Again I apologize for this one. On the bright side, I'm
getting the hang of Notepad.
---------Begin Story-------
"Boy, did her information help. I thoguht the perimeter's counterspell would be quite a problem."
Kid's braid sways gently from side to side in the cool nighttime breeze.
So far, we've managed to slip through the magical shield network undetected and sneak into Lynx's domain. Still,
this inner region can make for some pretty rough travel.
Kid, Magil, and I comprise this party of three...
However, while walking behind Kid, I can't help but notice her ponytail endlessly swishing back, and forth... back,
and forth... back, and forth...
I'm starting to get sleepy... so, so sleepy...
"...Serge..."
"Serge!!"
"Huh!?"
"Snap out of it, lazy bones!"
Looking up, the tall, shadowy mansion of Lord Lynx looms before me. I can't believe we're there already... I must have been really out of it.
"The hell were you daydreamin' about, mate? Let's go!"
Kid says, disappearing into the mansion.
"Hey, wait up, Kid!" I shout, frantically chasing after her. However, she's already deep inside.
The darkness engulfs me...
Passages extend to the left and right. Wherever we turn,
darkness awaits...
We head down the path. After a while, it ends at a stained wooden door.
"Guess this's the study."
This huge room is faintly lit by the moonlight, shining in through a tall window. In the back of the room stands a large, ornately decorated desk.
Row after row of bookshelves house thousands of thick,
dusty books. A painting is hung on the rear wall, sharing space with various exotic curios.
I walk over and examine the painting, illuminated by the pale moonlight.
It's an oil painting of a very strange landscape. I've never seen anything quite like it before.
It's a depction of an endless, scorched desert, filled with red sand stretching out to the horizon. There,
unbelievably tall mountains soar upwards for miles and miles, meeting a blazing orange sky.
It seems surreal, almost out of this world. But even more than that, it seems like a very sad, lonely painting, as if it's depicting a fleeting memory of a desolate soul. What kind of person could have painted this?
And furthermore, why's it here in the study? None of the other stuff around here matches it...
Noticing me, Magil comes to my side.
"Sorry... I guess I got distracted."
Noticing his sharp gaze, I get the feeling he's going to berate me for my stupifity, getting caught up with a silly painting like this while we're in enemy territory.
However, I'm mistaken.
Even after I start to walk away, Magil doesn't seem to budge, still staring up at the painting.
I look back at him, and suddenly realize what's going on.
Usually, I'm at a loss to what he's thinking. Up until now,
that was the way it was.
But at this very moment, I completely understand him.
Magil is...burning.
A slight glow has started to radiate all around him. It seems like his fury has somehow tapped into the force of Maxwell's Demon, allowing him to violate the second law of thermodynamics.
Actually, no, it's as though the helium and hydrogen free atoms drifting around the area are somehow causing a thermonuclear fusion reaction. The neutrinos of a reaction like this could be visible even in a cup of water.
Fasciniating...
The look on his face is the same cold expression he always wears. However, his internal temperature has clearly risen by more than a few degrees.
"Serge... if anything should ever happen to me, please take care of Kid..."
But before I can even get the chance to ask him what he means...
His face turns red, his blood hot as lava, as though he's being stripped down to some sort of primal awareness,
ready to attack whatever comes his way.
"Finally... after all these years, I have you," he repeats over and over again, continuing to stare at the strange painting.
His sharp, radiant gaze seems to pierce through the painting and beyond the mansion wall, as if he's seeing straight into the ethereal demiurge, Father Time himself...
Behind that mysterious porcelain mask of his lies a consciousness oon the brink of critical mass, somehow innately prepared for this very day... for this very moment.
"Hey," Kid says as the flames start to take on a blue hue, like that of a Cherenkov Reaction. "if ya keep on burnin' like that, yer gonna get us spotted."
Suddenly notcing Magil's intesity, a giant sweat drop appears on her cheek, as a vein at her temple starts to throb prominently.
Women... will they ever truly understand the true nature of males?
"Kid, Magil is on the verge of something big here. If you're any kind of wife, you'll at least console him with one of your bittersweet smiles."
Whap!
"Ughhh..."
"Hey, snap out of it, mate."
Kid had gone to the trouble of removing one of her high laced boots and hitting me over the head with it. I awak from my daze, rubbing my head.
"Huh? What the heck... I was only joking around, Kid."
"Hrmf."
"...What's goin' on with Magil?" Kid asks.
