THE RPGC SAGA 2008

The Core Media Forum
#3

Hmmm interesting start Wil… can’t wait to see exactly what these villians may have planned for the holidays… and for us Righteous Protectors.

#4

Ooh, the bad guys are moving up in the world; now they’re not just stealing Christmas, it’s all the holidays.

#5

And so it begins. Looking forward to it! =D

#6

… He started it. He actually started it…

Wait, is that the universe imploding on itself I feel?

Heh… hope to read more, Old Man.

#7

Exciting!
I wonder where the blond guy is getting his statistics from. What sort of sample size did he have to say such things like for every one thief you have 5 givers? j/k

#8

((OOC:
-Val: Nice observation. :wink:

-Arac: I’m an equal-opportunity [STRIKE]offender[/STRIKE] writer. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

-Kairi: I made up the statistic, but the point IS real: there’s more good than bad people in this world. They just don’t get the same amount of press. :wink:

OK, BACK TO THE STORY!! ))

Chapter One

A grassy hill somewhere, overlooking a school in the distance:

The voice of a young man could be heard in the breeze, singing in a high tenor, the melody carried surprisingly far by the wind:

“I’m 15 for a moment,
Caught in between 10 and 20.
And I’m just dreaming,
counting the ways to where you are.
I’m 22 for a moment.
She feels better than ever,
And we’re on fire.
Making our way back from Mars.
15, there’s still time for you…”

He was only a teenager, lying on his back on the grass, his gaze lost in the clouds. His hair was long and dirty blonde, with bangs actually falling on his face. He wore what looked like a school uniform, a black jacket with a white undershirt and white pants.

Suddenly, his singing stopped. He sat up, and looked behind him.

Standing there was a man in a dark business suit. His hair, eyes and beard were black, and his hair was tied back in a tail. He was smiling sinisterly.

The boy’s face showed displeasure, and his blue eyes, which seemed to shift in color from moment to moment, stared harshly at the man.
-“Scratch” the boy said. “What do you want?”
-“My pardon, Sir Leareth” Scratch said, bowing –though he was still smiling- I did not want to interrupt your singing. You may continue if you please.”
-“You did not come here to hear me sing” the youngster stated flatly. “So, out with it.”
-“I’m here to deliver a message” Scratch explained. “The Master wants to see you. Right away.”
The youngster was silent for a moment. “Did he say why?” he asked.
-“No, and I wasn’t going to ask” Scratch answered, almost laughing.
-“Is… the time come?”
-“Again: I do not know. You’ll have to ask him yourself”.
Leareth looked over to where the school was, his expression one of sadness.
-“Are you worried?” Scratch asked. “I would’ve thought that being recalled would bring you joy! Or…” he stopped, looked where Leareth was staring, and added, with an even more sinister smile, “Have you grown too attached to the mortal world?”
-“Beware what you say, Scratch. Don’t forget, I outrank you” the boy spat back, angrily.
-“A thousand pardons, Sir” Scratch hurriedly said, bowing low.
Leareth stared at him, his disgust plainly visible. But then he just said,
-“Let’s go.”

Some time later, at the Headquarters of the Righteous Protectors of Good Causes, Somewhere in North America:

Snow covered the landscape for miles, all around the castle-like building. Only one person was visible in the grounds: A red-suited, red haired young man, with spiky hair and sunglasses, standing in front of the entrance. He was assuming a military type “rest” position, and his face looked totally emotionless.

Suddenly, multicolored flashes appeared on thin air, on a spot several yards away. The red-suited sentry did not move at all at the sight of the unearthly phenomenon; he knew very well what it was.

A second later, the lights expanded, effectively becoming a “hole” that floated in the air. A figure then stepped through it- a man with short dark hair and dark eyes, wearing a green shirt, blue pants, a green cape, and holding a green staff in one hand, and a small sack over his left shoulder. The portal vanished behind him as quickly as it had opened.

The man looked around himself, and smiled. He took in a lungful of clean air, and exhaled it pleased. Then he looked at the guard, smiled, and started walking towards him.

Did the guard’s face grow slightly grimmer at the sight?

