloodshot eyes.
"This is the mighty leader of the Fannysmackers?" She said. "You are Pig?"
"Yeh, I'm Pig, Yer Highness...of...Maj esty?" He said.
She glared down at him. "How big is your gang, Pig?"
"Big, yer highness. Maybe fifty people. 'Course we don't all work together. I split it into groups, but I rule all. I get the elite group, Fox get the--"
"Shut up!" She hissed. "I don't care! All I wanted to know was how big your force was. You don't have to ramble on and on about pointless nonsense. Mercy! I tire of this idiot! Take him away and bring the hostages."
Mercy gave a sharp salute, then grabbed Pig's arm and dragged him off. After a few minutes, he returned with a few of his gang surriounding the hostages. The gang forced their prisoners to their knees in front of Queen.
"How are you enjoying the fireproof gloves, Estelore?" Said Queen silkily. "And Gaz. I've half a mind to make you walk the plank! Ahahahaha!"
Gaz and Este stared in fury up at Queen. Just the other day, Julia had suddenly burst in thet house with the Smackers at her back. They had quickly subdued everyone. Emma wasn't in find fighting condition, Este was unprepared--they forced the gloves on her before she could react--Gaz was unarmed, and Horsie had only just regained full consciousness for a prolonged period of time the last day. They had been marched off--Este managing to put Horsie in a wheelchair and wheel her along, as both of Horsie's legs were broken--and dumped in a dingy cell for a few days. Now they were here, handcuffed. Horsie was handcuffed to her wheelchair, one of Mercy's gang was wheeling her.
"Eh," said Queen distastefully, surveying Emma. "I don't need her. Julia, do with her what you want."
Julia shot her grandmother a look of pure hatred. "I don't want anything to do with her!" She spat. "I spent my whole life with her because my parents dumped me here, and I had to live with all her stupidity and whatnot. Have someone else deal with her!"
"I'll dispose of her, Your Majesty." Said Yorick, stepping forward. He grabbed Emma's arm and pulled her out the door, ignoring the older woman's planative cry of, "But...Julia! No! Wait!"
"As for you three," Queen leaned forward and glared pure hatred at the RAFians. "You will all be taken out of the Internet and will join Terenia and Claire in their cell."
All three RAFians stared. "Cl-Claire?" Stammered Horsie. "Claire is alive?"
"Well, duh," said Queen contemptuously. "Where did you think she was?"
All her prisoners could do was stare at each other in awe. Queen shrugged.
"Aloth, take them away."
Gaz's and Este's minds were racing, trying desperately to think of a plan while absorbing the shock of the fact that Claire was alive. However, one person was cool and collected.
Horsie knew exactly what she was doing.
Though she was not a seal, she retained her powers. She was still hydro and cryokinetic. She would mainly need ice and not water for this.
As soon as they were far enough away from Queen's hall, Horsie closed her eyes and concentrated. Suddenly, a block of ice surrounded Aloth and Mercy's goon that was pushing her wheelchair, freezing them completely still.
Gaz and Este stared around, then their eyes landed on Horsie. "Woah!," whispered Gaz. "Seal...you can..."
"Yeah," she said. She then thinned the ice on Mercy's minion, created another ice chunk, and once the ice around him was completely gone, she dropped the ice chunk on his head, knocking him out cold.
"It's hard to do without moving my hands--and in my current condition," she panted. "But feasible. Now, search him, he has the keys for all of our handcuffs, unlock me and then I'll get you out of there."
Luckily, Gaz and Este's hands had been handcuffed in front of them, so when Gaz knelt down to rummage in his pockets it was very easy--and she could see what she was doing. When she found the keys, she unlocked one of Horsie's handcuffs, a little awkward with her own handcuffs on.
"Thanks," said Horsie, taking the keys with her free hand and unlocking the other handcuff. After flexing her arms and hands a little to get the stiffness out of them, she grabbed Gaz's handcuffs and carefully twiddled the key in the lock. After Gaz's came off, she turned herself around and unlocked Este's handcuffs.
"Alright, let's go," said the former star, grabbing the handle's to the younger RAFian's wheelchair, and pushing her along.
"What about Aloth?" Said Gaz as they rounded the corner.
"What about him?" Said Horsie, shooting a tiny ball of water through the air, as if she was testing out her powers.
"Won't he suffocate?"
"Nah," said Horsie, closing her hand and making the water disappear. "I left a small gap, so he can breathe. By the time they find him, he'll just have some frostbite. And besides, wouldn't it be better if I killed him?"
Horsie abruptly stopped talking and looked down at her hands. She had changed since her kidnapping and changed even more since her beating. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I...just...I..."
Este slowly stopped and Gaz put one hand on her young friend's shoulder. "It's okay," she said quietly. "I understand."
Horsie put her head in her hands, sheilding her face from view. "Let's go," she muttered without looking up. Este and Gaz began walking once more.
Yorick pulled Emma roughly outside, then pushed her into an alleyway. Once they were out of view, he gently pulled her deeper into the alley. He grabbed some keys from his belt, and undid her handcuffs. She stared at him. "I thought you were going to kill me," she said.
"No," muttered Yorick, putting her handcuffs in his belt. "You're innocent. It's the RAFians who we hate. Now get out of here. Go to RAF. Tell them that Horsie, Gaz, and Este have been captured. They'll escape--they forgot about Horsie's powers--but with half the gangs in the city on Queen's side, they'll be recaptured. Tell them that Claire is alive. You know how to get out of the city. Avoid 53rd street--that's where the Smackers have set up base. Leave using the east exit, then keep going straight east. Take these," he thrust some binnoculars into the stunned grandmother's hand. "Keep checking. Once you see a big pile of rubble, head towards that. Move quickly, and try to avoid everyone else. You don't know who is on Queen's side."
Emma tipped her head to one side. "Yorick, you're making a mistake," she said softly. "You don't belong with Queen."
"The RAFians have wronged us, " he said without much conviction. "They're not innocent. Now go, hurry up."
As Emma left, the image of Horsie getting beat up, and her dying on the ground flashed through his mind. "But even they're okay..." he whispered. Hanging his head, Yorick headed back inside.
The reason that Claire is alive is revealed, and slowly the news starts to spread!
Things are looking okay for the RAFians--they're getting home, escaping from Queen, and even some of the Banned start to have uncertainties about what they're doing.
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Yay, another update! ;D
*reads the new chapter*
:o
Wow, there's some cool surprises in here! Great work!
[spoiler]It looks like Yorick isn't a bad sort of guy after all. In fact, I daresay he's only in this because Queen is making him do it.
Perhaps he could be induced to come back to the light side?[/spoiler]
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Fabulous chapter as always seal!
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Awesome! These are always such fun to read! ;D
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The great thing is, it's extremely fun and satisfying to write... ;D
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Tell me about it.
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Finally caught up. Fan. Freaking. Tastic.
Whoooo! I lurve it :D
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awesome chapter seal
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Chapter Ten--Bye-Bye RAFlife
Sudden light pouring in around her woke Marie from her troubled sleep. She glanced around to see Blocky and Blue sitting up from their beds, rubbing their eyes and yawning. She did likewise, then stretched. Her sleep had been in patches, disturbed by nightmares and strange banging sounds during the night. All in all, she felt like sand had been rubbed into her eyes.
"That was the worst sleep I've ever had. Ever." Muttered Blue, looking around. All the machines had turned back on, hence the light that woke them up for the most recent time.
"That's what you said yesterday," muttered Blocky, rubbing his eyes. "And the day before that and the day before that."
Suddenly, there was a movement that Marie caught out of the corner of her eyes. She spun around to see...
"Cloaky?!" Blue and Blocky whirled around at Marie's shout. They stared in awe at the cloaked figure. He glanced around, his back turned to them. Luckily, unbeknownst to the trapped RAFians, Feletaros had left his little speaker which both recieved and transmitted sound on a nearby console. Marie's shout came out of that, making Cloaky turn and stare curiously at the console.
"Look, on the console," muttered Blue to his companions. "Feletaros's speaker thing is there, I think he can hear us out of that."
"Yeah," said Blocky, then he raised his voice again. "Cloaky! Cloaky! Pick up the little black thing on that console then turn around."
With a puzzled shrug, Cloaky did as he was told. He saw the three people in the tube and tipped his head to one side, puzzled. "Who are you?" His voice echoed faintly around the tube, as he wasn't holding the ball nearer to his mouth.
"Crap! I forgot he wouldn't recognize us," muttered Blue. "Hold the ball closer to your mouth, it's a microphone thing...I think," he said with more volume.
"Cloaky, we're RAFians," called Marie with a desperate edge to her voice, putting her hands on the glass. "I'm Marie! And here's Blue and Blocky!"
"Marie?" Said Cloaky, holding Feletaros's microphone up to his mouth like he had been told. "Marie isn't a human!"
"How are we going to prove we're RAFians?" Said Blue exasperatedly. Suddenly, Blocky began talking very fast.
"Cloaky, I'm gonna prove to you we're RAFians, you have a neice named Shadow who is monkey-like under her cloak, a sister named Faith who is fox-like under her cloak, you're tiger-like under your cloak, just a little while ago a banned member named Queen attacked RAF, kidnapped me, Gaz, Guy, you, Duff, Faerie, and Seal, who is my real life friend, you escaped but there was a huge battle and your evil sister Dagger who is snake-like under her cloak," Blocky took a huge breath and continued. "killed Claire a moderator, you write RAFized Parodies in the Bored Board, and you're in the Introduction Randomness RP, which Horsie started, Shadow and Dagger were in it too, and Brute, your father, who is also evil--man, you've got a lot of evil people in your family, no offense--and I was in it and so was demos, Blue, Marie for a bit, Faerie, Brad for a bit, and Seal's RAFcousin who changes his name a lot so we call him Shorty." Blocky, stopped, taking huge gulping breaths of air.
There was silence for a little bit.
"Ooooookay. I believe you," said Cloaky. "Why on Earth are you here? The Peletarans are a nasty bunch!"
"They are?" Said Blue. "They seem okay to me, except the whole taking us prisoner thing."
"Yeah, they're really--" Cloaky broke off and turned towards the entrance. A huge thundering noise was coming from outside.
"The Peletarans! They're coming!" He hissed.
"Get out of here!" Said Marie, glancing in fear at the entrance to the room they were in.
"What?" Said Cloaky and Blue in unison. "But he can get us out!" Finished Blocky.
"No he can't! There must be something on this tube that prevents him! Cloaky knows about the Peletarans, so the Peletarans must know about the Realm Walkers!" Marie said, her voice rising in pitch as the sound of the oncoming Peletarans got louder. "Put the microphone back where you found it and go! Come for us later!"
"Yeah!" Said Blue and Blocky, seeing the sense in Marie's reasons. "Go! Get out of here!"
With one last anguished (or so they assumed) glance, Cloaky placed the microphone back where he found it and teleported.
A few seconds later, Feletaros and Lellina burst in the room, moving at a superhuman speed. They quickly sealed the doors, obviously trying to keep out whatever pursuers there were. There were bangs and other various sounds from the other side of the door.
The conversation between Feletaros and Lellina went unheard. The RAFians didn't know that the sensitivity of the microphone had been turned highly up when they had spoken to Feletaros previously, and that's how they had caught Lellina's words.
