Memoirs of a RAFian

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER TWO:
Planters Guts

Malice was walking through a rather decrepit-looking place, the walls were of a spongy moss-like plant, also carpeting the floor and ceiling. Vines curled around the corners here and there, the flowers were crinkled and brown. It wasn't only the flowers that were dying and decaying.

Malice sniffed dismissively at this, as she proceeded forward. She didn't care that this once spectacular place was falling into ruin. It could have been a beautiful place, but it appeared that someone or something was sucking the life from it.

Malice continued along the twisting, winding trail, all the while lamenting the defeat of her Master Seekers. She seethed the more she thought about it. That should  have worked -- that scheme was perfect, it should have succeeded, by all aspects. Then they pulled out that last minute save, that come-from-behind victory. That deux ex machina, and she didn't mean the Realm Walker "ghosts".

She should have won that one. She should have won, but no matter, no matter. She could always come up with another scheme. Another plan.  Another . . . another pawn.

She came to an emaciated mass of vines, which still clung to life. It was clear that some sort of herbicide was used here, as the residue remained, though inert and sooty. This was an easy enough fix, Malice thought and believed.

She cleaned away the herbicidal residue, and spoke to the mass of vines and tendrils, "Regifloras."

Nothing happened, but the mass seemed to resemble a human skeleton, without defined legs. Malice waited a prudent time before continuing.

"Regifloras," Malice repeated, "awaken. Live again, Regifloras. Reawaken."

The vines became animated, and Malice stepped back to take in the full scene. The skeleton of vines and tendrils writhed and formed around this skeleton, and within mere seconds, looked more demonic, more evil version of the Floronic Man. He smacked his crusty old lips, like an old man, and stood up, as he did have skeletally thin legs that were made up of plant material. With an old man grunt, and a slight roll of his shoulders, he resumed a form more like a fusion of the Floronic Man and Arbutus from the "Aladdin" tv series.

"Who dares?" he croaked out. Regifloras's voice was somewhere between Ron Perlman's and Mark Hamill's. "Who dares to disturb my slumber?"

"It is I, Malice," she said. "The humble antagonist."

It was ridiculous -- Malice was anything but humble.

"And who are you to disturb my slumber?" Regifloras sneered, rather foolishly.

Malice did not hesitate to get right up in his face, which actually intimidated the old plant-man, and said, very dangerously, "Someone you do not want to be on the wrong side of."

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER THREE:
Plant Behavior

Cloak had finished the newspaper, which was full of unpleasant things. No one reported happy news anymore. It was just the same everywhere, he guessed, because the Nexus had similar focus on bad news -- more often blowing things way out of proportion than being legitimately egregious as reported.

Cloak was, as he often was, throughly engrossed in his thoughts, he almost didn't notice it. He looked around benignly, having sensing something. He could not put his finger on it, but he could sense something of malicious intent, but not the kind of malevolence that Malice was known for.

This was subtler, more pervasive. It caused Cloak disquiet and unease. He looked around with narrowed eyes. He knew he sensed something, but he could not see or Earthsight anything out of the usual. He widened his stance and prepared for a fight.

"I know you're there," he said, sure of the presence nearby. "Show uourself, you craven coward."

***

"I've never seen flowers so pink, so red, so green," Helen said, caressing the petal of a dogwood flower, which did not normally come in multiple colors on the same tree. "They're so pretty!"

"Has that tree always been there?" Parker said, surprised. "I've never noticed a tree here before. Right in the middle of the grounds . . ."

"Oh, Parker," she teased, "you're getting as paranoid as Cloak!"

"He usually is paranoid within reason." Parker said, thoughtfully. "And he's not here to ask. He had gone to his meditation place."

"We could go an ask him," Helen shrugged.

"You know how testy he gets if we do that!" Parker chided. "Besides, it's probably nothing. Plants grow all the time, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."

"You don't sound so convinced." Helen pointed out.

Parker said nothing. It was true, and his instincts on such matters were on par with Cloak's usually.

***

Cloak waited, anticipated, expected something . . . anything . . . to happen. For someone to speak, to have a dialogue with him. What really happened was something he should have foreseen by now.

Nothing.

