Disclaimer: Wow, I'm actually using one of these. It's given that I don't have any ownership of Advance Wars or the characters of Final Fantasy... Duh. But the characters Glenn, Brad, Aldrea, Ashley, and Cecil, are used from "Bahamut & the Guardian Forces" by the permission of Gregory Stephen/nightdragon0. So you know, you should go read it, you would enjoy it.
-Advance Wars 2
--Project Black Portal
---Chapter 5: Dead Ends
Glenn walked about the island, the facility there was gone and not a clue was left behind. They had retraced their steps after leaving Blue Moon and had located the island from before. But every little piece, every little evidence of anyone being there was gone.
Dammit. Bahamut cursed. They're gone! We wasted too much time just sitting around and talking!
"I don't get it... when we escaped. This place was huge. How could they pick up and leave so quickly?" Glenn wondered aloud.
Humph, why don't you ask your new friend Grit? Bahamut suggested sarcastically.
Despite Bahamut's tone, he pulled the radio out and looked at it. There was some switches along the side and an antenna, it was actually pretty big in Glenn's hands.
"I think I'll do that..."
Glenn. It's called sarcasm. I seriously doubt that cowboy could do anything but spit tobacco...
Bahamut didn't get much further in his speech before Glenn flipped it on. There was some static and a series of beeping noises before they heard someone pickup.
"This is Grit, what ya'll want?"
"Hey... Grit. This is Glenn. You know? The guy you found at the bay?"
"Oh yeah. Howdy there. How ya doin'? You find that island you were itching to go check out?"
"Yeah, we did... but there's nothing here."
There was some laughing from Grit and a sound like he had slapped his knees. Bahamut began to growl angrily.
What's so funny? Who knows what they could be doing to Leviathan and the rest of them...
"I could have saved ya'll some trouble if you just talked to me. It's no good trying to chase after their laboratories. They can set them thangs up in days and take em' down just as fast."
Glenn looked around at the empty area. He could see the outlines of some basic structures where something might have been. The grass would suddenly end and then veer off left or right in a square like pattern.
"I see that now..." Glenn muttered. "We were wondering if you could help us find our friends..."
"Aw... don't worry nothing about it. I know someone who can find them lickety split. You just hunker down for a sec and we'll pick ya up."
There was a sigh from Bahamut as Glenn ended the transmission and put the radio away.
"What?" Glenn asked his dragon partner.
Do we have to ride with him again?
-------------------------------
It didn't take long before a transport copter circled the area and touched down. The side door rolled open and Glenn soon hopped in. He soon spotted Grit sitting near the back and soon went to sit by him.
"Hey there son. Take a seat right here." Grit pointed. "How's that dragon feller doin'?"
It's his accent Glenn, his accent! It's maddening!
"Shut up and just be thankful someone decided to talk to you instead of shooting you." Glenn muttered back.
Grit took out a cigarette from his jacket and slipped it into his mouth. When Glenn had sat down he tilted his hat back and let out a laugh.
"Oh, there's no need whispering to your dragon partner there. I'm up to speed on thangs' now."
"Ok thank..." Glenn paused and did a double take. "Hey. How do you know about Bahamut?"
My question exactly. Next thing he'll say is that he can hear me!
"That someone I was talkin' about knows all about you. She knows how to find things, a real informed person in these parts. I asked her about dragons and such and that's how I know."
The way Grit spoke was out of respect, and probably something more than that. But it was the least of Glenn's worries.
"Well... Looks like our secret is out in this world." Glenn laughed nervously.
"Don't misunderstand me son... It's not like we're handing papers out to everyone about it. It's me, Sonja... Oh yeah, that's her name... And that's it."
Hopefully, we won't regret admitting it to them. Glenn. Bahamut sighed.
"Well, if you haven't noticed Bahamut, we're going to need all the help we can get in this world." He argued defensively.
We never had problems before...
"Before we weren't fighting an entire army!"
Grit began to laugh and got their attention. He could see the expression on Glenn's face and covered his mouth until he had surpressed his laugh. Then he looked up and held his hands up at his sides.
"Sorry, ya'll have to forgive me. It's like hearing one side of a phone conversation. You gotta use your imagination to fill in the blanks."
What does that tell you about him?
"Lay off him Bahamut..." Glenn muttered.
