Memoirs of a RAFian

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:
Yeah, About Those Utensils of Yours, Galactron . . .

The six Utensils decided to take this battle seriously now. They transformed into there elements, not unlike that Ace guy from Naruto. Xy became more Groot-like, only without a face, completely xylomorphic. By Sect almost looked as if he was was a Bolian Silver Surfer (and nothing was left to the imagination), completely metallomorphic. Corona looked rather like Nova from Marvel Comics, only completely pyromorphic. Paszebar looked like a solid (yet still liquid) water construct, completely hydromorphic. Galilei didn't change any externally, but internally, becoming truly terramorphic. Deathtalon became a living wind construct, completely aeromorphic. And, when he realized what was happening, far from feeling apprehensive or intimidated, Cloak smiled.

"Oh, I see now," Cloak said, smiling shrewdly. "There's a glaring weakness amongst you six."

"We haven't . . . we haven't any weaknesses!" Deathtalon said, indignant.

Cloak laughed unabashedly, "Everyone has weaknesses, Shi'ar. Even me. No one is without one. And I think I've hit upon a major weakness. One has to wonder why Galactron even bothered to fill all the Utensil positions. Or why it even instituted such a weakness -- except there is one possible reason."

"You don't know what you're talking about," By Sect said. "You're spouting pseudo-intellectual garbage with little understanding or information behind your conclusions. You're guessing! That's all it is. Your rhetoric shows no signs of logic or reasoning. It is superfluous and unengaging. You know, I have an anecdotal story similar to --"

"SHUT UP!!" the other five, even Xy, shouted.

"But, first thing's first," Cloak said, and deftly addressed Xy with a shout of, "COLLOCORPUS!"

"What? What . . . did . . . you . . ." Xy said, as if straining to do something but was glued down.

"As it turns out, our database had a file on Androzani trees," Cloak replied. "Not enough to satisfy me, granted, but it told me enough. I just bound you to that wooden body. I will admit, though, that had Broken or Melissa cast it, it would have probably been strongeras they are both more experienced with such things, but it is sufficient for the course of events to take place as it should."

"What?"

"Well, I am under an agreement that I wouldn't give any spoilers," Cloak said, being infuriatingly vague. "And Saffa tends to hold me to that."*

"What? What are you talking about?!" Paszebar demanded.

"Oh, never mind that mess, now," Cloak said, with a devious smirk, "let's begin, shall we?"

"Will you make sense?!" Corona demanded.

instead of replying, Cloak held out his arms, crossed over each other, as if he was going to use a Z-move. Then he flung his arms out, flared to his sides, and generated two energy blades connected to his wrists in a very Wolverine sort of manner. These blades were as long and wide as Cloud's sword, and colored scarlet red with gold accents.

"Are we supposed to be impressed?" Deathtalon sneered, unaware Cloak was positioning them just right without their knowledge. It was then all joviality left him, as he targeted By Sect who stood in front of Xylocorpus.

"Metal cuts through Wood," Cloak said.** Then he slashed By Sect with his righthand blade. The energy blade passed harmlessly through By Sect, but the shards from By Sect's form impaled Xy, who only felt a momentary pain and a draining feeling, as if power was leaving it through its wooden body. Its spoon-like weapon disintegrated as if it was going through a wood chipper. It was no longer the Utensil of Wood. This terrified it, as it meant that its people were now in potential jeopardy.

Cloak did several jumps and flips, as well as several dodges and slides, before he lined up Corona in front of By Sect.

"Fire melts Metal."

Cloak slashed at Corona, which passed through her and hit By Sect. These embers melted away By Sect's metallomorphic state with astonishing swiftness. What was left was a Bolian with a questionable physique, as his umbrella-like weapon melted into nothingness. By Sect passed out by this effect. There was now no longer a Utensil of Metal.

Cloak demonstrated his evasion again, only blocking a few attacks. By Sect and Xy seemed not to realize their positions were lost. Cloak quickly managed to line up Paszebar in front of Corona.

"Water quenches Fire."

Cloak slashed his left blade through Paszebar's hydromorphic physiology, causing it to splash onto Corona. Her power left her as she returned to being her normal Tamaranean state. Her dinner knife like staff evaporated into nothingness. He was left feeling weak and drained.

Paszebar, Galilei, and Deathtalon all seemed blissfully unaware of what Cloak was doing. It was sad, really. He thought it would have been obvious at this point. He managed to angle Galilei right in front of Paszebar.

"Earth swallows Water."

He slashed through Galilei and the pebbles of earth swallowed up Paszebar's hydromorphic form, reverting him to a plain Mon Calamari. The ground dissolved his bendy straw-like three-section staff, signifying him no longer being the Utensil of Water.

Deathtalon and Galilei seemed both unaware of what Cloak done. Cloak had to admit, he was baffled at just how they haven't figured it out yet. It was getting easier each time for him to line each one up.

"Wind scatters Earth."

Cloak slashed Deathtalon's aeromorphic form, which caused Galilei's form to scatter, revealing an ordinary, unevolved Galilean beneath. He had no weapon to have blown away from him in the wind.

It was at this point Deathtalon realized that Cloak was doing something. But before she could demand to know what, Cloak plunged both blades into her aeromorphic form.

"And the Master of Elements shall quell the Wind!"

Cloak turned the blades as if he was turning a key, and there was an ominous sort of click as Deathtalon regain a substantive, substantial form, as her Utensil powers were abandoning her -- her dinner fork-like pitchfork vanishing into nothingness to signify her no longer being the Utensil of Air.

It was done and all six were unconscious. And Cloak, despite himself, was exhausted.


* Yes, I'm breaking the fourth wall a tad here. So sue me.

** Inspiration.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:
You Liar!

"You think me a fool, Galactron?" Estelore snarled, careful not to flare up to her full stellar might. It would have adverse conditions this close to Earth. "I know about what you did to the planet called So-Chaitheamh. I even bore witness to your destruction of the planet, and its dominant species, the Besteedbaars."

"The what now?" Galactron said, rather like a forgetful grandpa.

"So-Chaitheamh." she said, glowering at him. Her fear at him was rapidly being replaced with indignant anger. The Besteedbaars had potential, Galactron. Given the appropriate and necessary amount of evolutionary time, they could have been a great and notable spacefaring species of this universe."