Suddenly, Feletaros nodded. He walked over to the tube while Lellina walked over to another console and tapped her long, thin fingers over the keys. Suddenly, the tube was raised into the ceiling, leaving the RAFians on an elevated pedestal. Before they could process this, Feletaros had leaped up and grabbed Marie, dragging her from the stand they were on. As soon as she was clear, Lellina lowered the tube again. Maire began shouting and flailing, but Feletaros was stronger than he looked and pulled her easily over to a chair. It would almost look like a dentist's chair, only wires wre hanging over it, making it look sinister.
She looked in terror back at the RAFians. They were banging on the glass tube, the danger of being shocked forgotten. They were shouting so loud she could hear it coming from the microphone/speaker, though extremely faintly.
Feletaros forced her down onto to the chair, pressing a button and letting mechanical straps bind Marie to it. She struggled, but she couldn't move her hands more than an inch. Even her head was clamped down. Lellina slid over and helped attach the wires, sticking them onto Marie's head with some already attached adhesive. They carefully placed them, arguing in some different language over something, and making minute ajustments to some.
"What are you doing!?" Yelled Marie defiantly. "Stop sticking things onto my head! What are you doing?!"
"Do not worry." Said Feletaros, sounding cool and collected among all of Marie's screaming. "The Memory Transplant operation is painless."
"Memory Transplant?"
"Yes. Now hold still." Lellina said, going back to the console. She typed in something for a long while, consulting with Feletaros in the same different language.
"Okay, KitsuneMarie. Here we go." Feletaros pressed a button.
At once, memories started flashing before Marie's eyes. Coming to RAF while it was in chaos...helping Tocade and Brad treat the injured...the succesful RAFlife afterwards...the friends she made...her RAFboyfriend, Shanker...the bizarre green stuff...waking up in the tube...
...her cozy home by the Cliff...her friends, the Peletarans...her brothers, Blue and Blocky...the movie she watched last night...visiting the Peletarans...helpin g with their experiment on the brain.
She opened her eyes to see Feletaros and Lellina leaning over her. "Is it done?" She asked cheerfully. "Did you get good results?"
Both Peletarans smiled. "We just need to compare the results to those of your brothers, and hopefully we'll get something! We got one positive match for what we were looking for." Lellina nodded in agreement to what her mate said.
"Thanks again, Marie, for volunteering." Said Lellina, detaching the wires from her forehead. "This might really help us understand some parts of the brain.
"No problem!" She said cheerfully, standing up after Feletaros unclamped her. "Out of curiosity, why all the straps?"
"We were unsure if the experiments we were running would trigger a reaction in your muscles. If you disrupted any of the wires, the consequences would not be good."
"Ah, okay." Marie turned to the tube and waved at her brothers. She frowned at their reactions. They were both standing there staring at her with their mouths wide open, like she was doing something horribly wrong.
"If you would just step onto here," said Feletaros, pointing to teleporting machine. "We will send you back into the tube. That's a sterilized environment which will help you recover from the experiment."
"Okay," said Marie, standing where he told her. The blue light coming from the discs above and below her glowed strongly until with a flash she was standing in the tube with her brothers, Blue and Blocky.
"Marie!" They both said in unison, hurrying towards her. "Are you alright?"
"Of course I'm alright," she said, bemused. "The Peletarans know what they're doing. It was just a minor experiment."
"What are you--hey!" Began Blocky, but cut off as the floor of the tube began to glow. With a flash, Blocky vanished.
"Blocky!" Yelled Blue, looking around wildly. Marie raised an eyebrow.
"Don't freak, Blue," she said calmly. "Feletaros just teleported him. You know that. He's over there."
Blue followed Marie's finger to where Blocky was being dragged over to the chair. "Let him go you--hang on a second," yelled Blue, then cut off in confusion. "How the hell would I know that Blocky got teleported? We've never been here before!"
Marie raised an eyebrow. "Uh, yeah we have. Duh! We live nearby!"
"What?!"
"We live nearby! We contact the Peletarans regularly for their experiments!"
"Marie, what are you talking about?! We live in RAF, remember?"
"RAF? How could one live in the Royal Air Force?"
Blue stared at Marie, his mouth agape. She had called RAF the Royal Air Force. The unthinkable had happened.
"Wh...Marie...the... how could you say such a thing?!" Said Blue, his mind nearly going blank with shock.
"What? Isn't that was RAF is? The Royal Air Force?"
"No, I--hey! Let go of him, you--"
"Blue!" Interrupted Marie before Blue could continue with his...unflattering comment, when she saw who he was yelling at. "How could you call Feletaros that? He's our friend, remember?"
"Okay, I have no idea what they did to you Marie, but listen to me! Your name is KitsuneMarie, and--"
"I know that, silly."
"Just listen! You live in RAF! Remember, Richard's Animorphs Forum? You remember Animorphs? The book series! With the Andalites, and the Yeerks, and the morphing?"
A little twitch went through Marie's face, as some dim memory stirred inside of her. Faces flashed through her mind--a vampire, a seal, a dragon, a thing. She knew it was called a Ketran.
"An-Animorphs?"
"Yes Marie! Don't you remember? The battle! With--"
The light that had been glowing beneath Blue suddenly flashed, and he vanished, teleported to the machine where Feletaros grabbed him while Lellina led Blocky over to the machine. Marie blinked. It was like memories fought against bonds in her mind, trying to get loose.
No.
That was impossile. There was no way that was possible, even for the Peletarans. Her memories were all true.
After a few moments, Blocky got teleported into the tube.
"Hey bro," said Marie.
"Heya, Marie," said Blocky, sitting down. She sat down beside him.
"Blue was saying the weirdist things! Something about RAF..."
"The Royal Air Force?"
"He insisted it was something called...Randall's Animorphs Forum or something."
"...You mean Richard's Animorphs Forum?"
Marie stared at her brother, who was looking straight ahead with a blank look in his eyes. "How did you know it was Richard's Animorphs forum?"
"I dunno."
Outside the tube, Blue was trying to fight off Feletaros and Lellina. "Get off of me! Get off me! What did you do to Marie and Blocky?! How did you make them forget?! Let GO!"
Feletaros merely looked at Lellina and said something in their strange language. "Nyt kuluva ainoa on arveluttava."
"What?" Said Blue, baffled.
"Aani. Ple pitaisi koetus jotta arvioida asettaa muisto-kotona enemman juurtunut joten etta paikalla jalkisaados olla ei laukaisin." Responded Lellina.
"I'm not even gonna try to translate," muttered Blue. He then flicked his hands, and ice rose around the two Peletarans, freezing them solid. He ran over to the console and grabbed Feletaros' mic.
"Guys, I don't know what happened to you, but listen to me! We don't live around here, we don't know the Peletarans, we were taken here against our will! Don't you remember the RAFians? Like...like Jess, and Cloaky, and Sealie-kun, and Shanker, and Shorty, and...Ugh! Don't you REMEMBER?!"
Marie and Blocky both were staring at Blue. "That sounds...right." Marie said in confusion. "But he's talking nonsense! How...how could it possibly be right?"
"Tell about the admins," said Blocky quietly.
"Admins?" Said Marie, while Blue gave a triumphant laugh.
"YES! You're remembering! Oh, dammit--" (Author's Note: Come on guys. The author can use naughty words. And besides, would Blue swear in that situation? Yes he would. Get over it.)
Feletaros had somehow managed to break out of his ice prison. With a viscious growl, he leaped forward with shocking speed, slamming one claw down on Blue's head with all his strength. He hit with the flat of his hand, so no claw damage was done. Blue still crumpled to the floor like a sack of potatoes. He seemed to be unconscious.
Once Feletaros had carved Lellina out of her chunk of ice, she rushed over and grabbed the speaker out of Blue's hand. "I'm so sorry, you two," she said. "The last experiment is having a reaction in Blue's brain, triggering false memories. It's almost like he's hallucinating memories. We'll set him right, don't worry. Your brother will be fine."
"I hope so," said Marie, standing up and pressing her hands against the glass. "He was saying some crazy things!"
"Yeah," muttered Blocky, massaging his temples. He was convinced there was something wrong.
Feletaros' Log
Date: 4021
Translation: Peletaran to English
Starting Timestamp: 9466
START LOG
Today we preformed the memory transplant on our three newcomers. It unnerves me how much they are remembering already. Blue the Kid nearly managed to start a trigger, especially in Blocky(or Kitcky)97. We rushed Kitcky97's operation because Blue the Kid was trying to trigger KitsuneMarie's memory, and we had to extract him fast. We took some more time on Blue the Kid's operation, completely storing away the memories. We couldn't remove them entirely, just replace them with new ones and have the old ones shoved to the back of his mind. We had to be careful with these three. They have strong minds and strong wills, which...unsettles me. It's most likely for these to have triggers, which is a disturbing thought. The Peletarans cannot be discovered. The New Peletarans are trying to disrupt our operations, and not just our science operations. Soon we will be so much more than the Gambian Internet.
Based on the memories of our "test subjects," Plyencentanium Nanos and Erialyamic Shards were shot at their home, Richard's Animorphs Forum. It seems like a good place to find more soldiers. I'm thinking of trying to contact this AlmightyQueen person. We could do some very good business together. Today I will assign Lellian and Lecctia to find her.
Ending Timestamp: 9470
END LOG
"Everything is pink," moaned Faerie, putting her head in her hands. "PINK!!"
"No," said Sakki, pointing at the closet. "The closet is purple."
"I'll go insane! How long have we been here?!" Yelled Faerie, pounding the wall with her fists.
After reaching the Celebration Castle, the ponies had escorted their "friends" to a completely pink room, where they had been casually locked in for days. Every day, at 3 o'clock, Faerie would moan about the pinkness, and Sakki would point out the closet. It was kind of a joke now.
Now, however, the door banged open, disrupting their schedule. Minty the pony came in, followed by a...
"Human?!" Gasped Sakki. "What are you doing here?"
"Don't speak to a They like that!" Squealed Minty. "I apologize, O They, for this insubordination."
"I didn't know they knew what insubordination was," muttered Faerie into Sakki's ear.
"But who the heck is he?" Said Sakki, without taking her eyes of this mysterious...They person.
"I am a They," said the man in deep bass tones. He was wearing a black cloak with a deep hood, kind of like Cloaky's, only his cloak was covered in swirling silver patterns. "You may leave, Minty."
"Yes, They!"
Minty smartly trotted out. The They banged the door behind her, then reached up to the hood. There was a slight click and then the They said "Ah, that's better."
Faerie and Sakki sat straight upright, because a) the They's voice had changed to a much higher tone, and b) they recognized that tone.
Aloth flipped his hood back and smiled down at them. "Having fun?" He sneered.
Faerie just glared back cooly. "You know, Aloth," she said evenly. "There are two of us, one of you. I may not have any weapons, but a fist is just as good."
Aloth smiled even wider, reaching a hand inside his cloak and drawing out two small red discs. "I wouldn't attack, if I were you," he said. "If I get these things on you it's nighty-night."
"What are you doing here anyway?" Demanded Sakki.
"Getting soldiers," said Aloth, flipping one disc idly into the air and catching it agian.
"Soldiers?! Ha!" Faerie guffawed. "In the My Little Pony universe?"
"Yes," Aloth confirmed flipping the disc again. "Queen concocted another one of her chemicals. Soon the ponies won't be able to tell up from down unless Queen tells 'em to. We're going out to all places, whipping up a enormous army. It's just an added bonus that you showed up here. Now, I have matters to attend too. Good-bye."
"NO!" Yelled Faeire and Sakki together, lunging for the door, but it was too late. The door slammed in their faces.