"We'll we're in for a long ride, so get comfortable." Grit advised.
This is why I don't like using your human transportation. It would be so much faster if I flew us there. Bahamut grumbled.
"Would you want Grit riding on your back?"
What! Him? Riding me? Have you lost your sanity? Absolutely not!
"Come on, think about it. It would be great. Grit's sitting on your back with a hand in the air..." Glenn laughed, and finished their conversation for the duration of the ride.
-------------------------------
Grit hadn't been kidding, they had to board a cruiser and then back onto the transport copter to get where they were going. When they finally arrived, it was Yellow Comet, a place that wasn't too far from resembling World War II Japan... But being Wars World, they were simply known as being Yellow Cometers. Their destination was a military base that had been changed into a field HQ.
The blue copter stuck out like a sore thumb in the blur of yellow troops and vehicles. Grit was first out of the copter as Glenn was close behind. He turned to him and tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention.
"Alright son! Just stay close and let me do the talkin'." Grit yelled over the rotors.
Glenn nodded and followed Grit away from the copter. The copter itself soon took off and disappeared behind the skyline. When they stepped off the helipad, they were quickly greeted by two Yellow Comet soldiers.
"Lady Sonja has been awaiting you Commander Grit." One soldier began. "Please, right this way."
They found themselves navigating corridors until reaching what looked like a big conference room, but there was papers all over the table and a lot of dry erase boards along the wall. Despite how many things were in the room, it was still very thoroughly organized and well kept.
"Howdy Sonja, I see you still got your organization skills all in line." Grit announced with a grin.
In the back of the room, a young woman was currently typing away at a laptop and glanced up. She pushed her glasses back up and soon stood up while giving a warm smile. She wore a green uniform dress and had her hair tied back in two neat pigtails.
"Hello Grit. Is this the one you were speaking about before? The one with the GF?"
"Yep. He needs some help, I reckon' if they've been wronged by Black Hole, we ought to set it right before they get into too much trouble."
"Indeed, wondering around in a world that has no comprehension of these magical beasts is sure to cause very serious complications."
Glenn! Bahamut shouted.
"Hm? Huh?" Glenn mumbled back.
Close your gaping mouth and speak up!
Glenn shook his head and stepped forward.
"Right, so." Glenn began. "How do you know all this?"
"Black Hole told me." Sonja answered with a smile.
"But wait a sec... Aren't you fighting Black Hole? Why would they tell you anything?"
Glenn could hear Bahamut sigh.
She means she's spying on them.
"Oh yeah well... I knew that..." Glenn rubbed the back of his head uneasily.
Sonja gave a nod and moved over to one of her many dry erase boards. There was numerous pictures taped up on the board all with designated names. Things like "Black Cannon", "Laser Turret", "Mini-Cannon", and "Death Ray" could all be seen up there. But soon Sonja added a new addition "GF". Grit stepped up and looked up and down the board whistling.
"Wow, our Black Hole friends sure do like their flashy toys."
"All of them are designed by Lash. With the exception of our visitors here." Sonja pointed towards the GF picture.
"Hey, I got a question. How'd we get here? Do you know that?" Glenn asked.
I can almost hear a tone of challenge in your voice. Trying to get her back for making you look stupid? Bahamut asked.
"Shut up."
Sonja gave a nod and pointed across the room, behind Glenn. He turned around to see a rather complicated diagram of some portal system. It was a big ring with lights all over it. It seemed familiar to Glenn and he turned back to Sonja.
"I think I've seen this before..."
"Most likely." Sonja stated. "Dealing with the messy subject of alternate worlds. We can say that in this one, Black Hole has used it to be able to break into other worlds like yours. Black Hole's leader has begun a career doing just that. That is Project Black Portal. They've done a terrible amount of planning and preparation for this. Along with the diagram, I was able to recover detailed data on you as well as your GFs."
"What kind of data?" Grit asked.
"It would seem like frivolous things at first. Like, where you live Glenn, and where you go to college, what kind of food you like. Who your friends are. So on and so forth. Then they have data on your GFs, their size, shape, power, etc."
"But how? I think I would notice a couple shady guys wearing spacesuits walking around watching me where ever I go."
Are you sure about that? Bahamut laughed.
"Sometimes I feel sorry you're stuck in my head." He muttered back.
