Memoirs of a RAFian

[Cloak]

It is a bit of a running gag, it's true.

Anyway, last chapter of Book 47!

CHAPTER TWENTY:
A New Threat

As it turned out, the Fmeks had just recently become aware of the "Radioactive Seal From A Forum Near RAF" incident. They deduced that FYI was responsible. Though that took several months.

The RAFians gave them a subtle ultimatium -- leave and never return or die.

They chose the former.

But Cloak still felt unease. He didn't know why. It was just . . . just that it felt like . . . like they were being . . . watched. He couldn't Earthsight or Metalsight anything within the perimeter. But this unsettling feeling of unease would not dissipate.

He turned to go to his thread, as the Aquillians left to resume their peaceful lives in their exosuits. It had been a long day.

However, Cloak's instincts were right. There actually was someone watching them.

***

Night had fallen. The moon was big and bright. The stars twinkled almost lazily. Cloak was standing at the end of the forest looking up, marveling at this. The Nexus had no stars, no moon, just inky blackness.

"Hello, stranger." said a voice. One that involuntarily filled Cloak with terror and dread.

"M-mother?" he said, hating how his voice trembled. "How'd you find me here?"

"Oh, I heard the sound of utter betrayal and my heart shattering, and followed that." she said, concealing her fury. "C'mon, son, we're going home."

"No." Cloak said, at once. Then he gestured to the buildings that made up the forum. The boards, the infirmary, the mess hall, the thread quarters, the auditorium, the training simulator, etc. "They like me. They care about me. I am home."

"Like you? Please, son." his mother said, dismissively. "This is why you should have never left."

"You kicked me out." Cloak snarled.

"I didn't mean it," she said, still in that infuriatingly dismissive tone. "Dear, this whole fantasy that you've invented just proves . . . you're too naive to be here."

She stode over to him, getting rather closer than the prerequisite six feet diameter that Closk wanted to keep with her. "Why would they like you? C'mon now, really! Look at the state of you! You think they're impressed?!"

Then the music started.

"Don't be a dummy!
Come with Mummy.
Mother --"

"NO!" Cloak snarled, with a tiger growl intermingling with the word.

"No?" his mother said, looking miffed at the defiance. "Oh, I see how it is.

Cloak knows best.
Cloak's so mature now.
Cloak can never go admiss.
Cloak knows best.
Fine, if you're so sure now --"

She seized his arm and showed him the Mark.

"Go ahead and break THIS!"

"How'd you know --"

"This is why they're here!
Don't let them deceive you!
Break this and watch, you'll see!
Trust me, my son."

She snapped her fingers.

"That's how fast they'll leave you!
I won't say, "I told you so"!
No, Cloak knows best.
Go ahead and put them to the test!
If they're lying,
Don't come crying!
Mother knows best!"

Then she was gone, and all was blackness. Cloak felt horrible and hollow.

***

With a gasp, Cloak sat straight up in his bed. He was shaking. No matter how he tried to deny it, part of him was always afraid of his mother, even now as an adult.

But why? Why was she this way? Why was she so narcissistic, so arrogant, so unwilling to find fault in herself? No one is just born like that.

Okay, maybe Helmacrons, but thats beyond the point.

[redtailedsaffa]

Why is it that I sang it in the original voice?

I'm not so sure I'd want to meet your mother, Cloaky.

Edit: Internet's better now, so here's the PDF.

[Cloak]

She is a tough person to be around. I went and got the therapy and help I needed, and she -- I assume -- still hasn't. But what narcissist ever does? But I do suspect one of the reasons that she was so hard on me was because I resemble my father so much (which, of course, wasn't my doing, but nature's). Although my face is a bit rounder than his.

Anyway, enough of that. Let's start off the next book, which will show just what I think of the . . . ah, well, no spoilers.

BOOK XLVIII:
GO AWAY!
CHAPTER ONE:
They Come . . .

Cloak sat beneath a broad sycamore tree. He closed his eyes and meditated. His mind flowed back to a time he would have rather forgot . . .

***

A bell rung*, but only Cloak seemed aware of it and the loud cry of "Cloooooooaaaaaak!"