Still, the guard did not move, and the newcomer reached him a few moments later.
-“Galloway, old chum!” he said merrily. “Long time no see! Happy Holidays!!”
-“…Martinez” Galloway responded, matter-of-factly.
-“Wait, I forget. Do you celebrate any holidays?” Wilfredo asked Galloway, still in a merry tone.
-“No” he responded flatly.
-“What, not even X-Mas? ‘Cuz these days it’s pretty much a secular holiday, you know” Wil said, somewhat sadly.
-“No” Galloway insisted.
-“You’re not still all down over that stuff you found out about your origin months ago, do you? Or, have you always been this much ‘fun’ to hang around of? I can’t remember…” Wil said, jokingly.
Galloway merely stared back at him, in harsh silence.
-“…Ah, well. Anyway…” Wil said, shrugging. “I’m here to make a report. I spent the past few months exploring three –COUNT them, Three!- new dimensions I discovered. That’s why you haven’t seen me around here in that time. I’m sure you really missed me.”
Galloway said nothing, but Wilfredo just continued talking.
-“I have a full report here for the RPGC records. Is Weiila in?”
-“Yes” Galloway grunted.
-“Great! I’ll deliver it in person, if you don’t mind.”
-“…Be my guest.”

Wil was about to march into the building, when the lights from the invisible dimensional portal in the HQ’s courtyard flared again. Both he and Galloway turned to see who was arriving, but neither of them recognized the young man who stumbled through.

-“Friend of yours?” Galloway asked Wil.
-“Nope. You don’t know him either?”
Galloway shook his head, then started walking towards the newcomer, who was standing where the portal dropped him.
Wil chose to accompany Galloway. Not that the Saiyan guard was likely to do anything reckless, but Wil was a little, er, better at diplomatics.
-“Identify yourself” Galloway said upon reaching the blonde young man.
The boy asked, “Ah, is this where RPGC meets?”
-“Who wants to know?” Galloway insisted.
-“My name is Leareth” the boy said, smiling, “And I’ve come to join you.”

—To Be Continued—

#9

Yay!! Tis started!! :smiley: So far, so good, Wil.

This is quite the good thing to come back to after a long period of absence.

#10

-“How did you find out about us?” Galloway continued to question the newcomer aggressively.
-“Umm, Gallo” Wilfredo suddenly interjected, “Let ME handle this, OK?” He then turned to the youngster and smiled. “Please forgive my overzealous friend here. He’s in charge of security and he takes his job veeeery seriously. I’m Wilfredo Martinez, and I have absolutely no rank within RPGC, and that’s how I like it! On the other hand, I do know quite a few people here, so maybe I can help you… Leareth, was it?” the older man said, as he extended his hand in greeting. Leareth nodded, and shook his hand, smiling at his friendlier attitude.
-“Tell me Leareth, are you an interdimensional explorer?”
-“…I guess you could call me that” the teenager said. “Though I only discovered my powers, and all of this…. cosmic stuff… recently. I only knew about you because someone weird guy told me… honestly, I wasn’t even sure if this was the right portal.”
-“I see” Wil responded, while Galloway listened silently, but with great intensity. “Well, if that’s true, then you’ve come to the right place. Of course, we can’t just let you walk into the place, you know. We’re pretty laid back here, but even we have security requirements. First you must be interviewed by one of our Staff members.”
-“I understand. It makes sense.”
-“Good! Then, I’ll take you to the right person. I was in fact about to see her myself. Uh, you don’t mind, do you Gallo?”
The red-haired Saiyan didn’t look happy, but after a second said, “Very well. I leave him in your hands, Martinez.” He then turned around, and started walking back to his post.
-“By the way, that was d Galloway” Wil explained. “He’s a Saiyan- you know what those are?” Leareth shook his head. “No? They’re kinda like Kryptonians, but with worse attitudes…. Try not to get on his bad side, OK?”
-“OK” the blonde boy agreed, as the two of them started walking towards the RPGC headquarters, passing by Galloway who was back in his post, looking like a silent, grim statue again, and then they entered the building.


