Memoirs of a RAFian

[Cloak]

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER NINETEEN:
Natural Plunders

Cloak had been dispatched to deal with the newest fiend threat. Well, perhaps "threat" was too much of an exaggeration. They were more like nuisances. Inconveniences. However, the location of this particular one made it far more annoying than most. It was supposedly in some forgotten pirate ship sunk in the ocean a long time ago. And all Cloak had were vague coordinates.

Cloak walked into the water, with the very salt water, almost of its own accord, forming a comfortable sphere around him. It was as if the water itself was going out of its way to appease their Element Master. Cloak walked at a pace that he felt was rather sedate, which was actually rather brisk to others. He always felt that he could walk forever if he needed to, that didn't translate into running. He only had a feline endurance when it came to that, and cats weren't big on running endurance.

Cloak walked by a variety of sea life, only paying them a tangential amount of attention as he proceeded to the coordinates. The thing was only Realm Walkers with marine animal forms were this comfortable underwater. Were he not an Elements Master, Cloak would have refused the mission. The thing that he didn't like most was how his Earthsight was distorted by the water. He couldn't really use it effectively, or trust it too much. He didn't like that -- he relied so much on Earthsight, you might say that it was even a crutch for the Realm Walker.

Cloak came across a sunken ship, and he entered, thinking that this was the one that the fiend made its nest in. He walked through the sinewy corridors. He thought there was a pocket of air within this sunken ship, but it was an optical illusion of some sort. He proceeded further, looking for any place that this fiend would decide to make a nest out of. He looked to left and saw a rock wall. He was looking at a hole in the sunken ship, perhaps the one that sunk it in the first place. But that wasn't important right now.

Cloak heard what he thought was the song of a whale, but the acoustics of the bubble that he was in tended to warp the undersea sounds into sounding either more melancholic or more sinister than they were in reality. It was an odd sensation, actually. The Realm Walker proceeded onward, and he found himself back in open water. Cloak hesitated and looked back at the sunken ship.

Then he shrugged, and guessed that wasn't the right ship. He moved onward, into an undersea cavern, which had remnants of human inhabitation. He floated upward, landing in this roughly-hewn room. And he saw the fiend in the next room . . . and the room was filled with gold and other precious, sparkly things. As Cloak entered, he saw the fiend properly, as it descended into the room in a bubble, which popped when it landed.

The fiend, unsurprisingly, had a superficial appearance to a pirate captain. It had a white eyepatch over its right eye. and its other was a human-like eye that had a platinum gray scelera and a dark brown iris. It had a large yellowish-brown hat-like crest with a silver trim, and a skull logo emblazoned on its front. Its body looked like as if it was crafted out of obsidian, with gold at the joints. Its shoulders had yellowish-brown epaulets with silver tassels. Its upper arms were gold while its lower arms were yellowish-brown with skull decals. Its right wrist was black and similar to the cuffs of a pirate coat, while its left lower arm was a buster cannon. Instead of a right hand, it had a large, hinged hook claw. It had a silver neckline with a vertical black stripe, with thinner white stripes on either side of them, on its chest. It had a silver abdomen, with a skull logo-blazoned belt buckle on a yellow belt. It had a brown codpiece with obsidian black thighs, jeweled kneecaps, obsidian black shins, obsidian black boot with silver laces.

When it saw Cloak, it raised its hooked claw high, almost threateningly. This fiend had nothing on Galactron or Garrotik or Mongul, so Cloak wasn't intimidated. Like at all. Cloak waited and it fired three mines that conveniently missed him, almost as if the water itself wouldn't allow harm come to its Master. They stuck in the wall behind him, and exploded. But, apparently, somehow, these explosions didn't damage anything. As if they were some how designed only to damage organic material. Interesting. Either that, or they weren't very powerful explosions. Cloak noticed that this somehow made the water level of this room shrunk. He couldn't imagine how that was possible, this room wasn't seal--

"Gateburst," Cloak muttered, as he turned and saw that the entry way had closed like a sphincter. The room had a seal now, but it turns out that shooting the mines and the bubble were the attack pattern it had. It was deceptively simple. Cloak had a simple and elegant solution, Every mine it fired, Cloak hydrokinetically pushed right back at it. It wasn't long before it offed itself.

Cloak tunneled his way back to the surface, and went back to the forum.

***

Demos called it a "pairetsusapien". He wouldn't clarify what its function was originally intended to be.

***

Malice was coming to grips with the possibility that she just may have become irrelevant as a villain. She found the very thought distressing and made her visibly distraught.

[Cloak]

Releasing tomorrow's chapter a little early.

New chapter.
 

BOOK CLXXII:
WRATH OF THE COLOSSUS
CHAPTER ONE:
You're Grounded!

Gaz was dispatched to deal with the next fiend, armed with the science boys' newest toys. Remotely-detonating mines, inspired by Demos's last fiend. To add insult to injury, however, this fiend decided to take up residence deep within the Old RAF ruins. There wasn't really anything left other than the mouldering buildings and lonesome, standing walls forgotten by the RAFians that had once inhabited them. This was before the time of many current RAFians. Most, if not all, of the RAFians who remember this old site have retired from RAF (but, unlike Rotiart, never renounced their allegiance to the forum and still carried their Marks.

The fact that the fiend decided to take refuge here, and make it its nest . . . there was something almost sacrilegious and blasphemous about it. Granted, the RAFians had abandoned it, and left it to rot. It is true that Gaz wasn't precisely sure of the reasons why, but it had happened and there wasn't anything to be done about it now. Gaz proceeded forward, beneath the ruins, which had the dank smell of a crypt. As a vampire, she should have felt rather at home in such an environment, but it was too damp and moldy to be comfortable for anyone. Who would be comfortable in such a place? Who could?

These tunnels were bricked, and stable for the most part. To be honest, it didn't look safe, but she could survive a potential cave in. Her gaseous form would allow her escape through areas that she couldn't when she was reconstituted. Although it didn't help that she thought she saw centipedes the size of buses and worms the size of ropes. But she assumed that these were nothing more than her imagination. it still creeped her out, and she didn't get creeped out too easily.

Then she fell into and earthen room where she saw a worm larger than a Taxxon. She screamed unabashedly . . . only to feel really stupid just a moment later when she realized that it was just a statue. That was a cruel prank, she believed. Granted, this had probably been here for years, with no intention of ever startling her like that. Then she saw a small opening and she went through that to find an old underground board building, long forgotten to time.