Cloak muttered, through song:

"'Cloak! Cloak!' All I hear is 'Cloak!'
From the moment that I get up,
'Til the shades are falling.
There isn't any let up!
I hear her calling,
'Go up and do the attic,
Go down and do the cellar.
You can do them both together,
Cloak!'
How lovely it would be
If I could write book and parody,
But, in the middle of my concocting,
She's screaming at me --"

From the beeper like device that he was forced to wear came, "Cloooooooaaaaaak!"

With a grunt of disgust, got up and Walked away to see what his "master" wanted.

Horse, Gaz and Parker bore witness to this. It wasn't the first time this happened.

They lamented this treatment, because, at the time, Cloak thought nothing strangenor sinister of it. Of how his status had lowered from "son" to "servant". These three understood it better though.

Horse lamented:

"Cloaky, Cloaky,
Night and day, it's 'Cloaky,
Make the fire, fix the breakfast!
Wash the dishes, do the mopping!'"

The other two chimed in.

"'And the sweeping
And the dusting!'
She always keeps him hopping."

Horse continued:

"He goes around in circles
'Til he's very, very dizzy.
Still she hollars!"

The others chimed in:

"Keep a-busy, Cloaky!"

***

Cloak pulled himself forcibly from the memory. The three never had any idea that Cloak was aware of their lament.

He knew he mustn't dwell on such bad memories. He had a feeling that, were he a wizard, he would be very bad at Occlumency.

Then his attention was drawn to the gates of RAF. He frowned deeply.

There were more of the today. with their obscene lights and flashbulb flashes. Cloak repressed a snarl as he withdrew further into the forum.

They were parasites. The lot of them. Parasites!

---
*Based off a true fact. My mother really did ring a bell when she wanted me to come. Made me believe it was normal -- no wonder my cousin (different cousin from the one that took me into his home with my aunt) refused when I offered it him when he and I were alone in the house (he was fixing the roof).

[redtailedsaffa]

What the hell? You're not a bell-boy!

[Cloak]

Yes, yes. I know that. Now. I've been away from her for nearly a year now (Nov 26 is the anniversary), and I've changed quite a bit. For the better.

I'll post another chapter later. I'm a wee bit drained now. And this'll be a rather atypical book, I think.

EDIT: 'Kay, I lied. Came up with a new book idea instead:

• BOOK CCV: "The Thirteenth" -- A RAFian is coerced, but will they go over to the dark side?

Just a note, October 15th to like October 18th or 20th, "Memoirs will be on hiatus. Getting Pokemon X.

CHAPTER TWO:
Prey and Pray

Saffa was attending a nearby prestigious college, but she soon regretted the decision. No, not because the classes or the teachers or the homework.

It was the papparazzi. They hounded her for exclusive interviews, screamed questions at her.

"Leave me alone!" she roared. But it was quickly swallowed up by the papparazzi's clamoring like an ice cream cone by a diet-cheater.

"I'm not going to say it again." she warned.

But, still, they pressed in, closing ranks around the nettled RAFian.

"I warned you." she said. Then she morphed a Tyrannopede, and roared fiercely.

Now they listened. Now they backed off.

Saffa demorphed, and groaned irritably. "Great. Now I'm late!"

Then she dashed off to class.

***

Gaz had managed to snag some time on a public access show -- "Cooking with Gaz"*. She was making something called pumpkin soup.

At least, she was trying to. There were people -- newbie papparazzi, most likely -- who were ambling to get a picture of Gaz's Mark.

"What the -- get out of here!" Gaz said, barely maintaining her composure and tempter. "Hey! That goes for you too buddrow! Yeah, you! In the catwalk!"

But this fell on deaf ears.

"HEY!" Gaz roared, losing a bit of temperment. "Get lost, you photo hacks! I'm trying to make -- oh! Oh! Oh! Burning soup! Burning soup!"

***

Abby was attending her school, but then she was cornered by the overly-persistent papparazzi. She kept her clipped tone even as she spoke, "What do you greedy photographers want from me?"

The flashes blinded her, and she could not escape as a human. So she began shrinking down, down, down. She was becoming a flea, eluding this merciless media mob.

She demorphed in a safe place away. Looked like she would have to either play hooky and get left alone, or continue the day, get continually harassed and have her picture taken involuntarily.

