Memoirs of a RAFian

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER TWELVE:
Collecting Love and a Badass Souvenir

Helen's overly approbative behavior was starting to rankle Faerie.

"Helen, both you and Nadia are in danger," she tried to impress upon her, "according to our information, that creature only lacks a Star Sapphire ring. And there are two of them right here."

"Well, be fine, Faerie," Helen assured her, "we know how to handle ourselves."

"You're being as hardheaded as Parker," Faerie accused. "From what we know, this creature is planet-locked. If you and Nadia flee to the stars, it would have no way to follow and pursue you. It would not be able to complete its plan, whatever it may be."

"And never return to Earth," Nadia pointed out.

Faerie had no real kind or charitable way to reply to this, but her silence said it for her. Nadia bowed her head for a moment, then looked to Helen for what to do next.

"Faerie, we won't run from our problems," Helen said. "The Earth is our home. We may be Star Sapphires, but the Earth will always be home to us."

"I don't then you understand the gravity of that decision, Helen," Faerie said. "This thing wants all seven rings for a reason."

"Which is?" Nadia asked.

"We . . . don't know at this time," Faerie admitted. "Cloak is speculating that this creature seeks to end all creation. But whatever its endgame is, I am sure -- absolutely sure, without a question -- it is for nefarious purposes."

"We cannot jump to such conclusions, Faerie," Helen said, trying to be reasonable. "We don't have the necessary information to make such a conclusive decision like that."

<Surrender your ring unto me,> came a telepathic voice. It was obviously Boundless. It did not care for the content of their conversation. They were unworthy of the gift of existence, just as he wasn't. Their conversations did not matter. Their wants did not matter. Their needs did not matter. Nothing else other than the end of existence mattered. When it would have set everything right. When more worthy beings would come into existence afterwards. <Surrender it. I will not ask again.>

"No," Helen said, as a geyser of violent energy erupted from her ring as she prepared to fight Boundless. Prepared to drain every ounce of power from her ring, which she surmised would also make it useless to Boundless, who did not know about this aspect of the rings.

<You try my patience,> Boundless said.

"And I will roll your head across the floor!" Faerie said, taking up her battle axe. She still found it a poor replacement for her Gale Blade, but this wasn't a time to cavil and quibble about trivial matters such as that.

She flew very fast at Boundless with the heavy battle axe ****ed back, prepared for the swing. Only to be telekinetically thrown back as if inertia didn't exist. This had actually caught Faerie off-guard.

<My patience has been tried,> it said, matter-of-fact. <And, unfortunately for you, it has run out. Now give me your ring if you value your continued, unworthy existence.>

"You'll have to take it from me!" Helen snarled, resembling her boyfriend more than she knew.

<Your proposal is acceptable,> it said, as it raised a glowing hand. Suddenly, Helen slumped over. Not dead, but unconscious. Nadia tried to defend her, but her inexperience showed, and Boundless easily batted her away with his telekinesis as he took Helen's ring for his own.

"You . . . won't get away . . . with this," Faerie said, actually quite beaten up by Boundless's psychic powers. Helen's unconsciousness was evidently not intended to last for long, as she was already beginning to stir.

<I already have,> it said, holding out a hand towards Faerie. Her mind swam lethargically, her vision blurred before fading to black. Then there was nothing. <Especially now that I have the final pieces of the puzzle.>

He held up the Faerie keychain as Helen regained consciousness. She saw it, and immediately assessed the situation correctly.

"Here, take my ring, Helen," Nadia said, lovingly sacrificing her ring to give to the more experienced wielder. Helen accepted it, and began to launch herself at Boundless, but he was already gone. Teleported away.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN:
LET'S GO TO SPACE!!

Boundless returned the ruins of the Cadmus site where it was given life. It had managed to use its psychic powers to manipulate the matter on a subatomic level to transmute it into what looked very much like a hackneyed fusion of a Gem homeworld ship with that of whatever species Frieza was. The ship was large enough to accommodate himself and a large machine that vaguely and superficially resembled a Yveltal.

Despite not looking as if it would survive escape velocity, it was capable of travelling at remarkable speeds, despite its rather shoddy look. But, then again, its intended purpose didn't require it to remain functional for an extended period of time. Just long enough to carry him, his Y-Drive, and his prizes to the center of existence, which is where he calculated to be a barren planetoid, lost and forgotten. Victim of Galactron or Brainiac, Boundless didn't care. His preparations were nearly done, and it would finally be able to achieve its goals.

