Memoirs of a RAFian

[Cloak]

Which is why Chuck Norris v. Sega Sanchiro is one Death Battle I don't watch too frequently.

New chapter.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:
Wily Malice

"Oh, hit a nerve, little Cloaky?" she taunted.

Cloak said nothing.

"What's the matter, little Cloaky? Cat got your tongue?"

"Why?" Cloak said, seriously, as the others were still looking at the dead dentist. Malice had killed him in cold ichor.

"What?"

"Why are you doing this?" Cloak said, voice completely dull and mirthless.

"Because I can!" she declared.

"That's not an answer," Cloak countered.

"But it is, dear little Cloaky!" she said. "I do this because I can, because it's fun and entertaining to me. There is no deeper motivations. You don't know the endless joy, the unbridled ecstasy, of coming up with a scheme that confounds and perplexes you. The Dwellers are just rats, but enjoyable to watch them either suffer or overcome, either one is entertaining, I think. I have no other reason."

"That is completely asinine."

"Eh, each to their own, then," she shrugged, completely unintimidated.

"The Dwellers aren't your toys, Malice," Cloak said. "They are living, thinking ,feeling people, just as you and I. Why is that so hard for your clade of Realm Walkers to understand? You cannot just meddle with and upturn their lives like you do."

"Meddling, am I?" Malice said, being coyly vitriolic. "What about you, little Cloak? You meddle in the affairs of Dwellers just as much as I do. Perhaps more! You have far more day-to-day contact sith them than I do. Your mere presence in there lives is meddling. So, you cannot call me a meddler without being a hypocrite."

Cloak said nothing. He couldn't come up with an argument he found suitable.

"Don't listen to her Cloak," GH intoned. "You aren't anything like her."

"Oh, your pet is talking out of order, little Cloaky, I think you need to disipline it." Malice said, with a smile to match her name.

"'It'? Really?" GH said, with scathing derision.

Malice said nothing, as Dylan had had just about enough of this. He charged forward, either not knowing that Realm Walkers can only be killed by other Realm Walkers or simply forgetting that fact. He punch Malice square in the jaw, and . . . have it spring up like a jack-in-box. She pulled a Dr. Wily.

"It's not the real Malice," Cloak said. "That's why she was so candid with her thoughts."

"She Doombot-ed us?" Damien asked, aghast.

"Essentially," Cloak said, crushing the mockup into a metal sphere the size of ball bearing. "But we're not done here, yet. We need to find the bodies that belong to the brains in those jars."

"To recranialize them, right?" GH asked.

"Right," Cloak agreed.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER NINETEEN:
Dino's Dreadful Discovery

Not content to just sit around and do nothing, Dino decided to begin her own investigation. While the others were off confonting that demented dentist, she would discover what happened to the kidnapped victim's bodies. She would prove that she could still pull her weight on this mission.

She prowled toward some area of the island that didn't smell so desiccated and neglected. As she approached, she started to smell other . . . things. Things that were both fresher than anything around, but newly stale, if that makes any sense. That scent . . . it made her stomach plummet, but she did not know why.

Then she nosed her way into a rather enclosed workshop, whose garage door was large enouh for her to fit her compacted form into. The scent led her here, but what was here?

She looked around, her vision not exactly the most acute in the world, and the lightning inside here was terrible to boot. But that scent. She did not know why, but, though stale, it reminded her of something.

Then it suddenly hit her. Skinwalker. Warwolves. Billion. That smell.

"What didja find, Dino?" Dylan asked. The others had caught up to her.

"I don't know, I can't see much."

"Count yourself lucky, then," Cloak said darkly, as Damien found a light switch which sparked the three overhead lamps into life rather ominously. The others wished to not have seen what Cloak's feline eyes had easily penetrated the semidarkness to spot.

It was essentially a taxidermy studio. Only the skins weren't animals and they weren't affixed to anything. They were just skinsuits, not unlike those of Skinwalker, the Warwolves, or Billion. And it was clear that they were at one time living beings.

This is what Ekzacto meant by processing. And this what he meant by selling them on the black market. Selling them, with new identities, to the highest bidder, to people who wanted to relive childhood again.

It was a truly barbaric act, one of which the implications were not lost on the RAFians. Especially because other than Serena Younblood's empty skin, they had

***

GH began his shift the next day with his mind full. He was still thinking about the implications of the last mission, about just how many families will have to be without their loved ones, how many will be mired in the uncertainty of knowing their fate. How much pain and anquish must they feel?

GH was almost mechanically doing his job, going from muscle memory and such, without really taking in anything, unless he had to.

No one was dressed as Armadillo Anderson today, and it was only moderately busy. Nothing too terribly bad. Yet GH was distracted, mind full.

