Now presenting from The Super Fantastical Star Ocean Krewe (a.k.a Tara's character set from her second game), The Adventures of Dazzling Neon!: For the Love of the Hero, Part 1! Join us on the start (and, given Tara's writing habits, likely never the end) of a not-so-epic journey as three proud warriors duke it out to win the heart of their pretty geek-boy leader with the funnily spelled name!

Our cast!

First off, our contestants!
Peppita Rossetti - Hailing from the Rossetti Circus, this young miss has certainly had to work her hardest to even get near our skinny geek-boy after their first meeting. Her work has paid off, however, as she nows travels through the cosmos by his side. Will her youthful determination and peppy disposition be enough to get her through?
Cliff Fittir
- Is this destiny? A hot not-so-young Klausian from the organization known as Quark, he has been by our geek-boy's side unerringly since almost the beginning of his adventures. This was his job, of course, but above and beyond the call of duty has he shown an interest in our young hero, who obviously looks on him as a friend. Is there more to it? Will this long-standing friendship be enough to help this blond hunk of muscle get a headstart on his younger, more shameless adversaries?
Albel Nox
- The third competitor, a lithe young masterpiece from Airyglyph (or, more precisely, Kirsal). Long has he taunted and baited his companions, including our geek-boy hero, but is there more? Of course! Otherwise he wouldn't be in this competition, and this competition wouldn't be on a FaytxAlbel community. At any rate! Despite his neverending string of barbs, he and our geek-boy seem to have a level of affection for each other. Watch as he gives lame excuses to save our hero's ass! Watch as our pretty geek-boy pouts and mopes when Albel leaves without saying good-bye! Will he be the one to steal away his heart? (Without doing it literally?)

Watching from the sidelines are the other members of this madhouse!
Fayt Leingod
- AKA our skinny, pretty geek-boy hero, and the (mostly oblivious) ultimate prize in this contest! Who will he choose? How will he decide?! How will he survive? Inquiring minds want to know!
Maria Traydor
- AKA the chick who looks suspiciously like our skinny geek-boy hero, yet has a very romantic ending with him if you choose to get it. Despite this, however, in this contest of wits, daring, insanity, and love, she is but an annoyed spectator looking out for our young hero. Good thing, too, considering how Albel's flirtation habits tend to be.
Sophia Esteed
- AKA ...shouldn't she be in this competition? The answer is no!, as Tara has decreed her relationship with our geek-boy to be mostly platonic, and also funnier if she's not directly involved. Which is not to say she does nothing at all! This young lady seems to have a favorite in this competition, and has no shame about helping him out as much as possible! The other two will have to double up on their efforts to win Fayt's heart with her around. Could this result in a team-up?
Other people - ...I'm lazy, shush.

Such drama! Such daring! Who will win in this madman's game of chance and love? We start our contest in Peterny's inn, after returning to the Eternal Sphere for the first time...

Part 1!: Let the games begin!

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me."

"I'm not! Fayt likes me more, and you know it!"

Cliff crossed his arms and shook his head. "Not a chance, kid. We've been travelling together for a lot longer than you two have."

"Yeah, but only because you kidnapped him and crashed on a planet with no way off," Peppita said, glaring at the much older man across the table. "And besides, you're old enough to be his dad!"

"All right, kid, now you're treading on thin ice," Cliff said, leaning forward onto the table and returning her glare.

"Well, it's true," Peppita insisted. "You're how old? Fourty?"

"I'm only thirty-six."

"That's still seventeen years!" Peppita cried. "You're still a cradle robber!"

"Now, hold on," Cliff said, standing up. Peppita stood up as well, trying her best to look imposing from almost two feet down. "At least I don't look like I'm a ten-year-old."

"I am fourteen years old!" Peppita yelled, stomping her foot. Cliff waved his hand dismissively.

"Close enough."

