Memoirs of a RAFian

[Cloak]

Yep.

Now a song that I meant to put into a previous book but forgot about.

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER THIRTEEN:
Yes, Horse . . . Again

"It happened just about a couple months ago.
She looked so sweet and harmless.
Tell me, how were we to know?
She got a little too close to the microwave and then, much to our surprise,
She grew to forty thousand times her original size!
She started mutatin' right before our eyes!
Oh, my!
Attack of the radioactive seal from a forum called RAF,
A seal from a distant place,
Man, oh man, you oughta hear her squeal!
Now, the whole wide world is her exercise wheel.
Attack of the radioactive seal from a forum called RAF!
The President, he's is a panic.
The Pentagon, they're in shock!
There's a team of research scientists,
They got 'em workin' 'round the clock.
Now the National Guard is out in the RAF backyard,
And the Marines'll be comin' around.
I hope they get cure this poor pinniped,
'Cause the property values are goin' way down now!
Attack of the radioactive seal from a forum called RAF!
She's back and she's lookin' for a snack!
And she's not that fond of Burger Kings or salad bars.
Attack of the radioactive seal from a forum called RAF!
Well, well, look at that seal, she's as big as a blimp!
And, now, the size of central park!
She's using telephone pole to pick her teeth!
She seems evil and nasty and she glows in the dark!
Oh, don't waste any more of your bullets, boys!
You know it just makes her mad when you shoot.
She's gonna stomp us into jelly and conquer the world!
But, you gotta admit, that seal really kinda cute, now.
Attack of the radioactive seal from a forum called RAF!
What a racquet she's makin', Cannon!
She keep me up at night playin' her electric guitars!
Listen to her squeal!
She think the whole world is her exercise wheel.
Attack of the radioactive seal from a forum called RAF!
Hey, Louis, you better watch your back!
Here comes that seal from RAF!
Well, well, it's called the --
Attack of the radioactive seal
From the forum --
The forum called RAF!"

"I'm giant," Horse said, discontentedly, "again?!"

She settled in her spot and refused to move an inch. She folded her flippers in a resolutely petulant way.

"Nope, nuh-huh. Not doing it. Not doing anything. Not gonna put up with being a forty-foot tall seal again. No way," she said, stubbornly petulant.

<<Stupid slave in wardrobe, gonna have to send it to a deeper pit, maybe one with a Phobeest in it,>> a voice muttered with all the sounds and airs of someone settling themselves down before a television screen. <<What, what's this? Why isn't there any rampaging? Why isn't there any screaming and gore?>>

Then he noticed Horse's body language and correctly interpreted it. This was surprising enough, actually.

<<Hey. Floppy seal thing. You are supposed to be rampaging! Causing property value to drop. You know, interesting things?>>

It was the first time Jombo decided to address a RAFian directly in these ridiculous shows with ludicrous premises.

"No."

<<Do it!>>

"No."

<<Do it!!>>

"Nnno."

<<Do it!!!>>

"Pffffft." Horse raspberried (wait, can seals even do that?), ending with sticking out her tongue, lifting her head and closing her eyes.

<<Girly,>> Jombo said, his tone malicious and threatening, "you don't want me as an enemy. Just do what I want.>>

"Oh, I'm so scared," Horse said, clearly unimpressed.

[Cloak]

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
Things Are Not What They Appear

Underseen was standing in a strange place of scarlet mist and he could swear he was hearing the "off-air" drone for some reason. He didn't know what was going on, which left him understandably perplexed and confused.

Why was he sent to an off-air program? Because that's what happened, right? He couldn't think of any other alternative (other than he had gone completely bonkers, that is).

Then he heard a creepy laughter. Then four faces, all indistinct and shifty pushed and pulled their ways in and out of the misty mire. Yet they were similar to the representation of a Celestialsapien's personalities, but that wasn't always consistent. All four gave Underseen the chills, as if he should have known them, but didn't.

And, of course, they had a song to sing.

The first face sang:
 

"Things are not what they appear,
As tonight will make quite clear.
But what is real will be revealed,
The moment's not nearly near."

The second face sang:

"Things are never what they seem.
That will be this evening's theme!
A music sights for your delight,
Perhaps, a few to make you scream!"

