Memoirs of a RAFian

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER TWENTY:
Crystal Brawler

Helen was dispatched to quell a fiend at a catacombs full of quartz crystals -- milky quartz was the most common, followed by purple amethysts, vibrantly pink rose quartz, white chalcedony crystals, reddish orange carnelian crystals, adventurine chalcedony, holly blue and pink agates,  black onyx, reddish brown jasper, yellow citrine, smoky quartz, mint green prasiolite, and, rarer, rainbow quartz. It was one of the primary places where they were harvested. The fiend had scared away and run off anyone who was in this place, claiming it as its own. Claiming the crystals and gemstones inherent within as its own, as well.

Seeing these crystals, she began to guess this fiend had something to do with crystals, or at least had a strong affinity for crystals. Either that or was very fond of shiny, pretty things.

No matter what its reasons or powers were, it had to be stopped as it was exceedingly dangerous. And people would eventually come back for the pretty quartz crystals, which most, if not all, were of gemstone quality. Unfortunately, human liked shiny rocks like this.

The fiend found her before she found it, as it roared and launched itself at her, before staring it down. This enabled her to get a good look at it.

The humanoid creature was an red orange color, except for its white upper arms, white thighs, black hands, black feet, black ears with a green interior, a black face plate, and a green ring around its waist. Its shoulders were large crystal balls as was its abdomen and knees. Its lower arms were actually two, slightly compressed crystal balls, and it had three nickel-sized crystal balls in a horizontal row on its back, right across the shoulder blades. It also had a large crystal as a crest on its head. Its human-like eyes had orange sclera and black irises. It stood roughly as tall as a ten-year-old human child.

Its right lower arm crystal lit up, the top one first, then the bottom one, as it fired a crystal ball of unknown composition at Helen, who blocked it with a violet construct by her ring. All this did was somehow split the crystal ball into three smaller crystal balls which had a nasty habit of ricocheting all over the place before dissolving into nothingness.

"Well," Helen grunted, with the impact from another crystal ball, "this is going to be difficult."

There wasn't very much room to fight here. Not very much room to use her ring to it's fullest potential here. The fiend was at an advantage here, but it did not seem to have the sentience to realize it. These fiends never seemed to reach the amount of sentience that Maul attained. They were little more than rabid animals in their mindsets, despite their humanoid forms.

She couldn't just sit here defending, she would have to go on the offense. She dropped her shield, and generated a violet construct of helicopter rotor -- she was trying for a full helicopter. She threw it at the fiend, which deeply cracked all of the crystal balls on its body. She took advantage of its momentary stunning to do it again, shattering all the crystal balls on its body, killing it.

Then she quickly took her leave.

***

Demos called the creature "kurisutarusapien". After some cajoling, he admitted he created the fiend to help generate some finances for him.

***

"Better check your crystal ball again!" Malice laughed. Then she realized that the pun she was trying to make was awful.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

BOOK CLIV:
THE CONTINGENCY
CHAPTER ONE:
Napalm Fiend

Cloak was dispatched to a jungle area in a rather remote area. He didn't mind too much -- being a tiger. Well, a tiger-form Realm Walker. Granted, his form was more of that of a Siberian tiger rather than a -- never mind. Semantics.

Cloak quickly crossed the jungle, ignoring the pests and the large bugs and such. They were of little concern to him. He just had to find this fiend, do away with it, and leave. That was all he had to do, but he knew it would be a lot harder than it sounded. This wasn't the first fiend he had to deal with, after all.

That's was when he came to the derelict laboratory of some sort. It was clearly long forgotten, and had a long, unhappy history associated with it. It was almost palpable. Cloak hastily entered the mouldering building with only the slightest of hesitations. He immediately noticed that there no plants lurking in this place, almost as if they knew something that he didn't. It was something starkly ominous, as Cloak did not know this fiend's power set.

Fortunately, it did not take too long to locate the fiend. It kinda stood out in this place overrun with dirt, grime, and what appeared to be soot.

The bulky fiend with thin limbs was a little taller than a ten-year-old child and had its head set into its chest, and human-like eyes with yellow sclera and purple irises. Its body was primarily yellow, and had tank treads for feet. Above what passed for its head was a long tube for firing green-tipped napalm bombs long range, with a purple-ring at its tip. It had purple lines around its shoulders and the orifices holding three orange-tipped napalm bombs. It also had a green jetpack-like structure on its back. Its upper arms, abdomen (which also had purple abdominal muscles), and thighs were white. It had no hands just more napalm bomb launchers. It had purple rings around its ankles.

It first attacked by shooting two bombs from its arms and then it jumped. Which can Cloak avoided by diving to the opposite side of the room. But the Realm Walker failed to make sure there was enough space to the side he was.

