Memoirs of a RAFian

[Cloak]

'Kay.

New chapter. Sorry about the brevity.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE:
The Rat, the Cat, the . . . What?

"Lackluster?!" Damien cried offended. Then he paused to consider, and then he concided, "I suppose it wasn't very entertaining, I guess."

"Next," Malice drawled, in a very bored, dry way.

FuBar snaked and coiled on the way down to the arena with the grace and poise that only a feline could muster. "I take one whatever you have next."

Paradoxically, Malice chose the rat-like Reinigen named Vincent Pettigrew, who was, oddly enough, a musical prodigy, for the next combatant. He had dark eyes, large rodentlike ears, pointed faces with enlarged incisors. While he didn't have superhuman strength, he was quick and light on his feet. He also seems to have greater endurance than ordinary humans. He was able to utilize his musical abilities to mesmerize and control rats, similar to the way Mellifers can control bees.

He also was not being the least bit picky about what he eats. He was a peaceful creature but are nowhere near meek or cowardly as one may think. He was very cautious in the presence of stronger Wesen and non-Wesen beings. Despite being cautious and generally non-violent, Vincent can be very temperamental. If a he loses his temper, he will lash out violently against their offenders. He also has a tendency to hold grudges.

"But . . . but . . . but . . . I'm a cat!" FuBar said, though Vincent was a roughly man-sized man-rat. And bigger than he was.

"So?" Malice said, with drawling condescension.

"You challenger is a rat!"

"Reinigen, actually." Malice said, carelessly indifferent. "But that doesn't matter. Begin the battle."

FuBar found himself prowling toward Vincent, cautious but confident. His ears were back, flat against his head. He was only slightly larger than the average tomcat, but he still was smaller than Vincent. FuBar's scope for damage was actually severely limited.

From there, the battle went rather alarmingly quick. Cloak wasn't sure how FuBar managed it, but he managed to kill Vincent -- giving into the feline instinct to hunt and kill vermin, Cloak supposed, without regarding the fact that he himself was a feline and he never really felt the need to kill. Thiught he did feel the need to hunt occasionally, which he usually did during missions as a RAFian, such like with the Plasmavore.

FuBar returned to the viewing area, looking rather proud. The others were looking at him in a new light, and he took this moment to wash his face in the usual cat fashion.

[guitarhero01234]

Juuuuuust like the pied piper led rats through the streets, we dance like the marionettes, swaying to the symphony OF THE RAFIANS.

Sorry, been listening to Megadeth lately. Insert comparison to David here.

[redtailedsaffa]

You talk of David... and that chapter featured a rat... WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE

[guitarhero01234]

And his cat was named Megadeth. And FuBar is a cat.
I feel like there's something clever to be said, but I can't be bothered to figure it out.

[redtailedsaffa]

Me neither. Plus it's 2 am.

[Cloak]

On a different tangent, I don't remember who asked it, but someone -- a long time ago -- asked me where I got the idea for Van Pyrrhus from. It was from this episode -- "The Tale of the Ghastly Grinner" -- of "Are You Afraid of the Dark?"

Yes, I'm trolling for new book ideas. . . . Although I'm probably ahead of myself as is.

New chapter. Sorry about the brevity.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX:
Playing Cat and Mouse

"Impressively vicious," Malice said, a bit grudgingly. FuBar just continued to wash his face in the usual housecat way, without comment. "Don't ignore me."

FuBar ignored her.

"Why you impudent -- never mind, you're beneath my notice." Malice said, aggressively at first, then dismissive.

"Let's skip the posturing, then," Bladeh said, already waiting patiently in the arena. "I'm up next. Where's yours?"

Malice again paradoxically chose a murine Mauzhertz named Minnie Mortimersen, a minor level beta tester by profession somehow. She had beady eyes, small whiskers jutting out from a pointed nose, large murine ears, and oversized incisors. She was very timid and exceedingly cowardly, oftentimes afraid of her own shadow. She was very predictable, friendly, and meek.