Before too long, the flooring fell away to soft earth, full of what seemed to full of squirming, squiggling worms. At least, she hoped that they were worms. She immediately turned into her bat form and flew over this area, cringing internally at the sight. It wasn't a pleasant thing to look at the undulating, writhing creatures. It wasn't long before she came across the fiend in a mouldering, decaying room that was blocked off any other way. Only the walls really remained, she noticed, as she returned to her humanoid vampire form. The ceiling and the flooring were gone, replaced by soft, loamy soil.

Well, actually the fiend found her in this room, where its nest obviously was. It showed up by burrowing into the room and revealing itself. The fiend had a silver crown of its pink helmet with three drills equidistant from each other, and it had a silver faceplate with gray horizontal slashes. It had bloodshot, human-like eyes with green sclera and pink irises. It had a boxy, purple chest with bluish-green bits that connected its torso to the large drills that made up its shoulders. Its short upper arms were whitish-gray, while its lower arms were deep purple with purplish cuff-like wrists and black hands. Its abdomen was composed of a single drill. Its crotch was greenish, with purple thighs, and its shins were actually tank treads. Its hi-top-like feet with a large drill on each toe. Gaz surmised, just by its appearance, that it could transform into a drill tank -- there was something Cybertronian about it, and yet, something that wasn't.

The minute it saw her, it roared loudly. It leaped toward her, turning into a drill tank the moment that it hit the ground. Gaz just leaped over it, landing on the other side of it. She eventually just went back into her bat form when it turned around and charged forward again. Then it turned around and charged once more. Then it transformed back to its humanoid mode, and then burrowed into the ground. Gaz sighed -- Cloak would have been better dealing with this tactic. His Earthsight would have outted this fiend immediately -- Gaz hadn't such a luxury. So she stayed in her bat form, hoping her echolocation may offer a similar advantage.

The fiend emerged once more, missing Gaz completely. Then it jumped backward a bit, before jumping forward and transforming into a tank and doing the same attack pattern as before. Gaz managed to dodge it again, easier this time. But she knew better than get too complacent.

And she was right, as this fiend did something that no other before it had. Changed up its attack pattern.

It leaped into the ceiling burrowing into the earth. Gaz flew around a little frantically, feeling rather like a Zubat, for some reason. She dodged right when a humongous drill shot out of the ceiling, directly down at the spot she was flying. That was a bit overkill, in her opinion, but the fiend clearly did not care about that, as it retracted the drill. Then she dodge left as the drill shot out to the right this time. Then she dodged right as it shot the drill out to the left again, before retracting it once more.

Then it dropped down from the ceiling a resorted to its previous attack pattern once again. Gaz had had enough of this. She quickly returned to her humanoid vampire form, as it was transforming back itself, and she threw all the mines at once at the fiend. Just as it was about burrow back into the earth once more, Then she detonated it, and found that she had to leave quickly to avoid a cave-in.

***

Demos called it a "guardosapien". He claimed he made it for cheap excavation purposes, and nothing more.

***

Malice was in a bit of a panic now. She felt as if her relevancy was slipping through her fingers. Then she realized that she had several items that could be useful for spreading havoc and her namesake. How could she have forgotten about the Colossus Hearts?

[Cloak]

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER TWO:
The Heart of the Problem

There were seven of these Hearts of the Colossus. They were stone relics as big as Malice herself. She would only be able to move them one at a time, and she wouldn't be able to lift them manually. She didn't possess the necessary physical strength, even if she wasn't an octogenarian -- she doubted that any Realm Walker could. But the RAFians were complacent now, having dealt with that comic book-obsessed freak-boy.

She encapsulated one of these stone Hearts in an energy bubble, and continued to the mountains to hide one of the Hearts. She carried what appeared to be a yellow, palm-sized cylinder with a plunger. "The Heart of Trochilidae Piscu Aslia is in place."

Then she returned to her lair to get the next Heart and she hid it in an undisclosed space that was filled with pitch darkness. She showed what appeared to be a blue, palm-sized cylinder with a plunger, a clear derivative of the previous one. "The Heart of Rhodes Apu Ccapac is in place."

Then she retrieved the next Heart to put it into a new hiding place. She put in an area with harsh, arid environment. Then she showed a green derivative to the previous cylinders with plungers. She smiled and said, "The Heart of Sauria Ccarayhua is in place."

Three down, four more Hearts to go. She retrieved the next Heart and secured it into the vast ocean. Ironically, it was where the pairetsusapien had made its nest. Then she showed a white cylinder like the previous four. She smiled again, and said, "The Heart of Orca Challhua Chacu is in place."

Three more Hearts to go. She retrieved the next Heart and she secured it deep in the forest. By sheer happenstance, this was in Cloak's old meditation spot. Then she showed a red cylinder like the previous four. She smiled broadly again, and said, "The Heart of Arachne Uru is in place."

Two more Hearts to go now. She retrieved the next Heart and she secured it in a lovely meadow, one that Noelle had once fed while reminiscing about her past. Then she showed a lime green cylinder like the previous five. She gave a small, smug smile, and said, "The Heart of Simia Cusillu is in place."

She retrieved the last Heart and she secured it in an abandoned and forgotten Cadmus facility, of which there was a surprising abundance.. Then she showed a pink cylinder like the previous six. Her face was expressionless, and said, "The Heart of Kuntur Rasca Wiraqocha is in place."

***

Meanwhile, Cloak was at his new meditation spot, and he was meditating . . . when a vision came to him. But he couldn't tell if it was just an imaginary scenario or some sort of foresight. He saw GH bound and trapped with some being interrogating him about information . . . information about Cloak himself.

But GH was smarter than that. He was too smart to give this entity, whoever it was, any real legitimate information. Or information basically everyone already knew.

"Don't tell anyone that I told you,
But Cloak once said politics to be insane.
And yes, there are times I have seen him
Standing outside in the rain!"

The unseen entity said, tipping GH closer to what appeared to be a dangerous device . . . a steam vent? "Tell me more, brainless."

"Okay!

Cloak likes his meditation to be peaceful.
Surrounded by flowers and trees!
Cloak likes to sleep through the morning!
At nighttime, he'll do as he please!"

"Is that all you got?"

"Oh, no need for steam!
I'll tell you much more!
In fact, we might be here all day!
Take it from me, when it comes to Cloak,
I do have a great deal to say!"

"Well say it already!"

"When Cloak surveys a procession,
He'll sweep from his left to his right!
And when he is out all day training,
It means he won't hunt in the night!"

"Give me the good stuff, Dweller!"

"Ooh! No need for steam!
I'll tell you much more!
In fact, we might be here all day!
Take it from me, when it comes to Cloak,
I do have a great deal to say!"

The unseen entity, obviously a Realm Walker, but not Malice, growled in frustration.