After a few moments of silence after slumping back down onto the pink chairs and adjusting the pink pillows, Faerie said "Did I mention something about pink?"
"This is great," said Duff, looking around for the thousandth time. "JUST GREAT."
Around four days ago, when he had woken up, Duff had found himself in the middle of this abandoned village. There was nothing there but huts and the things in the huts. Luckily, there was food and water left over, so he didn't go hungry, but most of it was spoiled, and he was running out. He also had no idea where he was, which was bad.
Duff realized that he had to go somewhere, and not just stick around here and starve. So, after some rooting around, he found a sack and started filling it with unspoiled food, and bottles of water. As far as he could tell, this was an old village. There were only hand tools, no computers, no cell phones, no nothing that would allow him to check RAF and call for help. Everything had a nice old feel to it, a feel that Duff couldn't really appreciate as he was stranded in the middle of nowhere.
So, on the day he set out, Duff had barely set foot outside of the village when something heavy landed on his back and squashed him flat on the ground.
"Oh geez," siad a familiar voice above him. "I keep squashing people."
"Get off," wheezed Duff.
"Sorry!" Someone pulled him to his feet, and Duff found himself looking straight into the...eyes hood of Cloaky.
"Cloaky!" Said Duff, massaging his ribs.
"Duff?" Said Cloaky. "What are you doing here."
"Don't ask me!" Said Duff. "I was just chilling when suddenly I'm here, and I'm bleeding!"
"Bleeding?"
"Yeah. Bleeding." Duff pointed at a red stain on the right side of his shirt. "It hurt!"
"I imagine so."
"So...can you get me back to RAF?"
"Oh, right. Sure. Just watch out for quantam zombies."
"What?!"
"Just kidding. Hold on."
With a swish of cloak, they were gone.
Myitt plodded on. Keep your head down and keep on walking.
Like many RAFians that I'm writing about, Myitt had ended up in the middle of nowhere (except this middle of nowhere seemed to be in a forest), alone, confused, and bleeding. So, she had started walking. Luckily, she had met some kind folks who gave her food and supplies. She just told them she was a traveler who had gone a little out of her way. Then started walking, trying to find more...civilized civilization.
Suddenly, Myitt's head snapped up. She dodged behind a nearby tree, hearing voices ahead.
"I don't like this, sir." That voice sounded strangely familiar.
"Calm down, Zoe," said another familir voice. "We're prepared. We've been double-crossed how many times and drops?"
"Too many to count," admitted the first voice.
Wait a minute.
Drops? Zoe?
"Oh. My. God." Said Myitt, poking her head out from behind a tree. The trees thinned out ahead, giving way to a clearing, where two people were standing there, a man and a women. The man was wearing a long brown jacket over a lighter brown shirt, tan pants, and black boots. He also had a gun in a holster around his leg. He had brown hair, brown eyes, and slightly tanned skin. The girl had chest-length curly brown hair, brown eyes, and darker skin. She was wearing a kind of a black choker necklace, a leather sleeveless shirt (or it could be armor, Myitt wasn't sure) over a blue long sleeved shirt. She was wearing dark brown pants and holding a sawed-off shotgun (though again, Myitt wasn't positive) loosly in her hands.
The people were Captain Malcom Reynolds and Zoe Washburne. They were from the TV show Firefly.
"This is an...interesting development," Myitt muttered. She took another glance at the secne. Mal and Zoe were standing there. Serenity (Author's Note: For those who haven't seen Firefly, before you finish reading the chapter, go watch every single episode and the movie. If you're too much of a lazy bum to do that, then just remember that Serenity is the ship.) was nowhere to be seen.
Myitt didn't recognize the scene, so she figured it must be in between episodes. There was a crate behind them. Suddenly, three other people appeared, walking from the other side of the clearing. The leader was a girl, who had short, light brown hair and was dressed in shabby rags. Her face was smeared with dirt. She walked forwards. "You have our shipment?" She said to Mal, who nodded.
"As long as you've got my money," Said Mal. The girl suddenly smiled.
"Ya see, Captain," she said with a slight sneering edge on the word "Captain." "I'm different from you. I get the stuff but if I don't want to pay, I don't pay."
"I expected this," said Mal to Zoe, who snorted.
"When do we not get doouble crossed, sir?"
"Never," admitted Mal, then turned back to the girl he was dealing with. "So what're you gonna do?" He asked. "Shoot me?"
"Sounds good to me," said the girl drawing a gun. Her companions did the same, when suddenly a gunshot rang out and the guy on the left dropped dead. A firefight commenced.
And Myitt knew exactly what happened.
Mal had arranged a drop with these people, but expected a double cross. He must have sent Jayne Cobb, another one of his men, to set up a sniper post. They had communication, so as soon as Jayne heard and saw the girl drawing a weapon, he had started firing. Then Mal and Zoe had started shooting too.
When both goons had been taken out and the girl shot in the leg and disarmed., Mal stepped forward. "Don't try to cross me again," he said, then snatched a bag of money out of the girl's hand before turning and leaving. Zoe followed Mal, and on impulse Myitt followed Zoe.
After a fair while of walking, they came to the edge of the forest, where Serenity was. Myitt quickly ducked behind a tree. Kaylee Frye (a slightly shorter girl with brown hair, with her usual mechanic's outfit and some stain from the engine on her face talking to Simon Tam, a proper looking man with dark brown hair and his usual too-proper-looking-too-look-right-on-the-ship clothes. When Mal, Jayne and Zoe appeared (Jayne, a tall muscular man with with short brown hair and a mustache-beard thing had joined them on the way), Kaylee looked up with her usual bright smile. "Hey there, Cap'n!" She said cheerfully. "How'd it go?"
"The usual," he said, walking up the ramp.
"Which means you got double-crossed and shot at, but it's okay because you were ready for that and Jayne had a really big gun?" Said a new voice. Myitt glanced from behind her tree to see Hoban Washburne, or Wash, descending the stairs from above. He was a taller man with with tousled blond hair, blue eyes, and a bright Hawaiian style shirt and khaki pants.
"Right in one, dear," said Zoe. Zoe and Wash are married.
"Another face," said a quiet, slightly creepy voice. Myitt didn't even have to look to know who it was. A barefoot girl (though she could be wearing combat boots) with long, black hair--River Tam, the insane psychic genius.
"What, River?" Said Simon.
"Another face," repeated River. "Coming. She knows us."
"If you figure out what she's talking about," said Mal. "Tell me if you think I'd give a care. Wash, let's get this boat off the ground.
"She's watching," said River, before Simon said "Alright, come on, River, it's time for your medicine."
Myitt glanced out from her tree to see Simon leading River away, Mal and Wash heading up some stairs to get to the bridge, and the others going to various places. Jayne punched the button to close the doors and turned away. On another impulse, Myitt bolted forward and slipped through the airlock doors just as they were closing and ducked behind some crates. She ducked and weaved her way over to one of the smuggler's hatches she knew about. Even though the cargo bay was devoid of people for the time being, she still wanted to hide. Myitt opened the hatch and slipped inside, shutting the door and plunging the hatch into darkness.
After a while of rumbling which meant Serenity leaving atmosphere, the hatch opened. Myitt ducked farther into the darkness, but River's voice cut through, quiet and coaxing. "It's okay," she said. "I won't tell the others. It's like hide-and-seek, but they don't know they're seeking."
Myitt relaxed slightly. "Thank you, River," she said quietly. "It'll be our secret."
"Yes," said River. "Good-bye." The black-haired girl closed the hatch, leaving the RAFian in darkness once more.
Myitt frowned at the hatch. "River knowing could be very good for me, or very bad," she said, and settled back to wait for...something.
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Great new part!
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Awesome and terrifying, Seal!
Also... Tara gets to fly on Serenity with Mal???? SO JEALOUS!!!
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Tara gets to ride with Mal while Marie gets brainwashed. hehehe.
Great post!!!! Keep it coming!
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I have a new favorite word, courtisey of Seal: juurtunut.
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I KNOW!!! :D
In all fairness, I just put what I wanted to say through a translator and just removed all the accents and stuff that go above letters. :P
Not saying what language it's in, though... :angel:
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Russian? Albanian? You got me.
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Oh...oh, God. So much pink. So... *shudders*
I would take the red disks. Vision would go black, no more pink room with purple closet! Yay! Lol.
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So the Peletarians are looking to help Queen, eh? This isn't looking good. RAFians are scattered all over the place, RAF is still down, and Queen's strength is growing. Somebody better stop those Peletarians or all chaos is going to break loose... :-\
I would take the red disks. Vision would go black, no more pink room with purple closet! Yay! Lol.
As horrible as that room sounds (and yeah, I'm serious - I'd be going insane too), I wouldn't take the disks. Staying conscious = a chance to keep fighting, and at least you know what's happening to you then. Going unconscious = a good chance of being taken prisoner or worse, and at the very least it means you stop fighting for awhile. It also means you have no clue where you are, which makes escaping harder if somebody moves you.
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I would take the red disks. Vision would go black, no more pink room with purple closet! Yay! Lol.
As horrible as that room sounds (and yeah, I'm serious - I'd be going insane too), I wouldn't take the disks. Staying conscious = a chance to keep fighting, and at least you know what's happening to you then. Going unconscious = a good chance of being taken prisoner or worse, and at the very least it means you stop fighting for awhile. It also means you have no clue where you are, which makes escaping harder if somebody moves you.
Lol, I know. I will take those freaks down.
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I would take the red disks. Vision would go black, no more pink room with purple closet! Yay! Lol.
As horrible as that room sounds (and yeah, I'm serious - I'd be going insane too), I wouldn't take the disks. Staying conscious = a chance to keep fighting, and at least you know what's happening to you then. Going unconscious = a good chance of being taken prisoner or worse, and at the very least it means you stop fighting for awhile. It also means you have no clue where you are, which makes escaping harder if somebody moves you.
Lol, I know. I will take those freaks down.
I'd love to join you in the battle!
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*makes a mental note to put Ghost in the next chapter*
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*makes a mental note to put Ghost in the next chapter*
:o
Very cool, thank you! ;D
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I'm pretty sure I've meant to do it before this, but I just forgot. >.<
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I'm pretty sure I've meant to do it before this, but I just forgot. >.<
Eh, no big deal. I've had a blast just reading the story. ;D
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Makes me feel happy! :D
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wow. that is awesomesauce.
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*story poke*
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Glrck! I'm...sorry...haven't worked on this at all! DX
As soon as I get a chance I will GET THIS STORY GOING WITH A VENGEANCE
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That's OK, Horsie. Take your time, there's no hurry :)
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YayI'm all caught up. The new chapters are awesome Horsie.
I feared this project was abandoned.
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Guess who's writing again!
Mhm. I am. ;)
Got the first section going well...got you in there, too, Ghost! Man...can't believe I ignored it for this long...^_^'
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Can't wait to read more!
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Can't wait to read more!
:ditto:
Have you ever thought about having your stories published, Horsie?
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:-] Yes, I have, really. I'm writing a story for my friends, and we have this impossible fantasy going on that it gets published, turned into a movie, we all star in it (I based all the main characters on my friends except for this one guy) and get super-rich and stuff...but, that's pretty much impossible. :P
But... :-] :-] :-]
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I don't think that's impossible... ;)
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Yeah, with some of the crap that's published today, your stories of gold will have no problem getting out there. :thumbsup:
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:-] :-] :-]
Thank you, guys. That means a lot to me. I'm seriously considering a future in writing. :)
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That would be totally awesome. I'd buy books by you. ;D
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This one's a mite bit shorter, but enjoy the next chappie!