A short while later, in Weiila’s office:

…“So, let me see if I got everything right, Mr. Leareth” the bespectacled, winged woman said from behind the desk. “Until just a few days ago, you were just a normal, American student. Then you had an encounter with a mysterious man, and your latent planewalking abilities were activated, is that correct?”
-“Pretty much” he responded. He was sitting in front of Weiila; Wilfredo was standing behind him.
-“And since then, you’ve been wandering the planes aimlessly?” she continued.
-“Well, not all the time. I still live at home, go to school, etc. But yes, I find myself spending more and more time, ah, ‘out there’. It’s… intriguing, to say the least.”
-“Ahh, that brings back memories” Wil said, smiling. “I felt much the say way, when I started my own career. Except I was about 6, and in my case fairies were involved…”
“A-hem” Weiila cleared her throat, stopping Wil before he launched in one of his tirades. She then picked up the papers Leareth had filled. “Everything seems to be in order, then. Of course, you’ll be under a period of observation. Only until we can determine you can be trusted, you understand.”
-“I do.”
-“Wil, would you please show Leareth around the headquarters?”
-“Uh, actually, I have some rather important reports to give you” Wil responded.
-“Oh” she said. “Well, if you don’t mind waiting until-”
-“WIL!!” a female voice suddenly shouted.
All three of them turned to look at the entrance of the office. Standing there was a young woman, with white hair (that had some strange tinges to it) and wearing a kind of short green kimono, black shorts, tennis shoes, goggles on her head, and a choker with a blue gem on it. She ran excitedly into the room.
-“Kairi?” Wil asked, somewhat puzzled. He hadn’t seen the girl in a while, and she had changed a bit.
-“Yep! When did you get back? I haven’t seen you in ages! And- Ohh, who is this??”
Wil laughed. It was Kairi, all right. And she sounded more chipper than he remembered.
-“I just got back, I was away on a mission- and this Leareth, a new member of the group.”
-“Hi!! I’m Kairi, the half-siren! Which makes me half-human and half-water spirit, don’tcha know! But don’t worry, I’m just like human-most of the time! Whoops, there I go again, talking too much! Sorry!”
Leareth laughed, and said “Don’t worry, I don’t mind. Not as long as it’s a pretty girl who does the talking, that is.”
-“Ohh, I like you already!” she laughed right back.
-“Hey, I have an idea!” Wil suddenly said. “Kai, Leareth still hasn’t been shown around the Headquarters. I was going to show him later, but could you-”
-“Say no more!! Follow me, Lear, Kairi will show all the fun things to do around here!!”
-“Thank you” the boy said politely, even as Kairi dragged him out of the room by an arm.

Wil and Weiila smiled as the two youngsters disappeared in the hall. “It nice to have new blood around the place, don’t you think?” Wil said.
-“We’ll see” Weiila responded as she slipped her attention back to the pile of paperwork on her desk. “You said you had a report to make?”
-“Yes” Wil said, as he put his bag in the floor, fished around it a little, and produced a notebook. “I discovered three new extradimensional worlds. Here, I took extensive notes, as usual. I knew you’d like to have them.”
-“You’re about the only person around here who bothers making detailed reports” she said, as she accepted the notebook. “If only everybody else where more diligent with their discoveries, we could organize RPGC better.”
-“Give them a break, Weii. For all the evil we battle, our main motivation is still having fun.”
Weiila grumbled something about first needing to have a safe multiverse before they could start having fun in it as she started pouring over Wilfredo’s notes.

----To Be Continued----

#11

I just wanted you to know that I (among others) am watching and waiting in interest, since nobody was posting. I didn’t want you to feel bad or anything. <_<;

I AM THE ALL SEEING EYE! I SEE… STUFF! :smiley:

#12

Rest assured that I am reading, even if I don’t have anything to say about the current bit. I don’t like to comment when I have nothing of interest to say. :smiley:

#13

And rest assured that I AM working on the next part, guys; it’s just that the Holidays have slowed me down a bit (got lots of people to help for Xmas! :slight_smile: ) plus I’m doing a LOT of research for the story as well. Expect the next part soon. Oh and thanks for letting me you are reading, I appreciate it! :wink:

#14

Finally! After an unplanned Holiday hiatus, the story continues! Hope it was worth your wait…

-A Short While Later-

-“…And in conclusion, of all three worlds, I feel that Ar Ciel is the one that deserves our attention the most. Not only does its shattered state keep its landmasses isolated from each other, but its sound-based magitechnology is quite unique in the multiverse… to say nothing of the Reyvateils. I think you’ll realize how an all-female race whose minds can be cybernetically reprogrammed would be a great temptation for interdimensional slavers.”
-“Indeed” Weiila nodded, as Wilfredo finished his report. “Very well” she then added, “I’ll have some of our volunteer agents keep an eye on it. Anything else to add?”
-“No, that’s it.”
-“Good. Thanks again, Wil. I’ll contact you if anything comes up.”
Wilfredo nodded, got up his chair, and walked out of Weiila’s office. He felt satisfied that he’d done his part to help keep the multiverse a safer place, for now.

