Memoirs of a RAFian

[Gaz]

Love the updates! Had a crazy morning and a new chapter is just what I needed.

[Cloak]

Glad to oblige, Gaz.  I don't know how many chapters I can post today, but I will try.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
What a Dive

"There.  We must go there." Cloak said.  Aquilai and Horse muttered agreement.  After all, they were hydrokinetics, as well.

The ship submerged into the water, which slowed it down considerably.  It was designed for deep space and atmosphere, not oceanic sojourns.  Yarin was fretting about this, and Aquilai was a little hard on him.  Yarin scolded Aquilai that the loss of his TARDIS wasn't Yarin's fault.

"We can go no further." Yarin said.  "The ship cannot survive the pressure of that depth."

"Aquilai, don't." Cloak said swiftly, as Aquilai opened his mouth.

"I think that only Cloak, Aquilai and I should proceed from here," Horse said.  "We'd the easiest time."

"I concur." Cloak said, nodding.

"Whatever," Aquilai grumbled.

So the three went.  Cloak and Aquilai bending water around them to create individual bubbles, and Horse, holding her breath, like the seal she was.  This seemed to be a matter of pinniped pride for her.

They swam into an undersea cave, although Horse was a little apprehensive about it.  She snuck a breath from Cloak's bubble, and then proceeded with the other two.  The cave quickly became a winding labyrinth.  The three attempted to navigated their way through, coming to six deadends, having to backtrack many different times.

Eventually, they come to the gem.  Horse snuck a breath from Aquilai's bubble and shot forward and snagged the gem, the Gi Sapphire.  Then an exterior hole, a tunnel really, opened up.  They swam out and Yarin quickly picked them up.

"Only the Heart of Mati Suchi now. . . ." Ash said.

"And who knows how difficult that one would be." Aquilai stated bitterly.

"Don't be so pessimistic," Aila chided.

Cloak remained silent, and his face inscrutable.  His thoughts were on the Mark, and fearing that it would break.

[Cloak]

Second chapter, methinks.  Please forgive any language used.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN:
Mushroom-Man

"BAH!" Falwell roared.  "These moronic parasites know nothing useful!  NOTHING!!!"

With that, Myitt was slammed into the wall, covered again, and back in the fetal position of her host.  Falwell appeared to take on a red coloring.  This was unusual for Phalanx.  She must be truly frustrated and infuriated.

"Mistress, you'll blow something if you don't calm down." Tyr, ever servile, said.

"I'll calm down if I damn well feel like it!" Falwell snarled.  Then she thought a moment.  "Get the mushroom-man."

Within minutes, Goom was freed, his feet completely submerged in techno-organic material, preventing his escape.  Falwell slithered up to him, and Goom recoiled visibly.  Falwal, if anything, had become more horrid to look at.  It is surprising that Goom wasn't turned to stone due to her hideousness.

Goom intended to say, "Who are you?", but instead he said, voice full of revulsion, "What ARE you?"

"None of your business, mushroom-man."

Goom looked vaguely offended at this, and replied, with dignity, "I'm a Goomba. Get it right, please."

"Whatever, mushroom-man.  Tell me about the Mark."

Goom hesitated for a moment, then put on an air of obliviousness, "What mark?"

But Falwell smiled, which contorted her face into a state of hideousness more horrid than before.  She knew that Goom was feigning ignorance.  She knew she had her information locked up in his mushroomy head.

[Cloak]

Another chapter -- actually was gonna be the fifteenth chapter, before I came up with that other interlude . . . probably gonna be a long one, or not.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN:
Broken

The RAFsurvivors, as they now thought of themselves, circled the planet from obit.  They were attempting to locate the final gem, which was proving to be the most difficult to locate.  And it was only a matter of time before the Phalanx realized what they were up to.

"Okay, why is this so difficult?" Gaz sighed wearily.

"The Heart of Mati Suchi doesn't give out an elemental vibe," Cloak suggested, "so I can't sense it."

Suddenly, Cloak had a feeling of dread unassociated with anything he was thinking or speaking of.  Cloak had no idea why.

"What is it?" Horse inquired.

"I . . . I don't know exactly.  Something bad is happening . . . somewhere."

"Thank you so much, Cloak.  That tells us everything." Aquilai said, flatly.

