Memoirs of a RAFian

[Cloak]

And the second chapter of the day.
 

CHAPTER FOUR:
Phase Two

"Now, go," Malice said.  "Remember distract him until you get word otherwise."
 
"Yes, love," Abomination said, rather like an obedient dog.  Then he went on his way and Malice turned to her new metallic army of fourteen.  "Now, you lot.  You have a very special mission to accomplish for me."

The fourteen showed no emotion -- perhaps they were incapable of it.  But their roboticization had seemingly shut off their sentience, as they now only knew the orders of their lady and mistress, Malice.

***

The reception was rounding to it's closing moments, when an uninvited gatecrasher burst his way inside.  He glanced around, and saw the party.  He was perplexed for a moment, but resumed his single-minded pursuit of his goals.  He charged for Cloak who easily and elegantly dodged the tackle.  Abomination roared, baring those four tusk-like teeth that all hippos have.  He also had the same proclivity for violence as hippopotamuses are apt to indulging in.

"You're ruining such a lovely occasion, Ab -- uh," Cloak said, who had taken to wanting to call him anything but "Abomination", though he knew that he himself was the one to inflict such an epithet upon the Realm Walker.

"You're coming with me!"

"Oh?" Cloak asked coyly.

"I'll make you!"

"Alas, first impulse is anger and violence," Cloak replied, with a heavy sigh, "don't you see that this makes you little more then a ruffian?  A grunt?  A --"

Suddenly, a large table was flung at Cloak.  Unfortunately for Abomination, it was made of wood.  Cloak easily froze it in place and set it down rather daintily.

"She's never going to love you, you know," Cloak said, rather crassly.

During this big distraction, no one noticed the silent abduction of Horse, Gaz, Parker (who had not worn his armor but a tailored suit for such a joyous occasion), Bear (knocking off a rather stupid-looking party hat), Noelle, and Phoenix -- all knocked out before taken.  Had Cloak not been confronting Abomination -- and not having tables, chairs and the entire wedding cake thrown at him -- he just might have Earthsighted the abductors.

He did briefly look in that direction, sensing the metal in the roboticized people under Malice's control, but Abomination roared loudly, distracting him from it.

"LIAR!" he roared.  "LIAR!! She DOES love me!!"

"Ab," Cloak said, settling on this shorting of "Abomination", "I don't know why you are choosing to believe this illusion."

"It's no illusion!" he roared, although it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than Cloak, "It's REAL!!"

"No," Cloak said, sorrowfully, "it isn't."

"It IS!!" he insisted.

Cloak shook his head, pityingly, "You'll find out in time, Ab.  You'll see.  She's not good for you.  She would abandon you the moment, the very moment, she had no longer any need for your muscle and your gullibility."

"You're wrong." he said, turning to run, having gotten a subtle signal to withdraw. But as he fled, he chanted, "He's wrong. He's wrong.  He's wrong. . . ."

Meanwhile, back at RAF, Guy was asking, "Where's Gaz?  And Horse, for that matter?"

[Cloak]

Reposting the list:

• 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.

• Book CLV: Muppet, Muppet Man

Parker and Gaz are turned into Muppets. ()

• Book CLVI: Larval Ambush

The RAFians must deal with insectoid creatures who are parasitoids with humans.

• Book CLVII: As the World Doesn't Turn

The RAFians must stop a group of feline aliens from stopping the world from rotating.

[redtailedsaffa]

At this point I kinda feel sorry for Abomination.

[Cloak]

You kinda should -- his relationship with Malice (minus the romantic leanings) are probably what my life would have been if I still was living with my mother, and believe me, it wasn't pleasant.  Though he's CHOOSING to remain in such an abusive relationship -- I was looking for a way out that I fortunately found. So, in a way, he's my foil.

Third one today.
 

