Hey everybody, it's me, The Goon. Sorry about the long wait, but the new story arc is finally about to begin. Enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I do not own 8 Bit Theater or Final Fantasy
Just for the sake of a quick recap, I'm putting some character profiles here for major characters [so far], but feel free to skip this part if you wanna jump right into the story.
Fighter- The most enthusiastic of the Light Warriors, but certainly not the brightest
Black Mage- A magic user with a real evil steak, and spends most of his time trying to get White Mage's attention, he is now allowed to use MORE than one Hadoken per day
Thief- A clever and witty pickpocket who is hiding something from everyone else
Red Mage- A noble magic user who is obsessed with quests and statistics
White Mage- A pure and innocent servant of the holy, she plays a key role in the Light Warriors' destinies
The Light Warrior Replicas- They go by the names of Matt (Fighter's replica), Toby (Black Mage's replica), Marcus (Thief's replica), and Felipe (Red Mage's replica). Since they are creations of Sarda, they believe that they are the real Light Warriors and that our heroes are the replicas
Sarda- The Vice Principal of 8 Bit Academy, and also one of the most powerful sages in all existence...and is often referred to by the Light Warriors as a jackass
The Principal- The mysterious principal who is in charge of 8 Bit Academy, and predicts the destinies of the Light Warriors. Who IS The Principal?
The Dark Warriors - Consists of Garland, Bikke, Drizz'l, and Vilbert von Vampire. They are regular students at the Academy, but spend much time plotting against the Light Warriors.
The White Mage and Black Belt Replicas - They go by Rebecca (White Mage Replica) and Jared (Black Belt Replica), and like the Light Warrior Replicas, Sarda created them for reasons unknown.
Day 51
The week did not start off as well as one would imagine. Ordinarily, people would be in classes, be it in the Combat area or the Magic area. Instead, at this time, all of 8 Bit Academy was gathered around on a rainy, gloomy morning in a large field, standing before a large, golden altar with a portrait of Black Belt in his signature pose sitting atop it. Sarda stood by the altar, his head and perfectly groomed moustache covered from the rain by his red hood, prepared to give a eulogy from the Principal.
"We are gathered here today to mourn the untimely death of our classmate, student, and friend Black Belt," said Sarda, "who was tragically frozen to death."
"Courtesy of Thief," muttered Black Mage, who was standing right next to Thief.
"He chose to do that himself," whispered Thief.
"If you think about it," whispered Black Mage in reply, "It's really his fault."
"Both of you shut up," hissed White Mage, who was standing behind them, "show some respect."
Contrary to her name, White Mage was wearing black for the occasion. In fact, everyone except Sarda was wearing some form of dark clothing. Even Fighter's armor was black.
"The Principal could not be here today, since he is dealing with grave matters in regards to Black Belt's death," said Sarda, "So he has contributed to these final words I give him…"
As Sarda went on, it became more noticeable that others were suddenly fearful of the future. Zell was crying like a baby in the back row; Tidus and Wakka would not stop shaking; the Disciplinary Committee started moving closer to each other, since there was now the fear of being alone; Hayner and Pence were both choking up, while Olette and Tifa already had tears rolling down their cheeks. And this was only the beginning of the day.
Besides the Principal, there was one other person who had not been at the funeral…the P.E teacher Squall Leonhart, or simply Leon. He was discussing important matters in regards to Black Belt with the most unlikely of Sages…a small, purple mouse by the name of Torte, who worked outside of the Academy.
"So Black Belt's really dead, huh?" wondered Torte, smoking a large pipe.
"Many think that this throws everything out of balance," said Leon, sitting back in his chair, "But the Principal and Sarda disagree."
"Why is that?" asked Torte.
"They said it was fate that Black Belt died," replied Leon, "But even if they're right, we can't continue our work until he is replaced."
"He can't be replaced," said Torte, "He was one of a kind."
"That much is true," said Leon in agreement, "But we need someone to at least take his position among the Order if we're going to continue."
"You mean you haven't heard about that big fancy meeting?" asked Torte, "Everyone from the Order's gonna be there this afternoon."
"I was aware of that," said Leon, "That's why we need to find a new member."
"Can't we discuss that at the meeting?" asked Torte.
"No time," replied Leon, "From what I hear, something very important is going to be discussed at this meeting. There won't be time to discuss who should replace Black Belt."
"Fair enough," said Torte, "But that still leaves the simple question of who should replace him."
Outside the Academy, shortly after the funeral, everyone was starting to head home since classes were cancelled that day.
"Under different circumstances," said Red Mage, "I guess it would be a good thing to have a day off from classes."
"I'm sorry to tell you boys that you're not quite finished yet," said Sarda, who had appeared behind the Light Warriors.
"Great, it's old Wet-Ass Sarda coming to give us another grand quest," whined Black Mage.
