Memoirs of a RAFian

[redtailedsaffa]

That title... eponymous with one of the most emotional Doctor Who episodes ever.

[DinosaurNothlit]

I took your silence as consent and went ahead and quoted you in my siggy. 

Very interested to see where the new book is going.  Also, I'm very curious about the Banned's attempts to take over RAF with elephants and horses?  Are those escapades ever going to make it into any books?

[Cloak]

I wasn't aware you were waiting for my consent, Dino. And quite the contrary, Dino, I'm quite flattered.  Oh, and don't hold your hopes up about the elepahnts and horses thing, I meant it to indicate the dubiousness of the books Malice was using.

• Book CCLXXVI: "The Millennium Door" -- All the RAFians sacrifice themselves to seal a powerful demon away. A thousand years later, the seal begins to weaken. . . . Out-of-continuity.
• Book CCLXXVII: "City of Stone" -- A female gargoyle casts a spell to turn all humans to stone every sundown, reversing every sunrise.
• Book CCLXXVIII: "Tides of Cleanliness" -- The RAFians get caught between a turf war between two supervillains, one who is an OCD clean freak and the other is an incurably filthy slob.

Hope I didn't rehash anything. Remember, all titles are subject to change.

Oh, that was the last of Malice we will see for this book . . . lest I change my mind.

CHAPTER TWO:
Power Lust

"So how do we do this?" said a woman in silhouette. "Jak-Yr?"

"What, Wala? Get the Unimind?" said a burly man with neatly clipped hair. "The cloaked creature banished it to the end of time, dear. He used the other Time Lord. Aquilai, I believe."

Clearly, these two needed better sources of information, for the faux news they were getting was quite ibviously wrong. But these two were not Time Lords, while possessing the memories and knowledge of two rather mentally unstable ones. Their true physiologies were Kryptonian, but something went wrong when they bought some memories from some Iskoort.

"We don't have our TARDISes, dear," Wala said. They never had one, but remembering having one just the same. "How are we to get there, love?"

Jak-Yr was silent for a moment, thinking on it. Then he chuckled, "Well, then the solution is simple."

"How so?"

"We need to go to the end of time to obtain the Unimind, right?"

"Yes, yes, we've established that," Wala said, evenly.

"And we cannot go by easier means, right?"

"Oh, spit it out already, Jak-Yr."

"It's simple," he said, obviously with aweakness for the dramatic, "since we cannot go to the end of time by our own volation, we just simply need to bring the end of time to us."

He looked directly at his love, and continued, "We bring about the end of time itself."

"Great idea academically," Wala said, "but not in practice, dear. We haver any means to bring such a conclusion."

It was baffling that they were speaking so casually about this. They seemed blissfully oblivious and unaware that it would obliterate them as well all Dwellers within this realm and timeline.

"When there is a will, my lady," he replied jovially, "when there is a will, there is a way."

[redtailedsaffa]

Oh, yeah, bringing about the end of time and all, it's an everyday thing, I do it every day in the shower.

[DinosaurNothlit]

Oh, I wasn't really waiting for your consent.  Which is why I didn't wait for your consent. 

I love the idea of Iskoort memories gone wrong.    Oooh, that actually gives me an idea for another book you could write, RAFians with the wrong memories.  Yanno, if you're running short on book ideas. 

Oh, yeah, bringing about the end of time and all, it's an everyday thing, I do it every day in the shower.

Which is exactly why I never take showers if I can help it. 

[Cloak]

Probably not, Dino. Might be too similar to another book, to be honest.

CHAPTER THREE:
Instigating A War

"How does stealing these useless relics accomplish anything?" Wala said. "And why hide them on those two planets?"

She was referring to the two items sacred or otherwise important to Chronians and Chronosapiens. They left subtle indications that the other chronokinetic species was responsible.

"Wala, think about it," he said, landing a bit. Feeling the rays of a yellow sun was just lovely, as it gave the powers of a super man. "One -- whether Chronian or Chronosapien, it does not matter -- will find the evidence we planted. They will assume the other race stole from them. They will not deliberate, they will rush to judgement. Assumptions will be made, one race vilifying the other. Misunderstanding after misunderstanding will stack up, and accumulate like leaves upon a forest floor."

