Memoirs of a RAFian

[Cloak]

Maybe a short chapter.  Probably the last chapter for a few hours.
 

CHAPTER ELEVEN:
75%

"Great, you get to strip and run around naked --" Rotiart began derisively.
 
"YOU GO TOO FAR!!" Cloak raged.  The walls actually trembled and Rotiart pulled away, cowering a bit.  Cloak shut his eyes and controlled himself.  Then he snapped his eyes open, and he spoke, gnashing his teeth with every word.  "Watch that tongue of yours, Rotiart, or you might find that you no longer have one to wag."
 
He allowed the threat to stand, and felt no remorse for issuing it.
 
"Cloak . . ." Gaz started, but a glare from him told her in no uncertain terms that he was not about the retract his statement.
 
"Let's all just calm down," Richard said, with a soothing voice.  "These Dementors have our feelings rather closer to the surface than they would ordinarily be."
 
It was true.  It took all of Cloak's willpower to keep his powers in check.  He could still feel them.  He suppressed a shutter -- he didn't need to get Rotiart more ammuniation to get him to lose his tempter.
 
"Alert!" Aquilai cried through the forum-wide intercom.  "Code Avalon at 75% power and dropping!"
 
Cloak flinched, and another memory swam before his eyes . . .
 

***

Cloak was sitting in a corner, in tears, thinking in song, via voiceover:
 

Look at me.
I will never be able to hide
Or be a perfect son.
Can it be
I'm not meant to play this part?
Now I see,
That if I were truly
To be myself,
I would break my mother's heart.

Who is that tiger I see
Staring straight
Back at me?
Why is my reflection someone
I don't know?
Somehow I cannot hide
Who I am,
Though I've tried.
When will my reflection show
Who I am inside?
When will my reflection show
Who I am inside . . .[/b]

Cloak continued to cry and sniffle on into his misery . . .

***

NO!! Cloak thought savagely.  He looked around, and very few if any of the others seemed to be affect as he was.  The dementors effect was strong enough now that they could feel it through the walls.  This, although he would deny it later, scared Cloak witless.

[Cloak]

And, once again, the ambitious list:

• 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.

• Book CL: Utter Pandemonium

Cloak, Gaz, Saffa, Underseen, and Hunter investigate odd goings-on at a theme park island named "Haunted Island".

• Book CLI: A Reality Rewrite

Cloak, Faerie, Broken, and Broken's protege discover a magical, reality-altering typewriter.  Cloak, being a Realm Walker and the other three, being magical, are immune to its rewrites of reality.

• Book CLII: The Coming of Galacticron

The RAFians must save Earth from Galacticron.

• Book CLIII: Theft of Intellectual Property

The RAFians must contend with Brainiac.

• Book CLIV: The Contingency

The RAFians must battle the Talos Project and their living weapon -- Weapon XLIX.

[Cloak]

Gonna try to get to chapter 13 today.  This chapter may be a bit on the short side.
 

CHAPTER TWELVE:
Malicious Watcher

Meanwhile, while all this was happening, Malice was watching from her perch upon Cloak's old hill.  She watched the goings on through a thermal binoculars, because she couldn't see through the inky blackness that Dementors caused.  Her face was expressionless.
 
Though she would deny this to Abomination, she was regretting doing this.  Not because of the pain or suffering her machinations had caused.  She didn't care about minor things like that.  No, she was regretting doing this because she couldn't watch it easily, the thermal binoculars pretty much only showed multicolored blobs with no real defined form or anything.  The Dementors themselves were too cold to be picked up at all on the binoculars.

She felt excited once or twice when it appeared that the Dementors would get a successful Kiss, but was immediately disappointed when the Kiss failed to be delivered.  She did not know why the Dementors failed to deliever the Kiss, as Unity Energy did not show up on the thermal binoculars.

All in all, she thought, this scheme was better on paper than it was in practice.

Then she saw that they activated that shield thing that the Dementors couldn't penetrate, but they hovered outside it.  She knew that it would have been easier for them to fly away to the city and feed on the people there, but she made sure her alterations would keep them focused on RAF and, in particular, Cloak.