"Whoa," Andy said, as GH nearly crashed into him. "Careful there, Lewis."

"Andy? What are you doing here?" GH asked. He felt a little fluttered, but he refused to acknowledge it. "I thought you were off."

"Oh, I came by to pick up the new schedule," he said, "but are you okay?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You look distracted."

"It's . . . nothing," GH said, being less than honest.

"Oh," he said, apparently gathering some insincerity from GH's tone but didn't push him on it. "Well, see you in three days then."

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER TWENTY:
Desire and Selfishness

"I'm trying!" Cloak said to Aniyu. Cloak was doing this while Faerie was off fighting a Lepidopterran DNAlien. He was starting to think she got of easy.

"I didn't say you weren't, Cloak," Aniyu said, evenly.

"I know," he said, sounding more like a child than an adult.

"But you need to let this go," she intoned again. "It's okay to have desires, but not to obsessively cling to them."

Cloak said nothing.

"You must accept that life is not as idealistic as you wish," Aniyu said. "Things will happen that conflict with what you wish of these things. People, regardless of their species, race, or gender, possess flaws. Everyone has them, and desiring an unrealistic standard --"

"It wasn't an unrealistic standard!" Cloak said, responding with anger. The orange, thorny vines briefly turned scarlet before reverting to bright orange. "All I wanted was a loving mother. She stopped when I stopped being cute. She wanted the cub, not the tiger. The child, not the man."

"Yes," Aniyu said, calmly. "But she is a flawed being, just as you and I."

Cloak said nothing.

"It is fairly common for children, from a young age, to put their parents up on pedestals," she continued. "This way of viewing them can persist into adulthood. But they are as flawed as you and I. It takes a wise man or woman to see this."

Cloak said nothing, but pondered on this.

***

"Red?" said a woman, Ms. Ketchum.

She was desperate to see her son again. She felt very much aggrieved for her lax parenting, considering she was a single-parent. She just wanted Red to have more freedom than she did as a girl. She condemned herself for being too permissive.

So when she saw a boy with black hair, blue jeans, sneakers, black shirt and blue jean jacket . . . he looked so much like him! It . . . it had to be him! It just had to be! Her mistake didn't cause him his life! She could be forgiven. She could have her son back. He was alive! She knew it!

"Red?" she said, positively palpable with hope, as she walked up to him. She even tentatively touched his shoulder, as the boy had his back to her.

"Who?" the boy said, turning around. Even his face resembled Red's a great deal. He could have been his twin. The boy spoke with a very disrespectful tone, "Lady, my name's Ash."

"Oh," Ms Ketchum said, taken aback, "Sorry. My mistake."

The she walked away as the boy looked at her with an almost lecherous stare. Something your average ten-year-old did not have for a number of years. This was not any ordinary ten-year-old.

As the kid turned to go to his home, a lowly apartment in a less . . . glamorous part of the city, it is revealed that he really wasn't a kid, as he stopped into a private bathroom, and Larry Dunn stepped out instead.

The kid actually was Red. His skin, anyway. And Larry was just wearing his skin like a costume or one of those morphsuit things. For no other reason but to be a kid again. He bought it (with stolen money) from the black market, and used it rather frequently.

[Cloak]

New chapter. Sorry about the brevity.

BOOK CXXIII:
THE BOUNTY HUNTER
CHAPTER ONE:
Desires Conquered and Unacknowledged

"Alright," Cloak said, with a heavy sigh, "alright. I get it."

He was back with Aniyu.

"Desires can either be fulfilled or unfulfilled," he continued. "Those that go unfulfilled, those that involve a person changing, will just weigh me down. A person can only change if they want to change. No one can force them."

Cloak took a deep sigh, as the thorny vine brambles when from a bright orange to a duller and duller shade with each word.

"Oh no," Cloak said immediately, when saw what was behind the orange thorns. It was bright yellow thorny brambles.

"This layer," Aniyu said, "will have to do with --"

"Fear." Cloak finished.

***

As Horse Was battling Piscces Volann DNAlien, GH was in his thread, teaching Leatherhead to play a keytar. He would have rather he have learned drums or something, but Leatherhead wanted to learn the keytar.

Yet, part of his mind lingered. Lingered on Andy's last words.

"See you in three days."

Remembered the slight crook in his lips as he gave that small smile. The way his hair moved and sm--

No, it was a ploy. He was probably a Yeerk whose mission was to get close to him or something. Some way to get close to RAF and the RAFians to . . . to . . .

No, he didn't know GH was a RAFian. GH hid his Mark from him. Especially prudent considering RAF's less-than-favorable standing. And their schedules didn't allow them to see each other at work for the next three days, this was true.