Then the fourth face seen, who had a distinct, yet vague, resemblance to Ivan Ooze from that Power Rangers movie , sang:

"You'll be surprised to see whose disguise
Is the cleverest one of the lot!
After our show, the whole aether will know
Who's is pretending to be what they're not!
If a jester's grin or a dancer's spin
Should be pleasing, please say 'Yea'!"

The other three faces, noticeably smaller than the fourth, spoke in unison, "Yea!"

The fourth face sang:

"If a juggler's feat should be incomplete,
He's the one to greet with 'Nay'!"

The other three face said, united, "Nay!"

The fourth face sang:

"If the fools we see should look like you and me,
Then before the night goes by --
Ask why, why, why, why, why,
Why?"

The third face sang:

"Things are not what they appear
And the finest proof's right here!"

The first face sang:

"Things are never what they seem.
So, in keeping with our theme --"

The fourth face sang:

"Things are never what they seem."

"He's right, he's right!" the other three declared.

"Many don't say what they mean."

"He's right, he's right!"

"A shifting face is just the place
To hide an ugly scheme!
Only one thing's really clear!
Things are not what they appear!"

Then the scarlet mists FFFOOOOOOM'ed and then receded, leaving nothing but the bars of light of the "off-air" signal. Underseen was left with many questions.

Was what he saw true, or was some sort of manipulation by Jombo? But the familiarity of those four . . . did he imagine it? Was it all some sort of terrible deception, some sort of awful illusion?

Worse, what if it was real? What if it was about . . . about his . . . past?

[Cloak]

Guess Saffa's busy.

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER FIFTEEN:
Might As Well Face It . . .

"You planned a trip to RAF,
Just to watch RAFians grow.
I understand how you must feel.
I can't deny they've got appeal."

Cloak heard this with narrowed eyes. He was standing in a dark void, backlit by a dull sepia light. His amber eyes stood out in the semi-darkness.

"Whoa!
You like them whether they are hungry or they're stuffed, oh yeah.
Better face the facts, it seems you can't get enough!
You know, you're gonna have to face it.
You're addicted to RAF!"

"You think you're funny, huh?" Cloak growled dangerously.

"Your greedy hands, your pouty lips,
Looks like you found the clips.
Your belly aches, your teeth grind,
Some newbies would blow your mind."

"Of course you think you're funny, Jombo," Cloak said, massaging his forehead with his right thumb, right index and middle finger.

"And you don't mind if they're not crooked.
You need your fix, I guess you're hooked.
And late at night you always dream
Of RAF and sour cream!"

"Wait just a gateburstin' minute here!" Cloak said, offended. "That wasn't me! That was the Pootang! . . . I . . . I think."

"Whoa, you like them even if they're lumpy or tough, oh yeah.
Whee, It's pretty obvoius to me you can't get enough.
You know you're gonna have to face it.
You're addicted to RAF!"

"I am not addicted." Cloak said, dismissively.

"Might as well face it, you're addicted to RAF!
Might as well face it, you're addicted to RAF!
Might as well face it, you're addicted to RAF!
Might as well face it, you're addicted to RAF!
Might as well face it, you're addicted to RAF!"

"Repetition does not make it truthful," Cloak countered.

"Ooh, yeah!"

"Did . . . did you just agree with me?" Cloak said, perplexed.

"I'm givin' up, it's just no use.
Another case of Internet-abuse.
What can I say, what can I do?
RAF bug has got me too, wa-hoo!"

"By the First Light," Cloak said, facepalming a bit. The last thing they would want was more attention by this Spineless One. Granted, it wasn't probably him singing -- the singer was actually good.

"Whee, I've often seen then whipped, but they just can't be beat!
Now I'm gonna have to face it.
I'm addicted to RAF!"

"I think this program just lost its point."

"Might as well face it, I'm addicted to RAF!
Might as well face it, I'm addicted to RAF!
Might as well face it, I'm addicted to RAF!
Might as well face it, I'm addicted to RAF!
Might as well face it, I'm addicted to RAF!"

Cloak groaned. The last thing RAFians would need would be future encounters with this irritating, egomaniacal blob of flesh. The absolute last thing.

