Hiya guysNow the real adventure begins! That's right, this chapter should have actually has action in it for you fight lovers. It's not all war though; it does have a fair amount of dialogue at the latter part of it.

School has just started for me. I'm a senior this year. A SENIOR (falls over). HELP! Quick, get my cane, get my dentures!

But you guys don't care about that, now do you? XP

Disclaimer: Uh, let's see, I could catch Jing and make him mine, but then he'd kidnap me and then I'd belong to him, so...I STILL wouldn't own Jing. So I do not own everyone's favorite Bandit King, no. I do own Tia, my version of Thebes, Bacc and its 'wildlife', and Babble, though.

19th Shot: May the Gods Help You

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Tia asked nervously, clinging to Jing as the motorcycle they rode on roared through the desert, frightening off large factions of pale golden sands.

"Don't worry, I'll be giving it back," the Bandit King assured her. He was currently wearing a worn pair of round goggles he had stashed away in that endless hole of a jacket pocket he had. "Besides, he did say that we would need something to ride through the desert. I'm sure he'll understand."

"If you say so…"

"I sure don't see any vicious monsters or anything," Kir reported from his perch on the top of Jing's head, surveying the area as they were zooming through. "In fact, I don't see a single living thing around – WHOA!"

The mechanical hog stopped dead in its tracks as it nearly ran into a huge skeleton that seemed to pop out of nowhere. It was the remains of a dragon of some kind, as the rib cages towered at least ten feet above them.

Or they would have, if they weren't so atrociously broken and splintered. Instead, the many pieces of the former dragon ribcage la shattered on the ground, slowly being swallowed by the hungry sands. And it wasn't just the rib cage; the entire skeleton was unbelievably mutilated, crushed almost to colorless powder. Even the skull looked like it had been torn apart by an incredible force, with the lower jaw roughly ripped off and tossed a few feet aside.

Now that they better inspected the area, they realized that many more disfigured bones lay about, belonging to myriads of animals. Including, from the best they could tell, humans.

"What in the world happened here?" Kir questioned fearfully, his head whipping back and forth in a panic.

"I don't think we want to stick around to find out," Jing stated, revving up the motorcycle and speeding off like a chased lightning bolt.

The fractured and smashed bones only grew more numerous as they rocketed through the sweltering wasteland, seeming like they were both daring them to go on and pleading for them to turn back at the same time. Oftentimes the sand and rocks around the bones were glaring red instead of modest yellow, and sometimes there was still flesh clinging to the skeletons. It was these recent, half-consumed corpses that were the most menacing, sharp warnings that the very same could befall them as well.

"A-Are you sure these Grapes of Dionysius are worth getting?" the girl with dark green hair stammered after they passing a partially-eaten giant bird, its beautiful feathers ripped out in clumps and strewn everywhere. "I mean, they may be rare, but-"

"I've seen worse," the Bandit King replied nonchalantly, steel-hued eyes set on the skeleton-littered horizon.

Tia nearly choked.

"Y-You've seen-"

"Hey Jing, what's that?"

The other two snapped to attention at the sound of the black albatross's voice.

Right in their path of travel was a woman with long hair, wearing nothing but ragged fawn skin and a crown of vines wrapped around her head. Right then her back was turned to them, but they could still see the content on her face as she suckled her baby. Only this wasn't a baby of her own kind, but a young wolf pup with fur mixed with gray and black, also wearing a crown of vines around his head. The woman didn't seem to notice the difference though, and neither did the wolf pup.

"What the-" Kir muttered, before nearly getting thrown off of Jing's head as the motorcycle hastily swerved to avoid the woman and her cub. She let out a shriek of surprise as the trio blazed past her, whipping up a thundercloud of golden dust.

"Why was that lady breastfeeding a wolf cub!" the black avian exclaimed. "I mean, that cub's mother might want it back. Besides, that can't be good for her-"

The dark bird was once again interrupted when wild screams and screeches flew into the air.

The otherworldly cries had erupted from a pack of people who seemed to be along the same lines as the woman they'd just shot by. They were dancing around manically, twirling and throwing their vine-cloaked wooden rods in the air and stabbing the sands with them, causing milk and wine to somehow ooze from the dry golden dust. Along with the human and human-like species, scores of wild animals bearing their own crowns of vines were part of the bizarre ritual, adding their own deranged cries to the screeches.