"This is true, but our enemies are not limited to their alien soldiers. Their leader has a great deal of experience in robotic cloning. Someone who seemed normal enough was probably watching you, a robotic copy serving the greater interest of Black Hole"
"Not to mention the rest of my friends!" Glenn cut in. "Do you know where they are? We've been separated for some time. We need to save them before those guys go to work on them."
Sonja's expression became serious as she gave a quick look towards Grit and then back to Glenn.
"And then I am sorry to tell you, but you are too late on that account." Sonja explained quietly.
What? Glenn, what is she talking about?
"Huh? Wait hold on! What's going on?"
Sonja moved over toward her laptop and sat down beginning to type. She didn't look up, but eventually answered Glenn's question.
"The GF... known as Valefor? She is already being sent out against our forces near Black Hole's Anaconda Installation. She's a very formidable creature, and I fear that it won't be long until Leviathan and Unicorn are sent out as well."
Dammit! Bahamut roared. What could they have done to turn them like that?
"We have to try and talk some sense into them!" Glenn declared. "Before you guys shoot her down or something!"
Sonja was quick to stop typing and looked up.
"That is true... We will only hold back for so long. But if you went, you would not get far. The Anaconda Installation is surrounded by Mini-Cannons."
"But don't let the name fool you." Grit added quickly. "They pack a punch and they would take you down faster than the sun settin' on a Saturday night."
That's too bad! I'll destroy the fortress if I have to!
"I'm with you Bahamut..."
With that, they quickly went to leave. Grit made some sort of motion to stop them, but was too far away to make any difference. He went to the door frame and stopped realizing he couldn't catch them and then turned back to Sonja.
"Possum Spit, those boys are going to get themselves killed."
"This could work to our advantage..." Sonja muttered.
"Hold on there darlin'... Using Glenn and his dragon feller as cannon fodder ain't exactly the best way to go about things."
She looked up surprised and shook her head
"Oh I don't mean it like that... I've been meaning to test a theory of mine... I just needed the proper encouragement. You should return to Blue Moon, I'll keep track of them from here."
Grit scratched his chin and gave a hard stare at Sonja.
"Well, ok... I'm leavin' them in your hands. Don't go getting in over your head." Grit advised.
"Never." She answered confidently.
-End Chapter
--Next Chapter: The Snake's Challenge
-Advance Wars 2
--Project Black Portal
---Chapter 5: Dead Ends
Glenn walked about the island, the facility there was gone and not a clue was left behind. They had retraced their steps after leaving Blue Moon and had located the island from before. But every little piece, every little evidence of anyone being there was gone.
Dammit. Bahamut cursed. They're gone! We wasted too much time just sitting around and talking!
"I don't get it... when we escaped. This place was huge. How could they pick up and leave so quickly?" Glenn wondered aloud.
Humph, why don't you ask your new friend Grit? Bahamut suggested sarcastically.
Despite Bahamut's tone, he pulled the radio out and looked at it. There was some switches along the side and an antenna, it was actually pretty big in Glenn's hands.
"I think I'll do that..."
Glenn. It's called sarcasm. I seriously doubt that cowboy could do anything but spit tobacco...
Bahamut didn't get much further in his speech before Glenn flipped it on. There was some static and a series of beeping noises before they heard someone pickup.
"This is Grit, what ya'll want?"
"Hey... Grit. This is Glenn. You know? The guy you found at the bay?"
"Oh yeah. Howdy there. How ya doin'? You find that island you were itching to go check out?"
"Yeah, we did... but there's nothing here."
There was some laughing from Grit and a sound like he had slapped his knees. Bahamut began to growl angrily.
What's so funny? Who knows what they could be doing to Leviathan and the rest of them...
"I could have saved ya'll some trouble if you just talked to me. It's no good trying to chase after their laboratories. They can set them thangs up in days and take em' down just as fast."
Glenn looked around at the empty area. He could see the outlines of some basic structures where something might have been. The grass would suddenly end and then veer off left or right in a square like pattern.
"I see that now..." Glenn muttered. "We were wondering if you could help us find our friends..."
"Aw... don't worry nothing about it. I know someone who can find them lickety split. You just hunker down for a sec and we'll pick ya up."
There was a sigh from Bahamut as Glenn ended the transmission and put the radio away.