Rotiart was already plenty.

"Might as well face it, I'm addicted to RAF!
Might as well face it, I'm addicted to RAF!
Might as well face it, I'm addicted to RAF!
Might as well face it, I'm addicted to RAF!
Might as well face it, I'm addicted to RAF!"

Cloak was rubbing his temples, attempting steady himself from the sheer irritation he felt.

[Cloak]

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER SIXTEEN:
Cloak Walks Off

"We will be back after these messages," the stereotypical announcer said.

"'These Messages'," Cloak said, waspishly. He read the title, in a disgusted, "breaking-the-fourth-wall" sort of way. Then he quickly added, rather caustically, "oh, that's real clever, absolutely brilliant, Mojo."

<<That's Jombo!>>

"Whatever."

<<I'm ten times the man as that moron!! I rule the improperly-named Mojoverse!! I have the higher ratings!! I . . . I . . . I . . .>>

"I touched a nerve, didn't I?" Cloak said, his irritation lifting a bit at this.

<<Oh, shut up, you pea-brained piece of -->>

"Do you have any idea who you're talking to?" Cloak said, tone suddenly serious and severe.
The irritation had taken hold again.

<<Do you?!>> Jombo snarled, clearly losing his composure (if you can call it such). <<You forget who holds the strings here! You forget who controls your fate!!>>

"You overestimate yourself," Cloak said, cold and calm.

<<You underestimate me!>> Jombo spat. <<You cannot escape from this program. I can make any changes to it I deem fit! I can strip you of your percieved powers in an instant. You are powerful, but only with your abilities, your powers. Without them, you are at my mercy.>>

There was an audible "bleep-beep-bloop" sound.

<<There! Your powers are gone. You cannot stand against me!>>

"Don't you know anything about Realm Walkers?" Cloak asked, unintimidated.

<<I know everything! I know all about Realm Walkers!>>

"Do you now?" Cloak said, unimpressed.

<<Don't you take that tone with me!!>>

"Talk about having control issues," Cloak commented calmly.

<<What?!>>

"If you know so much about my kind," Cloak said, unfolding his arms, "then this shouldn't surprise you."

Cloak turned on his heel, swirled his cloak, and Walked out of the program.

<<WHAT?!>> Jombo raged. <<IMPOSSIBLE!>>

[Cloak]

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:
Disappearing Stars

Jombo was still miffed from his yelling match with Cloak. But he was unnerved that he seemed to disappear from the program. This should be impossible. He had total control over each and every aspect of the Mojoverse! None question him. None disobeyed him. None resisted him. NONE!!!

The Realm Walker had to still be there. He just had to be. None can escape his whims. None can evade his desires. None can deny him. No one!!!

It was remarkable that Jombo managed to still reign over Mojoverse when he seemed to have the highest difficulty putting two and two together. Adding to the fact that he had seen images and video of Cloak Walking away and back (only one-sided, of course). Granted, it is possible that never comprehended what it was truly and just assumed that it was a form of teleportation instead of what amounted to be dimensional travel. He could never really understood the process of Walking, he only knew that Cloak possessed elemental powers.

And, yet, he still had the audacity to claim to know everything about Realm Walkers. In actuality and reality, he didn't really understand even the name. He did not know as much as he thought he did. He did not have as much control that he thought he did.

He flipped the channel. The off-air signal was still present, but Underseen was not. But apparently Jombo did not realize the shapeshifter was here in the first place, despite putting him there in the first place.

He flipped a channel again.

"What's this?!" he gasped, feeling outraged.

Horse was noticeably absent. There was no way that she could have left --

He flipped the channel again. Parker -- gone. Gaz and Guy -- gone. AniDragon -- gone! Faerie -- gone, too!! Blue -- absent. Slushie -- GONE. Aquilai -- VANISHED!!!

"WHAT?!" Jombo raged. "WHERE -- What about my RATINGS?!"

He eyed the three boys, the characters that were portrayed as Aquilai's companions. They looked rather scared. But, of course, they weren't boys at all.

"YOU THREE!" Jombo yelled at the top of his voice. "Warwolves! Tell me what happened or I'll repossess those skins I permitted you to have, that practically gift wrapped for you."