It wasn't anything to be lingered on. But why was he? Why could he be . . . no, that wasn't the reason. It couldn't be. Not especially after Dimitri . . .

"Daddy? What's wrong?" Leatherhead asked, having watched him with concern.

"Nothing, LH," he replied, with feigned geniality. "It's nothing."

[Cloak]

New chapter. Sorry about the brevity.

CHAPTER TWO:
The Tsul 'Kalu

"I have a job for you," said a distainful voice. It was a distorted voice that sounded as if it came from one of those voice modulator things.

The voice was addressing a humanoid creature with a rather canine face, slanted eyes like a cat, and a rather gigantic stature. This creature carried a crossbow, a blowdart and blowgun, tomahawk, a strange flute that could produce sonic waves, and probably more unseen weaponry. The creature was kneeling before his employer. He was not an alien, but as Terran as any human. But he was not human. He was a Tsul 'Kalu.

"I have a few items for you to procure," the distainful voice said.

If the Tsul 'Kalu rankled at this, he did not show it.

"They all are at a certain site," the voice said. "It's called RAF."

The Tsul 'Kalu gave no indication he understood this, as he said nothing.

"I require the armor of the SPARTAN," he said. "He calls himself Parker."

A sudden picture -- a grainy, in-motion picture -- of Parker, in full-armor.

"I also require the head of the VOLCAROID," he said, "it's call Sakki."

He was shown a rather unflattering picture of Sakki. She went to beat up the paparazzo who took it shortly after it was taken.

"Next up, the tail-blade of an Andalite," he said. "She calls herself Noelle."

He was shown a picture of Noelle, taken by another paparazzo. She was in her natural Andalite form, feeding.

"Next, there's a talking seal there. I want her pelt," he said. "She calls herself Horse."

He was shown a picture of Horse lazing about, in the lake on the grounds and campus of RAF. The picture was taking with a cracked lens, as the paparazzo didn't learn his lesson from Sakki.

"Finally, there is a guy there wearing a black cloak. I want that cloak." he said. "He calls himself, heh, Cloak."

The only photo he had of Cloak was one of entirely black, save for the glowing amber feline eyes.

"You collect all these items for me," the Tsul 'Kalu's client said, "you'll get your usual fee for each one individually, but if you bring me all of them, you'll get forty percent more."

The Tsul 'Kalu stood up, and bowed. By bowing, he accepted the terms of the bounty. Well, if you could call it a bounty. Then the Tsul 'Kalu left to collect his bounty.

[Cloak]

New chapter. Again, sorry about the brevity.

CHAPTER THREE:
The Employer

After the Tsul 'Kalu left, his employer revealed himself to have been in the dark room, wearing a black morphsuit thing. He was going to make himself nigh on impossible to see. The Tsul 'Kalu may have had acute eyesight.

But his employer had layered his disguise, as he revealed as he grabbed his belongs as he left his room, and, after making sure that he wasn't watched, entered a private bathroom. He was obviously a child in suit, even proven when he took it off.

But things are never what they seem. This child used to be Brendan Birch. His brain still existed, returned to his mother and father. But his body . . .

He pulled at his mouth, and at his skin, and he sloughed it off. Revealing that he was being worn by Dominic Sluggard, wearing a Slitheen compresion field generator. He had bought Brendan's skin off the black market, but he operates under the name of "Rudy" while wearing Brendan's skin. In case he ever runs into Mr. and Mrs. Birch, who still pine away for their children . . . Brendan and his sister, May.

Sluggard quickly stowed away Brendan's skin, and took out a second one. He was wealthy enough to be able to purchase a second one. Granted he wouldn't be able to get that Rolls Royce now, but it was worth it. And they better last a long time, for what he paid for them.

He quickly pulled on this new skin, which used to be known as Gulliver Dogan, but he's been using the name of "Mark" while where in his skin. This was the first of Ekzacto's victims, and his brain was delivered to his father, who was now totally alone. He pressed his hands on his face to be sure that I would stay, which was actually a moot action, and then he got dressed, and made sure to stuff everything else back into his bag.

Then he walked out, as "Mark", shouldering his bag. Why disguise himself to fund bounty hunter? Well, it was all a matter of appearance. He had to be squeaky clean after that Titan serum fiasco two months ago, to separate him from that mess. That's why he didn't hesitate to buy these two children suits, as they would providing him the perfect cover, as no one ever expects kids, in his view.

No one expects kids to hire bounty hunters. Granted, people could follow a paper trail back to him if the black market ever fails or if he is investigated. He had asked for a receipt, though the product was called an "alt id", which is still pretty obvious shat it means.

And, granted, Sluggard had no intention on paying the Tsul 'Kalu. He would take the items that he secured for him, then was planning on turning around and stiffing him on it.

