AUTHOR'S NOTES
Another chapter went by, and I must have once again went by some great response across the sites that I placed this in. Thanks again
Before I start plugging the latest, I might as well explain a little more about how this fic came about. Prior to this I didn't write a fanfic in nearly two years, my last effort being "The Black Tide" in the Crash Bandicoot section. Then I got a mail from a noob requesting me to write a sequel to "A Crashmas Carol" (currently at DA; odds are it won't survive long if I post it here as it adapts an existing work). But I can't write a sequel to a spin-off, yet it did give me the urge to write another crossover. Yet to make it come to life, I asked people all over for the kinds of characters they wanted to see. The result was the cast of this tale.
However, even now I got some late requests with people telling me to include characters belonging to themselves. That was something that I stated from the beginning - I WOULD NOT ALLOW ANYONE'S ORIGINAL CHARACTERS HERE. Sorry about the giant text, but there were two reasons - firstly, it would detract from the meaning of a city that gives birth to creative ideas in the outside world, and secondly, there's no way in heck that I would work with Mary-Sues and other pointless character types.
Moving on though, this chapter will hold a part of the city that makes everything worthwhile - a building where many active fictional characters work and focus, preparing to present their ideas to the outside world. This will mean the introduction of various active characters present, namely Jak, Ratchet and Etna (from Disgaea) in this chapter, showing their presences in the premises. I hope to make it a very integral part in this stage as well as a later chapter or two.
I hope this goes down well, and thanks again for all responses to this!
Peace out,
-Rexy-
I wanted to ask myself why Akumi seemed to be getting her own way all the time. No matter what happens, even if she was struggling with work, even if she forgot to do chores, even if she forgot to take a shower... she doesn't seem to get penalized much.
And then, I was towed on one cold night into my parents' room. Here, my mother sat me down on my bed and began to tell me just about everything about her. I opened my ears out wide.
"There is a reason on why your sister is how she is. She was just special."
I looked at her eyes from her position, and I can tell by the quivering shapes in the dark room that she seemed to feel more concerned than the usual. What kind of "special" things did this to her to make her feel like this?
She then picked up a photo of her on a nearby mantelpiece – one of her as a baby in my mother's arms. She looked so sweet and peaceful. It seemed to give me the odd impression that she was pampered for her entire life.
"She took a long time before she could learn to walk or talk", she began. "We took her to the doctors, and after she was analyzed, we were told that she was diagnosed with a mild Autistic disability. I don't even know what it is, but it seems like it could be either Asperger Syndrome or ADHD. I don't know what."
"So that explains it now..."
I just couldn't believe at that point that Akumi has ended up with a mental growth disorder like Autism. I don't know what it feels like, ever since I've yet to wonder what it feels like to be a mentally retarded person.
But that's something I can read up on for another day. All I could witness for now was her mother's face of pure grace as she took her words in bravely. She leant towards me and placed her hands on my shoulder.
"I'm sorry if I didn't tell you sooner, but this is why you should treat her as carefully as you can. She's different to us, and you'll need to show that mood back."
She embraced me gently. Those words still stuck in my mind really well. Does this means that she will be treated like the queen of the world, while I will be left to grow up with presumably less treasures than the Sheriff of Nottingham after a raid by Robin Hood.
But in the end, she's still a person. A human being. And if there's something I was willing to give to her, it was to make her acknowledge the fact that we love her very much. It should easily be said ever since she didn't seem to be so threatening otherwise.
"I'll try if I can", I whispered to mom. "But when do you think she'll find out herself?"
Again, we remained in silence as we continued to look upon one another. The question was lingered upon her lips, leaving her to grant so much time to end up composing her own answer towards me.
Yet, I still felt concern about Akumi. She's only just started going to high school, and I'm still surprised on how she has been unable to know about her own abilities. I still wonder what might have happened if she was told right now.
"Her time will come", she finally spoke. "For now, I just wish you will be a strong boy for her. I am so proud of you, my son."
She leant forward, and outstretched her arms, leaving us both to take a hug upon one another. To see that we were two of three people living in the house, knowing of a big secret by the third, was something that would take a while to fly through my head.
Then, I released my grip from the hug and started making my walk out of the room. Today I felt as if I learnt something new, but whether I will come to acknowledge it on a long term basis would remain to be seen.
For now, I felt as if I could approach Akumi without knowing what makes her less resistant to punishment granting. And with that in mind, I should be fine enough to live in the same house as my elder sister, even if her feet sometimes give off the scent of dried roasted peanuts.
Day 1 (flashback)
Coco's diner, Rosemary Fields District - 8:30PM
The skies were seen turning straight to darkness, with various stars eliminating the night sky up ahead. A bright moon also appeared from behind the clouds, casting a gentle light down to the ground.
As that happened, many citizens of the city were seen making their way right across the Rosemary Fields District, going through the gritty floors that covered it and making their way straight towards Coco's diner.
Even at an early time like that, there was a heavy crowd around a table in the center of the room. Near it were two stools and five glasses of citrus yellow fluid on either side of the table itself, simmering gently as they remained still.
"Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready for the event of the evening?"
The crowd looked around for the source of the voice. And wading through the crowd from the bar of the diner, Coco appeared, looking almost exactly the same as she did that evening except she had a small whistle tied around her neck.