"Get over yourself, Aquilai." Aila scolded Aquilai like a child.  Aquilai took offense.

"Come on, now," Gaz said, mediating.  "We have to stick together.  We cannot be fighting like this."

"Gaz is right.  Wait -- there." Cloak said, eyes widening.

"That's where the gem is," Horse said, awed.  She must have sensed it, too.

"I sense it, too," Gaz said, curious.  "Could everyone else . . . ?"

The others nodded.

"It must appeal to good hearts," Yarin postulated.

"Well, let's go get . . ."

There were several shattering sounds, and they looked at their palms with shock.  The Mark was broken.  It was gone.

[Gaz]

Thanks for the new chapters! Just what I needed after this morning. It was the crazy of yesterday times 5 plus sugar.

[Cloak]

Anytime Gazzy, I enjoy writing them, even if they seem to fall a little short, length-wise, of my expectations.  I'll post another chapter shortly.  Check back in a few minutes . . .

Here we go.  I'll try to finish off this book . . . but I don't know if I can tonight.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:
Pure of Heart

"What . . . what just happened?" Gaz asked.

"It . . . it broke." Cloak said, anxiety welling up in him.  He was safe from the Phalanx, he always was.  But now his RAFian friends . . . unless they possessed magnetokinetic or ferrokinetic abilities, and, to his knowledge, he himself was the only RAFian ferrokinetic.

"Broke?!" Aquilai practically screamed.  "What do you mean it broke?!"

"Just what I said," Cloak replied cooly, hiding his true anxiety.

"We're vulnerable, then," Ash concluded.

"We need to get the Heart of Mati Suchi," Cloak responded.

"How can you worry about that now?!" Aquilai scolded Cloak.  "We are in big trouble."

"Trust me," Cloak replied with maddeningly calm.

"We're doomed," Horse commented dryly.

They decended into the dense jungle.  Cloak and the others charged forward, sensing the jewel.  They all could sense it, so no words were wasted.  They proceeded along at a brisk pace at first.  Then it culminated into a grueling pace, until they entered a massive cave devoid of stalactites and stalagmites.  There it was, shaped like a heart, floating above a granite pedestal.

Cloak strode up to it with the others behind him.  Cloak stared at the jewel for a bit, bit his lip, and thought, I really hope this works.

Then he graps the jewel in his left hand, and all of the RAF survivors felt a surge of power.  Then they looked at their right hand or flipper, and saw, with tremendous relief that the jewel had revitalized and revigored the Mark!

Then they summoned Yarin, and boarded the ship.  Now the HARD work begun.

[Cloak]

'Nother chapter, methinks.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:
Fury and Testing

Yarin and Aquilai took the gems and began working to synthesize a cure for the techno-organic abominations plaguing their beloved forum.  The RAFians were worn and weary, but they could not let their guard down.

Naturally, the ship was back in orbit, on autopilot.  Cloak did not like this one bit, he never trusted such things.  But he was mentally wiped to argue the point.  The others were nodding off, every now and then.  Yarin and Aquilai, however, were consumed with their work.

"Will it be enough?" Aila asked.

"Will what be enough?  The cure?" Cloak inquired.

"It had better," Gaz put in, grimly, "or we just squandered five days.  Or was it six?  I think I lost count."

"Your votes of confidence are most reassuring," Aquilai replied dryly.

***

Meanwhile, back at RAF, Falwell elated when the Mark broke.  Poor Goomy . . . she wasted no time in assimilating him to the collective hive mind of the Phalanx.  His memories, his knowledge . . . all of it stolen from him.  Forced to be shared.

"Excellent!  We can now assimilate RAFians!" Falwell declared.

"True, Mistress," Tyr said, with air of breaking bad news.  "But we can only do assimilate one-at-a-time."

"Small detail," Falwell said, waving the concern away.  "We have time."

"There are over --"

"I said, we have time!" she snapped.  "Get the Andalite.  The one known as Noelle.  She will be next."

"Right away, Mistress."

Noelle was still in the sac, when Cloak and the Heart of Mati Suchi reactivated the Mark, disabling assimilation.  Falwell screamed in rage and fury when she realized this.  Goom's knowledge and memories would not help her here, as Goom had no knowledge of these five gems.

***

"There," Yarin said, "this should be it."