"...I don't really know, but, something's been awakened inside him. Something fierce. I think he sees something in that painting... maybe Lynx himself..." I say, pointing to the bizarre painting as the 50cc of blood per second routinely flows through my temples.
"That thing? It's just a stupid picture of a desert!" she yells, beyond bewildered.
At any rate, Magil remains transfixed on the glossy oil canvas, glowing with that pale blue radiance all around him.
Suddenly, something even stranger happens -- his right fist explodes into a ball of blue fire!
After the flames abate, a strange symbol has emerged on the back of his hand -- two diagonally crossed broadswords, with an S shape in the middle, interlocking the blades.
"Kid! Serge! We will no longer have to worry about keys,"
he says, as the pale blue glow continues to radiate from his body.
Ah, Magil... always good for some quality gobbledygook.
Magil turns and walk back towards the entranceway.
There, he holds out his hand, and after a few moments,
the door starts to burn!
I rush over, eager to see what's going on. What I see next amazes me -- nothing but a hole remains in the space where the door handle once was!
Easily pushing the rest of the door open, we follow Magil out of the room.
Proceeding along the path, we come to a firm-looking set of doors on the left.
Magil steps towards the door with his burning hand extended.
The instand his glowing blue palm touches the door, the lock simply disappears.
"Whoa, Magil! Why didn't ye ever use that hand of yers before?"
Kid purses her lips, slipping silently into the treasure vault.
The hole left by Magil's new magic is perfectly round,
with smooth edges, almost as though it had been cut with an incredibly sharp blade. Also, there doesn't seem to be a single scrap of wood left on the floor.
"Even I don't know where the scraps go," he says from beside me as I enter through the doorway.
Taking our first few steps inside, Kid whistles out loud in admiration. "Cripse... look at all this loot!"
I'm taken aback as wll, despite the fact that this room smells like insceticide that's been kept alone in a drawer for years and years...
Faintly visible in the dim light, a mountain of gold and silver treasure, countless works of fine art, and other shimmering artifacts fill the spacious room.
Magil walks around, amazed at all the items scattered about the room. Oddly enough, he starts to go crazy over some of the more eclectic, less valuable looking items.
"Ah... a statue of the hero Kafoul from the planet Tarus... a stuffed Darmafos from Saturn... A Trifid worm plant from Greylens... Krendathu Royal Jelly on a Lifemaker-inscribed plate... the Apostle's Crystal... and what's that over there? Could it really be a genuine Swiss Army Knife, embedded with Zora's Blue Stone?"
...I had no idea he knew about all think kind of stuff... I had no idea there was -anybody- out there who knew about junk like this so much.
"Hey, lookie what we have here," Kid says, walking over to an old movie caera. Feeling a but camera-friendly, she stretches out across the treasure, posing with a somewhat awkward smile for the camera.
"The teleprompter's not in order," mutters Magil,
abandoning the clunky machine he'd been checking out.
Suddenly, there's a noise over in the far corner.
I look over, seeing one of the items suddenly being knocked over. None of us are anywhere near it, though.
I unsheathe my knife as Kid and I exchange glances. She goes goes to check it out, taking careful, quiet steps.
"Ah, hell, it's just the Assistant Director," she says. "Ya bublin' crew... Always gettin' in the way!"
The Assistant Director tries to explain, but is cut off by Kid.
"Yer gonna make me screw up my lines!" Kid continues.
"And besides, can't ya see we're right in the middle of a great find here!? And get me an Evian for cryin' out loud!"
But then, something catches my eye. Over in the back of the room, behind the Claire Bible and Ideonite that the Assistant Director had knocked over, a shimmering red light streaks out, barely visible behind all the items.
"...The Frozen Flame..."
On an intricate pedestal sits a magnificent scarlet crytal. It's so perfectly radient, it seems as though it's unreal, like a product of plygon technology. It slowly rotates on the pedestal, beckoning us...
"Halt! It may be dangerous."
Magil extends his faintly glowing hand out towards Kid,
yanking her hand backk just as she's about to grab the fabled item.
"Easy, Magil... remember what that hand of yours can do..."
But then, the scarlet jewel suddenly vanishes into thin air!
We stare at each other, confused.
Magil approaches the pedestal a few moments later,
using his hand to burn a hole into the top of the platform.
We peer down inside it. There, amongst an array of mechanical equipment, we see a circuit controlling the revolving pedestal, and another controlling a red lgith of some sort, flickering on and off.
"Ah, a hologram... A fake, just as I expected," Magil says, looking around by the back of the pedestal.