"Uh," Bladeh said, perplexed. Even with a control collad around her neck, she didn't look like she wanted to fight. She looked like she wanted to run away, but the collar was preventing her from following thst course of action. "Are you sure about this match, Malice?"

"Shut up and fight," Malice snarled, misinterpreting Baldeh's question as if she was afraid of losing. Bladeh had no doubt about a RAFian victory, considering that Minnie was already cowering.

Bladeh looked at the cowering Mauzhertz, and she couldn't help but feel pity towards the shivering, shaking form before her. Bladeh could not bring herself to kill her . . . but that control collar . . . it would have to go.

Bladeh walked up gently, letting out a gentle purr, which caused Minnie to squeak like a mouse as she trembled. Bladeh nuzzled her neck, and began to chew through the leather of the control collar. Within moments, the collar flopped off and Minnie shrieked. Then she fled as quickly as she could, before Malice could languidly kill her.

"Eh," Malice shrugged, unconcernedly, "no big loss."

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN:
You Lying Jackal

"Disappointingly merciful," Malice said with distain.

"Thank you," Bladeh said, choosing to take that a s a compliment. Malice just frowned deeply, though her glare was fierce.

"Just choose your next combatant," Malice snapped.

"Um, hello? Already down here." Blaze said, arms folded. "Hurry up and chose your guy, already!"

Malice had selected and chose the Schakal named Jaclyn "Jackie" Wagner, a jewel thief and a notorious infantivore. She had a short wide nose, a heavy brow, and large canine ears. She had fur across her bodies and also a large, thick mane under her chins that extends to their sideburns. She also possess a prognathism (or underbite) and sharp, thin teeth, which are strong enough to rip a man's throat out. Jackie was both stronger and faster than humans. She also possesses very quick reflexes. Physically, she was able to hold out in a fight with a Grimm, much longer than most Wesen manage. She also possesses much greater durability than humans, but can still be killed by handguns. She has been proven to be naturally aggressive, cruel, and violent, and she will let nothing stand in the way of her goals.

"Wow," Blaze said. "She ugly."

She didn't seem to like that comment. But Blaze . . . didn't care. Jackie moved in to attack, and Blaze seemed able dodge every strike. Whether it was because of his djinn or angel ancestry remained to be seen. Blaze did not even attack, staying on the defensive. He could sense the darkness in the Schakal, but did not react to it, not really.

"You done yet?" Blaze asked, in a rather Vegeta-like manner.

As turns out, no, no she was not. She continued her attack, and Blaze continued dodging each and every strike. It was fortuitous that he had trained in the simulator a battle similar to this.

"Dah!"

He had miscalculated, just for a fraction of a second. Jackie had managed to draw blood, with a scratch on Blaze's wrist. He decided that the time for games has ended. He turned around, blasted three-quarters of the arena with flame. It was enveloped in fire. There was no way that she could survive.

And she didn't, as her charred skeleton fell to the ground.

"Death Battle, this ain't," Cloak muttered to himself.

"Nice," Malice said, approvingly. She appreciated the sudden violentness that occured as she preferred the "finer" things in life.

[redtailedsaffa]

Minnie Mouse.

[Cloak]

You were expecting maybe Jeri?

New chapter.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT:
Let's All Fight Like the Birdies, Beat By Beat*

Breathing heavily due to the rage built up inside of him finally unleashed, Blaze felt a certain uncomfortable hollowness at his callow actions. But he wasn't left with much of a choice . . . he had to . . . no. No, he didn't have to die. Blaze not only jumped the gun and acted without thinking, but it cost someone his life. Granted, he was a jewel thief -- a criminal -- but that wasn't any excuse.

"Oh, stop your grousing boy," Malice said, dismissively. "Any more of thwt, and you'd be neck-and-neck with Cloak for sheer stupidness. You don't know that you don't grieve for the weak, but you must either punish them severely or kill them to simplify things."

"First Light, Malice! You are so heartless!"

"Better than being a bleeding heart," Malice countered swiftly.