Nothing happened.

Cloak would not let his guard down. He would not let go of this hyperalert state he was in. He walked slowly back to the forum, aware that someone may be -- that someone was -- watching him. He could feel the eyes on him as if he was being affected by a slow-burn of Darkseid's Omega Vision. He could not ignore it.

He could not Earthsight the silhouette behind him because this silhouette was not touching the said ground, and was hidden amongst the foliage. And that was the flaw of Earthsight and Metalsight, if someone isn't touching and making vibrations on said element, then they cannot be "seen".

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER FOUR:
In the Jungle, the Urban Jungle . . .

The rest of the day passed pretty uneventfully, and the night was mostly the same as well. Yet Cloak had qualms that would not go away, that would not allow themselves to be ignored. His sleep was disjointed and interrupted constantly thst night, that he grew envious of those that were able to sleep so readily this night.

Yet, even with this tossing and turning, Cloak hadn't noticed that a remarkable change was overtaking the forum. He would discover it with the others, when they exited their threads. The forum was overrun. Not by an invading army or anything like that. But by vines and other plant life. It was as if the forum was never built, as the buildings themselves were buried by a mossy carpet if grass and such, trees grew overnight in the most inopportune places.

"What the Veil?" Cloak said nonplussed.

"Uh, since when did we move to Tarzan's turf?" Abby asked.

"I know when they said that cities are urban jungles, but this," Az said, "this is ridiculous."

"Plants on this planet do not grow this rapidly," Yarin said, "not naturally."

"So this is Malice's next scheme?" Underseen asked.

"Probably," Cloak said. "However . . . I don't see what possible goal she could have in mind with this scheme. Hyper-accelerating plant growth? What's she playing at?"

"Cloak, you of all people should know how dangerous plants can be," Gaz said. Of course, the vampire would realize the potential danger a plants, as a wooden stake could kill them. "Have paused to consider just how many poisonous plant species exist on this planet?"

"We don't know the full extent of this, uh, 'reforestation'." Parker said. "We should check out the city."

***

"Well, traffic's gonna be deadlocked," Blue said.

Blue, Parker, Saffa, Phoenix, Demos, and Cloak had gone to investigate the city, and saw that the streets were barren of cars, though some probably were covered up by the vines and wooden trunks of trees. The same mossy grasses carpeted both the sidewalks and the roads. It was as if the plant life had decided to retake the land for themselves, or as if the humans had vanished for many years.

Speaking of which . . .

"Wait, where is everyone?" Saffa said, noting the desolate atmosphere of the place.

"I dunno," Cloak said, "Earthsight is actually difficult here."

"Somehow, that's disconcerting." Parker said. "Do you think its being blocked somehow?"

"Not by intelligent design," Cloak answered earnestly. "Probably. This moss carpeting thing . . . it seems to absorb most, if not all, vibrations through the earth, which makes up Earthsight. But, perhaps, I have become too reliant on it . . ."

Cloak sensed a presence. The same one as before.

"We're being watched." he said, immediately.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER FIVE:
King of the Weeds

"Enough of the stalking schtick!" Cloak shouted, tired of the game. "Show yourself, you pathetic malevolence!!"

Regifloras showed himself in the middle of an abandoned intersection, with the traffic lights still hanging somewhat haphazardly. They apparently still worked as well, as one went from yellow to green.

While Regifloras still resembled Floronic Man and Arbutus primarily, but there were aspects and attributes of Poison Ivy and Undergrowth from "Danny Phantom" had been incorporated into his body, but not his mannerisms. Cloak was unimpressed, as Regifloras retained a rather demurred appearance.

"And who are you?" Phoenix said.

"I am Regifloras," he announced, voice grandiose. "I am --"

"King of plants." Cloak said, dryly and monotone, whose eyes were narrowed.

"I am more than that!" Regifloras shouted. "I am the Sultan of Shrubs, the Lord of --"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Cloak said, not the least bit interested in Regifloras's self-named titles. "Look, it's pretty obvious that you're behind this urban jungle stuff. We need you to clean up your mess."

"My mess? My mess?!" he shouted.

"It's gonna be a tirade, isn't it?" Blue muttered.