"Oooooooh," Peppita growled, hardly a second before leaping forward in an attempt to attack the much larger man. Cliff expected this, however, and dodged, then stood and watched in amusement as the girl pounded on him.

"Imbeciles."

"Huh?" Cliff turned his head to look behind him, catching sight of Albel in the corner. "How long have you been here?"

"Since Fayt fell asleep while we were discussing... certain matters regarding the future," Albel said, resisting the urge to smirk as Cliff and Peppita looked at him, one annoyed and the other disbelieving.

"You were in Fayt's room?!" Peppita asked, moving past Cliff to properly attempt to look threatening. "Why?!"

"...I believe I already answered that, maggot."

"Care to explain what you meant by 'matters regarding the future'?" Cliff asked, turning to watch what would likely result in a fight between the two.

"No," Albel said simply.

"Tell us!" Peppita ordered, marching up to Albel and standing on her toes in an attempt to look him in the eyes. Suddenly she gasped, backing up and pointing at the Glyphian. "I know! I bet you're trying to steal Fayt away from me!"

"...You mean me, right?" Cliff asked, tilting his head to one side to avoid Peppita's Scholar's Bracelet as it flew through the air and hit the wall behind him. Albel hmphed.

"I don't see how I could 'steal' him when he's already mine," he said reproachfully, and stepped to the side to avoid Peppita's Lunar Talisman and Cliff's Warrior's Bracelet.

"Get real, Albel. Like he'd be interested in a bastard like you," Cliff said.

"iYou/i certainly seemed to be after I got shot."

"Only because Fayt-," Cliff started, stopped, then threw his Amulet of Freedom at him. Albel dodged this as well, only to get hit in the face by one of Peppita's many pairs of shoes.

"You little vermin," he hissed, moving to draw his sword just as Maria came stalking down the hall, followed by Sophia.

"Will you three pipe down? We can hear you down the hall!" Maria said. Behind her, Sophia waved cheerfully.

"Sorry, boss," Cliff said, shrugging. The other combatants merely made faces at her and turned to ignore her, respectively. Maria sighed, forcing down the urge to toss one of her own accessories at them.

"What on earth were you three shouting about, anyway?" she asked, looking annoyed.

"...I don't shout, fool," Albel muttered, rubbing his face. Maria glared at him.

"Fine then, what were Cliff and Peppita shouting about, and what were you simpering about?" she asked, and one of brief loss of self control later dodged Albel's Warrior's Bracelet.

"Well, if you really want to know-mmph!" Peppita glared up at Cliff, who twitched slightly when she bit into his hand.

"Ah, nothing to worry about, Maria. These two were just being obnoxious," he said, shrugging. "Same old, same old."

Maria arched an eyebrow, then sighed and shook her head.

"Whatever. But if you're going to fight, do it outside of town, please. I don't think this planet's buildings could take the structural damage," she said, crossing her arms. "Not to mention the fact that this is an inn. You know, where people sleep?"

"Sleep is for the weak!" Cliff and Peppita answered together, flashing Quark's leader a thumb's up. Yet another loss of self control later, they both dodged accessories of Maria's, only for the latter to be hit from behind with a flying laser weapon (fortunately not turned on).

"Payback," Albel said simply, and stalked out of the inn. Rubbing the back of her head, Peppita pointed as dramatically as possible after him.

"You! Stop right there! You still haven't told us what you were talking to Fayt about!" she yelled, chasing after him.

"What he was talking to Fayt about?" Maria asked, looking questioningly at Cliff. He just shrugged and jogged out of the inn after the two. Maria and Sophia watched him leave, and then, with a world-weary sigh, the former set about picking up the items strewn about the lobby. Sophia watched her for a moment, then quickly bowed to the slightly stunned and frightened workers at the desks.

"Sorry if our friends frightened you," she said, bowing again. "But I don't suppose you could tell us what they were talking about...?"