Chapter Eleven--Ghosts, Traitors, and Yeerks, Oh My!
"Um...yeah, you really chose the wrong time to show up here."
A ghost you know looked around the slightly dismal piles of rubble. "But you guys need help," he said sensibly, looking at Guy, who shrugged.
"You're right. Well, um, let's go talk to Richard. See what he thinks about this."
"Sounds good," said Ghost, floating after Guy.
Ghost had come to RAF just today, retaining his ghost form because he went before the Nanos and Shards hit their mark. Guy had opted to be his little tour guide.
(Author's Note: Ghost isn't that new to RAF. I know. But I wanted a reason for him not being in the story till now, so...meh...)
Richard looked up from where he was talking quietly on the phone with someone, Tyler standing nearby looking ruffled. "Thank you," Richard said, hanging up and sticking his phone in his pocket. "And that's how you order mortar," he said jokingly to Tyler, who walked off muttering something about bricks.
Richard looked up at Guy, and his gaze traveled to Ghost. "Hello, who's this?" He said kindly.
"My name is A ghost you know. Just call me Ghost," Ghost said, smiling as well. "I would shake your hand...but I'm a ghost."
Richard laughed. "No problems. Are you sure you want to be here now?"
"Yes," said Ghost immediately, nodding. "You need help. You're all exhaused and some of you are bloody. You all look like there's some constant threat hanging over your head and I want to help."
Richard smiled and ran a weary hand through his tousled hair. "Admirable," he said, "And helpful. We are a bit of a mess right now. You see, this deranged lunatic of a woman, named AlmightyQueen, was banned from here some time ago. Her, AlothAssassin, and YorickBrown, also banned some time ago, along with one of our member's also slightly deranged evil sister, Dagger--"
"Don't mention that backstabbing murderer," said a familiar angry voice. Ghost, Richard, and Guy turned to see Cloaky and Duff standing nearby.
"Cloaky?" Said Richard in disbelief. A huge smile broke out on his face. "Thank God! We thought you had been captured, or killed, you were away so long!"
"Sorry," Cloaky said, grinning under his hood. "I couldn't find Dagger anywhere."
"The Universe is a big place," said Guy mildly.
"True," admitted Cloaky. "So, I teleport to some random place and literally land on top of Duff. So I brought him back here."
"UNCLE CLOAKYYYYYYYYYY!"
"Sha--OOF!" Said Cloaky, then gasped as the wind was knocked out of him as Shadow barreled into him, babbling constantly.
"Uncle Cloaky! Jess suddenly showed up at our house so Mom and I took care of her and then Dagger showed up and tried to kidnap me and we teleported to the ocean and found Shanker and then came back here and then went home and got help so now RAF is being rebuilt by Realm Walkers and--!"
"Shadow!" Said Faith, prying her daughter off of Cloaky. "Sorry," she said. "The last day has been nothing but fun for her...but Cloaky! You're okay!"
As she embraced her brother, Cloaky smiled. "Sorry to have worried you. I got a little caught up in my travels. I guess I lost track of time."
The single operating phone that Goom had somehow rigged up rang. Everyone glanced at it. "Leave it," said Richard carelessly. "The answering machine will get it and if it's anyone important we can pick up."
"So, what did Shadow say? Dagger tried to kidnap her?!" Demanded Cloaky as the phone rang for the third time.
"Yeah...well, as she said, Jess showed up at my house--"
Click. The answering machine kicked in. "Hello, this is Richard's Animorphs Forum. Sorry, but we're experiencing some technical difficulties that will be resolved as soon as possible. Please leave your message after the beep." Beep.
"Nuts," said a muffled voice at the other end. "Got an answering machine..."
"Leave a message," said an even more faint voice.
"Okay," said the first voice, then, much louder, said. "Hi, this is Estelore. Um, we're--we meaning me, Gaz, and Horsie--"
Guy nearly fell over himself to get to the phone. "Este?" He demanded, putting the phone on speaker. "Este, it's Guy! You're okay? Gaz and Horsie? Is everyone okay?"
"Guy!" said Este, sounding relieved. "Yes we're all--hey! No, you two, I'm talking to him! You--"
There was a scuffling sound on the other end as if both Gaz and Horse were trying to wrestle the phone out of Este's hands. "I'm putting the phone on speaker!" Said the star's exasperated voice, faint again, like she was talking to Gaz and Horsie."
There was a slight click, and then in unison, Gaz said "Guy!" As Sealie said "Justin!"
"Beth, Rachel, you're alright," Guy said, sounding relieved.
"Where are you guys?" Said Cloaky, leaning towards the phone. There was a pause.
"CLOAKY?!" Yelled Seal. Cloaky smiled, expecting another warm welcome.
"Hey, Seal," He said.
"Where the HELL have you BEEN?!" Screamed Horsie's voice.
Cloaky stared at the phone. "Hunting down Dagger?"
"YOU IDIOT!! YOU'VE BEEN GONE FOR A YEAR, NO WORD FROM YOU, WE THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD, OR CAPTURED, OR AT LEAST I DID, YOU COULD HAVE SPARED A MOMENT TO DROP IN FOR A CUP OF TEA OR WHATEVER YOU DRINK--"
There was another scuffling sound, and Horsie could be heard continuing her rant in the backround as Gaz spoke over her. "So, uh, we'd like some way to get back to RAF, please. We're in some weird abandoned city, and there looks like a rockpile-cave thing not far away. I think this is the city we could see from Queen's cave."
There was a pause. "I'm so sorry, but we're a little stressed over here," said Richard slowly. "Why can't you get home yourself if you know relatively where you are?"
"Because it's still downpouring, and there's a whopping big field in front of us," said Este. "I can already see mud everywhere. It'll be nigh impossible to get a wheelchair through that."
"A wheelchair?" Questioned everyone on Guy's end at once.
"Er, yeah," said Horsie, done with her rant. "I'm sitting in that. Kinda sucks."
"But why?" Demanded Guy. "Are you alright?"
"Apart from having been beaten within an inch of my life, with both legs and several fingers and toes broken and massive bruises all over my body, dandy," she said dryly.
There was a pause.
"WHAT?!" Said everyone on Guy's end.
"Yeah. When I showed up in the city, just my luck, I end up right in front of some gang who find it'll be fun to beat me to death. So they did just that. If Este didn't show up and display her new skills as a firestarter...I wouldn't be talking to all of you right now."
There was another pause, and Este took up the story. "As she said, Gaz and I found her, and found a nice woman named Emma who used to work at the old, closed down hospital. She and her granddaughter, Julia, took us in and helped Horsie. But then for some reason Julia sold us out to Queen, who was in the city. It was there that we found out..."
"Found out what?" Prompted Richard when Este fell silent.
"We found out that Claire...Claire is alive."
There was another pause. And another unison "WHAT?!"
"It's true. Terenia's with her. She and Claire are outside the Internet. At least, that's what Queen said." Gaz explained.
Suddenly, a faint voice on the other end shouted "There they are! Get 'em!"
"Dammit!" Gasped Horsie with a frightened edge to her voice. "We've got companty!"
"Guys?" Said Duff, leaning towards the phone.
"Don't let 'em get away!" Said the first gruff voice.
"I'll hold them off!" Said Este's voice. "Take Horsie and go!"
"Guys?!" Said Phoenix, who had just showed up, and heard the tail end of their conversation.
There were gunshots sounding. Everyone instinctively tensed up, Faith grabbing Shadow protectively.
"GAZ!" Yelped Horsie. "Este, they got her with a tazer!"
"AAAAAAAAH!" Screamed a different voice. "FIRE! I'M ON FIRE!!"
"Get the firestarter! The one in the wheelchair won't get far!" Shouted the first voice again.
"But, Vulture's--"
"DO IT, RAT!" Screamed the voice.
"Horsie, RUN!" Screeched Este. More screams came, ufamiliar. "Get out of--"
Her voice cut off, ominously short. There was a strange crinkling sound, like...
"Ice?" Gasped one person. The first voice, and evidently the leader's said in an amused tone, "Taze her."
There was some muffled sounds too indistinct to make out. Then, a slight scraping sound, like someone was picking up the phone. The leader's voice came through.
"I'm assume you guys are the RAFians," he said. "My name's Mercy. Nice to meet'cha. What can I do for you."
"YOU EVIL, STINKING, SON OF A--" Screamed Cloaky in an uncharactaristic flash of anger.
"What did you do?!" Demanded Richard.
Mercy chuckled. "Straight to the point, are we? Very well. They have all been tazered, never fear. They'll be fine. They just tried to escape when they shouldn't have."
"Why--did--you--beat--up--my--sister?" Ground Guy out from between gritted teeth.
"Your sister?" Mercy sounded surprised. Then he laughed. He laughed and laughed and laughed. "Ahahahahaha! Priceless. Absolutely priceless! Is your wiffle sissy lost and confused?" He developed a mock baby "accent."
Phoenix literally had to grab Guy to stop him from breaking the phone with his bare hands.
"Anyway," Mercy continued, "I've got a little appointment with Queen. Tata."
This time, Guy actually did jump forward and break the phone with his bare hands, which didn't really make a difference, because Mercy was doing the same on the other end, but with the butt end of a gun.
Somewhere, a Heavy shouted "My fists they are made of steel!!"
"Guy!" Said Phoenix, grabbing him and holding him back again.
"That--that--" spluttered Guy, unable to form a coherent sentence.
On the other end, Mercy chuckled, watching carelessly as Bergson heaved Horsie's unconscious body back into her wheelchair. "Let's get these guys back to Queen."
"DAMMIT!" Yelled Guy, slamming his fist frustratedly against a stack of metal sheets. "We had them!! We knew where they were and they got caught again!! And Horsie..."
"Guy, calm down!" Yelled Steph, practically slapping him. "Calm DOWN!"
"NO! They got caught again!! And Claire is alive!! How can you be SO FRIGGIN' CALM!"
Phoenix blanched slightly. "Claire is alive?!" He demanded, grabbing Guy by his shoulders. "How do you know?! Where is she?!"
(Author's Note: Yes, Claire is a guy now. His name is Peter. Congratulations, Peter! But as for now, I'm keeping him as a girl. Don't worry, I know that he isn't, but seriously. He's been in captivity for a year...his change wouldn't really be possible.)
"I don't know!" Guy yelled again, slamming his fist on the metal plates again. "I don't know, okay?!"
Richard sat there, deep in thought. "We don't have enough people," he said softly to Goom and Russell, who were standing nearby.
(Author's Note again: I am also aware of the staff changes. Again, this isn't really the time for that. Don't worry, Teach and Kat, you're not forgotten.)
"I know," said Goom, rubbing his eyes as if trying to drive the sleepiness away. "We can't mount a rescue mission. If Queen sent this, we need to get our defenses up ASAP. But...we can't just leave them there..."
"We have no idea where they've been taken, and it sounds like Queen has help," put in Russ. "I don't like it as much as any of you, but...we just can't spare anyone. They'll have to fend for themselves."
A tortured look entered Richard's eyes as he looked away. "You're right," he said softly, knowing that he would have many sleepless nights after this descision. "We'll just have to wait."
Myitt muttered softly in her sleep, then awoke with a start. "Oh, right," she muttered. "I'm on Serenity..."
There were sounds outisde of the smuggler's hatch. "Oh, crap," she muttered and scrambled to one side, as far in as she could go, just in case someone opened it.