"There's much more that I know . . .
From now and long ago . . .
Cloak, you must believe I know!
NOOOO! No need for steam!
I'll tell you much more!
In fact, we might be here all day!
Take it from me, when it comes to Cloak,
I do have a great deal to say!
Take it from me, when it comes to Cloak,
I do have a great deal to say!"

Then, quite jarringly, the vision transitioned into . . . into something else.


SOURCE SONG: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cetB199NMOE

[Cloak]

Probably the last chapter before the internet as we know it in America dies.

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER THREE:
Lines

Cloak saw floating squiggles all around him, seemingly overlaying on another in a confusing mishmash of white, blue, green, yellow, red, lime green, and pink lines. It was a confusing tangle of images that perplexed the Realm Walker. Then he thought he heard voices from this tangle of lines, a cacophonous mess, and this confused the RAFian further.

Then the images seemed to finally disengage, and separate out into clarified images. One of each color -- a white line image, a blue one, a green one, a yellow one, and so on. Cloak looked at the images and realized that he recognized the shapes. Nazca lines. They were Nazca lines. He remembered reading up on something about that from human literature, though his knowledge was rather tangential, at best. Cloak looked at the lines, recognizing what they were supposed to be.

The white lines? The Whale.

The blue lines? The Giant.

The green lines? The Lizard.

The red lines? The Spider, though it looked more like an eight-legged ant, in the Realm Walker's opinion.

The lime green lines? The Monkey with that ridiculously curly-cued tail.

The pink lines? The Condor, and it looked larger than the others.

All the lines had pinpoint dots on them that he was sure that weren't in the actual Nazca lines. They pulsated with a regular beat. Almost as if they were . . .  yes, they appeared to be hearts. What could this have possibly meant?

"Let us wake . . ."

Did this come from the lines?

"We want to wake . . ."

What did this mean?

"We need to wake . . ."

Whatever this meant, Cloak knew one thing.

"We deserve to live again . . ."

Whatever this meant, it was not a good thing.

"We need to live again.. . ."

These voices, they were more like the hiss of steam rather than fully fledged voices.

"We will live again . . ."

The images of the colored Nazca lines began to rotate around Cloak faster than their sedate pace.

"We cannot be stopped . . ."

It was strange. A collection of intricate, yet simplistic at the same time, lines were sounding rather sinister and creepy. Even to an experienced RAFian.

"We cannot be beaten . . ."

Suddenly, Cloak awoke because he sensed something.

***

Malice took out the red cylinder with the plunger, and pressed it, saying "Arachne Uru, RISE."

[Cloak]

Gonna keep writing Memoirs despite the net neutrality repeal. Even if I can't access RAF any longer, I'll keep writing Memoirs until completion. I've been at this for about five, six years now. I'm not going to stop writing this.

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER FOUR:
First Reactions

There was a terrible shaking of the ground, and the RAFians were the first to pick up on it. And Cloak picked up on it even faster than the others, due to his Earthsight sensitivity. Although the Realm Walker didn't need Earthsight -- he bore witness to the huge insectoid beast rising up from the ground with an obsidian exoskeleton and red hairs like that of a tarantula, even though, physiologically-speaking, it resembled more of a hairy, eight-legged ant. A hairy, eight-legged ant that was taller than even Garrotik, but significantly smaller than Galactron. Cloak's eyes widened, realizing the vision was actually a truth dream, and these were some sort of earthbound beasts that were being risen from the ground from some unknown mechanism that Cloak couldn't fathom with the information he had.

He was about to engage this bug, when another huge tremor struck, almost paralyzing him from his Earthsight of it. It came from the direction of the Bannedlands, and, even from this distance, Cloak could see it was another one of these Nazca Beasts. A literal giant. A hairy giant with obsidian skin and blue hair . . . and a Cyclopean eye without a mouth or face or discernible head to speak of. Garrotik would have come up to his kneecap. He would have to report this to the others. He might have been able to take care of one by himself (and that was being fairly generous to his abilities, he thought), but two? He was just one individual, no matter how powerful he was. He was by no means omnipotent and all-powerful. Those whose power grows to that extent, he found, tend to become highly arrogant and unbearably pretentious.

He reached for his communicator to warn the other RAFians and tell them that he needs help, that he wasn't sure that he could do this on his own. That's when the third Nazca Beast rose from the ground. These one rose from a meadow that Cloak had only a cursory knowledge of, and it had obsidian skin with lime green hair. This was getting to be too much to handle. If it stood up straight on its feet, Garrotik would come up to its waist. These colossal Nazca Beasts  . . . they had the potential to cause unlimited sort of damage and destruction.

Cloak pulled his communicator to his ear when another tremor gave him the unfortunate news of a brand new Nazca Beast rising to freedom over towards the Bannedlands once again. The form that rose up was a saurian one that had a distinctly bipedal gait. Garrotik would have come up to its waist. It had rotating eyes, like that of a chameleon, obsidian skin, and green hair. Four? Four of these Nazca Beasts at once? There was no way he could do this by himself. No way at all. He needed the others. These beasts rising could not stand. They were personifications of darkness and evil -- every fiber of his being sensed it. It was just like dealing with Garrotik, only Cloak kept his wits about himself this time.

"Cloak to RAF, Cloak to RAF, COME IN!!" Cloaks said.

Then he felt another rumble beneath his feet.

"Oh, First Light, not another one!!" Cloak said,exasperatedly, as he watched as the obsidian form of a harrier jet hummingbird freed itself from the ground and took flight. It could have held Garrotik in its claws without trouble and its bill could skewer a skyscraper like a shish-kabob. It had obsidian skin with yellow, hair-like feathers. With a shriek, it flew even higher. This was really too much. Cloak was starting to have concerns that not even with the help of the others could they stop these behemoths. Five of these Nazca Beasts were active and alive . . . and he hadn't seen what they can really do yet. "Cloak to RAF! Cloak to RAF! We have a situation here!!"

Then another tremor that Cloak actually had a bit trouble Earthsighting. Cloak glanced around from his viewpoint, and saw a huge orca with slick, obsidian skin with fine white hair, and this figure reminded him of a gigantic Primal Kyogre from the ocean, which caused a huge wave to hit the shore. Fortunately, no one was on it, although Cloak only Earthsighted that fact and he feared that he might have overlooked someone.

"We really need to act! Six Nazca Beasts are active. Repeat, SIX Nazca Beasts are active!" Cloak said, not registering at the time that the other RAFians would have no idea what a Nazca Beast was.