Then they tried it on the sample, which turned to dust and concrete from which it was transformed.  It was a successful cure, as it didn't just neutralize the Phalanx, but reversed whatever it turned back to normal.  It was a dream cure.

"But there's a problem," Aquilai cautioned, "we've only sixteen ampules.  We must find the Phalanx core, and infect it there."

"'Infect'?" Ash asked.

"The cure is basically a virus," Aquilai explained.

"Part biological virus, part computer virus." Yarin put in.

"How does --" Gaz began.

"Don't," Cloak said, hold his hand up.  "We'd be here all night."

"Okay.  We need a way in," Horse pointed out.

To this, Gaz smirked mischievously, then said, "Oh, I think I have an idea how to get in."

"You're gonna Amelia Voght our way in," Cloak said dully, "aren't you?"

Gaz just smirked in response.

"Great."

[Cloak]

Now, it will start wrapping up.  Hopefully, not fall apart . . .  Oh, I could not resist the Darkwing Duck reference, and forgive the language.

CHAPTER NINETEEN:
Farewell to Falwell, We Hope

"Yarin, you must do it." Gaz said.

"No!  I will not sacrifice --"

"You know it is really hard for me to sympathize with you," Aquilai sniped.

"Yarin, you must crash this spacecraft," Cloak said plainly, "we will need the distraction."

"Or just land it in the mire," Aila suggested.

"It will take time to assimilate it," Gaz said, "then we can vap in, and get to work."

Yarin became very surly.  "FINE!  Fine.  I'll program autopilot to land.  There is no onboard computer . . . we are very lucky that I hadn't repaired it.  Let's get this over with."

Gaz swept her arms up and all the survivors became a black-gray mist.  They all swept into the forum that was once their stronghold.  Gaz was in complete control of the direction.  She navigated to the D-Lounge, where she suspected the core was.

Unfortunately, she was right.  Suddenly, Gaz started to reform their bodies.  Then they all spoke at once, when they noticed Falwell fuming in her a throne.

"We are the terror that haunts the night!"

"We are the TARDISes you have to self-destruct." Aquilai said.

"We are the coagulant that neutralizes shapeshifting," Ash said.

"We are the Cyber-Men that ruin your day," Aila said.

"We are the trolls that flame you all day," Horse said.

"We are the line that you have crossed," Cloak said.

"We are the wooden stakes you have stashed," Gaz said.

"We are the RAFians you royally pissed off!" they said in unison.

Falwell clapped blythely, with an uninterested look.

"What's next?  Card tricks?"

"Eh, shaddup!!" Aquilai snarled as he forced the first two ampules into her body.  The cure began to work already.  Turned out, Falwell WAS the core.

"The rest of the ampules!  Now!" Cloak shouted.

It was over quite quickly after that.  Falwell became human again, which caused her to curse the RAFians with words that should not be used in polite company.  Then she was thrown next to the Pootang until the 'Net security picked her up.  She was tried and convicted.

"That still seemed too easy," Cloak muttered.  Then he noticed a figure behind the General RP board.  It vanished in an instant.

"Malice." he muttered.  "Was this just a test?  What was your plan?"

[Cloak]

Okay, finishing this book. . . . Sorry if it was rushed.

CHAPTER TWENTY:
Plans

Cloak stood from his usual lookout, the hill overlooking RAF.  He was not smiling or enjoying the frivolity that the others were.  The forum was pristine again, and not a trace of the Phalanx remained.  Aquilai and Yarin made another cure batch -- just in case.  But the light in the gems was dimmed as a result.  A necessary result.

Goom had to have psychological evaluations done on him, from being the only RAFian to be successfully assimilated.  It was a very dubious distinction, one that he'd probably never live down.

Cloak stood there, thinking about Malice.  Defeating the Phalanx was just a little too easy.  Was all this just a test from her?  What were her plans?  Did she know who he was?  Did she know that he was a RAFian?  If so, what did she want from him?  Was she just playing with him?  Did she like mind games?

So many questions, and no answers yielded.  Something was going on here.  But what?  He didn't know.  And he did not like not knowing.

***

Malice was flicking through a book, as if researching.  She was also thinking smugly to herself.