There were sounds from outside. "River, give that back..." Said Simon's worried voice.
There was a slight silence. "River..." Simon said again.
"It's wrong," said River.
"What's wrong?"
"This. It's wrong. All wrong. Clearly different. They're lying, why are they lying, they always, always lie..."
"River, you're holding one of those protein bars."
"It still lies."
Myitt had to hold back a snort of laughter at that.
"River, sweetie give that back to us," Said Zoe's voice, joining Simon's. "There you go...thank you..."
"Don't listen to a word it says..."
"I'll do that." Said Zoe, and her footsteps retreated.
"If your sister don't have anything to do but be crazy, make her do it somewhere else. Some of us want to do useful things," Said Jayne, his footsteps desending like he was going down a flight of stairs.
"Like what?" Simon asked, a slight edge to his voice.
"Don't start bickering like an old married couple, now," Said Mal, also sounding like he was going downstairs. "We've got things to do on this boat."
"It's time for River's medicine anyway. Come on, River..."
"Got another job for us?" Asked Jayne. Footsteps were coming towards the hatch, where Myitt scrambled backwards until she felt cold metal against her back.
"Gotta see what's left first," Responded Mal, and light poured into the hatch. Myitt made herself as small as possible. Please don't let them find me...
Crates scraped as they were pulled out. "That everything?" Asked Mal.
"I'll check," said Jayne, poking his head in. Some sort of flashlight was in his hand, unfortunately, and it shone straight into Tara's face.
"What in the...Mal, did you pick up a girl 'long the way?" Asked Jayne, obviously baffled.
"A girl?"
"Yeah, uh...here."
Jayne grabbed Tara's ankle and pulled her out of the hatch. "Get your hands off of me!" She yelled, struggling to find a handhold on the slick metal.
She blinked up into the face of Captain Malcom Reynolds.
"This is unexpected," she muttered.
"You're absolutely right," he said, pulling out his pistol, ****ing it, and pointing it right in between her eyes.
Queen drummed her fingers thoughtfully on the arm of her throne. "Incompetent fools," she muttered, referring to the RAFian's escape. But, Mercy had gotten it back under control. They had been ejected from the Internet and put in Terenia and Claire's cell.
"Queen?" Said Yorick, coming in. "Your majesty?"
Making a mental note to give a lecture on correct form of adress, Queen said "Yes?"
"You've got some mail..." he said, holding up an envelope.
Queen narrowed her eyes and tipped her head to one side. "Who's it from? How did they find me?"
"I don't know, there's no return adress."
"Give it to me."
Yorick approached, bowing (he rolled his eyes when she couldn't see him) as he had been instructed and gave the envelope to her. She opened it, sliding a strange gray metal disc into her hand. It was much thicker than your average CD, and there was a button on the side. She cautiously pressed it.
Immediately, blue light fizzled up from the machine, taking the shape of a miniature version of some bizzare creature. "Nyah!" Yelped Queen, dropping the machine.
"I'd thank you to pick this hologram emitter up, AlmightyQueen." A cool voice issued from the machine. "I'd like to speak to you."
Slowly, the holographic Queen came back into place, like she had picked the emitter up. "What are you?" She demanded. Feletaros gave a small bow.
"My name is Feletaros, AlmightyQueen." He said levelly. "I am a Peletaran."
"What in the hell is a Peletaran?" Snapped Queen briskly. "And how did you find me?"
Feletaros had to admire how quickly she had recovered from the shock. He covered his surprise with a slight chuckle. "My dear AlmightyQueen, to the Peletarans, it was but a matter of minutes. And, Peletarans are mutated humans. We are experiments who realized that we were not content to just serve our masters. We became independant. We are fighting machines. And we have a proposition for you."
Queen stared at him ponderingly. "Call me Queen," she said slowly. "What kind of a proposition?"
"We are trapped here at The Cliff--where we were created." He explained. "Should you free us, we would be willing to fight for you. Fight the RAFians."
"How do you know about the RAFians?"
"We were able to access the memories of three RAFians who ended up on our doorstep. They call themselves Blue, Blocky and Marie."
"Access their memories? You must be very advanced."
"Very astute. We are. Tell you what. We will give you the location of The Cliff. Should you arrive, one of the RAFians will be waiting. We have erased their memories of RAF, so they will not know who you are. Then, if you free us, you will have our services and the other two RAFians. What do you say?"
Queen stared at him, obviously thinking. Then, a smile broke out on her face. "How do I know you won't just attack us as soon as I get out? And how do I know you are really fighting machines?"
Feletaros smiled, showing pointed fangs. "You don't know the former of your questions, but I will send you proof of the latter via your computers. When you have decided, press the button on the side of this emitter and give me your answer. Good day."
With another bow, he switched it off, and turned to Lellina. "We'll be out of here soon," he said, abruptly dropping his cool and collected demeanor.
Lellina sighed. "We could get out of here ourselves, but..."
"But the New Peletarans would escape too. I know. The access pannel on the outside must be programmed. I'll get out first. You and the other Originals hold them off while I program it to only accept our DNA."
"Which RAFian will we send outside first?"
"Blue."
"Why Blue?"
"Random choice."
Queen drummed her fingers on the arm of her chair. "I'd be a fool not to accept that," she said to Yorick, who had heard the message.
"But we'll need insurance. Even if they don't attack us, what if the RAFians will?"
"It's unlikely, but you're right. We'll take Horsie along as insurance. She's young, they're all protective of her. And seeing her injured already...well, they'll fall over themselves to let her live."
"So, we're accepting?"
"I'll need to think about it. Get Aloth, Dagger, and Mercy in here."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Queen watched as Yorick bowed, and then left. "Hmm..." she droned thoughtfully. Things were going almost too well. Then she giggled. "Once I get more forces...let's see the RAFians beat me then!" She giggled maniacally.
-
EDIT: Sorry for posting such a short comment earlier, but I was in a hurry. I've got more time now, so I've finally been able to put down my thoughts in a coherent manner.
Wow, great chapter! :D
Thanks for bringing me into the action! I'm looking forward to helping, and settling a major score with that gang in particular.
There is one minor thing I noticed - I usually have a physical body (which is why I was able to hold a shredder in the Intro Randomness RP) but I can dissolve it for floating through walls, etc.
How many RAFians has Queen captured or proxy-captured now? 7? (Claire, Gaz, Este, you, Blue, Marie, and Blocky, if I recall correctly)
Poor Richard. I know he's got to be hurting over the call to leave you guys... hopefully he can spare the manpower to mount a rescue mission soon, though.
Keep up the great work!
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Great chapter! Loved it! ;D
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*gasp* Almost... full... month... why..? *collapses*
No more writing? :pwease:
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awesome new chapter Seal. :thumbsup:
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*gasp* Almost... full... month... why..? *collapses*
No more writing? :pwease:
Seal's been extremely busy IRL. I seriously doubt she's dropping this, though.
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Yeah, I'm REALLY busy right now. Seriously. I have, like, no time for writing. But I am NOT dropping this. :) I'm pretty sure I have something written of the next chapter, but...I haven't really checked. -_-
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Okay good. Don't let the story die!!!!
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Can I be in it? Pleasepleasepleasep leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ase?
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*headdeskheaddeskheaddesk* BADSEALBADSEALBADSE ALBADSEAL
I haven't worked on this AT ALL. -_-
When I FINALLY DO IT *headdesk* I'll put you in it *headdesk* Myth. *headdesk* It might be a little while *headdesk* because RAF's in such chaos *headdesk* but I'll get you in. *headdesk*
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Thank you Sealie! *glomps Seal* I read RotB and all of AEHO so far and I LOVE IT!!!!! Keep writing!
Post Merged: November 07, 2010, 05:33:04 PM
Write more. Now. *cracks whip*
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*takes away the whip and hides it*
She's been busy IRL. Don't rush her!
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Hey! I'm juggling show week, school, various parties, writing Fading Dawn, and trying to get some other leisure time here! -_-
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Sorry, Horsie. :hug2: I know how you feel, take your time.
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You walk in the room to see Seal lying on the ground, dead. There is a tape recorder in her hand.
You:....? *presses play*
Hello. If you are listening to this message this means that Seal has died of an overwhelming conflict of emotions. She has felt intense shame because this is the first update in over three months. She also felt much joy because she finally did get the chapter out. She hopes you will forgive her, and enjoy the new chapter. Oh, by the way, she will reincarnate naturally later. Don't worry. She would also like to say Happy Holidays to all of you!
And please do not poke her dead body. She might reincarnate as a zombie and eat your brain.
Chapter Twelve--Don't You Remember?
"Blue?" Lellina called.
"Yeah?" Blue said, pausing his game and looking up. He was playing video games against Blocky when Lellina addressed him.
"I need you to do me a favor," she said, sliding across to him. She had thoughtfully put on a shirt, which would seem weird not to for a human, but it covered up her transparent chest.
"Of course," he said, standing up and putting his controller to one side.
"Guess I'll just have to kill you when you're gone," Blocky said with a grin, reaching over and unpausing. He started to move through the level, huting Blue's character.
"Whatever," Blue said with a laugh as he followed Lellina. She smiled at him as they left the room and headed towards the doorway. Feletaros was waiting for them. He smiled.
"Blue, I have a favor to ask of you," he said in his usual formal tones.
"Yeah, what's up?" Blue said casually.
"As you know, we Peletarans are trapped in The Cliff." Feletaros said.
"Yeah, you told me that," Blue said with a slight frown. "If you guys get out, then there's no way to stop the New Peletarans from getting out. When you changed them in order to help them, they...malfunctione d, for lack of a better word, and are psycho killers, right?"
"Correct," Lellina said. "But we might have found a way out."
Blue grinned. "That's awesome! How? And why do you need me?"
"As you know, you and your siblings come and go as you please," Feletaros said. He began pacing. "The New Peletarans have let you come and go because they do not fear humans. Or maybe they were planning to kill you later. At any rate, the Original Peletarans are planning something. We shall begin to go outside. The New Peletarans will no dobut come after us, wanting to get outside. And wanting our blood. We shall take you with us. You shall be well protected, don't worry, but it shall make the New Peletarans hesitate to attack. You, Lellina and I shall get outside and program the door so that it's a laser door that will only let the Original Peletarans through. We shall escape and the New Peletarans shall be trapped."
"That's a great plan!" Blue said enthusiastically. "Let's go!"
Lellina smiled her icy smile. "Very well. Follow me."
"Go! Go!"
Blue stared at Lecctia's wild eyes as she pushed him towards the door. He stumbled outside, where Feletaros and Lellina already were, crowded around the doorway terminal.
As soon as they had gotten near the door, all hell had broken loose. There was a wild battle, which Blue stumbled through, trying not to die. He hadn't, luckily, just a few minor scratches here and there. But now a splitting migraine suddenly ripped through his head as he stared at the people in front of him.
FLASH!
Blocky was gone first...
Richard had alost died...
Claire...
Seal was standing over him with a piece of wood, grinning...
FLASH!
A violent burst of light brought him back to his senses. He was leaning against the side of a building, breathing heavily, pain building behind his eyes. "Queen," He rasped out.
Queen smiled at him. "You don't look so well, Blue."
Lellina left Feletaros at the terminal and raced over to Queen, whispering something in her ear. Queen's face changed from a smile to confusion and then back to a smile again.
"How do I know you?" He asked her, rubbing his forehead. "I...I don't..."
"Remember?" Queen said sweetly. "Maybe you'll remember your Wondertwin?"