Who said being a RAFian was easy?

---
*I told you I would reference it.

[theyoungphoenix]

Stupid papparazzi.

Yes, yes. I know that. Now. I've been away from her for nearly a year now (Nov 26 is the anniversary), and I've changed quite a bit. For the better.

Huh. Is it odd that that's also my brother's birthday? But it's a good thing that you've changed for the better. We probably wouldn't have such awesome RAFfics if you didn't.

[Gaz]

How dare they interfere with the making of the soup! lol

[Underseen]

Reminds me of earlier this year when a paparazzo (the singular version is a fun word) died trying to take a picture of Justin Bieber's car.

[Cloak]

Reminds me of earlier this year when a paparazzo (the singular version is a fun word) died trying to take a picture of Justin Bieber's car.

Let me just cry him a river. Sorry, I don't mean to be so cold, but I really don't have a high opinion of papparazzi. And Justin Bieber? God, that hack's not worth the time.

Still, I'll admit it was unfortunate the guy lost his life . . . which is actually somewhat ironic because, in this book, there . . . er, never mind.

CHAPTER THREE:
Terrrrrrrrible Tabloids

"'RAFians consorting with the Devil' -- Theo-Zealot Monthly. 'RAFians allow boy to get swallowed by horde' -- the Idiot Times. To think, the "National Inquirer" actually reported that correctly." Abby snarled. Cloak knew that she had decided to give these tabloids those names, their true names were different. The RAFians had convened in the auditorium and were briefed onnthe papparazzi problem. "The rest are like that. All mindless crap."

"They're tabloids, Abby." Cloak said dismissively, tone flat and emotionless. Even Realm Walkers had tabloids. "You expected different?"

"Well, I --" she said, falling into a mollified silence.

<Abby brings up a valid point, though.> Noelle said. <These tabloids could very well undermine our efforts to secure the safety and well-being of this planet.>

"And we'd be foolish to think that the Knights won't capitalize on this." Aquilai pointed out.

"Not to mention our PR image isn't the best," Faerie pointed out. "I believe the poll was seventy-two percent of the populace thought we were a threat."

"Sixty-three percent, actually," Goom said. "And I believe most of those polled were either Knights or Knight-sympathizers."

"Well, that's something, at least." Faerie muttered.

"The question is just what we do about it?" Parker said, always a man of action.

"You assume something can be done," Phoenix said.

"We can't do nothing!"

"Our actions could easily be misconstrued, Parker," Cloak said. He had some painful experiences with misconstrued actions. "And then where would we be?"

"Right," Richard said. "We must play by the system."

"Aw, that's no fun." Demos said. This earned him several heavy-lidded looks. "What?"

[Cloak]

Okay, next chapter before I rest. May be a little short.

CHAPTER FOUR:
Encroaching and Enraging

"Phoenix, SuperNate, and I will go to the courthouse -- Kelly, you'd better come, too -- and see if we can get a papparazzo restraining order." Richard decided.

Cloak was feeling mixed about this plan. The restraining order may stop some, maybe most, of the papparazzi. But not all. The most stubborn, most arrogant of the bunch will most assuredly ignore it.

There had to be a contingency for this inevitable scenario. Cloak looked at his Mark, an idea formulated in his mind.

Richard, Phoenix, Kelly, and SuperNate had already left, and the meeting was breaking up. Cloak made up his mind, and he turned to the three RAFians essential to it.

"Aquilai, Yarin, Goom." the Realm Walker said, urgency in his tone. "May I have a word?"

He quickly told them his plan.

"It seems viable," Yarin said. "But why do you seem so sure that the restraining order will fail?"

"Not fail," Cloak said. "Just not work for every pappara-bozo. Especially the most stubborn ones."

"I say you have a point," Aquilai said. "Diplomacy can only do so much. There are those that openly disregard it, it wouldn't surprise me of some mock it. I say we do it."

The other gave their agreement to the plan. Goom said, "I'll send a PM to Richard appraising him of this plan. See if we have his go-ahead."

Cloak felt it prudent, as well as getting started immediately. He could already sense them encroaching.

***

A vew days later, and Code: Avalon was modified to only allow those with Marks in or out. But that didn't stop the papparazzi from gathering right outside the gates.

