Phantasy Star: Cosmic Waltz, Level One: The Summertime Breeze

i So, what exactly would you say is real? I mean, you can wander around Ragol for ages and find nothing of value; no hope, no love. Nothing really matters in the end, isn't that how the song goes? I think it's just a fantasy, just an elaborate game with ridiculously high stakes. Either way, I feel like i'm caught somewhere I can't recognize, like a house of mirrors, or X's hair. Wherever it is, I can't escape it. It's just an infinite abyss. But for people who aren't me... Well, they only have to look to the sky, and they'll find their way. It's about vision, not sight, you know. /i

"You're way too slow, geezer!" A familiar voice rang out into the Jungles of Gal Da Val, taunting it's opposition like a stranded Hyena. The leaves of the trees rustled about as a bespectacled FOmar tried to track the coalescing chaos that was Nyreal Destiny's mind. The FOmar's red hair blew in the playful breeze caused by the Wind Waker's (Kekeke) tauntingly weak provokations. "Just attack! C'mon!"

"There's four of you out there. If I shot one, then the other three would jump me. Damn Naruto Neko-fiend." The FOmar in brown pushed up his glasses with the butt of one of his Yasminkov Customs. Say, didn't Yas die a long time ago? How the hell are those things custom-made? Sage is a freaking haxxor. But I digress, Jonas Sage, one the great heroes of the Zionus incident, was in a rather obvious conundrum. "Dammit Ny. We were going to fight i without /i the special moves of megadeath!"

"That's a lie," the synchronous, indignant voices rang from multiple parts of the trees, stressed with their constant motion, "You're always reading my moves. It's like a built-in godmode hack. With Grand Dream on there's lots more to do telepathically. I just have to wait until you resign to defeat."

i Rawr. /i Sage thought aloud. Is it literally him thinking out loud when we can hear his thoughts as he hears ours? Or are we hearing his filter when he speaks, hearing him thinking aloud, even if it's mental speaking? i Oh. Of course. Telekinesis. /i

The sun's rays burned fiercely on Sage's body, his knees cold from the running water of the near-waterfall stream. It felt like his possessed oven had caught him in it's door while in the midst of frying a Rappy. The green one was definately his target. Green Nyreal was a freaking idiot. One time had even ran into a tree while attempting to criticize Sage's mother. He'd be the best to grab and fling into the other four. Definately. Sage's telepathy caught a broadcast signal of idiocy--something about LUE being an intelligent forum for the developed minds of educated individuals--coming from a rock near the gate to the next area. His corporeal fist intercepted Green Nyr's path of motion and hoisted him into the sky. "HEY! Let me down you freakishly smart bastage!"

"No." Sage began to spin him around, his mental hand acting as a centrifuge to the insane motion. Green Nyreal felt as if he was going to puke as Sage spun him faster and faster, all the while waiting for his opportunity. By the time GN's spinning had reached it's peak, Sage had found his chance: All Nyreal's were about to converge and attack. Sage cried out as he released Idiot Nyr into the other three Ny Incarnates, crashing into the group with a fleshy "Thud". The team of Nyreals fell into the river and, with a flash of golden light and green wisps, became one once more.

Nyreal looked upon his cloaked form and would have rubbed his cranial injury, but Sage was smart enough to not give Nyreal any room to breathe. Sage took careful telekinetic aim with his mechs and fired like a noob with a God/Battle: ludicrously fast. Nyreal spun out of the way, shocked, but as he turned a bullet managed to cut the skin of his left arm. Nyreal only had time to raise Shouin Lumiere as a guard for the explosive shells of Sage's next barrage. i Onetwothreefourfivesix NOW! /i Nyr followed his own instructions and charged Sage as he reloaded in preparation for another barrage. Sage loaded his last shell while Nyreal jumped into the air and swung his blade downwards.

i Ka-KING! /i

Nyreal pressed his sword to Sage's throat; One of Sage's Yas's pressed against Nyreal's temples, while it's twin guarded from a downward cut of the Shouin Lumiere. It was a stalemate.

"Good match, Sage." Nyreal said, breaking the intense focus and sheathing his sword on his hip. "I need to kill that idiot side of me. He always manages to screw my plans."

"It's not going to go away." Sage replied, wiping off his brown robe. "Not as far as you're concerned, anyway."

Nyr glared at Sage, his hands twitching on the hilt of the Zanba on his back. "I'd kill you, but I need your mental advice. Before this whole match got started, I wanted to ask you about how I could control the Shouin Lumiere more effectively. I mean, it's all mentally controlled, the vacuum creation and oxygenation and such, and I figured you could help, considering that you have little else i but /i your head to fight with."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment," Yasminkovs with hacked 100 hit were placed back into their yellow capsules. "As far as controlling attacks with your mind goes, it's best to use them sparingly. The mind is a muscle, and overuse is just as deadly as it would be to, say, your tools. It's best to take things slow at first, and as you train more and more you'll get stronger."