"First Light! You're evil." Cloak snarled.

"What's your point?" Malice said bored.

"Uh, guys? Your argument is really fine and all, but I'm ready for the next opponent." Raevyn said, perched quite pleasantly on arena floor.

Malice chose the Seltenvogel named Avery Cage, a freelance writer. She had a multi-colored head and beak, and she had glittering golden eyes. She was not very strong, given Seltenvogels' long history of captivity, and she was easy prey for stronger Wesen.

This was no match.

Raevyn was battle-hardened by her time with as a RAFian. Avery was a bird in a gilded cage, figuratively speaking, never having the same kind of training or battles or experience Raevyn had. She wasn't treated the best, because a cage, no matter how gilded or nice or posh, is a cage still.

Raevyn hesitated. She could literally sense that there wasn't a drop of darkness in this person. Sure, she may have been a little naive, a tad unsure, but where were the crimes in that? This woman defined the term innocent. Raevyn could not bring herself to attack her . . .

But that wouldn't stop her from going all Abe Lincoln on her.

Raevyn hopped over and began to nip at the collar. But then Avery seemed to writhe, and Raevyn thought that she might have nipped Avery without intending to. Then Raevyn realized that Avery was having difficulty breathing. Raevyn came to the conclusion thwt the collar must be choking her!

Raevyn went at it agin, with an even more fervent urgency, and the collar flopped off. Raevyn was relieved, but only for a moment, because there was something like tumorous growth on her throat. Unbeknownst to the avian RAFian, it was an Unbezahlbar. And Unbezahlbar are rare golden "eggs" produced once in a Seltenvogel's lifetime, atter a diet of orms and milk. They are highly valuable, and the delivery from the throat is an extremely dangerous and delicate task. If not removed . . . the Seltenvogel would die by asphyxiation.

Raevyn did not know how to do it properly, nor were any of the other RAFians able to do emergency surgery. There was too much risk to killing her for the lump now in her throat. Raevyn was at a lost of what to do.

Within moments . . . it no longer mattered.

"Ugh. Disappointing." Malice said, with disgust, adding Avery to the corpse pile.


* I don't really expect anyone to really get this reference, as it is rather obscure. It is referencing an old song lyric that I remember from one of those "Disney Sing-Along" videos. Dunno if they're still making them though. The song in question is "Let's All Sing Like the Birdies Sing", specifically the lyric "Let's sing like the birdies sing: tweet, tweet, tweet".

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE:
What a Croc!

Raevyn flew up and tried to rake Malice with her talons, but she could not penetrate Malice's energy shield. Eventually Raevyn backed off when she began to tire.

"Really?" Malice said, with a bored drawl. "You know you can't kill me. Why bother trying?"

"I could hurt you," Raevyn breathed savagely. "I could make you bleed."

Malice laughed in a way that was both inappropriate and full of mirth, "You overestimate your abilities, little Dweller!"

"And here we are again," Cloak said. "Here again, with you, once more, underestimsting and undervaluing these RAFians."

"Whatever," Malice said, with an indifferent shrug. "Choose the next fighter."

Parker leapt into the arena, and there felt as if there should have been some mild clanking with such extreme movements and exertion, but his armor proved more silent. He stood confidently, as he said, "I'm here. Choose your loser."

Against this RAFian, Malice chose the Skalenzahne named Waylon Stephenson, a former cage fighter turned cannibal. He has greenish-yellow crocodilian scutes all over their body. Instead of outer ears, he just possess two holes, one on either side of his head. He has a short snout, and his mouth contains razor sharp teeth, which he can use to rip his food to pieces. His scales go over his whole body. He also has sharp reptilian claws, which can also casually rip humans to pieces. He is incredibly strong and durable creatures having thick crocodile-like skin. He also can heal a lot faster, and can take much more serious wounds, than humans can.

"Great. A Killer Croc knockoff," Parker said dryly.

