Memoirs of a RAFian

[Cloak]

Remember, his dad was Cataclysm. He had to inherit some things from him.

Well, looks like Book CD will be the final "Memoirs" book of the ser-- oh, man. Couldn't even do that with a straight face. Naw, there will be more books. Like these two:

• Book CDI: "Tra-La-La-La" -- The RAFians must deal with the wandering spirit of the High Priestess of Opar.
• Book CDII: "Shadow Swarm" -- The RAFians face a new foe named Shadow Swarm. (No affliation with Shadow.)

New chapter.

CHAPTER TEN:
Compromised By Limits

Corruption looked at his work, at the chaos it brought. All RAFians at this point where touched who could be touched. Corruption was satisfied. His thirst for entertainment satiated for the moment. Had Corruption been a man of good sense and wisedom, he would have known better than to decide to rest on his laurels at this moment, when there was still a chance for all his works to come undone.

But, like his father, Corruption was a proud, pretentious, and ostentatiously arrogant man with a demurred veneer. He thought no man, be he Dweller or Walker, was his equal. He believed his special touch was irreversible and permanent. He believed that now he truly stood out from his father as being more evil, more cunning, and just all-around better than his father.

He never knew his mother however. He never knew the circumstances which lead to her not being in his life, nor did he even know here name, chosen or given. Corruption found that he really didn't care. The guy had never known the love of a mother or a significant other. But why should he? He's seen over and over again how easily love is refined into pure hatred like flames to petroleum oil. And that's even without his special touch. How powerful could such a stupid and meaningless feeling be?

Pointless. Only for the fools who are slaves to emotions and hormones. he thought venomously.

Meanwhile, Cloak had desided to test the limits of his power. The air vibrated and rushed as if before a major storm. The metal in the vicinity twisted and warped, as did the wood. The water of the lake ebbed and flowed violently. The fire around Cloak was getting hotter. And, all the while, the earth itself trembled, as if it, itself, was growning fearful of the newly deranged Realm Walker's unrestrained might. It is the precise reason for the mental blocks Cloak had put in his mind. This was his worst fear, and, in his present condition, he was none the wiser.

The trembling earth was felt miles away, in the sanctuary of the three, in those crystal catacombs. The three had only one notion of what was happening.

"They found us!" AniDragon shouted.

"But how!" Kelly said, shrieking when a nearby sapphire blue crystal shattered violently.

"Cloak has Earthsight." Richard said, taking quick assessment of the situation. "He probably 'saw' us through that."

"He wouldn't kill us," AniRragon said. Then she added, unsure, "Right?"

"Normally, I'd say no," Richard said, taking command. "But with his personality completely inversed, I'd have to say that's it is a very real possibility."

The rumbling intensified, as an emerald green crystal shattered explosively, one shards missing Kelly's arm by mere millimeters. It was obvious what their next move was.

"We have to get out of here." Richard said. "If we don't the cave will collapse right on top of us, either trapping us or killing us outright. Let's go. Now."

[redtailedsaffa]

Riveting stuff. I can visualize it in my head.

[Cloak]

Thanks. The next chapter may not come out until later, though. Exhausting day at work, as well as a headache I had. But, apparently, there is good news to come from work tomorrow.

New books ideas.

• Book CDIII: "Barbie Dall" -- The RAFians must deal with an actress who has difficulty distinguishing fantasy from reality.
• Book CDIV: "Hostile Takeover" -- An organization that was on bad terms with RAF is taken over by undercover anarchists called "Red Dove".
• Book CDV: "Playing God -- Again" -- The RAFians must face genetically-modified super soldiers.
• Book CDVI: "Men of the Elements" -- The RAFians must deal with more super soliders, but, this time, of a slightly different class.
• Book CDVII: "Tempting the Parasite" -- The Red Dove attempt to tempt a former RAFian to joining their ranks.
• Book CDVIII: "Dial-a-Mate" -- The Pantrix user makes one for his girlfriend.
• Book CDIX: "Babbling Ghouls" -- The RAFians must deal with a minor outbreak of Babbling Ghouls.
• Book CDX: "Power Lust" -- The RAFians must deal with a Darkness Bug.

New chapter.