He gets cornered, it will became almost impossible to dodge its attacks. The fiend then attacked by shooting head missiles, which Cloak avoided by somersaulting over them. Cloak was waiting to find an opening, a weakness, to exploit. If this pattern continues, then --

There it was. It was weak when it had jumped and when it finished firing missiles. Cloak, through his Earthsight, managed to pull some crystals from the cracked concrete, less able to evade this kind of punishment like Cloak could. He threw them with haphazard precision, and managed to hit the fiend enough times to actually cause it to explode.

Cloak barely escaped before the whole dilapidated building fell atop him.

***

Demos called it a "napamusapien". Demos actually admitted (albeit reluctantly) that he created it to fulfill a military contract that quickly fell through. He was lied to, and it wasn't a military installation who had contacted him at all, but Shenecron. So he refused to hand over the fiend. He just dehydrated it into an orb, like the rest.

***

"Napalm there, napalm everywhere," Malice said, almost somniferously.

[Cloak]

I just realized that this Tuesday "Memoirs" will be five and a half years old. Wow.

New chapter.

CHAPTER TWO:
The Contingency Report

"Good morning, Madam Director," said a man with a rather athletic build who defied the stereotype of a scientist being awkward and nerdy. He had movie star good looks and a bad knee.

"Good morning, Mr. Wu," said Director Irma Waller. She really had wished that Mr. Smith was leading this project today. Mr Wu . . . well, he was prone to annoy her. "Please present the contingency report.

"It's an honor and a privilege, a duty I perform.
With due sense of decorum and with pride.
With deference and great respect very much the norm,
Plus a hint of sycophancy in an aside,
To lay before my director all the facts about her helm.
To fill her in on all the contingency news"

"Yes, yes, Wu, get on with it! For the love of all that's holy, get on with it," she said, rubbing her temples.

"In order that Director Waller stands sturdy at the helm,
Aware of all the contingency's latest news."

"Wu! The contingency report!" Waller barked.

"Er - yes, ma'am - the morning report," he said, waiting a beat.

"Just say it, Wu, don't --"

"Brainwaves are going ape, vitals remain above it all
It remembers, though just what I can't recall.
We haven't paid the bills and the Danny has a hunch,
Not everyone invited will be coming back from lunch!
This is the contingency report.
Gives you the long and the short.
Every grunt, roar and snort.
Not a tale I distort
On the contingency report!"

It was at this point that Irma was starting to tune out the song. Every time he does this. Every time. It was only mildly amusing the first time, but its gotten quite old now.

Someone different, someone younger, sang:

"This is the contingency report!
Gives you the long and the short.
Every grunt, roar and snort.
Not a tale I distort
On the contingency report!"

Then all the scientists assembled sang:

"This is the contingency report.
Gives you the long and the short!
Every grunt, roar and snort!
Not a tale I distort
On the contingency report!"

Irma was too busy rubbing the areas where her nose met her eyes, muttering, "This is what you get when you hire scientists all with minors in musical theater. I must have been drunk when I . . . never mind. Next report, when I return, Wu, had better be spoken and not sung. Am I clear?"


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

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER THREE:
Birth of the Contingency

The blob of indefinite shape that was in the cylinder when Director Waller came to inspect had taken on a more defined form. It was a bipedal, humanoid creature with some gelatinous properties. It was primarily scarlet with a long, gold tail. On top of its head are two short, sharp horns. It has a defined chest and shoulders. The five digits, including an opposable thumb, on each hand and digitigrade feet. Its tail is thick at the base, but thinned to the tip. Its veins were a very distracting bluish-purple. It was curled up in a fetal position, with its tail wrapped up around it, almost as if it were a blanket.

Those voices . . . the creature thought, as it heard the scientists' babble.

There was a fair amount of excited chatter. One declaring that the creature's mind was racing and another ordering someone to call the director and to tell her what happened.

They're outside . . . it thought again, where I must be.

Mr. Smith told them to be quiet as the creature opened its eyes with its irises, pupils, and sclera all being the blue of a robin's egg. It shattered the glass of the cylindrical tube it was in with a powerful psionic force, causing the liquid it was suspended in to splash onto the floor and trickle away as it sat, almost awkwardly upon the small dais which, at one point, housed the tube where it was grown.

"Quiet!" cried Mr. Smith. "Let us hear its psychic powers."

<Psychic . . . powers?> the thing inquired groggily.

"For years, we struggled to create the perfect contingency," Mr. Smith said, sound rather like a mad scientist expositing on his latest experiment, "to what many of us have termed the 'RAFian problem', to counteract whatever they may do if they go rogue. But you're the first specimen to have survived. We used most advanced techniques and most sophisticated technology to develop your awesome power set."