"Here's the cord..." he says, following along its path. "It should lead us to..."
"Ah hah," he says, stopping at the wall where the cord goes into. There, we find nothgin but the stage hand,
fumbling around with the power outlets. The short,
oriental man looks up at us with a worried look on his face...
"...Ya worthless piece'a garbage!" Kid yells, shaking the stage hand by the neck! "what'd ya do with the real Frozen Flame!?"
"Come on, Kid," I say. "He wouldn;t know anything about anything that importnt. He was probably just trying to fix the lighting in here and tripped over the Frozen Flame's cord."
Kid reluctantly releases her grip from the stage hand's neck, who gives a nervous, apologetic smile to us all before quickly scampering away.
"And get me an Evian alrady!!" she yells as he scurries out of sight.
"The real Flame's gotta be around here somewhere..."
"I have a feeling the real Flame would not be stored in such an esily obtainable place, Kid. We should search elsewhere."
"Aye..."
We say goodbye to the treasure vault for now, resuming our search.
After a little while we come to a door on the left. The terrace lies ahead.
"What's with all this junk? Must be a storeroom or somethin'..."
It seems like this is the inner mechanics of a clock tower.
However, the gears look old and rusted, and cogs are spinning randomly without connecting up with their proper teetch. I doubt the clock's still in use toady; the room seems to be currently used as a storage area.
A large object catched my attention, off in a far corner of the room. It's too dark over there to see what it is,
though.
I start to look around a bit, peering in under some of the covered items.
But then, all of a sudden...
"What's that...? What's going on? I didn't do anything!"
Tension rises as a low rumbling sound starts to echo out through the room. The light in the room has also dimmed rather suddenly...
Kid looka round the room with newfound interest.
"I feel it too... Where's it comin' from?"
I follow my ears over to the far wall. It seems to be coming from that direction. Kid approaches the dark,
dusty rear half of the room with slow, cautious steps,
attracted by the suspiciousness...
The wall is covered with a large cloth. Whatever's making the noise seems to be coming from here.
Kid and I look at each other. I hesitantly grip my knife as she gives the cloth a tug.
"Whoa..."
A vast collection of twinkling lights are lined up in an orderly fashion across the entire wall.
I've never seen anything like this before... There's hardly any light in the room, nor does the moon's light shine in on us here, but somehow, these lights twinkle and sparkle on their own, as if they contain a spark of fire within each of them.
The hum we heard earlier, like that of a firefly buzzing around, seems to be coming from everywhere on this wall.
Speaking of fireflies, that's very much how it all looks,
as well -- endless amounts of bright greens, reds, and blues twinkle and sparkle on the assortment of panels before us.
Metal components of some kind seem to be integrated into the ceiling and the floor. What could all this be used for?
Lynx... what has he up to all this time?
Strange paintings, and now strange flickering walls,
hidden completely out of sight...
The atmosphere in here, I suddenly realize, feels strangely similar to when we where standing in front of the painting. Maybe it's Magil; his radiance has returned to a bright blue glow.
Looking over at him, he looks as though he never left that room. He standds there, examining the wall with his lips pursed and a bead of sweat rolling down his cheek.
"Hey mate, come check this out!"
I turn my head over towards the far corner where Kid was investigating. It seems she's uncovered something more...
It looks like some sort of huge box. It would probably be taller than Magil, if it wasn't tipped on its sife.
It has a set of doors which open freely on its front face, which contain strange, colorful mechanics inside.
"Isn't this about the usual size of the box that a fridge comes in?" Kid asks.
"Kid, let's think for a minute," Magil says. "How could this be a refrigerator box, if refrigerators haven't even been invented yet?"
Good call, Magil...
"Oh yea, I forgot. Well uh... It looks an awful lot like a.
uh... non-electric refrigerator... box... thing... er..."
Magil and I glance at each other. Magil blinks.
"Aw, hell, what does it matter what I call it!? It's got nothin' to do with the Frozen Flame!" she yells, kicking the box.
Suddenly, the box starts to rumble! Lights begin to shine and shimmer all over it, letting out strange noises!
It lets out a wild shrill as two flaps open up on both sides of the box. There, large legs sprout out! This thing,
whatever it is, towers above us as it rise to its feet!
Then, two more flaps open out, where two strong and sturdy arms begin to grow outwards, just as the legs did!
Finally, a round dome rises up out of the top, complete with two wide eyes, a gaping mouth, and a rotating,
arc-shaped antenna!
Frightened for my life, I ready my weapon against the huge montrosity before me!
