Square-Enix owns Star Ocean. I'm just a two-bit hack who writes about it.
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To say that I was uncomfortable with Sophia's actions would be an understatement. When she reached into that bag of hers, I wanted to grab it and throw it far away, only the bars made that kinda difficult. Funny how these things work, isn't it?
So we could only watch while she force-fed the kid a mouthful of supersweet chocolate. Now, I don't know if you've ever seen an eight-year-old Menodix kid with an axe and a sugar rush, but take my word for it, it's not something you want to experience. The only thing worse is if it's a fourteen-year-old Velbaysian instead.
"Duck and cover!" I yelled, looking for any kind of cover I could find in the cell. There wasn't much. A moment later the cell bars exploded, and Roger ran off, laughing uncontrollably. Sophia stepped through the new opening, and sat down next to Peppita.
"We'd better get going," she said. "I don't know how long Nel and Albel can keep them busy."
"I think they've got a lot more than that to worry about now," I pointed out, staring after Roger. "Anyway, we can't go yet. If Maria is really going to fire that weapon, we have to buy her time. And that means we have to go after the captain himself."
At this Sophia nodded her agreement. "Okay, then let's get going!"
There was a moment of silence, as everyone knew what was coming. It was Fayt who finally said it. "I'm sorry, Sophia, but you can't come."
"What? Why?" she said, apparently completely oblivious to the hurt arm that everyone could see.
I just shook my head. "Because there's no way you can fight in that condition," I told her bluntly. "Besides, you have to help Lieber take Peppita back to the Diplo. And round up everyone else while you're at it. We need everyone off this ship."
She still didn't like it, but she nodded again, solemnly. "Alright. Hurry and get back alive."
"Trust me," Fayt said dryly, "I plan to do as little dying as possible."
"Do you think she made it back yet?" I asked as we sprinted along another corridor in what I could only hope was the direction of the bridge.
"I'm sure she hasn't gotten caught, at least," Fayt replied. "Now what about that weapon you were talking about?"
"Right, about that. You'll see for yourself, but when you see a flash of light, that's when we have to get back to the Diplo."
"And then what happens?"
"Didn't I just tell you you'd see for yourself?" I said with a shrug. "Well, we've never had to fire it before, so I don't know exactly what it does. All I know is, it's a weapon designed specifically for situations like this. But it can only be used at an extremely short range, so if they're able to move at all, we'll probably miss."
"So that's why we have to distract the captain."
"Right," I said, as we rounded another bend. We were getting close, I could feel it. Finally, an enormous door loomed ahead and to the right. "This is it," I said, slowing my pace. "It all comes down to this."
The door slid open by itself, which I couldn't help thinking was strange. After all, these were our enemies, and we were in the middle of escaping. I shrugged it off, though and stepped through. There, his back to us, sat the king of these insignificant vermin. Whoa, I'm starting to sound like Albel here. Well, at any rate, this was the ultimate enemy for us, and here he was, and, um... okay, I kinda lost my place there. Let's just say this was the final boss.
There was the sound of static, and a voice came over an intercom next to him. "Captain, we've got trouble. Half our squad has just been wiped out by a gay man, an injured girl, and a rabid raccoon."
Another voice. "Uh, Captain? Remember that nerve gas you gave us? Well, it doesn't work right on these guys. They're acting... well, they're acting kind of drunk. Oh, and they're killing us."
Then a third voice. "Captain, we just saw two escapees heading for the bridge..." here he cut off the intercom.
"So," said a deep and threatening voice, "you've come to confront Captain Fargone."
He stood slowly and turned to face us. His face was as scarred and ugly as I remembered, and his full height made even me look tiny by comparison. He was wearing a hooded cloak for some reason that I couldn't understand at all, and his dirty beard obscured his muscled form. He took a menacing step toward us and raised his right hand, in which appeared to be a pistol.
A pistol? No way. That thing was outdated even on Elicoor II. What was he going to do with it?
I got my answer soon, as he squeezed the trigger and, rather than a bullet, a small object that looked like a strawberry struck me in the chest. On examination, I realized two things.
First, I realized it was a bomb.
Second, I realized that it had embedded itself in my flesh.
"Uh, Fayt?" I said.
"Yeah, Cliff?"
"I think I'm in trouble."
The bomb didn't explode right away, and Fargone watched with a scowl. After a few moments, he declared it a "dud" and tossed aside the gun. Fayt and I looked at one another and grinned. That was beyond lucky. That was absolutely miraculous.
Now, though, Fargone had prepared another weapon. This one seemed to be more of the melee persuasion. It was a small wheel, the spokes of which were extended and each ended in a scythe blade. To call it a chakram would not have been accurate; to call it riduculous would have been completely justified. He wasted no time rushing with it, and managed to cut Fayt, but he wasn't quite fast enough and the wound was minor. Fayt tried to retaliate with a swing of his sword, but a spin of the wheel and it was torn from his hands and flung across the bridge.
While he was doing this, I took the opportunity to charge at him. My punch shattered his bones and left him a mess... or, it would have, but somehow at that precise moment I was thrown back by what can only be described as a miniature tornado. It was coming from his weapon, and I couldn't easily approach. So I did what I always do in those situations. "HAMMER OF MIGHT!" I yelled, leaping into the air and hurling a ball of energy at him. He stopped spinning that weapon, but seemed more or less indifferent about my attack.
His ominous laughter echoed throughout the ship. "You think that's enough to hurt me?" he demanded. "Me, Captain Fargone, feared throughout entire galaxies, done in by that pitiful assault?"
He seemed to be entirely immobilized by laughter.
"If that's the best you've got," he said at length, "you might as well just stop struggling."
"Oh, believe me," I said smugly, "that's not even close to the best we've got."
Even as I said this, a flash of light illuminated the bridge. Fayt was out of the room before it faded. I paused in the door, grabbed the bomb, and ripped it out of my chest. "You'll want this back," I yelled, lobbing it at him.
Turns out it wasn't a dud after all.
I ran, and I never looked back. I wasn't even looking where I was going, because I knew it wouldn't help me. I just focused on where I needed to be. Pirates were surging into the corridors in huge numbers now, and I was tossing them aside constantly. Out of the corner of my eye I actually saw a few of them fighting each other. Finally, when I was beginning to lose hope, I saw it. Just ahead was the door I needed desperately to find. I lunged for it as the second flash lit up the entire ship...
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Boy, how 'bout that Fargone, eh? I'll see you next time on the thrilling conclusion! And don't forget the thrilling epilogue! And the thrilling sidestory! Well, maybe they're not all that thrilling. But you should read them anyway. And review. Definitely review.
Also, I'd like to thank Sorceress Myst for the sugar rush idea. I wasn't thinking of her story when I first used it, and she used it decidedly differently, but I think that her giving Fayt a sugar rush did influence me a bit when I started using it myself, and it's become sort of a staple in my fics, I can't seem to write a Star Ocean fic without one or both of the kids getting a sugar rush. Yeah, I just wanted to say that.