<So, I am simply the end result of your experiment,> the creature summarized. <What is to become of me now that your experiment is over?>

"Oh, our experiment isn't over yet! It's just beginning!" Mr. Smith said, as the scientists behind him began to chattering excitedly and make jubilant noises, which deeply conflicted with the way the contingency was feeling. It may have been an artificial lifeform, but that did not mean that it was not perceptive.

These creatures . . . it thought, angrily and bitterly, they care nothing for me.

The Cadmus scientists were all too busy congratulating each other to even realize this. To even realize that their statements and actions were making the created creature feel alone and objectified. Didn't notice the creature narrow its eyes in a most ominous way, gazing at its human-like hands. Didn't notice it balling them into angry fists.

Is that my purpose? it thought, as the celebrations were now going on inappropriately long. Then its thoughts turned very bitter and very angry. Am I just an experiment? A laboratory specimen?! This cannot be my destiny!

What happened next was a blur of destruction and screams. It decimated the whole facility with its psionic abilities. Literally ripping d it apart from within. There were no --

Other than the creature, the rogue RAFian contingency, there were no other survivors of this massive attack on mankind's hubris.

<BEHOLD MY POWERS.> it declared to anyone who would hear. But there was no one left at this island facility to hear him. <I am the most powerful being in the world. More powerful than even you.>

[DinosaurNothlit]

Oooh, I like where this is going.  Yes, I know what it's a reference to.  But I loved that movie, so, yeah, I like where this is going. 

[Cloak]

Oh, this is where is skews away from that.

New chapter.

CHAPTER FOUR:
Dark Visions

Cloak was in a meditative sleep. Shadow would have declared it napping, but she was wrong -- okay, she was only kind of wrong.

. . . Alright, alright. She was right about him napping. But he was feline. That surely gave him a right to catnap, right?

He was standing in a black void with nothing but a white disc upon which Cloak stood, illuminated from an unseen light source. Suddenly, letters came up in front of him, all in a legible font, written in gold. And, from the way the letters seemed to dance around, anxiously, he got the feeling that this would be urgent.

Beware of the one without bounds,
Whose rhetoric oft have no grounds.
It shall have a spectrum which rings have power,
And this will harken a future most dour.
Then, to the center of all things, it shall flee.
It intends to create an ending for all to see.

There was more, but it was to muddied for Cloak to make heads or tails of. But that riddle, that puzzle was enough. And Cloak was well aware that he may very well forget about it when he awakes the next morning.

Cloak couldn't begin to decipher the meaning of this riddle. Oh, why couldn't the person writing this stuff be straightforward for once? "Go here". "Do that". "Don't do THAT". Why can't it ever be that clear? Why does it always have to be in Gateburst riddles? What's wrong with a straightforward answer for once?

Cloak awoke, and he tried desperately to hold onto what the riddle was, but within moments, he had forgotten what it had said.

***

The contingency stood in the wreckage of the lab, until the fires were well extinguished already. It felt so disillusioned by everything. The manner of creation, those scientists objectifying him like it was a curious piece of property, and the world at large, which he assumed to be just like these tactless scientists.

What right did it have to exist in this world? What right did they? What right did anyone? None. No one had a right to the gift of life, it started to believe. Everyone was so petty, so dishonest. Their minds were vapid wastelands of materialism and greed, anger and rage, fear and bigotry. It found them devoid of courage, intellect, hope, sincerity, compassion, reliability, love or kindness. All life in existence, it felt, needed to be stamped out. Including himself.

It looked at existence and only saw what it wanted to see --a place of misery and suffering. It was unable to see acts of compassion as anything indebting another to you, acts of love as being meaningless acts of lust. It thought demonstrations of intelligence as lacking and displays of reliability stemmed more from fear, fear of being seen as unreliable, than a legitimate attempt to be responsible. It thought demonstrating sincerity was still, in some way, deceitful and displays of genuine courage was just obscuring an inherent cowardice. It felt that no one was truly kind, that acts of kindness was hiding an underlying cruelty.

Compassion. Courage. Hope. Intellect. Kindness. Love. Reliability. Sincerity. None truly existed, it felt. Its course forward was clear. He would have to end it all. End everything. Everything, so it can start over. So these eight traits can exist in their truest form, instead of the poor facsimiles they had now.

But he would give himself a new name other than the RAFian contingency. He was without limits, without bounds -- he was Boundless.

[DinosaurNothlit]

Uh oh.  Even Mewtwo wasn't that cold-hearted.