"Aha, ahahahaha, hahaha!"
Kid, on the other hand, can't seem to stop laughing.
Yeah, it does look kind of clunky... maybe even a but funny-looking, but still...
Uh oh... I think we rubbed it the wrong way! It looks down on us with a frustrated smirk on its face. In the center of its torso, the two original flaps slowly open,
revealing a complex network of psychedelic colored gears,
chains, and... a pair of huge gatling guns!
Kid can't seem to help continuing to laugh and taunt the thing as we scurry from place to place!
However, suddenly, a clear voice echoes out over the chaos! "Kid! Serge! Hide, quickly! I will deactivate it!"
Upon hearing Magil behind it, the thing starts to whipe around.
In a flash, Magil has leapt into the air, dashing with full force towards the fridge, er, non-fridge thing...!
He shoots downwards, landing a direct kick on the back of its head!
It teeters for a moment as Magil lands safely away from it. Then, miraculously, it falls lifelessly to the floor before us, as pieces of its beaten body fly out in all directions!
Its batter box (two AA, sold seperately) tumbles away,
stopping inches from my feet.
Magil stands there, a glowing champion, burning with a blue radiance like never before.
"Are you two all right?" he asks us.
"hehehe, my belly hurts, but yeah... Heh, heh..." Kid answers, still unable to stop laughing.
I silently nod to Magil.
Looking over the junked remains, Kid seems to have found something of interest. She reaches out and takes some sort of white object, quickly stashing it down her bosom.
"Hey Kid, what's that?"
"Nothin'. Mind yer own business, Serge."
"Let us search elsewhere. There are many clues left to be discovered..." Magil says with a cocked eyebrow, before heading to the door.
Thinking back on all this, Magil's been getting stranger and stranger lately.
How could he have known where its weak spot was?
What kind of background does a guy need to have in order to know about stuff like that? I always knew he was strange, but I'm finding out now just how strange he really is...
In any case, I'm glad to have him on our side. That thing would have made mincemeat out of us if he hadn't been here...
I follow the gallant, luminescent figure of Magil out of the room.
Just as we reach the bottom of the stairs a wall of light suddenly flashes out in front of us!
I almost run into it, but I barely manage to stop myself before colliding with the blistering hot thing!
I look a bit closer at it once I've caught my bearings. In addition to the bright light in fron of us, strange markings are scattered around on the floor within it.
Around the markings, a small ditch runs in a perfect circle, where the columns of light radiate up from. A weird sort of shrill seems to be coming from it, as well.
"What is it? Can you break through it with your magic?" I ask Magil.
Without saying a word, Magil shifts his glance over to Kid.
What're ya lookin' at me for?" Kid asks defensively
Magil points to her chest.
"Oh, my bunny?"
Kid reluctantly reaches into her bosom. She takes out a plush bunny hand-puppet, saying "It's my toy, I found it fair 'n square."
So that's what she found in the wreckage... A toy bunny. But what good would that be here?
"Kid, this is actually a 'Martian Forest League Concealed Lesser Armament Bunny', and it is far more than a toy."
Kid gawks at Magil, as do I. I suppose I'm expecting him to yell "Gotcha!" any time now, but he just stands there, aloof as ever.
He puts the white, fluffly, blue-eyed bunny puppet onto his hand with utmost care.
"So uh... This Martian Forest League, uh... Lesser Armament Bunny..."
"Martian -Concealed- Forest League Lesser Armament Bunny," Magil corrects, as solemn as a philosophy teacher.
"Right... this Martian Concealed Forest League, uh.
Lesser Armament Bunny... what is it?"
"Please, Kid, such technology is hopelessly beyond human comprehension."
"Well what does it do then?"
"Watch."
"Wait, uh... no, that's okay, Magil..."
Magil turns around, facing the columns of light.
Entirely unfazed by my presence, Magil starts to dance around, waving the bunny around throught the air as he recites some sort of weird incantation.
"Heat cup... provolone... soccer mom...!!"
It's like he's wasted or something...
And then, after a few moments, the glimmering light begins to subside!
Well, whatever. I stopped trying to figure out this whole mess a long time ago.
"Serge..."
Magil turns to me, staring into my eyes with relentless honesty. He holds the bunny (The Martian Forest League Lesser Armament Bunny, mind you) out in front of him,
saying "I entrust this to you. Please, if anything should ever happen to me, use it as I have..."
"Magil... I humbly accept this most sacred gift. I shall use it sparingly and appropriately," I say with a deep bow.