She brought her arms out, instantly silencing the people around her. Time passed, and she took a further few steps forward. She looked behind her, bringing her hand into a "come here" motion, gesturing two shadows to follow her.
"We've seen the competition plow on well over the past few nights, and now we have our grand finale in the bi-monthly Lemonade Drinking Face-Off here at the diner." She then made her way towards one of the stools. "In the red corner, weighing at 298lbs, it's the king of sugar and sweet stuff - Gourmet Guy!"
The crowd started to cheer again as the first of the shadows emerged towards the stool and sat down. He showed himself as an obese entity wearing namely red cloth all over his body, his face being completely white and having giant black round eyes.
"And in the blue corner at a normal weight that I'd rather not mention for the sake of the contestant's well-being", she said while the second shadow made its way over, "who would have thought we'll see this guy go far with a body like this? Please welcome Ratchet!"
The crowd started to cheer again as the second shadow emerged – a golden yellow beast-like creature with long triangular ears pointing out, a tail like a lion's, flat feet with claws upon them and brown stripes going across various sections of his body. All that he wore were green pants, brown fingerless gloves and a brown set of leather headgear that covered the top of his head.
They both sat down upon their stools and looked upon one another, their eyes starting to glow with determination, Guy's black eyes instantly showing attempts to freak out his own opponent, and Ratchet's pine green ones to cast an eerie glow among the dim lighting of the diner.
"I just want to wish you the best of luck before the face-off gets underway", Ratchet spoke as he brought out his hands for a handshake. "May the best drinker win."
Guy turned down the handshake offer very quickly. "Oh, I'm sure we'll know who that is", he then spoke with a chuckle.
Guy was left to snicker further as he looked on at his five cups ahead of him. It seemed as if he was determined to take a hold upon all five of them at once and consume them in one gulp if he wanted to.
Ratchet however, took several deep breaths and looked down upon his own. Five whole cups of lemonade would be a big concern for someone of his own stature, but he still felt determined to do what he wanted to do.
"Contestants ready?" Coco shouted towards the pair. "On my whistle you will start drinking. Are you ready?"
Guy and Ratchet looked towards Coco with determined expressions upon their own faces. She looked on at them herself, giving out a light smile, interested to see who would be able to drink faster.
They both took the handles on their first glasses of lemonade and continued to fix their eyes at Coco, her whistle now being held between her fingertips and slowly coming towards her mouth, ready to give the signal.
She then blew the whistle, initiating the beginning of the face-off. The crowd started cheering as both contestants were seen consuming the lemonade glasses, both doing their best to outdo their opponent.
Steadily, they both consumed the lemonade glasses that were in front of them, both of them starting to measure up to each others' expectations in the opening cup or so. They both ended up reaching the halfway point with that first glass at exactly the same time.
But it was by the finishing phase of the cup itself that Gourmet Guy started to pull through and make some brisk haste. Several seconds passed, and right there, he showed himself to be the first of the contestants to consume the first cup.
That left Ratchet to start struggling at the sight of which, the distraction causing him to start choking slightly on his own drink. The struggle with that left him to finish his first cup about 15 seconds later.
As he was left to recover before he even tackled his second cup, Gourmet Guy was starting to get well onto his second cup, getting halfway through that one in particular. Before Ratchet would get started on his own second one, he started to leer on at his own opponent.
"Sheesh", he spoke while trying to catch his breath. "This is harder than I thought it would be!"
Guy continued to smirk and snigger towards his opponent. "How can a wimp like you remain in the competition?"
Ratchet continued to leer towards Gourmet Guy as he started to settle into his second glass. Two seconds later he started to follow suit and tried his best to consume the lemonade as fast as he possibly could.
He used as much tension as he could to the muscles upon his neck, to consume the drink as fast as he could, but by the time he got halfway down he started to run short on breath once more. By then, his opponent almost managed to consume his THIRD cup.
The fans were his only speck of hope remaining. Their cheering left him to keep on trying as hard as he can, but in the end all he could do was maintain a very steady speed as he started to go onto his third cup.
As that happened, Gourmet Guy ended up finishing his fourth cup and going onto the fifth and final one. But as soon as he started, he suddenly started to show a flinched expression upon his own eyes.
And right in front of Ratchet, he instantly dropped the mug on the ground, stood up, waded past the crowds in panic and went straight to a nearby bathroom. That left Ratchet to stop drinking, confused by the event.
"Don't stop now, Ratchet dude!" Bill cheered from nearby.
Ted whistled towards the lombax, trying to get his attention. "You can get the upper hand from here. Finish the job!"
"That would be excellent!" they both cheered in unison.
Ratchet looked towards his remaining cups. And right there, he rubbed his hands tightly as he managed to pick up his third from where he left off. He then started to consume it, while still keeping his eye upon the bathroom door.
Time passed and Gourmet Guy still didn't re-emerge. It was only two minutes after his departure into the bathroom that Ratchet managed to get well into his fourth cup, finishing not before long either.
And within another minute of time, he managed to go through the last of the mugs, consuming it faster than before. And then, it was emptied entirely. Ratchet smiled with satisfaction, belching the gas out from all five cups of lemonade he drank.