Also, this guy is strangely reminding me of a character from Sentinels of the Multiverse, called Faultless.  That could just be the similarity between the names, though.

[Cloak]

More than likely as I've never seen the series.

New chapter.

CHAPTER FIVE:
The Impetus

Boundless wandered around, staying in the most remote places, so he could be alone. It was still fanatic in his desire to destroy all life in its present and future form. That fire still burned with a fiery passion.

Since its birth on that undisclosed, unnamed island, it had clothed itself in white, orange, and gold Egyptian-type attire, making it look rather like an impromptu fusion between Mewtwo and Beerus. It also was learning to master its newfound powers, proven as it floated lazily around, propped up by its telekinesis.

While it had a great desire to end all that was, it didn't have any real method that would work with the kind of efficiency that it wanted. It wanted it to be quick, with no chance of survival. Which ruled out getting its own hands dirty with the task of universal genocide.

There had to be a way . . .

It sat down -- which looked rather awkward, to be honest -- and it shut its eyes. It focused its mind, to grasp at any straw to achieve its lofty goal. It was gifted with a vision. It saw seven rings, similar to that of the Olympics, all interlocked. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet -- in that order. In the empty spaces between these rings were faces. Obviously human faces.

Within the red ring was the face of a feral beast of a woman wearing the uniform of a Red Lantern. A very familiar Red Lantern . . .

Within the orange ring was the face of an orange energy construct wearing the uniform of an Orange Lantern . . .

Within the yellow ring was the face of a blonde human girl wearing the uniform of a Sinestro Corpsman . . .

Within the green ring was the face of an everyday human boy wearing the uniform of a Green Lantern . . .

Within the blue ring was the face of a mature-looking human boy wearing the uniform of a Blue Lantern . . .

Within the indigo ring was the face of a small teenager boy wearing a Mowgli-like uniform of an Indigo Tribesman . . .

Within the violet ring was the face of a young protege of Helen's in a Star Sapphire uniform. . . .

Boundless opened its eyes, smiling with its small mouth. So . . . this was the way. The people wearing the rings were insignificant. The prize would be the rings themselves. After it managed to procure them, it was confident that the next step of what to do would be revealed to him at that time.

But the thing to do now was procure them. The vision also gave it an idea of where to find them. It had left to procure the closest one to it -- the red one. . . .

***

"That's a little vague, Cloak," GH told Cloak, as he watched Leatherhead play with Dino. It was hard to say who was enjoying themselves more.

"I'm well aware, Logan," Cloak said.

"GH," GH corrected.

"It was a riddle, and it seemed actually urgent," Cloak said.

"Yeah, the letters doing a pee-pee dance kind of urgent," GH said.

"GH, I'm being serious here," the Realm Walker intoned darkly. "Something's about to happen. I can sense it. And its not going to be any good."

"We'll do it, whatever it is, and come out smelling like daisies," GH said, in a flippant, complacent way that didn't sit well with the Elements Master.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER SIX:
Collecting Rage and a Couple of Souvenirs

Bladeh and Dino had been dispatched to deal with a rampaging Red Lantern. Her hear was black and wild, her skin a pale, pasty white. She wore the red and black uniform of a Red Lantern, while her hands were bare. She wore the Red Lantern symbol --  a circle framed by two lines that were crooked when they parted company with the circle, like the horns of a bull. Her lips were ruby red, but whether that was lipstick was blood or lipstick, it was much too difficult to discern, even with the napalm-like blood dribbling from the left corner of her mouth, eyes devoid of any pity or mercy, of any hope or compassion, of any fear -- nothing but barely contained rage. The woman Red was like a feral beast, fierce and untamed.

It was Nancy Stepford, back after being on Ysmalt. Apparently, Atrocitus or whoever was in charge of the Reds didn't think her worthy enough bathe in the lake of blood to regain her faculties and sanity. So, she was still a beast of rage and anger, unaware of the consequences or possible ramifications of her actions. She would not be a person able to stand court, on the count of overt and obvious insanity and being mentally unfit to do so.

Bladeh nor Dino would recognize her, but then again, everything happened at Nurse Nancy incident was brought to them by mere heresay, as they were not present. But, even if they did recognize her, it would have been very difficult to tell that this woman was the same one who were hypnotizing students to care nothing nothing for entertainment pursuit, and concentrate on improving test scores.

"I really wish she'd stop vomiting up on me," Dino complained. If it wasn't for her thick, tough hide, she could very possibly be in mortal danger right know. "It's like trying to feed a human baby and trying to keep it all down."

"How would know what that's like?" Bladeh asked, playing more defense than anything else.

"Internet?" Dino said, rather like Timmy Turner.

