Memoirs of a RAFian

[Cloak]

Underseen, you mean "scared", right?

If that's the case, then, in answer to your question, well, yes, but just wait until the later chapters. . . . Which will have at least one up on Monday.

EDIT: Whoa.  One hundred pages!  If memory serves, that's more than "RAFize Songs" thread!

• Book XXVII: Infinity and Eternity

The Infinity Gems and the Eternity Stones make themselves known.

• Book XXVIII: The Virus Rings

The RAFians are attacked by foes they never thought they'd see again.

• Book XXIX: Soul-Suckers

The RAFians are attacked by Dementors, which have a rather large effect on Cloak.

• Book XXX: Mayhem of the Music Miser

Cloak recalls the RAFians' previous confrontation with the Music Miser three years ago.

• Book XXXI: The Metal-Maker

The RAFians must save their own from a Roboticizer.

• Book XXXII: Richard is Missing

The RAFians must cope without Richard.

• Book XXXIII: Emotional Food

The RAFians must confront a different kind of vampire.

• Book XXXIV: Transformation Confrontation

The RAFians must confront some strange machines.

• Book XXXV: Richard's Horn

The RAFians must get Richard's Horn, a mystical musical instrument, back from Malice, who received it from a RAFian traitor.

• Book XXXVI: Feral Scream

A Wildwethel-centric book, he must deal with his feral side.

• Book XXXVII: Predators and Prey

The RAFians are being preyed upon by some sentient predators.

• Book XXXVIII: A Protean Problem

The RAFians must deal with a powerful snot-nosed kid who, quite literally, can do whatever he wants.

• Book XXXIX: The Horsemen

Four RAFians are captured and converted into four Horsemen of the ancient, rogue Realm Walker Cataclysm.

• Book XL: Sizeable Pain in the Necks

The RAFians must deal with Heinlein aliens.

• Book XLI: RAF's Nightmare

The RAFians must survive their own nightmares.

• Book XLII: Unlucky Charms

The RAFians must contend with a rather bloodthirsty leprechaun.

• Book XLIII: The Piper

The RAFians must contend with a pied piper.

• Book XLIV: Starlight Desire

The RAFians race Malice, Abomination, and the Banned to a wishing star (no, not Estelore).

• Book XLV: A War of Armor

Parker is outraged to see knockoffs of his rather unique armor and what they're being used for.

• Book XLVI: The Worst Plague

The RAFians must weather the worst plague to ever existed -- the Hate Plague.

• Book XLVII: Little Alien Napoleons

The RAFians are caught in the middle of a war between Helmacrons and Fmeks.

• Book XLVIII: Go Away!

The RAFians must deal with the paparazzi who are all of a sudden interested in them.

• Book XLIX: RAFian Tales

RAFians tell various RAFian-themed stories across a lunch table.

• Book L: Maul

The RAFians must deal with the result of one of Demos's experiments.

• Book LI: Erised Orbs

The RAFians must face their greatest desires.

• Book LII: RAFians Alive!

Read the "Mummies Alive" parody in the RAFize songs thread.

• Book LIII: The Pain Reliever

The RAFians must deal with an elderly Vulcan styling himself the "Pain Reliever".

• Book LIV: Beyond the Veils

Aquilai and Aila must confront old foes while the other RAFians must put up with a Czarinian bounty hunter.

• Book LV: Dangerous Deals

Demos meets up with his half-brother, Shenecron, who has a perchant for making deals.

• Book LVI: Of One Mind

Malice seeks out the Unimind.

• Book LVII: The End of Time

The RAFians must contend with two Kryptonians (who think they're Time Lords) and prevent them from ending time altogether.

• Book LVIII: Hematomimic

The RAFians must capture a Plasmavore and put up with it's rather stupid Judoon jailer.

• Book LIX: Sins of Youth

Estelore, Richard, Parker, and Cloak must survive when the entire city and forum have been reduced to two-year-olds.

• Book LX: The Replacements

The RAFians must contend with the fame-feeding Eidolon Consciousness.

• Book LXI: Arachnoids

The RAFians must contend with the Arachnoids and finding a cure for one of their own that was poisoned before it's too late.

• Book LXII: Personal Tissues

The RAFians must contend with some one misusing Bibliophaetos's discarded book shell.

• Book LXIII: Memory Today, Gone Tomorrow

The RAFians lose their memory and must find a way to regain it.

• Book LXIV: Appliance Armageddon

A superintelligent computer controls all electronics, and the RAFians must stop it.

