Author's Notes
*Camera turns on*
*Kyle and Aria are standing in front of the camera, with mock scripts in their hands.*
Kyle: *Unaware the camera is on, "So, you got your lines for the show done?"
Aria: "I believe so…" *turns back to look at everyone panicking* "...They seriously need to stop sooner or later…"
Kyle *Reading his script, "And Triple M needs to write his scripts in advance in case something like this happens…"
Aria: "From what I learned of IceBite, he seems to just try winging it...probably why there were never any scripts in the first place…"
Kyle: "Hmmm... We can try that." *Crumbles up the script into a ball and throws it behind him* "You should probably do the same, Aria."
Aria: *nods; tosses script into air and scans Explosion Ring*
White WizarDriver: "EXPLOSION, NOW!" *Script blows up*
Aria: "Alright...so...to start this off…"
Kyle: *Notices the camera was on, recording what they did* "Uh… START THE CHAPTER!"
*Chapter 11 loading… loading…*
*Loading done.*
*Chapter 11 Starts*
End Author's Notes
Chapter 11: Mansion & Dragon
A few hours later…
At the Shepherds' Camp
After setting up the camp a bit to the west of the small hamlet, Everyone was working on the tasks (or was ignoring them, in the case a few people) assigned to them.
A long list composed of weapons, armor, and other associated valuables was sitting on the wooden table. The Courier was double checking the list making sure it was right and after finishing his quick scan, picked up the paper with his hands. The next step was to head on over to deliver the list...
But just before he left his tent to meet up with Aria, an idea popped inside his head. Turning around, Kyle found the pile of magazines he left on the other table in his tent. After getting at least 2 or 3 of each type of magazine placed in a stack, Kyle placed the list on top and left his tent. He had a bit of trouble keeping the stack from toppling as he made his way…
After taking his time carefully navigating through the camp, Kyle ended up in front of Aria's tent. As always, he spoke up asking if it was alright to head inside, and Aria responded back saying he can head on in.
Kyle entered the tent, noticing that Aria was reading a report, most likely about the battle they just got back from. He then placed his stack of reading material on the table and quickly spread out the stack, making sure each one could be seen. The list, however was placed on top of a magazine that was in the middle.
With that taken care of, Kyle quickly said to Aria, "I'm going to be right back, I need to go get two other things for something I want to talk about." while he left the tent.
Aria just watched him leave, before turning her attention to the Skill Magazines. After thinking a moment, she grabbed the magazine on the top, 'Future Weapons Today', and the one under it, 'Patriot's Cookbook', and started reading the first magazine and the report.
As she was reading, Kyle entered back into the tent and placed Leon's Plasma Rifle and Travis' Laser Musket down on the table, near the magazines. The Plasma Rifle was missing a Microfusion cell where it would normally be to make the gun fire.
Kyle also took the time to bring up his Pipboy and take his Gauss Rifle out of storage. Once it was in his hands, he ejected the Microfusion cell already in the gun and pocketed it. After that, he placed the rifle next to the other pair of energy weapons.
His attention quickly changed to Aria, who was still reading the report and magazine.
"Hey Aria, I appreciate the fact that you have a knack for reading, but I need your attention for just a moment." Kyle said as he looked at Aria.
Aria looked up from her reading material. "Alright...what is it?" she asked.
"I... originally was just going to come by to deliver the new list of equipment we scavenged, but I decided to also bring these.." He said as he pointed towards the energy weapons on the table.
Aria looked over the weapons in question. "I see...these are some of your group's weapons, aren't they? Why did you bring them?"
"I brought them along because while I did give you some information regarding the "normal" guns we use, these ones are way different." Kyle said as he decided which gun to use in his explanation.
Kyle decided on the Plasma Rifle and after he picked it up, he started saying, "Take this one for example. This is a typical Plasma Rifle that can be found back in the Wasteland. What it does is fire these green spheres of energy called Plasma at whatever this thing is pointed at. If they hit something or someone, the Plasma burns the target and does damage that way. It's like sending a fireball at someone, except the Plasma is way hotter and it could turn a person into a puddle of green goo..."