Hey, when in Rome...
"This enchanted seal can never be completely removed,"
Magil continues. "It will require one to re-extinguish it from time to time.
By doing what I have done, this intrument can be used to temporarily nullify the effects of seal. Please,
remember how to use it, for someday you too may find yourself in need of its assitance."
"So it's safe to cross now?"
"Yes. We must hurry, though."
Walking across it, I feel a little bit of a shock run through my feet as I take my first few steps, but nothing serious happens.
Once we're across, we come to a solid oak door after a bit of walking.
Kid opens it, slowly...
Having come this far, I take a deep breath. It's almost pitch black inside this room... All I can tell that it's very large and very cold. I can make out something in a far corner... It's a large metallic structure of some kind.
A billowing voice echoed down from high above.
"Finally, you've made it. I was wondering if you pitiful apes would ever show up."
And there, amidst the shadowy interior of this spacious room...
...Lord Lynx awaits!
Before him, shimmering off the dank walls and ceiling of this underground cavern, a scarlet jewel radiates a deep,
red light!
The Frozen Flame...
"L...Lynx! I have you now!"" Kid shouts, feral.
"I beg to differ, young lady!" Lynx taunts, leaping down from the rocks, dashing towards her with amazing speed!
Kid takes on a battle stance as she readies herself for him. However, he quickly dodges her attack, picking her up and tossing her through the air as though like a ragdoll!
"Urrghh..."
"Kid!"
She's been thrown backwards onto a wall behind us, as Lynx returns to hear where he stood, unfazed!
I run over and scoop Kid up into my arms.
"Oh, how sweet. The apes care for each other. However, I would be more worried about yourself, young man!" Lynx shouts, laughing at the top of his lungs.
That beast... There has to be something I can do. But,
he's so fast! I've never seen anybody move like that...
As Lynx continues to laugh, I try desperately to ignore him and fight off this sudden feeling of hopelessness.
What would Magil do at a time like this... Wait, where is Magil? I haven't seen him since we came in...
Wait, what's that?
Is that... a guitar?
Just a second ago, a strange sound echoed throughout the huge cavern. It couldn't have been Lynx... he seemed to be caught off guard by the sound as much as I was.
Suddenly, a figure comes forth from out a dark corner of the room!
Carrying a portable amp at his side and a shiny guitar across his chest, electrified sounds continue to roar throughout the cavern again and again as the figure continues to come towards us!
It's... Magil!
Wait... Magil!?
From what I can tell, it looks like him. Sort of.
Although having somehow changed into skin-tight,
riveted jeans, trendy goggles, and a cool-looking shirt exposing his defined torso, it seems to be Magil in the flesh.
Lights shine up from behind him, dazzlingly illuminating his glistening spiked hair and ponytail!
"M, Magil...!? What do ya think yer doin'?" Kid asks,
recovering from her daze.
But Magil says nothing, continuing on with his enthusiastic solo.
"Aahhhhh!! Nooo!!"
"Th, that noise! Stop! Stop that noise!!" Lynx shouts,
holding his ears.
"What's that? You'd like a little 'Stairway to Heaven?
Your wish is my command!" Magil shouts with a huge smile, before wailing on the guitar even louder!
Before long, it seems like Lynx is going mad, listening to the harsh dissonance.
His head starts to vibrater, before selling up more and more like a ballon!
Then, all of a sudden, his head pops!
At the same time, a countless number of cracks start to run up his body, snapping away parts of his body piece by piece, until a number of slender, green tentacles make their way through his body, writhing all around him!
"Whoa... What's goin on!?"
"Serge," Kid says, rising to her feet. "this's a bigger fight than I expected... I'm countin' on ya, you got that?"
"I don't know, Kid... I can't throw myself into the thick of battle now! Who would narrate the story if something was to happen to me?"
Suddenly, the remains of Lynx fly out in all directions!
And with that, Lynx has completed his metamorphosis!
A gigantic, slimy, lime green octopus stands before us,
eagerly awaiting our doom!
"I have you now, Martian Conjurer!" Magil shouts! "I have searched the galaxy for over five hundred years for you, wretched H-class Space Criminal!
I have hidden my identity as a mere human, traveling with these people in order to track you to this very spot.
But now, such trick are no longer necessary! Behold, for I am Universal Detective Mick Van Jovi!"
As soon as Magil, er, Mick says this, light streaks out from all around him. When I can see again, he's changed again into some sort od polished metallic body armor!
"And now...I come for you!"