"I think we've found our winner!" Coco cheered happily.
Everyone managed to surround Ratchet, cheering happily for him and his successes. Coco raised his hand into the air, and managed to give him a small golden trophy shaped like a cocktail glass.
While satisfied with the whole ordeal, Ratchet looked on at Gourmet Guy's last remaining glass. Right there sat four empty glasses and one that was half-consumed. How exactly did his opponent chicken out, he wondered to himself.
And right there, a door was opened. He looked back towards the bathroom door, and there stood Guy, standing there with his curly fists clenched tightly and his face drenched completely with tap water.
"That guy cheated!" he growled while pointing at Ratchet. "He must have spiked one of my drinks!"
Ratchet started to retaliate. "What do you mean? I played everything nice and fair. I would never do a thing like that!"
"Look at this then!"
He went towards his glass and instantly picked it up. Right there, he pulled out a small twig inside his own glass. He also produced the other half of the stick, bitten and covered in grime. Ratchet started to panic at the sight of it.
"I swear I didn't do anything!"
Gourmet Guy placed up his own fists once more. "You want a bet on that, wise guy? Put up your fists!"
"Gentlemen, NO!" Coco gasped to the pair of them.
And right there, they both suddenly started getting involved in a fist fight, with Gourmet Guy starting the proceedings. Ratchet had no choice but to fight back with his own bare hands, trying his best to block the obese figure ahead of him.
They both jumped straight towards a table, sending a small lavender vase flying as soon as Guy made his jump onto it. Again, Ratchet fended for himself well by blocking him with the limited bare-handed skill he had.
And then, they both went towards the top of the bar. Ratchet climbed onto the glass gracefully, while Gourmet Guy belly-flopped onto it, completely shattering it. He further jumped several times, causing the force of the wooden supports around the diner to start caving in, with rubble from above starting to drop.
"Ratchet, run!" Coco pleaded. "He's on a craze!"
Ratchet gasped as he saw her starting to get surrounded by rubble. "Coco!"
"Leave me alone! I'll help myself out of this mess!"
She kept pointing to the door, insisting her customers' safety before her own. He looked towards her, and then Gourmet Guy, whom continued to jump up and down on the spot, causing the rest of the décor of the diner to cave in.
It seemed as if he had no choice but to try and escape. Quickly, he jumped down from the bar and started making his way across the floorboards, trying his best to get around all the knocked down pillars that came through the wreckage.
And then, the pillars started to drop in intensity around Coco, whom was left crouching down on the floor, using her arms to block off any of the dust that would come her way. Ratchet continued to panic.
"Coco!!!"
He ran towards her, trying to bring out his own arm. But just as soon as he got there, the remainder of the pillars completely covered her. Showing fear, he tried to pull them out of the way, but it seemed as if there were no means of doing so for the time being.
With another thought in mind, he made his way outside, starting to think that there will be another means out there. As he escaped, Guy managed to chase after him, picking up two slabs of slate on the way to try and attack him with.
But just as they left, a shadow was seen making its way around the rubble, making a careful approach around the building. Only a pair of green eyes could be seen among the darkness, shifting silently among one another.
It went towards the diner, surprised at the run-down state it had quickly become. Breathing gently, it made its walk inside the wreckage, its eyes showing sympathy and deep concern for anyone that could be left inside.
Day 2
Blue Lurker District, 11:45AM
The midday sun started to shine down on another district of Theoropolis – one that didn't seem to be too far from the Red Globox district that Fletch and his company have managed to stay behind before.
Darkwing soon reached another checkpoint, and as soon as he got there, he brought out Spyro's copy of the emblem to the guards. That gave him and the rest of the team access to a different district around them.
It looked a little nobler than the previous districts that they managed to travel through. This time, there were homes made of strong bricks, with beautiful statues and stone arches gracing the doors. But it wasn't that that made them get their attention on entry.
"Wow, look at the size of that tower!" Fletch shouted as he pointed straight up.
Right in front of them, there stood a large tower, built out of a beautiful limestone texture. It stood there, glistening in the late morning light, showing its beauty down to the streets beneath it and with its blue flags waving gently in the wind.
The group of five managed to make their way towards it, wanting to take a closer look at it. Several corners were passed, and they saw it – the building could be mistaken as a castle or an abbey at first glance, but it still felt as if it was still just as common a building to enter as a shopping mall or something similar.
"Ah, the Imaginarium", Darkwing smiled at the sight of it. "It's been a long time since I last stepped foot into this place. I'll be surprised if anyone recognises me after I left 14 years ago."
Sora leered towards the duck. "Darkwing, you haven't aged one bit."
"...ah?"
With shrugs exchanged between them, they started to make their way up the long pathway themselves. Looking around them, they saw a beautiful garden with brightly colored flowers, water features, the occasional hedge and the occasional shrub shaped into different kinds of figures, from comic book heroes to videogame heroes of legend to the greatest movie icons that graced the silver screen and more.
Eventually, they all stood by the front doors, wood-stained and covered in a shiny copper colour. Sora went towards it and pushed it open gently, with the bright light of the candle-lit interior gracing him.
"Still, what are we aught to be doing here?" Fletch asked Sora as he walked up to him. "Are we going to ask the personnel around this place?"