CHAPTER FIVE:
Robo-RAFians

Back at their secret hideout, the RAFians were laid in a row.  First up, Gaz was dragged to the Roboticizer where she groaned and opened her eyes.  She realized she was not in a safe place immediately.  The Roboticizer buzzed to life, and the top began to surge with energy.  Gaz's terror was clearly defined through the clear, plexiglass-like tube that she was trapped in.  The ring of energy slowly approached downward.  Gaz's mind was so befuddled she didn't realized that going to mist mode would effectively neutralize the energy's effect on her.  As it descended downward, it engulfed her head, then proceeded down to her shoulders, then approached and bypassed her midriff, thighs, legs, and finally stopped at her toes.  Her eyes glowed red for a bit, before quickly fading to green, then to blue.

She was pulled from the Roboticizer, now a robot and believed to be without free will.  She seemed to be confused as she looked at her newly mechanized hands.  Abomination dragged a groggy Noelle to the chamber -- which was usually able to accommodate an Andalite.  She looked around blearily with her stalk eyes, still unsure of where she was.  She sobered up real quickly when she realized the energy ring was descending for her.

She knew what she would do!  She would morph!  She would morph . . . morph what?  What possible morph would allow her to escape the energy ring? A paramecium?  She didn't have a paramecium morph -- where that even possible.

It was over soon enough, however.  She was now a robot Andalite -- incapable of morphing . . . in the conventional sense.  Her morphing ability translated into Cybertronian transforming -- scanning instead of acquiring through touch.  Like Gaz, her eyes -- all four of them -- glowed red briefly before fading into green and then settling into blue.

She was roughly dragged from the Roboticizer tube, and it was Horse's turn next.  It was easier to plop the little seal into the tube and Roboticize her.  She now looked more dangerous than cute, although unable to summon the Tempest Blade in this roboticized form.

It was Bear's turn next, as Parker and Phoenix awoke and gained their senses.  Bear's left arm and his lower body were successfully Roboticized before Parker blasted the Roboticizer, as his armor wrapped itself around his body.

"What the --"

"Turns out the Walker tech Cloak installed in my armor allows it to mass-shift and fit in a watch," Parker said, through his helmet. "And back again. I just discovered this application a week ago, after our little skirmish with the Music Miser."

Then Parker shifted his armor to the Chimera Ride Armor and dragged Bear free of the device.  Then he made to leave the place, but Phoenix protested, "But the others."

Parker glanced at the Roboticized RAFians, the Robo-RAFians, and he said, with difficulty, "They're Malice's now.  They're gone."

Then the two left with Bear before Malice and Abomination could ascertain what was going on.

[Cloak]

Now -- the fourth one today.
 

CHAPTER SIX:
The Flaw in Her Plan

The three Robo-RAFians, the three that Parker and Phoenix were forced to leave behind, had rather blank looks upon their face.  They had not really recognized what had happened to them, though their Marks still clearly glowed upon their new mechanized selves.  This was the one thing that Malice had neglected to remember or realize.
 
The minds of the Robo-RAFians, though quite addled with this sudden change from organic to inorganic, were not putty in Malice's hands.  Their minds were still their own, their wills were unchanged from their previous states.
 
Malice still seemed blissfully unaware of this, as she sized up her new toys.  "Finally, willing slaves and hostages, all rolled up into one."
 
"What would you have them do now, love?" Abomination said, almost tentatively.
 
"Isn't it obvious?" she asked, very well aware of the demeaning tone in her voice. "Cloak would never bring himself to destroy his friends!  They are the perfect weapons."
 
"And if this fails?" Abomination asked, hesitantly.
 
"It won't!" Malice said, with a glint of anger in her eye.  "I've planned it out.  It is perfect."
 
Abomination opened his mouth slightly, then shut it.  He decided it would be better not to speak just now.
 
"Slaves!" Malice said, address Gaz, Noelle, and Horse.  But the other fourteen stood at attention, waiting for orders as well.  "Listen to me."
 
"No." said Noelle.  Her roboticized form did not allow her to thought-speak, but instead provided her with an auditory voice.
 
"No?" Malice said, angrily.  "NO?!  You dare to defy me?!"
 
"Yes," Gaz replied, her electronic eyes narrowed.
 