It prepared the flight preparations. True, it probably could have teleported there, however, it did not believe it could teleport such a distance. It did not believe it had such power necessary to manage it, especially with its Y-Drive. It needed the heavy machine to help it accomplish his aims, as it could not do on its own.

Its fingers even trembled with anticipation. He would be doing existence a favor by ending it. But wiping it clean of all those unworthy of it -- which it believed to be everyone who currently exists, including itself. Everything as they knew it would be gone, and the release would be heavenly. Existence may very well start up again, it was well aware, but if it did, it would be with more worthy lifeforms. It was very confident in this. There would be more worthy lifeforms than the avaricious hubris of these beings currently in existence. The envious, gluttonous sloth of these creatures that blight existence. The wrathful lust of these monsters that tear at existence.

It must wipe them all away. It must wipe itself away, as well. It would be doing all existence a favor. It would be the hero that no one knows. It didn't care about fulsome notoriety. It didn't care about unctuous adulation.

It only cared about caring out its noble mission. Its completely selfless mission (completely ignoring the selfishness of it).

***

"What?!" Cloak demanded.

"The creature has all seven rings," Goom said, matter-of-fact, "as well as Dino, Bladeh, Hunter, Saffa, Raevyn, Faerie, Blaze, and Horse."

"But why does he want those rings and eight RAFians?" Shenmue asked. "He could have had more than eight RAFians, if I'm getting this right. Why those eight, specifically?"

"I just assumed it was only out of coincidence and convenience." Abby said. "Could there be a more . . . concrete reason?"

"We don't have enough evidence to say one way or the other," Phoenix said, trying to be reasonable. "But the undeniable fact is that it has some of our own, and it cannot get away with our fellows."

"But why does it want them in the first place?" Underseen mused anxiously, echoing Shemue's question. "What possible reason could it want with them. Surely, it wouldn't go through all this trouble just to collect them, magpie-like, just to horde them, like the Coluan did with knowledge? Or a dragon with treasure?"

"That," Blocky said, at once, "is a stereotype."

"Alert!" Xeno called over the intercom. "Sensors show an unscheduled terrestrial craft exiting the atmosphere."

"YARIN!" Cloak roared, at once. "Ready your ship. That is this boundless creature leaving the planet. I'm sure of it."

The Nyac hurried to comply, not because he he thought of Cloak as his superior, but because he knew the urgency of the situation. Cloak soon boarded with GH, Abby, Blocky, and Underseen.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
Followed

"There," Yarin indicated with his upper right hand. His other three were busy piloting his ship. While by no means small, it wasn't exactly the largest either. Blocky took up a large amount of room, being a dragon. Though he had said that he was working on "dragon downing", a concept of dragons assuming a human form. He said he got the idea from some old television show.*

The others looked at what the Nyac indicated. It looked like a ramshackled ship that was hastily cobbled together and wouldn't survive a long journey. It appeared as if it would fall to pieces if it were to hop into hyperspace or burrow into Z-Space. It was clearly a junker.

"But why?" GH said, thoroughly confused. "Why go to space in that hunk of junk?"

"There has to be a reason behind it. A reason that it felt so desperately that it needed to go to space," Abby said, confident of this fact.

"Looks like it might be heading to the Forge of . . ." Cloak murmured to himself, before the ship took a sharp right turn away from where the Forge of Creation. Good -- he didn't want to have to deal with Celestialsapiens. Anomaly was basically the only one he didn't find pompous and complacent -- something that their twin personalities always seemed to agree on, annoyingly enough. "Oh, never mind."

"The Forge of what?" Underseen said.

"Nothing," Cloak said, repressively, "it doesn't matter now, anyway."

Underseen knew better than press the point. GH, however, has gotten more leeway than most with Cloak**, but he was forced to bite back his question when Yarin announced, "It knows we're following him. I activated the telepathy dampener too late. I knew I should have tested it more."

***

Boundless continued to pilot his ship, but it realized very quickly that it was being pursued. Four mundane minds, and one with telepathic ability that it found childishly weak and amateurish (proving it itself was not immune from hubris as it believed itself to be). This came as no real surprise to it, as this ramshackle ship wasn't too big on stealth. It was loud, clunky, and barely held together. It didn't care if it fell apart on the planetoid he had deemed to be the center of the universe, a planet it called Karu Dürr. It was there that it would use its Y-drive, which possessed specially made divets for the rings and spaces about the shape of an Assist Trophy, only about a sixth of the size. There were seven ring divets and eight spaces.