She was about to get up and leave, rather dissatisfied with this scheme, when she noticed that the shield's strength wobbled.  Then it was steadily weakening.  She sat back down to enjoy the show -- Abomination had declined to watch it with her as the Dementors affected him, although not to the degree they affected Cloak.

Malice did not feel their effects because, simply put, she's never known love.  She was colder inside than the Dementors could make her otherwise.  Of course, she neglected the fact that Dementors could not Kiss other Realm Walkers.

In short, Malice thought of this as nothing more than an interactive television show or video game she just bought.  This was entertainment for her.  It's what got her sent to the Gate.  And she would be headed there -- if the Realm Walker Council did not believe her to be dead.

[Cloak]

Probably gonna be the final chapter from me tonight.  But don't hold me to that.
 

CHAPTER THIRTEEN:
50%

"Code Avalon has fallen to half!" Aquilai proclaimed with a tense, terse voice.  "It's also still falling."
 
"Not for long," Cloak said, leaving the auditorium -- and that obnoxious upstart Rotiart -- behind.  He dashed to the center of the field and fired his energy up and suffusing it with his golden-scarlet energy.
 
"It's working, Cloak," Aquilai's voice said from the outdoor intercom, "the power dropoff is stablizing."
 
"Good.  Now, guys, come up with a containment method for these things.  Now!" Cloak roared to the few RAFians who followed him.
 
But then, suddenly, as he heard the rattling breaths of the Dementors outside the shield, he was force to remember . . .
 

***

Cloak was dealing with the aftermath of a big fight with his mother, and he had gone off to "lick his wounds", so to speak.  He found himself thinking in song:

Out among the RAFstars I posted
Where I'd regularly croon.
In my new silver cloak, I posted
In a dream that ended too soon.
Now I know exactly who I am,
And what I'm here for.

Still in his ears, he heard his mother's voice, "You are a loser!  You cannot defy me!"

Cloak continued this mental song:

And I will go posting . . . no more.

Then his internal voice turned challenging as his eyes hardened with determination.

But, no, it can't be true!
I could defy if I wanted to!
Free like Grandpa Sage in the sky,
Why, I'd defy!

He determinedly stands up to his mother, and she kicks him out of the house . . . out of the family. . . .

Clearly . . . I will go posting . . .
No more . . .

Cloak went off alone, unsure which realm was the Prime Universe, as the realms were currently in flux.  Their positions were not always statically there.  When they were in flux, they moved, shifted, and changed order.
 

***

"Gah!" Cloak said, coming back to the present.  He wasn't really sure if that was a memory or an extremely vivid nightmare of his.  But it was enough to force him down to one knee, causing him to briefly stop add his energy to Code Avalon.

[Underseen]

Wow this book is deep, emotionally speaking.

[Cloak]

Justifiably, I think, Underseen.  Considering I would be forced to see similar images were dementors real.

Now, don't hold me to it, but I'll try to get the rest of the book up tomorrow.

Well, here's an additional chapter to tide you over.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
Gotta Catch Them All

Cloak shut his eyes, grit his teeth, and poured his energy back into the shield. He remained on his knee, though.  If he kept this up, he would pass out from exhaustion. Or worse . . .

***

Meanwhile, back in the forum, the other RAFians were muttering quietly.

"People, people!" Richard said, trying to restore peace. "Your attention please."

There were some minor, defiant babble going on after these words. But even that died down soon enough.

"We are tasked with a monumental endeavor," Richard said. "A method for capturing Dementors."

"They're not intangible," Faerie said, reasonably. "They just look that way."

"So any footlocker would do?" Saffa asked.

"I suppose . . ." Underseen said rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"One flaw there," Goom pointed out. "It would require all of them to be captured at once."

A brief, heavy silence greeted these words.  It was as if a weight had been added to the atmosphere, which weighed heavily on all present.

"Well . . ." Broken said thoughtfully, "perhaps there is a way . . ."

After a few beats, Sakki said, rather nettled, "What is it with you people? More elaborate answers would be be nice!"

"Sorry," Broken said. "I was just thinking that maybe I could enchant this said footlocker with a combination of Summoning and Banishing Charms.  To Summon them to the footlocker and Banish them there. But it would be tricky -- I've never attempted such a thing."

"Now seems a prudent time," Richard said. "Get on it.  Demos, Faerie, help him."

The three got up.