CHAPTER ELEVEN:
A Course of Action

"Our best option is to find a RAFian that has been touched, but one that's easier to manage." Richard said. "Cloak is out of the question, Esty more than likely hasn't been touched, considering she's probably dealing with Fred somewhere."

"Horse is out, too. She's probably at Pootang's cage, begging to be eaten, as sick as that sounds." Kelly pointed out. "I honestly don't see how we're going to be able to get a RAFian alone to test this. They all have abilities to either prevent capture or are simply apesh-- er, simply have lost their minds."

"We have to try something," AniDragon persisted. "If we don't than nothing will change."

Just then, an inverse Helen stampeded across their path in a way reminiscent of Chi-Chi from DBZA. And Sam came barging in her way from the other direction. The three blinked at this circumstance.

"Well, we were bound to get lucky at some point," Richard shrugged. Since Helen felt no love anymore, it made her Star Sapphire ring useless. She was essentially powerless in her current state, just like Sam's ring is useless as well, since he now had the inverse of great will.

Kelly looked at AniDragon. "Hate Plague?"

"Hate Plague." AniDragon replied in confirmation, as she placed her hand on Kelly's shoulder. Then she activated her power-boosting ability, which never really affects people in precisely the same way twice.

Kelly outstretched her hands and white concentric circles issued from her hand towards the two inverse RAFians. The two had no idea if this would even work but it was worth a try, as it was the only real solution that they had going for them at the moment. The two inversed RAFians did not have time to react to it in any negative way. The concentric circles reached them and, at first, seemed to do nothing.

"Pour it on!" AniDragon advised.

Kelly acquiesced and this time more of a different was seen. The two slowly, very slowly at first, regained their normal color schemes. The two were slowly being cured of the touch, and Corruption was none the wiser.

Within moments, it was done, and the two's rings bursted into life agin with their respective colors. They were cured, for the moment. It was unknown if they were now rendered immune to the touch or could very well be touched again. But you must be thankful for your victories, however small they may seem at the time.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER TWELVE:
Undoing What's Been Done

"Wh . . . what happened? I feel like I've been clapped by a To'kustar," Helen said, woozily. It was odd. The touch hadn't made them forget their previous lives, just made them disdainful of it.

"Or smacked by a wampa," Sam said, just as woozily. "Wait . . . oh man."

He wore a look of guilt upon his face, signifying that he remembered everything that he had done. It was exceedingly out of character for him. And Helen too remembered, and she looked crushed.

"How . . . how could I have hated him so much?" she said, more to herself than anyone else. "How could I have forgotten the power of love? The Star Sapphire oath?"

"Don't be so hard on yourselves," Richard said, gently. "You weren't thinking clearly."

The two, looking rather put out and on the precipice of tears, glanced at each other, than at the three before them. Sam said, in a holow sort of voice, "Yes, we were."

"We just didn't care." Helen looked downward, as if ashamed with herself.

"You were not accountable, though, you were under the influence of Corruption's touch." Kelly said, as Cloak's power semed to ebb. He must have began to either get bored or tire.

"It doesn't work that way," Sam said, guilt welling up inside, threatening to overwhelm him. He must have done things he thought were absolutely revolting now that he was back to normal.

"We can't make excuses for the behavior we exhibited, touched or not! I almost killed a guy with my own hands!" Helen said, in a heartfelt lament. "I only stopped from acting on it because I was distracted by someone else and then got put right by you two. And I knew what I was doing the whole time."

"You're being too hard on yourselves," Richard said. "I will concede there is a gray area here, but the fact of the matter remains, if you were not under the influence of Corruption's touch, you would have never acted in such a way. This Corruption's fault, not yours."

Helen didn't look convinced. But they took the two to a new sanctuary, while Richard, Kelly, and AniDragon continued to undo what Corruption had wrought.

***

Corruption had left the forum after touching the Pootang. He smirked and smiled broadly as he strolled beneath the reddening sky, seeing the chaos and mayhem that his touch brought to everyone.

He was unaware that all this chaos had an unforeseen implication that the RAFians would be forced to face down the line.

Anyway, Corruption decided to say at one of the more posh hotel in the city, elated at the utter turmoil and unrest of the city. He could watch it from the room he now occupied for an undetermined length of time.