"MY mess?!?!" Regifloras said. "These humans poison the air, toxify the water, and makes the land barren! Yet it is 'my' mess that needs to be cleaned up."

"Oh, he's one of those villains," Parker said.

"I heard that, you miserable miscreant! You ignore the crimes your kind commits against my subjects? Like how you hack down my magnificent trees and turn them into lumber. Not only that, you burn them. For warmth! Creating smoke to block our life-giving sun!"

Saffa tried to protest, "We don't do that on purpose!"

But Regifloras countered, "Is it an accident when you rip apart my flowers?! Condemning them to a slow death in a vase?! Your kind . . . you animals, you're all the same! You treat my beautiful, living subjects as mere things! Why should I treat you any differently?"

"Regifloras," Cloak took a step forward, and stood his ground. "I do not like fire as much as you do. I do not like the poisoning of the air anymore than you do. I appreciate the awe-inspiring beauty of a forest, the scent of a blossom. The trees that shelter me. But you're resorting to extremes! I know there are humans that are overcome and consumed by their avarice and greed, by their lust for monetary gain, no matter the cost. That's one end of the extreme, and you're going over to the other. This won't accomplish anything -- just cause pain, turmoil, and suffering on both sides. This isn't the first time such a thing has happened."

"Empty words, human."

"I am not human," Cloak said. "Nor do I ever presume to be one. But my kind are no more faultless than they, or you."

"Irrelevant. I have laid down in pacifism and, as a result, have been trampled over and the rights of my subjects and myself have been rapturously ignored!" Regifloras shouted, indignation known. "No more! You can sever every limb, snap every branch, but my power will always bloom!"

"Regifloras, listen to reason!" Phoenix said. "There is no need for viole--"

"Enough talk! Let's incinerate this idiot and be done with it!" Demos said, having grown weary of the lack of action.

"Demos, NO!" Cloak shouted.

Too late, the demon ignited his hands and began to throw fireballs at Regifloras.

[Cloak]

Okay, currently planning out the chapters for Book CCCXLIV ("Horcrux Hunt"), and it will, by necessity perhaps -- given the subject matter, be a dark book.

New chapter.

CHAPTER SIX:
Mind Vines

"Fool! Infidel!" Regifloras yelled with righteous indignation. "You dare to attack me?! Me?! You miserable sacks of flesh!"

He reared up, snake-like, with a mass of vines acting almost like a powerful, constricting tail. He snuffed out the flames by simply regenerating in this way. Demos did nothing but royally tick off their adversary.

"Nice going, Demos," Blue snapped.

"Hey, it seemed like a good idea at the time." Demos said defensively.

"No, it didn't." Cloak said crossly. "Now our task is infinitely more dangerous and difficult. We could have handled this diplomatically. But that's not a solution anymore."

"Okay -- sorry. My bad."

"Accepted for the time be--" Cloak stopped midsentence. It was blurry, in Earthsight, but it was . . . odd. Too odd. Too odd to be real. "What the . . . ?"

"Cloak, you don't need Earthsight to see what we're seeing." Parker said.

"It's like were in the bad future of 'Meet the Robinsons'," Saffa said, as she saw the hazy green horizon as a mass of figures shuffled about. Cloak blinked as.he saw that each figure was trailing a cord of some sort. Their eyes glowed green, with green lines cracking from them.

"Mind control? Again?" Demos said. "I'm beginning to wonder why this city has yet to be abandoned."

It was a very good question.

"Yes, I see you finally admire my work." Regifloras said, contemptuously and condescendingly. "I had had enough of the humans taking me and my subjects lightly, taking us for granted. So, I made a decision. Instead of having you beings of flesh treat us as second-class citizens . . . no, as nonentities! Instead of having to endure the ignominious indignity of being nonentities, we would rise up. The creatures of flesh would be subservient to us!"

"You're monologuing." Cloak said, then he realized that the Mind Vines were coming after them, but the Mark would not allow them to latch on. Regifloras was not pleased with this, as he strung them up in vine bindings. The selfsame vines supported them up. However, instead of stringing up Blue, Regifloras only managed to bind -- or try to -- bind smoke.