"And hurry.  Cloak cannot keep up slowing Code Avalon's deteroration. Especially with how they affect him." Richard impressed. "All of our happiness may be at stake, our very sanity."

Then he waited for a beat, then he said, "But no pressure or anything."

[Noelle]

Can't wait for more.    *scampers off to study more*

[Cloak]

Well, then, Noelle -- here's some more and about another 5 chapters (including this one) to finish off this book.  Unless I have to split a chapter in two.
 

CHAPTER FIFTEEN:
Construction

The three got to work on the solid pine footlocker that was fortified by steel.

There wasn't nearly as much flashes and bangs as one may expect.

"Careful, Broken! Or this footlocker will mirror your name!" Faerie chided.

"I am being careful!" Broken snarled.

This whole Dementor business was making everyone on edge.  Everyone, ironically enough, except Demos. He alone seemed to be unaffected by the Dementors, or if he was, he was supernaturally adept at hiding and concealing it.

"Look, we better just focus on the task set before us. Like Richard said, these Dementors are making us on edge."

"And we don't even know if this works," Demos said.

"Well," said Faerie, a mischievous little grin flitted onto her face, "we can always test it on you."

Demos gave her a sour look that any non-RAFian would found frightening. Clearly, he wasn't amused.

***

Cloak worked hard to maintain Code Avalon with his own energy. He knew he would not be able to do it very much longer. All he was doing was prolonging the inevitable.

And it diddn't help that the memories were coming in clearer and more intensely.

***

It was yet another confrontation with his mother. She didn't approve of his spending so much of his time in the Prime Universe, rather than at "home", which was little more than a prison.

She sang:

"This is where you belong!"

"You don't understand!" Cloak protested, but his mother cut across him in song:

"For once, just listen
Will you?!
Those uncouth brutes would use you
In the realm you love!"

"They're not uncouth!" Cloak protested angrily.

"Don't try that same ol' dance and song!
I'll have you grounded 'til next year!
Am I clear?!
Don't go near that realm you love!"

"I'm not a child anymore!" Cloak protested again, and was, again, ignored.

"No? Have you lost your senses? They're Dwellers! You're a Walker!"

Cloaked snarled, "That doesn't matter!"

His mother sang:

"I'm still the boss here!
My word is law.
That filth you associate with --
This is the final straw!
Push, my son, has come to shove!
I'll make you obey
'Til you do as I say!
I don't care how it may!
But I'll keep you away
From that cruel, harsh, cold, vile realm you love!"

"No!" Cloak protested and pleaded. "You can't do that!!"

***

This time Cloak only faltered briefly before resuming his efforts.  But, this time . . . this time there were tears that seared the soil and burned and withered the grass.

[Cloak]

Sorry if I already used the song in this chapter. Here we go.
 

CHAPTER SIXTEEN:
20%

Cloak keep it going though he was easily becoming more emotionally fragile with every effort.
 
He would have never thought that dementors would affect him so . . . but, in retrospect, it was kind of stupid of him, knowing what his past was like.
 
And, though he fought tooth and nail to suppress it, another horrid memory surfaced. . . .
 

***

He was kicked out of his family's house, and he just discovered that his sisters were siding with with his mother.  Only Shadow had seen a shadow of his mother's true nature, that Cloak had the misfortune of discovering through verbal, and seldomly physical, abuse.
 
Cloak turned his back on them, although reluctantly where Shadow was concerned.  But he hadn't a choice.  His mother took that away from him long ago.
 
He thought to himself in song, in a bit of a self-derogatory manner and a bit mish-mash with his mother's brainwashing, making him feel worthless:
 

I'm gonna build me a wall.
I'll make it ten miles high.
See ya later, pal,
Bye-bye.
You ain't gettin' in,
So don't you even try!
A ten-mile wall.
I'm gonna build me a wall.
I'm gonna disappear.
Whassamatter, pal,
Am I not being clear?
Can't you take a hint?
Am I getting through at all?
Just get outta here!
I was told that the world
Would despise me.
So, I should've known.
I should've guessed.
I thought that these two
Might've been different.
Well, now I know!
They're just like all the rest!
I won't be what they want.
I won't be what they say.
Hey, mother, have it your way!
If you're looking for a loser,
It's your unlucky day.
I won't be what you want!
What a fool
To think she might love me.
I open my heart
And let them walk through.
It was disarming,
I just wanted a home that I lacked.
How unlucky that I never came through.
Gonna build me a wall.
A perfect place to hide.
The best way to conquer,
They say is to divide.
Gonna build a wall.
Not gonna be what she says.
Gonna hide it in my heart.
Gonna build a wall!