"My dear, I am afraid I haven't any idea what you're talking about," he said, obviously feigning ignorance. Estelore's anger was rapidly overtaking her fear. "There is no planet called So-Chaitheamh, nor any species called Besteedbaars."

"Now there isn't!" Estelore countered savagely. "You and your blasted heralds have seen to that!"

"Utensils," Galactron corrected.

"Whatever! That's a stupid name, anyway!" Estelore said, assuming her "battle form" of her avatar, which was basically a sunlight yellow Kevlar suit with her hair drawn up tightly into a bun. "It doesn't change the fact that you outright lied to me, and I caught you in it."

"No, you didn't," he said, almost infuriatingly placid.

"YES, I DID!!" Estelore almost shrieked. "You claimed not to have eaten for eons, and I proved that that wasn't true with your consumption of the life on So-Chaitheamh, the consumption of the entirety of the Besteedbaar race."

"Oh, they didn't exist. I didn't eat them."

"I SAW YOU!!! Estelore shrieked in earnest. It was like talking to a brick wall -- or Wolf Blitzer.

"Oh, you didn't, no." he said, causing Estelore to yell in pure frustration.

"I witnessed EVERYTHING, Galactron!" Esty said, frustration very palpable. "For the love of god, stop trying to gaslight me!! You're not even very good at it!"

"You enjoy not making sense, don't you, child?" Galactron said, in a rather offensively patronizing manner.

"Fine! I don't care what stories you have to tell yourself to make yourself feel better about what you do!" Estelore said. She clearly had all she could stomach of this guy. Of course, she didn't notice that the six hovels that Galactron provided for his Utensils were gone, but Galactron noticed. "The thing is that you cannot have Earth. You will not have Earth. Not while I can still do something about it!"

Galactron's shift in mood and demeanor was so swift and sudden, it was unsettling. He glared at Estelore, for something she was, at that moment, unaware of. His tone was now devoid of any grandfatherly intonation, but cold, hard, and cruel. "You lost me my servants. My Utensils. I don't know how you managed it, as you were here with me the whole time. But no matter. I can always find six new Utensils -- pathetic, puny beings who want their planets spared."

He gazed back at the Earth. He was much too close now. "Life grows out of control. It should always be trimmed back when it gets overgrown. That is my role, my purpose, my reason for being. If you think that's abhorrent, little nothing star, than that's moot. You can't stop me. Death himself cannot stop me. I am eternal. I am unstoppable. I am inevitability incarnate. I am --"

"Exceedingly long-winded!" Estelore finished, as she blasted him with a concussive blast of stellar energy.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER NINETEEN:
The Power of RAF

"Cloak, I've gathered everyone like you said," GH said, arriving on the scene with all but Richard, Dino, and Spectre -- they would protect the forum, as to not leave it completely unguarded for the likes of opportunistic would-be thieves and robbers. Granted, the forcefield should keep more mundane threats out, but no defense is truly impenetrable. GH saw the Tamaranean, the Shi'ar, the Mon Calamari, the corporeally-bound Androzani tree, the Galilean, and the Bolian spread scattered upon the ground. He decided not to comment on it. "I've gathered the RAFians. Now what?"

"Look up."

He did, and yelped. It was as if they were in that Legend of Zelda game with the falling moon. Galactron was much too close. He would begin to suck up the life -- the atmosphere, the ocean, the flora, the fauna, everything. This was endgame.

"What do we do?" Saffa asked.

Cloak looked at her, and said simply, "I think you know what must be done."

Cloak held up his hand that bore a Mark. It was glowing brightly, and every single RAFian assembled immediately got Cloak's gist. Cloak stuck his Mark-bearing hand at Galactron's looming face. The others followed suit.

"UNITY BLAST!" came a cacophony of RAFian voices, as the RAFian blue Unity Energy streamed from their Marks. Streamed upward at incredible speeds, harmless to any aircraft that managed to be in the area (Galactron himself posed more of a danger to them. The blasts had combined into a massive surge of Unity Energy, approaching Galactron with surprising swiftness.

It was just a matter of time now before the surge blast reached its intended target. . . .

***

"Little star," Galactron said, more annoyed than hurt, "you're starting to become a hindrance and a nuisance."

"You. Cannot. Have. Earth!" Estelore said, stubbornly. "I. Won't. Let. You!"

Galactron chortled, "You won't let me? Little star, I was trimming back creation while you were still stellar gas coalescing into a star. I was doing this before you were born. What makes you think you can even stop me? My role is necessary in the great balance of things. I maintain the balance of creation and destruction."

"Don't. Lie. To. Me." Estelore said, speaking in such an abbreviated way as she continued to exert herself, while pulling her punches to keep the Earth safe, and Galactron hastily recognized this far earlier when he was affecting the grandfatherly disposition. This little star, he believed, was fun to manipulate. "You. Are. A. Monster."

"Monster, perhaps," Galactron conceded, then lied, "but one integral to the survivability of the universe."

"Liar!" Estelore declared.

"I can call it lies, but that doesn't change its truth," Galactron said. Clearly, he had told himself this lie for so long, he now truly believed it. "Without me, reality itself would unravel."

"You cannot be serious," Estelore said, dully.

"I am quite ser-- what the deuce?!" he began before he was hit by a powerful surge blast. A Unity Blast of enormous proportions, Estelore recognized it immediately. She saw the Blast cause RAFian blue fissures appeared like thick veins from the impact point.

[Cloak]

Okay -- this book shall have twenty-one chapters.

New chapter.

CHAPTER TWENTY:
Fractured

"This . . . is . . . not . . . POSSIBLE!!" Galactron said, as the fissures on his body became more prominent. "I'm celestial. I'm unstoppable!"

"But we're stopping you," Estelore said, cheekily, having known the source of the blast. She saw Galactron as nothing more than concentrated evil. His actions were unforgivable, irredeemable. There was no coming back from such heinous acts of planet-wide genocides.

"I'm without fault!"

"Debatable," Estelore commented.

"This can't be happening!"

"But it is," Estelore said, mildly.

"I'm immortal!"

