Revenge of the Banned Discussion Thread

[HiImshort]

Nice Seal. Very good!

[Cloak]

Per usual, excellence, Horse.

[Gaz]

Good chapter, horsie!

[Blocky97]

epiclicios

[Faerie Larka]

I was on top of the tower!  *stands proudly*

So many people in the hospital

[Blocky97]

yeah. the two person make-shift hospital

[HiImshort]

Hey Seal. When you see this can you come into chat? Got a question I wanna ask and some other stuff. 

[Horsefan1023 (Seal)]

yeah. the two person make-shift hospital

Not 2 people.  More.  Not named.  If I covered every single little detail imaginable in the chapter, then the chapter would take you an hour to read. 

And, no, not makeshift either.  It was always there.  Just packed at this moment.

[Terenia]

This is awesome, Seal. I hadn't gotten around to reading this until today, and I just read through the whole thing in one sitting! Great job - you put my students to shame with your writing and you're at least 5 years younger than them!

Huzzah! Keep writing so I can keep reading!

[Horsefan1023 (Seal)]

Terenia, thank you so much!  Very high praise.   

[Horsefan1023 (Seal)]

Sorry for double posting, but I present to you the final chapter of Revenge of the Banned.  Thank you.

Chapter Twenty

   Voices, and light.
   "Hey...hey!  I've found him!"
   "God, he doesn't look good."
   "Erm...based on the burns all over his face, and the various things sticking out of him, I'd say that's a no."
   "He must have gotten caught in one of the grenade explosions.  Shrapnel grenade, by the looks of it.  Let's get him back to the hospital..."
   Everything went black again.

   More light.  Shadowy shapes scrambled back and forth.  A sharp pain in his shoulder.  "Hey...ow..." he protested weakly.
   A hand waved in his face.  "His eyes are tracking.  You back with us, man?"
   Phoenix004 shook his head feebly to clear it and looked around  "Um...I think so.  Where am I?"
   "RAF hospital.  You got caught in a shrapnel grenade blast.  Glad you're back."
   "Ouch!"  Protested Phoenix, as Brad yanked a piece of shrapnel out of his shoulder.
   "Before you ask," said Brad, as if nothing had ever happened, "Yes, we won the battle.  RAF is ours.  Queen ran with her tail between her legs."
   "Good."  Said Mike.  "But wait...I was just going out to look for Claire.  Why am I suddenly full of bits of stuff?"
   "I think Queen," said Brad, grunting as he began to extract a peice from Mike's foot, "left a trap.  Hoped to kill you, knowing you'd go look for Claire.  But man, she's dead."
   "She's NOT dead," growled Mike.  "I refuse to believe that.  I will never believe that.  Until I see her dead body with my own eyes, she's alive."
   "Okay, then.  She's alive."
   But the pity in Brad's eyes told Mike that everyone else had given up on her.

   Slowly, RAF was being rebuilt.
   Bladeh Mercury, formerly known as Bladepaw sat by the workers, feeling rather helpless, being a cat.  Gaz came up and plopped down beside her.  "Phew!"  The pirate-vampire said.  "I'm tired of lifting bricks all day."
   Bladeh looked at her ruefully.  "Wished I could be tired too.  Beats sitting around here."
   Gaz appeared thoughtfull.  "Hmm...I'm sure there's SOMETHING you can do.  Seal found something to do, after all."  Gaz nodded to where Seal was conjuring water and mixing up the mortar.  "Um...oh hey!  You could do patrols on the walltop.  Almost everyone else is working, and we need to keep a wary eye out for Queen."
   Bladepaw stood up and stretched.  "Alright, thanks, Gaz!"  Nimbly, she leapt up a pile of crumbling rocks, and scrambled up to the walltop.  Keeping a keen eye on the feilds, and ears pricked, she began to walk along the crumbling walls.
   Only then did Bladeh truly appreciate how...destroyed RAF was.  The Media Board had a large hole in the top, the RAFsocial board's walls falling down.  The RAFtower, just some random spire that they put in, had a few holes in it.  The walls had gaping holes in it.  Most of the rusty old turrets had been blown up.  There were huge charred spots on the grass, and blood still on it.  RAFians were sadly clearing away bodies of minions, and a few RAFian newbs.  It was rather devastating to look at.
   RAF has changed, thought Bladeh.  And...it will never, ever be the same...