A week and a half later, Cloak made it back to RAF, where the memory abruptly cuts off because it was no longer a bad memory.

***

"Look alert, guys!" Aquilai said, alarmed.  "Down to 20%!"

"I'm giving it all I got," Cloak said, rather quietly, to disguise the fact that he was outright crying now.  He, like all Realm Walkers, could be very prideful, ashamed of any perceived weakness.

However, this didn't change the fact that he was weakening at a much faster rate than even he would expected.  It was clear that the Dementors were taking far more of a toll on him than anyone had anticipated.

[Cloak]

Getting close to the end. . . .
 

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:
Testing . . . Testing . . .

"I told you I didn't want to be the test subject!" Demos protested.
 
"What made you think it wasn't a serious suggestion?" Faerie said in an innocent and airy manner.
 
"Faerie, I said no!  I don't want to be trapped in there forever!"
 
"Relax, we'll get you out." Broken said, waving this concern aside.
 
"If I could get out," Demos said pragmatically, "don't you think one or two of the Dementors could escape?!  They may have mass, but not very much of it."
 
Silence met this pronouncement.  This hadn't occurred to the other two, and they immediately revised their decision of Demos as a test subject.  They needed on that was expendable, and, as such, they could not with good conscience do such with a living creature.  Demos ordinarily wouldn't care -- but he fabricated caring just so he wouldn't be reelected as the test subject.
 
"Maybe a stone like this would suffice," Broken said.
 
"Better it than me," Demos muttered.
 
"Better than nothing." Faerie agreed.
 

***

Cloak's emotions were being stretched taut.  He did not want to think about these things, about his misery with his mother, about his misery without Shadow in his life. . . .
 
These feelings of hopelessness and futility threatened to overwhelm him as another memory came to the forefront . . .
 

***

There was a time, when he was in RAF and people cared about him, that his thoughts went back to Shadow.  He wondered if his mother got to her . . . brainwashed her against him as she had done with Cloak to his father, Brute. . . . Painfully, Cloak operated under the assumption that this was true, though he exceedingly did not want it to be true.

He found himself thinkin in song:
 

When she loved me,
Everything was beautiful.
Every hour we spent together
Lives within my heart.

And when she was sad,
I was there to dry her tears.
And when she was happy,
So was I,
When she loved me.

Through the summer, and each fall,
We had each other, that was all.
Just she and I together,
Like it was meant to be.

And when she was lonely,
I was there to comfort her.
And I knew that she loved me.

So the years went by,
I stayed the same,
And she was ripped away.
I was left Shadowless and alone.

Still I waited for the day
When she'd say,
"We will always be with you."

Lonely and forgotten,
Never thought she'd look my way.
That she'd smiled at me,
Just like she'd used to do,
Like she loved me,
When she loved me.

When Shadow loved me,
Everything was beautiful.
Every hour we spent together
Lives within my heart.
When she loved me. . . .

***

This memory wasn't as powerful as the others, because he didn't know that it was true that Shadow stopped loving him.  It was just a memory that he had in a moment of doubt, a moment of weakness.  But the thought of Shadow -- the merest thought -- gave him newfound strength to resist the Dementors' increasing influence, but it did not change his exhaustion.  He managed to gather enough strength to slow the drain of the Code Avalon, but it was not a permanent solution.

Eventually, Cloak would pass out.  Or worse.

Those three had better hurry.

[redtailedsaffa]

Definitely been one of the best books so far. Your writing's really hit a high point!

[Cloak]

Thanks, Saffa.

Three more chapters to go -- including this one.  The next book won't be as heavy as this one, I believe.
 

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:
10%

"Must . . . keep . . . this . . . up. . . . Must . . . speak . . . in . . . fractured . . . sentences." Cloak muttered, attempting to inject a little humor into his struggle.  He didn't know if he succeeded.
 