"Nah," Estelore said, "just long-lived."

"I can't die!"

"But you can."

"I don't want to die!"

"Strange," Estelore noted, "you claimed to wish for death just a few moments ago."

"I . . . I . . ."

"It's over," Estelore said.

"SHUT! UP!" he shrieked.

"Let's end this," Esty said, angling herself between Galactron and the Earth. Then she added her own Unity Blast to the mix, allowing the blast to push the power to the point were Galactron was killed when his planetoid body exploded. Estelore quickly gathered up as much debris as she could, while the rest burned up in Earth's atmosphere.

Then she moved to throw the bits she managed to catch unceremoniously into a black hole. . . .

***

The Tamaranean, Corona. The Shi'ar, Deathtalon. The Mon Calamari, Paszebar. The Androzani tree, Xylocorpus. The Galilean, Galilei. The Bolian, By Sect.

All were arrested, and arraigned by the Plumbers -- basically space cops -- who again proposed an affiliation to the RAFians. But the mods preferred their own autonomy from the organization, so turned it down, despite having an affiliation with the government, but that may change soon, given the tense and tenuous nature of that affiliation with the current administration.

***

To celebrate their success at this feat, GH took to the stage and sang, with Leatherhead providing additional musical accompaniment on his keytar. GH noted that young mutate was getting quite good, and couldn't help but swell with pride, at least a little.

Anyway, GH sang:

"Some . . . say I have no direction,
That I'm a minor distraction.
That's a overblown reaction.
Still this is the final frontier,
Everything is so clear,
To my destiny I steer
This life in the Forum is all I've ever known,
RAF and RAFians in this infinite place is my only home.
But, the moment that I hit the stage,
Thousands of voices are calling my codename,
And I know in my heart it's been worth it all of the while!
And as my musical notes fly off of the shelves,
Handing out butt-kicking, courtesy of myself,
This life I chose isn't easy but sure is one heck of a ride!
At the moment that I hit the stage,
I hear the universe calling my name.
And I know deep down in my heart I have nothing to fear.
And as the gale wind blows through my hair,
Knowing I have so much more left to share.
A wandering spirit who's tearing its way through the cold atmosphere.
I'll fly like a nothlit.
Soar like a nothlit.
Crash like a nothlit.
I'm just a nothlit. . . ."

He bowed, concluding the song. Granted, he had expected better than the polite applause. He tried not to feel too aggrieved at this as he reminded himself that this was Leatherhead's first real big gig. And he was just six!


*SOURCE SONG: https://youtube.com/watch?v=t3M47LlGAWU

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE:
The Gravity of the Situation

Estelore was dispatched to an anti-gravity research center, the same one that canned G.C. some time ago. Apparently, one of Demos's fiends decided to take up lodgings there, and attacked anyone foolish to stay. And attacked to kill.

After everything that happened with Galactron, how he almost . . . how he almost convinced her that his nature was beign, that he was equivalent to an old man doing what he had to to survive. That he held no enjoyment in the destruction of so many lives, of so many worlds. How truly monstrous he was . . .

She needed an easy, simple mission to help her get her mind off that heavy stuff. Destroying an uppity fiend was just the ticket. She hoped.

Anyway, the facility was fairly straightforward. Sure, there were too many winding hallways for her liking, and it was easy to get lost if you weren't paying attention to where you were going, but the fiend left a rather considerable trail of destruction to follow. Nothing major, mostly just nickel and dime type of stuff.

She eventually came face to face with the creature. And it wasn't exactly all that attractive, not that the star though that it would be.

The creature was the size of a large, burly man, with a rather flattened body. It had large, human-like eyes with green sclera and black irises. It had a cylindrical trapezoid-shaped head that was gold on the crest and ears, white on the forehead, and blue everywhere else. It had no discernible nose, and two gold antennae that looked like nails puncturing its head. It had an blue torso with flared flat shoulder crests attached to its torso. Its torso had two small, triangular, purple indentations and two red, bulbous growths which could have been this creature's version of nipples. Between its growths and indentations, was what seemed to be some sort of "gravimeter", which supposedly measured the gravity it manipulated, almost as a deliberate telegraphing of its intention to uses its gravikinesis. It had white upper arms, blue lower arms, and one black hand (the other one ended in a black-rimmed blaster). At its white waist, the letter "G" was emblazoned in purple, with two orange corrugated tubes leading from its waist to its chest. Its crotch was blue, and its thighs were white. Its blue knees were like two cymbals cupped together above blue lower legs that looked almost like compressed springs, and blue pontoon-like feet. It also had two green arms with dark brown shoulders and fingers and white tracks in the middle orbiting it, in a very evolved Galilean way.

The room that it was found it was wide and spacious enough for a battle without unnecessary structural damage to the facility. It glowered dimly at Estelore and then roared, and Estelore was not impressed nor intimidated.

It constantly shifted gravity up and down, running back and forth. It also jumped, sometimes shooting bullets from its buster whilst jumping. When it changed gravity, it was Estelore's opportunity to shoot him with her stellar bolts of energy. All it took was seven hits from seven bolts of stellar energy to finish off the fiend.

"Well," Estelore said, dealing with left over . . . material . . . that was the fiend moments before.

***

Demos called it a "gravitisapien". Demos said he made it to research the very nature of gravity before it went rogue. No one quite believed him, much to his irritation.

***

"It didn't understand the gravity of the situation, I'm afraid," Malice cackled. She had seemed content to relegate herself to a Statler and Waldorf role, rather than a primary antagonist.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

BOOK CLIII:
THEFT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
CHAPTER ONE:
Gyro Copper

Broken had arrived a hanging garden that reports had said that Demos's fiend had taken residence at. It looked like it may have been opulent and extravagant --in ancient times. Now it was more like a forgotten ruin, the plants that were left had overtaken an overgrown the place.

Broken wasn't sure, but he had a strong impression that this place has known magic. But, of what variety, he hadn't enough evidence to attest to. He just could sense the faintest of magical traces. Perk of being the Sorcerer Supreme, he guessed.

He didn't know what this fiend even looked like. He couldn't use the Human-Revealing Spell, as these fiends were decidedly not human by any stretch of the imagination. It was almost ominous, like something out of a horror movie.