"...Alright…" Aria replied, a bit wide-eyed at that description.
Kyle placed the Plasma Rifle back down and picked up the Laser Musket. He continued with, "So, this rifle is called a Laser Musket. While I'm not familiar with this particular weapon… I do know a lot more about what type of weapon it is. It is an energy weapon, much like that Plasma Rifle, except this one fires Lasers. Lasers... are like… um… those beams of lightning you use when you have those yellow tomes. Except instead, they are mainly red in color and travel faster than the Plasma spheres and damage things. Oh...and they have been known to occasionally turn people hit by them into red ashes."
"I see...sounds like what happens when I put too much power into one of my Thoron Blasts…" Aria replied.
Kyle continued on, this time placing his Gauss Rifle in his hands as he said, "Here's the last weapon I'll talk about. While Lasers and Plasma take up a good chunk of energy weapons you can find, this particular type is harder to find than the two types I mentioned. This is a Gauss Rifle, which uses these coils inside it to launch a energy blast at an incredibly high speed. Normally, when the target gets hit by something going that fast from a weapon like this, it usually does enough damage to end the fight. Except… if the target is wearing some really good armor, then it'll be less effective…"
Aria replied with, "Or if they're something like a Risen Chief...I believe that's the weapon you tried to take one down with, is it not?"
Kyle did a sort of half smile, as he said, "Yeah… It's the one I used to try to take down that Chief… Which I still can't believe it survived taking a round that struck his head dead on..."
"But… back to the topic. Let's see… Oh… These energy weapons generally act like normal guns because they require ammunition to work. However, unlike bullets, energy weapons need these little battery objects called cells. These "cells" store power and are used to activate the weapon to make it fire. Here's what one of these cells can look like." Kyle said as he handed over the Microfusion Cell he had to Aria.
The cell was mostly yellow, although one end was black. It had a plus symbol on the black part, and a minus one on the other end. There was also a pair of red arrows pointing to the black part, on the yellow part, and on it were the words 'Warning May Explode if Disposed of in Fire'.
"So...this powers some of those weapons?" Aria questioned.
"Yes… but only the energy weapons we have with us. Those cells can't be used with normal guns because they aren't built to work with them. In a way, those cells are like bullets because there are certain types of bullets that can only be used with particular guns. The cell you are holding in your hands is a Microfusion Cell, which is only made to be used on energy rifles, which is what we have on the table." Kyle clarified, hoping that it answered her question.
Aria nodded. "Makes sense…"
What happened next was that Kyle picked up the Plasma Rifle and pointed out where the Microfusion cell goes to power up the gun and demonstrated how to insert and remove it. He did the same for his Gauss rifle, but then came the Laser Musket.
Kyle thought the Musket had a slot for a Microfusion cell to be placed, but after he looked it over, he got stumped at how it was supposed to work.
Aria thought for a moment, before saying, "Let me see it for a moment…"
Kyle handed the Musket over to Aria and let her scan the weapon. It was a box, shaped weapon, with a stock like the other rifles the group, and an extension coming out of the front. She then noticed some kind of crank on the side. She looked at the crank, then toyed with it a bit...turning it once caused some kind of energy surge on the inside. "Hmmm…" She turned to one of the targets she had stored, that had a couple scorch marks on it.
Kyle wanted to question Aria why she had a target inside her tent… and how it ended up with a bunch of scorch marks, but decided to keep his mouth shut.
Aria took the device, turned the crank a couple more times, the glass part of the laser musket beginning to glow, then she aimed it at the target...and pulled the trigger. A lance of red light shot out from the weapon, striking the target. Aria smiled. "Well...I think I may have discovered how it works…"
"Good...You…figured it out before I could… … ... Uh, would you like to try the Gauss Rifle?" Kyle tried to say following what happened.
Aria nodded, still smiling.
Kyle quickly exchanged the Laser Musket for the Gauss Rifle and handed it over to Aria.