• Book LXV: Prodigy and Composite

Some RAFians are merged into two separate entities.

• Book LXVI: The Merging

The Universes begin colliding and merging.

• Book LXVII: Be A Doll

The RAFians are confronted by a Super Chucky.

• Book LXVIII: They're Such Cards

The RAFians are sealed into cards, which end up trapped in an ancient leather-bound book, and it's up to three kids to free them.  An out-of-continuity book.

• Book LXIX: Dinosaur Island

Everyone, except those that bear a Mark, begin turning saurian.

• Book LXX: Corrupted

The RAFians must deal with the son of Cataclysm, Corruptor.

• Book LXXI: Artificial Skins

The RAFians must deal with symbiotes.

• Book LXXII: Separation Anxiety

The RAFians must contend with an ethereal virus.

• Book LXXIII: A Thing About RAFians

The RAFians must contend with Seekers, which home in onto their Marks.

• Book LXXIV: A Planted Idea

The RAFians must contend with a floramaniac.

• Book LXXV: Vacation Photos

The RAFians are sucked into a Polarisoid camera.

• Book LXXVI: A Personal Gremlin

The RAFians must contend with gremlins.

• Book LXXVII: The Rust is Silence

The Rafians must deal with an oxidation ray wielded by a criminal.

• Book LXXVIII: The Toyman Cometh

The RAFians deal with a Toyman-esque character.

• Book LXXIX: RAFian Idol

Yes, just another excuse to put in more of the (as of writing) nearly 800 parodies.

• Book LXXX: Savage Heart

Cloak battles an ancient being called Garrotik.

• Book LXXXI: Slave Islands and Juggernauts

Three RAFians are taken prisoners by the Knights and sold into the slavery of New Genoshia, while the others deal with a juggernaut.

• Book LXXXII: Shredding a King

The RAFians deal with a demonic Shredder-like ghost called Regiphaetos.

• Book LXXXIII: RAF -- The TV Show

The RAFians are forcibly recruited to Mojo's programs.

• Book LXXXIV: The Drinker

The RAFians must contend with a Spirit-Drinker.

• Book LXXXV: The Last Laugh

The RAFians must face Joker Gas.

• Book LXXXVI: It's A Mad, Mad, Mad Villain

The RAFians must contend with mind control cards which are ineffective on them.

• Book LXXXVII: Sight Unseen

Six RAFians are rendered functionally blind, optically-speaking.

• Book LXXXVIII: Don't Let It Snow

The RAFians must face a second Ice Age caused by a Diznee Ice Ifrit.

• Book LXXXIX: The Rachel Toxin

The RAFians must find a cure to a toxin that increases the fearlessness, hostility and aggressiveness induced in people which the Mark cannot protect the RAFians from.

• Book XC: Virus Alert!

The RAFians face a dangerous virus seeking a host.

• Book XCI: A Youthful Thief

The RAFians face a creature that siphons off the youth in its victims, provided they're younger than him.

• Book XCII: Calendar Creep

The RAFians face the Calendar Creep, a criminal whose crimes are holiday themed.

• Book XCIII: The Branding

Faerie fights a witch-boy named Salem (and his magical black cat, Saberhagen) for a magical branding iron in Faerie's possession.

• Book XCIV: The Void Zone

Nothing like a "Subspace Emissary" parody.  Sorry.

• Book XCV: An Epic Yarn

The RAFians' world is turned into yarn and fabric.

• Book XCVI: RAFian Gladiators

RAFians are kidnapped by Gamesmaster, another rogue Realm Walker, and force to participate in gladiatorial games.

• Book XCVII: The Box

The RAFians must cage thirteen Revenants released from Pandora's Box -- each representing and amplifying a particular feeling (i.e. hatred), while looking for the perfect host.

• Book XCVIII: From the Shadows

The RAFians must save their shadows and the shadows of everyone else from being absorbed (eaten) by the Umbraraptors, but not everything is what it seems.

• Book XCIX: Grimm Prospects

The RAFians discover Malice controlling several "wesen" with control collars akin to April's in "Catwoman from Channel Six" and get stuck in one-on-one battles to the death with them.  One will die.

• Book C: Loop-De-Loop

Everyone's trapped in a temporal loop, but the only ones that realize it are Cloak, Aila, and Aquilai.

• Book CI: Get 'Em, Shaw

The RAFians face a creature native to the planet Gossamer, who's under the control of Malice.