-OK, now what? he thought, as he stood in the hall. He had no immediate concerns. Maybe he should head to the cafeteria and have brunch while he planned what to do next…
-“Wil!” a male voice suddenly called behind him.
He turned around, and saw a young man standing not far away from him. He had slick hair combed to the side, and a beaming smile. He was wearing a white suit of light armor, with two swords strapped to his sides. At first, though, Wil didn’t recognize him.

The young man approached him with a friendly demeanor. “When did you get back? I heard you were gone on a special mission or something.”
Wilfredo cocked a hairy eyebrow as recognition dawned on him. “…Omegaflare?” he asked cautiously.
-“Yeah, it’s me!” he responded happily. “But it’s just Omega now. Easier to pronounce, you’ know.”
Wilfredo let out a hearty laugh. “Why, kid, it IS you! Man, I hadn’t seen you in a long time. You’ve changed, boy.”
-“Heey, I’m not a boy anymore, I’ve grown up” the young warrior responded playfully.
-“You’ve also bulked up. Been training hard?”
-“You bet! I’ve been doing some world exploring of my own. Fighting a lot of monsters helps build some muscles! Hey, are you doing anything now?”
-“Not particularly” the older adventurer said.
-“Good! Then let’s go over to the cafeteria, so I can tell you all about my adventures.”
-“Sure, I was heading there anyway. Let’s go!” Wilfredo said smiling, and gave Omega a friendly pat on the back as they walked towards the cafeteria.


Meanwhile, elsewhere in the RPGC Headquarters:

-“…And over here is the Arena” Kairi explained, as she continued to show Leareth around the place, arms still firmly locked around his.
-“Arena?” the youngster asked.
-“Oh, that’s just what we call it. It’s really a combat room, where we train by fighting each other. NOT to the death, of course” she giggled.
-“Interesting…”
-“Oh, look!” the white-haired girl said, “Looks like somebody is actually training now! Let’s go have a look!”

The two of them walked towards a large window that peered into a small room, where two figures could be seen trading blows. One was a dark-haired man with wings, wearing a white and black suit with silvery armlets and shin guards, who was flying above his opponent. The other was a tall man, covered from head to toe in a white, futuristic-looking armor, who also had feathery wings, though he was just standing on the ground at the moment, dodging and blocking his flying opponent’s blows.
-“Cool! Heaven’s Soldier and Manus Dei are sparring! They are some of our best warriors. This should be great to see!” Kairi said excitedly.
Leareth, however, had a shocked expression on his face, not so much for what he saw as for what he could feel coming from the winged warriors. However, he returned his expression to normal before his companion could notice.
-“Heaven’s Soldier is the one with the two katanas strapped on his back. He never uses them, don’t ask me why. Makes you wonder why he bothers carrying them” Kairi continued explaining. “The other one is Manus. I’ve never seen his face. He is somebody important from, uum, well I’m not sure, but he’s greatly respected by everybody, so he must be a prince or something.”
Right then, the two warriors suddenly stopped fighting, and bowed to each other respectfully.
-“Oh, looks like they are done. Hey, maybe we should go talk to them-”
-“Err, Kairi, this is cool and everything, but I’m- really hungry, all of a sudden. Does this place have a cafeteria or something?” Leareth suddenly asked.
-“Oh, sure!” she replied. “Sorry, I’ve been so excited about being the one who gets to explain things around here for once, that I guess I forgot it was time for lunch” she said in a somewhat embarrassed tone.
-"No, it’s OK” Leareth reassured her. “Let’s just go eat something now. My treat.”
-“OK!” Kairi said merrily, as the two of them walked away from the Arena, not noticing how Leareth kept looking over his shoulder towards it…