"My..." Blue muttered, then froze as something was wheeled out by another peron. With another flash of pain, Blue recognized Seal in the wheelchair and Aloth pushing her. Seal was tied to the chair and gagged. When she saw him, her eyes widened, and she began to struggle.
"Looks like you do," Queen said sweetly. "Aloth, let Seal say hi."
As soon as Aloth had taken Seal's gag off, she started shouting. "Blue! Are you alright? What happened? What are you doing here?"
There was another flash of pain. "Wh...who...are you?" He said, clutching his head in his hands. He could practically feel Horsie staring at him.
"Um, Blue, it's me! Horsie! You know, your Wondertwin? Don't you remember?"
"No...I..." Blue muttered.
FLASH!
"I loved TAS, Blue!"
"Bluesie-kun! What's up!"
"Hahaha, what are you talking about?"
Piece of wood...
"Glad to see you too..."
FLASH!
"Blue?"
He was kneeling in the ground now, Seal staring at him concernedly. "Blue, are you okay?"
"No, I'm not," he said, as the pain subsided somewhat. "Wh...what is RAF? And TAS? What's that?"
Seal stared at him like he had gone absolutely mad. "Blue, RAF is Richard's Animorphs Forum!" She said. They were both completely ignoring Queen's giggles and the battle raging inside the building. "TAS is the project you made! The Animated Series! You know? With the virus?"
Another buildup of pain.
FLASH!
"This battle scene is taking forever..."
"'The only thing that could get ahold of that would be some kind of...v...v...VIRUS?!'"
"'Look out Pootang...' 'Cause we're coming for you!'"
A computer, an animation program up on it...
FLASH!
"These flashbacks suck," Blue muttered, hauling himself to his feet. There was a muffled sound, and Blue turned to see Aloth wrestling the gag back into Horsie's mouth. "Hey, stop it!" He said, raising a hand, ready to conjure ice, but a knife seemed to suddenly appear at Horsie's throat. Both RAFians were very still, until Blue slowly lowered his hand again. Aloth grinned.
"Got it!" Feletaros said with menacing satisfaction. He hit a few final keys, and suddenly a web of lasers sprang into place where the door used to be. They were a dark blue. With bestial howls of triumph, the Original Peletarans bounded through. The New Peletarans stopped, stunned.
"No!" One whispered. "Those killers can't be let through!"
"Go do your experiments," Lellina growled in satisfaction. "We Original Peletarans will finally be free of this stupid place!"
"Feletaros..?" Blue said, walking up to him. He was trying to ignore the flashbacks, and the migraines. "What are they..."
"You fool!" Feletaros snarled, whirling around. One of his arms lashed out, and suddenly Blue was sprawling on the ground, blood dripping down his face.
"Blue!" Screamed two voices. Heads turned to see Marie and Blocky standing at the laser door, staring at him. Blocky scanned the scene, his eyes widening as he saw Seal, struggling in her wheelchair. He groaned, clutching his head.
"Blocky?" Marie said in concern, supporting her brother as his knees buckled.
"No," Blue moaned, another flash of pain nearly bringing him to his own knees. "You're...not siblings...wh...wha t?"
"Queen!" Marie suddenly half-screamed, staring wildly at the grinning Banned. "You...you're...how do I...argh!" She gave a small cry of pain as her own migraine started.
Suddenly, one of the New Peletarans stiffened. "You two, come on!" He said, clutching Blocky and Marie's arms and sprinting away, dragging them along.
After that, everything seemed to wash over Blue. He didn't see Horsie being wheeled away. He didn't see a steel door close in front of the lasers. He didn't see the Original Peletarans cheering and laughing, dropping their dignified facade. He didn't feel his arms being pulled behind him. He didn't feel himself getting handcuffed. Next thing he knew, he was marching across a field, the blood roaring in his ears as he tried to remember.
"We must hurry," the New Peletaran said, pushing them into the room with the large glass tube in it. "Quick, onto that teleporter pannel, Marie."
Marie stared at him, but numbly obeyed. The New Peletaran quickly hurried over to a console and started typing. "Give me the website of this RAF place of yours. Hurry!"
Another searing pain ripped through Marie's skull, and based on Blocky's groan, same for him. But Blocky muttered, "animorphsforum.com."
With some more typing, the New Peletaran assumedly entered that in. Suddenly, the disc beneath Marie's feet began to glow.
"I cannot explain," the New Peletaran apologized. "But the RAFians will help you. Good luck! Good bye!"
"Wait!" Yelled Marie, but there was a flash of light. Everything was white around her, there seemed to be a distant ringing. Suddenly, the landscape seemed to be flashing by, faster than she could process it. Suddenly everything was still. Absolutely still.
She stared around her. There were organized piles everywhere, of various bricks and boards and other supplies. There was the foundation of a building being build, with people working on it. Several of the people working seemed to be wearing cloaks.
At that moment, a Jamaican man walked by. He had dark circles under his bloodshot eyes, his hair was dirty and rumpled, probably from running his hand through it--which he did now. It wasn't a "grooming" rumple, it was an "I'm stressed and need something to do" rumple. One of his sleeves was ripped, and he had numerous tiny tears in the dirty fabric. It didn't look like he had been in a battle, just not slept for days. With some more pain flaring up in her head, Marie knew his name.
"Richard?" She said quietly.
His red-rimmed eyes met hers, and his mouth dropped open. "Marie?" He askekd, coming over to her. "Thank God you're alive and well! Where did you spring from?"
"I..." she muttered dazedly, but their attention was drawn to Blocky suddenly fizzling into existence.
He stared around him. Some people had gathered, were calling out greetings. "Aaaargh!" He practically screamed as he fell to his knees, clawing at his head.
"Blocky!" Marie gasped, kneeling next to him. His cry of pain went on for a second longer, then slowly faded out until he fell unconscious.
Shadow was sitting, absolutely still for once. When Marie and Blocky entered the tent that had been set up as a hospital wing, she didn't even move. But Cloaky glanced up.
"Blocky! Marie!" He exclaimed quietly, standing up and moving over to them. "You're safe! What happened to Blocky?"
"Cloaky," Marie gasped, sitting on a bed. She put her elbows on her knees and held her head in her hand. "Where am I? Is this RAF? It's not what I remember."
Cloaky blinked. "Marie, are you okay?" She seemed very...off. And Blocky was unconscious. "Marie?" He added gently.
"Someone messed my brain up," she said in a slightly slurred voice. "Oh God. Is this up or down?" She suddenly started moaning, and fell unconscious as well.
"Richard, what happened?" Cloaky said to the founder of RAF, who ran his hand through his hair again.
"I don't know," he said in a hoarse voice. "They literally came out of nowhere. Literally as in Blocky just seemed to pop out of the sky. Then he started screaming and fell unconscious. What's Shadow doing?"
"She's sensing the other RAFians," Cloaky explained. "She can do that. We just gave her examples of their posts to give her a 'taste'" he made quotes in the air with his fingers, "of their mind. She's trying to--"
"Found one, Uncle Cloaky!" Shadow said, springing up.
"Great! Who?" Cloaky said, smiling down at his niece.
"Someone named...Parker, I think. The SPARTAN guy."
"Where is he?"
"Having the time of his life, I assume."
Parker was having the time of his life. He had ended up inside HALO, right where he always wanted to be. Since SPARTANs were just modified humans, basically, he had remained the same as before. He was quickly accepted into the squad he landed in the midst of. Now they were roving across the HALO universe, taking down the Covenant as it came up.
"So, Papa," Echo said. This squad--they called themselves the NATO squad--used the old NATO alphabet for their names. They quickly dubbed Parker "Papa," the NATO word for P. "Where did you come from? We didn't really get time for introductions the first time we met." Echo was one of the girls in the squad.
There were laughs at that. "I totally took down that Brute, Zulu, not you!" Tango said. Zulu and Tango were twins, Zulu a boy, Tango a girl. Zulu punched Tango in the shoulder.
"Settle down, guys," Romeo drawled. Funnily enough, Romeo was the ladies man of the team. He was going after Echo, though she coolly ignored him.
Foxtrot, their reconassainse guy came jumping down into their camp. "Nothing out there, not so much as a peep," he reported.
"Nice work, Foxtrot." Delta said. He was the sergeant in the NATO squad.
"Yes, bravo," Yankee said with a grin, shooting a glance at Bravo, who was snoozing.
Bravo woke up with a snort. "Eh, what?"
Everyone laughed.
India glanced up at Delta. "Where're we going next, oh fearless leader?"
Every time the NATO squad called Delta their "fearless leader," Parker had to repress a snort.
Victor looked up. She was a total tomboy, and had insisted on being called Victor when the squad was formed. "I wouldn't mind kicking some more Covenant ass," she said.
"That's why we exist," Kilo pointed out.
There were twenty-six SPARTANs in the squad, now that Parker was there, each one named after the NATO alphabet; Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliet, (who was totally trying to woo Romeo) Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Parker, (Papa) Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, and Zulu.
"Well, Papa?" Said Kilo. "Where'd you spring from?"
"Well, it's a long story that I don't really understand," Parker said, remembering vaugely his time on RAF. "The important thing is that I ended up here, right?"
A murmur of approval went through the squad, and Victor clapped him on the back.
Suddenly, a light flashed on Parker's visor, indicating that someone was near that was not part of the NATO squad.. "Form up!" Delta barked, rising up instantly and grabbing his weapon. The squad quickly got into their formation, ready to fire.
Three figures appeared, melting out of the darkness. Two--one was short--wore cloaks, and the third appeared to be just a human.
Parker jerked in surprise. "Guys! Weapons down!" He said, breaking formation.
"Papa, what are you doing?" Sierra hissed. "Get down!"
"No, guys wait!" He said, running in front of the squad, right in their line of fire. "These are people I know! They're friendlies!"
Delta remained tense for a moment longer, then slowly relaxed and lowered his gun. "Weapons down," he ordered, and the NATO squad relaxed as well.
Quebec stepped forward. "Papa, who are these guys?"
"Papa?" Taiyoh echoed, stepping forward and more into the light of the fire. His hands were raised defensively. "Are you talking to Parker?"
"Yeah, Tai, they are," Parker said. "It's good to see you!"
"Yeah, you too," Tai said, but was clearly distracted. "Parker, who are these guys? Why did they call you Papa?"
Cloaky and the other cloaked figure--presumably his neice--also stepped forward, and several SPARTANs raised their weapons again. "Hey!" Cloaky said. "Relax!"
"Papa, explanation, now," Delta said in his clipped, authorative voice.
"Okay," Parker said. "Cloaky, Tai, wait, I'll explain in a second." He turned back to the NATO squad. "These are Taiyoh, and Cloaky," he said, gesturing at each one in turn. "And...?" He turned questioningly to Cloaky.
"My niece, Shadow," Cloaky supplied.
"Yes, thanks." He faced the NATO squad again. "They come from where I came from before. It was an online forum, called RAF. Something happened...some sort of weird bomb that dropped me here. That's why I literally popped out of nowhere."
"Hmmm," Delta said thoughtfully. "But you were a SPARTAN before?"
"Yes," Parker said. "You kind of get to be whatever on RAF. So...I was a SPARTAN, and still am one."
"Hmmm," Delta repeated, then lapsed into silence. Parker waited a moment, then turned to face the RAFians.
"Guys, this is the NATO squad," he said. "They're a SPARTAN team, obviously. Each one of them is named for one letter in the NATO alphabet. Hence why they named me Papa. It's the NATO word for P. This is Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo..." he went down the list, introducing each SPARTAN.