"Okay, so if you want to get a better look on the target, look through the scope and aim the rifle accordingly." Kyle instructed.
Aria nodded, looking into the scope, and pointing it at the target.
Kyle continued talking with, "Next, before you pull the trigger...-"
His words got interrupted by the sound of the Gauss Rifle firing and the target it was aimed at getting obliterated. The next thing he saw was Aria falling on her back, not expecting the recoil of the rifle.
Quickly moving to help her up, Kyle quickly said, "...You should make sure to brace yourself for the kickback or recoil when you do decided to pull it."
"...Good to know…" Aria commented, a little shaken, her voice sounding a bit strained.
"Are you going to be alright? Or do I need to get someone just in case?" Kyle asked, worried that the recoil may have done some damage.
"...I'm fine…" Aria stated, "...Just give me a moment…"
Kyle helped Aria to rest on the nearest chair. As she took a moment to catch her breath and recover, Kyle grabbed the two magazines Aria picked out and his list of scavenged items.
He pulled another nearby chair and sat down, first looking at the "Future Weapons Today" and then the "Patriot's Cookbook". He quickly looked at Aria before returning to the magazines.
"Well...it figures that this magazine on energy weapons helped you understand how they work. As for the other one you picked out… I'm just going to spoil it for you and say this one isn't a recipe book for food." Kyle stated as he quickly flipped through both magazines.
"I had a feeling…" she replied, her voice a little less strained.
"What this "Cookbook" magazine actually talks about is making things called bombs and grenades. In short… they use various chemicals to make a chain reaction that results in a explosion. Depending on what is used, they can be very small or very large and be extremely dangerous. Thankfully… I don't think anyone in my group owns anything "bomb or grenade" like in the camp." Kyle said as he thought about the stuff his group has.
Aria nodded. "Good to know…"
"Actually… No, I'm forgot one little thing. That Microfusion Cell I showed you can explode if it gets set on fire, or if the battery itself gets damaged while inside a energy weapon. If either of those happen, the best thing you can do is to throw or dispose of the cell as best you can before it goes off." Kyle said as he remembered a time he heard something like that happened in the past.
"So, if we ever need improvised explosives, we have a means of accomplishing it…" Aria commented…
Kyle placed the two magazines back on the pile, and handed the list in his hands to Aria.
Aria looked over the list, before one item on the list got her attention. "Blue-ish version of-..." She started digging through her desk, before pulling something out. "Was it something like this?" she asked, before pulling out a silvery gyroscope-like item with a blue sphere for a core.
Kyle looked at the gyroscopic object for a bit. His response was, "Yeah... Travis said he found one as he scavenged the last battle...Let me guess, it's a variation on those seal thingamajigs."
Aria nodded. "Yes: that's a Second Seal. It's like a Master Seal, except instead of making someone better at the role they're already performing, it lets them have a shot at taking on a new role: for example, I used a Second Seal to ready myself to learn how to become a Pegasus Knight, a short time after I'd used a Master Seal to upgrade my initial abilities…I'd since used a Master Seal to grant me the skills needed to become a Dark Flier, my current role...or 'class', I guess you could say…"
A question formed in Kyle's head and after he thought it over, he said to Aria, "Didn't you say something about how the seals probably wouldn't work on people from our world?"
"I don't entirely know, actually...it was a possibility, though…" Aria replied.
"Well… If you don't mind, I'm willing to test it out for the sake of knowing one way or another. Besides, I still have the one we scavenged to replace this one in case it does work." Kyle suggested.
Aria thought for a moment, before deciding, "...Alright...Let's have a look, then…"
After handing the Second Seal over to Kyle, Aria explained how to get the seal to work. Following her instructions, Kyle waited for the seal to do its job.
Unfortunately, nothing happened…The seal didn't do anything, which prompted Kyle try doing it one more time. And… the results were the same, the seal still did nothing.
Handing the seal back over to Aria, Kyle just sighed in disappointment at the fact that he wasted his time trying to get it to work.
"...It...looks like it won't work…" Aria replied, seeming a little disappointed.