And what were they dancing around? The fresh carcass of a brutally slain horse.

"J-J-Jing…" Kir croaked, retreating behind the gray-eyed boy's head and peeking through his spiky black hair. "A-Are those-"

The Bandit King never got the chance to answer, as a loud, furious string of yells exploded behind them. The trinity of allies snapped their heads to the source of the angry shouts.

It was the woman they had nearly run over earlier, taking swift leaping strides much like those of a deer. She still clung to the wolf pup she has been feeding not too long ago. She bore an expression of great rage as she carried on her uproar.

Now they could see the madness in both her and her pup's eyes, the pure madness. It slithered and twisted just beneath the eye's surface, writhing and slipping around like a delirious snake made feverish by its own venom. Those poisoned eyes were locked onto the Bandit King and his companions, and conveyed to them a simple, sickening message: You are my prey

The boy with dust-hued eyes felt the hair on the back on his neck stand up as the mental message seemed to repeat itself over and over, only with different voices. Turning his head to where the ruckus should have been, he saw that the other vine-crown bearers were now standing all too still, those eyes dancing with feverish shadow snakes focused on the newcomers. They began to creep closer, slowly, slowly.

"Look, fresh cougars," hissed one of humans, bearing a sack that could have very well have belonged to a thief. "I wouldn't mind having a second meal either. What about you guys?"

"Uh…Jing….We got a problem…" Kir squeaked.

The air was shattered by waves of battle cries.

The mechanical hog instantly roared to life the moment the deranged screams exploded into being, terrified dust fleeing from the rocketing motorcycle.

The crazed creatures in front of them didn't flee like the golden sands, however. Instead they only gleefully lunged forward in an attempt to capture the rushing hog. The bike either evaded the leaps or the pounces missed altogether, but this hardly deterred them. In fact, one of them did manage to land onto the vehicle; one of the smaller vine-bound lizards. Long claws digging into the metal, eyes swirling with delirious satisfaction, face twisted into a face-ripping maniacal grin, it set its sights on the female rider aboard the motorcycle. Then, it raised its huge claws…

…and was promptly blown into dust by a well-timed Kir Royale. What remained of the disturbing beast was soon carried away by gravity and the winds. The green-haired girl let out a quivering sigh of relief.

"You okay?" asked Jing, paying a quick glance backward before setting his gaze back on the road. Kir, still attached to the black-haired boy's arm, was acting as a substitute for his hand, gripping the handlebar with his beak.

"Y-Yeah. For now…"

Simply fleeing from the deranged pack of bloodthirsty beasts wasn't going to work, however. Despite the bike's excellent speed, the monsters not only kept up, but were actually gaining on the trio. Some threw their rods at them, causing milk and wine to bleed from the stricken sands where the motorcycle had been only moments before. Others threw bones of consumed prey, some still with bloodstains. Still others only screeched at the top of their lungs, but were terrifying all the same.

"Get ready Kir," Jing commanded, as he pointed the albatross at the raging pursuers, both of them beginning to glow green with power.

"Give me a Kir Royale!"

The sheer force behind the blasts caused the bike to swerve. While Jing regained control of the mechanical hog, the blasts of energy exploded on contact with the first creatures it struck, summoning clouds of dust in their wake. The pack erupted from the yellow storm, yelling and screaming all the way, but considerably fewer in number.

Instead of fleeing, Jing twisted the motorcycle around and screeched to a stop, his steel-hued gaze locked onto the stampeding predators. Without a battle-cry or even a witty remark, he once again aimed his dark avian at the approaching maelstrom of enemies and unleashed another flurry of green blasts. The first detonated all across the sands, throwing up a golden mist, while the following attacks went right for the pale silhouettes and tossed even more desert dust into the air. As the cloud cleared, the remaining vine-bound creatures fled away with the wounded. And a witness to all this, forgotten, was a certain girl with dark green hair, her wide eyes staring and the scorched scene before her.

Kir coughed a few times, and then broke out into a smirk.

"Ha! We sure showed them!" boasted the black albatross, sounding a little hoarse. "I'll need to rest my throat some before I go blow anything else up, though."

"Hey, no problem," the boy with dust-hued eyes replied, smiling as the dark bird detached from his arm and reverted to his usual form. "We're almost to our next destination."