He knew he wasn't stopping the failure of Code Avalon, but just delaying it.  Such knowledge wasn't exactly very comforting.  Cloak braced himself, as he knew the Dementors were foisting another horrible memory upon him again.
 

***

Cloak was a child, roughly middle school.  His mom wasn't as horrible to him then, but he supposed that was because he still had the cute cubby looks about him.  Probably the main reasons that foolish people think that tiger cubs make great pet -- only to get their butts killed by said "pets".

Cloak was singing quietly to himself, after his mom had a Freudian slip and said that he was not smart enough*.  He went off to sulk, and he sung quietly to himself.
 

"I guess I’d be a hero –
With sword and armor clashing,
Looking semi-dashing,
A shield within my grip.

Or else I’d be a Viking,
And live a life full of daring,
Or maybe that's just a red herring,
Upon a rickety ship.

I’d sail away.
I’d see the worlds.
I’d reach the farthest reaches.
I’d feel that wind.
I’d see the sights and truly see,
And maybe stormwatch some beaches.
That’s who I’d be.
That’s who I’d be.

Or I could be a poet,
And write a different story.
One that tells of glory,
And wipes away the lies.

I’d write a verse,
Recite a joke,
With wit and perfect timing,
I’d share my heart.
Confess the things I yearn
And do it all while rhyming.

But we all learn.
But we all learn . . .
A loser always hides.
A loser’s fate is known.
A loser always stays
In the dark and all alone.

So yes, I’d be a hero,
And if my wish were granted
Life would be enchanted,
Or so they say.

Of course I’d be the hero,
And I would scale a tower
To save a hot-house flower,
And carry her away.

But standing guard
Would be a beast.
I’d somehow inconvenience it.
I’d get the girl.
I’d take a breath,
And I’d remove my helmet.

We’d stand and stare.
We’d speak of love.
We’d feel the stars ascending.

We’d share a kiss.
I’d find my destiny.
I’d have a hero’s ending.
A perfect happy ending.
That’s how it would be:
A big, bright, beautiful world . . .
A perfect happy ending.
That’s how it should be."

He stood against a flat stone surface and slid down into a crouching position, sniffling quietly.  His mother never really knew or realized the weight of her words.

***

"Ten percent!" Aquilai announced.  "Down to ten percent!  Prepare yourselves, people!"

Cloak could not muster any more energy to prolong Code Avalon.  He could no longer even force himself to remain conscious.

He collapsed in the grass, his tears still burning the soil and the grass.

---
*In reality, this references the fact that when I was younger my mom told me that I wasn't "smart enough" to be on Jeopardy.  I really hadn't any intention anyway -- although my maternal grandmother continued to say that I would do well on "Wheel of Fortunate" due to how many puzzles I solved while watching on episode.

[Cloak]

Two more to go.
 

CHAPTER NINETEEN:
Containment and Contentment

"It's done!" Faerie cried as Broken and Demos carried out the footlocker.

"It's done for!" Aquilai cried over the intercom, leaving the main console room.  He was referring to the Code Avalon.  It would be some time before it recharged, and was fit to use again.  He dashed down to the ground, to see the opaquely-translucent dome wither away and seemingly vanish.

"No matter, the footlocker is done." Faerie said, addressing Aquilai.

"Would you mind helping us carry it, then?" Demos complained.

"Oh, you two have it very well in hand." Faerie said dismissively.

"Then, since you're free Faerie, could you go get Kelly or Goom?  Cloak has kind of collapsed." Aquilai said urgently.

"What?  Oh.  Oh, fine." And she was off.

The Dementors didn't wait for the entirety of the Code Avalon to fail, they just waited for the holes to be big enough for their entry, and then they swooped over RAF once more.  Broken and Demos dropped the footlocker, which now issued a minor aura of magical energy.

The Dementors came to them first, as they were right in front of Cloak, who Aquilai was trying to drag off, away from the grounds.  Broken kicked the footlocker which opened emitting a faint and garish green glow, as if this was right out of "Ghostbusters".  All the Dementors was sucked within, none evaded it, and none escaped it.  They were all now trapped within the overlarge box, and Demos shut the lid with a snap.

But the Dementors remained hungry and restless.  The footlocker thumped and bumped in a most disconsolate way.  However, nothing more happened.