Sluggard had already proven his selfishness, and his cruelty, with the whole Titan debacle, and that hasn't changed.

He quickly approached his manison, and snuck into a hidden area where he stripped out of the suit, and put on his clothes, before proceeding to his luxurious mansion. One that he inherited, not earned.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER FOUR:
Horse Furious

Horse was just resting on the shore of the lake, half in the water, half out. She was just enjoying the day, though the others thought it was a bit chilly, Horse had no problems with it. She enjoyed the dappled light thst was coming through the heavily forested cover of the forum.

Being a seal, sometimes had perks, she felt, as she continued her lounging. She even dozed off once or twice. How nice it was, not having to fight off an alien invasion, or stop a supervillain from turning the entire world into tofu or something, for once. They had downtime, and dammit, she was going to enjoy it.

Suddenly, she felt as if she was being lifted up by her tail. She quickly opened her eyes to see the Tsul 'Kalu had grasped her firmly by the tail. She didn't know what the Tsul 'Kalu was, but she did know that it was interrupting her downtime, which she was determined to enjoy.

"Hey, buddrow," Horse said, as the lake water itself actually reached out and grasped the Tsul 'Kalu himself, causing him to drop Horse in surprise. "I want to enjoy my time off. Now, go away please."

Horse acknowledged that clearly Code Avalon was down. Again. Horse quickly translated the water into solid ice,leaving the Tsul 'Kalu one free arm. And access to that flute thing of his.

"Are we done here, yet?" Horse asked, giving the Tsul 'Kasu a withering look. "Or do you really have to make me kill you? I rather not, you know."

The Tsul 'Kalu glared at her stubbornly, and put his flute to his mouth and played one-handedly. A remarkable feat, in and of itself. The sound was sufficient to shatter the ice.

"Lemme guess, you taught GH music," Horse said, dryly. "You wanna go again, little big man?"

The Tsul 'Kalu said nothing, but stared at Horse with that intimidating stare. He appeared to be weighing his options, deciding upon the best course of action. He eyed Horse appraisingly, which she found that she did not like much. It was almost as if he was eying her chi lines or something.

He flung a concealed ball, which expanded out into a net, which she tried to escape into the water to evade, but seals are awkward to move on land. She was easily netted and had difficulty moving.

"You think it's gonna be that easy, think again!" Horse shouted, as she hydrokinetically pulled water from the lake to freeze the net into becoming brittle, and shattering it to pieces. "You want to capture me, buddrow? Put a little more effort into it!"

The Tsul 'Kalu seemed to reconsider his options. He decided that this wasn't worth it for the moment. His employer did not specify an order in which to obtain the items. He could come after the seal later. The seal that he wasn't informed about her hydrokinesis and cryokinesis. No time for bitterness, he would just find another item on the list.

He disappeared into the forest, as Horse huffed.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER FIVE:
No Morphing Zone

Noelle was mind her own business, intent on nothing but grazing a bit, trampling the grass underfoot. Like Horse, she was diligently enjoying the downtime, having a graze. She decided that she had had her fill, so she slowed her gallop, feeling invigorated.

She stopped using her stalk eyes to scan her environment, getting complacent in the certainty of RAFian security. It was foolish, of course, but Noelle was a fallable being like any other. Even her tail was a bit more lax in its ready position.

She should have been more aware.

She felt someone take firm hold of her tail. She glared with a rear-facing eye stalk at the Tsul 'Kalu, who had grasped her tail with one hand. The audacity! The unmitigated gall of it! It was deeply offensive to her to have her tail touched in such a rough, unwelcomed manner.

<I don't know who or what you are,> she said, her thought-speak "voice" terse with anger. <But unhand my tail at once!>

The Tsul 'Kalu ignored her, took out a gun, and fired several odd-looking orbs that orbited around her in a most unsavory manner. They were generating a strange energy field, making it feel rather like a cocoon.

<What the --> Noelle blurted.

Then the Tsul 'Kalu took out a knife, and his intention became clear. Noelle tried to kick him with her hind legs, but the orb cocoon prevented her from doing such. She tried to struggle against it as the Tsul 'Kalu raised the knife high.

Morph. She had to morph.

But she . . . she couldn't! She couldn't morph! The orbs were generating some kind of morph dampening field. She couldn't morph while they were active! She couldn't kick! She couldn't do anything to stop him! She was helpless!!

<Please, whatever you are,> she said. Yes, she was pleading, and she hated herself for resorting to begging. <Please don't do this. I beg of you.>

The Tsul 'Kalu seemed to hesitate for a moment before his resolve hardened him as he tightened his grip upon the knife.

<PLEASE> Noelled begged. She wasn't afraid of being a vecol, as she could just morph it back, but the societal significance of tail-blades were still with her, as is the humiliation of having it cut off. <If you have any decency in you, if you have any compassion whatsoever, please don't do this!!"