"What?" Glenn asked his dragon partner.
Do we have to ride with him again?
-------------------------------
It didn't take long before a transport copter circled the area and touched down. The side door rolled open and Glenn soon hopped in. He soon spotted Grit sitting near the back and soon went to sit by him.
"Hey there son. Take a seat right here." Grit pointed. "How's that dragon feller doin'?"
It's his accent Glenn, his accent! It's maddening!
"Shut up and just be thankful someone decided to talk to you instead of shooting you." Glenn muttered back.
Grit took out a cigarette from his jacket and slipped it into his mouth. When Glenn had sat down he tilted his hat back and let out a laugh.
"Oh, there's no need whispering to your dragon partner there. I'm up to speed on thangs' now."
"Ok thank..." Glenn paused and did a double take. "Hey. How do you know about Bahamut?"
My question exactly. Next thing he'll say is that he can hear me!
"That someone I was talkin' about knows all about you. She knows how to find things, a real informed person in these parts. I asked her about dragons and such and that's how I know."
The way Grit spoke was out of respect, and probably something more than that. But it was the least of Glenn's worries.
"Well... Looks like our secret is out in this world." Glenn laughed nervously.
"Don't misunderstand me son... It's not like we're handing papers out to everyone about it. It's me, Sonja... Oh yeah, that's her name... And that's it."
Hopefully, we won't regret admitting it to them. Glenn. Bahamut sighed.
"Well, if you haven't noticed Bahamut, we're going to need all the help we can get in this world." He argued defensively.
We never had problems before...
"Before we weren't fighting an entire army!"
Grit began to laugh and got their attention. He could see the expression on Glenn's face and covered his mouth until he had surpressed his laugh. Then he looked up and held his hands up at his sides.
"Sorry, ya'll have to forgive me. It's like hearing one side of a phone conversation. You gotta use your imagination to fill in the blanks."
What does that tell you about him?
"Lay off him Bahamut..." Glenn muttered.
"We'll we're in for a long ride, so get comfortable." Grit advised.
This is why I don't like using your human transportation. It would be so much faster if I flew us there. Bahamut grumbled.
"Would you want Grit riding on your back?"
What! Him? Riding me? Have you lost your sanity? Absolutely not!
"Come on, think about it. It would be great. Grit's sitting on your back with a hand in the air..." Glenn laughed, and finished their conversation for the duration of the ride.
-------------------------------
Grit hadn't been kidding, they had to board a cruiser and then back onto the transport copter to get where they were going. When they finally arrived, it was Yellow Comet, a place that wasn't too far from resembling World War II Japan... But being Wars World, they were simply known as being Yellow Cometers. Their destination was a military base that had been changed into a field HQ.
The blue copter stuck out like a sore thumb in the blur of yellow troops and vehicles. Grit was first out of the copter as Glenn was close behind. He turned to him and tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention.
"Alright son! Just stay close and let me do the talkin'." Grit yelled over the rotors.
Glenn nodded and followed Grit away from the copter. The copter itself soon took off and disappeared behind the skyline. When they stepped off the helipad, they were quickly greeted by two Yellow Comet soldiers.
"Lady Sonja has been awaiting you Commander Grit." One soldier began. "Please, right this way."
They found themselves navigating corridors until reaching what looked like a big conference room, but there was papers all over the table and a lot of dry erase boards along the wall. Despite how many things were in the room, it was still very thoroughly organized and well kept.
"Howdy Sonja, I see you still got your organization skills all in line." Grit announced with a grin.
In the back of the room, a young woman was currently typing away at a laptop and glanced up. She pushed her glasses back up and soon stood up while giving a warm smile. She wore a green uniform dress and had her hair tied back in two neat pigtails.
"Hello Grit. Is this the one you were speaking about before? The one with the GF?"
"Yep. He needs some help, I reckon' if they've been wronged by Black Hole, we ought to set it right before they get into too much trouble."
"Indeed, wondering around in a world that has no comprehension of these magical beasts is sure to cause very serious complications."
Glenn! Bahamut shouted.
"Hm? Huh?" Glenn mumbled back.
Close your gaping mouth and speak up!
Glenn shook his head and stepped forward.
"Right, so." Glenn began. "How do you know all this?"
"Black Hole told me." Sonja answered with a smile.