Sora turned back towards the young boy. "I think that's the best shot we have at tracking down Ariel. Odds are they would wait for guests on the sixth floor, with the main leader floating around the seventh."
With that, he started walking inside the building for himself, walking steadily among the crimson carpet that was rolled out in front of him. The others soon managed to follow, wanting to see further inside.
Fletch's attention remained towards the scenery around him. Though the place seemed to be nice and welcoming, what if it didn't seem to be all that was cracked up to be? Those thoughts made him start to feel anxious.
"Come on Fletch!"
He looked inside, and saw Jade standing by the foot of the stairs nearby. She brought out her hand, causing Fletch to finally take his steps inside the building. The daylight that illuminated him from that angle had vanished.
There, they both locked hands and started walking up the stairs together. They both started to spiral up that portion of the floor, up until they managed to reach the third, where a straight corridor was seen in front of them.
As soon as they started walking down there, the dim candles that were in front of them started to glow with a bright and radiant light around them. That left Fletch to gasp towards them with a wondrous expression upon his own eyes.
Curious over the rest of the corridor's magic, he ended up rushing forward and taking his side near the front of the pack, near Sora and Spider-Man. The development of the light left him to smile at the effects that would grace the area.
"So who runs this place anyway?" he asked the rest of the party.
"It's been run by many leaders in the past, probably going as far back as the 5th Century BC", Spider-Man gestured as he started pointing at several ancient Greek role-model portraits on the wall. "The current Imaginarium host is Jak."
"Jak?" Fletch asked cautiously.
"He's had that position here since the release of the videogame Jak II in the outside world, and so with an imagination like he did for a sequel title, he seemed to have great enough potential to take over from Mario after he served his 15 year contact here."
"Ah, I see", Fletch nodded showing understanding. "But isn't Mario still involved in games now?"
"I would presume so", replied Spidey as he folded his arms, "but he seems to be a little old for this leadership thing. The last I heard, he ended up juggling his regular visits with running a pizza business not far from here and taking lodgings in his own home."
Fletch looked on at Spider-Man showing understanding upon him. The city structure itself would still seem difficult to make its way through and make a more permanent thought upon how he thought the order would work out, but it still felt promising.
He left himself to continue looking on at the great guardians of the past and their portraits among the corridor, each of them changing to a more modernised look as the eras started to change, from the times of Ancient Greece through to the era of the Roman invasion and following historical eras prior to the 11th Century.
"I can't believe so much has changed since I've left this place", Darkwing said as he shook and climbed up onto a nearby vase. "Are you sure coming here is a good idea? I don't want any of the pre-1992 staff to take me as the thief that hides in their closets!"
"Darkwing, get down!" Jade shouted as she rushed towards Darkwing. "You'll just hurt yourself!"
Right there, she rushed to him and placed him down, being able to support the vase with her foot before it could even attempt to topple over and smash. Sora went over to the pair, with a more stern expression than the usual.
"Jade's right", he spoke in a low tone as he held Darkwing's hand. "I know that you seem nervous, but it doesn't mean you should climb on their property. I'm still sure that nothing will happen. Just make sure you don't do anything to them."
Darkwing freed himself from Sora's grasp and saluted with it while walking forward. Yes sir, I'll bear your wise words in mind. After all, who wouldn't want to listen to the words of the keybeare—"
Darkwing didn't look where he was going as he managed to speak, which left to him suddenly feeling as if there was something starting to suffocate his own ankle. And then, he looked straight down at his feet.
"--Aaargh!" he then panicked.
He tried to run, but before he could even make a second step, he tripped up and fell straight towards the ground with a crash. The group looked on at him and whatever kind of incident he might have faced that time.
And indeed, he was seen lying face first on the ground, with one of his feet being stuck inside a silver ceramic pot. He lifted his head and looked on at it, waving it in the air at a really low height compared to how he would then shake his other foot.
"I'll be fine. I'll get this thing off, one way or another."
Then, he took a hold of a nearby curtain and started pulling himself to his feet, struggling to make a stand thanks to the pot that remained upon his foot. He then rubbed his hands and started to hop steadily and cautiously.
But it didn't take too long before he was able to fall again but before that could happen, Sora went towards him and took a hold of his arms before he could crash down once again. They locked their arms around each other's shoulders and supported each other down the corridor.
It wasn't long until they reached another flight of stairs, where they will be able to continue their ascent to the sixth floor. The meeting with the guardian of the Imaginarium was nigh, and could be necessary if they need to re-trace Fletch's companions and the missing citizens as of late.
Meanwhile, at another part of the building, there was a dungeon. Its stained yellow brick walls were dimly lit by white candles placed upon their holders, and the floors were seen covered in dirt and grime.
In the middle of one of the rooms in the dungeon sat Ratchet, his head hung low. He was next to a table, with one of his feet being chained to a nearby column, unable to make his own escape from his position.
Then, a door ahead of him clicked open. Beyond its iron bars there were two cat-like crimson eyes. And as the shadow emerged further, it showed a pseudo-feminine formation around it, complete with demon wings and a devil's tail.
"Ratchet, Ratchet, Ratchet", she spoke with a nasal tone. "Who would have thought I would see you here, again?"