"What does that have to do with -- uh, who's that?" Bladeh said, seeing a silhouette in the distance flying towards Nancy, who evidently saw its presence as offensive, and moved immediately to attack it.

Boundless had appeared, floating ominously, like one of those UFO sightings made with bad Photoshop and a shaky camera. He was ignoring the huge ankylotyrannus and tiny cat. He was only interested in the feral monster that was Nancy, who just vomited her napalm-like blood from her mouth, staining her lips again.

"Ugh!" Dino said, with disgust. Her tough, scaly hide might be sufficient to protect her, but that didn't mean that it didn't cause her extreme discomfort, every time it hit her -- and, face it, she was a large target. "I really wish that she would stop doing that!"

"What does that thing want?" Bladeh asked.

"Deal with the Red Lantern first, Bladeh," Dino said, almost scolding, "then we can worry about the stupid apparition over there."

But she had barely had the last word out of her mouth, when the creature's eyes glowed and Nancy was forced, spread eagle, in midair. She still vomited her napalm-like blood, some of which still hit Dino.

"Oh, c'mon!" was her complaint.

Boundless, seemingly without much, if any, effort, approached her from behind. She still tried to vomit her blood on it, but it approached at such an angle that that would be impossible.

"What does it want from her? Is it an ally?" Bladeh wondered aloud.

Boundless removed her ring, causing her uniform to vanish, and caused her to immediately go into cardiac arrest. Red Lantern rings basically replace the hearts of their wearers, and Nancy had been one for four or five months now. Their hearts become vestigial, and their ring usurped its function.

Boundless did not know this. And it did not care. It did not care now that Nancy was dying, and she was of sound mind again.

Then it looked at the two RAFians and considered. Then it raised its hand and both of their vision blurred before fade into black, and their minds went blank. They vanished.

Then it revealed that it now had two new keychain bobbles thingamajigs. It was Bladeh, looking like a maneki-neko, and Dino, appearing more like a toy-like, chibi-style ankylotyrannus.

"You two could be useful to the end of all things," it murmured as it went off to search for the orange light construct it needed.

[DinosaurNothlit]

I wonder if I'm still covered in blood vomit, even as a keychain. 

P.S. I laughed at the "Internet?" comment.  I know nothing of human babies, besides that they are gross. 

[Cloak]

You're clean as a keychain.

New chapter.

CHAPTER SEVEN:
Collecting Avarice and a Furry Souvenir

"Wait," Hunter said, perplexed as Donald Couch attacked him. He wore an orange uniform with black on the upper arms and an orange ring to match. Even an orange domino mask. The emblem on his chest was a circle with a spike connecting it to the outer circles to the upper right, upper left, lower left, and lower right and a "V" to the top. "I thought there was only one of you!"

"Mine . . ." was the boy's only reply, the ring already warping his mind into wanting nothing but to have things, to horde things, to make things his and his alone. Which could explain the mask -- his identity was his and his alone to know. He was after Hunter's weapons. But the RAFian was not about to allow Couch to have them. "Give them to me."

He was an Orange Lantern -- a second one. One that wasn't a construct. An oddity. If Larfleeze knew about this, he would not have tolerated it. Orange was the light of avarice, of greed, after all. There wasn't really any explanation as to how he came across the ring -- but chance are that it chose him. Maybe this was an indication of Larfleeze's death, or otherwise loss of the ring. Maybe it was duplicated for some reason by a Guardian of the Galaxy (Cloak preferred to call them Oans, and despised calling them Guardians of the Galaxy). Whatever the reason he came by it, the fact of the matter was he had it. And it was very dangerous to have, especially for a pampered, entitled rich boy.

"No," Hunter said, firmly.

"GIVE IT TO ME!!!" he raged, far more unaccustomed to not getting what he wants than Larfleeze ever was.

Hunter had to fight the temptation to shoot him in the head. He had the shot, too. He had heard what Cloak knew of this ring type. All his thoughts and emotions were supplanted for insatiable greed and avarice. He would always be hungry for materialistic things, and it would be a hunger that would never be satisfied. At least, for very long. The ring was a parasite, and the wearer was a slave to have everything now.

"No, boy!" Hunter said, just dodging.

Suddenly, Boundless was there. Watching. Neither the RAFian or Orange Lantern noticed at first. This enabled Boundless to understand the fueling emotion for the Orange Lantern ring.

Boundless devised the perfect way to get his prize. When Hunter had to deliver several swift blows to Donald, causing him to back off momentarily before continuing his attack, Boundless descended, almost like a deity descending from on high.

Donald was distracted, when Boundless "accidentally" showed its trickets -- a Red Lantern ring and two keychains. But Hunter saw these as well, and immediately said, in a strained voice, "Dino? Bladeh?" before Boundless jingled them out of sight, into a hidden pocket.