Then another tremor. This one was more massive than the last, and strong enough to even knock Cloak off his feet. Then he heard a shriek, and then noticed a shadow passing over the sun, completely blotting it out. Cloak blinked for a moment before realizing that the Nazca Beast was a condor. It had obsidian skin and fine, pink, hair-like feathers. Its shriek actually vaguely sounded like the Falconzord from "Power Rangers", only deeper, raspier, and more sinister-sounding. However, unlike all the other Nazca Beasts. this condor Beast saw Cloak. It must have sensed his power, and must have thought it was a threat -- assuming that these Nazca Beasts have that amount of cogent thought and aren't just mindless beasts. That vision would suggest otherwise.

It dove at Cloak, and Cloak could feet the speed of it, the weight of it. This impact would hurt.

[Cloak]

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER FIVE:
The Semi-Itsy Nearly-Bitsy Spider

Dino was rushing toward the spot the spider had risen, as Underseen, in the form of a golden eagle, flew overhead. Those at the forum had received word of what happened, between their seismograph readings and Cloak's report before being taken by that condor beast, they had quickly surmised what was happening. Immediate actions was the only foreseeable action to take. Unfortunately, only two RAFians could be sent after each one, as that was all that were on the active duty roster at the moment. The mods were scrambling to find the others because, even with two RAFians to a Nazca Beast, it would be a tall order to take them down.

It wasn't really all that difficult to find the spider one. The one called Arachne Uru.

The beast didn't even seem to notice her, and why would it. She was the respective size of a miniature chihuahua in comparison to the beast, and Dino -- barring Estelore's true stellar form, of course -- was the largest RAFian in the forum when at her true, considerable size. Dino increased her running speed as much as she could and tucked her head in for a headbutt. A skull bash, if you will, while Underseen was floating above looking for a way that he could help. He was a shapeshifter, he should be able to find a way, an avenue to help his comrade.

When she made contact, with the first of its four, lefthand , she bounced off, dazed. It was like a bicyclist going at a modest colliding with a telephone pole. She wasn't hurt, thankfully, but she wouldn't be able to press their attack. Not for a moment, at least. Meanwhile, Underseen found himself landing on Arachne Uru's back, shifting back to his base human form. He found himself wishing that he could remember how he really --

Priorities, Underseen. Priorities.

He found himself slipping, so that he had to grab onto the red hair of Arachne Uru, as the beast was starting to sedately move toward the forum, the closest populated area. It apparently was driven by destruction and mayhem -- it's little wonder why Malice had their Hearts in her possession. She loved items like that, loved items that could freely cause chaos wherever she went. Underseen, at least in this form, was little more than a flea to Arachne Uru, and, thus, unnoticed by the Beast. Underseen wasn't sure if this was good or offensive, as he clung to her hair, trying to look for a weak spot to attack, despite being technically unarmed.

Meanwhile, Dino had regained her senses, and shrugged off any damage that her reckless charge may have caused her. She could always have Kelly take a look and heal her as need be. Sure, it was a reckless thought to have, but they didn't really have time for any grand plans. The others would need help as well, so they needed to take down Arachne Uru fast and hard. Granted, this was far easier said than done.

Dino had opened her mouth wide and clamped down on one of the legs. It didn't seem to even notice, much less feel it. And Dino had to let go minutes later, as it felt as if she was biting a girder far larger than her mouth could eclipse and it felt as if it was wrapped in crinkled aluminium foil. VERY unpleasant to bite. Dino was starting to wonder if there was anything that they COULD do to stop these monsters. Arachne Uru, at least, seemed unbeatable. She was starting to doubt very much that they would be able to stop it alone.

Meanwhile, Underseen had shapeshifted into a gorilla to afford him a better grip upon Arachne Uru's back. Fortunately, despite its large size, it wasn't too fast. And despite outward appearances, it could be overpowered and brought into submission, its huge size just made that a daunting task in and of itself. But Underseen considered one thing. That, other than its great size, they did not know what other powers it held, or if it held any other powers at all. It was taking all his strength and grip to prevent him from being swept off the great bug's back. He didn't know how he was still able to proceed forward to the creature's upraised head. He had hoped some sort of sigil or pressure point he would become aware of. But, of course, it wouldn't be so easy. It's never so easy.

On the ground, Dino was hating that there seemed to be very little that she could do to impede this Beast, much less kill it. She followed them, looking for a way to overcome the beast. It was daunting, it was true, but there had to be a way. No creature, no being is without limitations, without weaknesses, without flaws. Any who claim otherwise are just lying to you. But, in truth, Dino was at a loss to figure a way to destroy the creature.

If only they could access the Great Power again, but she and Underseen believed that to be gone forever. In any case, even if it wasn't, they couldn't always depend on that unreliable power to save them. It never manifested when they wanted it, but only when it absolutely had to. One could say that it was a crutch, a trick a poor writer uses to wriggle out of writing themselves in a corner. But, even though it always was brief, it was nice having it, despite not really knowing what it truly was.

It was only then that she and Underseen noticed that the Beast had stopped. It seemed to have finally noticed them, and it appeared to have secreted something.

"What was that?" Underseen shouted, hoping to be heard.

"It. . . it birthed four tiny spiders!" Dino said. "They're scurrying away."

"Why did it do that?" Underseen asked, noticing that the creature seemed to be unnaturally still.

"I can't say," Dino replied back, "but I do know one thing. It cannot be good."

[Cloak]

Yeah, this will be a fairly long book.

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER SIX:
We . . . Are the Spider Drones

"Dino!!" Underseen said, now adopting the form of a hyper-evolved Arachnichimp, hoping that would help him more. "Eight o'clock!!"

"The itsy-bitsy spider . . ."

Dino wheeled to the direction that Underseen had indicated and saw seven human campers emerge from the woods. Five female, with a child, being male. They were coming out the forest, and their eyes were completely glowing red. The Beast . . . Ariadne Uru was controlling them. Apparently, there were two of the spiders that Dino didn't see at first.

"Climbed up the water spout . . ."

The shortest one, who looked about twelve, had a thick, stocky build. He had curly, platinum blond hair and wore a brown T-shirt with a pink diamond pink star in the center of it. He also wore cuffed blue jeans and brown flip-flop sandals. His bare midriff showed that he had the spider Nazca line sigil on his navel, presumably where the tiny spider bore into him so Ariadne Uru could control him.

"Down came the rain . . ."

The one of the shortest of the women was about the same height as the boy with a somewhat stout build. She had thick, messy dark brown hair that goes down to her ankles, with a large bang that obscures her left eye. She has plump lips, a small, upturned nose, and dark eyes. Her spider sigil was located on her chest, and the bottom half of it was covered by her tank top. Her tank top was deep black with a jagged hem, and she has white leggings with amethyst stars on them. Her ankle-length boots were the same amethyst hue

"And washed the spider out . . ."