The two desk workers looked at each other, at Sophia, then Maria, then back at each other. Finally, the one in charge of people's things shook his head slowly. Maria and Sophia looked at each other.

"Er, well, what if I guess? Can you tell me if I'm right?" Sophia asked. The employees looked at each other again, then looked at her and nodded.

"Okay! Well, let's see," she said, looking thoughtful. "Were they fighting over who Fayt likes the most?"

The employees and Maria looked at the girl, stunned and confused.

"How did you guess?" the employee in charge of guests asked. Sophia beamed.

"Woman's intuition," she said. "That, and Cliff has talked to me about it, Peppita was shouting about Albel and Fayt when she left, and Fayt keeps asking me what I think Albel likes."

"...Sounds more like assumption, if you ask me," Maria said, her brain's defense mechanisms swiftly trying to suppress thoughts of Sophia's revelation. Sophia shrugged and smiled.

"Close enough."

"...Right. Now could you help me-?"

Sophia blinked. "Oh! Right!"

As the two young women cleaned up after their companions, off on the path leading to Surferio the odd trio continued to bicker. Or rather, Peppita bickered, Albel ignored her, and Cliff tried to ignore her.

"Come on! Tell us what you and Fayt talked about!" she yelled, taking out her frustrations on a passing thief as he tried to escape the area.

"Give it up, kid. He's not going to talk if he doesn't want to," Cliff said, exasperated. Albel sniffed and eyed him.

"What do you know? The lummox has been paying attention," he said, absently lopping off the head of a passing harpy, flinching slightly as it twisted in its fall and showered him in blood. Peppita grimaced and jumped back to avoid getting too much on herself. Cliff snorted.

"Bright move," he said. Albel glared at him and continued along the path. Peppita followed swiftly after, quickly moving ahead of him and pointing at him dramatically. Albel paused, looking briefly tired and annoyed. Mostly annoyed.

"You have to tell us what you talked about, otherwise that's... You're... You're-," Peppita paused, pondering her word choice, the jabbed Albel determinedly in the chest with her finger. "You're cheating!"

Cliff and Albel looked at each other, then at Peppita.

"Cheating?" Cliff asked. Peppita looked unsure of herself just briefly, then jabbed Albel in the chest again before pointing up.

"Yeah, cheating! And in the game of love, that's the worst offense of all!" she declared. Albel's self-control faltered, and he stared at her increduously. Cliff, for his part, just snorted again.

"I thought 'all's fair in love and war'," he said, and Peppita turned and glared at him, stomping her foot.

"Not this time, not for this person! Fayt's too good for that!" she shouted, annoyed, then suddenly looked frighteningly sly before she assumed an innocent pose, looking away from the men. "Well, unless, of course, you don't agree with me. If you don't, maybe you should just leave Fayt to me..."

Cliff narrowed his eyes. "Okay, now that's cheating."

"And badly, at that," Albel muttered, side-stepping to avoid Peppita as she jumped at him. Furious, she turned back to try again, then paused and stood straight.

"Fine, then. If you won't tell me," she said, trailing off before running like a bat out of hell back to Peterny, "then Fayt will!!" Albel watched her run off, expressionless. Cliff paused, fidgeting slightly, then followed her.

"Hey, kid! Wait up!" he yelled, squashing an unfortunate giant scorpion's head as he ran. Albel did not move for a few moments, then followed after them, walking at a steady clip. Far be it from him to miss a chance to watch his companions act like fools. Besides, he needed a bath. Maybe Fayt would join him...

So the story begins! The lines are being drawn, eyes are being set on the prize, declarations are being made to do or to die! (Okay, maybe not that last one.) How will this story unfold? Tune in next time for the not-so-thrilling continuation of The Adventures of Dazzling Neon!: For the Love of the Hero!

Author's Notes
We would like to take this moment to apologize for the extreme dorkiness of this story and its author. Also, I am prone to overdoing it with dialogue abundance. Sorry? ;;