TWOKTWOKTWOKTWOKTWO KTWOK!

What was that sound? A helicopter?

Broken looked up and saw a strange vehicle making a beeline from him. The creature transformed from the strange vehicle that was somewhere between a gyrocopter and a helicopter. It had human-like eyes with scarlet sclera and black irises, and a red mouthpiece not unlike that of Scorpion or Sub-Zero. The tail end of the helicopter folded down to become its legs, and its arms folded out, with its black hand folding out of its forearms, with the struts being kibble on its arms. The primary rotor became flush with its back, and the ****pit folded down to reveal his head, with a helicopter like blade as a crest on its forehead, right between the eyes. Its head was red until the top of its eyes, where it became black, saving the mouthguard thing. Its head sat upon a black neck, and black rimmed white areas where its neck connected with its chest. Its shoulders were red, but its shoulder pads were black. It had a silver band right at the waist, beneath the ****pit. Its legs were long and slender, and a deep purple with teal highlights.

It had two attacks. While on land, he attacked by throwing a helicopter rotor as some sort of cutting boomerang. To avoid it, Broken had to jump over it to the side it comes, or jump over it and return to his position, or Banished it back to the creature. Either way, it left it vulnerable to attacks. When he flew above the clouds, he will fire a helicopter rotor from above and then try to dive into Broken. He had to slide from side to side to avoid the rotor if it comes above him, possibly jump over it so it misses, and after that, slide to the side Broken has less space then slide to the other side so it lands and misses, leaving it vulnerable to attacks, and so Broken has a lot of space to dodge its next attack.

Broken decide the most prudent course of action was to use Gravira, or at least some derivative of such, as it would put stress and strain on its helicopter rotor blades. Maybe knock him off balance.

Aaaand there was the rotor boomerang thing. Broken Apparated out of the way, and the creature decided to dive at him, and Broken shouted, "Gravira!"

It seemed to be effective, as it also forced the creature to crash into a wall. Which trapped Broken in this wide expanse, this high-walled room. He didn't care -- he could Apparate and Disapparate. Which is what he did after another six Graviras.

***

Demos called it a "gyrosapien", and, after some painful prodding, he confessed that he intended to use it just help him generate some secret revenue.

***

Malice hadn't anything to say about this fight. She had fallen asleep in the middle of it. She was an octogenarian, remember.

[Cloak]

Sorry about not posting a chapter yesterday. Looks like I may be posting a chapter every day, except for the weekends, or whenever I hafta work a double shift.

New chapter.

CHAPTER TWO:
A Prized Planet

A Coluan with a cybernetic eye in the center of his forehead by the name of Justhe Phax*. Coluans were a green-skinned technarchic race from the planet of Colu, the fourth in their system. Unlike most Coluans, which possessed what they called Eighth Level Intellects, which exceeded most other species with the possible exception of Cerebrocrustaceans, Transylvians, and the like, Justhe Phax had what he called a Twelfth Level Intellect, which caused him to come off as arrogant and conceited, despite being on par with Galvins. This had caused him to see other beings, organic or inorganic or technological, as lesser beings. Inferior. Whose lives were worthless.

He, of course, knew about Galactron. He was well aware that his power had eclipsed his own, but had not heard about his death. He would have scoffed at the possibility. If anyone had the power to kill him, it was him. Or rather the identity that he preferred to call himself: the Brainiac.

He had not seen Colu in many years. Coluans could live between 500 and 600 years -- only slightly less than some Realm Walkers, funnily enough. (Though Realm Walkers who die at 600 are still considered much too young to die at that age, as it's roughly sixty for humans.) He was considered a maverick to the other Coluans, a pariah, and he considered them weak-willed and cowardly. They were content with their mealymouthed talking points on theoretical applications, he was the first -- and, to his knowledge, the only -- Coluan to actually do something to see, to experiment, to be sure. Life, in his view, only rewards the intrepid, the adventurous. The powerful.

The Brainiac had gone from world to world, collecting all the technological histories of a race, everything that made them them in their creations. Then he killed them to preserve the uniqueness of his records. He had done this to countless worlds, until he realized that he could just use Galactron to do all the hard work for him, with he himself coming after to clean up whatever was left, like a scavenger.

He never like to think of himself as a scavenger, though. He was more of a salvage collector. It wasn't like the species whose information his appropriated for himself would ever be forgotten -- his records were perfect to the last detail. The planets of Petropia (he wasn't aware of the planet's essential resurrection), Alderrann, and more were all housed in floating orbs the size of PokéBalls queued up in masses above his his head as he piloted his space craft, which resembled a human skull very much was a mass of metallic tentacles below it, giving it a somewhat Utrom body plan.

Anyway, he was following the same trail that Galactron followed to Earth, curious by it. The Brainiac had long dismissed the notion of stars gaining sentience. That was to absurd to happen, too impossible. And, of course, his so-called Twelfth-Level Intellect made him so he dismissed the very idea of him being wrong. That too, in his mind, was an impossibility. He was above such mundane things like errors and mistakes. His calculations were precise and perfect. Contingency plans were stupid and superfluous, he believed.

Then he came upon Earth, and he greedily assessed this third rock from the star, Sol. He saw that they had an acceptably sufficient technological level and their knowledge base was a little bare-bones for his liking, but sufficient enough. This planet would be a prize as any other, but he knew the novelty would wear off soon, and the sphere of knowledge gained from stripping it from these unworthy apes would gather dust on a back bookshelf. But it would be his, and his alone.

So many planets fell to this fate. Far less than Galactron, granted, but still considerable. And sometimes there was an overlap with the two. However, the Brainiac -- Justhe Phax -- was never fool enough to outright challenge Galactron. But his disappearance meant that Phax was free to exploit whichever planet he chose.

Then addressed the planet's military presence. It was considerable, but not towards any extraterrestrial offense, he determined. It was clearly for making war one on another. Such a primitive society, thought the Brainiac, such a waste of resources and manpower. Taking this planet would be doing them a favor.


*Anyone get the pun here?