The other short woman had blond hair styled into a tetrahedron shape. Her outfit is mostly medium red, with a peridot green diamond outline around the cut-out of her neck area, meeting to form a purple diamond at her solar plexus, with a pink portion between her chest and leggings. Her leggings cover her feet and feature purple toes and diamond-shaped knee pads. She had a slightly curvy figure, with wide hips, a small waist, and a round chest. She had a pointed upper lip and her spider sigil was located in her forehead.

"And the itsy-bitsy spider . . ."

The thinnest of the women had a slender, thin build, ivory skin, blue eyes, a pointed nose, and thin lips. She was quite tall and her hair has a peach color, resembling a pixie-cut in the front, while in the back, her hair leads to a point. She wore a dark orange tunic with a small pearly white star on the center of her chest and a lighter satin sash ribbon around her upper waist. Her leggings were silver-colored. She also wore brown socks with dark orange slip-on ballet flats. Her spider sigil was on her forehead.

"Climbed up the water spout again. . . ."

The strongest-looking of the women wore a slightly more colorful bodysuit. Her right half is covered in a vivid bluish-violet stocking, and her left is covered in a deep orchid/eggplant stocking. There is a ring of white on the outside closest to her arms. There was a garnet-colored star on her top's color. Her hair was black and styled into a box-like shape. The shades she wore, which hid her eyes, were colored silver. Her shoulder pads were also oval-like, and both are a dark orchid/eggplant color as well as her arms and gloves. The two halves of her lower body are now separated straight down the middle. She wore the spider sigil on her right hand

"The itsy-bitsy spider . . .

The frailest-looking of the women had a slim figure, and a chin-length hairstyle with a fringe that covers her entire forehead. She was of a similar height as the thin woman. She wore a flowing orange skirt, which was knee-length with a downward-facing lapis lazuli blue triangle. She also wears a backless, orange halter crop top with an upward-facing deep orange triangle that ties into an orange sash ribbon on the back of her shoulders. She had her spider sigil on her back.

"Climbed up the water spout again. . . ."

"How did they make that of all things sound so sinister?" Underseen asked, still holding onto the Beast's back.

"You cannot stop me . . ." the boy spoke as the women continued to recite "Itsy-Bitsy Spider" in that creepy manner. It apparently decided to use the boy as its mouthpiece. Both Dino and Underseen frowned at this -- this seemed to be all too common in their lives as RAFians. Doesn't mean they are entirely desensitized towards this kind of thing. Both still thought it was vile, using someone like a ventriloquist dummy in this way. "I will not go back . . ."

"Go back?" Dino said, immediately. "Go back where?"

"I will not go back . . ." the boy said again with that creepy, hissing effect. "I am free . . ."

"Maybe it can be reasoned with?" Dino suggested to Underseen.

"I think that's being optimistic beyond all reason," Underseen said, earnestly.

"I will not go back . . . I'm finally free . . . you cannot stop me . . ." the boy said, only moving his mouth. He was nothing but a puppet to this thing. "You cannot stop me . . . you cannot stop my brethren . . . no one can . . ."

"Wanna bet?!" Underseen said, although Dino thought such bravado was empty. There wasn't much they could do. Perhaps if they used Unity Energy? That was far more reliable that that Great Power crap.

"You cannot beat us . . ."

[Cloak]

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER SEVEN:
How . . . Convenient

"You cannot beat us . . ." it had said, speaking through the boy. "You cannot beat me . . ."

"The hell we can't!" Dino snarled, approaching the boy in an intimidating manner.

"Yeah, no one is unbeatable!" Underseen said.

Those pronouncements seemed to have triggered something them. Their Marks pulsed with energy which seemed to weaken Arachne Uru's control over the campers as it actually shrieked. Whether in surprise or pain, it wasn't very clear which. The two were filled with power . . . it felt like the Great Power. But that was destroyed . . . wasn't it? And this wasn't the complete Great Power, though the visible changes still took place but somewhat understated than if they had received the full Great Power. This was more like Remnant Power, if you will.

Dino's skin was bleached white, so that she resembled shiny Ankylotyrannus, and her Mark upon her head became more and more pronounced. Underseen's clothing, and any forms he shapeshifted into, were bleached white. and his Mark became more pronounced on his hand as well due to this . . . Remnant Power.

'EXPLAIN YOURSELF!" Arachne Uru demanded, through the child.

"Hey, this is the Great Power," Dino said, noticing. She was addressing Underseen more than the Nazca Beast.

'INSUFFICIENT RESPONSE!" Arachne Uru roared.

"No, no," Underseen said, as Arachne Uru was using the camper's eyes and its own to find Dino and to force her to answer its many questions. It couldn't bear the minute light issued from the two. "This is different. This isn't as strong."

Arachne shrieked again, as it tried to approach Dino, but it couldn't stand the white glow.

"It's more like a remnant of the Great Power," Underseen speculated. "'Remnant Power', if you will."

"You will obey me!" Arachne demanded through the boy. Despite the emotion those four words held, the boy's face remained slack and emotionless and the rest of his body didn't move (other than still breathing and things like that). It really was like the boy was nothing more than a ventriloquist dummy, and neither RAFian liked that. The other campers were still reciting "Itsy-Bitsy Spider" in that creepy manner. "EXPLAIN YOURSELF . . ."

It was at this point that Dino did an area-of-effect sort of attack that she was tempted to call Remnant Roar. She roared powerfully and generated white energy shockwaves which hit all the campers. It did not harm them, just pushed out these spiders from from their bodies. She saw that the spiders were really red energy constructs produced by the Nazca Beast, and that they disintegrated at direct exposure to this remnant of the Great Power. This freed the campers from Arachne Uru's control.

The Beast seemingly took a while to realized what happened, that it lost its puppets. The campers, once they regained their faculties once more, looked up and saw the Nazca Beast. Then they all ran for their lives, oblivious to have ever been controlled by it, without any memory of it. The Beast roared, and Underseen thought it sounded like the death knell from a Taxxon.

It apparently decided to just produce more of these spiders to reclaim its puppets, and its mouthpiece. Not only reclaim the ones he lost, but claim more for itself. Only to have a third of its thorax sliced off by white peregrine falcon. Underseen. It shrieked in pain at this, which sounded eeriely like a Taxxon, but louder and harsher. The third of its thorax landed with a mammoth thud on the ground, then collapsed into darkness, and then dissipated into nothingness.

"I think we have a way to end this," Underseen addressed Dino, still in his peregrine falcon form.

"Aim for its heart," Dino said, as Underseen landed, resuming his human form. From what he could remember what he looked like before . . . he shook his head. Priorities. He raised his Marked hand, which pulsed, almost half-heartedly, with this Remnant Power, and Dino's Mark on her head did the same. Both took aim as Arachne Uru looked perplexed and was concerning itself it its injuries.