So pathetic, these Dwellers. she thought.  It begs the question, why does the Son of the Elements protect them?  Why does he treat them as equals?  Realm Walkers are clearly the superior species.  We can dominate any Dweller civilization we chose.  Why does he not conquer?  He certainly has the power to do as he likes.  Why does he hold back his power?  Is his afraid of his own power?  How ludicrous!  If you've the power, you should use it!  Such a pathetic waste.  But still . . . tormenting him and that precious little forum of his is quite entertaining.  So delightful and amusing.  Hopefully he won't be able to stop this next obstacle I send his way so easily.

She stopped reading, scribbled something down, and vanished, leaving the book behind.  It was a course, leather-bound book with faded letters.  But it was clear that it was a book on vampires. . . .

[Gaz]

A book on vampires? *gasp* great chapters! I can hardly wit to read what happens next.

[Blazing Angel]

This is fantistic, can't wait for the next one which I have heard I am in. *little bit of happiness leaks out of ear*

So vampires eh...time to go "I am legend" all over 'em.

[Gaz]

Not so fast there, I'm a vampire! A vampire pirate to be exact. Don't kill me.

[Blazing Angel]

Not you of course. You're reformed.

[Cloak]

It'll get complicated, I admit.  Naturally, Gaz will be taking center stage, and Malice's machinations will become clear . . . eventually.

Now, let's begin this thing.

BOOK VI:
What About Gaz?

CHAPTER ONE:
Inauspicious Beginning

Deep in an underground cavern with black writhing masses of robed figures in pew-like structures.  Before them was a very ancient-looking court room.  Nine figures sat where a judge's podium would be.  The centermost figure was the leader of the council, and he appeared to look rather Godly.

Behind to desks perpendicular to the judges and audience were two dark figures in cloaks, one massive and bulky, the other lean and small.  Suspended above them, within a cage, was another, more familiar cloaked figure.

". . . It's obvious Cloak should go to me!" the thick figure said.

"Oh, please," the thinner figure on the other side of the court sneered, "I'm the only sensible choice!"

Then the larger figure, who was obviously Abomination, attempted to appeal to the court at large, and sang,

"Please vote me
The keeper of the Walker.
I wanna be
The keeper of the Walker!
This condemning tone
Is mine to own,
To do with as I see fit!
Give him to me,
And I promise my torture won't quit!"

Then the thin figure, Malice, stood up and addressed the court by singing,

"I disagree about
The keeper of the Walker!
It should be me that's
The keeper of the Walker.
He's not a toy
For an idiot boy
Who can even lace his shoes!
If he wins, we all surely lose!"

Then the prisoner, Cloak himself, spoke up, singing,

"Do I get a say in
The keeper of the Walker?!
I'll make you all pay for
The keeper of the Walker!!
All my rage is bound up
By this stupid cage!
Held back by these tylee bars!
I'll never get rid of the mental scars."

Then the God-like councilman began singing himself,

"I don't care about
The keeper of the Walker!
A mountain of stress
Is compressing my chest!
I'm goin' blind in one eye!
And it's all because of that stupid guy!!"

Then he pointed an accusatory finger at Jerry Falwell, who really had no business being in the Nexus, eating the most disgusting, revolting form of nachos.

Cloak awoke suddenly from this nightmare with a start.  He ran his hand through his fur -- he had since lined his thread with the same fabric that Realm Walker cloaks are woven from, which allowed him some freedom from having to wear it as he slept.  It also allowed other RAFians to enter and see him in his full anthropomorphic tiger form.

"That dream again . . ." he muttered.

***

Meanwhile, in a cemetary deep underground, in a strange catacomb, Malice was strolling serenely, as if she had gone for a brisk walk in the moonlight.  She came to a coffin, an ornately decorated coffin.  It had writing on it in some long-forgotten script.

Malice, bearing no fear, opened it to find a skeletally-thin woman with corpse-gray skin, long flowing white hair, empty white eyes, and claw-like fingers.  And she had two long fangs that protruded from her lips slightly.  She was loveningly swaddled in black fabric.

"There you are," Malice muttered.  "Let's see Sage's protege and his entourage overcome this."

Then she spoke with full voice and commanding tones, "Madre de Vampyra, awaken.  Awaken!  Rise . . . and . . . serve me."

[Blazing Angel]

You're the writer and you don't even know.

We're in for hell.