   One year later...

   Dramatically framed by the sun, CloakedFigure appeared on a hilltop in the swirl of a cloak.  He began to walk down the hill--cloak, once again, dramatically billowing in the wind, then was undramatically nearly knocked over by the impact of a seal running headfirst into him.
   "Cloaky!"  Yelled Horsefan1023  "I knew you'd come back!  I knew it!"
   "Gah...that means I owe her a dollar."  Grumbled FaerieLarka.  "I bet that you wouldn't come, being to busy hunting down Dagger."
   "Unfaithful," chided Blocky97, finally restored to full health.
   "Believe the worst.  Then you'll never be dissapointed if it comes," said demos666.
   Cloaky smiled, happy to be surrounded by friends again.  "Well, lets go.  The celebration is about to start."

   Kit Cloudkicker, or Jess, smiled at the sight of the party of five coming down the hill.  Her thoughts were interrupted by SageKiller, sounding impatient, in the wheelchair in front of her.  "Well, come on, wheel me on, Jess.  I want to join the mob greeting them."
   Jess grinned cheekily.  "What if I just ran away and left you here?  Come on, just because you are unable to move your legs anymore doesn't mean you can't move your arms.  Come on, use those muscles!"
   They both laughed, and Jess begain to wheel Sage's chair along. 

   An hour or so later, RAFians were all gathered around one long table.  They were talking, laughing.  Being together.  Completely relaxed for the first time in a year.  Bladeh was right, RAF had changed forever.
   Cloaky was telling about his travels to hunt for Dagger, with a raptly listening crowd.  Other RAFians were relating the battle.
   After a little while, Richard stood up and clinked his spoon on a glass.  Silence fell.
   "Well, my fellow RAFians," he began.  "You know why we're here.  We're celebrating our freedom.  Celebrating the war we won against Queen.  The war we won, and gained so much.  That is why we are celebrating, feasting, and laughing together.
   "Now, I am sorry to effectivelly kill your laughter, but I need to remind you of the price we paid.  We have lost Claire, a valued staff member, and friend of many.  She was killed protecting a RAFian, and RAF itself.  No person deserves higher honor.  That is why I am not replacing her on the staff.  Our only staff members will be Russell, Mike, Goom, and myself.
   "I know, you are all sad now.  But keep in mind.  Claire was willing to sacrifice herself.  She was willing.  This was her choice, and never forget that.  You all have a choice.  The choice is...bravery and sacrifice...or cowardice and loss. 
   "Ask yourself that every day.  Be a hero...or be a coward.  There may not be the opprotunity to do it every day, but think about it.
   "Remember Claire.  She made the choice.  Remember...she paid the price.  Willingly.  She paid the price.  The price that must be paid to have freedom for all."

Epilogue

   My name is Horsefan1023.  I have faced the pain and the anguish it took to look back upon these memories to compile this book. 
   You have no idea how much pain it caused to look back.  All of us have tried to forget.  To not live the pain again.  The pain of how it changed us.  The pain of the loss of Claire.  The pain of the thoughs of Queen.
   I put this together and faced the pain.  Faced the agony.  To remind us.  To remind us of what it cost, that we must be brave, and remember.  Be brave like Claire.  Choose hero over coward.
   Remember the price, too.  The price of a life.  Of Claire.
   But, as Richard said...the price must be paid to have freedom for all.
   The price must be paid to have freedom for all.

[SuperBlue]

Sealie that was beautiful! *whipes single tear from eye* a perfect end to a perfect fic....


NOW GET TO WORK ON THE SEQUEL*breaks out whip*

[Cloak]

OUCH!! WATCH IT WITH THAT THING BLUE!

[...] then was undramatically nearly knocked over by the impact of a seal running headfirst into him. [...]

This is probably funnier to me because Shadow ACTUALLY DID THIS, or tried to, whenever I picked her from daycare all those years ago.

[Blocky97]

AMAZING  :'( so beautiful

[Phoenix004]

Still can't believe you killed off Claire, but I'm at least glad you gave her a hero's ending. Nice writing Seal.