She stepped into the light and showed herself – a humanoid demon, with ears pointing like cat ears, was seen standing there. She wore a black bat-shaped tube top complete with short pants, gloves, collar and boots, with a blue coat going around her. She was also shown to have a flat chest along with a pair of brash and bushy crimson pigtails to match her eyes.
She took a steady walk into the room, continuing to leer towards Ratchet with a devious expression upon her. She then managed to sit down on a chair at the other side of the table, showing a more serious expression than the usual upon sitting down.
"Once again, you broke the curfew. This must have been the fifth time this week that you've done that! An all time low, I might add."
Ratchet started to growl towards her. "That's not to say you're any different, Etna. I've been in the game business at least a month more than you!"
Etna gave out a chuckle from her mouth. "It doesn't matter how long I've been with the Imaginarium Guard; all it matters is what I have to contribute."
She jumped up from the table and continued to pace up and down the room. She looked around and saw various statues of other demonic creatures that stood tall, ranging from warriors to overlords to ninjas to even the occasional fallen angel.
"But that's not what matters now", she spoke with a serious tone. "You're going to be in serious trouble for your actions at the Rosemary Fields Diner."
"What are you going to do?" Ratchet asked her.
Twitching her tail, she made a walk towards the side of the room opposite the door. And there, she saw a lever and pulled it down as hard as she could. A trapdoor from the floor opened up instantly.
Then from above, another hatch was opened directly above the trapdoor. From there came two wooden poles and a sharp blade being edged between them. From underneath the trapdoor came a bucket and a set of stocks. Ratchet started to cower at how it was formed.
"Not the guillotine!!!"
Indeed, there stood a lethal weapon that is capable of beheading anyone who gets placed inside it. The sight of it left Ratchet to try and flee, but with his foot trapped in the chains, there was no way of doing so.
"Etna, you can't kill me off!" he shouted towards her. "The outside world sees me as a versatile icon! You can't do that!"
Smirking, Etna looked onto him. "Sorry Ratchet, but your time is almost up."
She then managed to turn around once more, continuing to look on at the concerned beast ahead of her. After several seconds of silence, she made her walk towards the door that lead into the room once again, twirling her fingers as she did so.
"If you dare to break the rules of conduct one more time, this will be your punishment. And it won't be filled with flowers either."
She continued to point on at the guillotine, which by then started to turn Ratchet's face almost completely white upon the mere glance towards its death-related tasks it has undertaken within the past.
"For now, you will receive an earlier curfew", she smirked back. "You will return to the Imaginarium at 4PM every day, no later."
Ratchet started to shake his head. "That's not fair! I often have meetings with Senator Clank at 5!"
"You've just buried yourself a grave."
And with that, she instantly slammed the door, causing a shake upon the ground to be heard. That left Ratchet to remain inside the cell, his foot being locked within the chains, showing less of a chance of ever escaping.
He then ended up sitting down, alone once more. His tail started to twitch with tension as he knew that he faced a lethal point of punishment upon him. He looked on towards the iron bar covered window, growling with strain on his own teeth.
"Wait till I get my hands on you, Etna", he muttered quietly with anguish. "You've done almost everything to make my life a misery since you got signed up for this job!"
With that, he managed to stand up and make his way slowly towards the window, only just being able to touch the iron bars that separated him from the corridor out there. His grip upon them showed an increase of anger he managed to surge through his own body.
Yet eventually, his feelings changed. His expression slowly started to change to curiousness as he started to think more about her. Keeping his hands on the bars, he then looked up to the dim ceiling lights above him.
"Though, I still wonder, how did she get in the Imaginarium guard? And at such quick notice too?"
The words he spoke continued to stir around his head. It was almost as if Etna ended up being near him for a smaller amount of time, and getting up to the higher ranks of the Imaginarium insanely fast, as he seemed as if he was to intend.
Eventually, he sighed and went back towards the table, where he looked straight on towards the many demon statues that were placed upon the corners of the room. He looked straight into their cat-like eyes, wanting to find the truth by focusing elsewhere.
Frowning, he slumped on the table, feeling like he was ready to face an extreme death sentence. In a situation like this, there was nothing that he could do at a time like this. Not even a small nap would calm him down.
Back outside, Etna was seen making her departure from the dungeon, carrying a burning torch upon her right hand. She then reached a set of stairs and made a firm ascent, her wings and tail starting to twitch as she got further up.
As soon as she reached the top, she placed the light upon a nearby hook, and she looked on towards the hallway ahead. She then started to make a brisk walk, anxious to see her next role in her duty.
As soon as she made her way towards the gardens, she managed to see some clouds start to pull over the scenery below it, trying to cause a brief shadow to the grounds beneath it. Etna looked up, blinking with concern.
"I sense a cold air coming."
With that, she walked further into the garden, a growl starting to show up on her face. And as soon as she managed to reach the middle of the area, she brought her hands upon her back and brought out a device that was wrapped upon her back.
There, she took a hold of a crimson spear, decorated with many demonic patterns upon it. She pointed it towards the sky, looking at almost every corner for the cause of the cold winds that surrounded her.
Eventually she looked towards the western tower – the second tallest of the lot. She ended up seeing a black force starting to swirl its way towards it, making its way there in such a gaseous form. As that happened, a few black and white feathers dropped towards the ground.