"No matter, no matter," Regifloras muttered, more to himself than the others. "I should have awakened earlier, still."

[Cloak]

New book ideas.

• Book CDLXXVIII: "Feeling the Music" -- The RAFians must deal with cursed instruments.
• Book CDLXXIX: "Corrupted Crystals" -- The RAFians must deal with animal crystals who must be separated, yet yearn to join together.
• Book CDLXXX: "Arcane Cards" -- The RAFians must deal with an eeriely-accurate fortune teller.
• Book CDLXXXI: "The Necromancer's Collection" -- The RAFians must deal with a necromancer and his collection, which the RAFians had a hand in unintentionally adding on to.
• Book CDLXXXII: "Cloud Watching" -- A Cloudian comes to Faerie for help.
• Book CDLXXXIII: "Constellations Conjurer" -- The RAFians must deal with a Warbeast Conjurer.

New chapter.

CHAPTER SEVEN:
Escape From Eden

Cloak chafed at being bound. Realm Walkers are accustomed to coming and going at their own volition, whenever they chose. That's one reason why the Oblivion Gate is considered such a terrible fate, and that's discounting the proximity to the Oblivion Veil.

Regifloras was still muttering to himself, probably deciding what to do with them, and this did not go unnoticed. Blue was still not seen, but Cloak knew he was still here. Blue's scent was faint, but detectable. The rest of them were tied up pretty thoroughly.

Saffa could not morph anything larger than herself without risking being crushed, and she couldn't morph anything like a hawk without meeting a similar fate. Demos actually looked bored, as if this was uninteresting. Phoenix looked uncomfortable, but remained stern-faced. Parker was no suffering from discomfort so much as he was suffering from Tyr acting like Fi from "The Legend of Zelda" franchise.

Cloak looked out across the city and he could make out some forms easier than others. The Mind Vines did not discriminate. Men, women, and children of every ethnicity, every economy, every walk of life was represented in this small sampling. They were tending to Regifloras plants with slavish servility. The Mind Vines clearly suppressed all independent thoughts and obliterated all individuality.

How could they, how could the RAFians fail to respond to this fast enough? How could they have allowed, have permitted this to happen?

"I will have to consider another solution," Regifloras said, muttering to himself. But it was perfectly audible to Cloak. "She did not mention this. She warned me of all . . . all this. But I couldn't believe until I saw. Now I have these cruel creatures of flesh to contend with . . ."

She. Of course, she would have a hand in it. Cloak didn't know why he was surprised.

"Guys, I don't think we can glean anymore information from this guy's mutterings," Blue murmured, having appeared (as is his ninja way) beside Saffa.

"Yeah -- shut up, Tyr -- let get back to the forum." Parker said. Then, as an after thought, he said, "Tyr, that is the most stupid thing that I have ever heard. And I've heard Fox News."

Blue used his hidden ninjabo to slice away the vines pinioning Saffa's arms together. She deftly morphs hawk, for the first time in a while. She forgotten how much she loved that morph.

Parker shifted his armor to the Falco Armor, and activated its Giga Crush function which sliced off the vines, leaving the vine sections to flop wetly on the ground. It garnered Regifloras's attention.

Then Cloak, Phoenix, and Demos ignited themselves, burning away the vines that held them up and pinioning their arms to their sides. The fire continued, as it headed for a building, until Cloak stopped it. He still didn't like open flame, though it seemed a bit hypocritical of him at the moment.

"Quick! To the forum!" Phoenix said. And soon they were gone.

Regifloras managed to see the tailend of their escape. But his rage was concealed under a veneer of demurred stoicism and and calm contemplation. He wonders if he could actually use this to advantage. . . .

Maybe there would be room for expansion. . . .

[redtailedsaffa]

This city is nearly as bad as Gotham.

[Cloak]

True. (Or like any of the -- no. No, that's too political.)

New chapter.

CHAPTER EIGHT:
Eggplants

The RAFians had returned to the forum to find that Regifloras had managed to get there first. Not personally, mind you, but his handiwork was evident. The Mind Vines were here, but they did not function as they did in the city.

The RAFians looked around and were greeted with an eerie silence. It was much too late in the morning for it. The large vines appeared to have bloated fruit of assorted sizes, shaped much like blue eggplants. Cloak felt a chill.