Both fired beams composed of both Unity and Remnant Power Energy, aimed directly at where the hear in an arthropod would be located. It shrieked at the beams lanced through its abdomen straight through its heart. Its body shattered and dissipated into darkness near immediately. They were done, and they looked around and saw that apparently the others had managed to defeat the other ones. . . .

[Underseen]

I love the foreshadowing in these past few chapters. Also sweet power-ups!

[Cloak]

They're not permanent, Underseen. It's like the Great Power -- horribly unreliable to manifest.

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER EIGHT:
A Giant Problem

Parker and Helen immediately were dispatched to deal with the giant Nazca Beast, Rhodes Apu Ccapac. Helen was using her ring to carry them to the Beast, just at the same time as Dino and Underseen were just approaching Arachne Uru. When they came upon the Beast, they were basically fleas to the thing. It didn't even seem to care that the duo was even there, it was so confident and assured in its power.

"That thing is massive!" Helen proclaimed.

"Which just means that it'll fall really hard," Parker said, with faux bravado. "We just have to find its weak points."

"Easier said than done," Helen said, doubtfully.

"If it was easy, then it wouldn't be worth doing," Parker said.

"Where is it heading?" Helen said. "The forum and the city aren't that way."

"No idea -- Tyr extrapolates that its toward the no man's land between the forum and the Bannedlands," Parker said, with clinical dryness. "But I can't imagine why."

"Well," Helen said, "we should land and get this Beast to fall."

"Yes," Parker said, unshouldering his favorite gun, "let's."

They landed around ten o'clock from the Beast, whose thunderous footsteps shook the ground. Neither was able to use Earthsight, but it wasn't really necessary to see this monstrous behemoth. Parker took quick, but cautious, aim as his girlfriend floated up with her violet light. She pulled her ring-bearing hand back, ****ed and ready to attack the Beast when Parker takes his shot.

With a powerful blast, Parker fired. The shot issued a lot of smoke, but it was clear that it had landed. And it was also clear as crystal . . . that it did nothing. The Beast's obsidian skin was not marred in the least bit. This unsettled Parker, because he was sure that that sort of blast would have put a crater in anything else. But not this Nazca Beast. And even this wasn't enough to get the giant monster to pay attention to the two.

Helen was peppering it with short, quick pulses of concussive violet energy from her ring. She went high as Parker stayed low, but it seemed to be futile and fruitless. And the Beast seemed to not even noticed them, just continue its slow, ambling pace to a destination only known by it and it alone. It continued to stump onward, the attacks of the two RAFians not even bothering it, seemingly.

"This isn't working, Parker," Helen said, trying to turn up the heat. "We're not stopping it!"

"We have to keep it up!" Parker said. "We have to stop it from destroying . . . wherever it's going!!"

"But this isn't working!" Helen argued, swooping around this Beast akin to a wasp. "We need another plan of attack!"

"I'm open to suggestions!!" Parker shouted to be heard, as they continued their attacks.

"We should be more defensive rather offensive, perhaps," Helen said, conjectured. She was spitballing ideas, but this Beast was still a mystery to both of them. They only knew of its massive size and evident high durability. Other than that, its full capabilities were unknown. "Maybe we should make a barrier to impede its path."

"I have to admit that I don't like waiting like that," Parker said, still peppering the Beast with his shots, despite them doing nothing. Parker was hoping beyond hope that he would luck into a weak spot. Everyone had weak spots, pressure points to exploit. Parker was trying to find one on this Beast who had a body plan similar to that of the Yellow Devil from the "Mega Man" series, only obsidian black with blue hair and a blue Cyclopean eye with obsidian black sclera. However, when it became clear that he wasn't finding a weak spot to hit for massive damage, he held his gun upward and stopped firing. "But we don't really have any other option. So, what do you have in mind, Helen?

[Cloak]

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER NINE:
Piercing Damage

The two fell back to set up the barrier to hopefully impede this evil Beast. Granted, the two didn't know its intentions of this giant atrocity, but they could feel the Beast's innate malfeasance and instinctual feloniousness. Parker didn't need scan readouts for something like that, despite Tyr being all too eager to provide him, while Helen just knew that this Nazca Beast was a danger to the populace of wherever it was headed, and that it would relish stepping on them or other such depraved chaotic acts.

They had formed the barrier using a combination of Helen's violet light constructs and Parker's "Overshield" (which wasn't SPARTAN-issue anymore, considering the modifications and updates he made to it using tech that he's come across in his travels as a RAFian, and managed to successfully replicate). They both were satisfied that this cobbled-together, pale violet barrier made of synching together unlikely tech would be sufficient to stop the mammoth behemoth. All they had to do now was wait. The monster would come by shortly, if it was to continue its predicted trajectory.

It seemed like forever, a wait beyond waiting.

"Target inbound," Parker said, suddenly, echoing Tyr's words. "It's at least seventy-seven feet away."

"It shouldn't take it too long to cover that dist-- well, speak of the devil," Helen said.

It emerged from the high cliff walls, still plodding almost sedately to wherever its end destination would happen to be. It didn't roar or intimidate with anything other than its massive size, as if it knew that that was enough to intimidate most people. The two RAFians held their ground. They weren't so easily intimidated. It continued to plod forward with its steady, slovenly gait.

"It better be strong enough," Helen said, as a little nugget of doubt creeped into her mind.

"It will be," Parker said. But he said it with a slight waver in his voice that Helen noticed at once, and she knew that he shared her nugget of doubt. "We just have to maintain it."

"Easier said than done," Helen muttered, wishing that she remembered to recharge her ring. But it was at ninety-five percent power, and that should be good for this kind of undertaking, right? Although, she had to admit, that she wasn't aware of how long Parker could maintain his shield, especially considering that this was not the purpose it was designed for, nor was it designed to stretch to this length and size. This was all very, very risky on the two RAFians' part.

It stopped just short of this barrier, actually seemingly able to perceive it. Both RAFians were secretly curious if the Beast was even aware of what went on around it. This just proved that it possessed at least a little lucidity and self-awareness. If it was truly a mindless Beast, it would have continued to walk straight through the barrier.

It raised its right hand, and balled it into a fist. The two RAFians expected it to roar in frustration or through a tantrum like a toddler, but that's not what it did at all. It gathered blue light, which beaded up and down its body into this raised fist. The two RAFians were sure that this beast would attack the barrier, attempt to break it down, to shatter it into pieces. It very well could do that, and do that easily. It certainly would have the power, as this shield could only take so much impact, and the two RAFians didn't really have another strategy for stopping this Beast outside of hoping for a miracle.