Cloak could not help but wonder why the RAFians were suddenly so fascinating. Although Duff was was able to escape the stampede of lights and cameras by feigning a Justin Bieber sighting. It didn't distract them for very long, just long enough to escape and elude them.

But Sakki . . . oh, Sakki . . .

She got cornered and she wasn't able to shake them. She warned them thrice to leave her be, but they refused to listen. So, in desperation, she used her sonic scream at its lowest, weakest devastation setting.

But one of the stalkers -- er, papparazzi, Montgomery Banks, happened to get injured.

Avery Slix and Courtney Cash suffered similiar injures from Faerie and Saffa respectively, both being harassed to the point of lashing out.

[redtailedsaffa]

Catching up wasn't too hard, but love the chapters!

Haha, I'd totally see myself bashing up a paparazzo if he got all up in my face. What would they want from me, anyway? The secret to the extreme curl in my hair?

[Cloak]

Well, considering that I couldn't post a chapter yesterday, I'll try to get two up tonight.

CHAPTER FIVE:
Restraining Order, Remaining Disorder

"Well," Richard said, wearily, to the RAFians at large, "we succeeded. The predatory papparazzi cannot cross our borders or be seen within seven hundred feet of RAF."

"We've also have the added precaution of no one without a Mark being allowed entry via Code: Avalon." Cloak added from his usual place, arms folded, looking generally surly. Cloak never thpught very highly of papparazzi, and didn't hide it.

"Isn't that a bit overkill?" Kelly asked.

"Kelly, I know you want to put your faith in the system," Aquilai said, kindly, "but the fact remains. The system does not always work."

"There are also loopholes that one would exploit," Cloak added. Then his tone turned snide and harsh, "That is, if your court system and legal justice system is anything like the Realm Walker council."

"That bad, huh?" Underseen askes.

"They're all corrupt. Bloated by their own sense of control. Power tripping at the drop of a cloak." Cloak said, with disgust at the factual nature of this statement. "I sincerely yours has people of integrity and character in the system."

"Let's all hope --" Richard began, before a sensor detected that a would-be intruder was identified lurking just feet away from Code: Avalon's field.

The RAF easily identified this guy as a bold-as-brass, unapologetic papparazzo with a rather expensive camera. Name of Hendrick Thicknesse.

"You are not welcome here, Thicknesse." Blue said, icily. "Leave now."

"Not until I get my shot of the girls who --"

"Who said that you have a choice?" Az snarled acidly. "Leave now, or be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law!"

"You can't --"

"You are in violation of a restraining order." Parker said, voice still and calm. "Disregard, to your cost."

It turned out that he wouldn't leave, even when the cops showed up to arrest him. Apparently, this wasn't his first arrest.

"Why are they SOinterested in us?" Saffa wondered aloud.

"Turns out," Guy said, laptop in hand, "that WikiLeaks found out about our, erhm, exploits."

[Cloak]

Now . . . well, most definitely the last chapter of the night.

CHAPTER SIX:
The Foreboding in Forum

"What?!" Jess demanded imperiously.

"WikiLeaks did what now?" Genies said, apparently flummoxed.

"Apparently," Gaz said, consulting his laptop, "WikiLeaks 'unofficially' hacked a government server that had some of our, ah, more discreet misadventures documented. Like the Darwin Gun and the exosuit business."

"Clearly, they didn't encrypt it well enough," Goom said haughtily.

"Well, it's obvious what happened next." Guy said, putting the laptop away. "It got out, RAF became the next 'big thing'."

"'TMZ' will probably have --" Cloak muttered.

"Apparently, they already had." Blaze said, showing a YouTube clip of TMZ obsessing over them.

"Don't these people have better things to --" Faerie began, outraged.

"We're being watched." Cloak said suddenly. He had Earthsighted another person who decided to ignore the restraining order. He stood upon his car to see over the wall, to fill or take stills. Code: Avalon would not distort the pictures, just prevent entry. "This is getting ridiculous."

Cloak took a fighting stance, took a deep breath, and his eyes flashed scarlet and gold momentarily. Then he punched the ground with his fist. The walls around the forum just rose another ten feet, to about twenty feet total height.

"You do realize," AniDragon noticed, "that doing that may not keep them away for long?"