Malice was going to launch into a tirade, when a thought occurred to her.  "You haven't any will of your own.  You obey me!!"
 
"Yeah, I don't think that's gonna happen." Horse replied, with her usual sass.
 
"It is not possible!"
 
"Clearly," Noelle said, "it is."
 
"Can't say it hasn't been just lovely," Gaz said, transforming into a bat a la Transformers, "beause it hasn't been."
 
Noelle scanned an owl and transformed into one.  Then she easily picked up Horse and they were on their way.  Malice was so dumbfounded that she didn't realize they were getting away until it was too late.

[Noelle]

Robo-andalite, sounds kinda cool. 

[Cloak]

Just don't get too used to it, Noelle.

CHAPTER SEVEN:
Surprises

"Gaz. Noelle. Horse." Richard said, addressing Phoenix and Parker. "Robots?"

Cloak rubbed his chin thoughtfully, as he said, "How did this happen?"

"I don't know, it supposed to be impossible, isn't it?" Parker said. "Turning flesh into metal."

"You misunderstand me," Cloak said, standing straighter now, "I mean by what conveyance, what device."

"There was tube made out of what could have been plexiglass," Phoenix said as he rattled off the description.

Cloak's expression darkened with each word. It wasn't lost on Phoenix, who stopped his description and said instead, "You know what it is, don't you?"

"Unfortunately," Cloak said, voice heavy, "I do."

"I got a bad feeling about this," Underseen said, staying unusually still.

"It's bad, isn't it?" Saffa asked, addressing Cloaky.

"Oh, I'd say so,"Cloak said, "I really don't like the thought of Roboticizers."

"What? What's a Roboticizer?" Parker. "Is it Realm Walker tech?"

Parker knew right away that he had said something Cloak considered highly offensive by the glare he gave him.

"No it is most certainly NOT Realm Walker technology." Cloak said, in a very dignified way.

"Okay!" Parker said, raising his hands defensively. "No need to be so touchy!"

"What does this Roboticizer do?" Saffa asked.

"It turns organic creatures to mechanical creatures." Cloak said.

"AND just what is so wrong with mechanical creatures?" Sakki said.

"Did I say that there was?" Cloak said, nettled. "In any case, Sakki, you have free will. In the process of transmuting flesh into metal and circuitry, it strips the victim of Roboticization."

"Oh," Sakki said.

Suddenly, there was a commotion as Gaz, Noelle, and Horse returned to RAF. They were greeted with hostility by the other RAFians, believing the three under Malice's control.
"Whoa! We're still us!" Gaz said. Laserbeak was confused and squawking in a most plaintive way.

"We're still ourselves. Our wills are intact." Noelle insisted.

Cloak scrutinized the three . . . but his attention was constantly drawn to their eyes. Blue . . .

"Stand down," he told the other, though he didn't really have the authority to say as such.

"What? Why?" Rotiart said defiantly.

Cloak's face soured at Rotiart's defiance. He said, "Because, you lackwit, they're telling the truth."

***

After the three told their stories, Horse asked, her voice with a robotic lilt to it, "So . . . are we stuck this way?"

"No," Cloak answered. "All we need is a De-Roboticizer."

"And we're going to get that where?" Bear asked.

All eyes looked at Cloak.

"Do you honestly think that I've schematics?" Cloak said incredulously.

"Then how --" Noelle asked.

"Goom, Yarin and I possibly could devise one." Aquilai said thoughtfully. "Only . . ."

"Only what?" Richard asked.

Goom finished, "We're gonna hafta see it. The Roboticizer."

[redtailedsaffa]

Ooh can't wait to see what happens next!

[Cloak]

Then wait no longer, Saffa! Here's the first chapter of the day.
 

CHAPTER EIGHT:
Cranky Escort

"It's too dangerous," Cloak said.
 
"What other option do we have?" Yarin asked rhetorically.
 
"Yeah," Gaz said, attempting to calm and soothe a very stressed Laserbeak, "I don't wanna stay this way forever. And I sure Laserbeak doesn't either."
 