The giant Nazca Beast ****ed its right fist back, as if to deliver a punch. The two RAFians flinched (though Parker would try to play this off later, as he did have some plausible deniability as his face was hidden by his helmet), as they both expected and anticipated a powerful impact. One that probably would have fractured the barrier, if not shattered it outright on the first strike. They had really braced themselves for that . . .

But that did not come to pass. The fiendish Beast was using some sort of special power to completely bypass the barrier as if it was a semi-permeable membrane! The barrier wasn't an obstruction at all! It didn't impede the Beast's progress whatsoever!!

But that wasn't all. This act actually dealt damage to the two RAFians, and it was this that caused the barrier to, not shatter, but fade away into nothingness. Parker had received enough damage that his armor external shell had fractured and his armor's major systems were offline. Tyr was unresponsive, as his armor actually gave off sparks. Helen was spared a lot of damage, but her ring's power was immediately reduced to zero. It needed to be charged, but there was no time for it. No time at all.

All seemed lost.

[Cloak]

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER TEN:
Remnant Shots

As the Beast moved on without even so much as a passing glance toward the two RAFians that he caused so much damage to, the two glared at it. It wasn't in the nature of a RAFian to give up so easily, without putting up a fight, without mustering any sort of resistance towards dark and sinister creature that emanated darkness, as this one did. But they were at a more distinct disadvantage now. Helen's ring was depleted of its power, and Parker's armor was basically just held together with duct tape and sheer determination at this point. It was fathomless how such a creature could do so much "piercing damage", so to speak,

The two got to their feet and glared with determination at the Beast. They wouldn't go down so easily. They had to stop this monster from reaching its destination, for it that destination was heavily populated . . . neither wanted to consider those ramifications just yet. It would be best to try to best the Beast, and destroy it, preventing it from causing untold collateral damage and casualties. Granted, this was far easier said than done.

Helen found herself muttering, "For hearts long lost and full of fright --"

Parker's armor let off some sparks in wide arcs. Parker was secretly alarmed by this, his armor wasn't supposed to things like this. Perhaps one or two of the upgrades and modifications he made to it allowed it do this when severely damaged. He would have to examine it at a later date, if he remembers to.

"-- For those alone in blackest night -- " Helen muttered. She had a habit of muttering the Star Sapphire oath when she was nervous. It wasn't just an oath to her, it was a mantra.

Parker stumbled, cursing audibly. His suit's hydraulics must be acting up, and they were just supposed to increase his strength and durability in this armor. Perhaps it was a mistake to tamper with them.

"Accept our ring and join our fight," Helen said, reciting her oath as a mantra. She had hoped that it would calm her down, and give her some modicum of clarity. It wasn't working well.

Parker felt as if his movements in his suit were far more sluggish and plodding than he would have liked, and, meanwhile, the Beast was starting to pull away from them. They needed to act quickly to stop it . . . and he considered abandoning his armor in order to do so. And only the most dire of circumstances would have him even consider such a thing. But his practicality wouldn't let him, as he knew, without his armor or weapons he couldn't so much as put a dent in this Beast. Hell, even with them, he couldn't. The Beast had actually soaked up most, if not all, his ammunition already.

"Love conquers all-- with violet light!" Helen concluded, muttering the oath. Strangely enough, it didn't make her feel any better.

That's when it happened. Like what happened with Dino and Underseen, a surge of the remnant of the Great Power decided to manifest. Helen, while still maintaining the starburst symbol of the Star Sapphire, but her ring was changed to white, and completely recharged. All the violet parts of her Star Sapphire uniform were now white. Parker's armor was completely repaired, with all the modifications and upgrades intact. Although, it looked like Parker's armor was that of snow camouflage. The primary color was white with black at the joints. The face part of the mask remained the same goldish color, though.

"The . . . Great Power's back?" Helen said, sounding utterly perplexed.

"No, this is different," Parker amicably disagreed. "This isn't as powerful. Don't get me wrong, it is powerful, but not as powerful as the Great Power. And I just said 'power' too many times."

"Well, we still have an objective," Helen said, looking at the beast. Her Lantern glow was now white, so you'd think that she was a White Lantern, not just a palette swap.

"That we do," Parker agreed, as he discovered that his ammunition had replenished. It was light construct ammo, but ammo nonetheless.. "Let's get on it shall we?"

The two managed to cover the lost ground and get in front of the Beast, and Parker began to pepper the beast with this light construct ammo. He was pleased to see that this ammo seemed to be leagues above his usual ammo. The Beast actually felt this attack, and actually roared with pain. Despite himself, this gave Parker a sense of gratification. This Beast was annoying him with its indestructible nature -- it wasn't so indestructible now!

But Helen was the one that noticed a different weak spot. How could she have missed it? How could either of them missed it? She started to pepper that spot, the spot where a heart would be on a normal human, and she was relentless with her attacks. Then she stopped, only to resort more tactile, melee attacks with a violet light (though recolored white) construct sword. Parker was still peppering the Beast's single eye with his weapons, and Parker was only tangentially aware of his girlfriend's endeavors. Helen pieced the Beast's flesh with the sword construct, plunging it into the Beast's heart. The more she pushed, the more it sunk into the Heart. Then she twisted it, and shattered the Heart.

This caused the creature to shriek, which was quickly silenced with eerie silence. Its body collapsed and dissipated into nothingness. Mere seconds after it did, the Remnant Power vanished, of its own accord. . . .

[Cloak]

Sorry for the delay, the past few days were quite busy for me.

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER ELEVEN:
Here, Lizard, Lizard, Lizard

Saffa, Gaz, and Laserbeak (who wouldn't allow Gaz to go without him, being the overprotective Cybertronian parrot that he was) flew to the site where the lizard Nazca Beast. Saffa was in her Psycholeopterran morph and Gaz was in her bat form. Gaz had to fly a bit harder than Saffa to keep up with her fellow RAFian, as a bat is significantly smaller than Psycholeopterran as most bats are insectivores while Psycholeopterran prey on Necrofriggians, a sentient species. Laserbeak, however, hovered almost lazily alongside the two ladies.

They saw the lizard Nazca Beast walking with slow, slapping footsteps. The ground was hard and was not the right type of terrain to support having footprints. It had a wiry, bipedal frame with a stiff tail that trailed behind it as it proceeded forward at its sedate pace, heading in the general direction of civilization. It had eyes like that of a chameleon which moved independently of each other.

Saffa tried to use the hypnotic powers of her Psycholeopterran morph, but the effect didn't seem to affect the beast because both eyes were never focused on the same point, and it didn't seem to notice Saffa. If it did, it was indifferent towards her. Saffa didn't know if this was a good thing or if she should be offended. Meanwhile, as Gaz and Laserbeak swooped around its head counterclockwise, the lizard Nazca Beast continued to proceed towards civilization with its slapping footsteps.