"And… based on that… It probably would do the same thing if we tried it with my fellow Wastelanders… At the very least, you don't have to waste any seals on my group." Kyle mostly said with the same deposition, save for his comment at the end.
Suddenly, as if one of those imaginary light bulbs went off on top of Kyle's head, his expression quickly changed. It went from one of disappointment to one of realization while Aria saw that transition happen.
"...What are you thinking?" Aria asked.
"Something that I wanted to do for a long time… Give me a sec to get everything ready." Kyle retorted with as he messed around with his Pipboy.
Kyle quickly got Lucky and his Ballistic Fist out of his Pipboy's storage. After carefully getting the Ballistic Fist equipped on his right hand, he grabbed Lucky with his left hand and stopped for a moment to let Aria see what came up with.
"...You're going to try using those two weapons at once?" Aria guessed.
"Yes, that's what I'm going to do for the next battle we face. Consider it an experiment to see if it works...And I got a good feeling it will do extremely well." Kyle eagerly said.
Looking over at his Gauss Rifle and at Aria, Kyle asked, "Since I'm going to be trying out this "dual weapon" setup, do you want to use my Gauss Rifle for the next battle?"
Aria quickly turned her head towards him. "Are you sure about that? If anything, I would need to practice with it, and we'll never know when the next battle is…"
"How about this, I'll help as you practice using it...And I'll also let you hold onto every copy of "Future Weapons Today" in that pile. Those magazines should have some pointers about using energy weapons properly. So, what do you say, Aria?" Kyle asked.
Aria thought for a moment, before saying, "...Alright, I'll give it a try…"
"Before I go, I really appreciate that you agreed to give it a shot… ….Um... I'll drop by later to hand over the Second Seal that Travis found…And practice will start tomorrow ...if you can do it by then..." Kyle nervously said as he looked at Aria for a few seconds after he got done talking.
He quickly gathered up his stuff he brought over, save for the Gauss Rifle and several "Future Weapons Today" Magazines and left Aria's tent.
Aria smiled. "...Can't wait…" she commented, before getting back to work.
A few days later…
The next stop on the search for the people from the future took the massive group to yet another small land mass on the world map. It took a few days to get to the location in question, but that wasn't important.
What was important was the large manor they found. Based on its outside condition, the manor seemed to be abandoned and whoever owned it was long gone. While the Shepherds were deciding on if they were going to explore it, the Wastelanders already made up their own minds.
The sound of a door getting smashed apart rang throughout the air. When Aria heard it, she turned towards the door, seeing Cait finishing off the last of the door with her fellow Wastelanders nearby.
With the entrance now wide open, The Wastelanders ran in, leaving the Shepherds to begin what they thought was a easy place to scavenge materials…
As the Shepherds tried to catch up, Leon came bolting out looking a bit worried. He quickly mentioned that as soon as they got further inside, a scream that sounds like it belong to a small girl bounced down the hall they were in.
Because of that, Leon was tasked to go get backup. Kyle and the other Wastelanders on the other hand, went further inside the manor to investigate. And with that, Aria and Chrom quickly banded the Shepherds up and followed Leon into the manor.
The Pairs for this sudden event were set up, with Leon and Aria temporarily working together given the circumstances. Shortly after that, they carefully started exploring the Manor...
Meanwhile…
The darkness inside the manor did nothing to improve the disturbing vibe coming for the building. At least that what was Kyle was thinking as he used his Pipboy's light to see where he was going. He continued moving till he hit a dead end… and heard footsteps behind him.
Quickly turning around, Kyle got ready to fire Lucky if he had to…
Thankfully, the footsteps belonged to a fellow ally. Veronica stepped out of the darkness into the light, allowing Kyle to see her. The look on her face matched the thought Kyle had.
"Let me guess, you reach a dead end?" Veronica asked.
"Yeah I did... … Hey, are Cait and Travis nearby?" Kyle said as he tried to look into the darkness.