They described the events, and Jombo was not pleased at all.

"And why didn't you stop him?!"

"Sir -- sir, we couldn't!" the blond boy said.

"Couldn't," Jombo snarled, "or wouldn't?"

"We weren't able to move, sir!" the glasses-wearing one said, fretfully. "He somehow immobilized us!"

"He shouldn't be have been able to do that," Jombo said, more to himself than the three.

"There's a simple reason for that, you know," came a voice.

[Cloak]

Oh, people at Kindle or whoever is in charge of this stuff. Can't you just leave things alone? Must you change your format every few weeks? Why must you go out if your way to make my life harder, to make it harder for me to post chapters? Can't you at least give me, oh, I don't know -- an option to decline your updates, without any negative repercussions?

Why must you take your cues from Google?

Wait . . . I can get the weather report on my Kindle Fire? . . . Okay. Okay! That's a cool little feature. . . .

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:
On Demand, But Rejected

"What?! You?! It's not possible!" Jombo said.

"I'd say you need to stop thinking that," Cloak said. "But you're a televsion executive, so I imagine that you don't have much of an imagination."

"I concur," Parker said, giving a grim nod.

"Do we really do this banter thing?" Slushie Man said. "I'd much rather get this whole thing over with."

"I'm with Slushie on this," AniDragon said. "There's eleven of us -- and one of those eleven is Cloak -- and one of him. The invertebrate."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Jombo huffed.

"On you," Horse said, equally huffily, " it is."

"You are defenseless, blob," Faerie intoned. "You are no challenge to us. You can use your little remote to send us back -- but we'll just come back in a matter of moments. There is nothing you can do to stop us from leaving."

"And you won't come back to RAF," Blue said, astutely guessing what Jombo was thinking. "Will you, now?"

"I can do whatever I like!"

"You are --" Underseen said. But he never finished the thought, as with a resounding ZZZZZZZAP a laser blast blew a considerable-sized hole into the wall behind him. It was apparently an interior one, because it opened into an enclosed room instead of the red-tinted environment on the exterior of the place.

"That," Jombo said, warningly. "That was a warning shot."

"You think that intimidates me?" Cloak said, slowly approaching the Spineless One. He walked with deliberation, each step silent and soft, his cloak mincing with every one. "You think your little toy impresses me?"

ZZZZZZAP!!

Cloak timing was perfect, he swatted the blast away, as if it was a bothersome fly. Cloak was a little disappointed that he couldn't even feel it. It was clearly an unrefined design, like someone who throws rocks without any real talent or skill thinking himself equal or superior to a skilled, accomplished archer.

"Pathetic," Cloak said coldly.

"Y-You are staying!" Jombo stuttered, but clearly offset by this development.

"He has guts," Guy observed.

"Of course," Gaz replied, "he's all gut!"

"Are you going to make us?" Cloak said, slowly and deliberately.

"No," Blue agreed. "He won't. He'll just come back again and again to harass us."

"There is one way to stop him," Cloak said.

[Cloak]

. . .

Hope Saffa's okay.

. . .

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER NINETEEN:
Sent to the Warwolves

"Cloak, isn't that a bit extreme?" Underseen said, unable fathom how that Cloak would jump to the extreme of killing the Spineless One so quickly.

"Oh," Cloak said, snapping his fingers and causing Jombo's mechanical arachnid-like legs to shatter into powder (at least all the metal bits) causing him to thump to the floor with one of the loudest THUMPs, "somehow, I don't think so."

The scorpion tail thrashed wildly, trying to take aim to shoot, but failing to track any targets. And, still, Cloak wasn't done yet. With a series of graceful, deceptively gentle movements Cloak pulled appart the the scorpion tail, component by component, revealing that it was purely mechanical, and not biomechanical, as suspected. Cloak rendered each metal component of this elaborate mechanism into powder.

When Cloak was done he stood up straight with only smallest of flourishes, and looked at Jombo. "I think that should do it."

"My plateform! What have you done?!"

"You should never tick off a Master of Metal, pal," Cloak said, indifferent. "You were the one that made the threats. You were the one who attempted to kidnap and enslave the RAFians -- with the curious omission of me -- and Richard himself, for that matter (apparently the Vox had more guts than you). You should have known that it would come down to this."