"Fine, then," Cloak sighed. "But I'm gonna escort you there."
 
"Me too."
 
"No unnecessary risks, guys," Richard warned.
 
"Who? Little ol' us?" Cloak said drolly, with a heavy-lidded look.
 
"Will be and out, Richard," Aquilai said. "I mean what could go wrong?"
 
Both Parker and Cloak facepalmed.
 

***

The five approached the Roboticizer and were close enough for Goom to get a schematic scan -- but Cloak still thought that they were entirely too close. The tube was open, and Cloak found that ominous.
 
"Goom? Hurry up." Cloak prompted.
 
"It's going as fast as it can," Goom said, unconcernedly.
 
But Cloak's senses were blaring DANGER! Cloak couldn't help but look around nervously. His Earthsight showed him nothing . . . he felt a small tugging sensation just north of his stomach . . . oh, Veil.
 
"Hurry! It's a trap!" Cloak exclaimed pointed in the direction of Malice's automatons. The Kinecceleran managed to speed towards Aquilai faster than a blink, pushing him into the tube, but could do no more because it appeared that he was being both Force choked and bloodbent. And Cloak hated himself for it.
 
"Done!" Goom cried.
 
"Good," Cloak said, resorting to "bloodbend" more of the Roboticized due to sheer necessity. Didn't mean he liked it.
 
On the way back, Aquilai theorized that he would have just regenerated, but Cloak doubted it, though he said nothing.

[Cloak]

Ta-da! The second chapter! May be a little on the short side! I'm have too many exclaimation marks! I needed to put them somewhere! ()
 

CHAPTER NINE:
Get to Work!!

The five returned to RAF after this ordeal, and told their stories.  It was mildly amusing, except for Robo-Gaz, Robo-Horse, and Robo-Noelle.

"You were being very careless, Aquilai," Noelle chided.

"I wasn't being careless!" Aquilai protested.  "How was I to know that they had a speedy Roboticized alien."

"It was a Kinecceleran," Cloak said, dryly. "Really, Aquilai, they're in the Species Database."

"Oh, please, you know how outdated that thing is?" Aquilai quipped.

"It isn't," Cloak said, defensively, hiding his wounded pride, "I've kept it up-to-date with Underseen and Parker's assistance."

"Moving on," Richard said, refocusing the group upon the task at hand, "the fact of the matter is did you succeed in capturing the scans you required?"

"Affirmative," Goom said.

"Good," Richard nodded.  "Now, you three need to get to work.  Gaz, Horse, Noelle, you best go with them."

The six nodded and then left.

"And the rest of us?" Underseen asked.

"We wait," Richard replied.

"Oh, yippee," Saffa said, sarcastically.

"Took the words right out of my mouth," Faerie concurred.

***

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY GOT AWAY?!?!" Malice raged later.

Abomination flinched visably, which was odd considering just how much larger he was to Malice. Then he reported, in an expressionless tone, "They came in, huddled around the Roboticizer. The Roboticized Kinecceleran charged one at half-speed, and pushed him into the Roboticizer."

Malice's face lit up, "And it was activated?"

"No, love." Abomination confessed, and it was like he was anticipating the worst.

Malice looked furious, but then she remembered.  "It wouldn't have done anything anyway.  Those stupid Marks restore their minds and wills to them."

Abomination relaxed a little, but this was a mistake.  Malice wasn't done laying into him just yet, she wasn't done venting all her anger and frustration on the poor hippo.

[Cloak]

Presenting . . . the third chapter!
 

CHAPTER TEN:
Prototype Parade

The six reached the laboratory that now seemed to solely belong to Aquilai, Yarin, and Goom, as Demos had been forbidden to experiment, due to the last experiment nearly turning RAF into the next Chernobyl. He was none too pleased about this arrangement.
 
"It was just a little leak," he had protested, "it was just a little radiation."
 
The mods, Cloak and Esty were not amused.  So, he was essentially banned from experimenting on the risk of him being Banned.  He seemed to take it all in good stride though.
 