Waylon gave a lowing crocodilian roar, and he charged forward rather faster than Parker had anticipated, and he bit onto the SPARTAN's  left forearm. While his teeth could not penetrate Parker's armor, he did ruin the finish by scraping against the armor's surface, making a sound not unlike nails on a chalkboard. This did not endear Parker to him, as it took a while to get this armor as polished as it was.

"Oh . . . you didn't just do that," Parker said, conveying a lot of anger.

Waylon snarled in response, and slashed Parker's chest, which just scratched his armor. This did not make the SPARTAN happy.

"Seriously?!"

Waylon tried to scratch him again, but Parker wasn't having it. He activated his dual fusion cannons, one which resembled Megatron's and the other resembled Galvatron's. He punched Waylon in the gut with the arm that supported these fusion cannons, and he fired them both, point-blank range.

Waylon stumbled back, hole in his gut that went all they way through. The fact that he was still alive was impressive as it was, the fact that he was still standing was a feat in and of itself.

But Parker used his energy blade to separate Waylon's head from his body. He was dead.

"Again, disappointing," Malice said, adding Waylon's head and body to the considerable corpse pile.

[redtailedsaffa]

Raevyn quoting Batman. Nice.

[Cloak]

Wait. What?

[redtailedsaffa]

It's a dialogue he says in the upcoming Batman vs. Superman film. "Tell me, do you bleed? You will."

[Cloak]

Oh.

Sorry about the lackluster response. I just found out something very disappointing, but I'm not sure how much of it that I am at liberty to say. . . . If it goes south -- I may be on hiatus for a while. . . .

New chapter.

CHAPTER THIRTY:
Quickly Quashed Quills

"Disappointingly short," Malice sighed in a way, which made her seem more like an angsty teenager than a creepy octogenarian. "But kudos on the violent end."

"I don't want your praise or your critiques, you old bat," Parker said, unusually aggressive and disrespectful.

Malice wasn't so easily offended, but the attitude actually amused her. But then she was wasn't what you'd call mentally stable.

"So, who do you have next?" Malice said, inappropriately blithe.

"Me," Gumby said, simply.

"Hmmmm . . ."

Malice thought that a Stangebär named Krista Prickley, an outdoors-woman, would be a suitable combatant against Gumby. She had an impressively thick coat of colored quills, or spines, which could be used for both armor and camouflage. The color of these quills seems to fluctuate between black and grey. Even between woges, they appear able to change color. These quills cover up the majority of her limbs and also sprout out of the top of her heads, interspersing her hair. The spines' consistency seems to be adjustable, since they visibly didn't damage any clothes she was wearing. She had large sharp black claws and dark eyes, and her skin was reddish in color. She is generally peaceable and docile, but not cowardly in any sense of the word.

"Hmmm . . . pointy." Gumby surmised.

"You have an impressive grasp on the obvious, boy," Malice said dryly.

"Thank you," Gumby said, aware that Malice intended that as an insult, but chose to take it as a compliment. He thought

"Ugh," Malice replied, rolling her eyes.

Krista shook her head and dislodged several quills that flew at Gumby, as if she had just used a Pin Missile attack. Gumby knew this kind of attack was coming and was easily prepared for it. He made holes in his gummy body, allowing each quill to pass harmlessly through, clattering harmlessly upon the ground.

"Seriously?" Gumby said, flippantly. "Didn't you read my file?"

"Such insolence," Malice tsked. "You'll come to regret that, young Dweller."

"Will I now?" Gumby smirked cheekily. Around his finger, he twirled the control collar around his finger ****ily.

"What? How'd you -- ?" Malice said, surprised.

"Oh, that. It's not important." Gumby said, dimissively. He did not elaborate because he liked the surprise and shock it caused. Then he addressed Krista out of the side of his mouth, "Run."

She did, and she did before Malice overcame her shock at the suddenness of the battle's end. Gumby, meanwhile made his way back to the top.

[guitarhero01234]

Sorry to hear that, Cloak. Here's hoping that everything goes well
I've probably said it before, but if you need someone to vent to, I'll be here.