Growling, she started to make her dash right inside the building once more, intending to be able to catch up with it really quickly. Using her own spear as support to get up some of the ledges around her, she made her run along the first floor of the Imaginarium faster than an Olympic athlete.
As she ascended the stairs that lead to that tower, she felt determined to see what was to occur inside the building. Whether it is for heroic or anti-heroic reasons, little would she even know that there would be more occurring up there than she thought, or would there?
Meanwhile, on the sixth floor of the Imaginarium, there stood to be a large spiralled staircase, with bright white banners gracing the walls in the contrast to the usual red. The portraits of the Guardians of the past have gone towards recent times, namely from 1920 onwards.
Near the staircase, there came Fletch and the others making their steady walk over there. Among the group, Fletch started to feel more agitated over the general situation. He saw stools for people that wait to see the Guardian there, but no people to wait and no people to assist them up the next set of stairs.
"I can't believe this", he muttered to himself. "We've climbed so far up and there doesn't seem to be any sign of any Imaginarium guards. Maybe going up here was a big mistake."
Sora placed a hand upon Fletch's shoulder. "Don't feel so down. Maybe it's their lunch break. We could be heading around that time."
Bringing his mouth into a further smile, he was able to let Fletch turn towards him. There, he brought his eyes down towards Sora's wrist, where by means of success he was wearing a pocket watch underneath one of his gloves.
He looked upon it and saw the time as it stood. Only 10 past noon according to it. Wondering if Sora's statement was true, he ended up sitting down upon the stools, bringing his hands upon his cheeks as he did so.
"So, what do you think we should do from here?" Jade asked the others.
"Let's see..." Sora once again looked up the stairs ahead and down the corridor they once walked down. "When there's no sign of any Imaginarium guards, it means that we might struggle in searching for Ariel. Unless Jak is in his own study, we'll be having problems."
Spider-Man went up towards him with one fist clenched, patting it among the palm of his other hand. "I say we'll try now while we have the chance."
Spidey soon made his way towards the stairs, placing one of his hands upon the railing. As he saw that, Jade managed to make her way towards him, her face starting to show concern as he took the first step.
"Spidey, wait!" she shouted to him.
Spidey shook his head straight away. "It's not as if we have another choice! Besides, I'm not climbing up five flights of stairs again!"
Jade thought silently. Maybe Spidey had a point about the stairs they just ascended. But it still felt risky to make their way towards the top of the stairs and tackle it for how it was. With that, she lowered her head, concerned on what to believe.
She then looked on towards Fletch, Sora and Darkwing, all staying within a corner discussing the matter amongst them. It wasn't long until they came close enough for Jade to be heard within the conversation.
"Spidey's right", Fletch said with a nod. "We've come so far, so we can't let it all go to waste now."
With many brisk nods, they started to make their way up the stairs, following Spidey. Yet, Darkwing was one of the guys that were left to struggle behind on their own, his foot still being trapped inside the pot from earlier.
"Hey, wait for me! My foot's almost freed!"
Darkwing made his way closer and closer towards the others, but it only resulted in him tripping up as soon as he got towards the stairs, leaving him to topple over and land head first, slamming his foot onto the floor and shattering the pot, freeing his foot.
Shaking his foot around gently as it was, he made his way up the stairs towards the others, now glad that he was able to go and catch up towards the others once again, a grin showing upon his face.
They then reached the seventh floor in its entirety, which consisted of two directions – a way inside a large set of golden doors with the symbol of a purple furry beast upon it, and the stairs they just came from.
Carefully, Sora managed to open the door slightly so that he could be able to take a look inside. And lucky for him, there was a figure in the room – a blonde haired humanoid with blue eyes and namely navy tunic with various pads among his shoulders, arms and legs to match. His hair almost touched his shoulders, and to top it off his ears were shown to be pointed, similar to Etna's but they were pointed out to be as long as his shoulders when their lengths were combined.
The room itself was filled with blue cloth among the walls and windows, with white candles lighting a work desk that he was writing a letter on. Whomever his recipient was remained to be seen by anyone else, yet that thought was out of the question when a shadow extinguished a nearby candle.
"Who goes there?" he spoke with a deep manly voice.
He quickly got up on both feet, and looked around the room. He saw that one by one, the candles were being extinguished, with the laugh of the shadow starting to increase in volume as time continues onwards.
And then, the last of them were extinguished, leaving the figure in potential darkness. He quickly brought out a gun from behind him and opened it up, with a small red flashlight on top of it lighting up his surroundings.
"Come on out and eat some lead!"
And so the monster managed to respond by leaping out from it. No one can make out an exact shape from it, but all that can be said were deep brown eyes, as dark and dreary as (type of rock) from a volcano.
While the monster tried to physically attack the blonde figure, his opponent shot with several yellow plasma bullets that would attempt to pierce the figure, yet most of them ended up going straight through the demon.
Fletch looked on at Sora. "Should we help him?"
"I don't know", he sighed. "I don't even know what that shadow is to begin with."
Jade starts to gasp at the creature. "Look!"
She quickly pointed towards the monster itself, which by then extended a pair of limbs. To her, they looked so wide and bird-like, yet the rest of the shape still felt too indistinguishable to be an actual bird.
