An Alternate Shining Force story:
Disclaimer: Shining Force and everything related to it doesn't belong to me, though I wish it did. Kudos to Sega and the owners of such a great tactical RPG!!
Distant Realities
Chapter 1
"Where is that boy?" Kokichi muttered as he peered at the exposed machinery of the project he was working on. "I told him to buy the oil and be back here in an hour."
Grumbling, the old inventor straightened his back and looked around his workshop. It was a sorted mess, with piles of scrap metal, gears, rods, pulleys, and miscellaneous whatnot all jumbled respectively in several piles on the floor. His current project, which was lying on his "surgery table", was one which he'd been working on for almost five years now. It had gone well, even with the constant setbacks, with no other help besides his adopted son.
His son was almost a grown man, about to reach the age of 19. He was Kokichi's assistant in the repairing of machinery and in some electronic research. Kokichi had found the lad when he was still a baby, hidden in bushes a few yards away from the gruesome remains of a battlefield. Having had no wife or children at that time due to the almost-hermitlike existence he lived (because of his profession a.k.a. "Absent minded Inventor"), Kokichi nonetheless chose to take the child home with him.
He had named the baby Max, having pulled it out of the blue and thought it as good as any. The maiden name of Kokichi's long dearly departed mother had served to bring the baby's name to Max Wellian.
The early years of Max had been rough, more so on the old inventor rather than his son. To start with, Kokichi didn't have a clue of raising a baby. He had made a lot of mistakes that resulted in late nights, baby Max tantrums, and stress. All of these made a few white hairs show up earlier than planned. But eventually through trial and error experience, the inventor had learned how to adequately take care of Max.
Now, seventeen years later, Max had grown into a fine young man. Kokichi had endeavored to instruct him in the art of science and technology as soon as Max could read and write (public schooling courses). And like a sponge, Max had soaked it up almost as fast as Kokichi could show it to him. Though his grandfather was not perfect, Kokichi's intense passion for science and his almost limitless patience served him well in this stead.
By the time Max was ten years of age, he had already mastered the basic concepts and was beginning the intermediate ones already. Kokichi didn't forget the other areas of study though. He had sent Max to the local beginning school to broaden his education.
But when Max turned twelve years old, another interest unexpectedly caught his eye. Although his grandfather didn't expect it, neither did he condemn it nor did he forbid Max to pursue it.
It had all started when Max had witnessed an unarmed man defend himself against three ill tempered, slightly drunk swordsmen. While bearing no armour or weapons, he had knocked them all out, seemingly effortlessly. Max had been amazed at the man's inhuman speed and impressive skill. He had sought out the man and had pestered him endlessly to teach him.
Kokichi was not sure of all the details, but somehow his grandson's persistence had paid off. The man turned out to be a wandering monk. His name was Hayai Kobushi and he agreed to teach Max the beginning steps of his fighting style, which was one branch in the large tree of martial arts.
After that things had snowballed. Max became even more enthusiastic and persistent in learning how to defend himself and anything related on the subject. Hayai had taught him until Max became the equivalent to what the monk called a second dan. The monk was also quite startled to see how fast Max took to martial arts.
He had later told Kokichi that he had never seen any person increase in skill as rapidly as Max did. By the end of one year, Hayai's wanderlust urge took hold of him and he took his leave of Homesphere. The very next day, Max had gone around the village, seeking someone from whom he could learn more fighting arts from.
Swordfighting came next, learned from a couple of retired former soldiers. Archery, which lead to hunting and the basics of tracking. Battlefield strategies, which Kokichi helped encourage by teaching his son how to play chess. Seeing the limitless potential within the young and eager lad, Kokichi did not want to limit him to only science and technology. He wanted his son to live to be a old and happy grandfather, just like him. The old inventor was also an experienced traveler, and he well knew the dangers of the road.
Therefore he allowed a concession and had hired several masters of the fighting arts. And through all this time, Kokichi also continued to instruct his son in the art of science. For although Max had become almost addicted to physical combat and the like, science was one of his first loves, and he wasn't about to give it up.
Kokichi saw that if Max continued like that he wouldn't get a decent education. So after a serious talk with Max, they came to a compromise. It was decided that Kokichi would send him to the Martial Academy at Guardiana, which was well renowned for turning out excellent warriors.