He looked at his lover as he held her shoulders with a gleam in his eye, as if he was explaining an exciting day trip they were about to take. Not inciting a interplanetary war.

"Oh, Jak-Yr," Wala said, as if Jak-Ur had just proposed to her. "Will it really work that well?"

"It will, my love," he said, boyishly exuberant. "It will."

It was genuinely remarkable how little they thought of the other beings in the realm that would be affected by such actions. Indeed, they were very, very, very reckless in their endeavors, and they reveled in such disregard for others.

***

"What?!" Cloak roared.

"There's no need to yell," Aquilai said. "I said that two species have begun warring against each other."

"Aquilai, you don't appreciate the gravity of the situation." the Realm Walker said, quickly and fretfully. "Chronians! Chronosapiens!"

"What's the big deal?" Dino said, attempting vainly to pick something from her teeth. "It isn't like it's any of our concern."

"Guys," Cloak said, unable to keep the exasperation from his voice, "they all are chronokinetics."

"What?" Abby asked.

"They can manipulate time! Time itself!" Cloak said, attempting to impress upon the others the seriousness of this situation. "If they clash . . . it could prove disastrous."

[Cloak]

I think I have time enough for this.

CHAPTER FOUR:
An Rippling Effect

"Disastrous how, exactly?" Saffa asked.

Cloak gave her a look that clearly said, You're kidding, right?

"What?" she replied defensively.

"They manipulate time, Saffa. They could very well rip the fabric of time and space if either side decides to get careless."

"The end of time itself," Aquilai elaborated.

"We have to do something. . . ." Cloak said. Then he considered the potential consequences of such an impulsive action. If the chronokinesis was aimed at him, he'd be unaffected. Realm Walkers are, essentially, immune to Dweller chronokinesis. It'd just wash over him, like the Unimind's mind control wave did, but not affect him in the least.

But his friends were Dwellers. They were vulnerable to it. The Mark does not prevent aging or deaging. It does not stop the effects of chronokinesis. To go to this war with them would be putting their lives in jeopardy. A greater jeopardy than they had ever experienced. Who was he to ask such a thing of them? He valued their lives -- rather unlike a fair amount of his species, unfortunately.

"I have to do something," Cloak amended, in a quieter tone. "I cannot ask you to place your lives in such jeopardy."

"Oh, no. You aren't cutting me out of the action this time." Saffa said.

"Saffa, don't you get it?" Cloak said, somberly. "Their chronokinesis will not affect me as it would you. They could age you into dust. They could deage you to nothingness. What else, I dare not fathom. I cannot ask you to put your lives in such grave jeopardy."

"Cloaky, our lives are already in jeopardy," Dino reasoned. "Just by the mere fact that they're warring. Look, we get it. It's dangerous. It's perilous."

"But you forget, Cloak," Abby said. "We have faced enough dangers to fill like fifty books. We are aware of the dangers and accept them."

"Guys, guys," Aquilai said. "We can't just go. There are still interplanetary relations to think about. Neither the Chronians or the Chronosapiens may take kindly to a third party entering the fray, a third party that has no business in the conflict, from their point of view."

"But we do have business in this conflict," Saffa argued. "Their warring can severely harm the fabric of space and time, right? Then all living beings have a stake in this conflict."

The conjecture was ended rather abruptly with Estelore's report that nearby planets were starting to feel the effects of the war. . . .

[redtailedsaffa]

Ah, me, forever the debater.

[Cloak]

Oh, right . . . the debate thing . . . forgot about that.

CHAPTER FIVE:
Mass Hysteria

"Galvan Prime, Encephalus IV, and even Anur Transyl are all in disarray, and they are the birthplace of some of the smartest species in existance." Estelore reported. "There's pestilence on Lepidopterra, famine on Luna Lobo, and the Gourmands lost their twelfth planet."

"Geez -- what hapened to the other eleven?" Saffa asked.

"They ate them," Cloak said. "Go on, Estelore."

"The panic, the fear of utter and inevitable doom is infectious and spreading faster than a rumor." the star said. "Mass hysteria is running rampent. Those with ships are attempting to flee from the ripping continuum."

"Where are they going to go?" Abby said. "No matter how much they run, they cannot run from this."