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER THREE:
A Peaceful Forum, A Restless Mind

I can't wait to see you,
See you,
See you.
What's up, today?
Can you hear me calling?
Calling.
Calling.
It's time to RAF!
Every cloud in the sky, green leaf on a tree
Is reminding me, far away dreams really do come true.
Come on, let's go, let's go, and RAF around, RAF around.
What a beautiful feeling.
We found a peaceful forum,
And everybody's having a good time now.
Come on, let's go, let's go, and RAF around, RAF around
What a beautiful feeling.
We found a peaceful forum,
And everybody's having a good time now!

And while everyone else was reveling about in frivolity, Cloak was in his bed. Thrashing from an intense dream. A dream full of disjointed nonsensical images . . .

There was an image, a blurred one, of a creature Cloak thought he might recognize.  Sloggoth? It was a species he knew very little about. But then the image vanished as quickly as it came.

A strange bowler hat alien with actual eyes above the brim -- a creature whose species Cloak knew as Brainteasers, but did not know their actual species name. This Brainteaser was sat upon a human head, whose face he could not see before the image faded away.

A couple of strange, translucent slugs that looked rather Yeerk-like, but were decidedly not Yeerks. Nor were they like Khan worms in anything but superficial appearance, but this image did not linger.

A huge beam coming down at Cloak himself, as if some orbital doomsday weapon was firing upon him, and he was in the right stance to -- but then the image shifted away into a new one.

A flurry of strange symbols that Cloak could not see clearly or make heads or tails of. But, yet, he felt as if they had some sort of importance to them, however, he could not fathom what precisely it was.

Malice standing by a strange Realm Walker Cloak had never seen before, either shaking with jubilation or cowering in fear -- it was very difficult to tell with the five seconds Cloak saw it.

Five silhouettes surrounded in darkness, each with a different set of colored eyes. They were watching the RAFians with an almost obsessive gaze, but Cloak could not notice more about them before the next image shoved its way into his mind, as if jockeying for position with the other images.

A floating human skull made of metal, with millions of metallic tendrils on the bottom, descending from on high, emerging from turbulent clouds.

Eight strange medallions skittering upon the ground, with a mass of beasts surrounding them. Cloak couldn't tell what manner of beast it was, however. Reptilian? Lupine? Plant-like? Avian? Marine animals of some sort? Insectoid? Feline? Rodentine? Didn't matter the images didn't last long.

Cloak saw an old, beefy, Amazon in full battle armor and assorted regalia. Her face, though looking perfectly human, was the size and roughly shape of an Olmec head. But this image did not dally long.

An image of a hand in obvious Knight armor holding a vial of some concoction. Not further context clues was given about the image before it flitted away, like a leaf upon a lake.

A vague, blurred image of some creature in some sort of prison, with a green filter seemingly overlayed over it. The creature was one that Cloak couldn't identify the species of -- something actually rare.

Then an image of a human infant, one that already bore the Mark. He couldn't tell the gender or parentage just from this image. And then it was gone.

Then an image of Cloak being harassed by a blonde, brunette, a red-haired, and a white-haired woman, all apparently human. Or maybe it was something else, the image didn't say much, even in context.

And the final image was of several Realm Walkers coming after him -- a bird, a tiger, a tortoise, and a couple dragons. He thought that's what they were anyway.

Cloak awoke with a reasonable idea why this happened. This must be the Truth Dreamer thing Aniyu was talking about. But the last time he had anything like this, it was when Aniyu was helping him with his baggage about his mother. Then nothing for the longest time. Now, all this at once.



SOURCE SONG: https://youtube.com/watch?v=zliHLZUN_3M

[Cloak]

Sorry about the delay. Worked a double shift yesterday.

New chapter.

CHAPTER FOUR:
The Approach

The Coluan waited before making contact with Earth, sifting through their broadcast output, quickly learning their language. He found most of the transmissions vapid, pointless, and stupid. He easily discerned which ones were works of fiction and which ones were real footage.

Still, even for someone going through all of it like Johnny five reading a book in either of the Short Circuit movies, it was still a lot of material to go through. Justhe Phax quickly found humans to be self-important, egotistical, and narcissistic. They just seemed to care about whatever made their lives easier -- their lives alone, and no one else's.

He considered this. This aspect of this race could be useful to him. He could possibly use it against them, as they seemed to only have a Sixth-Level Intellect, and just barely. But he wouldn't waver in his goal to collect and hoard all the knowledge generated by creation, and destroy creation. He never gave a thought of afterwards, of after accomplishing this goal. He didn't really consider it important enough to consider, as he was living in the now.

He used his considerable intellect to devise a way to approach Earth to make stealing its knowledge and technology have the most bang for the least amount of effort, to turn it into one of his spheres, his knowledge orbs. He did not want to waste any of his resources, as he deemed this planet unworthy of such an expenditure. They hadn't the military presence to stop him. According to their own broadcasts, they have only explored their moon on a manned mission. Orbiting around their planet was littered with debris that they called satellites, and he detected that they have sent out probes to the other planets in their system, but nothing manned. They were no threat to him, these humans.

From their broadcasts, he could tell that they had harvested the power of the atom. He snorted derisively at this. He saw it as a monkey being able to wield a flamethrower -- potentially dangerous for the planet. But not him.

And his instruments said that Galactron was here. And yet the planet was not barren. Galactron seemed to have been . . . impossible. These humans did not have the technological or physical might to do such at thing. They did not have the presence of mind to destroy such an ancient creature. There wasn't even a trace or report on how they managed it.

Wait, there was one. As he watched, Brainiac realized that there may be a snag in his plans. The people who called themselves raff-fee-anns -- spelled "RAFians" -- could prove to be an obstacle in his plans. He also saw that the Reach was already at this planet, utilizing the plan that he considered. The stupid species weren't very clever in the fact that they were found out by these primitives with lesser intellects and repulsed from their planet.

Justhe Phax didn't want the Reach's sloppy seconds. But, yet, Galactron took an interest in this world. It did not often do things on mere whims. Something had attracted it here. And Brainiac, for the life of him, could not deduce what the World-Eater would find so interesting about the planet, but leave it unmolested. It couldn't be a herald of some sort, as he never carried more than six. And if his information was right, and it always was, in his view, Galactron already had six. He rarely replaced them, unless they were mortally wounded or dead.