Jing pointed over to a group of garbled and upset buildings that were just below in a valley of sand. They appeared to be dark brown and gray from decay, with a ring of growth circling around the limits, though no vegetation actually went into the city itself. Hanging tilted across two towering metal poles, with vines enwrapping it, was a sign that read Welcome to Thebes, A Most Glorious Place.

"Looks like a real dumpy place," the black albatross remarked. "You sure this is right?"

"Well, it was the place on the sign near the train station," Jing stated. "Might as well give it a shot. Besides, our new friends might come back to pay us a visit if we hang around here too long."

"You got a point."

As the mechanical hog rumbled down the sandy slope towards the city, Tia's hands clutched her arms as she observed the scenery with an anxious look in her eyes. It seemed like danger could be overflowing from the hills at any moment, ready to pour down into the valley and suck them in, or that the seemingly docile ruins below could suddenly explode into flames and swallow them in their ravenous hunger. Perhaps even the quiet golden dust could suddenly blind them and consume them if it do desired.

But the one thing that she gazed upon with the most fearfulness was a certain gray-eyed boy in front of her, a certain boy called Jing.

20th Shot: The City Drowning in Dizzy Delusion

"W-Well, t-that was pretty close earlier, huh?" Tia stuttered as the motorcycle rolled into dingy-looking ruins, eventually stopping in front of what might have been a drugstore.

"Yeah, but you don't have to worry about them anymore, my dear lady," Kir bragged, perching on her shoulder and leaning against her. "Now why don't we just relax and enjoy the sights, eh?"

"I dunno…"

"Why, looky here! We got visitors, my friends! Visitors! Visitors!" a voice slurred behind them cheerfully before letting out a large hiccup.

The trio twisted their heads around to see a man in a dirty white shirt and muddy khaki pants, smiling somewhat stupidly. His eyes had a friendly but bleary look to them as he stood there swaying side to side.

"Looks like this guy's had one too many beers," stated the black avian, studying the drunk-looking man with disgust and annoyance. "Even if I can't smell it."

"Beer? Who needs beer? We have here!" the man exclaimed happily, throwing his hands up in the air and stumbling back a few steps in the process.

"Huh?" asked Kir, putting his wings on his hips and giving the intoxicated stranger a strange look as Jing got off his bike.

"It's the vibe of this country, isn't it?" questioned the boy in the blazing coat, helping the jade-eyed girl get off the motorcycle. "The power of the Grapes of Dionysius."

"Oh, you know already?" asked the seemingly-drunken man, tumbling forward a bit. "Grand thing, isn't it?"

"But if everyone's drunk all the time, then no one works,' Tia began, looking up at the decaying buildings. "And when no one works, everything falls apart. This place is a mess."

"Whaddaya talking about? It's a gorgeous place!" exclaimed the intoxicated stranger, his hands wildly thrown into gestures. "Here the houses are made of gold and the streets are made of silver, and alcohol falls from the sky as rain. See? Everything's still got a reddish sheen from the last red wine storm. It's so pretty when the sun shines on it all like it is now. How could you say this place is a dump? It's been blessed by the gods, I say!"

The trio gave each other disturbed looks.

"So lighten up and soak in the splendor!" added the cheerful stranger, letting out another loud hiccup. "Now that I think of it, you guys seem awfully serious. Ain't you feeling the spirit of this place yet?"

" 'Fraid not," the raven-haired boy admitted. "You see, we brought these special talismans with us so we wouldn't get too involved in the partying. We've got business here we need to take care of, you see."

"But you don't have one, Tia," Kir noticed, flying over to her. "How come you're still sober?"

"I got one," Tia told the dark albatross, holding up a duplicate talisman that she had kept in her shirt pocket. "The doctor on the train gave me one earlier, while your friend was still sleeping."

"Ah, but don't you want to come join us in all our fun?" whined the drunken-looking man, looking rather disappointed. "Aphrodite and Eros are going to be coming later for a drinking party. Certainly you have love interests, as young as you are. You could always ask the masters of love and beauty to make them fall in love with you. They're in charge of it after all."

"…Maybe another time," responded the Bandit King.

"That's a shame really. Shame shame shame…" the intoxicated stranger remarked, shaking his head. "This place just sweeps away allllll of your troubles away. Everything bad gone. Gone gone gone."