"They're scared and desperate. Fear, when combined with desperation, has a way of overriding all rational thought and reasoning capability." Cloak said. He knew that first hand . . . no. No, he would jot allow his mind to wander back to those most hated memories. Now wasn't the time dwell upon them.

"It's only a manner of when the panic will reach the people of earth." Estelore said. "I do not know if we can stem the fear and mounting hysteria. But if something's not done soon, the entire universe will be, not only turned upside-down, but awashed in destruction before time unravels."

"We have to act!" Underseen cried.

"We'll go to Chronia first." Cloak said. "Maybe talk some sense into the Chronians."

***

"Oh, isn't just lovely, Jax-Yr?" Wala said, as if the two were newlyweds at Niagara Falls or some other highly romantic, expensive location. "All the screams of terror and colorful explosions?"

"It's just spendid, I know." the stubble-laden Kryptonian agreed.

Both wore monogramed housecoats, as if they were awaking from a resort's penthouse and taking in the view from the balcony. But in reality, they stood upon the luxurious quarters of a large warship -- manned by nonsentient, nonsapient robots that had a passing similarity to Slix Vigma.

"Any moment now, my love, the Unimind wil be within our grasp. Then all of creation will know our love!" Jak-Yr said, leaning Wala over and kissing her passionately. It soon devolved into . . . er, let's not get into specifics.

[redtailedsaffa]

This deranged evil couple is making me laugh. Now all they need is to be stroking a cat between them or something.

[Cloak]

Ah . . . no, this isn't the place for dirty jokes.

Anyway, looks like "Weapon Masters" will be a fun book to write. Currently planning my way through "The Pretender".

CHAPTER SIX:
Advising Against Aggressive Diplomacy

"Hold up, Cloak," Dino said, "we should set up another group on . . . on . . . on . . . what planet do Chronosapiens hail, anyway?"

"I . . ." Cloak said, "I don't know its name."

"Kind of important, don't you think?"

"And we must be careful how we do this, as well," Richard said. "One error, one misstep, may make things even worse, may deteriorate time even further. Serious consideration needs to be taken."

"We don't have time for debate!" Cloak protested.

"Don't have time to stop the end of time," Aquilai mused infuriatingly. "That's ironic -- or an oxymoron, or something."

"Hilarious, Time Lord," Cloak said, dryly without expression. "Real Gateburst funny."

"Cloak, relax a little. All this stress can't be good for you." Saffa said. "It will turn out alright. It always does."

Cloak gaped at her. She was choosing now of all times to get complacent?

"So, two teams of three?" Dino suggested.

"You guys are forgetting that Yarin's ship is the only functional ship we have." Cloak said. His tone was still testy.

After a couple of hours of what Cloak considered fruitless debating, it was decided that Yarin was to drop Cloak, Parker, and Saffa off on Chronia, and Helen, Abby, and Underseen at the Chronosapien homeplanet. Yarin will be piloting, of course, and Aquilai will be coordinating from the ship.

"Now that we got that pointlessness out of the way," Cloak said, still testy, "let's get get going!"

***

After the two deluded Kryptonians . . . uh . . . finished, they became aware of a ship leaving a planet's atmosphere.

"Oh, dear. What could this be?" Wala said, as if it was a minor inconvenience. Not something to be considered.

"Eh, probably nothing, dear." Jak-Yr assured her. "Our plan unfolds as delicately and beautifully as a flower blossom."

Wala reels Jak-Yr in to her arms, giving him a loving, doting kiss, saying, "C'mere you."

[redtailedsaffa]

What happened to Aquilai's TARDIS? Or would that be too much timey-wimey interference?

[DinosaurNothlit]

To be fair, there are plenty of planets that simply don't have names, and just get referred to by their species, ie, the ____ homeworld.  Andalite, Yeerk, Sector Five, RG-Two-One-Five-Seven-Eight-Four Hork-bajir.  Really shouldn't be all that surprising that, uh, 'Chronosapia,' doesn't have a name either.

Also, I think those two got a little something extra with those fake memories of theirs.  Do the Iskoort trade in godawful sappy love potions? 

[Underseen]

This book is great for February. If you catch my drift

[Cloak]

Uh, Dino, no. They were always that sappy. And Chronosapiens are a Ben 10 species, and I don't know their homwplanet name because they haven't revealed it yet.