Why would he visit this world and leave it still living and not barren as their moon? There had to be a deeper reason. A deeper meaning. Justhe had to know. He was morbidly curious about this. Galactron had come to this planet, third of its system of eight, nine if you count the dwarf planet. But for no other purpose but to spare it? Why? Why make the expenditure of energy to do that and not eat the world?

They would give him the answer. They would give him the answer or he will simply take it from their unworthy heads.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER FIVE:
Noticed

"Does whoever is in that ship really think that we cannot see him?" Yarin asked, checking his instruments. "We have some of the most sophisticated technology in the world right here, if not the most sophisticated."

"What species is piloting that thing?" Aquilai asked, with a professional concern.

"No idea -- not in the database," Parker answered. "Get Cloak in here. He know practically every species in creation."

"Not every species," Cloak said, having arrived in Communications.

"Oh, speak of the devil," Parker said, turning to address the Realm Walker, who continued.

"There are some species I've never seen, though I may have seen similar species due convergent evolution paths or similar." he said. "But, yes, I am aware of a litany of species. It is true that a lot of the species database entries were written by me, but that does not mean I know them all -- Estelore is the one who transversed the Realm and catalogued many of the species of this Realm. That's why she left again, remember?"

This was only partially true, on Estelore's part. She was dealing with a lot of emotional baggage. Sure, Galactron was destroyed by their collective Unity Blasts, but the fact remained. He would have never found Earth -- or, at least, not have found it as easily -- without her accidental trail. She felt guilt and shame over this, though she hid this from the others, despite everything turning out okay. She knew it was principally her fault, as if she hadn't panicked . . .

"So, do you do know what species designed this ship?" Aquilai inquired.

Cloak looked at the ship. The image was grainy -- he didn't ask how they came by this image, whether it was just the RAFian scanners or maybe taken from someone aboard Yarin's ship -- but it was still clear as day what it was. Cloak received a powerful flashback to his dream -- particularly the skull-like ship, like one of Wily's Machines, but taken seriously and less cartoonish.

"A Coluan," Cloak said.

"What would the Coluans want with the Earth?" Yarin asked.

"Not the Coluans," Cloak said, shake his head. "Coluans are a peace-loving, but deliberately isolated, species. At least in the other Realm. But one threw off these conventions, in that Realm. A mad Coluan, called Vril Drox I believe, left Colu to devastate the galaxy. They consider places like Earth to have what they call a Sixth-Level Intellect, while they have what they call an Eighth-Level Intellect. Drox had 'Twelfth-Level Intellect'."

Yarin repeated what Cloak said about Intellects, in a disbelieving manner, "What is this nonsense?"

"A way for them to feel superior due to their high intelligence," Cloak opined. "But, in that other realm, the mad Coluan went around taking all the knowledge from cultures that had advanced enough and shrinking a city on the planet down, so that he could experiment on the populace. And, when he was done with the planet, he destroyed it."

"So," Parker said, "he's basically another world killer."

"Essentially," Cloak said.

"How does life even exist with all these beings about trying to extinguish it in an instant?" Parker said, shaking his helmeted head.

"There was only two," Yarin pointed out.

"Of immeasurable power!" Parker countered.

"Don't overestimate the Coluan," Cloak said. Then he added, "but don't underestimate the Coluan, either. He or she may not have the raw power that Galactron did, but that does not mean that he or she isn't dangerous."

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER SIX:
Please Standby

The Coluan sat in his chair, with numerous tentacle-like cables running directly into his noggin. His outfit that he wore was of metallic grays and silvers, and he wore silver gloves as well. The only bare, green part of his body that could be seen was his face, and his iridescent, almost glowing, eyes. Everything from his waist down looked as if it was ensconced in a black, tarp-like cocoon.

The room in which he sat, reclined, was spacious, and bare or any consoles or the like. In front of him were two windows of sort to the outside, and a screen that combined the images into a singular image that was actually of higher quality of even high-definition. It was an imaging technology more sophisticated than anything the RAFians or Andalites had -- although it was roughly on par with Galvans (though Justhe would vehemently deny that, preferring to think that his mind -- his intellect, his mental agility, his mental strength, and mental defenses -- was unrivalled by all).

He could have cloaked himself and his ship from any primitive sensors these monkeys possessed. This he was sure of. His calculations were, in his view, never wrong, and thus, he was never wrong. But, in the event that he miscalculated something due unknown or unforeseen data --  a very remote possibility, as far as he was concerned -- he had a number of contingency plans to enact at his leisure.

His skull-shaped ship was roughly a quarter or so the size of Mercury. Big enough to be a threat, but not so gigantic to dwarf Galactron. Galactron could have destroyed him in an instant, even with his superior technology, he knew. Which was why he always gave it a wide birth and tended to stay out of its way for, as he put it, tactical reasons.

Justhe had never known emotions, either. He never pitied any of his victims. He never felt remorse for them. Never felt compassion for his victims. Never felt shame for his actions. Never felt hope, seeing it as a defiance of solid, proveable data. Never felt guilt for what he had done. Never felt sadness. Never felt envy. Never felt grief, as he has never felt love. Never felt rage or hatred. Never felt true fear -- his skirting Galactron was just reluctant acknowledgement of the fact that Galactron's power eclipsed his own, which his pride refused to acknowledge verbally.

But that also means that he never felt love, desire, passion, happiness, or any other positive emotion. It was sad, really.

Anyway, he remained uncloaked to see if any of these Earthlings, if any of these humans had the courage to come face him where he lived. Galactron left this planet in peace for a reason. He intended on find out what. Then perhaps adding the Earth's knowledge to his collection, the illicit collection he had taken. Perhaps . . . if the people of this world managed to impress him. Perhaps then, and only then, they would prove themselves worthy of having their knowledge taken and added to the knowledge and technologies that Justhe had amassed and integrated into his ship and person.

As far as he was concerned, he was untouchable. People could only get close if he allowed it. If he refused admittance, his defenses were impenetrable. His calculations accounted for everything, for every possible eventuality. He was always prepared and his guard never downed.

