AN: Yeah, I'm having a hard time getting rid of Mech. I think I'm so attached to him that I just want to grab some hacking tools and completely wipe him out of the game. But he is "sort of" essential to my story, so he's leaving in this chapter. WARNING! WARNING! Kent is still going crazy and perhaps Ninian will too (although this is temporary).
Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem.
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Ch. 3 Being Dismissed
Mech woke up the next morning and the first person he saw was Lancelot with his superior smile and with his rose, of course. Usually, Mech could keep his annoyance in check, but since he just woke up, needless to say his instinct got the better of him.
"Narcissists and Kent must DIE!" Mech screamed as he jumped on Lancelot and started a scuffle.
The fight moved out of the tent and off to the side of the camp. Lancelot was calmly dodging blows, determined not to retaliate so that he could prove that he was blameless in the fight and so was in the right. Mech was alternating his punches and kicks and while his speed was below Guy or Karel, it was still nothing to laugh at. Mech managed to do a sweep kick that tripped Lancelot. Lancelot fell to the ground hard and Mech got some free hits against Lancelot. Marcus came around and saw Mech beating up on Lancelot.
"Master Mech! Please calm yourself. This is no way for a tactician in our army to act!" Marcus scolded Mech as he dragged Mech away from Lancelot.
"I'm not your tactician for much longer, so I can do what I want to this job thief," Mech snarled. He struggled wildly against Marcus' grip, determined to give a few more punches to Lancelot.
"Stop this at once, or I will send you over to where Kent is being held," Marcus warned. He thought about the consequences that bringing the two people in together would have around the area, especially since Mech was in a grumpy mood and did not have his caffeine yet, and decided to change his judgment, "Abandoned that plan. You will be forced to listen to Serra's complaints over trival matters."
Mech pondered over his possibilities. Either he could get the satisfaction to ruining Lancelot's majestic face or he could be forced to listen to all that screeching. He decided that his ears were worth more than any amount of pleasure he could receive and allowed Marcus to drag him off.
"You are quite a savage, young one," Lancelot huffed as he dusted the dirt off his radiant white robes.
"Wait 'til you see what I can do with a Killing Edge. I'll show you how savage I can be," Mech promised darkly. He straightened his plain brown robes and stomped off.
"Master Lancelot!" Rebecca called out. She hurried over to Lancelot and helped him up, "Are you injured anywhere? Should I call a healer?"
"I am deeply touched by your concern for my insignificant life, my humble yet radiant Rebecca. My life is nothing when we compare it to the deeds done by this army. You risk your lives to bring peace and harmony to this world, whilst I stand around doing nothing but give out advice to aid you in battle. Such in insignificant role anyone can do, yet you allow me to have such a small privilege," Lancelot sniffed, "No, no crying…I will do my duty and help you to achieve your goals."
Rebecca wrapped her arms around Lancelot and offered a few words of comfort, earning him an envious glare from Wil while Raven was polishing his sword.
As Rebecca went on and on about how awesome Lancelot is, Mech walked across lugging a big sack on his back.
"Where are you going?" Raven asked in a flat, uncaring tone.
"Moving, getting out, leaving, been fired, and all that stuff," Mech answered, "Hector gave me my discharge papers today. Eliwood is going to make the official announcement later on today."
"What? You're leaving? But we need you? Who else is going to be the tactician?" Wil demanded.
Rebecca threw a rock at Wil for being so unobservant toward Lancelot.
"Well, if you have been living in a cave these past few days, Hector can tell you who the new tactician is," Mech said. Mech headed toward the open field and people watched as Mech's figure grew smaller and smaller until he disappeared from their view.
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Eliwood had finished breaking the news to Lucius and had just run into Fiora.
"Fiora, have you heard lately? Mech is no longer our tactician," Eliwood declared, "Lancelot is now our new tactician."
"I suppose that is for the better," Fiora shrugged, "Kent has been aggressive whenever Mech's name is mentioned."
"Speaking of Kent, how is he now?" Eliwood asked.
"GGROOOAAAR!" the familiar inhuman voice howled out.
Turning to the source, Eliwood and Fiora saw a muddy and dirt covered Kent stomping toward them with a Killer Lance in his hand. Kent pointed the lance toward Eliwood.
"Stay away from her!" Kent demanded as he ran toward Eliwood.
"Hold! I was just informing Fiora that Mech is no longer the tactician," Eliwood said.
He stood his ground, believing that Kent would see reason and not strike down a lord. Fortunately for him, Fiora didn't think that highly of Kent at the moment. She tackled Eliwood to the side, forcing Kent to nearly miss Eliwood. Fiora's stunt placed both her and Eliwood in an awkward position. Kent interpreted this the wrong way and with new vigor he went off to crush Eliwood. As Eliwood ran, he partly understood what Mech was going through as he worked with this army.
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Sain trudged toward the impenetrable area since it was his turn to guard his mad partner. If it was somebody else that Sain was supposed to be guarding, he would have maneuvered events to force someone else to do guard duty, but since it was his boon companion, he must do what he can to help Kent recover. Past the barriers and the box, Sain spotted the chains with no one in them. He also spotted a hole that seemed to have been dug in frenzy to freedom. Sain immediately guessed what had happened.
"Kent is loose!" Sain bellowed.
Everyone in the camp immediately gathered over to the spot where Kent was once held.
"We have a person who is mad loose," Lowen declared.
"We need to find him," Marcus agreed, "But how can we do so?"
"Hmm-hmm," Lancelot smiled his all-knowing smile, "If I would guess how Kent would think, he should be near the dignified Fiora."
"And how do we find her?" Farina asked.
Eliwood came running past them, yelling for Kent to stop his insane madness.
"It seems we do not have to look for Fiora anymore," Hector remarked.
Marcus got on his horse and chased after Eliwood and Kent.
"How did we manage to get out of his chains?" Legault asked.
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It was evening time and everyone miraculously managed to capture Kent and reinforced the security around him. Not only was there the constant presence of Gundam defenses, but they donned Kent with a straight jacket used for insane criminals and they assigned three guards to watch over Kent. They also made it a point to knock out Kent periodically.
"I do not think that's going to him down for long," Raven muttered as he reactivated the defenses after he knocked out Kent.
"Okay, Eliwood, why was Kent going all crazy with you? I only saw this type of reaction with Mech," Hector asked.
"Yes, well, I was with Fiora when Kent appeared," Eliwood replied.
"And what were you doing with her?" Hector asked.
"I was just talking with her," Eliwood replied.
"Ah-ha! And what were you talking about? Love? Marriage? Kids?" Hector demanded.
Eliwood realized that Ninian's normally sorrowful red eyes were at the moment burning with jealous fire and that she was about to blow her secret that she was a dragon.
"Nils, lend me your flute," Ninian said in deceptively sweet voice.
Uncertain, Nils slowly held out his flute. Ninian grabbed it and chased after Eliwood, intending to bash it on top of Eliwood's head.
"Ninian, wait! We were not doing anything!" Eliwood pleaded.
The army watched the cat and mouse scene.
"Will she be needing the same treatment as Kent?" Lucius asked.
'My first task will be to install discipline to this army,' Lancelot made a mental note to himself.
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AN: Yeah, after this story I got tired of mentioning the rose with Lancelot. You're smart people; just remember: Lancelot always holds a red rose. Except for when he fights. He isn't that crazy to fight holding a rose.
