Battle With Clown Wight

The Clown Wight, as the giant monster was called, attacked with his Pie Throw skill. In this, he tossed a huge pie at his enemies, damaging the whole team. Splat! The custard filled desert landed right on top of the four Drifters. They then got to work trying to get it off of them. When the large tin finally was thrown from their heads, Gallows licked the cream left on his face. "Hey, this stuff is pretty good. Maybe we should take as much as we want when the battle is over." But since he was paying more attention to the custard's taste, he didn't notice the clown attack him with his Water Squirting Flower attack. Even Jet had to stifle his laugh at the mess Gallows had become. He was soaked head to toe, his hair hanging limp.

"Everyone," Clive called, when he'd gotten over his own little chuckle, "Pay attention to the enemy instead of the situations surrounding us. He seems to be using various attacks that simulate the scenarios you often see clowns set up for themselves at the circus. Maybe we can use this to our advantage in order to counter him. If my thesis is correct, he will do something involving juggling later on in this battle as well."

Like usual, Clive was right. The very next attack was his Fireball Toss, in which he juggled a group of fireballs, and then threw them at the enemy one by one. Virginia put them out by casting Pressure on the burning spheres. Then, she looked up at the demon and got a killer idea of what to do about his powers.

"Two can play at that game!" the female Drifter yelled. Then, she cast Copy Ability, and stole the skills of the Clown Wight. Virginia followed this up by imitating his Fireball Toss, it was a wonder she didn't hurt her hands in the process. Certainly, Jet looked like he was about to freak out when the flames danced between her fingertips. But the mood of his concern changed when Gallows began to snicker about the look on Jet's face. Then, the boy got serious again, and aimed the Airget-lamh at Clown Wight. The bullet hit it square in the nose, deflating it. As the nose began to sink lower and lower, it made a squeaking sound.

Suddenly, the monster began to cry. Large tears fell from his eyes, big enough to crush the four young Drifters if they hit. Clive inquired, "Virginia, is this one of the attacks that you copied from the beast? Or did hitting its nose just cause this unlucky averse reaction from it that is a new danger for us four?"

Virginia, who was running from the beast's tears, nodded. "It's one of its attack alright, the Tears of a Clown. You know, I thought my idea would work, but I've just realized I can't do these attacks quite right. I do the Fireball Toss and Water Squirting Flower, but the Tears of a Clown and Pie Throw are just too big for a human being to achieve. Unless the enemy was a mouse or a fly, they wouldn't be able to do very much."

She switched back to her basic Arcana skills, and turned as the Clown stopped crying. Meanwhile, Gallows was charging up his Extension Skill to cast Protect on the team. He'd forgotten about it before as he lay covered in pie and water. Then he forgot when he saw Jet, looking for some opportunity to play the part of matchmaker. But now, with the team in serious trouble from their enemy, he got his act together.

"Ok, let's just shoot the stupid monster with all we've got," Jet ordered, "This overgrown sideshow freak probably can't hold up to four Gatlings. So why not annihilate it?" He was aiming his ARM up to do just that, but saw the look on Virginia's face. It was one of fear, what in the world was wrong with her now?

"This beast has a self-destruct function. I just used Analyze to see what's going on, and it says that if we don't take our time killing it, we might accidentally hit the device and blow the ruins up. And if that happens, we'll all get blown up as well. There has got to be another way, but my skill can only show me so much," she informed the team. Virginia turned to Clive, who shrugged. And if the smartest member of the group wasn't able to think of a safe way to take out a monster like this, they were in deep trouble right now.

Gallows suddenly exclaimed, "Wait! I remember something! Once, when I was small, my mom told me a story about a hero who defeated a self-destructing monster. The beast was terrorizing a town, and the man bravely fought it. Suddenly, realizing the true nature of the creature, he attacked it in the head, right behind its ear. There, his ARM found the device to deactivate the detonator, and then he killed it."

Jet gave him a shocked expression. "That's your great idea?! Follow your old lady's story?! It was just that, a story. How do you know that the creature isn't going to detonate if we hit it there? Even if the tale she told you was true, this is a different creature. The same thing may not work a second time."

"But it's all we have," Clive stated, "Virginia, I want you to clear out with the others, I will shoot the monster. My aim is the best of the four of us, so I have the best chance of hitting. If I am unable to do this, then both I and the monster will die. However, the three of you will be safe if you run for the exit right now. Please tell Catherine that I love her, and I am really sorry. And make sure Kaitlyn will be alright. Now go, don't waste this chance I'm giving you." Clive then turned around, and shot in order to attract the beast.

"You heard the man, move out people," Virginia ordered, holding back her sorrow and fear for her friend. Then she led Gallows and Jet back through the corridors, dodging and shooting the Clown Zombies on the way out. When they finally made it back to the entrance, they went to hide behind the rocks with Leila, who was sitting and counting the contents of a bag of Gella. She eyed the three Drifters strangely.

The thief inquired, "So, where's my treasure? And what happened to the fourth member of your band of merry misfits? You better not have bungled this mission, else there will be hell to pay for it much later on." She especially glared at Gallows, who had assured her all the way that their team could do this.

It was then that Jet's anger finally broke lose. He'd been humiliated, beaten up, thrown through a wall, covered in pie, nearly drown in demon tears, and narrowly escaped being blown to smithereens by a detonator inside of the stuffed monstrosity. "Look here lady, we're doing everything we can. You gave us no information about what we were to do. You don't have any idea what we went through to get what we did. And now, we may have signed our own comrade's death warrant. If you can go through there, and face the same things we did, then you can complain. But since you didn't, keep your comments to yourself. I don't care if you're a woman, that doesn't mean I'll go easy on you. Women aren't a weaker sex, so there is no cause for special treatment in my book when someone pisses me off." He probably would have attacked her then, but Virginia blocked him and shook her head. She didn't want to see him in a fight, and get hurt.

"I know you're mad Jet, we all are," she said, "But just keep your cool. Remember, arguing with Leila won't do any good. We must leave Clive up to fate." Then, she took him in her arms, and held him close. Gallows was rolling on the floor laughing, while Jet's temperature had just shot up fifty degrees.

Suddenly, they heard a familiar male voice asking, "Did I come at a bad time? The monster is dead, and I brought back the treasures that Miss Leila was asking about." There, before them stood Clive, with a few bags containing treasure in his hands, and a humongous smile spread wide across his face.

- - - -

Teefa's Last Words…

I'm just too predictable; aren't I? Let Jet and Ginny have a romantic moment, no matter what. Now we still have the epilogue then I can get ready for tomorrow.Yes, tomorrow. The start of my messed up projects, take two. And my Slayers marathon, take fifty million