"Well, there is something you could help us with," Jing added. "What do you know about those people and animals dressed in fawn-skin and vines outside in the desert area?"

"Oh them. Those are the maddened ones," the drunk-looking man relied airily, smiling goofily. "Those were the ones who went too far into the heart of Bacc. The gods don't like it when you get too far into Bacc. That's their place. So they make people who get a wee bit too near their home go nuts. And that's how you get maddened ones. Thebes is just the right place though, close enough to wash away your fears but not enough to completely lose your head. Yep, losing your head. Go much further beyond Thebes and you'll lose your head and it'll never come back."

For some reason he giggled uncontrollably after he said this.

But before the trio could say another word, the intoxicated man staggered off unsteadily, calling to the thin air where a goddess supposedly stood.

Tia gave Jing another worried look as they began to take a stroll through the so-called paradise known as Thebes. It seemed people from all over had drifted into this drunken wasteland, and not without consequence. Small gangs of mixed races danced merrily in the street, singing away happily, if not quite on key. There was one lizard-woman arguing with her shadow, demanding that it tell her at once where her husband had wandered off to, and seeming to have forgotten about everything else around her. Two apparently angry drunks had engaged in a real battle, claiming that they were knights in shining armor from opposing countries. Then there were a couple of thieves just lying around, staring up at the sky and muttering to themselves.

Not too far from these lazy bandits sat a chubby middle-aged man with a receding hairline, his eyes set on the grimy street. He showed no signs of noticing the trinity of travelers as they approached.

"Hey!" called out Jing, walking closer to the man. "Happen to know where they keep the Grapes of Dionysius around here?"

As the overweight man lifted up his head to look at the black-haired boy, the two of them found themselves recognizing each other.

"Wait, aren't you-"

"You're that tramp," the balding man named Babble stated, letting out a weary sigh. "I'd have a few words with you about how you've messed up my life lately, but honestly I just don't care anymore. Lucky you."

"Oh, I'm sure it's not that bad," Tia tried to reassure, a timid smile on her face.

"Kid, don't you act like you know what you're talking about, 'cause you don't," the chubby man growled.

"But-"

"Ah, let him sulk," Kir interrupted casually. "If he wants to wallow in his misery, then let him."

"Sir, would you happen to know where the Grapes of Dionysius are kept?" Jing asked, repeating his earlier question casually.

"Oh, I dunno. Somewhere up north, I think," the overweight man muttered, picking at a growing tear in his overalls. "Don't blame me if they those maddened ones go off and eat you, though. You better take some meat and wine as distractions if you plan to get halfway there in one piece."

"Doesn't sound like a bad idea," the steel-eyed boy answered, as he and Kir began to amble off.

"Wait! What about this-" Tia began, referring to the gloomy man sitting on the edge of the sidewalk.

""If you want to stay here and comfort the old guy, be my guest," the Bandit King answered. "Me and Kir'll be off to get our treasure soon, and it'll probably be too dangerous for you with all the maddened ones running around in the desert outside."

"Don't worry, we'll pick you up later!" called Kir. "Then we'll go off together to a much better place than this dump."

"Um…allright…I guess…" she replied reluctantly.

"We'll be ready to go once we pick up a few supplies here," the raven-haired boy finished, getting on the back of the motorcycle while two men nearby were singing Ring Around the Rosies while dumping buckets of water on each other's heads. "So for now just make yourself at home."

"Just be careful!" the girl with dark green hair shouted as the mechanical hog roared off.

Jing gave back a quick wave in response, while struck a cool pose and blew her a kiss.

"I do hope they know what they're doing…" Tia murmured to herself.

I'm not entirely sure if I got Thebes right, since I am ( fortunately) not familar with any drunks. Hopefully it sounds close enough, though.

Please let me know what you think, or of any suggestions you may have. I'm fully open to critisism as long as it's rational.

Next Chapter: Seems Jing and his pal Kir are ready to take on more trouble. At least they seem to be ready. But are they really? A large, vineless shadow looms in the sky above, but perhaps this shadow is more dangerous than any of the maddened ones they're bound to face. And even if they get past all the desert, can they handle the delirious guardians that await them? Meanwhile, Babble and Tia have a heated disccusion over just who the Bandit King really is, and about the pasts that shadow them both.

Well, a lot's gonna to be happening in the coming installment, so be sure not to miss it!

Cya!