A WAREHOUSE SOMEWHERE IN BROOKLYN, NEW YORK CITY:

KABLAMM!! The sounds of gunfire suddenly shattered the silence of the night, coming from inside the warehouse. A window suddenly exploded into a thousand fragments, as a figure leaped out of it and onto the snow-covered roof of a nearby building. The figure, a tall man with dark hair and shades, wearing a black longcoat and carrying a pistol on each hand, rolled back to his feet and turned back to look at where he had come from.
BLAM BLAM BLAM!! More gunshots came out of the shattered window, whizzing by frightfully close to the dark man, who quickly turned around and ran away, jumping from rooftop to rooftop while spying back to see if he was being pursued. Luckily this area of the city had alleys small enough for him to jump across, though even for him it was a strain. The one thing he couldn’t find, however, were stairs, or some other way to get to street level. At least, the abundance of pipes, chimneys, antennas and other objects served as a cover from the gunfire.

After running for several minutes, the dark man dared to stop to catch his breath, hiding behind a brick chimney. Cautiously he looked back, guns at the ready. He did not see any sign of pursuit, but he knew his foe, and he knew he would not give up so easily.
-Damn, how can he be alive? he thought. I killed him. I KNOW I killed him. I even checked his corpse myself, blast it! he mentally cursed. Unless…

Suddenly, the sound of steps caught his attention. He peered out again. A figure was walking on the same roof, not too far away.

It was a large- no, huge- man, with almost inhuman features, all dressed in gray, with scraggly blonde hair and small eyes, also carrying two guns.
-“Gleeenton!” the man screamed. “I know you here! Show up, coward!!” he said, in a thick foreign accent.

It was him, all right: The Russian, an internationally known assassin. Or he was, until he made the mistake of accepting a hit on PC Glenton, the world’s greatest thief- and occasional hitman himself.
-“It is I, Glenton!” the man laughed. “I come back from Hell, to finish you off! Come out and plaaay!”

Glenton had no intention of ‘playing’ if he could avoid it, especially with such a dangerous opponent. He looked around- and saw that the nearest alley was far too wide for him to jump across. His luck had run out.
-“Russian!” the thief shouted. “Whatever they are paying you, I can-”
-“This is NOT about Money!” the raging man shouted back in the direction Glenton’s voice had come from. “This is about- REEEVENNNGE!!!” And then started shooting again. BLABLABLABLABLABLABLAMM!!!
The bullets tore through the chimney –and everything around it- like they were made of cardboard.

Several seconds later, The Russian stopped firing, and looked at the result of his handiwork. The brick chimney was in shambles, and the roof was covered with debris.

But there was no corpse.

-“Huh?” The assassin was momentarily stunned. He looked around, but saw no sign of his hated foe. But there was no room for him to flee, unless he had jumped down to the street, which was certain death.
Before he could approach the edge of the building to check, something fell on the snow near his feet. He quickly readied his guns again, but it wasn’t Glenton. It was a small, round, smoking object-

-a GRENADE!

-“NO!!” The Russian shouted. “NOT AGAI-”

BOOOOMM!!!

The shockwaves from the explosion almost knocked Glenton from the edge of the roof that he’d been hanging on by his fingers, but he managed to hold on. He waited a few seconds, and then pulled himself up enough to peek at the still-smoking roof.

There was a huge smoking hole on the roof, and all around it, the bloody, torn remnants of a human body.

Glenton pulled himself all the way up, and surveyed the destruction. THIS time, The Russian was dead. He HAD to be. Normally he didn’t carry such heavy explosives with him, but luckily his next “job” required their use.