• Book CII: Threadfall

The RAFians must exterminate an epidemic of Thread.

• Book CIII: Siren's Song

The RAFians must deal with a siren and her alluring song.

• Book CIV: Resistance is Futile

The RAFians must deal with a hybridization of the Borg and the Hive chips (Ben 10: Alien Swarm) -- which the Mark cannot protect them from, nor the Unity energy can destroy.

• Book CV: The Titan

The RAFians must contend with the Titan serum and its effects.

• Book CVI: A Stony Glare

The RAFians must deal with a hungry Stone-Biter and a petrifying venom of a Diznee Stone Ifrit.

• Book CVII: Spritely Pests

The RAFians must deal with irritating sprites, which Faerie has had some rather tenuous experiences with.

• Book CVIII: Destroy All . . . What?

The RAFians must contend with a Furon incursion, and it turns out the Nyacs have knowledge of Furons. . . .

• Book CIX: Going Backwards

A grievious malfunction in Aquilai's TARDIS causes time to reverse its flow and flow backwards.

• Book CX: Death Takes A Holiday

The RAFians must convince Death to take up his role again.  A RAFian will die in this book, and it is within the continuity.

• Book CXI: High Price Stakes

Shanker and Gaz must flee and elude Daphne, the vampire hunter.

• Book CXII: A Killer Housing Market

The RAFians must survive and either destroy or escape a killer house.

• Book CXIII: A Silenced World

The RAFians must cope with a world that has become muted and a young sorceress, Melissa Spellman.

• Book CXIV: The Bureau

The RAFians must save their own from the insideous Bureau of Lost.

• Book CXV: To Tell the Truth

Broken's apprentice, Melissa, accidentally casts a spell forcing everyone to tell the truth.

• Book CXVI: Skin Crawlers

The RAFians, repulsed and revolted, must contend with Hundred (who eventually becomes Thousand, then becomes Million, then Billion, and then, finally, Trillion).

• Book CXVII: School of Stepford Lies

The RAFians must save the children from a school that turns them into Stepford students at Terenia's school.

• Book CXVIII: Ol' Salty

The RAFians must deal with the Salt Man.

• Book CXIX: The Great Race

The RAFians hold a race that Aloth cons himself into.  Who will win?

• Book CXX: Ape Escape

The RAFians must help super intelligent apes -- Caesar the chimp, Brutus the gorilla, and Maestro the orangutan -- reconcil their misanthropy.

• Book CXXI: A Different Kind of Unity

The RAFians must contend with a parasitic "unity".

• Book CXXII: The Great Brain Robery

Someone is stealing brains for an unknown purpose.

• Book CXXIII: The Bounty Hunter

The Knights, in their hypocricy, hire a Tsul'Kalu bounty hunter to collect select RAFians (to taxidermy).

• Book CXXIV: New Controllers

The RAFians confront Zirconians.

• Book CXXV: Creeping Crystal

A wave of crystallizing energy is sweeping the land. . . .

• Book CXXVI: The Element Feeder

The RAFians deal with a creature who feeds on a specific element and matures to a different element each time as it matures. . . .

• Book CXXVII: The Rider and the Walker

The RAFians come up against the Ghost Rider.

• Book CXXVIII: Headhunters

What will happen when RAFians lose their heads?  Seriously.

• Book CXXIX: The Color Purple, Man!

The RAFians confront the Purple Man, who manages to turn the entire government against them . . .

• Book CXXX: The Nemetrix Beetle

The RAFians confront the Black Beetle with Nemetrix properties.

• Book CXXXI: It's Tought to Be A Mod

The members of a primitive forum declare Demos and Blue to be mods. . . .

• Book CXXXII: Who-Zilla?

An energy reaction begins turning RAFians into monstrous creatures in 3XXX.  Out-of-continuity book.

• Book CXXXIII: Well, Techadon-ally . . .

The RAFians confront Techadons who assign them qualitive quatilities, and refuse to acknowledge any defeats.

• Book CXXXIV: The Mind's Eye

The RAFians face Spellbinder and his realistic illusions.

• Book CXXXV: Bas-ic Instincts

Bas awakens and attempts to take control of Cloak and other felines.

• Book CXXXVI: Midas Duck

The RAFians must contend with a very strange golden idol and a greedy sneak-thief.

• Book CXXXVII: War with the Warworlds

The RAFians must defeat two heavily-armed Warworlds.