It was so close to achieving what it needed to achieve. It would save existence by destroying it, despite that making no sense. Perhaps it wasn't as stable a creature as it pretended to be. Perhaps, at some subconscious level, it realized just how ridiculous its goals and objectives were. But, that was either buried deep down in its psyche, or completely overshadowed and overwhelmed by its obsessive fanaticism and self-loathing. Its self-hatred had extended to everyone else, as well as its anger at the purpose of its creation had coagulated and hardened to into an irrational and deep hatred for everything, for every living thing who had the audacity to exist. Everything that had been born, a fact it secretly felt was ripped away from it. It was not born, it was created -- and for it, it was a very tangible distinction to make.

Let these fools try to stop him, it decided, in its hubris. Let them come. Let them try. They would not succeed. They would not deny him what he was after. It will activate the E.E.P. -- the End of Existence Protocol. Reality itself will fracture. It will shatter. The loving embrace of nothingness would be inevitable. And if these fools pursuing it could not -- or would not -- see that, than they shall be just the first to feel the nothingness of nonexistence.

Nothing could stop him in this endeavor. Nothing had the power to match its own. This was going to happen -- whether they liked it or not.


*

** Oh, GH, you know I kid.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN:
It's Almost Time . . .

It was nearly approaching its destination. It stopped piloting the ramshackle ship, only slowing its descent just enough as to not interfere with its plans. It quickly teleported away with its Y-Drive, and a suitable distance away at that.

It set down the Y-Drive in a particular place, where it drilled down into the planet's molten core. This planetoid was odd in the fact that, while it did rotate, it did not revolve around its star -- a blue dwarf, Verlegen. This was one reason that Boundless selected it as the proper place for it to end existence, though he wouldn't expound on that to anyone but itself.

The molten iron core powered the Y-Drive. It lit up the divets and spaces in a rainbow of colors. Now, Boundless wasn't too fond of colors other than the monochromatic colors of black and white, and sometimes gray, but this served his plans just as well.

Its pursuers would be too late in stopping it -- as if they could. They would be too busy searching for the crash remains of the ship. Yes, it no longer had a viable way off this planetoid, off of Karu Dürr. But that did not matter in the grander scheme of things. Soon Karu Dürr would cease to exist, as would it and everything else in the universe. It was unaware of the existence of Celestialsapiens and how, if both of their usually conflicting personalities (which locked them in a state of perpetual inactivity at the best of times -- Anomaly was an exception because he, like his name suggests, was an anomaly to his species) agree to it, they could easily undo everything that Boundless had striven for.

Boundless prepared to activate the E.E.P. by taking out his prizes -- the rings and keychains. It unbound them from the key ring it had. It relished this moment.

It placed Stepford's ring in the first divet, which glowed blood red. <Hatred.>

It placed Dino's keychain ornament into the first space, which glowed orange. <Courage.>

It placed Bladeh's keychain ornament into the eighth space, which glowed pink. <Light.>

It placed Couch's ring into the second divet, which glowed orange. <Avarice.>

It placed Hunter's keychain ornament into the fourth space, which glowed blue. <Friendship.>

It placed Barrington's ring into the third divet, which glowed yellow. <Fear.>

It placed Saffa's keychain ornament into the fifth space, which glowed violet. <Knowledge.>

It placed Hobbes' ring into the fourth divet, which glowed emerald green. <Willpower.>

It placed Horse's keychain ornament into the second space, which glowed gray. <Reliability.>

It placed Hawke's ring into the fifth divet, which glowed sapphire blue. <Idle hope.>

It placed Blaze's keychain ornament into the sixth space, which glowed pale yellow. <Active hope.>

It placed James' ring into the sixth divet, which glowed indigo. <Compassion.>

It placed Raevyn's keychain ornament into the seventh space, which glowed red. <Infatuation.>

It placed Helen's ring into the final divet, which glowed violently violet. <Love.>

It placed Faerie's keychain ornament into the third space, the final empty space, which glowed pale green. <Sincerity.>

It actually smiled. The Y-Drive was now primed. All it needed now was for the  Y-Drive to be full powered up so that the E.E.P can be activated. It was so close now. So very close.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN:
Here Comes of the Realm Walker

Unfortunately, Boundless acknowledged this charging process could possibly take a while to accomplish. But the ball was rolling. And it could not be stopped, even at this delicate stage. In its mind, its task was essentially completed. The Y-Drive would break down all that is, in an explosive deterioration. The imminent nonexistence would be fast and painless.

It was a mercy that it felt that all of creation did not deserve, but being a merciful person (in its view), it allowed this. No one else but him would realize what had happened. While others may very well fear nonexistence, it embraced it. The feeling of nothingness would truly be blissful. No anger. No guilt. No wrath. No shame. No avarice or desire. No fear or scaremongering. No selfish gluttony. No more deception. No anything.

