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Luna: YAY reviews! I'll write reviewer responses as private messages, as not to take away from the chapter. Now, I need you guys to vote for me, whether you want Zelos to end up dying and having Kratos rejoining the party at the end; or to just keep Zelos non-angst filled. Either way is fine with me (gives thumbs up).

Chapter 21:

Lloyd and company were thrown into yet another spare lab by the knights they could of EASILY killed, and that's when they met Kate.

" Who's there!" she asked, startled.

" Your mom! Now get back to work!" cried the Papal Knight, and shoved Lloyd in, " And their criminals. Keep them here."
" Oh, that's great. Put some cold blooded killers in here with us," spat Kate, " How safe."
" We didn't do anything!" cried Lloyd.

" I guess being stupid can be considered a crime…" said Zelos, suddenly.

" Sh-Shutup!"
Kate looks at each of them, and her gaze lingers on Presea. No, its not cause her hair is flamboyantly pink or that she's into little kids; its something MUCH deeper.

" Ah. No. Go away." said Presea, with as much emotional in her voice as wind-up doll that took several blows to the head.

" Presea?" asked Kate, shocked, " Why are you here?"
" You know her?" asked Lloyd, blinking.

" Well…"
" A human friends with a half-elf…now that's not something you see every day…" commented Zelos, " Almost as uncommon as me not getting laid."
" Why?" asked Lloyd.

" Because the chicks dig me."
" No! I meant about your first statement!"
" Oh…Well, half-elves are considered garbage here. And besides, they can't ever leave the lab."
" So that explains the smell…"
Kate glared at him.

" What? Still, that's insane…"
" So, the question is," said Zelos, suddenly taking a lamp and shining it directly on Kate's head; like some cheesy interrogation, " The question is, how does a lab bound half-elf know a human child? Hm? Hm?"

" This child was my research sample…" said Kate, finally.

" Research?" asked Lloyd, confused.

" Research to manufacture Cruxis Crystals inside the human body."
" You can do that?"
" Yes, allowing it to feed on warm, innocent flesh it can-"
" Ew! That's just like the Desians! And its real graphic!"
" Huh?"
" How can you treat people like that and play god!" asked Lloyd, clearly appalled, " Next thing you know, you're going to try to bring dead bodies back by creating the T-virus and have some rich nobles create bio-weapons for their own sick amusement! And then you'll start cloning Dolly the sheep!-"
Only then did he notice the looks everyone was giving him.

"…I could ask you the same thing. it's the same-"
" old lines you all used to know!" sang Lloyd.

"-same way you treat half-elves. How can you treat us like this?"
" I don't! I treat everyone equal!"
Suddenly, Sheena appeared and said, " He's not from around here, if you haven't guessed from his clothes and sheer innocent stupidity and musical theruts."

Corrine came over and nibbled on Lloyd's rope that bound his wrists; and…kept nibbling.

" Um…Sheena, its nice to see you and all but…this is sorta taking too long." he said, sheepishly.

" Oops…"
Sheena pulled out a machete from God-er, Martel knows where and hacked the binds instead.

" Sheena! How did you find us?" he asked, blinking.

" I'll explain later, we got to save Genis and Raine!"

" Do you have a tracking device on us, too?" asked Lloyd, " Like the glowing pimple on Colette?"
Sheena sighed.

" Do you want to save your friends or not!"
" Are you going to run away?" asked Kate.

"-I'm gonna run away! Never say goodbye! I wanna know the truth, without ever asking why!" sang Lloyd, compulsively.

" Yeah, he's going to save his whipped friend and the sexy professor," explained Zelos, " Going to try and stop us?"
Kate grumbled, then shook her head.

" You lie! A human would never save an half-elf! That's like…bizarro world! A world where up is down, left is right, magitechonly is non-existent, green bunny dog hybrids run wild and-"
" Yeah, that about sums up Sylvarant…" said Sheena, suddenly.

" Look, we don't have time for this!" cried Lloyd, impatient, " If your going to get in our way, we'll fight you!"
Although…I couldn't really imagine that being a fair fight. 4 on one…and besides, what was Kate's weapons? The beakers? Her whining about half-elf injustice? Or special attack, 'make people feel guilty cause your life sucks a lot'. Sorry…anyway…

" Fine…if its true, then come back later with your half elf friends. Then, I'll free Presea from her experiment."

" You promise? Pinky swear?"
Kate looped her pinky with his and said, " Yes, pinky swear."
And everyone knows better than to mess with a pinky swear.

Although…I never really understood that. Since your swearing on your pinky, does that mean you have to chop it off if you fail to pull through?
Kate went to the other side of the room and pushed the wall. A hidden passage was revealed.

" This is a hidden passage, it'll bring you to the surface." she said.

" Thanks!" cried Lloyd, and went up the later.

Zelos, however, lagged behind.

" By whose order was Presea's experiment carried out?" he asked.

" I can't say…"
" Then the Pope."
"…"
" Oh, and can I get your number?"
" Zelos, come on!" Lloyd shouted from up the hole.

" I know…sheesh…catch ya later," he said, winking.

Kate looked as if to suppress vomit.

The gang raced through Sybak, and get to the bridge. Unfortunely, Raine and Genis are already on the other side; and the drawbridge is being pulled up.