The Tsul 'Kalu hesitated, but then brought the knife down severing Noelle's tail from her body. Noelle's scream of bloody murder wasn't solely from pain, but it was from the embarrassment and shame of it.

The Tsul 'Kalu recalled the orbs, and walked away with Noelle's tail, blade and all. He did not ever look back, and Noelle morphed to her human form, wracked with tears and sobs. Even when she demorphed and had her tail back, that did not take away the shame of having lost her tail in such a manner.

She was also feeling embarrassed and humiliated. She eventually demorphed back, and her tail was there, renewed and regenerated. But the shame Nd humiliation lingered persistently, like a stalker ex-boyfriend.

[guitarhero01234]

Oh, god. That was honestly really brutal. Not that that's a bad thing at all, just wasn't expecting it

[Cloak]

Yeah.

New chapter.

CHAPTER SIX:
Silenced

Sakki was enjoying her downtime by reading a book beneath a birch tree. It was a book that she was meaning to read for a while, but she had been busy, with the missions and all.

She enjoyed the dappled light and the warm, pleasant weather. It was the first time in a good long while that she was able to enjoy such a day. Such a slow, easygoing day.

Pity that it wasn't going to last long.

She tossed her book aside, as a knife embedded in the birch tree behind her. She rolled to her right as this happened. She tumbled to her feet ready for battle.

"God, I should have known that I wouldn't be allowed to have too much time off," she replied jadedly, as the Tsul 'Kalu retrieved his knife, demonstrating a rather impressive amount of strength. Sakki addressed him, "So, what're you? What's your story?"

She didn't know about Noelle's tail, as the Tsul 'Kalu didn't appear to have it on his person. So, that's why she wasn't as hostile as she would have been had he carried it with him, instead of spiriting it away somewhere.

"What? Not talkative? No sweeping monologues of how you're going to beat me? No overly-bigoted ideologies?" Sakki asked. "Well, this is new."

The Tsul 'Kalu threw the knife again, which Sakki dodged easily. She unfolded her mouth to unleash her sonic scream. The Tsul 'Kalu was not prepared for this. He had to cup his hands over his ears, giving Sakki ample time to deliver a swift kick to his thigh and then twist around and deliver a headshot kick with her other leg, before landing rather daintily and gracefully, like a cat.

The Tsul 'Kalu did not go down, but he became more weary. More cautious and less reckless. His employer wanted her head -- literally -- and he hasn't failed but once to procure what he was after. And that once was Horse.

"Not so ****y now, are ya, you hairy bast--" Sakki said, before having to dodge a sudden punch. Apparently, the Tsul 'Kali decided to forgo conventional weaponry for mere fisticuffs. "Okay, enough talking, more smashing. Got it."

This was kind of a mistake on her part. The same that the Tsul 'Kalu made in first picking this battle with her, and Horse. She had underestimated her opponent. He was faster and stronger than she had anticipated, then she had accounted for.

He quickly dodged her strikes, getting behind her, and delivering several quick jabs to her back. It was a feeling like she never knew before. She had never been chi-bocked before, as it was unclear whether or not VOLCAROIDs even had chi to begin with.

She fell in a state of oscillating unconsconsciousness and semiconsciousness. She wondered idly, almost drunkenly, if she would die this day. Die unceremoniously, and slowly. She couldn't . . .

The Tsul 'Kalu stood above her, dagger poised, ready to drop it to decapitate her. Yet he hesitated. This wasn't like the Andalite, who could live without her tail. He dismissed any psychological trauma he might have inflicted as weakness or unimportant, as it was not him enduring such a trauma. And, yet, he still hesitated.

This was his mistake.

For Sakki regained consciousness with an alarming rapidity, and she gave the Tsul 'Kalu a well-deserved scissor kick to the face and chest. Before flipping away, and landing a safe distance away, while still maintaining visual contact with the bounty hunter. The Tsul 'Kalu wasn't prepared for this kind of resiliency.

He went to use the immobilization beads, as he did for Noelle. But Sakki unleashed her sonic scream, which cased them to drop to the ground. The Tsul 'Kalu quickly recalled them, and looked at the VOLCAROID with new eyes.

"Not as easy as you thought, is it?" Sakki growled. All levity had left her. When the Tsul 'Kalu tried the chi-blocking trick again, Sakki blocked him. "I'm not a video game boss. The same tactic won't work over and over again!!"

The Tsul 'Kalu seemed to consider this, weighing his options once more. Eventually he decided that he would go and collect the other items first, and then come back for her head. He retreated.

"Yeah! That's what I thought!" Sakki roared. "Run away, you lily-livered coward!!"