Just freedom. That's what it saw nonexistence as. The ultimate freedom. Freedom from pain. Freedom from harm. Freedom from feeling. Freedom from thinking. Freedom from substance and materialism. Just a void. Just . . .

It suddenly had to teleport several feet away to dodge a blast of golden-scarlet energy. Someone had the audacity to attack it! Did they not know or recognize its power? And, more importantly, why wasn't it telepathically alerted to this ingrate's presence?!

"Stop right there!" Cloak announced. He appeared to be alone.

<You're too late,> it snapped. <There is no changing what I've put into motion. The end of all things is inevitable.>

"Oh, great," Cloak snarled. "Yet another being that wants to bring about a galactic armageddon. Don't you realize just how cliche that is, creature?"

<I am without bounds,> the creature hissed, <my name is Boundless.>

"How creative," the Elements Master said with dry sarcasm. "You do realize that I won't let you get away with this, right?"

<You're too late.> it declared maliciously. <Everything will be wiped clean of the filth of existence.>

"Do you ever listen to yourself?" Cloak inquired. "What you propose makes no logical sense. If you eliminate existence -- a tall order, if it's even possible with your makeshift device -- then no one will be around to appreciate your endeavor."

<I don't care about adulation,> it spat out, with venomous distaste. <Nothing here deserves the gift of existence.>

"And who are you to make that call?"

<Who are you to stop me from making that call?> it countered.

Cloak remained silent for a moment or two, realizing that this creature, this Boundless, thought that this was a legitimate point. Surely, people would see the invalidity of such an assertion if they knew their life was on the line. Cloak looked at the creature and quickly determined that its mind, its psyche, must be deteriorating. Perhaps, deep down, it knew. Deep down, it knew, and it didn't want to venture into oblivion alone.

It may consciously believe the ludicrous rhetoric it spewed forth, but deep down, Cloak suspected, it was motivated by fear and anger. Fear of dying and anger at dying as well. And it covered these feelings with mock bravado and a smugness that bordered on arrogance and hubris.

<It's too late. The Y-Drive is already a quarter charged.> it said, with a childish smugness. <You cannot stop it.>

[Cloak]

Just a warning, this book might exceed the requisite twenty chapters.

New chapter.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:
A Devolved Discussion

<It's too late. The Y-Drive is already a quarter charged. You cannot stop it.>

"Haven't you heard?" Cloak said, drawing his arm back, charging it with golden-scarlet energy. "It's never too late!"

Then Cloak launched a golden-scarlet crescent of energy as if he was using the Spatial Rend attack at the Y-Drive itself. Boundless crossed its arms in front of its face, forming a field of psychic or psionic energy. It managed to block the crescent until it dissipated. It was evident to anyone who knew Cloak that it wasn't anything near his true strength -- and it was perfectly true. The Elements Master knew that Boundless wouldn't allow him to destroy the Y-Drive. He was was testing Boundless's strength -- and there was another reason.

<You won't destroy my Y-Drive!>

"But I thought it was impossible to stop," Cloak taunted.

<Shut up!>

Cloak grinned inwardly. His plan was going to work -- at least, it was on his end. Cloak dodged a flurry of psychic energy balls with all his feline agility and speed. Boundless was slowly, but surely, placing all his attention on Cloak. Which was precisely what the Realm Walker wanted.

Boundless allowed itself to become blinded by its own anger, its own wrath, its own frustrations. It wanted to destroy Cloak. It did not know his name, and it it didn't care. It would destroy this upstart. This creature thought it knew everything, Boundless perceived, when it knew nothing. It didn't know how noble its cause was. It didn't realize how selfless it was being.

"Nice try," Cloak taunted, knowingly infuriating Boundless. "But you can't beat me. You do not know the kind of power I possess. You can't win."

<Oh, you think so?!> it roared, as it was hit by sudden inspiration. In a dramatic move, it held its hand in the technique that it had used eight times before. Cloak became swathed in its psychic energy -- Boundless would turn this creature into a keychain. That will shut it up. Then it will destroy the keychain -- or allow it to corrode slowly in a jar of acid.

Soon enough, Cloak was enveloped in the psychic energy. Boundless did not allow itself to feel any misgivings, despite the fact that this was taking longer than expected. Despite fact that it wasn't taking Cloak by surprise like it did with the eight other RAFians it turned into keychain ornaments. This would work. This creature did not peer his power. It did not exceed his power. This was very doable. It was . . .