"You aren't leaving!! You can't!! My ratings will suffer."

"We really don't give a rat's you-know-what about your accursed ratings!" Faerie snarled. "You could have at least asked to have us come here. But no. No, you have to kidnap us. You have foist your demands upon us and expect us to obey."

"You have become too accustomed to slaves," Aquilai pointed out shrewdly. "You are so obviously unprepared to deal with people with strong wills that wish to keep freedom."

"Theres no way out of here," the Spineless One countered.

"What about that, then?" Guy said, pointing to an obvious portal rather like a full-length mirror mounted onto the wall with the bottom touching the ground.

"That's not a portal," he said, rather quickly.

"Then why does it read, 'Portal Door', above it, then?" Gaz asked, with a knowing look.

"Oh, you can read," he muttered quietly, but Cloak heard it easily. Then he blustered, "You will not be leaving!"

"You're in no position to stop us," Parker said bluntly.

"Oh, you think so?" he said with a tone that said plainly that he had an unplayed ace up his nonexistent sleeve. Then he shouted, "Helix! Helix!! Where the devil are you?! Helix!!! Get in here!! NOW!!!"

She straddled into the room, looking disgruntled and nonplussed at once. Then, when she saw the RAFians, she surmised what happened. She was annoyed by her boss at this development.

"Seriously?" Faerie said, through heavy-lidded eyes. She clearly wasn't impressed.

"Warwolves! Get in here!"

Creatures of some sort of mimetic metal, a lustrous silver metal, came prancing into the room like large dogs eager to obey their master. Their lower body was rather lupine, and their forearms were rather like humans ending in gargoyle-like claws. Their heads were rather avian in shape, without feathers, of course. They possessed yellow eyes. They were roughly the size of an average human male.

And there was the three boys from Aquilai's show.

"What are you three doing? Get out of those skins. I'm not goin' to replace them! If I have to, I'll take out of your hides!"

"Sorry, sir!" the blond one said.

Then the three appeared to projectile vomit a shapeless mass of lustrous silver metal. The boys themselves hollowed out, as the shapeless mass assumed more defined forms. Cloak could hear loud gasps around him. He wasn't surprised that he didn't hear screams, after their dealings with Skinwalker.

They tied their skins to their necks.

"We don't have time for your games, Jombo." Cloak said. Then, without even looking, he adressed the Time Lord, "Aquilai."

"Coordinates set. It was alarmingly simple and easy." he replied. "Could be a trap."

"He's in television," Mr. Guy said, dryly. "He isn't gonna be too smart. Remember the spate of reality shows we had?"

"Those are big!" Jombo said, momentarily forgetting what he was doing. But he seemed to recover relatively quickly. "Dah, I mean, attack!!"

Only Helix reacted and obeyed, albeit reluctantly. The Warwolves did nothing.

"Attack!"

Faerie handed Helix a sound defeat, apparently taking immense insult that she managed to capture the faerie.

"Attack!!!"

Nothing.

"Attack!!!!"

All of the RAFians but Cloak had walked through the opened portal.

"Why are you not attacking?!"

"Oh," Cloak said, lazily flinging a gold-edged scarlet energy crescent at the portal. Destroying it. "Oh, I believe that it's kind of my fault, that."

"What? Make sense!"

"The Warwolves are metal enough to have to bend to my will," Cloak said, left arm raised in a very nonchalant, bored manner. "They are hardly a threat. But more of a threat than you."

Cloak lowered his arm, while saying, "I'm gone."

Cloak Walked away.

[Cloak]

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER TWENTY:
The Honest Truth

Jombo did not find a way to follow them back to RAF, at least for the past five days. Yet it continued to weigh on Cloak's mind. There was really no reason for it, but Cloak felt that there was still something left untied up, some sort of loose end left dangling. But he could not put his finger on it.

The other RAFians did not seem to be concerned about this like Cloak was, so maybe he was just being overly suspicious and paranoid. Perhaps he was making a mountain out of an anthill. Again.

And, yet . . .

***

"Really?" Shadow asked.