"It's better than nothing," Cloak soghed, knowing that she was right. "I do rezlize more . . . more drastic measures may eventually become a necessity."

"What do you mean?" Gaz asked.

"It may not come down that," Cloak muttered to himself. Then, louder, he said, "Hopefully, we'll just become old news soon and some other poor sucker will shift focus."

Cloak sighed heavily. He could not fathom why anyone would crave such attention. Who would waste time and energy actively seeking fame.

All a waste of time, energy, and resources.

[Cloak]

Just a heads-up, chances are that the next book will have LONG chapters.

Now another chapter.

CHAPTER SEVEN:
I'll Sue Ya!

"This is starting to get old," Abby said.

Cloak had to add another ten feet to the wall, because the papparazzi were persisting in disobeying the restraining order, which clearly was not being taken very seriously -- by the police or the papparazzi. Cloak's hope of becoming too stale an issue for the papparazzi to pursue seemed to be far-off. Maybe they'll never lose interest.

There was another option, buut Cloak was exceedingly reluctant to implement it. He was sure there would be objections. No, now wasn't the moment to act, the moment of implementing the plan. He told no one of it . . . but it wasn't the first time he implemented this course of action . . .

"I don't believe it!!" Super Nate cried out, clearly outraged.

The RAFians clamored around him for an explanation.

"We just got notice," he said, his voice trembling with a rage unbefore seen in the RAFian. "Sakki, Saffa, and Faerie are being sued."

The three reacted at the same time.

"What?!" Faerie roared.

"What for?!" Sakki erupted.

"Why?!" Saffa cried out.

"Apparently, for causing 'grievous injury' to a 'Montgomery Banks', an 'Avery Slix', and a 'Courtney Cash'."

"That slimeball?!" Faerie raged.

"He's faking!" Sakki declared passionately.

"'Grievous injury'? That's the charge?" Saffa said, disgustedly, dismissively, and derisively. "What kind of trumped-up charge -- oh, God, she's gonna show up in a neck brace and wheelchair, isn't she?"

"What did you --" Abby began.

"Nothing! It was a couple of scratches at most!" Saffa seethed. "She'll just be wearing that crap to make the lawsuit stick!"

"Saffa has a point," Guy said. "The courts are often bogged down with such frivolous, fraudulent cases. We live in a rather litigious society, I'm afraid."

"Wonderful," Sakki said, sarcastically.

[Cloak]

Second chapter of the day.

CHAPTER EIGHT:
Adding Insult to Injury

"No way!" Az shouted. But he wasn't responding to the lawsuit news. He was reacting to something on the tv.

"What is it?" Cloak said.

"You missed it, but it was this commercial --"

"A commercial? A commercial, Azguard?" Faerie said, acidly. "We have far more pressing concerns than a lousy --"

"There! Turn it up." he said, indicating it was back on again. There was a musical jingle focused around a team picture circa 2009. How the producers of this commercial procured it was beyond Cloak.

"Who controls the British Crown?
Who keeps the metric system down?
They do! They do!
Who keeps Atlantis off the maps?
Who keeps the aliens under wraps?
They do! They do!
Who kills the electric car?
Who makes Justin Bieber a star?
They do! They do!
Who robs cave newts of their sight?
Who rigs every Emmy night?
They do! They do!"

Then at the end, in a quiet and quick voice, "Produced-and-paid-for-by-the-glorious-Knights-of-Humanity,-chapter-three."

Cloak was apocalyptic with rage, but he had enough control over himself to maintain control over his powers. "They . . . they DARE to SUGGEST that we had ANYTHING to with that arrogant, no-talent HACK!!!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Cloaky. Cool it, or we're gonna be another Ground Zero." Gaz warned, very seriously.

Cloak closed his eyes, inhaled deeply, held it for a count of four, then exhaled slowly. He repeated several times, until he calmed down.

"As if we didn't have enough to worry about." Saffa said. "Our PR isn't exactly the best, either."

Blue was deep in thought. "This can't be coincidence. We get news of three of our number being sued frivolously, and this."

"Is it stupid to think that some of the papparazzi could be Knights themselves?" Underseen asked.

"Or have family that are." Sakki said, thoughtfully.