Cloak was forced into a fetal position, and yet his vision did not blur. His mind did not swim. His sight did not fade to black. His anger, however, escalated and reached a fever pitch. And, yet, Boundless refused to believe that it wouldn't succeed in this endeavor.

"I . . . will . . . not . . . be . . ." Cloak choked out, feeling immense rage, and yet was able to maintain control over himself, thereby maintaining control over his powers. "CONTAINED!!!"

There should have been a sound, like shattering glass, but there was none. The psychic energy enveloping the Realm Walker was blasted away, and dissipated. Cloak's body was radiating energy -- first gold, then scarlet -- much like the heat distortion of a hot road. The Realm was not in any danger, however, as this was not his Walker corona.

<Impossible,> Boundless spluttered.

"There's that word again," Cloak said, voice tumultuous with anger. "I do not think it means what you think it means."

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:
Quick! While It's Distracted!

While Cloak kept Boundless busy, the other RAFians -- GH, Blocky, Abby, Yarin, and Underseen -- worked to disarm what Boundless clearly thought was a reality bomb. Yarin swiftly put that notion down, elaborated that the payload to do such a thing was just not present in the Y-Drive. So, unless Boundless innovated a new, more efficient way to achieve such a thing.

However, the payload was sufficient to destroy the planet . . . and, maybe, even kill the star. So it must be disarmed -- and Boundless would prove problematic had Cloak not been keeping it occupied.

Abby tried removing the Saffa keychain ornament from its space, but got her hand zapped painfully for her attempt. She was quite alright, having withdrew her hand near immediately. She looked a tad forlorn at this development. She looked at the others, and asked, "How? How do we do this?"

None had an answer.

"A lot has been stacked against us," Underseen said, with heavy acknowledgment. "But there has to be a way to undo this. I -- I have to believe that."

"I have an idea," GH said, unshouldered his guitar and began to strum.

"How is that supposed to help?" Blocky said, skeptical.

"Anything is better than nothing, Blocky," Abby said. Then she addressed GH, "Go on, GH."

GH strummed a few chords before launching into song:

"When there's trouble you know who to call -- RAFians!
From their forum, we can see it all. RAFians!
When there's evil on the attack,
You can rest knowing we got your back!
'Cuz when the world needs heroes on patrol, RAFians GO!
With their superpowers they unite. RAFians!
Never met an internet troll that we liked. RAFians!
We've got the bad guy on the run.
We never stop 'til the job gets done.
'Cuz when the world is losin' all control --
RAFians GO! RAFians GO!
RAFians GO! RAFians GO!
One, two, three, four, GO! RAFians!"

The Y-Drive vomited out the ornaments and rings, as if it didn't like the song, before powering down permanently. The rings, with what little power they had remaining in their charges, streaked off to find their original owners -- except the orange ring. It remained lodged in the Y-Drive, unnoticed by the RAFians.

"Everyone's a critic," GH sighed. "At least, it's deactivated now."

"Uh, about that . . ." Yarin said, with hesitation. He was eyeing the Y-Drive, which wasn't actually powering down, as they thought. It was just turning orange . . . as if it was not only sucking the power from the Orange Lantern ring but its substance as well.

"What is it?" Blocky asked at once.

Then it started flickering with orange light. Yarin's eyes widened with panic. "To this ship! Everyone to the ship! Don't argue! We don't have time for it! Someone get Cloak! We have to get out of here!!"


SOURCE SONG: https://youtube.com/watch?v=rJZXyNmbAJY -- yes, from the GOOD series.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER NINETEEN:
You Don't Understand -- Boundless is the One in the Hole

Boundless was, in its view, moments away from besting this would-be interloper. Moments away, when clearly it saw sense and fled from a superior power. It was futile to resist against it. It was futile to deny it this. Existence was filthy, and threadbare. It needed to be wiped clean so that more worthy lifeforms could claim existence for their own.

None of these current reprobate species were worthy of the gift of life, the gift of existence. None. Not even Boundless itself. This was the ideology that it still mindlessly adhered to, despite the flaws and leaps in logic, despite the philosophical holes and contradictions. It adhered itself to this with all the fanaticism of a Knight of Humanity, ans no manner of fact or truth would dissuade it from this self-indoctrination.

Perhaps they have realized the true bliss of nonexistence and nothingness? Freedom from greed and avarice. Freedom from rage and wrath. Freedom from fear and terror. Freedom from responsibility and obligation. Freedom from all of it. How could anyone not realize the very heaven they dream of exists in nonexistence.