Anyway, Aquilai, Goom, and Yarin got to work, quickly constructing a skeletal version of the Roboticizer -- using the schematics scanned.  Within a few hours, which Noelle, Gaz, and Horse felt like they were being bored to death, they constructed a rudimentary Roboticizer.
 
"Is it ready yet?" Horse asked, groggily.
 
"No," Aquilai answered, "we have successfully recreated it, I think.  Now we need to modify it to reverse the process by --"
 
"Blah, blah, blah.  Wake me when its done."
 
"But you're a robot -- you don't sleep," Yarin said, perplexed.
 
"Just rub more salt in the wound, why don't you?"
 
"Yeah, Laserbeak won't even look at me anymore." Gaz pointed out sadly.
 

***

It took another five hours for them to have modified it enough to look like a Light Capsule from the Mega Man X series, but big enough to accommodate all three at once.  They puttered and tinkered around with it before Yarin confirmed its completion.
 
"Great, I was dying of old age over here," Horse said, snippily.
 
"You're a robot, Horse, you can't age." Aquilai said.
 
"Just shut up or I'm gonna go all Terminator on you," Horse countered.
 
"I'm so scared," Aquilai said patronizingly, as he scooted Horse inside the prototype De-Roboticizer. "Okay, activated it, Yarin."
 
"Activating . . ." Yarin said, as his four arms flew over the controls, some of which were over head.  This is why he was so often used for these jobs his six eyes and four arms made everything go far faster than, say, a human.
 
The energy rings descended down around the three and . . . just made their voices sound tinnier.

"It can be fixed!" Aquilai said, hurriedly.  Then he and Goom made a few tweaks, and cued Yarin to start up the De-Roboticizer again.

The three Robo-RAFians endured another ring enveloping them.  It just turned Gaz gold, Noelle silver, and Horse platinum.  The three Robo-RAFians wore looks that clearly said that they were doubting the ability of Aquilai, Goom, and Yarin to cure them.

"Not to worry, not to worry," Goom said, attempting to wave away their concerns before realizing he hadn't any arms.  The two continued to make minor alterations.  Then cued Yarin again.

This time it just took their voice synthesizers offline. Horse, especially, looked ticked at this, while Noelle looked more passive.

"Just a few more adjustments!  I swear!" Aquilai promised. Then he and Goom worked even more furiously before they cued Yarin again, who sighed rather obviously.

This time it took all three offline.

"You killed them," Yarin accused.

"No!  No, they're just unconscious.  Just offline a bit." Aquilai rationalized.

"They're dead," Yarin insisted, because it indeed looked as if they were dead.

"No, they aren't.  Look they're coming 'round now." Aquilai countered, as the three did stir.  It was twelve, fourteen minutes that they were offline.

"You know, maybe I can live as a robot. . . ." Gaz complained.

[redtailedsaffa]

The Vampire Robot Strikes Back. Hmm. I like it.

[Cloak]

LOL.

Sorry, but that's probably it for chapters until later on.  I'm wiped.

EDIT: New chapter.

CHAPTER ELEVEN:
Success! For Now . . .

"This time, for sure," Aquilai insisted.

"Heard that before," Robo-Horse said groggily.

"Trust me."

"'Trust me', he says," Robo-Gaz mutters.

"Yarin -- do it."

Yarin sighed to himself as he initialized the De-Roboticizer, and activated.

The energy rings began their downward descent, and the three Robo-RAFians braced for what was bound to be a failure with another unintended, unforseen side effect.

But nothing of the sort happened.  The three had their eyes shut tightly in anticipation. All three felt the tingle of the ring, and nothing more than that.

"You can open you eyes now," Aquilai said with a trace of smugness in his voice.

They did, and realized they wer flesh and bone again. They did not hide their shock or relief.

Goom sniffed, "We did tell you we would put you right in the end."

Then Yarin's eyes widened, all six of them, as he said, "We've forgotten about Bear."

"Alright, let's get him in here." Aquilai said, off-handedly.