• Book CXXXVIII: Solar Sucks

The RAFians must save Estelore from a device able to suck out her stellar substance and lifeforce.

• Book CXXXIX: Hounded

The RAFians are attacked by hellhounds that only Demos can see, although Cloak can "see" them via Earthsight.

• Book CXL: Politics

The RAFians, much to Cloak's chagrin and irritation, get caught up in the middle of Realm Walker politics.

• Book CXLI: Buggy Afternoon

A Bug is after Parker's blood, to "avenge" their brother slain by the SPARTAN.

• Book CXLII: Cloak's Nightmare

Cloak has an exceedingly vivid nightmare of the Great RAFian Purge. . . .

• Book CXLIII: Cloak and the Olympians

Cloak confronts and defies the Olympians.

• Book CXLIV: Down to Earth

The RAFians have gravity-related problems.

• Book CXLV: Hittin' the Dino-Sauce

The RAFians learn the dangers of Dino-Sauce.

• Book CXLVI: Blood Feud

Shanker's past comes into light. . . .

• Book CXLVII: She's Back! A Dino Story

Pretty much a shameless parody of "We're Back! A Dinosaur Story".

• Book CXLVIII: A Journey into Her Past

Delving into Noelle's pre-RAFian life and her relationship with Ardnalil-Shicom-Maar.

• *Book CXLIX: Mortality and Morality

The RAFians face some rather conceited Leviathons.

[Underseen]

Yeah I meant scared, this is what happens when I use touchscreens when I'm tired.

Kudos on the 100 pages.

[Cloak]

Yeah, I noticed that myself when I used an iPad.

And thanks.  On to 200 pages!  I certainly have sufficient ideas for it.

[Underseen]

Its weird because the books I look forward to are the out-of-continuity books and the books about characters pasts because they tend to be the most original. Like the First Master an The Last RAFian.

[Cloak]

Ironically, the ones that I am rather free to be as, uh, merciless with deaths with.

And you can expect at least two or three more books that delve into character's pasts . . . a little.

EDIT:  Now for an actual chapter.  Now, you'll see just why this Syphoon and his addiction is REALLY scary, Underseen. . . .

CHAPTER NINE:
Feeding An Addiction

While the old bunker held some RAFians, not all were lucky enough to make it there.  Underseen was immediately chased by Syphoon, unable to hide his plethora of thoughts, after he "fed" and feasted on the powers of a male Loboan, male Thep Khufan, and male Transylian.
 
Naturally, Underseen fled from this fight, attempting to hide in plain sight, as a variety of objects, creatures and materials.  But it did not occur to him to disguise his thoughts until he was physically exhausted.  He attempted to hide as a punkish teenager, his mind too tired to think of something more ornate.  It was that tired mind that actually narrowly saved him.  Syphoon, unable to decipher Underseen's muddled mind, dismissed him as another useless, powerless, human.
 
Underseen did not look a gift horse in the mouth, and he made his way to the bunker, collapsing into an opaque goo when crossing the threshold.
 
"Ew," Gaz remarked, upon seeing this.
 

***

Syphoon gave up his search for Underseen fairly easily, as he hungered for more power, and it was the type of hunger that simply could not be denied.  So Syphoon sought out, easily overpowered, and fed from an Orishan, an Amperi, a Talpaedan, a Geochelone Aerio, a law-abiding Prypiatosian-B, and a Merlinisapien.  Not only their powers this time, but their lifeforce as well.  His appetite abated for a time, but Syphoon's absorbing addiction was starting to take a disasterous turn.  He was quickly becoming a sort of pan-vampyra -- a vampiric creature that needs to feed on everything.
 
And he didn't seem to realize he was quickly losing his rational mind to this addiction. . . .
 

***

Dino was rather in a panic.  She was in her compacted form, although she was still large enough to be quite noticeable.  She was all too aware of this.  She had to find a safe spot from Syphoon, as she already knew that he'd already gotten EvilPinkDragon and Shock.  What she didn't know, however, was that the Mark somehow prevented Syphoon from sucking their life force out entirely -- he hadn't absorbed a dementor, because he didn't know their existence.
 
BOOM!

In an explosive infusion of fire and sand, Syphoon appeared in front of her with a rather sinister, hungry smile on his face.  Dino was trapped, cornered.  But she would not go down so easily.  She struck with her tail!

Missed.  By a wide margin.

She lashed out with her teeth, and missed.  Syphoon rather deftly placed his hand on her pebbly neck and it was as if the color was draining out of Dino, not only taking her power, but taking a bulk of her life force.