But what was this now? A gaping black hole was in front of it.

Far from feeling afraid and fearful, it rejoiced at its sight. It embraced the black hole. It was unaware of the planet's disintegration and the absence of the blue dwarf star. It didn't care about such minor, trivial details. It was about to achieve its sweet oblivion -- thoughts of the grandiose, sweeping change and eliminating the filth it perceived. Its thoughts became selfish to an unusual degree. Probably an affect of the Orange Lantern ring that was summarily destroyed with the planet and the Y-Drive.

It approached the black hole slowly, as if they were lovers who had come back to see each other after an eternity apart. Even as the black hole crushed Boundless into smithereens as it was sucked in, it felt a disturbing, masochistic elation about it, even though it killed it in the space of a single thought.

But it was what Boundless wanted for itself . . .

***

"There's no earthly way of knowing . . .
Which direction we are going . . .
There's no way of knowing . . .
Where we're crowing . . .
Or which way space is throwing . . .
Is it raining? Is it snowing?
Is a nebula a-blowing?
Not a speck of light is showing.
So the danger must be growing.
Are the fires of Pyros a-blowing?
Is the Ectonurite groaning?
Yes! The danger must be growing,
For the engines keep on going,
And they're certainly no showing
Any signs that they are slowing!"

"GH, SHUT UP!" complained the other RAFians in the ship, other than Yarin, who was too focused on piloting the ship and escaping what would soon be a black hole of indefinite size.

"Everyone's a critic," GH groused, as they arrived back on Earth with the keychain ornaments, which inexplicably returned back to normal when they landed back in the forum and Abby got off the ship.

It was Boundless's death that freed them.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER TWENTY:
I'm the Master of Rock 'n' Roll!

Atop a ruin of some past, long forgotten civilization, a woman raced to the peak of one of the mouldering, old ramparts. She had long, teal hair that was almost like a ghostly fire, pulled back into a ponytail at the top of her head, with two locks framing her heart-shaped face into an "M" shape. Her eyes are green and her clothing was attractive and appealing in nature, consisting of a black choker around her neck, a black one-shouldered tank-top exposing her midriff, one long, black, leather glove that covers most of her right arm, and one black bracelet on her left arm. She also wears a pair of what appeared to be leather pants with a gold belt and skull boots. She also carried an electric guitar -- the very make and model of which was a brand that GH absolutely abhorred.

She sang:

"Sun goes down, I'm just getting up.
I'm heading for the city lights!
Radio blasting on the way to the ruins,
Gonna rock this town tonight!
You're living in a man's world,
They tell me.
But I ain't gonna buy it,
The things they're trying to sell me now!
'Coz I'm the Master of Rock 'n' Roll!
Yeah, I'm the Master of 'n' Roll!
Rock 'n' roll!"

As a counterpoint, GH popped up on the other side of the ruins. He sang:

"Oh yeah!
The curtain's up and I'm ready to go.
My guitar is in my hand!
There's nothing more that I'd rather do,
Than play in a rock n' roll band!
Yeah!
What I have is what I will be given.
Headed for the top!
Don't 'cha know!
I'll never stop believing now.
I'm the Master of Rock 'n' Roll
You better believe it! Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!
Yeah, I'm the Master of Rock N' Roll
Rock 'n' roll!"

The unnamed woman, who was roughly GH's age, sang:

"I am the Master,
I am the Master,
I am the Master of Rock n' Roll."

GH sang:

"I am the Master,
I am the Master,
I am the Master of Rock n' Roll.
'Coz I'm the Master of Rock and Roll
Better be believing that I am!"

The girl sang:

"I am the Master,
I am the Master,
I am the Master of Rock n' Roll."

GH concluded the song:

"I am the Master,
I am the Master,
I am the Master of Rock n' Roll."

GH awoke, suddenly. He remembered that girl -- and he did not like her very much. But what was her name? He wanted to say that it was "Amber", but he couldn't be sure. . . .


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

[guitarhero01234]

Heehee, foreshadowing . . .

And hmm, guitar that I loathe? Barring signature models of artists I'm not a fan of, I think this guitar is one of the most gaudy I've ever seen. Definitely not a fan of the brand, either

[Cloak]

. . . That picture actually works very well with this character that I'm sure that we'll never see again. Nope. Nuh-uh.

. . .

[guitarhero01234]

Even though I am sure this character will never appear again, I for some reason feel the need to tell you that guitar is a B.C. Rich Warbeast

[Cloak]

I might remember that, or I might not.