The cost wasn't an issue as several of Kokichi's earlier inventions had proven quite successful in patenting. The old inventor actually had a small fortune which he could live comfortably off. The main reason why he had kept on continuing with the inventions was because he just loved his work.
The memory of that had Kokichi grinning in spite of himself. He had done a decent job of raising that boy right, he congratulated himself. With his latest project just about done, Kokichi was feeling extremely satisfied over accomplishing an extremely difficult task.
When the sounds of people shouting, grunting, and hearing the crack of flesh striking flesh, it took his smile away. Kokichi knew the sounds of a fistfight when he heard them and due to past experience, he could predict with one hundred percent accuracy who were the participants. Knowing this took his grin away and replaced it with an annoyed looking frown.
"Not again! Those two boneheads!!" he groaned and headed towards the door, grabbing a much-used and worn out wooden rod along the way.
Gramps Kichi was going to kill him.
That was the foremost thought running through Max Wellian's head as he calmy dusted himself off the road and turned to face his aggressor.
It had been a simple errand. 'Go to the store and get five medium-sized oil flasks.' Kokichi's grandson had taken the shortcut to save time. The shortcut was a roughly beaten path that cut near the outskirts of Homesphere and ended up connecting to the main road heading to the Town Square. He also hoped to avoid fighting with Rict Baln today.
At first it was good for practicing his martial arts and he considered it as sparring. But later on as Rict began to consistently attack him with great hostility and painful intent, that was when it started to become less then progressive.
And now Rict had sprung a surprise attack on him by leaping at him from the trees. With quick reflexes, Max had thrown himself into a side roll and came up facing his attacker.
It was widely agreed amongst the youth of Homesphere that Rict Baln, was considered a bully, all red haired, two hundred twenty pounds prime class of it. With an overbearing attitude, arrogant mindset, and a generally ill-tempered behavior, he had set out at an early age of nine years old to terrorize and put down anyone who was smaller then him and not an adult. Being an overly large kid even at such a young age had helped his quest greatly.
And he had such a big bone to pick with Kokichi's grandson, personally.
Snickering nastily, said bully smirked and crossed his arms over his chest, "Oh please don't tell me you've forgotten how we first met. I'm still interested in extending some payback for that."
At once recalling the incident, Max was hard pressed to not collapse in laughter as he thought back to that event.
Flashback
Max and Rict's paths had crossed for the first time five years earlier when Max and Kokichi had moved to Homesphere, and it wasn't anything friendly.
A younger Baln had wanted to test the mettle of the town's newest kid resident, and one day had interrupted Max's walk to the market square. Placing his fists firmly on his hips, Baln had leered at Max and told him to pay him the "toll".
Max had stoutly refused and had tried to walk around the bigger boy. Rict had retaliated by grabbing Maxs' right shoulder and pulled the adopted son of Kokichi towards himself with the intent of doing some physical persuasion.
That action did not agree with Max. Therefore he responded instinctively. Possessing quick reflexes, he had kneed the bully between the legs as hard as he could.
Rict had immediately loosened his hold on Max and slowly sank to his knees. He carefully held his privates and had made a weak, continuous sound. Max would later compare it to those a wolf makes when he bays at the moon. Except being much higher in pitch and weaker in volume, of course.
Max had of course quickly made his escape, grinning gleefully at having gotten free of a potentially harmful situation (for himself). He was a bit anxious and fearful of any future retaliations by the bully, but shrugged his fears off as he reasoned that a bully of Ricts' character would not let anyone know he had been bested. And by a smaller boy at that! Therefore the only wrath he would have to keep an eye out and an open ear for was Balns' own, not the parental version.
Kokichi's adopted son resolved to speak with his father about what happened that day, in order to try and avoid any further troubles with Rict Baln.
End Flashback
Narrowing his eyes at his enemy, Max replied with a mocking smile for Rict, "Well, should I alert the wolf pack to start the howling and give you the lead?"
Max had the pleasure of seeing the smug look on Rict suddenly transform in a grimace as the bully's face contorted in rage.
"That's it. You're dead!!" Rict howled and charged at Max with fists clenched. The smaller teenager's face made no move to defend himself or even run away as his enemy dashed towards him with a meaty fist cocked back. But Max didn't panic, he just stood there with a calm face and measuring eyes. Rict lashed out with a ferocious right straight, throwing his entire weight behind it.