Waving its arms around, it caused several black and white feathers to end up falling to the ground as it made its battle cry and following attack on the blonde humanoid. He countered back by blocking the monster's attack by using his gun as a shield.
And there, both figures continued to fight on against one another. The blonde humanoid escaped the clutches of the monster by jumping up onto a nearby table, which the demon quickly managed to destroy with its sharp fingers.
There, the blonde humanoid quickly switched to a new mode upon the gun – one which shot out light blue machine gun pellets. He shot them, and in the space of two seconds he saw multiple piercing shots making their escape from the gun nozzle at a rate of roughly 20 bullets per minute.
"Come back here, you stubborn freak!"
The blonde humanoid's shots, like with the yellow plasma bullets, ended up going straight through the demon for the most part, and if not hitting it in the eyes and/or knocking down other ornaments within the room.
Eventually, his bullets ran out completely, leaving him to panic as he looked on at the weapon for himself. Right then, the demon made its strike by pushing itself forward and instantly knocking its opponent down to the ground, pinning it with its claw-like hands.
"What are you doing to me?" the humanoid panicked, unable to hurt the monster. "You can't be serious!"
"JAK!!"
The doors were instantly pushed wide open, and that left Sora to charge straight into the room with his keyblade drawn out. Shocked to see him react by coming to fight for what has now been confirmed as the Imaginarium's Guardian, Fletch took a step out with a worried look upon him.
"Sora, what are you doing?"
"I don't have a clue", said Jade as she shook her head, "but I say we do what he does and follow suit."
Fletch looked on at her with his right eye widening with worry. "But why?"
"We fight first, and ask questions later", Spider-Man replied as he stepped between them both with his hands outstretched, ready for combat. "Just get in there!"
With that, Spidey, Jade and Darkwing all ran into the room to assist Sora. That left Fletch looking down at his feet at the door. It seemed hard enough for him to be placed into a perilous situation like this, let alone having been in a situation where he'd need to fight before.
Yet in spite of his obvious lack of experience, he looked on at the group, his broad limbs starting to shake with worry. There they are, helping an Imaginarium Guardian to his feet while fighting a monster that seemed to be almost invincible. There was no choice for Fletch in the matter – it was either to fight, or be scolded by the rest of the team for having no active part.
Fletch took a deep breath and stepped back. "I'm coming!!"
And with that, he made a run towards the middle of the team, waving his arms in the air like he was rowing a boat with his own pair of arms. He then charged his way through the team and towards the monster, which reacted by fading out in front of him.
The resulting black and white feathers from the disappearance ended up at his feet, leaving him to look all around for the source of the creature once more. Yet, no matter how much he tried to search for it, there was no way of tracking it down.
"...Fletch?"
The boy made his turn towards Darkwing, whom looked confused at his entrance. As that happened, at a steady pace, the candles in the room were re-lit one by one. The radiant glow that surrounded the room upon entry was back once more.
As Sora, Jade and Spidey went over Jak and carried him over to a nearby sofa, Fletch remained there, the thoughts of his run remaining in his mind. Darkwing's speechless expression started to change, leaving him to finally open his mouth 90 seconds after the charge.
"How did you... what the Peking duck... mashed potatoes... Saturday night..."
Jade couldn't help but smile at his remarks as she turned towards him and the boy. "Fletch, I think what Darkwing is trying to say is, how did you chase the shadow off like that?"
"I don't know", Fletch frowned as he looked down at his feet.
Fletch's legs started to quiver. That seemed to be as close to fighting as he could come to get, yet as soon as he was about to strike the shadow would vanish. How can it be possible with a boy holding so little combat experience?
Curious, he went towards Jak's stool and sat down upon it, his right eye also showing a small quiver upon it as he continued to glance around the room. Yet his expression soon turned to one that would be associated with deep thoughts.
"Something about it feels really cold", he then spoke towards the others. "Did you guys feel anything similar?"
Spider-Man gave out a nod of agreement. "You're absolutely right. But what kind of figure would have a body temperature as cold as that anyway?"
Fletch ended up shrugging back to him, with Spidey to end up following suit. They both ended up coming closer to one another, both looking as curious over the event than the usual, until Jade made her turn towards them.
"Look! He's coming to!"
Both Fletch and Spidey turned towards Jak, and it was there that he was seen starting to get himself to sit up on the sofa, looking relieved that there was some party or other that saved him from a grave threat.
He looked on at them all one by one – Spidey, Jade, Sora, Darkwing, and of course, Fletch. With a smile showing complete gratitude, he took a hold on the arm of the sofa and stood up on both feet once again.
"Thank you", he muttered quietly.
With that in mind, he steadily made his walk towards the middle of the room, maintaining his thankful smile towards the team. It wasn't long until he even went towards Fletch and held it as if he was ready for a handshake.
"Thank you for saving me", he spoke to them back. "If it weren't for you people, odds are I would have fallen into pieces by now."
Jade gave out a smile while hoping not to boost her own ego. "Hey, it was no big deal. We're really grateful that we-"
"And you must be the kid that chased it off!" he said to Fletch as he brushed his black hair back slightly. "How did you do that?"
Fletch looked down with a sheepish look. "I just don't know. I'm only here to look for my sister and best friend, and I wasn't expecting to be dragged this far."