"It's nice to meet all of you," Cloaky said politely into the tense silence. A few SPARTANs nodded a greeting.
"I'm gonna cut to the chase," Taiyoh said. "Parker...Papa...wha tever...Queen launched a virus. That's what sent you here. RAF's kind of destroyed. Cloaky's gathered some Realm Walkers to help fix it, but we need help. Come on, we'll take you back."
"Woah, hey," X-ray said, stepping forward. "You can't just waltz in here and take Papa back. He's a good member of our squad. Piss off."
"X-ray!" Delta warned, and X-ray stepped back. Delta took his place. "In all fairness though, he's partially right. You can't just come, take Papa, and leave."
"What if he wants to come back?" Cloaky challenged. He held out a hand. "Come on, Parker, we're wasting time."
"I..." Parker stammered, looking back and forth. RAF? Or HALO?
"You've been having fun, Papa, I can tell," Lima said, also coming foward. Soon, the whole NATO squad was standing around and behind him. "Don't just leave."
"Parker, you belong at RAF," Shadow piped in her clear young voice. "That's why I could find you! Don't you remember RAF?" She added teasingly.
"Can you find some other people first?" Parker blurted suddenly. Dead silence fell. "I mean, while I...think, you know. Nothing against you guys, but..."
The RAFians stared frostily at him. "Fine." Taiyoh said. He put a hand on Cloaky's shoulder. "Let's go, Cloaky."
Cloaky paused, but sighed and all three of them vanished.
As soon as they were gone, laughter and chatter burst out again. "Well done, Papa!" Whiskey said, and a couple of others--Golf, India, and Yankee--clapped him on the shoulder.
He remained there, even as the others headed back to the fire. Soon, he became aware of someone else at his side.
"Don't worry, Papa," Delta said quietly. "You've made the right choice. Why else would you be standing here?"
Then Delta was gone. "If I made the right choice," Parker whispered, "then why do I feel so wrong?"
But he turned and headed back to the fire.
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Nice! Was very excited to see a new chapter!
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Yay! New chapter! :woot2:
I love it, it's great!
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*pokes thread, leaving several finger-print smudges in the thick layer of dust*
It's been, what, six months? You are still intending to finish this someday, aren't you? I just finished reading RotB and then this and I want to know how it ends! :pwease:
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Urgh...
Truth to be told, I kind of...don't like this story. >.< I had a general plot mapped out, but I feel like it's too spread out and sporadic. Plus, I didn't know for a while if the computer it's been on has been operational or not.
Tell ya what? One last big push. Wrap up some loose ends. As I said, the plot was general, so I really had no idea how long it would take. I'll try, I promise. Thanks for reminding me of this...it would be a shame to see it all go to waste.
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You don't like it? It's such a great story, though! And, yeah, I do kinda know how that feels when you're writing a story and it doesn't quite go according to plan, and it does tend to be pretty discouraging.
Anyway, I'm not trying to rush you to get it done right this minute or anything, I just wanted to know that it would be finished eventually. Just knowing that is good enough for me. ^^
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Yeah, keep writing!
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*gentle bump*
I know you're busy, so there's no hurry. I'm just making sure this doesn't die. It's far too awesome for that. ^_^
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Wow, I was in the story! Woot! Too bad the story's over now.
Seal, where are yooouuuuu?
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Heh heh....um...yeah... well...Merry Christmas? Have a chapter?
....
*runs away from awkward*
Chapter Thirteen—You Ever Wonder Why We’re Here?
“I mean, seriously,” Donut said. “You ever wonder why we’re here?
“What?” Rad asked.
“I mean, we always seem to get into trouble,” Donut continued. “We’re always here—in trouble.”
“We’re pretty kreed up,” Rad agreed, finding a pebble beside her on the ledge and tossing it outwards, watching it vanish as it fell.
Donut glanced up. “You ready to get back up?”
“Yeah, might as well.”
The two hauled themselves to their feet, staring upwards.
“Yeah,” Donut sighed. “This is kreed up.”
They had fizzled into existence with Rad on the very edge of a cliff, which, the two of them being the luckiest people ever, meant she had slipped over the edge.
“I mean, come on,” Rad said. “We just happen to come back so that one of my feet is over the edge of a cliff? Does the universe hate me or something?”
Donut, being the natural hero he was, had lunged forward and grabbed Rad’s hand. Their fall had been halted for a moment, and just as Rad was about to climb back up, the lip of the cliff had crumbled slightly, sending Donut sliding forward. Nothing was there to grab onto, so they both had tumbled over the edge. The only bit of good luck was that they had landed on a ledge not too far down, and were both a little bruised, nothing broken.
“Definitely not fair,” Donut agreed. “But remember how easily the top crumbled, be carful for any loose rocks.”
“Stay above the ledge,” Rad agreed as they began to climb. “And we have to try and move fast, otherwise we might get too tired.”
“I’ll try and get up first so I can help you,” Donut said, searching for another handhold.
“Hey,” Rad snapped. “What says you’ll get to the top first?”
“Because you can fit under my arm,” Donut responded. “Height helps.”
“Kree you,” Rad mumbled under her breath.
“Aw, love you too,” Donut said with a laugh.
Donut moved to another foothold cautiously, which promptly broke beneath his foot. His hands nearly slipped, but he clung desperately, hanging there. Rad’s breath caught, and she froze, watching as Donut scrabbled for another foothold.
Once he found one, he hung there for a little bit, as Rad exhaled a sigh of relief.
“What was that about being careful?” Rad said, though it was slightly shaky.
They continued upwards, each giving each other little taunts from time to time, like they always did. There were a few more close calls, but they managed to scramble over the top unharmed.
Once they had backed hastily away from the edge, onto more solid ground, they sat, breathing heavily, letting themselves recover.
Rad found herself staring at Donut, and when he looked up, their eyes met for a long moment, before looking away.
Rad caught a grin out of the corner of her eye, and smiled herself.
“Do you ever wonder why we’re here?”
Parker glanced up. Alpha was lounging, staring up at the sky.
Bravo glanced over. “It's one of life's great mysteries, isn't it. Why are we here? I mean, are we the product of... some cosmic coincidence or, is there really a God... watching everything? You know, with a plan for us and stuff. I don't know man, but it keeps me up at night.”
There was silence everywhere.
“Did anyone else just get some serious Déjà vu?” Charlie asked, sitting up.
“Yeah,” Quebec said. “Like…that was really weird.”
Parker sighed, chucking a rock into the darkness. Suddenly, Delta was beside him.
“You alright?” He said quietly.
“Yeah,” Parker said, tossing another rock. “All good.”
Delta clapped him on the shoulder. “Come on, now,” he said. “It’s a reasonable choice. You give yourself time to think, they get time to find some others. You did good.”
“Sure,” Parker said dully. “Did good. Thanks.”
Delta sighed. “I’m not gonna convince you, am I?”
Parker shook his head.
“Just take the time that you asked for,” Delta said. “Think about it. Everything will be okay. We’ll kick some more butt tomorrow. When the RAFians come back, you’ll be ready.”
“I sure hope so,” Parker said quietly as Delta walked away. “I sure hope so.”
“You ever wonder why we’re here?”
Blue glanced up. They had just been dumped in a cell somewhere—he hadn’t really been paying attention, he was distracted by THE WORST MIGRANE EVER.
“Huh?” He asked.
Seal looked steadily at him from the next cell over. “Just recently. Haven’t you wondered, “Why am I here?” Like, not on Earth, is-there-really-a-god anything. Just, why am I right here, right now, in this place?”
“There’s been a lot of that recently,” he muttered. “Speaking of which, where are we?”
“Lands Beyond, I’m guessing,” Seal said. “I was unconscious, but I woke up right in the middle of devirtualization. I think.”
“Yeah, you’re in the Lands Beyond,” a voice said. “Seal? Blue? Is that you?”
With difficulty, Seal turned her wheelchair around so that she was facing the window on the other side of her cell. “Who’s there?”
“It’s me, Teach! And Claire’s with me!”
Another shot of pain went through Blue’s head at these names. “Stop it!” He shouted. “You’re making it worse!”
“Blue? What’s wrong?”
“I dunno,” Seal said, glancing worriedly back at him. “He got…brainwashed, or something.”
“Sealie-kun, I did not get brainwashed,” he muttered.
Sealie-kun?
“Do I always call you that? Sealie-kun?”
“Yes!” Seal sounded excited. “Yes, you do! All the time! Remember! Sealie? Sealykins? We’re WonderTwins!”
“Ow!”
“That sounds bad,” another voice—maddeningly familiar—said. “What’d who do to him?”
“Claire!” Seal sounded happy beyond belief. “Gods above, Claire, I didn’t know if you were alive! Queen said you were, but I thought she was playing with my head! It’s good to see you! Like, you have no idea how good it is to see you.”
“Didn’t you die…like…a year ago?” Blue muttered, feeling the pain shoot through his head again. “A year and three months? Ow!”
Seal turned her wheelchair again, rolling herself right up to the window. “Alright, Blue,” she said, looking steadily at him. “Crash course time.”
“My name is Horsefan1023, but I usually go by Seal. I’m your WonderTwin. We met on RAF, or Richard’s Animorphs Forum. It’s a great website. There are several boards there, the General Board, the Media Board, the Bored Board, the Animorphs Board, the RAFprojects Board—you had a RAFproject called TAS, or The Animated Series. It was about a smart virus. Starting to remember?”
Well, his headache had certainly gotten worse. But things were starting to click into place. “Tell me about some of the other RAFians,” he said, gritting his teeth.
“Well, I’m one of the TJs, or Thread Jumpers. But we always go by TJs. The others are Rad, Donut, Bear, and J, and previously Tony. J lives in Ghana, and he had to leave. He was dating my IRL friend, Mythgirl. And Tony, he has a crush on Goose, or TobiasMasonPark. Goose is related to Nick, or DarkCyclone or Anime, and you talk with him a lot too.”
“What about…RPs?” Blue said, another memory sliding into place. “What are those?”
“Role Playing. I’m a big RPer. The biggest is GESB, by far. It’s renowned for having over a thousand pages and being posted in a LOT. The second biggest is probably Introduction Randomness, my RP. It’s over three hundred pages. We get up to wacky hijinks there. Demos was in it, and Cloaky, and Faerie, and—”
“Stop!” Blue yelled. The pain was just too much in his head. He clutched his skull as images suddenly flashed before his eyes, jumbled with voices and words.
”Blue, I swear, if you kill my son, I will [beep]ing kill you!”
…Tony?
”What the kree?!”
“Rad,” Blue muttered.
“Huh?” Seal said.
”Blue, have you seen the newest Soul Eater chapter?”
…Goose. That was Goose.
”Howdy, y’all!”
Bear. Definitely Bear.
”I found this new program…”
Goom. He was a mod. Yes. He had talked with these people…Skype?
And it all clicked into place.
Three hours later, Blue awoke feeling very odd. He finally realized this was because of his lack of a headache. And it was even stranger that that should feel strange!
“Dammit,” Blue muttered, rubbing his head. “What happened?”
“You’re awake?”
Blue looked up. Someone was looking through the bars of the cell, looking disdainfully down on him.
“Aloth,” he said softly, in somewhat of a growl.
Aloth raised an eyebrow. “You remember. Congratulations.”
“Yeah,” Blue said, pulling himself to his feet. “I remember how much I want to pound your freaking face in! Where am I?!”