New chapter.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE:
Another Knight

Blaze was dispatched to deal with a fiend that took up residence in a grim, old castle said to be haunted -- which only deterred tourists that weren't the ghost hunting sort. The life of a RAFian made such excursions seem so incredibly tame and pointless that Blaze was unable to see the attraction of such activities.

But such ambivalence did not last when Blaze encountered the surprisingly effective traps this castle had. He probably should have paid better attention to his briefing beforehand. He just assumed that this was simple fiend collection/termination mission, very straightforward and very paint-by-numbers. He was very clearly wrong. He would have to have more presence of mind and not be so flippant.

And, of course, this thing would be in the most central antechamber of this ruined castle. If it was not condemned, he would not rest until it was. This place was not a safe place to be, especially if you were not prepared for all the pitfalls, missing floors and such. Ghost hunting enthusiasts had not right traipsing into this deathtrap, Blaze felt.

There. That was the room. And there was the creature looking at him, angrily. All these fiends were so angry, it seemed. Even Maul was not consumed with anger to this degree -- but he is clearly the only one that achieved sentience. These others seemed only to be motivated by what was programmed in them, with a mental framework Demos gave it.

The creature was squat and slightly taller than an ten-year-old human child, in a yellow medieval sort of knight armor with black accents, whose face was obscured in shadow, ensconced in a yellow, metal knight helmet, and razor sharp fin on the crest of this helmet, like a mohawk. Its human-like eyes had pale orange sclera and brown irises. Its massive right hand was black holding an equally massive yellow shield with royal purple border and back, and its left hand was replaced by a huge, black flail with a retractable chain. Its yellow armored shoulders had an all-metal spike protruding about a quarter of an inch from the tops of them. It's chest had purple symbol, rather like that of a ninja star, and its back was purple with some sort of metal growth whose purpose was unknown. This lead into a yellow metal armored skirt, that covered its white thighs and crotch. Its knees were black, its lower legs were yellow, and its feet were orange.

It attacked, and Blaze was immediately finding a strong dislike in fighting in this area. It might of seemed wide and expansive when you're tethered to the ground. But when you're a flier, there wasn't much space for that, and there was no cover. This was far from ideal.

It threw out its flail with the force of a cannonball, before retracting it back into its arm. Blaze had dodged it, surprised just at the sheer amount of force the flail had. Blaze had no time to unsheathe his sword, besides he doubted that it would have been able to penetrate that shield of this fiend's.

But, during this play at keep away, Blaze noticed a pattern. It always dropped its shield when it fired the flail hand. It was a small window. He wouldn't have any time for hesitation.

There! Blaze ignited his sword as he unsheathed it . . . and the opportunity passed. He would have to wait again. There! His aim was true and he hit its weak spot for massive damage.

It was done. His mission, as he went to retrieve his sword, was over.

***

Demos called it a "naitosapien". He designed it for combat purposes.

***

Malice didn't make a pun -- she had fallen asleep. She was still an octogenarian, after all.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

BOOK CLV:
MUPPET, MUPPET MAN
CHAPTER ONE:
Centaur Situation

It was Parker's turn for a fiend mission. He had to admit that he was antsy to get some action in. He felt left out of the really big missions of late, though he would never say that aloud. Didn't want to sound whiny about it or anything -- a lull in the action was inevitably going to happen sometimes. It couldn't be helped, and being petulant about it would do him no good, so why bother being petulant at all?

Anyway, he had arrived at the ancient city that this creature had take over as its own. Upon looking around the old forgotten place, his first thought, he had to admit was "Atlantis" -- at least, if Atlantis was not maintained after the last few millenia or so. This place reeked of ancientness and, yet, was still remarkably attractive at the same time.

Fortune favors the cautious. So, Parker took careful time in examining his surroundings. Assessing the environment as he went along, scrutinizing the advantages and disadvantages of having it as a battlefield. It would be important information to have at his disposal, he felt. Though he would deny it to his dying breath to everyone else (even Helen), his armor isn't impenetrable and it isn't unbreakable. Especially now that it was -1 Realm Walker tech.

But soon, he detected the creature. Of course, Tyr would claim that he did first. Never listen to him.

The creature was basically had a centaur body style, with red sclera and black irises. It had three long horns that looked as if it was made of obsidian, two on either side of its head with the third in the center of the forehead. Its head was a vibrant red with a broad purple striped down the center of its bald head that terminated around the forehead horn. Its upper body was purple, with two green intake vents where a man's nipples would be and two small exhaust ports on the small of its back. Its shoulders were vibrant red with dark brown markings. Its upper arms and humanoid abdomen were white. Its lower arms were red, its left hand were black, but its right arm ended in an arm cannon which could fire energy pellets which scattered upon impact or energy arrows. The equine part of its body was pale red with the foreleg knees were purple. Its hooves were white and its equine tail was pink.