***

They were proving the be highly successful with this strategy. They managed to get 79.97% of the city's populace saved, as well as a fair few of the RAFians including Gaz, Dino, Guy, Underseen, Faerie, and -- to Helen's delight -- Parker.

[redtailedsaffa]

Oh, Estelore wasn't there? That's a good thing... right?

[Cloak]

Yes, Saffa. Yes, it is.

Anyway, I have a mini-arc of sorts, a three-parter.

• Book CDXI: "Immortal Items" -- With the return of the Seven Demons, Blaze must remake the ancient Immortal's Items.
• Book CDXII: "The Search" -- The RAFians search for a RAFian believed to be dead.
• Book CDXIII: "They're BAAAAAACK!!" -- The Seven Demons (and Shenecron) return, stronger than ever, with altered appearances.

Don't think that I rehashed anything. Saffa?

[redtailedsaffa]

A RAFian believed to be dead O_O

[Cloak]

That's right, and it's probably not who you're expecting.

New chapter. Bit short.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN:
Under the Radar

The three continued their work, returning people back to normal. They worked systematically, methodically. Only stopping so AniDragon and Kelly could rest for a moment or two, like right after they fully freed the city's populace from Corruption's heinous influence.

Richard looked concerned and gravely as he said, "You know, sooner or later, Corruption's gonna realize what we're doing."

"We're aware, Richard," AniDragon said, looking rather put out.

"So we best save as many people as we can before he realizes, then." Kelly said, getting to her feet. It was obvious that this whole curing blitz that they've been on was beginning to take its toll on her.

"There is one thing that we are overlooking," Richard noted, "we don't know the permanency of this. We will eventually have to take on Corruption and prevent him from doing this again."

"We would Cloak to accomplish that, though," AniDragon said. "Corruption's too powerful to be allowed to keep doing this. He needs to go down."

Richard nodded heavily, "That's right, a Realm Walker can only be killed by another Realm Walker."

Kelly frowned. "Is there any way to capture him? Must we resort to killing?"

"There isn't anyway around it," Richard said. "He clearly won't stop. AniDragon cannot bind his powers. Anyone he touches becomes inverted. He's too dangerous."

This did not sit well with Kelly, and she knew that it wouldn't sit well with Cloaky. He still had his qualms about killing Cataclysm. But the conversation ended, and they restored Hunter, Phoenix, Super Nate, Esplin, Dameg, Noelle, Saffa, Goom, Broken, Adh, and Aquilai.

They hesitated befoee restoring Rotiart, but he was more dangerous in his current state. He was better off, for the sake of the RAFians and the world as a craven coward. That is saying something.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
What's This?

"That's everyone," AniDragon said.

"All but the one." Kelly corrected. Then she bit her lip worryingly, fretting. "And he'll be the hardest of them all. We might not even be able to get within range."

"We'll get it." Richard said. "Look on the bright side, the elements have simmered down since before."

"Still doesn't make it feel any less ominous." AniDragon said.

***

Corruption yawned, stretched. He was still wearing his cloak, of course, having slept in it. The room was dark, as the thick drapes were drawn shut. Corruption walked over to the drapes, expecting to see red sky and darkness and chaos.

He yanked them open, and turned away with a hiss. He did not expect, like, or appreciate the bright light that issued forth. Shielding his sensitive eyes, he looked out upon the city, upon his great work and was greatly dismayed with what he saw.

He spoke out in song:

"What's this? What's this?
There's color everywhere!
What's this?!
There's bright things in the air!
What's this?!
I can't believe my eyes!
I must be dreaming!
Wake up, man, this isn't fair!
What's this?!
What's this?! What's this?!
There's something very wrong!!
What's this?!
There's people singing songs!
What's this?!
The streets are lined with
Perverse creatures laughing!
Everybody seems so happy!
Have I possibly gone daffy?!
What is this?!
What's this?!
There's children throwing softballs,
Instead of ripping things to shreds!!
They're busy building toys,
And absolutely no one's dead!!
There's absolutely no one coming to blows!!
Oh, I can't believe my eyes!!
And, in my bones, I detest warmth
That's coming from outside.
Oh, look.
What's this?!
They're hanging out, so they're admiss.
Why, that looks so bland, uninspired!!
They're gathering around to hear a story,
Roasting marshmallows on an open fire!
What's this?!
What's this?!
In here, they all are so pleasant -- oh, how I sneer!
And who would ever think,
And why?!
Oh my, what now?
The children are asleep.
And, look, there's nothing underneath!
No convict, no witches here to scream and scare them,
Or ensnare them, only horridly cozy things!
Secure inside their dreamland!
What's this?!
The monsters are all missing!
And the nightmares can't be found!
And in their place there seems to be
Good feeling all around?
Instead of screams, I swear
I can hear music in the air.
The smell of cakes and pies
Are absolutely everywhere.
The sights, the sounds,
They're eveywhere and all around.
I've never felt so miserable before.
What happened to this place that I have found?
What is this?!"

This song had carried upon the wind. The three RAFians heard it.

"Someone's not happy," AniDragon said, not really making out the words of the song.

"Corruption no doubt," Richard said. "We've got to pick up the pace."

[redtailedsaffa]

"Look at all these happy people. Don't you want to just kill them all?"

[Cloak]

Corruption isn't doing the killing. He would not sully his hands with the blood of others. He gets others to do it for him.

New chapter.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN:
What Are They Doing Here?

"Where is he?" Kelly said. "He shouldn't be this hard to track, considering that he doesn't stick to the shadows anymore."

"Cloak pulled a Batman? Huh. I actually never noticed." AniDragon said.

"Corruption is on to us," Richard reminded them. "We don't know the permanency of the reversion. It could very well happen again."

"We know, we know," AniDragon said, "you don't need to remind us again."

"Well, I just -- what is this?" Richard began, changing tact midsentence.

It was Cloak on his knees, with two figures standing above him, one in a pretty mauve cloak and the other in a stately emerald green one. Cloak had four whips energy around him in a quadruple helix pattern. Cloak was flickering between his normal and inverted forms.

AniDragon raised an eyebrow at this, confused. "What are they doing exactly?"

"I . . . I do not know." Richard said, just as perplexed.

"Isn't it obvious?" Kelly asked. "They're healing him! Or trying to, anyway."

"How can you be sure?" Richard asked.

"Why would his sister or Shadow be trying to hurt him? You hear how highly he speaks of them!" Kelly said, surprised that they didn't recognize them, but, to be fair, they were wearing brand-new cloaks. "I don't think they will spurn a little help."

"It could be dangerous though," Richard pointed out cautiously.

"Richard, I told you. They're his --" Kelly began.

"No, no, no. Not that." Richard said, clarifying his position. "Mixing energies."

"You make it sound so dirty." AniDragon teased.

"Your mistaking energy for magic, Richard." Kelly said, thoughtfully. "I could be mistaken, but I believe that magic is more unpredicable, more volatile, than 'straight-up' energy."

"Still . . ." Richard said, face lined with concern.

AniDragon shrugged. "Couldn't hurt."

"We don't know that," Richard said quietly.

"Are you done?" Faith asked, her vulpine hearing sharper than her daughter's. Shadow could have Earthsighted them, but her mind was occupied elsewhere. "Because we actually would appreciate a hand!"

[redtailedsaffa]

Hello, what's with the change of cloaks?

[Cloak]

It's formal wear, kind of like church clothes, so to speak. I wear just the usual black cloak, which is like everyday wear.

Well, a couple more book ideas . . . lemme know what you think.

• Book CDXIV: "Prelates to the Core" -- In a possible, dystopian future, a tyrant has taken over, turning all those who resist him into "cores" in which he can turn them into chaos-prelates. Out-of-continuity.
• Book CDXV: "Brainiac's Touch" -- Brainiac returns in a body with a roboticizing touch.
• Book CDXVI: "Gone All to Pieces" -- When hit by the Shatterstone, Richard is fractured into seven pieces. Out-of-continuity.

Yeah, I know that Book CDXV seems to be a rehash of the current one, but it won't be. . . . I think.

New chapter.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN:
Confrontations

"On it!" The two RAFian girls said at once, and fell into the old habit of amplified healing that they used to purge the inverted curse from the others. Combined with Faith and Shadow's technique, Cloak was quickly purged of the cursed.