To Max, Rict's attack was nothing special. It had all the subtlety of a oncoming freight train. Max quickly dodged to the side and, as the momentum from Rict's dash carried him past Max, chopped the back of the bully's neck. The extra force made Rict totally lose control over his forward motion and fell on the ground face flat.
Max jumped back from his opponent and raised his fists in a fighting stance, right hand loosely held in a fist near his chin and left hand held vertically before his face, fingers closed together in a knife-like formation. He waited for Rict to get back up.
Barely half a second later, the bully raised himself off the ground, face rubbed with dirt and red with embarrassment and anger. Cursing foully under his breath, he clenched his large fists and swung his body in the direction of Max.
But Max was already there. Advancing quickly, yet stealthily, he had waited to seize the opportunity to catch the bully off guard. A lightning quick left-right jab combination knocked the bigger boy's head back just enough to temporarily stun him. Max followed up with a hard low left hook to the unguarded kidney, making Rict jerk in sudden pain and shy away from the unexpected assault.
Reflexively, the bully swung a wide backhand swing at Max, who quickly ducked it and came up with an uppercut that rocked Ricts' head back. Unlike the two opening jabs, Max had spared no power in this uppercut and had even added a bit more force by lieu of springing from a slight crouch.
Rict quickly retreated back several steps, his guard finally up. Glaring balefully at Max, he wiped the blood that was emerging from the corner of his mouth. Surprisingly, Max hadn't pressed his assault and stood there, studying Rict with calculating eyes.
As in a duel, the two combatants stood there, reassessing each other. It seemed to be an uneven fight. Rict Baln stood at 6"1, with the physique of a laborer. He had possibly the longest reach, as well as being one of the stronger young men in Homesphere and was an experienced fist fighter.
Max Wellian, at 5"8, lacked the height and reach to match the bully. He had a compact build, but was extremely fit, very agile, and possessed quick reflexives and Hayae's training. On top of all of that, Max learned quickly from his mistakes.
Getting his composure and calm back, Rict took a few breaths, shook his head to clear it, then raised his fists in a boxer's stance. He began to advance slowly, weaving his body left and right, all the while keeping his feet in balance with each shift of weight he made.
Max also began to shuffle slowly forward. He stood sideways in relation to his opponent to present the smallest target of his body as possible. Left foot forward, right foot out, Max replicated the fighting stance he had used earlier in the fight. It was a countering stance, to be used against an aggressive enemy.
As if to prove the younger boy's choice true, Rict attacked. He came in fast and hard with a right-left jab combination that Max easily slapped aside with his knife hand in perfect timing, one-two. Fearing a counter attack, Rict immediately launched into a straight kick.
Had Max just done that, Rict's foot and most of his weight behind it, would have fractured his left hip. That would not have helped him at all, so he spun to the right, allowing Rict's body to move past him. While spinning, he slid into a footsweep that made contact with the back of his opponent's shins.
Rict felt the air rush out of his lungs as he impacted the hard ground. His eyes teared in pain and he tried to desperately suck in oxygen. As his tortured lungs gained a little air, he focused on his surroundings and saw a sight he really, really hated. Wellian was standing a few feet away, with his arms crossed over his chest.
Then the bully saw it. Wellian's damned smirk, a pure sign of evil if he ever saw one. It wasn't really a distortion of the mouth, per say, but there was something there. A very irritating something, that gleamed in his eyes. It severely pissed him off, and he decided to do something about it.
"Jeez Baln, this scene looks familiar somehow. You provoke me, we fight, you end up in the dust. Don't you ever learn? You can't beat me until you get more training!" recited Max from habit, as they had done this many times years past.
"Shut up!" his opponent raged and suddenly rolled away and got to his feet. He breathed heavily and was flushed deep red in his face. "Damn you!!"
"So you've said before a hundred times. C'mon I know you can do better!!" Max settled into a defensive stance and waved for Rict to begin.
Predictably, Rict charged. However this time he was in full control of himself and his movements. Rict kept his punches compact and tight, leaving the smallest holes in his defense he could manage. Despite his size, his punches were hard to see as a complex mix of jabs, hooks, crosses and uppercuts were thrown.
However, Max was still the faster as he handily deflected or dodged all blows directed at him. Though he didn't counterattack, Max was just waiting for that one chance to end this fight as efficiently as possible.
Rict was getting angrier at the double facts that had presented themselves to him. One was that he wasn't even landing a solid hit. Second was that Wellian wasn't even trying to fight back! Cursing loudly, he increased the tempo of his punches, trying to get the smaller man into a more vulnerable position.