And in the bunker, the other RAFians writhed a little, able to feel some small portion of what Dino felt, as if her Mark was reaching out to the others, telling them what happened.  Even in the vastness of space, and on the fringes of the Nexus, it was felt.

[Cloak]

Time for a second one today, I think.  Probably gonna be a short one.

CHAPTER TEN:
Estelore and Cloak At Bay

Estelore meandered somewhere between the Andromeda galaxy and Omicron Persei, she wasn't really paying attention where she was.  She was only present enough to prevent collisions with other, albeit nonsentient, stars.  Her mind was really full.  She, like Cloak, didn't like being expelled and suspended from RAF.  She understood Richard's motivations, but she didn't have to like it just the same.
 
She moodily watched as a star a fair distance away go supernova and collapse in on itself.  She bowed her proverbial head in respect for the old one's death, and after a few minutes, moved on.  She continued to brood on her situation, then she felt the twinges of pain.
 
She was so alarmed she turned and looked around, as if someone would harm her.  It was a few moments before she realized that the pain was not coming from anywhere else but . . . but her Mark.  She knew this meant her friends were in grave peril, but what should she do?  What if she rode in to the rescue and Syphoon absorbed her powers. making everything infinitely worse?  But could she really sit here, proverbally speaking, and do nothing?
 
Estelore looked around, scaring herself momentarily, as she initially thought she didn't know where she was.  But she got her bearings back, and looked in the direction of Earth, with feelings of longing tugging at her and indecision overwhelming her.
 

***

"Wha, we're not good enough for you, Mister Cloak?" came a sneer from a piglet Realm Walker.  Cloak ignored him.  He was just an arrogant little brat who, like most his age, thought he knew everything.
 
Cloak stood on the fringes of the Realm Walker city, arms folded, looking out into the fluid columns that snaked and twisted alongside a rather ample pier*.  But, Cloak looked specifically at the largest one, the one that seemed to have others branching off of it.  They were not alternative timelines, but alternative universes, such as the Harry Potter, Animorph, and Sonic universe.  This was the Prime Universe, the Realm that had become Cloak's home.  As such, Cloak considered himself effectively homeless at the moment, as he simply WOULD NOT go back . . . back to that dilapidated mess of a house that he was effectively imprisoned at for so many years.  Shadow and his grandfather was all that really helped him keep his sanity in that Veil-pit**.

"I'm talking to you!" the piglet Realm Walker insisted.

"Go home," Cloak said in a very hostile and surly manner.

"You don't tell me what --"

Cloak whirled at him and said, anger in his face, "You can go home of your own accord and volation or I can send you there as a flying piglet!!"

"Mommy!!  Daddy!!" the piglet squealed as it ran home to his parents.

Cloak was well aware he might have to deal with the angry parents, who if were any kinds of parents would have told their little Brat that it wasn't proper to annoy people with deliberately loaded words and statements.  Cloak didn't care.  He didn't care if the Brat's parents would scold him for what he did.  If they did, Cloak knew his retort.  But, as it turned out, he didn't even need it.

Cloak felt the twinges of writhing pain in his Mark, and he knew his friends, his makeshift family, were in trouble.  He also knew there wasn't one blasted thing he could do to help without making everything worse!!  He glared at his Mark angrily, as if it was it's fault that he was condemned to be back here, so near the place he despised.

He shut his eyes and took a deep breath, calming down with each successive breath.  It was pointless to be angry at the things outside his control.  A waste of energy and thought.  But he did not release the yearning he had, the yearning to return.

---
*Bit of a retcon, I know.  Unless, of course, you've never read "Intro Randomness", then never mind!

** Realm Walker for "hellhole".

[Cloak]

Got time and energy for a third chapter.  Might be a bit of a short chapter.

CHAPTER ELEVEN:
The Strain of Leadership

Meanwhile, back at the bunker, Goom was tabulating the arrivals and the recovered drained RAFians.  Some where still missing, like Shock, Parker, and Blue.  Goom was frowning, and sighing heavily at the casualties.  At least he had Kelly's timely assistance with such a monumental task.

Richard and his mods surveyed every one, lined up, being cared for, as best as the circumstances would allow.  Fortunately, Underseen rested enough to coalesced back into a recognizable humanoid form.  But he was still of that gooy, opaque substance.  Richard supposed with more rest, Underseen would return to color.