"Those aren't eggplants," Parker said, voice audibly constricting. He went over to one, and the others followed. It turned out to be translucent, with something in the middle, a dark silhouette. Cloak realized why this was so familiar with a disconcerting suddenness. "They're the others."

The RAFian in the eggplant thing that Parker had approached held Helen. Parker did not touch it, though it was clear that he yearned to.

"How?" Phoenix asked.

"You guys wouldn't remember," Cloak muttered enigmatically.

"What?" Saffa demanded.

"All the way back when the Technarchy -- or Phalanx, whatever you prefer -- attacked and attempted to assimilate the world, including RAF, you guys were in similar structures." Cloak elaborated. "It was because the Mark prevented any of you from being assimilated. Parker, you may remember that your armor was assimilated, but you, yourself, were not."

"Huh. So that's why Tyr's being so quiet. Now I know what I can say to shut him up." Parker said, trying to inject some levity into the situation. It didn't work.

"But the question remains, Cloak," Saffa pressed. "Why? Why do this to us?"

"It's obvious," Blue said. "Overgrown Piranha Plant over there is essentially putting them into storage. Until, I assume, he can work out how to bypass or break the Mark."

"Not that," Saffa said, shaking her head peevishly, "why attack us? Why attack us at all? I was under the impression that RAF was one of the most green, if not the most green facilities on Earth."

"It doesn't matter," Phoenix said. "He is blinded by his hatred, by his indignation."

"There's probably more to it than that," Cloak said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Then he looked around, suddenly suspicious. "But we shouldn't continue talking about this. Not here. Not where he could potentially be listening in."

It was Saffa's turn to feel a chill. "That is a real creepy thought. But where do we go?" Then she looked at the eggplant things, "And what about the others?"

Cloak said nothing, not wanting to say it. Parker said it instead.

"We have to leave them behind."

[redtailedsaffa]

Eish, I don't even like eggplants.

[Cloak]

I've never had eggplant.

New, shortish chapter.

CHAPTER NINE:
Regroup in Desolate Area

"How'd you find this place?" Demos said. He sounded as if he hadn't felt the weight of the situation. Cloak knew that this wasn't the case, just Demos's demonic nature. "It's so barren."

They were at a quarry outside the city that was devoid of plant life. A very nice find of Blue's. The walls were of a khaki-colored stone, which continued underfoot, though as a fine sand, gravel, and pebbles. There was a possibilty of grass on the upper banks, and Cloak was paranoid about it.

He, Phoenix, and Demos encased themselves and Saffa (who was tempted to morph Crabdozer), Blue and Parker in a bubble of flame, while Cloak also projected an energy shield which acted almost like a liner of the fire shield. It could have been simple paranoia on Cloak's part, but he didn't levitate them up into the sky -- so he wasn't that paranoid.

"We should keep this brief. We cannot keep this up forever."

"Is this all really necessary?" Saffa asked. Her hair was slick with sweat. "It's like a sauna in here."

"Yes. Yes, it is necessary." Cloak said, humorlessly. "But we must come up with a plan of attack."

"The Mind Vines . . . what if we just sever them? Could it be that simple?"

"That may cause a psychic backlash to the victim of the Mind Vine," Parker said. "Their minds could be intertwined with it."

"Then that leaves us with only one recourse. We got to destroy --"

"I.e. 'kill'." Demos said, bluntly deciding to do away with the Saturday-morning-cartoon niceties. "Call it what it is."

"We have to . . . eliminate . . . Regifloras as a threat."

"He can regenerate, like Demos," Cloak pointed out. "That might prove difficult."

"He's not that stupid." Blue said. "He won't just stand still idly and watch us cleave him and his plant subjects to pieces or burn them to oblivion. The regeneration and that chlorokinesis --"

Cloak prefered the term "florakinesis" personally.

"-- make him a threat of brute force, not unlike the Seekers."

"There were six of those," Saffa said.

"And they were not allowed to make a move without Malice's say so," Cloak said. "And I wouldn't be surprised if she had hand in this, somehow."

"So, the question remains," Saffa said. "What do we do about this? Can we do anything about it?"