The sounds of sirens snapped him back to reality. Of course all of this racket had to attract attention. He needed to find a way down, quickly-
-“Excellent work” a male voice said from behind him.
-WHAT? Glenton thought in shock, as he instinctively turned around and pulled his pistols out. There, standing not far from him, was a short man, wearing a tuxedo, with long black hair tied back into a tail, black eyes, a black beard, and a sinister smile.
-“Don’t worry. The Police won’t find us. Yet.” The man said, completely matter-of-factly.
-“Who the hell are you” Glenton asked, guns aimed squarely at the stranger’s face, “And how did you get so close to me without my noticing?”
-“That’s a secret” the man said, smiling even more, apparently unafraid of the weapons pointed his way. “You may call me… Mr. Scratch. And I’m here to offer you a deal.”
Glenton found himself blinking. The whole thing was surreal. He was standing in a bombed-out roof, with a stranger who popped up out of nowhere offering him a deal? For a moment, he wondered if he was suffering from a concussion from the blast.
-“I work for- a very important man” Scratch continued. “He’s interested in hiring your services-”
-“Tell me how you got here” Glenton insisted, weaving one of the guns on Scratch’s face.
-“Magic, of course” Scratch happily replied.
-Of course Glenton cursed internally. It just HAD to be magic.
He then turned around, and started walking away.
-“Wait!” Scratch called after him. “I know about your- problem with magic. I can fix that for you, if you want.”
Glenton stopped. He thought about it for a moment. Magic users had always been the bane of his existence. He was even more susceptible to it than average people, a fact he kept as much of a secret as he could. That this man knew about it only made him more amazing. Perhaps he could actually help him?

And yet, there was something about him- nothing physical, as far as he could tell, but- something in glenton’s being was telling him to avoid this strange man.
-“Forget it” he said, and continued walking away.
He didn’t get very far, thought, before Scratch said, “We can bring her back, you know.”
This time Glenton literally froze on his tracks. He couldn’t be talking about-
-“Yes”
Scratch said, triumphantly. “I am talking about- Mia”

Glenton turned around, slowly. Even with his shades on, his fury was apparent. “Don’t… you… DARE speak her name!”
But Scratch was unfazed. “We can bring her back. Just like we did The Russian.”
The realization hit Glenton hard. “You- it was you??”
-“Yes. Nothing personal, of course. He had a deal with us, you see. It was just business. His vendetta against you was not our fault.”
Glenton continued to stare at Scratch.
-“The point is” Scratch continued, “That we CAN bring the dead back to life, no matter how they died. And all we require of you in exchange is a small favor…”

----TO BE CONTINUED—

WRITER’S NOTES:

-Ar Ciel is the setting of the AR TONELICO rpgs

-The Russian is a character from the PUNISHER comic books.

#15

Hey cool… nice update Wil, and no worries about taking a Holiday Hiatus. It was worth the wait after all.

And nice to see some more RPGCers showing up. And a sparring match with Manus, not bad… not bad at all.

Can’t wait to see what these guys want Glenton to do. :slight_smile:

#16

Oh hay there, is that some plot? Why, yes it is! How did THAT get there. :smiley:

#17

Heh. At least this time the Russian wasn’t cross dressing.

But, I loved how you handled my character, Wil. And the story looks very promising.

Also love the touch with Mia… though, I am going to have to hurt you later. Matter of principle, I hope you understand.

#18

Yay! Free food!

#19

Nice bit with the Russian, Wil. Made me laugh thinking of him rounding the corner with an Ah-ha! look on his face.

#20

Heheh, free food is a very good way of distracting anyone, be it man or woman. :smiley:

#21

-RPGC HEADQUARTERS: -

-“…And now they are back to a Dark Blue theme” Kairi said, as she and Leareth walked along the castle’s halls. “Which I’m glad for. A few years back, somebody decided to paint everything here purple. I mean, EVERYTHING, even the potted plants! It was disgusting! Whose idea was that?”

Leareth smiled as she continued to talk endlessly. He actually did not mind it; he found he enjoyed her company, and not just because she was pretty attractive.
-“Oh, finally!” she continued. “Here’s the cafeteria!” as they stopped in front of a set of double doors.
-“Let me hold open the door for you” he said.
-“Why, thank you” she giggled. The blond boy reached for the door, pushed it open-