"Overuse is only deadly where Lorna is involved. But anyway, thanks for the help. It's time for me to go take a nap." Nyreal piped up out of the VR and headed home.

Nyreal was, to be blunt, ing bored. Too much time had passed since the last good job, or the last good fight with Light. It had been a little over one year after Zionus' Rise and Fall, and since then, Pioneer 2 had entered an era of Warm Fuzzies, where joy had reigned and everyone felt the need to loveth one's brother. i I mean, this kind of utopia is good, but it's just so boring! That, and I haven't found anything cool in ages. /i Nyr thought this as he opened the door to his apartment, kicking aside stacks of books and video game cases on his path to his bedroom. He popped open two red capsules and used Foie to weld them to the far wall away from his TV, to match a row of similarily shaped swords. "Ha! Just three more of these accursed sheathed things and I'll be able to panel my wall!" He turned and looked out at his humble abode: the word Trashed came to mind instantly. The walls were still waaay to small, even for one person. The kitchen was the only large room in the house, at roughly three times the size of his bedroom, but for Nyreal, THAT was way too small. He had thought about buying a new apartment, but his "Hero" status was wiped away by the Great Light's Great Coverup. That meant that noone in their right mind would ever give Nyreal a home loan. He could pay with cash, but mansions on Coral City were roughly 2 Million Meseta, which meant he could only get one by never getting knocked out. But even then, he'd owe the broker two whole bucks, which meant killer taxes and late fees would ensue the following month. But it's not like it would have made a difference: Nyreal was broke. (Too many games, too much take-out)

He stopped momentarily and used his big toe to switch on his PS333, the warm-up and start-up time of which was conveniently somewhere around 15 minutes. Just enough time for a shower, Nyr thought lackadaisically.

Somewhere in the desert, inside of an ancient Ruin, a newly-tanned RAmarl was fkeeing rapidly down the steps, her precious cargo bundled in the crisped remains of her robe, leaving only her white RAmarly uniform underneath. But... Why? Well, there was an idol. Of a Rappy. Rolling towards her at a ridiculous speed. Light's freshly-burned skin felt slow and constraining, which was definately not helping her mad dash out of dodge. She could feel herself slowing down, simply due to the fact that "I'VE BEEN RUNNING AT FULL SPEED FOR AN HOUR!". Still, when the rolling rappy reached up to rub against her ass, Light i made /i speed. Tears of frustration streamed from her eyesockets. Like This: TT "AAAHHHHH! I don't wanna die I don't see why this whole dungeon has to be so freaking crazy when will this ever stop I wasn't being selfish was I I mean I just wanted these rare Burst items I can't see why the ancient dudes who made this place are so insistent on not letting me do what I want, you agreeeeeee?" She rubbed her phoney tears off her face.

"ACK! I'VE BEEN CRYING IN FRENCH!" Light turned another corner in the musty dungeon, her vision nebulous from millenias worth of undisturbed dust, and the occasional giant spider web. As she broke through a web of one such specimen in her frantic escape attempt, she caught a beam of light out of the corner of her eye, and she used the last of her energy reserves to try and locate the source. She found it in her next right turn, but Light's feet couldn't understand what her eyes knew, and she tripped over, her legs cramping and pulsating--utterly useless. "... Bastard Rappy." Light shifted into her Astral Form, her scarf and outfit flowing outward in the gleaming energy she was giving off. Light lifted her Heaven's Punisher and fired a single shot. No more Rappy! It exploded in a maelstrom of simulated granite guts. Light cracked a Trifluid over her wounded legs, letting the nanobots do their job as she stood up and exited out the last two feet of the Ruin. It was high noon in the sand dune, but Light didn't care about weather, not when Rares were at stake! When she had stolen them from the Temple Altar, Light didn't have too much time to examine her finds. When she saw her haul, she was stunned. Spaztic, even! She called her team to meet her in the Desert town of Rumena immediately. Something KEWL had come up. b b

Sye threw his Elysion into the head of a Pal Rappy. He removed his blade and lit it ablaze with a restrained Foie. "Woot. I get to eat Pal stew again tonight. Last time I had to eat this for dinner, I ended up with pieces of an Angel Harp inside me." He prepared his stomach for the worst (Agito, right in the lower intestine!). But, luckily for him, his PDA nearly vibrated his FOnewm bubble butt out of his none-too-flattering pants. The comforting vision of a suspiciously perky Light popped up on the screen, once he let it ring once or twice. She spoke quickly, and if he didn't know better (Which he did), then it would seem like she was very, very aroused: "OMG U Guys! I've been blowing apart this ancient temple for the past three weeks or so, and I just found the coolest things ever! I think they're weapons made by the ancient inhabitants of this planet! But, I need your guys' help for analysis. Get over to the new colony of Rumena immediately! This is your sexy comrade Light, over and out!" She finished her video message with a mock salute, then a joking laugh. Sye knew that tone: She had found rares. Sye headed towards the nearest teleporter he knew, leaving the burning chicken to burn.