He was the ultimate lifeform, in his distorted view. He was the perfect melding of organic and inorganic parts, with all of the benefits, but none of the weaknesses. He was the ultimate lifeform, and, when all was said and done, he would also be the last with all the knowledge in the universe -- with all the power in the universe, as knowledge is power -- at his command. He would consider what to do next when he completed this stage of his ultimate end goal -- to strip all knowledge from others, and destroy everyone. He would be the End of All Things, the End of Creation.

When his goal was satisfied, then so would he.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER SEVEN:
Going Head-On

It was decided that there could be no hesitation. Especially after the danger that Galactron posed, everyone would be a bit on edge. The RAFians decided that it would be for the best to charge this new threat head on. Some may have said that was reckless, and it wasn't like that argument did not bear some legitimate merit.

But the RAFians were more afraid that their hesitation might mean that the circumstances might get worse, and they could not allow that. Especially when their approval numbers were finally out of the toilet (but Bern Bridges still tried his best to discredit them, but more often than not ended up discrediting himself or his "sources", if you could call them that). They felt that they must be proactive and preemptive in this.

They would not immediately resort to violence. They would try diplomacy -- this Coluan may not be a threat, though unlikely, given the species usually isolationist nature when it came to contact with extraterrestrial species. But one could always hope.

Cloak, Spectre, Aquilai, Abby, Saffa, and GH were selected for this delegation. Parker volunteered, but Cloak swiftly put that down as he required Parker to go without his armor if he was to go. Cloak was aware that the Coluan probably could use any of their own technology against them, if he was anything like the Coluan in that other realm, using Parker like some sort of perverse marionette. Parker was dismissive of the idea and aggrieved that he would be taken off the mission because of it. He called Cloak paranoid, while the Realm Walker countered by calling out Parker's imprudence.

In the end, Parker conceded. He wasn't very happy to miss out on all the action, but he relented. He brooded by fixing up his armor -- which was still infuriatingly buggy after it had the Realm Walker tech ripped out of it by that . . . never mind. He had to prove that his armor was impervious. He had to make it so.

Anyway, the six traveled toward the Coluan ship in Yarin's ship. He was very hesitant to get his ship too close, as he had successfully scanned the ships armaments. And it was only slightly less armed than Warworld.

"Don't worry, Yarin," Cloak said, "forming an energy bubble of scarlet and gold around the others and himself. "I'll take us the rest of the way. Just stay in its blind spot."

"Are you sure about this Cloak?" GH said.

"Don't you trust me?"

"When you say it like that, Cloak, you scare me." GH said. Cloak couldn't really tell if GH was being sincere or sarcastic, so he just shrugged and let it slide.

"Remember," Saffa intoned, "we're going to try diplomacy first. Let's not burn bridges if we don't have to."

"Why are you looking at me when you say that?" GH said.

"No reason," Saffa said, and it was perfectly true. GH knew it, and he was just trying to break the tension that they all felt, knowingly being the comedy relief. It was not an easy endeavor.

Cloak's energy bubble bobbed over to the ship where the cerebellum would be on a human skull, and Cloak ferrokinetically opened up a hole into the ship and the six entered. Then Cloak closed the hope in the ship's hull.

"Is there atmosphere?" Aquilai queried quickly.

"Yes," Cloak said, "it appears so."

"So, either we're remarkably lucky that Coluans happen to breathe the same kind of atmosphere as humans --"

"Or," Saffa said, finishing Abby's thought, "he knows we're here."

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER EIGHT:
The Collection

"What a cheery thought," GH said, as they moved forward, proceeding on into the ship. There didn't seem to be a single soul, which gave the whole place an ominous feel. There weren't anything that even looked like maintenance machines or the like -- it was like walking through a derelict ship. It was creepy.

Part of it almost reminded Cloak of the derelict ship that the Xenomorphic Brood, or XBs, were on. He resisted a shiver -- those things did things that he would prefer not to recollect.

Then they came upon the orbs that hung lazily and stationary in the air. Too many to count. There were like immobilized fireflies. They all were about the size of a PokeBall, and glowed yellow as Sol. Cloak had a sneaky inkling what these orbs were, what purpose they served.

"What are these balls?" Spectre inquired.

"Don't get me wrong," Abby said, "they're pretty and all, but what's the point? What function do they serve? Decoration?"

"No," Cloak said, with sad finality.

"Then what are they?" GH said.

"Remnants," Cloak said, vaguely.

"Remnants of what?" Saffa asked, aptly. She reached out and touched one. FLASH! She saw a grassy plain with a civilization whose buildings looked like termite mounds, whose vehicles looked like overlarge termites with six wheels like the Press Tires from "Mega Man Battle and Chase". The natives looked like a hybridization of tapirs and Indian elephants with burnt sienna skin of various sizes. Then she saw the ship -- this ship -- attacking them. She saw them be destroyed. Annihilated.

She gasped and released the orb, as Cloak looked away, guessing what she saw. The other five had followed her example while she was seeing all this.

Spectre saw a desert world with saurian natives with eight legs, with the first two being like human arms and hands, and whiplike tails. They had their civilization underground to escape the harsh, unforgiving sunlight from their red sun. This didn't save them from the mad Coluan. He opened up their civilization to the sun, and took their knowledge and information for his own, killing the natives.

Abby saw a world of giants with giant creatures which looked like hairy hybrids of trolls, oni, and those totoro things from "My Neighbor Totoro" with chameleon-like camouflaging while in forested areas. They lived in an agrarian society, though sufficiently advanced. This didn't save them from the Coluan. He mercilessly slaughtered them and took their knowledge for himself.

Aquilai saw a world mostly water with cnidarian, jellyfish-like natives with no discernable faces and four primary, glass-like tentacles tentacles for manipulation, while they had a cloak of tentacles behind these four tentacles. They had vast, beautiful cities made of a coralline material, looking as if they plagiarized Atlantica. But being a marine species didn't save them from this Coluan. He ruthlessly destroyed them, taking their knowledge for his own.

GH saw a gas giant world with natives shaped like membranous kites connected by a mass of tentacles with no discernible head, much less face. It was clear that these tentacles was how they manipulated things in their gaseous environment. They were not cute, but they clearly were intelligent enough to have cities and technology that was primitive by human standards, but technology nonetheless. And it didn't save them. The Coluan's ship was impervious to any of their weaponry, and he . . . it was much too graphic to bear.