-And came face to snout with a GREEN DRAGON!
-“AAAAH!” the boy gasped, jumping back in shock.
-“Nononono, it’s OK!” Kairi quickly explained. “This is Bahamut, he’s one of us!”
It was then that Leareth noticed that the Dragon –who was only slightly bigger than a human being- was standing erect, and was wearing a blue cloak.
-“Let me guess- new member, right?” Bahamut said, in a powerful, yet noble voice.
Behind him, some laughter could be heard coming from inside the cafeteria.
-“Oh, shut up. Like you didn’t jump out of your skin when we first met” Bahamut shouted back at the people inside.
-“Mr. Bahamut, this is my friend Leareth, and yes, he’s a new member” Kairi explained.
-“Err… nice to meet you, Mr. Bahamut. Um, sorry about that.”
-“It’s OK, son. I understand the reaction perfectly. Intelligent Draconians such as my people seem to be rare in the Multiverse; most Dragons are indeed fearsome brutes. By the way, my name is Xero. “Bahamut” is just my royal title.”
-“Royal title?”
-“Oh yes” Kairi continued to explain. “Mister- I mean Xero is the king of his people! And yet, he often hangs out around here. Can you believe it?”
-“I find the atmosphere here more relaxing than my royal court, to be honest” the Dragon said. “But, I see I’m blocking your way in. My apologies” the large reptile said, as he moved aside.
-“Thank you!” Kairi said, then again grabbed the still-somewhat flabbergasted Leareth and pulled him inside.

There were several people inside, lounging around in several tables. They looked quite unusual, but at least most of them looked human, Leareth noted.

Two young men were leaning against a counter, looking at the arriving couple, and trying to suppress their giggles, not very successfully. One of them had spiky, sorta-purplish hair and was wearing a greenish adventuring suit; the other had bluish hair and wore a blue-and-white skintight suit. Behind the counter, a young man with blonde hair and glasses looked at them disapprovingly. On a nearby table, a blonde woman in armor drank and an Asiatic young man wearing casual clothes also stared at the snickering duo.
-“Come on guys, cut it out” the blonde youngster said.
-“Aww, you know we don’t mean anything, Poke” the spiky-haired one said. “Don’t tell me you didn’t find that funny.”

Kairi pulled Leareth with her up to the counter. ‘It’s Ok, guys, I know you’re always cracking jokes. I actually like them, most of the time” she said. “Leareth, this is GG Crono. He’s, well, uh-”
-“Ahh, come out and say it, Kai. I’m nobody. A big zero. Zip. Nada.”
Leareth raised an eyebrow at the comment.
-“What GG means” the blue haired young man next to him explained, “Is that he has no memory of who he is. Classic case of amnesia. Doesn’t seem to bother him much, tho.”
-“Hey, why worry about what you don’t remember?”
-“But” Leareth asked, “You don’t worry about your past? About loved ones who might miss you… or enemies who might be looking for you?”
Crono shrugged. “Oh, I know about that. But, it isn’t like I can do anything about it, so why worry?” he explained, then took another sip from his drink.
-“Hello, Mab!” Kairi said to the blue-dressed fellow. “Lear, this is Mabatsekker, an actual superhero from Finland! Hey, where’s Kat-Chi?”
-“She’s out shopping. I love her lots, but I’d rather hang here than follow her around buying stuff for hours.”
-“Ohh, you’re just like all guys” Kairi snorted.
-“Hey folks, want something to drink?” the guy behind the counter said. “I got some ready-made coffee, and muffins to go with it!”
-“Sure thing, Poke! Oh, and Lear’s paying, btw” she said, winking.
-“Ehh, I guess I am” he said, passing a hand through his hair in an aw-shucks type of gesture.
-“Naah, this is on the house” Poke said. “Consider it a welcome-to-the-clubhouse gift.”
-“Coffee, meh” the armored woman said. “That’s for civilized namby-pambies. REAL adventures drink ale!” and she took another swig from her frothy mug.
-“You just want to trick the poor new guy into a drinking contest, Val” the Asian next to her said. “Don’t fall for it- she’s immune to the stuff!”
-“You just had to ruin my fun, eh, Lex?” Valkyrie snapped.

Everyone in the room (except Val) laughed at that.

Leareth found himself laughing as well. The atmosphere in the room was surprisingly friendly and inviting. These may be extraordinary people, yet he found them surprisingly… normal. And, he had to admit, he liked them, so far.

He smiled for a moment, but then he remembered his mission- and grew serious again…

NEXT: Enough with the exposition! Next chapter, THE ACTION REALLY BEGINS!!!

(Those of who you haven’t been introduced yet: don’t worry, you will be later. You’ll understand why as the plot develops.)

#22

Oooo… even more regulars showing up, nice.
And this is getting almost spine-tingling good, with this spy in our presence and all… I wonder just what could his mission be.