A few minutes later, A HUnewearl named Sange came and used Gibarta to extinguish the flames that were eating the Rappy's carcass. Inside the corpse of the bird was a katana, which Sange promptly removed from the bird. On the side of the sheath it read "Model AUW 1975". She put it in the nearest tourist trash incinerator, and the sword was destroyed insantly.

The next morning, JiEin made his way along the path that the other two Hunters had followed, and upon noticing the charred Rappy, he remarked, "Good thing it didn't have my Agito..."

Mint looked around in the darkness. He was dazed, confused, and he felt slightly i drained /i . Okay, inventory and synopsis. He had just woken up. It was dark. Dark as in no light whatsoever. He felt what seemed to be a dry erase computer board with his foot. There was a girl on him. She was kissing him wildly, though Mint knew that it wasn't that that woke him up. His ass vibrated again. "OH! That's right!" Mint got up in a flash, inadvertently pushing the girl off of him. "Oh. Someone sent me a message." Mint didn't even notice! .-. "Oooh, Light! Cool. I wonder what's up?" He sat through her message, and had come to a conclusion: "Light found some rares..."

Minty boy walked out of the room with his shirt and his leather jacket slung over his back, since he had only barely managed to get his pants on, thanks to the fervored efforts of whoever had pinned him to the table during his nap. He had tripped over three desks in the process of exiting the room, and when he reached the doorway his waist slammed into a pencil sharpener. The pain in the general thigh area reminded him of what had happened before he took his little HUnewm nap. "Oh... That's right. That freaky lady only taught me to avoid women who chew gum..." Mint exited the room, and saw the crimson flushed face of an innocently cute young boy in a black school uniform. Poor child couldn't have been more than 11. Mint caret-smiled and pushed the boy into the Lion's Den (Classroom).

i I wonder if that kid learned alot? /i

Nyreal walked out of the shower, nakie except for the towel he was using to dry off his hair. He was beginning to like his new haircut, as it fit his personality more than the straight-hair look did. His new 'do was messy, it ended just below his armpits, and it's color was nearly indigo, instead of his usual purple. And, for reasons he couldn't understand, ever since his battle with Laeryn, a lock of hair in front of his face had been bright green. For the year since then, it had grown in that one color in that one lock on the right side of his face, as if it had always been that way. Must be a side effect of Grand Dream Light Rouzeki, Nyreal had imagined. Ny-Ny tied his towel around his waist, and sat on the couch in front of his game, oddly named Rise of Zionus. He was playing as X Launcher, since he was the hero of the story. i This game is a bit too precise as far as the events of one year ago are concerned... I guess you can't just supress memories? /i After an hour or so of training on Seraphs, hunting a Masamune, Nyreal was bored. "Gah! I'm so glad I don't have a conduit. Demon Roar is so slow to cast... I wonder if I could hax X a Shouin Lumiere?" Before he could break out his AR333, the PDA in his pants started beeping, so naturally he paused in the middle of X's trash talking cutscene to go and grab it. While bending over to pick up his pants, he slipped on the wet floor. "DAMMIT! OWW! Oy..." His hand shaking from shock, Nyr removed his PDA from his backpocket (What is with these folks? Are they into butt vibes or something?), and he watched Light's message. He was about to turn it off and return to haxxxing his weapon of choice, but there was a special message for Nyreal's eyes only: Light was standing near an isolated Oasis, smiling in the sun, half naked.

"I'm soooo hot!" Apparently, she was hot, as the message b was /b recorded in the desert. Nyreal fainted.

Next Time On Phantasy Star: Cosmic Waltz!

Nyreal: I need more fanservice.

Light:You'll get yours later! Right now, you need to get your ass over here to HELP ME!

Laeryn: You'll be glad to know that the next chapter has nothing to do with them. It's about me. And a little babe named Arcadia.

Arcadia: You know... We'd probably get more readers if we gave them some fanservice, don't you think Laeryn?

Laeryn: Strip in front of me and I'll strand you in a room with Mint and X Launcher, with noone around to save you for a thousand miles.

Arcadia: Aww!

:Level 2: White Ash:

Light: And of course, next time we'll have more... Fanservice.

Just not from me. Keep dreaming, boys! 3