"Richard," SuperNate said, "we're, at best, just surviving.  We must be proactive in order to end this threat."

<Why must we be the ones to end it?> Esplin countered.  <We did not create this mess.>

"That may be true," Phoenix said, leaning on a crutch, "but we are the only ones that are equiped to stop it."

<"We?> Esplin said.  <You haven't any powers, Phoenix.  You're safe from Syphoon now.  He has no interest in vecols.>

"I am not a vecol!!" Phoenix protested most ardently.

"Enough!" Richard snapped.  The two stopped immediately, Richard hardly ever snaps.  "I know we're just surviving, and barely, at that!  We haven't any other choice!  We haven't the strength to go up against that monster, and it's just a matter of time before powers and life forces will not satiate him any longer!!"

"Richard --" SuperNate said, rather hesitantly.

"Don't," Richard said.  "I haven't a clue what to do from here, other than survive.  I haven't an idea how do defeat Syphoon, certainly not before he absorbs all that is!"

He took a deep breath, and said, "We may very well be facing universe-wide armaggedon."

"Richard?  Am I interrupting something?" Goom said, who was inexplicably holding a clipboard.

"Not anymore, I think," Richard said wearily, as a man who bore the weight not of the world, but of the universe upon his shoulders.  "What is it?"

"My initial assessment shows that, of the RAFians returned here, approximately eleven percent have been depowered," Goom said, checking his clipboard.

"Great," Richard said, hand rubbing the back of his neck, "and the bad news?"

"There are still roughly twenty-seven of RAFians that are unarrived, or missing."

"Lovely," Phoenix said, heavily.

"Is that all?" Richard asked, looking rather old.

"That is all," Goom confirmed.

"Okay, go onto your rounds, then," Richard said.

"Right," Goom said, as he left.

"Nothing can ever be easy, can't it?" Richard muttered to himself.

[Cloak]

Now, a fourth chapter.  Yes, a fourth chapter today, may be quite short.

CHAPTER TWELVE:
Syphoon Loses His Mind

Meanwhile, while that drama was going on in the fallback bunker, Syphoon had lost his appetite for just powers and life force.  Now he desireds something more substantial, more tangible.  He happened to be back at the abandoned forum, and he dug his fingers into the Bored Board building and absorbed it in its entirety.  But his body did not remain the same, a miniscule replica of the building appeared on his back in a hump.  But the one building was not enough to satiate this strange appetite, as he then went for the hanger, and absorbed it into his being.  Then one hump became two.

Then he saw Yarin's ship.  He touched it and absorbed it into his being were it replaced his left arm with a smaller replica, with all its weapons at his command.  Then he heard something, a rustle and a twig snap.  He whirled around and saw that it was Parker who was attempting to shoot him in the back.

Syphoon, unwittingly was losing his complex thinking and rational thought, and slowly losing his sentience, as well.  Soon enough he'd just become a horrid beast with no real mind of his own anymore.  He stalked over to Parker and in a swift manuever he overpowered the SPARTAN . . . and absorbed his armor into himself.

Suffice it to say, this left Parker rather, uh, exposed.  Syphoon didn't care, as he put a hand that had no flesh sticking out of it anymore, and absorbed the bulk of Parker's life force.  Leaving him barely conscious, the Syphoon beast -- as he wasn't really a man anymore -- proceeded absorb the rest of the forum.

After a few hours, the entire forum was gone, and Syphoon did not look remotely human anymore.  He looked very much like if Ultimate Kevin Levin was merged with the Peacemaker robot from that "Astro Boy" movie.  He had long since lost any humanity he once possessed.

Then Syphoon looked up toward the city and the Bannedlands, and went off in a loping stride, very much like a beast, toward the Bannedlands and the unsuspecting Banned, saying, "More, more, more, more, more, more . . ."

[Cloak]

Probably gonna be the last chapter today, and be a bit on the short side.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN:
The Viewing Globe* and Unpleasant News

"What the bloody hell was that about?" Phoenix said when he caught his voice.
 
They had been watching Syphoon's actions through a round, normally- globe on a rather roughly hewn pedestal.  The mods had gathered around it as if it was some sort of ludicrous television set.

<I certainly hope that was one of those 'television programs' humans like so very much,> Esplin said, drily.

"You know very well it wasn't," Phoenix said acidly.

"Enough, you two," Richard said.