Cloak was the only one who did not touch a orb, a globe. A globe containing the last remnants of each and every civilization this Brainiac had sought fit to slaughter. Many of them, if not most of them, did nothing to deserve such a fate. Other than just being there.

The others turned to him, wanting an answer.

"It would seem like this Coluan is very much like the other one, from that other realm," he replied. It wasn't the answer that the others wanted, sure, but Cloak wanted to leave this mausoleum of lost and forgotten civilizations and species as quick as they were able. So he wasn't too keen on an impromptu Q & A session.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER NINE:
The Scope of the Threat

"Cloak," Saffa prompted.

"Let's go," Cloak said. He knew the subject that she wanted to approach, but he didn't want to go into it. This mad Coluan had murdered -- committed the heinous act of genocide -- entire civilizations . . . and, for what? At the end of the day, for what? For the information that they learned about naturally, through a natural evolutionary progression. The Coluan just took it. Scanned everything that made them them and somehow digitized them into those yellow, floating orbs.

"Cloak!" Saffa said. She was not one to be ignored or brushed aside. "I think we're owed some --"

"Answers?" Cloak snapped, impatiently. "I already told you that this Coluan was dangerous and absconded with the knowledge, and that he was as ruthless as Galactron, even if his power does not match that of the World-Eater. What did you expect when you saw the worlds he decided to take? High-spirited tea parties?"

The others fells silent at this pronouncement.

"Now you understand the scope of the threat this Coluan represents," Cloak said, his anger ebbing already. "Now you realize this won't be an ordinary Sunday. Even for us."

Cloak stopped short, and turned to look at each one of them in turn.

"I know it will be difficult," he said, "but we must still try diplomacy."

"You know what kind of madman this monster is!" GH said, losing it. "Diplomacy, my Aunt Fanny! I say we avenge all these poor lost souls and --"

"Doom the Earth in the process?" Cloak inquired, as if this was class in diplomatic tact. That rhetorical question had GH's mouth freeze midway of forming a word in a rather comedic way. GH felt silent.

"Doom the Earth?" Aquilai asked.

"Do not take this ship's offensive capability lightly," Cloak warned. "It may not have as much raw power as the Warworld or Galactron, that does not mean that its effects can not be devastating."

"So, we must try diplomacy to see if we can come towards an agreement," Abby said, "but that has to be one option that has been attempted before. All these lost and forgotten worlds . . . at least one must have tried the diplomatic route."

"I never said that I had any faith in it actually succeeding," Cloak admitted. "But it would be worth a try."

"What if it goes really south?" Spectre asked, promptly.

Cloak hesitated before speaking, and then he, sighing heavily, said, "I think . . . I think  you already know what we must do in such an event."

"You mean to tell me that this entire mission was just a --" Saffa said, tone incredulous.

"Not if it comes to that," Cloak said.

"You know that he's not gonna to play ball, right?" GH said.

"Like I said, I don't have any faith that he'll be open to our requests for diplomacy," the Realm Walker reiterated, "but diplomacy is Plan A. Whatever happens, though, we have to make sure that this ship doesn't imperil the Earth ever again."

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER TEN:
The Mad Coluan

They came into the main chamber where there was nothing but what appeared to be an undulating column of sorts, with several quarter-sized diameter cables joining the green top of this mound. The rest of the room was scant anything else. No decorations or decor of any sort, just the absolute bare minimum of lighting. Cloak's feline eyes easily cut through the gloom.

"I wait to see what they send me," came a voice the mound. It sound detached and emotionless. Almost as if it was indifferent to everything and anything. "A delegation of diplomats, or several armed missiles."

Cloak reached the conclusion faster than the others it seemed, because he was almost prepared for this eventuality. At least, more the the others. Perhaps it was because he could see better in this dimmest of lighting.

"But no," he said. He almost sounded . . . disappointed. Then he spoke with an indifferent sort of disdain. "The people of this world, these underevolved primates that called themselves 'Humans', what do they send me?"

The RAFians started looking at each other with expressions of disbelief and resentment. The Coluan was another antagonist that was going to look down on them. There seemed to be an overabundance of such villains in their rogues gallery.

"Five underevolved primates," he said, without looking at them. "Two with misappropriated, but inferior, technology integrated with their being."

Cloak thought it was rather hypocritical for this Coluan to accuse anyone else of misappropriating technology. Especially considering his whole modus operandi.

"One with a tool of technology more advanced then suitable for their mental capacity," he said, referring to Aquilai. Far from feeling insulted, Aquilai was allowed some modicum of relief. The Coluan was unaware of the existence of Time Lords. He hoped to keep it this way, and was fortunate that he looked superficially enough like a human to pass as one.

"One playing host to an ephemeral, insubstantial parasite who claims to be the rage of an fictitious entity," the Coluan said, almost scornful, but indifferent. If Spectre felt umbrage at these words, he did not show it.

"One with a wooden instrument with strings intended to plucked to make pointless noise lesser beings call 'music'," he said, referring to GH. Cloak was about to commend GH about letting that slide, but then he burst out into a raging tirade, screaming obscenities at the Coluan. Saffa and Abby had to hold him back, forced to manhandle him.

"Underevolved status confirmed," the mad Coluan said. "They have not yet evolved away from these useless and pointless emotions. It is why they are weak."

Cloak sighed audibly. So much for diplomacy.

"And their apparent pet," he said, referring Cloak. Far from being insulted, Cloak smiled inwardly. That was not a very clever way to play it -- as he just handed Cloak a weapon without seemingly realizing it. The Coluan held no knowledge of Realm Walkers. This made him an unknown to this mad Coluan. That would be an asset as long as they could keep it under wraps.

GH seemed to have calmed down, though his eyes still burned with anger. Saffa and Abby still saw fit to restrain him -- they know that old gag of people immediately reverting to their previous plan of attack once released that tends to be overused in sitcoms nowadays.

"Coluan," Cloak said.

"Don't address the Brainiac, lesser being," the Coluan said, repressively. The first time he spoke directly to any of them.