Her grandmother, Cloak's mother, Ursa, was telling her what happened when she kicked out her uncle from the house. But the story was completely made up and would easily fall apart at the flimsiest investigation, the merest attempt to fact-check.

"It's the unvarnished truth.
The naked truth.
Or my lightning strike me down!
It's the honest truth.
The sober truth.
Or may lightning strike me down!
It's the truth.
The whole truth and nothing but.
Tell you what.
Here's a written guarantee.
That it's the gospel truth.
The straight-up truth.
Or may lightning strike that key!
It's the truth.
The whole truth and nothing but.
Tell you what.
Ask about any loophole you see.
That it's the gospel truth.
The straight-out truth.
Or may lightning strike that sea!
I'm an honest bear.
Don't think me any other!
And that's the unvarnished truth.
The naked truth.
Or may lightning strke me down!
It's the honest truth.
The sober truth.
Or may lightning strike me down.
It's the truth.
The whole truth and nothing but.
The gospel truth.
The straight-out truth.
Or may lightning strike thee!"

And Shadow bought all this, as the dream ended.

***

Cloak woke up, ironing his forehead with the heel of his palms. He ran his fingers through his thick feline fur. He kicked his legs over the side of his bed, his tail tumping beside him. His breath was a bit ragged, but steady.

He reflected back to the dream. It was a reflection of a fear he had early on when he was exhiled from his family -- well, other than his aunt and cousins. He was fortunate to reconnect with Shadow and Faith, though his relationship with his mother was irreparable. Unsurprising, considering she once told him the proper way to take his own life.

He shook his head, as if to shake away these dark, negative thoughts. He really had to stop dwelling on this. He's free now. Free from her and all her manipulations. She can't hurt him anymore. She has no power kver him. . . .

[Cloak]

New chapter.
 

BOOK LXXXIV:
THE SOULFUL DRINKER
CHAPTER ONE:
Monorail!

"Well, sir there's nothing on Earth quite like an electrified, bona-fide, six-car monorail!" said a oily salesman. He wore a loud, flannel shirt, khakis, and pennyloafers. Atop his carefully coufed blonde hair sat a straw hat. He had a blemish-free face and perfect teeth. His stormy gray eyes were alight with a certain spark. "What'd I say?"

"Monorail!" some of the newbies said, their sheer inexperience showing.

"What's it called?" the salesman intoned.

"Monorail." said two of the raspier-voiced newbies.

"That's right!  Monorail!" the oiliest salesman in the world said. Surprising that he wasn't one of those strange, extraterrestrial, porcupine-opossum species.

RAFian newbies began to chant: "Monorail.  Monorail.  Monorail."

But one wasn't quite so easily convinced:

"I heard those things are awfully loud."

The conman sang:

"It glides as softly as a cloud."

"Is there a chance the track could bend?"

"Not on your life, my impromptu friend!"

"What about those poor slobs?"

She referred to the people in the city which was having some unemployment problems. Didn't help that the mayor was practically raising taxes (or at least trying to) on everything, and just the general politcial corruption that already blighted the countryside.

Con man replied, a little too smoothly:

"They'll be given cushy jobs!"

"Were you sent here by the devil?"

"No, good lady, I'm on the level."

Rotiart complained:

"The ring came off my pudding can."

The conman offered Rotiart a penknife.

"Then take my penknife, my good man!"

Then he conjured up a simple wooden, straight-backed piano somehow. He began to play with magical skill and when he sang, the newbies would chime in "Monorail! after each line.

"Throw up your hands and raise your voice!
What's it called?
Once again!"

Guitarhero was watching this with a look of utter bemusement and bewilderment on his face. His guitar was slung ever so carefully and gently on his back. The thing was far more pristine than a car enthusiast's car, and that was really saying something. He replied to this, unintentionally in song:

"But the city's still all cracked and broken."

Sorunome, who came out from her thread to see what the hullabaloo was about, replied dryly:

"Apparently, GH, the newbies have spoken."

The RAFian newbies sang:

"Monorail!
Monorail!
Monorail!
MONORAIL!"

It was at this point Cloak himself left his thread, still dealing with that dream, the dream of an old, irrational fear. Then he looked at the hubbub and quickly surmised what when on, and he rapidly complained, "Oh, not another one!!"