"They were until they took another path they found and I didn't follow them. I think if we go back a bit, we can-" Veronica got interrupted by what sounded like a wall collapsing echoing down the hall.
Then came another noise…the sound of Risen…
Kyle and Veronica made sure they were ready to counterattack as they work their way backwards...
Meanwhile…
Two chests were next to each other and the chests themselves stood out in the environment around them. Their contents were safe… until a certain red headed gal and her costumed friend found them.
"Well… look what we have here…two fancy containers all by themselves. I'll get them open and grab what they got, Trav. And keep the light on them so I can see." Cait said as she picked one to open.
Travis kept his Pipboy's light on as Cait tried to open the chest. It didn't budge at all, which got Cait to bust out her lock picking set. Using a screwdriver and bobby pin, she located the chest's keyhole and started the process.
"I think we need to go catch up with Kyle and Veronica, because this way is a dead end and they may have found-" Travis said before Cait interrupted him.
"They probably did find the right way, but…" Cait finished picking the chest and as she opened it, she continued with, "I found something just as valuable."
With the chest open, Cait reached inside it and pulled out a staff with an orb on one end. She handed it over to Travis to store it in his Pipboy and began working on the other chest.
The sound of a wall collapsing finds its way into their location, making Travis unintentionally move the light around. This left Cait in the dark for a few seconds before Travis got the light back on her.
As Cait finished picking the locked chest, It was opened and she dug herself inside it to get its contents. Cait came back up holding a silver gyroscopic object with a blue sphere in the middle, smiling before saying, "Didn't you tell Kyle you found one of these?"
Travis didn't say anything and instead of talking, just started doing something with his eyes.
"What's with the silence? You did find one or are you just messing with me?" Cait asked, getting a bit irate.
Travis continued to remain silent as he started blinking with his eyes really fast. It took a second, but Cait realised that Travis was trying to warn her about something.
The noise of metal hitting the ground and the unnerving breathing explained the rest for what Cait needed to know.
Travis slowly pulled out his Pistol and yelled, "DUCK!"
Cait listen and ducked, which as she did, the sharp point of a spear just missed her. She followed up by rolling to the side as Travis fired at the attacker.
The bullets hit the attacker's helmet and the force of the impacts managed to knock it off. Travis shined the light on the attacker and saw that it was a heavily armored Risen.
Then…Cait springed up and jumped on the Risen, stabbing it with her screwdriver as it fell on its back. Cait continued to attack until it stopped moving and dissolved into smoke.
Travis was a bit shocked as he said, "Well… Now I can add a screwdriver to the list of items you used to finish someone off, Cait."
Cait had a smug look as she responded with, "And that brings the total to…"
Travis sighed before retorting with, "If I remember the number correctly, it should be… 87."
After Cait passed the silver gyroscope over to Travis, the two worked their way back to catch up with Kyle and Veronica.
Meanwhile...
Leon was taking the lead, using his equipment to light the way. Besides using his Pipboy's light, he brought out his Shishkabob sword and turned on the fire to make it act as a torch. Aria was following behind him, keeping an eye out for anything that could happen.
As they made their way, Aria decided to ask a question that was on her mind about the sword Leon was carrying.
"Hmmm...what kind of sword is that, anyways?" she asked, "I don't recognize the design…"
"It's technically not a "real sword" because the blade is from a thing called a lawnmower and the other parts are… …Actually, the quick thing to say this thing is basically made from junk and uses some fuel to make the flames coming out from it." Leon said as he tried to explain what the sword was.
Aria nodded. "Ok...and who designed it?"
"Uh… That's harder to answer because it had at least three versions for how to build it. As far as I can tell, they all use the same parts… which I had to use to build this thing myself." Leon answered with.
A nearby wall collapses to the ground, showing a different part of the manor. The two stopped for a moment… as the sudden chain of more walls collapsing filled the environment. Then came the bangs and flashes of gunshots occurring further down the path they were heading.
Leon shook his head before saying, "I hate suggesting this, but you should go look for Kyle. I'll explore this new path that showed up."