"It's obvious what it was about though," SuperNate said, hand on his chin, rubbing it thoughtfully.  "It would see Syphoon's hunger has transcended powers and life force.  He would appear to require literally require material, directly absorbing it."

"It is as I feared." Richard said, rather morbidly.  "If left unchecked, we won't have a planet to stand on."

"What do we do?" Phoenix asked.

<What can we do?> Esplin queried.  <It is a strange phenomena.  The Osmosian boy seems to have absorbed enough powers and material to be slowly but steady losing his sentience.  He is nothing but a beast now, in mind and body.  He knows just hunger and how to satiate it.>

"And our span of doing something amounts to really nothing." SuperNate added, rather bitterly.  "It's barely enough that we survive.  Should this beast discover this bunker . . ."

He needn't finish the thought.

<There is one option,> Esplin suggested.

"No," Richard said firmly.  "It's too dangerous.  They must stay away, as long as it remains Earth-bound --"

<And, may I ask, how long until he's not?> Esplin pointed out.

Richard did not answer.  He shut his eyes, and let out a heavy, weary breath.  "Gather the other RAFians.  They deserve a say in this."

Then, with another weary exhalation, he said, "And send a team to get Parker, as well."

---
*Anyone get this reference?

[Cloak]

Okay, maybe one more if I've the time, and energy.  And I do.  Here, gonna be a bit short.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
Restless RAFians

Back at the Universal Nexus, Cloak had stopped standing rigidly, watching the udulating Prime Universe.  He had taken to pacing the land before the pier, like a bored tiger at a zoo.  His eyes remained mostly locked on the universe, however.  He didn't like being back here on a long basis.
 
He was mostly a pariah in his home world, as most everyone was now aware of his preference of living in the Prime Universe.  Granted, they think that it is him snubbing them, instead of the truth.  He had ran to the universe to escape his overbearing mother.  He had turned to his RAFian friends for emotional support when his mother gave him none and had ran his father off.  It was reasonably tolerable when his grandfather was alive.  But when he died . . . everything fell apart.  His mother cared more of her image than she did of him, incapable of admitting fault or flaw.

He had escaped.  He had escaped to RAF.  Granted, there had been hard times, but nothing like what he had to endure under his mother's reign of constant criticisms and belittlement.  She was a narcissist, an egotist.  And he knew that she'd never be cured of it.

Cloak shook his head roughly.  He shouldn't be thinking like this.  He shouldn't be remembering those painful times.  It would do him no good in the long run to dwell on such things, on such painful recollections.

ARGH!  If he could only go back!!  RAF always has a way of providing a nice distraction, a way of relaxing, of venting.  He wanted so much to go back to his friends, to help.  But good sense said that would be pointless.  He could wind up doing far more harm than good.  If Syphoon got his powers . . .

Cloak stopped, continuing to stare at the Prime Universe, lovingly and longingly.  Then he transfered his gaze down to his hand, where his Mark lay.  It was then that a thought occurred to him.  There is always a threshold for things . . . but how to tell his friends?  How to tell them without potentially risking their lives?

***

Knock it off, you little brat! Estelore scolded a smaller and younger sentient star by the plainer name of Fred.  Go away before I go supernova on your nonexistent butt!!

The smaller, bluer star fled laughing a laugh that only those of a stellar persuasion could understand.  The little thing had been bothering Estelore endlessly, after he discovered that she was another sentient star as he was, and while she was in a fit of indecision at whether or not return to RAF.

She fumed at little at the younger star's impertinence and immaturity, but in the end decided that she had more important things to be concerned with.  Little did she know this wasn't the last she would see of Fred.

Estelore stood on the precipice of deciding whether or not to go.  She was as hesitant as Cloak to act, and it was as if the other knew each other's anxiety and longing.

But the decision had been made. . . .

[Underseen]

Wow Syphoon is a menace, not only did he chase me down until I could barely hold form, but he absorbed the vehicles in the hanger and became kinda like a transformer. The power rangers reference brought me back and why does an annoying 'star' name Fred sound so familiar?

[Cloak]

Actually, Underseen, when I was a young child and something inexplicable happened, my mpm would blame a fictitious ghost called Fred.  This was LONG before that obnoxious YouTube "star" came into being.

Anyway, I read the first chapter of Book I to the class today, and it was met with rather flattering praise.

[Underseen]

Well with all the animorph references in chapter 1 either they are fans or you explained the parts you needed to explain.

[Cloak]

The latter, Underseen.