"But wait a sec... Aren't you fighting Black Hole? Why would they tell you anything?"
Glenn could hear Bahamut sigh.
She means she's spying on them.
"Oh yeah well... I knew that..." Glenn rubbed the back of his head uneasily.
Sonja gave a nod and moved over to one of her many dry erase boards. There was numerous pictures taped up on the board all with designated names. Things like "Black Cannon", "Laser Turret", "Mini-Cannon", and "Death Ray" could all be seen up there. But soon Sonja added a new addition "GF". Grit stepped up and looked up and down the board whistling.
"Wow, our Black Hole friends sure do like their flashy toys."
"All of them are designed by Lash. With the exception of our visitors here." Sonja pointed towards the GF picture.
"Hey, I got a question. How'd we get here? Do you know that?" Glenn asked.
I can almost hear a tone of challenge in your voice. Trying to get her back for making you look stupid? Bahamut asked.
"Shut up."
Sonja gave a nod and pointed across the room, behind Glenn. He turned around to see a rather complicated diagram of some portal system. It was a big ring with lights all over it. It seemed familiar to Glenn and he turned back to Sonja.
"I think I've seen this before..."
"Most likely." Sonja stated. "Dealing with the messy subject of alternate worlds. We can say that in this one, Black Hole has used it to be able to break into other worlds like yours. Black Hole's leader has begun a career doing just that. That is Project Black Portal. They've done a terrible amount of planning and preparation for this. Along with the diagram, I was able to recover detailed data on you as well as your GFs."
"What kind of data?" Grit asked.
"It would seem like frivolous things at first. Like, where you live Glenn, and where you go to college, what kind of food you like. Who your friends are. So on and so forth. Then they have data on your GFs, their size, shape, power, etc."
"But how? I think I would notice a couple shady guys wearing spacesuits walking around watching me where ever I go."
Are you sure about that? Bahamut laughed.
"Sometimes I feel sorry you're stuck in my head." He muttered back.
"This is true, but our enemies are not limited to their alien soldiers. Their leader has a great deal of experience in robotic cloning. Someone who seemed normal enough was probably watching you, a robotic copy serving the greater interest of Black Hole"
"Not to mention the rest of my friends!" Glenn cut in. "Do you know where they are? We've been separated for some time. We need to save them before those guys go to work on them."
Sonja's expression became serious as she gave a quick look towards Grit and then back to Glenn.
"And then I am sorry to tell you, but you are too late on that account." Sonja explained quietly.
What? Glenn, what is she talking about?
"Huh? Wait hold on! What's going on?"
Sonja moved over toward her laptop and sat down beginning to type. She didn't look up, but eventually answered Glenn's question.
"The GF... known as Valefor? She is already being sent out against our forces near Black Hole's Anaconda Installation. She's a very formidable creature, and I fear that it won't be long until Leviathan and Unicorn are sent out as well."
Dammit! Bahamut roared. What could they have done to turn them like that?
"We have to try and talk some sense into them!" Glenn declared. "Before you guys shoot her down or something!"
Sonja was quick to stop typing and looked up.
"That is true... We will only hold back for so long. But if you went, you would not get far. The Anaconda Installation is surrounded by Mini-Cannons."
"But don't let the name fool you." Grit added quickly. "They pack a punch and they would take you down faster than the sun settin' on a Saturday night."
That's too bad! I'll destroy the fortress if I have to!
"I'm with you Bahamut..."
With that, they quickly went to leave. Grit made some sort of motion to stop them, but was too far away to make any difference. He went to the door frame and stopped realizing he couldn't catch them and then turned back to Sonja.
"Possum Spit, those boys are going to get themselves killed."
"This could work to our advantage..." Sonja muttered.
"Hold on there darlin'... Using Glenn and his dragon feller as cannon fodder ain't exactly the best way to go about things."
She looked up surprised and shook her head
"Oh I don't mean it like that... I've been meaning to test a theory of mine... I just needed the proper encouragement. You should return to Blue Moon, I'll keep track of them from here."
Grit scratched his chin and gave a hard stare at Sonja.
"Well, ok... I'm leavin' them in your hands. Don't go getting in over your head." Grit advised.
"Never." She answered confidently.
-End Chapter
--Next Chapter: The Snake's Challenge