Then he proceeded to evict the salesman from the forum.

[redtailedsaffa]

... Why would you even need a monorail here?

And I'm back. Was out of town for a few days, sorry about that. And thanks for the chapters!

[Cloak]

We don't, but the conman was trying to convince us otherwise. And GH was pointing out that it would be really bad PR with the city if we did go through with it.

And glad to see you're okay.

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER TWO:
Bump in the Night

It was just after sunset. Night was just getting settled in, and on a simple farm, a family was settling in as well. Their land was broad, and the fields were filled with crops, that were in the process of being harvested. The livestock was penned for the night, though a chicken refused to be in the coop.

The family inside the blue farmhouse with snow white trim were finishing up their lasagna dinner. There was a heavy-set man in blue jean overalls with a long-sleeved brown flannel shirt and a scraggly black beard flecked with gray. His wife and only daughter, who was only seven, wore dresses that recalled Belle from "Beauty and the Beast", one of sapphire blue and one of emerald green. His three sons were dress similarly to their father, the nine-year-old wore a long-sleeved green flannel shirt with grass stains and blue jean overalls, the twelve-year-old wore a long-sleeved red flannel shirt with a single small burn hole and blue jean overalls, and the sixteen-year-old wore a slightly-damp blue flannel shirt and blu jean overalls.

The family had their share of problems, but they were far from dysfunctional. They remained happy and their crops and livestock were really their only major concern. They were good people.

Which was really unfortunate.

Down a slightly sloping hill, a tremendous crash occured, just missing a pickup truck by a couple of feet. There was a lot of sound and light and fire. The impact crater was rather impressive, in a macabre way. It didn't fail to garner the family's attention.

The nine-year-old was the first one out to investigate, though his brothers weren't that far behind. It was really foolish of them to get close to the downed Andalite ship, as they were carrying a very dangerous cargo. The most dangerous cargo they ever carried. The Andalite crew died upon the impact, with the inertia dampeners clearly offline at the time of impact. None could react in time.

"What is that?" the sixteen-year-old asked cautiously.

"It's a spaceship!" the nine-year-old declared.

"Don't be stupid," the twelve-year-old sneered.

The nine-year-old did not get to retort, as something emerged from the ship. It was not an Andalite, as it glowed with a deep yellow glow. It was tough to say whether the creature was one of matter or one of energy or merely spectral in nature. It was large, roughly the size of a rancor.

It was comprised of a yellow flame-like energy that swirled around within its frame. It possessed one large, red eye in the center of its skull and a large mouth with jagged teeth. It walked on two long legs and has two arm-like feelers under its gaping maw.

"Who's the stupid one now?"

Apparently, it was still the nine-year-old boy. For the creature took notice of the three -- their parents and sister stayed on the porch of the farmhouse, watching the three, but too far away to hear conversation -- and the creature approached them with alarming rapidity. But the boys had no time for so much as even a preliminary scream.

Three deep green tendrils launched and snaked out of its mouth and adhered to the chest of each of the boys. From there, it siphoned the life from them. Their bodies showed no signs of this happening, though. They still appeared whole and untouched. With three simultaneous thuds, the boys' bodies fell, looking untouched, other than the whole of their eyes were glowing yellow. They were lifeless, basically.

The creature tranversed up the hill as the boys' parents and sister came up, but out of its range. But upon the creature's forehead it used the boys' images to beg for their help. This immobilized the three enough for the creature, the Spirit-Drinker (or Soul-Drinker, if you prefer), to close the distance and make a meal out of the three as well.

[redtailedsaffa]

This is seriously creepy.

PDFs of the last two books - yeah, missed one back there.

[Cloak]

Oh, it won't stop getting creepy. Spirit-Drinkers are like that. Granted, there's only one . . .

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER THREE:
A Disturbance in the Kitty Force

Cloak's eyes widened suddenly.

"Just one day," he muttered. "Can't we just get a reprieve? Just once?"

"What's . . . what's going on, Cloak?" Guitarhero said, noticing this.

"It more trouble, isn't it?" Sorunome said.