"Mine!" Donald cried, as he lunged towards eleven o'clock.

"No," Boundless said, dodging easily, plucking the ring off his finger. This freed Donald from the orange curse, and he was able to feel something other than greed -- yet, it still motivated him as it did with his entire affluent family. "Mine."

Donald looked around, confused about what happened to him. Seemingly without any memory of his time as a Orange Lantern.

"And," it said, turning toward Hunter, who actually took a step back. "A souvenir."

Suddenly, Hunter's vision blurred and faded to black. Then Boundless held up a Hunter keychain.

"Gotta collect them all," he said, with a malicious, sneering smirk.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER EIGHT:
Collecting Fear and a Morph Souvenir

Saffa and Abby were battling Brooke Barrington, who they remembered vaguely from the whole Stepford fiasco some months back. Brooke wore the black and yellow uniform of a Sinestro Corpsman, with the yellow ring. She had returned from Qward with one murderous thought in mind.

"Where is he?" she demanded. Apparently, she was really serious about killing Shawn Hobbes. Before she had the ring, it could have been just angry bluster, something she claimed she would do out of enraged frustration. But now she had sufficient power to back up the threat. "Where is he?!"

"We have to do something," Abby insisted. "There is a lot of collateral damage that she could do with that ring."

"Already on it," Saffa said, mouth a bit muffled as it was rapidly changing into the mouth parts of a Psycholeopterran and as Psycholeopterran wings folded out of her back.

Abby followed Saffa's lead. The thing about morphing into Psycholeopterrans was that it was about as attractive as morphing into an elephant or housefly. Not particularly pretty to watch.

"You know where he is, don't you?!" she demanded of the two RAFians. It was easy to see why a Red Lantern ring also tried to claim her, except she chose Fear over Hatred. "Tell me where he is! I will show him! I will show him how wrong he was!"

This was clearly stewing in her mind over the past few months during her training on Qward. She clearly had been harboring resentment over Shawn -- over how blatantly arrogant, how unjustifiably smug, how -- how UGGGH he was. She should have been the leader of their little troop, their small band. But they chose the weakest among them to follow. He had usurped her rightful role -- he had marginalized her, he had over simplified her. She would show all that he was not suitable as any kind of leader -- that he was a coward. Afraid to do what had to be done to set things right!

But not her. She wasn't afraid. She struck fear into others, not the other way around. She had no fear. Others could not exploit that in her, and that's why they feared her, feared her strength and power!

The morphs completed, Abby and Saffa flew over to her in a rather sedate way. This just miffed her more. She was not a power to be trifled with so casually!

Unbeknownst to all three, Boundless had arrived, having silently teleported in, as if by instant transmission. It watched what happened between the three, as Saffa and Abby rendered Brooke useless using the power of a Psycholeopterran to simulate the pleasure centers of the brain with their hypnotic circles.

<Interesting,> Boundless muttered. Saffa thought she heard it, but decided that it was her imagination. She refocused on placating Brooke, hoping the ring would either part company with her finger or run out of juice.

Boundless wasn't willing to wait. It swooped down with astonishing speed (nothing on Cerulean or a Kinecceleran, of course) and seized the ring from her fingers, causing the two morphed Psycholeopterrans to stop abruptly, which in turn caused Brooke to snap out of her stupor relatively quickly.

"Hey! My ring!" she shouted. "Give that back!"

"Sleep," Boundless said, telepathically triggering her to sleep. She slumped over immediately. Abby and Saffa were aghast by this, immediately demorphing. Boundless watched them do such with a detached fascination.

When they had finished, he said, "I only require one."

He held his hand out, and Saffa's vision swam, blurred, and faded to black. Her mind became numb and unconscious. Boundless raised a keychain of chibi Saffa -- something which Saffa would abhor to see.

"Saffa!" Abby cried out, and attempted to remorph the Psycholeopterran as a means of transit to get to Boundless. But it took too long, and it teleported away, indifferent to Abby's rage and pain.

<DAMN!!> Abby cursed loudly and uncharacteristicall y.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER NINE:
Collecting Willpower and a Cuddly Souvenir

Horse and GH were dispatched to help the Green Lantern Shawn Hobbes take care of an unruly creature that none knew what it was. It lived deep in the sea, and none of the three could get close enough to see what it was. Whatever was raging was clearly in great distress.

Shawn was actually hoping to get some downtime from his grueling Lantern training, when he came across this creature -- perhaps an illegal specimen from a so-called private zoo flown in Pisccis? Maybe, but no evidence available could conclusively prove that speculation.