Saffa landed somewhere ahead of the lizard Nazca Beast, and demorphed. She didn't have much time left in morph, anyway. Gaz landed next to her, reverted back to her humanoid form, unbothered by the direct sunlight. Laserbeak landed on her right shoulder, and clicked his beak, almost as if he was huffy that the Nazca Beast ignored them. Laserbeak did fire upon the beast, to no avail. Apparently, he took this personally.

"Relax, Beaky," Gaz said, rubbing his head affectionately. "We just were testing to see its sensory capabilities."

Laserbeak gave a discontented squawk,

"Don't be that way, Beaky," Gaz chided gently and with good humor. Then she turned to address Saffa, "It seems to have the visual acuity of an Andalite -- complete one hundred and eighty degree vision. Other than that, I couldn't see or begin to guess what powers it may or may not have."

"Yeah," Saffa agreed. "I couldn't see any obvious weaknesses, either."

"Well, yeah, to be fair," Gaz said, thoughtfully, "it's not like any weaknesses would manifest as glowing white sigils for us to attack."

"Would be nice if it did, though," Saffa said. She was currently pondering how they could destroy the creature before it reached civilization. It was far easier said than done. She ran through her litany of morphs to see if any one of them would have been useful. Nexu? No, it was too bright here, she would be blinded. Her Psycholeopterran morph already proved to be ineffective. Tyrannopede, one of her favorite battle morphs? A good contender, but it may not be able to web up the thing, given its huge size. Buglizard? Not much it could do against this thing, especially as it evolved specifically to hunt Lepidopterrans. Her red-tailed hawk morph would definitely not suffice, and she dismissed it out of hand. Mucillator? It would be a stalemate, in the best case scenario. Sheer Goliath? Might be able to overpower it, but not likely as the Nazca Beast was taller, though more wiry than a Sheer Goliath. Slamworm? Hmmm . . . there might be a way in that. Although this ground might be too hard to use that morph effectively. She continued to mull these over in quick succession.

Meanwhile, Laserbeak became Gaz's armor, increasing her overall firepower and durability. She kept up the attack, buzzing around its head, going for its googly eyes. But the attacks were ineffective, which was less than ideal. But Gaz wasn't about to give up, and it wasn't like Leatherhead would allow her to give up, at least not with a protesting squawk.

Saffa took out her taydenite sword -- it wasn't exactly diamond, but she found that she could manipulate it as if it was. And she also found that she could shunt it away to Z-Space when she morphed. She dashed forward and used the sword to hack at the Beast's ankles. For all the good it did. It was like trying to cleave a mountain with a dagger. Possible with enough time (like eons) and tireless tenacity.

The Nazca Beast didn't even seem to notice any of their attacks. If it was even aware of their presence, it didn't show it. Gaz was little more than a gnat to it, and Saffa was little more than a highly aggressive ant whose bite wasn't painful in the least. This seemed to be nothing more than an exercise in futility. . . .

But they had to stop this thing. Somehow.

[Gaz]

Yay! After the super hectic morning, it was nice to see a new chapter waiting.

[Cloak]

Glad to oblige.

New chapter.
 

CHAPTER TWELVE:
Upon Sudden Inspiration . . .

Saffa's mind worked furiously, until she thought that she had an idea. A perfectly doable plan.

"Gaz!" she shouted at her fellow RAFian and her Cybertronian pet. "Keep it distracted, and still! I think I have an idea."

Leatherhead squawked, almost as if in protest.

"No one said that it was going to be easy, Beaky," Gaz chided good-naturedly.

Leatherhead gave a sharp chirp, which caused Gaz to chuckle with a smile as she swooped and dived around the lizard Nazca Beast's eyes and face, like a gnat repeatedly buzzing a jogger's face and tenaciously refusing to go away. She kept it up, swarming the Beast's face, firing Laserbeak's weaponry at the giant saurian monster. She now had the Beast's undivided attention, but not because it perceived her as a threat, but because it perceived her as a nuisance or annoyance. It raised its slightly flailing hands up and batted away at her. But it was remarkably slow, and Gaz was able to dodge every strike.

"Beaky," Gaz said, in a gentle scold, "don't get ****y!"

Meanwhile, Saffa was morphing into a Slamworm. She was just finishing off the morph when she dove underground. She burrowed furiously, making intricate tunnels that she could manage within her two hour time allotment. Unfortunately, she didn't have an internal clock like an Andalite, so she had to be quick and demorph as soon as she could manage it. It was amazing how she could keep her sense of direction, even underground, making the ground beneath the Beast so perforated that the ground beneath it would not be able to support the mammoth Beast's immense weight. This would have to do. Her time in morph should be nearly at the time limit, and she would need to demorph very soon. And she did, the moment she surfaced.

"How much longer, Saffa?!" Gaz demanded. The lizard Nazca Beast's last swat was too close a shave for her liking. Granted, she could just go into gaseous form, taking Laserbeak with her, and evade any real impact. But that would be extremely taxing and difficult to time well, "This Beast is starting to get agitated! And that's not a good thing!"

"So I gathered!" Saffa shouted her reply. "It shouldn't take very long until the ground --"

The ground finally gave way against the massive Beast's weight. It plummeted with surprising swiftness, as if the sinkhole had been dug there all along. It was almost cartoonish. But Saffa wasn't done yet, she wanted to be sure that this thing couldn't escape, and she already was completing her morph to her Tyrannopede morph. Tyrannopedes were Vaxasaurian predators, so they were accustomed to prey that could reach large sizes. But that wasn't Saffa's intention with this Beast. She walked up to the hole were the Beast fell in. From the nozzle-like horn on her Tyrannopede head, she fired the characteristic webbing of the species. She was covering the hole's opening.

"I feel that we're only making this a problem later on down the line," Gaz said, landing, still wearing Laserbeak as her armor.

<We've stopped the Beast,> Saffa said. She already started to demorph, and human characteristics and size were already starting to dominate over the Tyrannopede ones. "That's all that matters"

"I still have my doubts," Gaz said, fretfully.

"I never said it was an elegant solution," Saffa replied. "But the fall should have killed it."

"I think that's being overly optimistic, personally," Gaz said, "But it does seem to have done the --"

A tremendous light incinerated the webbing and funneled from the ground as if the hole was a cannon. From this light, the Beast rose again with an image similar to the art of a "Monster Reborn" card. And it didn't look too happy with the two of them.

"Oh, crap," Saffa said.

"Well, that's just prime," Gaz muttered.*


*Yes, that's a slight nod to a certain series Gaz worked on, on the forum.