Suddenly, and without warning, Black Belt started moaning and holding his head with both his hands, and started mumbling.
"What did you do to him?" asked Thief.
"Oh, I just scrambled his particles around a bit and temporarily froze time for a brief second except for himself," replied Sarda, "That should give him a painful migraine for a while."
"And what did you mean by 'not finished yet'?" asked Red Mage.
"The Principal and I have located the remaining two Orbs of Light," replied Sarda, "However, I cannot send you to find them until you have each completed a ritual of cleansing."
"Cleansing?" asked Thief.
"To take a step closer to truly becoming the Light Warriors," replied Sarda.
"Sounds like an excuse to go questing if you ask me," said Red Mage, "And I like it!"
"Except you, Fighter," said Sarda, "I need you to come with me to somewhere very important."
"Wait, what?" wondered Black Mage, "Why does Fighter get to skip out on this lame 'cleansing' quest?"
"Hey, more experience for us!" exclaimed Red Mage.
"As for you three," said Sarda, "There's someone waiting outside the entrance gates who will guide you further on your quest."
"Who?" asked Thief.
Outside the gates, there was not just one person waiting, but two. Both Selphie and Irvine were waiting for them outside the gates….well, not exactly waiting. More like on top of each other making out while waiting for the Light Warriors. Irvine's long blonde hair and pretty boy face made him easy to differentiate from the other guys, but if Selphie had not been wearing her usual attire, it would be hard to tell it was her.
"Oh," said Selphie, suddenly blushing, "I didn't know you'd be here so soon."
"Soon?" asked Black Mage, "It took us half an hour to walk 30 feet just because dumb Red Mage had to 'use the bathroom'."
"Hey, wearing +20 G-Strings of Charisma can be a pain, especially when you have little time to adjust to them," retorted Red Mage.
"Especially if it still doesn't help your charisma," said Thief.
Suddenly laughing a bit, Black Mage said to Thief, "I'll give you that one."
"In any case," said Irvine, loading a gunblade, "Selphie and I, along with a couple others, are escorting you to the Castle of Ordeals."
"Couple others?" asked Thief, "Who else is going with us?"
No sooner did he say that when two figures emerged from the front gates, prepared to travel to the Castle of Ordeals. The one on the left was Terra Branford, coming out with her fashionable red boots and flower stockings. Although she had no magic (at least not anymore), she still had a small dagger on her belt and a knife strapped to her thighs (the smallest area that wasn't covered). The one on the right was Zack, who was already holding onto his long blade, having just sharpened it.
"Is this all of us?" asked Terra.
"What about Fighter?" asked Zack, "Isn't he one of you guys?"
"Sarda has him doing something else," replied Red Mage.
"So if this is all of us, I guess we had better start moving," said Irvine.
The Light Warriors (minus Fighter) followed Irvine, Selphie, Zack, and Terra off campus and towards the Castle of Ordeals.
And where has Sarda gone with Fighter? To a large and overwhelming cathedral not far from the Academy. Fighter looked up at the circular columns surrounding it and was almost blinded by the reflection coming off of the large stain glass window at the top. Sarda and Fighter were greeted by Leon and Torte at the front.
"Awww, what a cute little mouse!" exclaimed Fighter.
"This 'cute little mouse' is gonna shrink you to the size of a peanut if you keep patronizing him," said Torte.
"You'll have to excuse him," said Sarda, "While physically overpowering, he is not quite there."
"Quite where?" asked Fighter.
"Never mind," replied Sarda, "Let's just head inside."
While Torte got in front of Fighter to lead them, Leon stayed further behind to converse quietly with Sarda.
"Are you sure he's the one?" asked Leon.
"He's the only one of the Light Warriors with authentic enthusiasm to be a hero of justice just for the goodness of others," replied Sarda, "Seeing as the others have their own agendas, they don't match the qualifications."
"But he doesn't seem…smart enough to be among the Order," said Leon.
"Nonetheless," replied Sarda, "The Principal himself asked for Fighter to be presented to him first."
"The Principal is going to be here?" asked Leon.
"He already is here, and he must be getting impatient waiting for us," replied Sarda.
"But he never makes public appearances! He's either in the shadows or sending a representative!" exclaimed Leon.
"Black Belt's death has influenced him to make an exception this time," said Sarda, "Besides, I'm sure much of your curiosity as to the Principal's identity is at it's wits end."
The four of them entered ridiculously large golden doors that were at the end of the marble-floored hallways into the circular chamber that was the meeting room for the Order. Representatives had the lowest seats around a circle, higher ranking members were sitting higher, depending on importance, and at the highest seat was where the Principal (or his representative) would sit.
And for the first time in a long time, the Principal was there in full person. No representatives. No cloaks or shadows to hide himself in. The entire Order, or at least the ones currently present, finally saw who their unanimous leader truly is.
To be continued...
~The Goon~