Now, a new chapter.  Short, though.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN:
Syphoon's Rampage Truly Begins

Syphoon, little more than the animal, prowled the forum to see if it could discover anymore stragglers.  Unfortunately, he was successful.
 
Helen and Sam had gone back over to the forum at Helen's insistence to find and save Parker, unaware that the other RAFians found him, Sakki, Oceanspray and Rocklobster and took them back to the fallback bunker to revive.  But she was so insistent and persuasive in her plight, her desperation to find her love.  Sam was prone to pity her in her endeavor and agreed to help her in her pursuit of her boyfriend.
 
However, in doing so, the two placed themselves in rather serious jeopardy.  They were aware of the threat of Syphoon, but believed his powers were over-hyped.  They did not know about his latest transformation, his loss of sentience.
 
The attack came so swift that the two never realized what happened until it was over.  Both their respective rings were sucked dry, and they reverted back to their "street clothes" versions.
 
"What happened?  I just charged this thing!" Sam cried out.
 
"As did I," Helen echoed the sentiment.
 
Then the two were knocked out by the beast, who saw that, without their rings, that they had no powers.  So, it dismissed them as a predator would dismiss rancid meat.  Then it stalked toward the city, still hungry for powers, lifeforce, and material.  Fortunately, it had not occurred to it to start absorbing the planet itself, so the RAFians still had time, albeit very little, to figure out what to do.
 

***

"Oh, what now?" Richard said, wiping his face with his hand.

"It is Helen and Sam, Richard," Phoenix said, "they've been found.  The team is bring them along with the other four back here."

<With luck, they won't be sighted by the monster,> Esplin said.

"Well, that was certainly cheery, Esplin," SuperNate said, dryly, "Start writing greeting cards yet?"

"Enough," Richard said, wearily.  "We have to go to the others and make a plan, construct a countermeasure, if that's even possible."

"Don't give up hope just yet, Richard," SuperNate said, bracingly.  "Things will be alright in the end."

Richard gave SuperNate a sideways look of slight disbelief.

[Cloak]

Another new chapter, albeit short.  Hopefully, I've the time to post it. . . .

CHAPTER SIXTEEN:
A Forgotten Power

Richard gathered the RAFians that were survivors and those that were still conscious enough and that both Kelly and Goom signed off as being well enough to sit in this council of war.  Kelly would continue the rounds to the patients while Goom would sit in on the assembly.
 
"This cannot continue," Yarin said, "with our powers that creature is truly dangerous."
 
<That is obvious,> Esplin said, heavily.  <But there seems to be no way to destroy the beast.  It's a matter of time before the Earth becomes its newest snack.>
 
"But it would destroy itself in doing so," Gaz said, looking perplexed.  "It surely hasn't absorbed the powers that would allow it to survive in the vacuum of space?"
 
"It absorbed the powers of a Transylian, I believe," Underseen said.  His color was returning far too slowly, so that he looked pretty much a talking Peep right now without the powered sugar.  "If I remember right, Transylians can survived the vacuum of space."
 
"Not to mention he absorbed the energy from Sam and Helen's respective rings," SuperNate pointed out.  "Granted, I don't think Helen's Star Sapphire ring would be useful to him at all -- it is clear that he doesn't feel love at all -- but Sam's ring is powered by will, and I don't think it's a stretch to believe that the creature he became to be willful at all."
 
"So, all in all, good news?" Blaze said, rather sardonically.
 
"This isn't a joke, Blaze," Richard said, unusually stiffly.
 
"I know it isn't a joke, Richard," Blaze countered.  "But some levity can help take off some of the burden, otherwise it would seem too heavy and crush us all."
 
"Be that as it may," Phoenix said, brushing this aside, "our problem remains.  I don't know what we can do.  All I know is the only think he didn't take from me was my Mark."
 
"Me too," Demos agreed.
 
"Make that three," Cerulean said, showing his.
 
"All the RAFians retained their Marks," Goom said, conversationally, as if this was common knowledge.
 
"What?" Richard said, perking up, "Why didn't you say anything?"
 
"I thought it was obvious," Goom said, glancing down at the clipboard he was inexplicably holding again along with a pen he was inexplicably holding. "But that brings to mind a question.  Has anyone used any Unity energy against this thing?"

A resounding silence greeted these words.  He looked up from his clipboard, and it seemed almost strange that he wasn't wearing a pair of librarian glasses to glance over.  Then he somehow capped his pen, and addressed everyone.

"Should I assume that was a definite 'no', then?"