But Max wasn't cooperating. He had been cooly observing Rict's fighting style and making minute adjustments as needed. Unbeknownst to Rict, by increasing the tempo of his punches he had slightly loosened up his tight stance. Which in turn meant the opportunity to successively counterattack was at hand.
And Max took it.
Slightly tilting his head to the left, he dodged a right straight that flew by so close he felt the rush of air brush his cheek. Before Baln could even recover or throw a follow up punch, Max quickly stepped into his opponent's space and let fly a devastating trio of blows. In rapid succession, a right liver blow was followed by a left. As Rict's eyes involuntarily teared up at the pain, his head exploded upwards yet again with a powerful uppercut. Although it was a near thing, his tongue barely escaped being cut in half by his teeth as his jaw was smashed closed by the impact.
Both fighters seemed to stop in midaction for a split second. Then gravity kicked in and Rict collapsed to the dirt road with a loud thud, unconscious. Max relaxed from his pose and breathed out deeply, letting the adrenaline and tension flow out of him. Master Kobushi had taught him to do that after every battle. It kept the muscles from straining themselves overly too much.
Max grinned victoriously and dusted himself off casually. He made a salute of respect to Rict Baln. The larger boy had really improved his boxing. Had not Max been trained by a former Monk, he would've definitely been beated, and quite badly at that.
His reflective mood was harshly interrupted when something hard smacked him in the back of his head. "Ouch!"
Reflexively, Max threw himself into a forward roll and came up in his usual stance. He was about to attack on whoever had whacked him when his eyes recognized his assailant. "Gramps Kichi! What are you doing here?"
"Don't play dumb, kid! What the hell happened here?" snapped Kokichi, glaring at his grandson. He waved the wooden rod, which he had used for smacking his grandson's head, in agitated circles in the air as suspicious gleam entered into his eyes. "Don't tell me you were fighting with that Baln kid again?" A pointed glance at the unconscious bully was accompanied by a pointed finger. "HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM THAT BULLHEADED BRAT?!!"
As his 'Gramps' Kichi ranted on and on, Max shrugged and began to walk away while Kokichi was otherwise distracted. He didn't get more than five feet when that damned wooden rod struck him again. And in the same place on the back of the head, too.
Max involuntary cursed under his breath.
He recieved a harder whack for his trouble.
"Pay attention!! And quit that swearing! I didn't raise a foul-mouthed kid!" roared his angered Grandfather, cane held at ready should Max decide to attempt another escape.
Groaning, Max prepared himself for yet another long, loud full blown lecture. And holding his hand against a soon-to-be bruise that was throbbing with bearable, yet irritating pain.
Two hours later, Max and Kokichi were in the workshop, doing some last minute adjustments on the old inventor's latest project.
"Is it ready Gramps?"
Kokichi barely grunted a reply as he tightened a bolt inside the project's innards. He withdrew his hand and placed the wrench back in its place on the sidedesk. Wiping some of the oil off his hands with a convenient rag, he allowed a wide smile to crease his face and turned to his assistant-grandson.
"Are you ready boy?"
That grin was out of place for such a serious tone, Max thought. He rolled his eyes at that, then nodded his head. He didn't trust himself to say anymore, as he was still a bit sullen after the unfair lecture his Gramps had whipped out. Perhaps it was just just old age that was making him eternally cranky and short tempered of some things.
Despite his efforts to keep an approximate mood fit for such an important and amazing scientific achievement, Kokichi couldn't help but feel a bit giddy and excited. Like a kid who discovered a new toy, it was all he could do to not start bouncing around, making childlike noises of glee.
Calling upon the discipline learned from a lifetime of careful study and implementation, Kokichi brought himself to a decent degree of control. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then without further adieu, he pressed the activation switch and closed the lid. Standing back with arms crossed over his chest, he was about to witness years of hard work, about to come to fruition.
END CHAPTER 1
CONCEPTION OF IDEA: JULY 14, 2004
WRITING COMMENCEMENT: JULY 15, 2004
ROUGH DRAFT COMPLETED: AUGUST 31, 2004
MULTIPLE EDITING COMPLETED: SEPTEMBER 22, 2004
Author's Notes:
Well, this is my very first fanfiction ever. I was kinda nervous about posting it here, hence the long editing time. I'm surprised that I managed to finish a chapter ï