Aria replied, "...Very well…"
Leon quickly said, "I'll see you later.", to Aria before he entered the now open pathway.
As Leon made his way further down this new path, he heard a voice. He stopped for a moment and made sure that he was ready to attack with the Shishkabob.
The combined light from his sword and Pipboy helped Leon spot someone or something before they moved back into the darkness.
Taking a chance, he decided to say something.
"Hello? Is there anyone in here? I'm friendly if you are."
"Aaaahhh! Oh…" a young girl's voice exclaimed…
Leon carefully moved his way towards where the voice came from as he responded with, "Look, I'll tell you my name...It's Leon…And...Uh, what's your name?"
"Oh, uhm...Nah," the voice replied.
"I told you my name… you can tell me yours, unless it's one of those really hard to pronounce names. So, can you say your name again?" Leon retorted with as continued following the voice
The voice suddenly turned indignant. "No, NAH. N-A-H. That's my name. Ugh, why does this always happen..."
"Oh…Sorry about that." Leon quickly said as the lights he was using suddenly showed the person he was listening to.
It was a young girl who the voice belong to. There was something odd with her outfit, mainly in the color scheme. The leggings and cape were some shade of red and the rest was white. The only other thing that stood out (that Leon cared about to note) was the color of her hair. It… looked just like… that one Shepherd's hair color…The one named, "Ricken".
Leon spoke up saying, "So...Nah, what are you doing in this place? Because something tells me you wandered in here and got lost."
"...That's pretty much it…" Nah replied.
"Well… How about we get out of this room or hall or whatever we are currently in and meet up with a few associates of mine… And don't worry, they will be friendly." Leon said as he waited for Nah to respond.
Nah thought for a moment, before replying, "...Very well...lead the way…"
Leon and Nah made their way back to the entrance Leon used. As soon as they made their way past the collapsed part, the wall suddenly fixed itself and sealed the pathway.
Leon only had one thing to say about that and it was, "If there's one thing I learned in all of the years I've been alive, it's the fact that I seen too many weird things going on. Now I'm just waiting for someone to turn into something else at this point…" That last part was meant to be a joke, but his tone didn't convey that.
"Well, I am capable of turning into a dragon, just so you have the forewarning…" Nah replied, a small smirk on her face.
Leon quickly turned to Nah saying, " You can turn into a dragon? I find that… rather hard to believe, given your current appearance… but feel free to prove me wrong if you can.
Nah looked at him, before pulling out a small, spherical, shiny stone, holding it up before...it flashed, causing...a crystalline flower to appear below her and surround her. It opened again...revealing a small, horse-sized dark pink dragon. "So...convinced?" the dragon asked, sounding kind of smug.
Leon took a moment to realise what he was seeing, and after a quick slap on his own face, he responded saying, "I'm convinced… I…should make sure to tell my associates about this…when we meet up with them."
"Very well…" Nah stated, before turning back.
The two heard something going on down the hall, and they both made their way towards the noise.
Meanwhile…
The sound of a large fight was echoing throughout the halls of the manor. It turns out the walls were breaking apart and rebuilding themselves as time goes on. And on the other side of these walls were Risen armed with tomes, weapons, and sharp claws.
Naturally, the Wastelanders and Shepherds kept their eyes out as they fought in the dark. And a particular Courier was fighting off two Risen by himself
Using his new combat strategy, Kyle blocked an attack from one of the Risen using his Ballistic Fist to block it. He followed up by using his left hand, armed with Lucky, to fill the Risen with lead. It collapsed forwards and dissolved into smoke.
The other Risen started charging at Kyle, but a loud noise caught Kyle's attention. Then in a split second, a burst of energy hit the Risen in the torso, sending the thing flying towards a wall. It stopped moving and went out like the other one.
Using his light to look around, Kyle saw Aria reloading the Gauss Rifle in her hands. He only had one thing to say which was, "Thanks…But I didn't need the help…I could have taken it out by myself."
"Well, then that just means you have more energy to take on additional Risen, now doesn't it?" Aria replied, smirking.