Alas, there was one caveat that all six were unaware of. But, let's not get ahead of ourselves now.

***

"Well done," Richard said, as the three RAFians displayed that thet were no longer Roboticized. "Now, what to do about the Roboticizer."

"Destroy it," Parker said at once.

"That's not enough," Cloak disagreed. "Especially if Malice has schematics of it."

"How likely is that?" Dino asked.

"Very likely, I think," Cloak answered. "That tech doesn't come from the Prime Universe -- that's this one -- it comes from Realm # . . . well, that's not really important. But the thing is, Malice surely would keep it on her person . . ."

"Destroying the Roboticizer couldn't hurt though, right?" Saffa piped up.

"No," Cloak agreed, rubbing his chin pensively, "it couldn't hurt."

"Then it's decided," Richard said. "Cloak, you go and try to either wrest or destroy the schematics. Dino, Oceanspray, Helen, Sam, and Sakki -- go with him, and destroy that Roboticizer."

They all nodded their ascent and went on their way.

[Gaz]

Good chapters, Cloaky! I always look forward to these.

[Cloak]

Thanks, Gaz. Now one more chapter.

CHAPTER TWELVE:
Destroy the Roboticizer!

The group went in quietly and as inconspicuously as they could floating in a sphere a mixture of green, pink, and golden-scarlet. They bobbed and weaved toward their destination, eventually landing nearby, where the bubble lost its golden-scarlett coloring, and split into two orbs, to gianted bubbles of energy, one green, one pink.

"Good, now go and be careful," came Cloak's nearly silent voice.

The two spheres oriented themselves so that each on was on either side of the Roboticizer, although they had to shrink in size to fit in the enclosed area.

All was in place . . . and yet . . . it seemed too easy . . .

Dino charged forward, resisting the temptation to roar. She held her head low, apparently preparing for a headlong tackle. But at the last moment, she stopped, and swung her ankylosaurid tail at the Roboticizer.

"Stop them now, slaves!!" came Malice's scream.

But it was to late -- Dino's tail made contact with plexiglass tube and the sound of shattering glass reverberated rather ominiously.

Meanwhile, Sakki, Helen, and Sam worked in ripping out the circuitry and ruining the hardware.  Helen and Sam eventually had to use their rings to shield themselves from the explosion and the inevitable cave-in that followed.

While this was happening, Oceanspray wastyping in some sort of computer code on his arm. Then he turned it into an arm cannon, and fired a wide-beam shot that caused all fourteen Roboticized minions to deactivate.

"Hurry!" he shouted. "Everyone out!"

***

Malice was entirely focused on the destruction of her precious Roboticizer.

"It makes no difference! I'll build a new one! This time with a Burn-Thru Brain chip! That way your precious little Marks will be powerless against it!!"

Cloak said, "You know, shouting your plans at top of your voice isn't the wisest strategy."

"Huh?" Malice said, jumping.

"You lost sight of you environment? Tsk tsk tsk."

The others has safely left by this time.

"Don't you dare to lecture me, whelp!" Malice screamed. Cloak didn't see Malice lose control like this very often -- in fact, this was only the second time.

Then Malice looked around, clearly looking for Abomination, "GET CLOAK, LOVE! What? WHERE THE VEIL ARE YOU?! GET OVER HERE!"

Abomination never materislized. Cloak hid a smile as he thought, There could be hope for him yet.

"WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"Give it up, Malice. Ab's not here." Cloaky said. "You know what I'm after."

Malice's eyes narrowed. "You can't have it!"

"Fine," Cloak said. "Your choice."

Cloak punched the ground and it was as if he used Fire Pledge. Malice was alight with fire, but she quickly used her own energy to douse it.

"Did you honestly think the schematics were on paper?" Malice said revealing the disc.

Then Cloak fired of a gattling gun like shots from his tail, rather like Neon Tiger's Ray Splasher. The disc was destroyed.

"No! That was the only copy!" Malice lamented.

"Bit of an oversight on your part," Cloak said, as left, ignoring her roar of rage and frustration.