[redtailedsaffa]

Finally got these up!

[Cloak]

Excellent.

While I'll try to get a chapter up a day, chances are that it will be just that, one. The new Super Smash Bros came out today. So I'm gonna be busy . . .

Sorry for the delay.

New chapter.

CHAPTER TEN:
Back to Action!

"All agreed?" Phoenix said.

"Do we have much of a choice?" Saffa asked.

"Not really," Cloak said.  "Get ready now."

Cloak dropped the energy forcefield, which deafened the roar of the flames and blocked most of the searing heat so it was comfy enough inside. But all that returned within a microsecond. However, the flames were quickly extinguished, and they were delved into darkness once more.

"This isn't right," Parker said. "It's midday. It shouldn't be this dark."

"Rain?" Blue guessed.

"No . . ." Cloak said, recognizing what caused the darkness. "He took advantage of our absence."

"What? You mean --"

Instead of mincing words, Cloak blasted a pulse of energy that roughly tore through the large thorny vines that attempted to block the sunlight from them, almost greedily. Sunlight pored into the hole made, revealing it to be a rather sunny day.  But it was quickly obscured again by the vines.

"Okay, fine. Be that way. We'll just use a more permanent method." Demos said. His hands became bathed in flames, licking his palms and fingers with the gusto of an energetic puppy.

"Demos, don't be so hast--"

"BANZAI!" Demos said, rather carelessly lighting everything on fire.

<HEY!> Saffa shouted, having the greatest foresight to go ahead and morph Crabdozer. <Watch it!>

"I am! I'm watching it burn!!" Demos said, laughing maniacally. It was clear he had inadvertently allowed his demonic self get the better of him. The gigantic thorny vines that had been so thoroughly intertwined with each other to resemble a muscle and its fibers was quickly burned away. Phoenix and Cloak had managed to stem it, while Demos seemed to be transported in rapturous delight.

Parker strode over to the RAFian demon, who did not seem aware of his approach. Parker drew back his hand, and smacked Demos across the face. Hard.

"SNAP OUT OF IT!!!" he shouted, as Demos seemed to become lucid again. "We don't have time for episodes of demonic pyromania!"

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER ELEVEN:
The Vines Have Ears

<Which way from here?> Saffa asked.

"You can morph back now," Cloak said, then he shut his eyes. It made it easier to Earthsight. Then he opened them when he got the direction,  though vague with the moving, twisting, undulating vines that were still present several yards away. Cloak pointed to his right, saying, "That way."

And away they went. Yet, something tugged persistently at Cloak's gut. Something was off . . . could Regifloras know of their plan?

"It's about time, fleshlings," came a voice. It was almost sultry (which kinda upped the creepiness factor) and coy. "Took you long enough to come out of your little inconsequential bubble."

Regifloras revealed himself, bearing some attributes similar to Sigma from the "Mega Man X" series. But that wasn't the thing that threw Cloak about the Plant King's appearance. It seemed there was something just plan missing to him. Cloak wasn't sure to trust this sudden intuition of his, but he could help but feel that this Regifloras might not be the actual one. Just a mock-up to deliver a message.

"We will end your tyranny," Parker said.

"My tyranny? What of yours and your fleshy brethen?" Regifloras said. "Alternating from poisoning to burning the planet, and back again. For what? Sheer avarice! For meaningless money! I am doing nothing but returning the world back into its most natural state, imprisoning the perpetrators for their crimes in a jail in which they cannot escape -- their own minds! -- and so their bodies, their weak flesh can be used to do something useful!"

"Then how are you any better?" Saffa asked, shrewdly.

This seemed to stymie him momentarily, before he snarled, "Don't spin this around on me. You are the ones who are wrong. You are the ones who wronged me."

"I thought it was humans, in general." Phoenix said, smoothly. "I am half phoenix. Cloak and Demos aren't human at all."

"Don't you dare twist my words!!"

"Are you done?" Cloak said, early unimpressed.

"How dare you speak to me in --"

"How come you don't speak to us yourself?" Cloak said, realizing what Regifloras always had no matter how his appearance altered. There was a small pink rose over where his heart would be were he human. It was elegantly incorporated into his overall appearance, appearing as nothing more then a small flower on a lapel. "Why send a imperfect mock-up? Have a Dr. Doom complex?"