Anyway, he rankled with the appearance of Horse and GH. He did not help handling this creature. He knew what he was doing. He would save the populace of this coastal city from this rampaging beast. He did not need their help, and he told them so.

"Look, pal," GH said, finding this boy's hubris anything but refreshing, "we've more jurisdiction here than you and your big-headed, blue overlords."

"GH. Be nice," Horse scolded.

"I will not be scolded by a seal," GH said, with mock moodiness.

Then the creature reared up suddenly behind them, where they got a good look at it. It was a giant, quasipedal creature which was obviously adapted to dwell underwater. It had four webbed legs and a tail with a fin. It had two tentacles coming out of its mouth, which act like two extra arms and was its primary manipulation appendages. It has large blue eyes, golden teeth and six gills on its neck. The upper part of its body is dark cyan, while the lower part is olive. The creature, for simplicity's sake, was referred to as the "Kraken".

Unbeknownst to the three, Boundless had teleported in, watching the events as they transpired. Waiting for its opportunity, as it knew it would come.

Horse quickly noticed the shards of something on the shore, some of which were as large as she was. She quickly came to the conclusion that this Kraken was a nesting mother, just protective of her eggs. Then she saw obvious evidence that the shards of the egg shells were not made by hatching Kraken. They were smashed to smithereens. How, she could not say.

So the source of the creature's rage was understandable. She was doing this out of heartache -- yes, even nonsentient animals can have emotions and feelings. Such things aren't the sole property of sentient beings with a defined language.

It was now, when their guard had lowered, that Boundless struck. It killed the Kraken mother with a single psychic blast, overwhelming her simple mind. Then it psychically paralyzed the body of Shawn Hobbes and took his ring for his own. Shawn could not move his mouth, tongue, or vocal cords to protest.

"Who are you?" GH demanded angrily.

Boundless ignored him, as if he wasn't worth the time or effort to explain what it had planned. In Boundless's mind, the RAFian's wants and needs were inconsequential and superfluous. He had a greater goal than anything that these creatures, as unworthy of existence as it itself was, could have conceived of.

Then it held out its hand, and Horse's vision immediately swam. It blurred, and faded to black as her mind blanked. Then Boundless dangled a seal figurine attached to a small keychain.

"Horse!" GH roared.

"I do not require a spare," it said, holding out his other hand. GH was blasted backward by a large amount of psychic force. It did care about the string of creative obscenities and vulgarities that GH threw at it before it teleported away. It had much more important work than listen to a foulmouthed guitarist.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER TEN:
Collecting Hope and a Partly Angelic Souvenir

"Don't worry," Chris Hawke said, "all will be well."

"You don't seem to understand the gravity of the situation," Blaze said. He and Demos were sent to protect Chris from whoever or whatever that thing was stealing rings and turning RAFians into keychains. Blaze felt vulnerable out in the open like this, without any cover. He really didn't want to be a keychain.

Not to mention Demos's demonic nature made him uneasy. Due to their opposing natures, they didn't really talk to each other very much. Blaze couldn't help but wonder why were they two specifically sent out on this mission together. Meanwhile, Demos seemed to be just ambivalent to the point of indifference about the whole thing.

"This thing, whatever it is," Demos said, patiently, "wants your ring. For what reason, we do not know, but we do know this, it cannot be for anything good."

"All will be well, friends," Chris said. "My ring be safe and we will get through whatever trial besots us."

Blaze was impatient with such muddled thinking. This was not the time for simply hoping for the best, but doing something. Demos, though remaining silent on this, agreed with this assessment. Hope is fine and well, but you need willpower in order to act upon hope and bring about change.

"Blue Lantern," Blaze said, "we must be quick. We haven't a clue how it tracks rings such as yours --"

"Presumably the same way we did." Demos interrupted.

"Not. Helping," Blaze snarled. Then he addressed Chris again, "But the fact of the matter is that it does, and, while we don't know its intentions with your ring and the rings of others -- nothing concrete anyway, we know it can't be for beneficial reasonings."

"And it's here," Demos said, looking up.

"And it's here," Blaze echoed without realizing what he was saying. When it clicked seconds later, he exclaimed, "Wait, WHAT?!"

And there it was. Just hanging in the air, defying gravity as if it was a law that it didn't care to obey. And it just stayed there. Watching. And judging.

Deciding that being proactive was the best option, Blaze powered his wings at once, immediately launching himself into the air, "Get him safe, Demos. I will attack him directly."

"Are sure such a hasty decision is wise?" Demos queried, but Blaze was already blazing into combat. "And you're already gone. Okay, then."

"Take heart, friend," Chris said. "All will be well."

"Save it for a fortune cookie," Demos snapped, annoyed.