Kyle just smiled back as he said, "So… want to tag along? I'm ready to go get past these walls and take on anything."
Aria nodded. "I'm ready."
The Courier and Tactician teamed up and began a rather long spree of taking down Risen. Each one they came across either got taken out by Kyle's revolver and Ballistic Fist gauntlet, or got hit by either Aria's Gauss Rifle or a beam of electrical energy from one of her tomes.
Eventually, there was one last Risen to take out… and it was one of those Chiefs. As the two entered the room it was in, it launched a spell from a purple colored tome it was carrying towards Aria. Kyle decided to do something either bold or stupid depending on how you look at it.
Either way, he took the hit meant for Aria as he used his body to block it. His armor took a good chunk of the damage, but Kyle still felt some pain. Then the second attack he didn't expect hit him. This time, the pain he took managed to bring him to his knees.
In response, Kyle quickly aimed Lucky at the Chief's tome and shot it out of its hands. The tome went flying away from the Chief. Kyle quickly told Aria to finish it off, as he tried to stand up. The pain killed that attempt and he ended up back on his knees. He quickly removed the Ballistic Fist and began reloading Lucky.
Aria looked at him, then turned towards the Risen Chief, and began firing with the Gauss Rifle once more. However, this Risen was able to still advance in spite of the shots. Kyle also fired a few rounds as well, but they didn't accomplish much.
Soon, the Risen, unable to reach its fallen tome, instead charged, readying to slash at Aria. Aria tried to dodge, bringing the Gauss Rifle in front of her like a shield, just in case...and the Risen's hand slammed into the weapon, knocking Aria to the ground, the Risen looming over her, pinning her down to prevent her from escaping.
Kyle fired off three rounds, momentarily getting the Risen's attention, before it went back to focusing on Aria.
Aria looked around, trying to find a way out of the situation. Unfortunately, her sword, which she brought in place of her lance since she couldn't bring her Pegasus inside, was too far away from her to reach. As for the Gauss Rifle… … …
...There was a glow coming from the Microfusion Cell: the Risen's attack had damaged the power cell...which would probably explode any moment.
Kyle also saw that the glow coming from the cell and the reality of the situation he was seeing…
He had to do something quick…
However, while he tried to get there, Aria looked back and forth between the MFC and Risen, as the Risen readied to try to crush her head like a grape… … ...before Aria removed the cell, wincing and hissing in pain as the cell was heating up, before taking it...and literally shoving it down the Risen's throat.
The creature seemed to squawk, rearing back away from Aria who tried to scramble backwards...but before she got very far, the Risen was consumed in a large, green explosion, Aria still close enough to be hit by the shrapnel and blast wave.
The moment Kyle saw the Risen explode and Aria was caught in it, his heart started beating fast. Unfortunately, the blast wave continued onwards and it got him as well. The force knocked him onto his back and he tried to get back up as he started moving again.
It took several seconds, but the adrenaline going through his system helped him keep his mind off the pain. That was when he saw the aftermath of the explosion…
The Risen was gone… but that was not the thing Kyle cared about. No, it was the fact that Aria…Aria didn't look very well.
Kyle quickly walked his way over to Aria, noticing that her eyes were closed and the nasty wound on her face: a scar that began just next to her right eye, so close that if the shrapnel that caused it flew just a TINY bit more to the side, it would have blinded her in that eye, and traveled down her cheek until it reached her chin.
He quickly got down on his knees, looking over her as he tried to remain calm. He spoke up, the panic he was feeling taking over his tone as he said, "Aria, can you hear me? If… you can… just hang on…" He turned around and yelled as loud as he can, "I NEED A MEDIC OR HEALER! HURRY, ARIA'S IN SERIOUS PAIN!"
He turned back towards Aria, continuing with his words telling Aria to hold on. She opened her eyes, which Kyle noticed.
"Good… Just stay awake...I called for help… They should be here shortly…" Kyle still said with that panic still affecting his tone. His eyes started to feel heavy and the adrenaline started to wear off.