FuBar and Bladeh yowled. Kitsi and Nero snarled.

"Oh, yeah," Cloak said. Cloak had suddenly felt quite cold, and he doesn't feel cold very often, what with his Mastery over the Fire element always at hand . . . despite his pyrophobia.

"Great evil?" Sorunome said, as if asking what Cloak's takeout order was.

"Great evil?" Guitarhero repeated, perplexed at the casual nature of this conversation.

"Great evil," Cloak confirmed.

"Specifics?"

"None at this time," Cloak said, clinically. "Cats can only sense the presence of evil, not the precise specifics."

"Call an assembly, then?"

"No, we do not know the specifics."

"I am getting the feeling that I'm missing something here," Guitarhero said, with an exasperated sigh.

Cloak noted, in a quiet, musing aside, "It's night. These things always happen at night. One has to wonder . . . why . . . why always at night?"

The Realm Walker shook his head, to clear it. This wasn't the time for philosophical musings or irreverent ponderings. It was time for seriousness.

"While we do not know the specifics, we do know something has happened --"

"Meeting in the auditorium," came Aquilai over the intercom.

"Yep," Guitarhero said, running his fingers apprehensively. "Something's most certainly going on."

***

"Approximately, an hour ago," Aquilai said, briefing them all, "the global sensors detected an incursion in planetary airspace."

"What kind of incursion?" Cloak questioned aptly.

"It appears to be some sort of crash landing. We have the rough coordinates." Aquilai said. "It also appears to be connected with a garbled bit of communication that we got. I know that I probably should have dismissed it as white noise, but --"

"You thought that it might be important," Saffa guessed. "Did it says anything intelligible?"

"Regrettably, I couldn't gather anything," the Time Lord admitted. "But it did seem to have a thought-speak-to-audio translator."

<What?> Noelle said, at once.

[redtailedsaffa]

So it was a hijacked Andalite ship?

[Cloak]

No, they just got careless with their cargo.

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER FOUR:
Cold, Dark, Dank

The family of six only wet the Spirit-Drinker's appetite. It had been so long since it had fed. It was a bit foolish, yes, in its haste upon the Andalite ship. But once its containment unit had been breached, it was mere child's play to wriggle its way out -- again, calling into question whether it was material or immaterial, whether it was substantial or insubstantial -- and, once out, it was absolutely famished.

But there were not nearly sufficient Andalites to satiate its massive hunger. Not nearly enough. However, without the Andalites there to pilot the craft, it quickly fell into a decaying orbit around Earth. It seemed like forever before it plummeted to the planet's surface. It was enough time for the creature (who had questionable sentience) to feel the pangs of hunger once more, and far more harshly than the dull pangs before it fed on the Andalites.

There were no more humans here, but the Spirit-Drinker was not without prey to feed on. The livestock seemed to be far more aware of the danger that this creature represented than the farmer's family did. There were loud squeals of terror and shrieks of horror. The horses panicked and kicked but it wasn't enough to free them.

The Spirit-Drinker usually did not prefer creature such as these. It found the more sentient a creature was, the more that both the quality and quantity was increased. Exponentially. But, the hunger made him not so choosy.

The barn was alight with sounds of abject terror. But, within minutes, there was a disturbing silence that followed. A dead silence that was just oozing finality, as it exited the barn without a sound. Its feet did not really make a mark upon the ground.

The Spirit-Drinker looked around, deciding that this place was too warm, too dry, and too open for its liking. It liked the darkness, though. Funny how such evil creatures were always partial to dark, dank places.

Its appetite satiated for the moment (which wouldn't last very long), it looked for an appropriate hidey-hole or burrow where it can rest and wait for its next hapless prey item to blunder within range. It could actively seek out things and people to eat, but it was feeling rather lazy.

And what worry did it have? It had never known fear, a real paralyzing fear. It had never met anything that could really destroy it, so it had all the arrogant confidence of an apex predator that knew it was an apex predator. Yes, it was to be feared, not to do the fearing.

It came upon the rusted-out entrance to the sewers. Dark, dank, and cold. It was the Spirit-Drinker's ideal home. It trundled into the entrance and scooted along, like a beetle beneath the bark of a tree.