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER SEVEN:
Um . . . Don't Disturb Them

Parker and Helen decided a nice picnic date was in order for their downtime. Granted, Parker insisted on wearing his armor, and Helen forgave him his eccentricities. They rolled the black-and-red-checkered blanket out upon the grass, beneath a lovely willow tree (though a bowtruckle eyed them warily). They had stocked their pic-a-nic basket with all the usual amenities -- sandwiches (PB & J), baggies of chips, and the like. Their beverages were in a red-topped cooler set beside this iconic picnic basket.

Unfortunately, they did not know that their beverages were tainted. That this idyllic little picnic of theirs was sabotaged. And, as Parker had his helmet off, and Helen in his sights, he could not hear Tyr's warnings and misgivings about this.

No, the drinks were not poisoned. Far from it, actually. They were tainted with a potent tonic that functioned as a quick-acting aphrodisiac. The tonic's ingredients were tough to to come by, and its manufacture was not for people who avoided tedious tasks at all costs. It was not simple to make or distill or mature. Only one who has apothecary-based hobbies might have been interested enough to make it.

Once they downed their tainted drinks, their conversation stilted before stopping altogether. They looked at each other, with both their faces reddening from heat. It only took them a second before they abandoned their picnic without a second thought peeling off to one of their threads.

Parker quickly stripped off his armor as they entered Helen's thread with a snap of a slam of the thread door. Then they . . . well, there's really no need to go into detail about it. Let's just say that they were plenty, uh, focused on each other. Their thread door creaked open and they, uh, didn't notice. The Tsul 'Kalu gathered Parker's quickly forgotten armor and left.

But that isn't all said and done.

Despite his condemnation of the concept, Parker had an Extremis-like program installed into his armor called Drawback, despite the obvious negative connotation of it. It's function was evident after Helen and Parker were finished.

Parker, with but a thought, summoned his armor back to him, Gizmo Duck-style, from the Tsul 'Kalu's unwilling clutches. The bounty hunter did need want to let it go, but had not anticipated this new little wrinkle. That was becoming an irritating constant his current endeavors.

The Tsul 'Kalu needed some time to reconsider. Some time go about this smartly. All he procured thus far was the Andalite's tail. There had to be more that he missed. He need to regroup.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER EIGHT:
DON'T TOUCH THAT!!!

The Tsul 'Kali retreated to a quiet place, to mull things over and to formulate a plan of attack. He needed the seal's pelt, the armor, the VOLCAROID's head, and that thing's cloak (the picture shown to him wasn't particularly helpful). He needed this. He needed the six fees, and the forty-percent bonus. He needed that money . . . if he didn't, he wouldn't have been a bounty hunter to begin with.

Then he noticed something, something that interested him greatly.

"Now, LH, this is a G chord," came a voice, "give it a try."

GH was taking this downtime to teach Leatherhead how to play, though the crocodilian child was playing with a keytar, which was black streaked with green. Leatherhead was displaying some talent, but raw and untrained. GH was gonna do his best to teach him what he knew.

Neither knew that the Tsul 'Kalu was watching them. He was thinking that Leather might have been Cloak, though their eyes were nothing alike. Cloak's eyes were an amber color, where as Leatherhead's eyes were far more yellow than amber. But the Tsul 'Kalu was a bit desperate . . .

GH had set down his guitar on the grass beside them. He touched it, lovingly, before continuing the lesson. The Tsul 'Kalu eyed the guitar . . . it was a really nice guitar. . . . It might be worth his fee to his employer, who seemed to want items from the RAFians. . . . He might get another fee . . . he should get a good fee from it . . .

But he'd worry about that later. He had to procure it first. From what he saw, that shouldn't be too difficult. He appeared to have left it unattended, and just remembered he did have a grappling device, not unlike Link's hookshot.

He fired it and it managed to hook onto the neck of the guitar, and GH apparently did not notice. The grapple began to retract, and the reaction was immediate. GH seized the grapple and twisted it. This happened so quickly, so unexpectedly, that the grapple was twisted out of Tsul 'Kalu's hands. It continued to retract, drawing the short staff to GH.

"WHO HAS THE BALLS?!?!" he roared.

Leatherhead stood behind him, slightly to the left, curious and confused.

"SHOW YOURSELF!!!" he demanded. "C'MON OUT AND SHOW ME HOW MUCH OF A FRIGGIN' BIG MAN YOU ARE!!!"

The Tsul 'Kalu did not.

GH was still quite incensed, as he pried the hooks of the grappling hooks off the neck of his guitar. He was breathing heavily, and his blood pressure was probably dangerously high. GH gripped the neck of his guitar, causing a cool light course through it and transformed into its double-bladed battle axe form.