Aloth chuckled. “Lands Beyond, my friend. After that…well, ask me no questions, I’ll tell you no lies.”
Blue glared, though he had to lean on the wall for support. The breaking of the mental dams the Peletarans had put up had affected him much worse than he would have liked to say. Aloth s****ed at the weakness and walked away.
Blue glanced into the cell next to them, smiling slightly as he saw Seal asleep in her wheelchair. She looked awful—bruises still heavy on her face, deep bags under her eyes, hair completely disheveled. She must have been exhausted, as even Blue’s confrontation with Aloth hadn’t woken her up. He couldn’t see Claire or Teach either, so they must have been sleeping too.
Blue put his back to the wall and slowly slid down, underneath the window between their cells. It was like a prison cell—brick walls on every side, but bars on the front. And it was thoroughly depressing too.
Resting his arms on his knees and his chin on his arms, Blue gave a heavy sigh, and took off his jacket. Luckily, it was warm, so he didn’t really need it. Balling it into a makeshift pillow, he put his head down and closed his eyes, though sleep would probably be very distant tonight.
Myitt wondered for a second why the heck she was there before Mal started talking.
“You’re going to be very still, and tell me what the hell you’re doing on my boat.”
Even though she was lying on the ground in front of a man with a gun—which was pointed right at her face, all that Tara could think was, this is so cool.
Then her mind returned to the whole GUN IN FACE thing, and she remembered. Right. Problem.
“Trying to find home,” River said quietly. Of course, none of them had seen her come in the room, she was so silent. She was sitting on the railing of the walkway that lead upwards to the hall and dining area. She smiled eerily. “Lost between the stars.”
“That’s lovely,” Mal said, his gun not wavering from Myitt’s face. “What the hell are you doing on my boat?”
Tara licked her lips nervously, trying to find her voice. “I,” she began, coughed a bit, and continued more strongly. “What…what she said. Trying to find home.”
“Well, that sounds like a load of go se.” Jayne said bluntly, switching to Chinese on the last words, which translated to crap.
“’cause I’m the merciful sort,” Mal said, slowly lowering the gun. “Long as you’re unarmed, and you ain’t stealing anything, I won’t kill you. I’ll just stick you right back down on that planet we came from and we’ll be on our way.”
Tara started to protest as Mal turned and started walking towards the intercom, but Jayne’s steely-eyed gaze stopped her. She propped herself into a sitting position, glancing around. Apart from Mal, Jayne, and River, still silently sitting, the cargo bay was empty, though Myitt thought she might have heard voices somewhere else on the ship.
Mal punched the intercom. “Wash, we have an unexpected passenger.”
There was a sigh from the pilot. “Another?” Wash asked, his voice slightly tinny from the intercom system.
“Yep. Says she’s trying to get home.”
“If we could, I’d vote to go straight to the getting rid of her this time. YoSafBridge didn’t turn out so well.”
Mal frowned. “If we could. That sounds like more of a no statement, Wash, and that’s not what I want to hear right now.”
“I just got a wave from a certain someone you offended back on that moon we just left. She doesn’t sound very happy with you, Mal, as in, you-come-back-I’ll-be-waiting-with-even-bigger-guns-than-Jayne’s.
“And that is a terrifying thought,” Mal mused to himself. Turning thoughtfully back to Tara, he paused a moment.
“What’s River talking about?” A cheerful voice interrupted. Everyone turned to see Kaylee up on the catwalk, River a silent shadow behind her. “Oh! Who’s this?”
Skipping down the stairs, Kaylee walked over to Tara. “Oh, poor thing,” Kaylee said sympathetically, viewing her dirty clothes and many little scratches and nicks from wandering in the woods. She also had a cut in her arm, which she had bound with a piece of her sleeve.
Tara breathed an inward sigh of relief. Kaylee was very compassionate, and Mal adored her. If she begged Mal to let Myitt live, there was a distinct chance that would happen.
“Kaylee, we don’t know anything about her!” Mal said angrily. “She was holed up in there,” he gestured at the smuggler’s hold, “and gave some excuse about trying to get home!”
“Far away in time,” River muttered, but Kaylee ignored her, helping Tara to her feet. “C’mon, Cap’n,” she said imploringly, giving him her brilliant shining smile. “Does she look like she’s gonna do any harm?”
“Dobson didn’t,” Tara heard Jayne mutter, and understood Kaylee’s slight flinch. The incident in Dobson had involved Kaylee getting shot and the lawman nearly getting away with River.
Mal was looking her over with a critical eye. “Dump me wherever you’re going,” she said quickly. “I don’t care. I don’t have anything with me, I promise, just…don’t kill me.” As awesome as this whole experience was, she did not fancy getting killed, even by Captain Malcolm Reynolds.
“Well…” Mal said slowly. “S’long as that’s all true, and you’re not armed, and you follow my rules, and you don’t complain, we might let you stay.”
Tara smiled. “Thank you,” she said earnestly.
River tilted her head to one side. “She’s broken,” the girl said softly. “Doesn’t make sense.”
“You ever wonder why we’re here?”
Bear raised his head. “Why do I get the feeling that that phrase is being seriously overused?”
Tony shrugged. “All I know, is—”
“Please,” Goose interrupted. “If it’s about another hot guy, we don’t want to hear it. Bear’s busy.”
“Get your mind out of the gutter,” Tony said with a grin, giving Goose a light shove. “I mean, I love you, Goose, but shut up.”
TMP grinned, and continued tuning his guitar.
He, Tony, and Bear had been checking out Skype, when the error had hit. They had found themselves in the middle of nowhere, near an abandoned house, an old, run-down car, and a shack full of old scraps. Bear had been doing his best to try and fix the car, but he hadn’t had too much experience with that before. The house had some food, but they were running out, and needed the car if they were going to get anywhere.
“I was gonna say that I just found some more food,” Tony continued. “But obviously that’s not important.”
“Dude,” Goose said, putting his guitar down. Somehow, it had been brought with him, but refused to stay in tune. “I’m hungry. Food. Now.”
Bear pulled his head back out from under the hood of the car, rubbing some grease off of his cheek. “How come I have to fix the car?” He complained.
“Because we believe in you, buddy,” Tony said, clapping his hand on Bear’s shoulder. "And you're the Eagle Scout. You're supposed to know this sort of stuff. The Texan rolled his eyes, grumbling about not needing cars in the wilderness, but poked his head back into the workings, trying to determine what was what.
The world promptly exploded.
After thwacking his head on the hood of the car as he jerked upwards, Bear staggered back, disoriented. Light was flashing everywhere, and there was suddenly a burning pain in his shoulder, which was really truly unfortunate.
As he hit the ground—when did that get so close?—Bear noticed that it was actually a battle he was witnessing. Tony and Goose were sprawled on the ground nearby as well, though they seemed less dizzy and more just trying to stay alive than Bear.
Three hooded figures were standing there—they were the ones battling. Well, no, two hooded figures and one person. The person had some sort of laser gun.
Dracon, Bear identified hazily.
One hooded figure was shooting beams of energy, while the other was mostly deflecting them as the person took shots with the Dracon.
Eventually, one of the hooded figures—the one who the Dracon wielder was shooting at—vanished in a swirl of cloak after a cry of pain as one of the lasers seared through their arm.
“Bear! Are you okay?”
Bear blinked up at the person, trying to clear away the blurriness. Getting hit with a shockwave from an explosion, slamming his head into a car, and subsequently getting shot with some energy bolt from some hooded thing—the one that had run—had made him a little out of it. But, eventually, it clicked.
“Dino?” He asked uncertainly. It was her, definitely, but she was human. He recognized her from a RAFcon he had had in the Lands Beyond, which they had when they could meet in person, which, given the distance between a lot of RAFians, was difficult.
“Yeah,” Dino said, helping him up. “Are you okay?”
“I…think so,” Bear said dazedly. “I…my shoulder hurts…”
“That must have been Dagger,” Dino said grimly. “You got caught in the crossfire…I’m sorry.”
“Oh, that’s okay,” Tony interrupted, picking himself up from the ground. “‘How are you Tony? Are you okay? I know you just got blown up, just making sure you’re not further scarred.’ Love you too, Dino.”
Fortunately, Dino knew Tony well enough to realize he was joking. “Sorry,” she said. “Shadow, could you take a look and make sure they’re okay?”
“Sure,” the remaining cloaked figure said cheerfully. It was definitely a young voice—very young. What was a little girl doing in battle?
“What happened?” Bear asked as Dino slammed down the hood of the old car and helped him sit on it. He was starting to regain his senses, but unfortunately the pain intensified when that happened. “Where are we?”
“Not sure,” Dino said. “Rumors are that it was some sort of virus that hit RAF. Half of the RAFians are missing. Thanks to Shadow there, we’re starting to track everyone down and repair.”
“Repair?” Goose asked. He looked a little shaken, as did Tony, but they looked mostly unharmed. “What happened?”
“RAF got…destroyed,” Dino said grimly. “The whole thing. Just blasted to bits. We’re trying to fix it the best we can.”
“RAF 2.0,” Tony muttered. “Great. Can we go back and get some good food?”
“Yeah,” Dino agreed. “Shadow? Take us home.”
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“Because you can fit under my arm,” Donut responded. “Height helps.”
“Kree you,” Rad mumbled under her breath.
“Aw, love you too,” Donut said with a laugh.
We say this everyday! Still amazed that we are the last to know about us.
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except I don't asy "awww"
...and she actually does fit under my arm
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I love how this explains RAF 2.0 coming into existence. :P Are you somehow gonna incorporate the RAFture as well?
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Gotta have a RAF to have a RAFture first. :P
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You do say "awww" I've heard it.
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I only say that when I'm making fun of you. and a couple of times when I wasn't
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Yay I finally got around to reading this! Totally awesome, as always! I'm liking the idea of that feeling of deja vu tying all the separate stories together.
And GLEE I'm in it! :D
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Well...I was gonna have another chapter up on Christmas, but....obviously that didn't happen. Just know it's in development. :)
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Double this open, one I'm reading it the other I'm posting reactions
reaction #1- PINK!!! HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA
reaction #2- OMG YOU GOT BEAT UP ARE YOU OKAY?!?!?!?
reaction #3- the language is FINNISH!!!!!
reaction #4- I want a keychain! D:
reaction #5- you are gonna put me in eventually aren'tcha?
reaction #6- i love how you have this awesome ability to come up with random words and incorporate it naturally into the english language.
reaction #7- can i be your co-writer sometime in the future??? :D :D :D :D :D
reaction #8- YOUR DEAD DX NOOOOOOOO Wait... your still here. i saw you online earlier. nvm.
reaction #9- FINISH IT!!! OR I'LL DISOWN YOU!!!
reaction #10- ONE... MORE... PAGE!!! I can finish it before I go to bed....
reaction #11- finished!! I LOVE IT!! WRITE MORE!!! IF YOU DONT FINISH IT I WILL!!! But it wouldnt be as good cause i dont know all this stuff about RAFians..
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I read through this again, and I think I'm pretty well caught up. All excellent, Horsie. All excellent.
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Eep! I thought the suckishness of this had made all my crazy fans go away! XP
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I also re-read too,
i'm all ready for a NEW CHAPTER.
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NOT LIKE IM TRYING TO SAY ANYTHING
...
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Subtle, Block.
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I don't see suckishness anywhere.
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Oh she's fishing for compliments. ;)
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Well don't expect a new chapter anytime soon, the variety show is sucking the life out of us.