"Okay . . ." Saffa said, upon seeing the spectacle, "what now?"

Silence greeted these words.

"Uh, good question," Faerie replied.

But then Cloak answered wearily.  "That'll be up to me."

"Cloak, no." Aquilai said.  "You've overexerted yourself.  You --"

"I will do what I must," Cloak replied.

He walked over to the footlocker. Then he formed an ecliptic forcefield around himself and the footlocker.  It didn't just stop at the ground, the forcefield encapsulated the two totally.  Cloak fiddled with his cloak's fastenings and then his cloak dropped to the floor of the forcefield.  Then the egg-shaped energy capsule was filled with a blisteringly bright light.  It enveloped both Cloak and the footlocker.

Five minutes passed before Cloak donned his cloak again.  There was nothing left of the footlocker.  Not a single trace, not even a trail of smoke.  The Dementors were gone.

The forcefield dropped, and Cloak dropped into silence and unconsciousness yet again.

"He's really got to stop overexerting himself," Saffa commented benignly.

[Cloak]

Last chapter before Book XXX.  May not be very long.
 

CHAPTER TWENTY:
Recovery

"Oh, Veil," Malice cursed when she discovered how the RAFians overcame this.  "If they didn't have Cloak they would have been done for."

"But I thought Cloak was the one that was attracting the Dementors," Abomination said.

Malice paid this no mind, and instead said, "Well, I suppose it's time to come up with another scheme to make these Dwellers entertain me -- I mean, us."

Then the two vanished, as if they were having a nice picnic at the sight of the RAFians suffering and hurting.

***

Cloak had to sleep for a few days to recover from the amount of energy that he expended.  He realized how close he came to killing himself from exhaustion.  It wasn't an experience that he would like to repeat, but he knew he would again, if it came down to it.  He would give his life for these people, these RAFians.  They were his family now -- although he knew his aunt and cousins were there for him as well.

Cloak was looking at RAF from high up, thinking in song:

In some new place,
With some new case
I've never seen.
I thought I'd find where I belong, someday.
And there may even be a new dream for me
Waiting here along the way.
Who knows where I go from here?
There's nothing to lose, nothing to fear.
The past is gone.
I must move on
From . . . there.

Cloak concluded that he must move on from the abuse he suffered in the past.  He wasn't that person anymore.  He was a far stronger person now, because of his aunt, his cousins, his Nexus friend, and his beloved RAF.  He would not allow anyone else to use his past against him like this again.

[Cloak]

Okay, now onto the thirtieth book.  Waring -- my be short.

BOOK XXX:
THE MUSIC MISER
Chapter One:
A Musical, Miserly Tale

"Well, that was some heavy stuff two weeks ago," Underseen said.

"Yeah," Saffa agreed earnestly, readjusting her marshmallow. "I don't care to relive that memory again."

Saffa, Underseen, Sakki, Kelly, Parker, Helen, Phoenix,  and Cloak were sitting around a campfire. Everyone but Cloak were roasting marshmallows and having s'mores. Cloak didn't really care for either.

He looked up at the inky black sky, dotted with thousands of stars. Cloak wondered idly if one of those white, twinkling dots was their own Estelore.

"I suppose that was the worst enemies that we had to fight," Helen said withdrawing her stick to devour her marshmallow.

"I dunno," Sakki said, reclining with her head behind her head. "The Music Miser had his moments."

"Oh, God, not him," Kelly said, facepalming. "The less that I think about him the better."

"Aw, that was because you knew he was sweet on you," Parker said, teasingly.

"He couldn't take 'no' for an answer!" Kelly protested.

"Um, question," Saffa interjected, "who's this Music Miser?"

"Yeah, I've never heeard of him." Underseen said.

"Count yourself lucky, then," Cloaky muttered.

"Nor have I," Helen added, not having heard Cloak.

"Ah, well, that was before you three joined RAF," Parker said, nibbling his marshmallow as Helen began to roast another.

"I was only a yearling myself, I believe," Cloak said. "If I recall correctly."

"Who was he?" Underseen asked.

Phoenix shrugged and turned to Cloak, "You wanna tell it?"

"Fine," Cloak said, "But you guys may have to fill in some holes, and make sure I don't forget anything."