"Don't wanna come out, Big Man?" GH said, savagely, "Fine. Imma come and find YOU!!"

But he was suddenly distracted when Leatherhead saying, "Daaaaaaddy!"

GH turned to see that Leatherhead had tried to copy his adoptive daddy and grasped the neck of his keytar and had it transform into a halberd. But it was unwieldy and awkward in Leatherhead's unexperienced hands. His tail wasn't helping his balance -- he was a crocodile and not a cat, after all -- and he fell over backward. This caused him to let go of the halberd and, in doing so, reverted it back.

But this fall was enough to scare him to tears. GH moved to console him, pausing only to say to his would-be thief, "Next time, Sly Cooper, you're mine."

Then he went to Leatherhead, "Shhh, shhh, it's okay, it's okay, LH. It will just take a little training, is all. . . . There, there . . ."

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER NINE:
Sluggard's Mentors

Sluggard was sitting his favorite easy chair, with his back to the roaring fire from his fireplace, after he ensured that his skinsuit hiding place was secured and obscured from prying eyes.

When, quite suddenly, the fire went out, drenching the entire place in darkness. Then came the heckling laughs as two ghosts wreathed in chains and cashboxes and locks appeared, and Sluggard recognized them. Charles and David Roch. Horrible rich people who thought with selfishness and purely monetary goals, before dying unloved and not missed.

They exchanged several words with Sluggard, before launching into a song:

"We're Roch and Roch,
Avarice and greed.
We took advantage of the poor,
Just punished the needy!
We specialized in doling out pain,
Spreading fear and doubt.
And if you couldn't pay the rent,
we simply threw you out."

"There was the year we evicted the entire orphanarium!" Chucky Roch said.

"I remember the little tykes all standing in the snow bank." Davey Roch said.

"With their little frost-bitten teddy bears!" Chucky said, before launching back into their song again.

"We're Roch and Roch,
Our hearts were painted black.
We should have known our evil deeds would put us both in shackles.
Captive, bound, we're triple-ironed,
Exhausted by the wait.
As freedom comes from compassion,
So, prison comes with hate.
We're Roch and Roch, whooooooa.
We're Roch and Roch, whooooooa."

"But my friends, you were not unfeeling towards your fellow men." Sluggard said, with as much respect as the man was capable of.

"True, there was something about mankind we loved." Davey considered.

"I think it was their money!" answered Chucky.

"Doomed, Sluggard! You're doomed for all time!
Your future is a horror story, written by your crimes.
Your chains are forged, by what you say and do."

Then locks and cashboxes sang:

"So, have your fun when life is done, an unholy terror waits for you."

"Why these horrid chains?" Sluggard asked.

"Oooooh, the chains." Chucky cried.

"We forged these chains in life by our acts of greed. You wear such a chain yourself!" Davey explained.

"Humbug! Speak comfort to me friends." Sluggard said, dismissively.

"Comfort! Aaahhhh!" both said, with a mirthless laugh, before ending their song.

"We're Roch and Roch, whoooooa.
We're Roch and Roch, whoooooa.
We're Roch and Roch, whoooooa.
Change!"

***

Sluggard awoke, discovering himself twisted in his blanket, looking more disheveled than normal. He almost thought he was wearing one of his skinsuit disguises, but he had those in a secret area. And he only had the two, prohibitively expensive as they were.

"Bah! What a rubbish dream," he muttered, clearly having not been impacted by it at all.


Song source: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VsiKOJOXMJU

[Cloak]

New book ideas.

• Book CMXCV (995): "Adversity Adversary" -- The RAFians face a Realm Walker called Adversity.
• Book CMXCVI (996): "The Parasite King" -- The RAFians face a person who can control any parasite, regardless of the parasite's sentience.
• Book CMXCVII (997): "Will Crusher" -- The RAFians must deal with a mutant woman that can sap the wills of others. Even Green Lanterns.
• Book CMXCVIII (998): "So Very Tired" -- A bookie can manipulate fatigue in athletes, obtaining money fradulently.
• Book CMXCIX (999): "You're Insane!" -- A rogue Nyac (whom Yarin knows) steals the sanity from people.
• Book M (1000): "Slow Down!" -- A young mutant can manipulate inertia, and the RAFians must help her cope.

May have rehashed a couple of stories, but that's it for Year 10.

New chapter.

CHAPTER TEN:
He Who Will Not Be Restrained

Cloak was in his favorite meditation spot. He was trying to contact Aniyu again, though not without trepidation. Despite what he would say to the opposite, his mother was a very scary woman. Despite being full-grown, he did hold some fear from her.

Fear of her taking RAF from him.

Fear of her taking Shadow away from him.

Fear of her turning Shadow against him.

Fear of her enslaving him again.