Fletch once again sat down on a nearby stool, starting to feel vulnerable in the situation that he was placed in. As that happened, Jak managed to crouch down next to him with a reassuring look upon him.
"Young man, while I personally feel vulnerable in my state as the Imaginarium Guardian, I am sure you have potential to be able to go far with what you are doing. I overheard that you and your party are on the search of Emperor Ariel, correct?"
"Of course we are", Sora nodded from nearby. "Theoropolis can't run efficiently without him."
Jak made his turn towards Sora and looked on at the rest of the group. He saw the individual traits among the team – Sora's keyblade, Jade's stick, Spidey's web-based attacks and Darkwing's bare fist approach.
"You've provided quite the party", Jak smiled. "I like your taste."
With that, he looked on at Fletch. There was easily something about his arms that didn't look well catered for combat. So right there, he managed to stand up and make his way straight to a nearby closet.
"Here, let me find something in here to give to you. Hopefully this will help you on your-"
"Not so fast!"
The doors were suddenly slammed wide open, and right there were a bunch of shadows making their way inside the building. Four of which were only about half as small as the main shadow; they in turn resembled penguins walking on peg-legs with handbags around their stomachs.
And right from behind them, their main shadow appeared – a feminine shadow with giant pigtails, a long blue coat, bat wings and a demon tail. As far as Jak was concerned, Etna had just entered the room.
"Just as I expected", she spoke with a vicious smirk.
She marched her way towards the middle of the room, her tail continuing to twitch from side to side as she made her further progress into the room. She then made a stop in front of Fletch, leering straight down at him.
"You were trying to murder Jak, weren't you? Who let you inside the building?"
Fletch turned towards the rest of his party with a shaken look. "Who is she?"
"That's Captain Etna of the Imaginarium Guard", replied Jade. "She seemed to get a very quick promotion once she came to this place. But why, I don't know."
Showing a growl upon her mouth, she managed to remain in a standing position, placing her hands upon her hips and tapping one of her feet in a cautious state. Her tail also stopped twitching and stuck straight up into the air.
The very glance of her caused some of the party members, notably Sora and Spidey, to take various steps back. Those demonic eyes and features placed upon her went to show that she would obviously mean business.
"Listen, we didn't do anything wrong", Fletch then pleaded. "There was this big monster that came and attacked Jak, and we were here to defend-"
Etna opened out her hand in front of Fletch's face. "That sounds like a very unlikely story. Only people with high rank access can come up here."
"But there were no guards!" he retaliated back. "And we were desperately here to speak to someone for advice! How else do you think we would have tackled this situation?"
Just as when Fletch was about to speak a little further, Etna went closer towards him and ended up wrapping her arm all around his face, blocking all movement of speech from his mouth for a while.
The others tried to bring their way to Fletch to free him from Etna's grasp, but before long, the peg-legged penguins made their way towards the others, drew out daggers from their baggage and made their way towards them.
"Enough talk!" shouted Etna with a cackle.
She ended up taking a hold of Fletch's right arm with her other arm and pulled him straight into a corner. In the meantime, the Prinnies quickly jumped onto the others while getting various bits of string out from their pouches at the same time.
"Save your breath, Jak, because those people will be held prisoner and will be punished later on", Etna once again smiled. "I'm sure you'd like that, won't you?"
All that Jak could do was look on at the others helplessly. He may be a Guardian of the Imaginarium, but he too felt as if he had a reputation to live up to when it came to the building's own staff.
In no time at all, the penguins managed to secure the ropes onto the team members that they surrounded, instantly tying their hands tightly, unable to make any secure escape from their situation. As that happened, Etna went on to pick Fletch up and carry him over her shoulder.
"Etna, put me down! I don't deserve to be carried like this!"
The humanoid demon cackled viciously. "Tough luck; you don't have a say in the matter."
"No, really, we didn't do anything!" Fletch continued to shout. "We just wanted to speak to Jak about Ariel, and then..."
As Fletch continued to tell his side of events, Etna just left herself to shake her head with a smirk, satisfied that she ended up catching someone that was coincidentally with Jak as soon as she arrived.
Almost as quickly as she arrived, she and the peg-legged penguins made their departure, with Fletch and the others completely helpless in their current situations. Their shadows started to trail off gently as they went down the stairs to the floors below.
From his angle, Jak started to show a face full of fear, having seen what Etna managed to do. And right there, he turned straight back to the closet, feeling as if he was unable to grant anything to the boy.
"Hang in there, Fletch", he spoke quietly.
He then went straight towards the closet itself and opened it slightly. What was seen was an envelope of darkness that covered everything that was inside it. But upon closer inspection, it wasn't entirely dark.
Simmering silently in the darkness was a steel point attached onto something, glowing white among its tip. Yet in spite of the glow of light, the shape of the actual structure itself would be a guess for anyone to make.
With that, he returned to his desk and looked out of the window. Outside, the sky started to turn cloudy, almost obscuring the light from the gardens beneath. And inside his mind, there was a thought that Fletch and the group would stand a chance to escape.
Soon, a thought was struck. He looked back at the shadowed object in the cupboard and gave out an honest smile. And the way of the tactic's execution would remain solely within his mind and no one else's.
-end of chapter-