"Where'd the bloody hell did he go?!" Blaze said, hands ablaze, frantically looking around for the creature. Demos heard a brief impact and found Chris upon the floor with the ring in the creature's possession. Chris was alive, but unconscious.

"Well, this is awkward," Demos said aloud, backing away from the creature, his hands alight with flames. He was ready to fight, if need be.

<I just require one,> it said, holding out its hand. And it was at this time that Blaze dove in a controlled fiery dive. But his vision blurred and swam before fade into black and his mind became numb.

"Blaze? Blaze!" Demos exclaimed. He was enraged when Boundless showed Blaze as a keychain ornament, like the others. His entire body was engulfed in flame.

<Your usefulness is effectively nil,> Boundless said, indifferently, before teleporting away.

"Yeah! Go ahead! Run! Run away, coward!" Demos raged.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER ELEVEN:
Collecting Compassion and a Winged Souvenir

"Um, could you possibly put on something more than a purple loincloth?" Falc0 was asking Boris James, an Indigo Tribesman, who was rather short and scrawny, and wearing just a Mowgli-style loincloth really left nothing to the imagination. Both he and Raevyn were dispatched to protect Boris from Boundless, preventing his ring from falling into Boundless's clutches, at the same time as Demos and Blaze were dispatched to do the same with Chris.

"Priorities, Falc0," Raevyn chided him.

"I think this qualifies." Falc0 replied, a tad mulish.

"We have more important things to do than body shame a middle school student," Raevyn countered.

"High school, thank you very much," Boris corrected, with quiet dignity.

"Whatever," Raevyn said. Then she switched tact to focus on their objective, their primary aim. "Kid, there is a creature of immense power that will be after that ring. Your ring."

"If he needs my help, I'll gladly surrender it," he said, looking rather . . . silly, standing there, making brave statements wearing nothing but a loincloth as if he thought himself a Cro-Magnon fashionista.

"You're not getting it," Falc0 said, keenly aware of Boris not understanding the true gravity of the situation. "This is serious. It will not ask politely for the ring. It will not just demand the ring. It will just take it."

"He cannot have it," Boris said, sounding annoyingly serene. Was this the ring's effect on him? Or was he just this remarkably slow to the uptake? "I shall help him with whatever endeavor he wishes, within reason. But he cannot have my ring. I will make that very clear."

"Okay -- are you naturally this thick, or has your ring dulled your good sense?" Raevyn said, losing patience.

"I don't care much for your tone, talking bird," Boris said, with a frown.

"I don't care!" Raevyn spat. "We're trying to tell you that your life is potentially in danger, and you come off as completely ignoring and disregarding that fact!"

Falc0 swivelled his head to their right, and looked up. Then he said, very seriously, "Raevyn, we're already too late."

"What? No!" she cried.

But Boundless was there. Floating. Watching. Judging. Planning its next move. Why did it think that collecting rings from all the Corps and turning RAFians into keychains would end all existence as they knew it? It didn't make any sense!

Boundless landed, and stared hard at Boris, so much so that the gaze was almost as tangible as an impaling sword. He spoke directly at Boris, <Save me the time and exertion and surrender unto me your ring.>

The two avian RAFians had not anticipated this. They expected him to manhandle Boris for his ring, as he did for the others. They hadn't expected him to go for civility.

"Why must I do this?" Boris said, clearly wanted to understand Boundless's motives.

<Do not question me, creature,> Boundless threatened, <if you value your life.>

"That escalated quickly," Falc0 commented.

<Silence,> Boundless commanded, as if he was the one who issued orders to the RAFians. <I'll deal with you shortly, once the ring is surrendered unto me.>

"I'm sorry, but you cannot have my ring. Perhaps I can help you in another . . . ugh . . ."

Boundless had just psychically triggered him into unconsciousness. From there, he quickly plucked his ring which caused his indigo loincloth to revert back into his normal civilian attire.

"Well, that does look better," Falc0 admitted, before saying, "but we cannot allow you to have --"

With an avian shriek, Raevyn interrupted Falc0 and swooped toward Boundless, clearly with the attempt to attack him with talons and beak. Boundless, however, remained unafraid and held out his hand and Raevyn found her vision swimming. Swimming before blurring, before fading into a black nothingness . . .

"Raevyn!" Falc0 shrieked, as he wheeled around for another dive, only to be telekinetically slapped away.

<I've allowed you to live for the moment, with your undeserving gift of life,> Boundless said, with unfiltered disdain, <do not try me anymore. Do not try to interfere with my goals. My mercy has limits.>

With Falc0 dazed and confused, it teleported away. It only needed one more ring -- and one more . . . "souvenir".