Aria tried to say something, but Kyle didn't make anything out as his senses started not working. The last thing he saw was Aria before his eyes closed and he became unconscious.
A minute or two later, the help that Kyle called for showed up. Travis was the first one to see the two on the ground. He quickly looked behind him and told the other healers behind him, "We need to get them back to the camp now before we lose them. And when we get them there, we have to make sure to treat their wounds as soon as possible."
After they got Aria and Kyle carefully picked up, they began moving the two back towards camp. Travis stuck around for a moment, looking around the room to see what happened. He saw the signs of an explosion that went off and a purple colored book filled with a few bullet holes not too far away.
Travis had a feeling that he was going to have to ask Aria and Kyle what happened, but that thought immediately got replaced with thinking about how he was going to treat their wounds instead.
The battle was over, with victory going towards the Shepherds. But the victory was bittersweet, due to the fact that they ended up with two wounded. One being their Tactician and the other being the leader of the band of Wastelanders.
Author's Notes
*Camera turns on*
*Kyle remains silent*
Aria: "...Well...that happened…"
Kyle: *Breaks his silence as he calmly says, "Aria, do you have any idea who came up with that particular event?"
Aria: "...I think it might have been IceBite...possibly as some kind of ploy to get us together…"
Kyle: "Just asking…."
*The two just stand there for a few seconds, not talking… and the person in question shows up nearby*
*Kyle notices IceBite and glares at him for a few seconds.*
Kamen Rider Dark Kiva: "... … ...What?"
*Kyle heads over to the camera and turns it around*
*The camera is still rolling, just not seeing what was going on.*
Kyle: "I just want to be sure…It was your idea wasn't it?"
Kamen Rider Dark Kiva: "... … ...I had my reasons…"
Kyle: "Well…We will see how it plays out… And I'm just going to let you know that I'm "not okay" with what happened so far…"
Kamen Rider Dark Kiva: "...Noted…"
*The camera catches Kyle's voice as he whispered to IceBite, "That's all I wanted to say for now…"Hopefully". So, do me a favor and let me and Aria get back to work."
Kamen Rider Dark Kiva: "...Uhm...alright…"
*The camera gets turned around, showing Kyle and Aria by themselves.*
Kyle: *Forces a smile as he says, "Sorry about that, just had to "Talk" to IceBite about something that needed to be addressed for future recordings."*
Aria: *noticing the smile was forced* "...Alright…"
Kyle: *Turns towards the camera, followed by a quick suggestion to get Aria to look at the camera as well.*
Kyle: "So…Let's back to talking about the chapter… The title of the chapter is actually an indirect reference to a famous tabletop game series."
Aria: "What kind of tabletop game series?"
Kyle: "The one… that is based on fantasy and magic…What was its name?"
Aria: *shrugs* "I honestly don't know: I remember IceBite mentioning offhandedly that my own WORLD is like a fantasy world: I doubt we've have an actual GAME about such things…"
Kyle: "No wait… I think I remember Triple M saying its name once. It was "B&B" or something."
*Off camera, M3's voice could be heard yelling, "IT'S CALLED DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS! AND THAT OTHER NAME IS FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!"*
Kyle: "Never mind what I said, it's called Dungeons and Dragons."
Aria: "...Alright...Dungeons and Dragons? What do Dragons have to do with Dungeons, anyways?"
Kyle: "I have no idea… And with that, we have to end the show."
Aria: "Well, see you all next time!"
*The camera turns off...*
*Then it turns back on suddenly, catching Kyle messing with the camera controls.*
*He stops messing with the camera and moves away from it as it finally turns off again.*
End Author's Note.
Important Update
Due to a recent decision between me and IceBite, we have decided to make another story. Because we went a bit "overboard" with one of our recent Author's Note segment, we have decided to make it into a separate story following right now.
For those wanting to follow it, its called "A/N Verse Chronicles". And if you think that means we will stop doing Author's Notes on both of the fics we are making, think again.
That is all.
-MarkMartinMagma
Edit Log (Version 1.0): Added some minor changes