The angry centaur pawed the ground angrily with its right front hoof, as if eager to gore something or someone with its horns. Again, these fiends were all so angry. Why? Malice, perhaps? Maybe they had conversations with Knights?

No matter. The point now was to either capture or destroy the fiend. And they didn't lend themselves to capture much. . . . And it was easier to destroy them them, then capture them. Perhaps they could dehydrate them back into their fiend ball, but the more expedient course of action is what these fiends seem to prefer. And Demos never seems perturbed that they're destroyed. Odd.

Whoops. It saw him. And it charged forward head down.

Parker dodged to the side, not sure about the force it could have. Tyr was calculating that, but it was taking too long, and wasn't too necessary right now. His armor would probably be able to tank it anyway.

It fired an pellet that just narrowly missed Parker, passing just under his armpit, and impacted the wall, which caused it to explode like a firework. Parker's armor was sufficient to tank these smaller energy pellets, but a few more hits like that, and he -- well, he wouldn't be happy.

Suddenly, its horns glowed white, and time distorted. Parker found himself unable to move, unable to react. Unable to avoid the attacks. He was hit with a full-force charge, and he imagined it was what being hit by a car felt like.

When the effect ended, Parker heaved as many sticky bombs at the fiend as he had. It took out the fiend before it could stop time again. Also taking out a wall behind it.

"Shut up, Tyr," Parker said, as he left.

***

Demos called it a "kentaurosusapien". He had intended it as a museum tour guide, but when it became clear that it would not do, Demos retooled it for combat.

***

Malice still was snoring rather noisily, as she fell asleep watching the battle. Not unlike a senior citizen falling asleep in their easy chair in front of their television.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER TWO:
Dear Daddy

Leatherhead sang to GH:

"Dear daddy, remember when
You would sing to me, we could do it again.
Dear daddy, I was wondering why
As I get older now, the days keep going on by.
Dear daddy, remember this too.
In this whole wide world there's no one like you, ooh ooh ooh.
There's no one like you, ooh ooh ooh."

GH grabbed his guitar, and sang:

"My darling son, I remember when
I would sing to you, and I would do it again.
Beloved child, remember this too.
In this world of RAF, there's no one like you, ooh ooh ooh."

The two sang:

"You ooh ooh ooh.
You ooh ooh ooh.
You ooh ooh ooh."

As the song concluded, they sat side-by-side, looking a the white fluffy clouds pass on by on this beautiful July day.

***

In a suburban household, a single father, William "Blue" Skjorte, was caring for his young son, Red. Blue was a typical, middle class single parent. He struggled to make ends meet, but his son knew nothing of these struggles, being a regular happy-go-lucky kid.

Red's favorite show was "The Whimsy-Mimsies". It was a show that starred Muppet-esque characters. Its main cast was Ollie Gark (a kid character in primarily red colors with a backwards red cap), Allie Gark (a kid character in primarily green colors with long sandy brown hair), Nancy the Donkey, Mitch the Elephant, and Theo Krat (a kid in primarily cyan colors with a sweater vest). It was the stereotypical kids show, with all the bells and whistles of such a thing. But, at the end of the day, it was an unremarkable program, rehashing tropes already done to death, but was new to their target audience. The adults found it a bit pedantic but harmless toward children.

Red watched it almost religiously. Blue allowed him to do it, while he worked from home. It was necessary in order to keep their house and car and things. Yes, he was quite overworked, but he hid it from his son, who was the source of his strength powering through all this. If he didn't have Red . . . he preferred not to think about it.

But he should have been paying more attention -- though would he even been able to see what Red was now seeing?

The character on the screen, Ollie, spoke directly to Red as his dad left the room. "Good, he's gone. Okay, Red, you know what to do!"

Red, understandably confused, shook his head.

"You should never break a promise, Red. You don't wanna be a bad apple, do you?" he said. "You know 'The Whimsy-Mimsies' isn't free. Now get over here and touch it."

Red actually complied, unaware of the danger that this posed. He was having all the childish innocence as well as his life force siphoned out of him, as Ollie encouraged him to keep it up, touching the screen -- until the boy collapsed on the floor.

When Blue came back into the room, he was devastated with what he found. Red was lying there, catatonic, with a rictus smile on his face. And Red was not the first victim . . .


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