" Dammnit! We'll have to jump!" cried Lloyd, and readied himself to run.

Zelos held him back.

" Wait, time out! Are you nuts? A fall from here will kill us instantly!"
" And if we abandon them, they'll die too!"
" So by getting yourself killed, that's going to help!"
Lloyd grumbles, breaks free of Zelos; and races ahead.

" Man…he's either really brave, really stupid or really suicidal…"
Everyone ignores this and keeps moving.

" But maybe…I'll jump…and finally get my rest…"
No one heard Zelos' angst monologue. But that was OKAY.

Since everyone is a retard, they follow Lloyd as he attempts his jump across the bridge; giving new life to the phrase, 'if everyone jumped off a bridge, would you do it, too?' Except Colette. She flies over.

" Who's idea was this!" cried Lloyd, as he fell.

" Yours!" screamed Zelos.

"Oh…"
" Undine! HELP!" cried Sheena, panicking.

Undine appears, stares for a few seconds at their stupidity, then casts a water spell to propel them upwards. They land on the bridge, safely.

" Damage at zero percent," came Presea, " Unknown entity aided in lack of percentage in damage inflicted."

" Phew…my life flashed before my eyes…" said Zelos, looking as if to have a heart attack any minute.

" Thanks, Sheena!" cried Lloyd, " If it wasn't for your quick thinking, we all would've died because I'm impulsive and thoughtless!"

" I'm sure glad I'm a summoner…" she said.

" Genis and Raine detected 10 yards away. Imminent death will occur in 5 minutes point 7 seconds," said Presea, suddenly.

" Oh no! Damn my short attention span! Come on!" cried Lloyd.

They continue to run across the bridge, when 3 Papal Knights appear.

" Damn! They escaped!" exclaimed soon to be dead Papal Knight one.

" Give us back our friends!" cried Lloyd.

" Silence!" cried 'soon to be dead Papal Knight number 2'.

Lloyd and his friends manage to kick the ass of the Papal Knights. Sheena gave them many a paper cut, Presea leveled the entire ground, Lloyd stabbed stuff, and Zelos ran around screaming about how his perfect face was ruined. After murderizing the Papal Knights, Genis and Raine run over to them.

" Lloyd! Everyone else who I won't name cause there's too many of you!" he cried, happily.

" You came to rescue us…" stated Raine, puzzled.

" Duh! Your our friends!"
" But we're half-elves!"
" And?"
" Lloyd, you're a moron!"

Lloyd blinked.

" So…I'm a moron for not hating you cause of your race?"

" What about the Tethe'alla part of our group?" asked Raine, " Do you mind if we join you?"
" I'm from Mizuho, we're not really mainstream; either. So its cool." Sheena.

" I can't say I'm kosher with this, but since I know everyone else is gonna want you to come; I'm gonna look like the bad guy again so I'm just going to agree." Zelos.

" I just want to go home." said Presea, the most intelligent of all the responses.

" I see…" said Raine, " So…why are you here, Sheena?"
" I have orders to keep tabs on you from the Chief," said Sheena, shrugging.

" Wow! Everyone's stalking us these days! First Zelos and now Sheena!" said Lloyd, sort of flattered, "So, shouldn't we get Sheena to make a pact with Volt to get those Rheriads working?"
" VOLT!" cried Sheena.

Her face turned 9 shades of gray, her whole being seemed to go rigid. With that, she got a blank look on her face and said, "No…No…Volt…what the hell…are you speaking? Pig latin? Spanish? Egyptian?"

" What?" asked Lloyd.

" She's relapsing…" said Zelos, rolling his eyes.

" Relapse of past detected," announced Presea, " Sanity is down to 33 percent."
" Well said."

" Sheena?" asked Lloyd.

With that, she snapped out of her trance and shook it off.

" Ah…its nothing."
" Then shouldn't we get the Rheriads first?" asked Zelos, " It'll be easier to carry them to the temple!"
"…Huh? But aren't they heavy and stuff?" asked Lloyd.

" Just leave to 'ULTRA-SEXY-SUPER-ZELOS!'" He cried, striking a pose, " To the Fooji mountains!"
" Aw, come on! We gotta climb that thing again?" complained Lloyd.

" These monsters…why are they here?" asked Sheena, as they walked up the trail, " The ritual wasn't complete…"
" Its probably that she-male Yggdrasil and Cruxis," accused Raine.

Meanwhile, Genis had plucked a daisy from the ground. He fingered it nervously, before saying, " H-Hey, Presea?"
Presea turned around.

" I…uh…got this for you." he said, blushing.

" Plant life detected. 50 percent carbon and 50 percent unknown substance," said Presea, staring at it.

" I'm so glad you like it!" he cried, overjoyed.

Zelos watched this and shook his head.

" That kid's about as smooth as…as…not me." he said, finally.

Finally, they got to the top of the mountains.

" So how are we going to carry them?" asked Lloyd, " Are we gonna saddle up Presea?"
Zelos walked over to the Rherids and said, " Come here, I'll show ya."
The group goes to follow Zelos, and suddenly; a barrier traps them in.

" You've walked right into my trap; fools!" cried Yuan, appearing.

DUN DUN DUN!

Luna: Done! ' Suspending Disbelief' by Circa Survive and ' Run away' by Linkin Park were today's songs! Review?