Fear of her hurting him. Again.

He was always well aware of this fear, and his mother, in his view, thrived on that fear. It was a fear that he always had, though he tried to, like most of his emotions, suppress and forget. This fear usually was also the cause of his anger as well.

Suddenly, he snapped his eyes open, and pivoted into a handstand, generating a small cyclone of air by doing so, before springing to his feet, landing daintily, like the cat he was. He glared into a direction that was roughly eight o'clock from where he was sitting. His eyes did not move did not dally from that particular spot.

"It's not so easy to sneak up on a Realm Walker, fool!" Cloak spat angrily. "Not to mention, one with Earthsight!"

No reaction.

"I know what you are, you know," Cloak said, indulging himself on his feline instincts. "Are you gonna come on out, Tsul 'Kalu, or am I gonna have to come in there and find you?"

No reaction.

"So be it." Cloak snarled, vanishing into the earth.

The Tsul 'Kalu was, indeed, watching all this take place, but had no idea what Cloak did. He did not know of Cloak's elemental mastery, nor the sheer power the one RAFian possessed. He didn't realize just how screwed he was.

Suddenly, the ground beneath him started to give way -- it was almost as if Cloak used Dig! Cloak emerged from the ground, in a Shoryuken execution stance. Then he landed silently, and gracefully.

"Are we done with the games, then?" he asked, serious and intense. But then the Tsul 'Kalu used the immobilization beads on Cloak. Or tried to. Cloak sighed, "I guess not."

The metal orbs stopped in midair as Cloak held an open palm outward. Then he balled that hand into a fist, and all the little metal orbs were reduced to metal powder. The Tsul 'Kalu looked surprised at this -- and he was really starting to question whether or not this bounty was really worth it.

"Are you done with this foolish exercise in futility?" Cloak said, his anger having dissipated by now, replaced with weary vexation. "You cannot capture me, Tsul 'Kalu. You waste both our time and energy just trying. Leave this place. Tsul 'Kalu are an honorable people, this I know. Just leave this place and give me your word that you shan't ever -- First Light, you're not gonna make this easy, are you?"

For the Tsul 'Kalu had taken off, using the forest as cover. But it was a moot point. Cloak "saw" every footstep through the vibrations in the earth. Cloak sighed as he shook his head, pityingly and ruthful. But he was now presented with a choice.

Should he follow the Tsul 'Kalu or report this with the others?

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER ELEVEN:
Conflict of Interests

This was getting ridiculous, the Tsul 'Kalu found itself thinking. This was supposed to be a SIMPLE job! An easy way to get a massive payday.

He looked around and scrutinized his surrounding to make sure that powerful creature in the cloak wasn't following him. He hadn't seen the full potential of that creature's power, he knew. Despite his caution, he was severely miffed.

His employer knew how dangerous these creatures were! All he managed to get was the Andalite's tail, and only because she was off-guard. He was just lucky in that instance! There were so many things that could have gone wrong, and he was just lucky that the immobilization beads had generated a field that blocked morphing or he could have seriously injured.

The Tsul 'Kalu was starting to suspect that his employer knew how impossible that this bounty was. That's why he offered so much for these items. But why? Why did he want these items so badly?

He was only a bounty hunter because of his wife. His wife . . . she was ill. He needed to buy medicine for her, as well as a human disguise in order to obtain it. If he showed up with money as he looked, he would either be refused service or accused of theft. Or worse, have them take away his human bride and forbid him from seeing her ever again.

But, really, was what he doing really any different than theft?

He remembered the Andalites screams as he brutally removed her tail. He hated himself for doing it, but he had no choice. He needed this payday. He had to do it for his wife, who loved him dearly as well. He . . . would he ever be able to look that pure, innocent face everyday knowing what he had become in order to save her? Would she ever see him the same way?

He became a bounty hunter to make ends meet. To make sure that his wife is cared for. He could not provide her with a child, so he did his best to make up for it. It wasn't like they lived uncomfortably, but it wasn't exactly thousand-room mansions and elaborate villas. It was a small cottage up in the woods, seldomly visited, as her parents didn't approve of the marriage, and his passed on a long time ago.

But it still didn't make him happy about what he had to do. He had to do a lot of things that he was not proud of. A lot of things that he would never forgive himself for. A lot of things that he, in his mind, just could not rationalize away. But it was his burden to bear, and his burden alone . . .

The pelt . . .

The head . . .

The armor . . .

The cloak . . .

He needed them all. He had the tail, which he had perserved. Only with them all would he get the bonus. He needed that bonus. He needed that bonus for her. Her condition was stabilized, but it wouldn't stay that way for long. He needed that medicine. In order to get it, he needed these items.

He would have to stop being Mr. Nice Tsul 'Kalu.