"Silence!"

"Make me."

"Silence!"

"Oh, we don't have time for this whole schtick." Cloak said, quickly executing the Mario Finale on the False Regifloras, incinerating the fake.

"How did you know?" Parker asked.

"I'll elaborate on the way," Cloak said.

[redtailedsaffa]

Heh. The debating experience. I've still got it.

[Cloak]

Oh, I had forgotten that, actually. I guess that means this story is now writing itself. Anyway -- new book ideas!

• Book CDLXXXIV: "Evolutionary Revolutionary" -- A man, styling himself the Lord High Evolutionary, hyper-evolves animals (and four human children) into anthropomorphic animals. The RAFians get dragged into dealing with it.
• Book CDLXXXV: "The Stone of the Ancients" -- An ancient gemstone holds immensely powerful, immensely selfish beings . . . breaks, releasing them. The RAFians must stop them before they destroy all of creation.
• Book CDXXXVI: "Shadow Beasts" -- Monstrous, sentient beasts of shadow are released by a RAFian enemy, and cause havoc that the RAFians must deal with.
• Book CDXXXVII: "Don't Wake Daddy!" -- A RAFian villain, sealed away, must rely on getting his children to release him.

Don't think I rehashed anything. Tell me what you think!

New chapter.

CHAPTER TWELVE:
The Drone Masses

"That simple, huh?" Parker said, after Cloak had explained about the heart/lapel flower. He had seen a similar thing before, in another realm. "Clearly, that Regifloras was a fake or else these vines would no longer be behaving this this way, or have withered and died, or something."

"Still, our goal remains the same," Cloak said. He was beginning to feel uneasy, and it clearly showed, because Saffa and Blue immediately picked up on and asked what was up. "It's too quiet. We should have run into more trouble by now."

"Maybe he doesn't think we're a threat to him," Phoenix shrugged, noncommitingly. Demos gave a slight bark of laughter. "Nah, not really likely. Although . . . he could be trying to herd us somewhere."

"I am thinking that that isn't the case," Blue said, looking over his shoulder. Cloak could Earthsight them, but the twisting undulation of these thorny vines made sensing the vibrations difficult. But his feline sense could pick up the scents before the rest and could hear the shuffling footsteps and the sound of aomething like a great many heavy garden hoses being dragged along the ground.

"Oh, please. He's gonna be one of those villains?" Cloak wondered quietly, but voice still quite audible in this corridor of thorny vines oppened to the sky. "I mean, what is this? A video game? A Saturday morning cartoon show?"

The first vine-drone, as Cloak had come to think of the Mind Vine victims, he appeared to be in his late teens with stubby limbs, large thick hands and feet, small rounded ears, beady eyes, and a round, broad head. His hair was shaved brown with gold highlights. His Mind Vine attached firmly to the base of his skull, dragging it along with absolutely no damage to it, leaving inconsequential, but deep furrows in the ground.

Had he been alone, he would have posed no threat. Had he been alone.

But behind him a boy around eleven or twelve with brown hair and a rather severe sunburn ambled along, Mind Vine firmly attached to the base of his skull as well, right next to what one could assume was once a stately woman with long raven-black hair (which parted down the middle due to the Mind Vine attached to her head). More and more appeared behind them, and Cloak could not begin to count them all.

"This isn't good," Parker said. Although his face could not be seen, it was clear that it was etched with utmost concern.

"So what? We'll just burn through --"

"Don't make me hit you again, Demos," Parker countered, "regain control over those demonic impulses. We don't need you to get careless with your pyrokinesis."

"Listen to the man," Cloak said, as he gazed thoughtfully at the approaching horde coming forward at their slow, shuffling, ambling pace. It was almost as if they were the archaic depictions of Hollywood monsters, like the mummy and Frankenstein's monster. "We cannot fight them without hurting the innocents that the vines control."

"So . . ." Blue said, scrunching his face up visably disgust, "I guess we allow ourselves to get herded."

"Or let him think that he's herding us." Saffa said, a mischievous edge to her voice.