Cloak blinked blearily. Then he remembered. Then he felt tremendous guilt for his actions, for even thinking to hate his sister and her daughter when, yet again, they save him from doing something that he would regret. As easily as the mental blocks were torn down, they were erected even quicker, even thicker. He had so much destructive potential within himself . . .

He felt weak, and hollow inside. He remained on his knees, hands on said knees, and head bowed. The feelings of shame and guilt were nearly overwhelming, but pressed at him like Stlas's burden.

"So, if I might ask," AniDragon said, addressing the female Realm Walkers, "what's with the new cloaks?"

"Hmmm?" Faith asked, looking at AniDragon. "Oh, we just came back from --" she said a word that sounded like a vulpine yip to the Dwellers.

"Pardon?" Kelly asked.

"It's a service like you have at what call 'church'." Cloak said, though there was the subtlest traces of melancholy remaining in his voice. The three RAFians said nothing about it, but Faith picked up on it just as easily as they did.

"Baby brother," Faith said, in a gentle but bracing way. She was nearly a decade (Nexus time) Cloak's elder. "You weren't yourself. Your faculties were twisted into something you are not, you were not you. You were your opposite. Your own foil."

Cloak said nothing. Though Faith's words had the ring of truth, that did not change the fact of thr matter. It was a miracle in and of itself that no one was hurt. Again, he wondered if he was doing more harm than good by dwelling within this realm.

"How dare you?!" came a heated voice.

Cloak immediately stood up and took a battle stance. "Faith, Shadow. Get out of here. Go somewhere safe."

"Little brother, I --" Faith said, then she got an idea. To Dwellers, it might seem strange to see such a familiar smile -- a mischievous one at that -- upon such dissimilar faces. Faith had just smirked Shadow's same cheeky smile.  "I think I know just what to do, little brother."

The two left. They didn't Walk, they just ran to a location only realized by Faith herself.

"How dare you undo my gift to this world?!" Corruption snarled. "I bring the beauty of massacre and chaos, and you three just have to go and soil it!!"

"Chaos isn't a gift, you deluded nitwit." Cloak said.

"I'll just touch you again, fool!"

Cloak ****ed an eyebrow. "'I need an adult'."

"What?" Coruption spat scornfully.

Cloak shrugged, "A joke you'll never understand."

"One you stole from TeamFourStar," AniDragon replied. "It didn't even make sense in this scenario."

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:
Corruption, No Touchy!

"What does this have to do with anything?" Corruption said quicky, "Come here so I can touch --"

"Nah." AniDragon said.

"We worked too hard to get our Cloak back." Kelly said.

"But didn't F--" Richard began.

"Quiet!" Cloak snarled unexpectedly. The three gave a start, because of they way Cloak said it. It was with an urgency that Cloak reserved for the most dire of circumstances. The three did not seem to understand, at first, why.

Then it became obvious. Cloak was protecting them. He was protecting them from being inversed. Cloak simply could not do with such a memory of the inverses of two of the most important people in his life. And Corruption possessed the heightened hearing that came with being from an aye-aye form.

"Come here, and let me touch you!"

"Cloak," AniDragon said, "are you sure he's an aye-aye and not a pedobear*?"

"What's a pedobear?"

"Speaking over jokes going over Realm Walker heads . . ." AniDragon muttered.

"Stop evading me! Let me touch you!" Corruption shrieked.

"Okay, this is getting into really weird territory. Cloak can you just restrain him?" Kelly said.

"Corruption, no touchy!" Cloak said, carelessly title-dropping. Cloak had forced up two lwrge slabs of earth to pinion Corruption's arms to his side.

"Since when did we become a project by TeamFourStar?" AniDragon sighed, commenting on the references they made during the brief struggle.

"We best come up with a plan of action," Cloak said seriously. "It won't hold Corruption forever."

"Yeah," Shadow said, appearing at Cloak's side. "Mom and me have a plan going."

"What?"

"Oh, trust us."

"Why does that fill me with dread?"

"Because you're being silly."

*I know, I know. A crass, cliche of a joke that was rather adult humor.

[redtailedsaffa]

BAD TOUCH!