Magil turns toward the grotesque octopus, and hurls himself into the air!
The octopus takes on a look of shock and disgust as Mick reveals himself.
"Ah, my ever trendy antithesis, Mick Van Jovi... so, you have finally found me.
...It was because of you that I was forced to flee Mars.
Fleeing in haste, I accidentally crash-landed on this hellhole planet! My fusion reactor was rendered useledd,
leaving me stranded here, all because of you!"
"I... I was forced to eat my own ship to survive!" he continues, sobbing. "The control panel... the steering wheel... I even had to boil down the seat mat for food!"
"...And now, five hundred years later, you come to arrest me just as I have finished repairing my fusion core?" he yells, nodding to the Frozen Flame!
The Frozen Flame... a fusion reactor!?
Within Magil's eyes, a silver flash of light shines out as a pale pulse runs down his glimmering armor.
"Ah, the Martian Cyclone Crystal Fusion Reactor. Too bad that after I'm done with you, the reactor won't be the one needing five hundred years of repairing!"
"Not if I can help it!" the Martian Octopus shouts!
Not missing a beat, Lynx instantly starts to shoot his heavy grey pistol at us, showering the room with jagged beams of light!
While we're busy dodging the plethora of light rays,
Lynx suddenly snatches the Frozen Flame, and runs into the huge metallic saucer-shaped object over in the corner!
In a flash, the thing starts up, rising high above us in a matter of seconds! The thing could easily weigh ten thousand tons, yet it hovers over us as easily as a bird!
"How do you like my new and improved Galaxy Mothership?" we hear Lynx's voice boom throughout the cavern. "I apologize, but I do believe I will not be coming back to Mars with you, my dear Van Jovi!"
The ship fires an even more intense barrage of ammunition at us, causing the walls and ceiling around us to crumble and break apart!
Aaaahhh!! The cavern is collapsing all around us! Boulders of all sizes are frantically raining down on us!
Oh no! Magil's been struck down by a huge boulder! He's helplessly trapped beneath it!
"Magil! No!!"
I rush over to him and push the gigantic boulder off! The boulder seems to have crushed some of his armor,
though! He's hurt bad!
"Feel like running yet, fools?" Lynx shouts from inside his cockpit.
"We gotta get outta here!"
"We can't just leave Mick though," I shout at Kid! "Look at all that armor he's got on... it'll be impossible to carry him out! Even with three people, it would still be tough!"
"...Don't... don't worry about me," Magil mutters, as his armored fingers suddenly grasp my ankle.
"Serge..." Magil gasps. "Th, the M, Mart, Martian For,
Forest League J, Jun, Junior..."
"The bunny," I interrupt.
"Yes," he says. "The b, bunny... use it..."
Ah! Of course! The bunny!
Taking the soft puppet out of my pocket, I look back over to Ma, er, Mick.
"Serge... Use it... as I have shown you... it is a m, multi-use d, detonator. And please, look after Kid, if death c,
comes for me..."
I clech my fists as I raise my head, looking up towards Lynx's dreadful ship.
"Lynx! Behold!" I shout, raising my hand up into the air,
pointing the bunny towards the ship!
"You! Where did you get that!?" Lynx shrieks.
"No," he continues, "You must not use it! Please, it will negate the stability of the fusion reactor! It will kill us all!!"
I llok down to Magil. Dammit, I mean Mick. I look down towards Mick, who nods back at me confidently.
Ignoring Lynx's pleas, I close my eyes, and mimic the enchantment Magil preformed earlier with utmost care.
"Heat cup... provolone... soccer mom...!!"
"Good, S, Serge. The detonation sequence h, has been initiated. It's on a t, timed delay," Mick says. "We must escape before that ship detonates!"
Kid and I hoist his heavy body up and start to drag him out of the spacious cavern.
We're not very far out, when suddenly...
A giant explosion rocks the entire area around us!
From far behind, we hear Lynx shriek "My ship...!" over and over again!
The walls around us are beginning to tremble and shake more and more! Oh no, the entire mansion is collapsing!
"Run, Serge!" Mick shouts, as Kid and I desperately try to scamper away faster!
Mick seems to have regained a bit of strength and adrenaline, helping us by limping a bit as we carry his incredibly heavy body through the dark, twisted corridors of Viper Manor.
Come on... please... don't cave in just yet...
Dammit, just a little longer... please...!
Yes! We're out!
Looking back on the mansion from a safe distance, we watch it collapse under its own weight! It comes toppling down into what looks like a sweltering black hole, infused with a deep Martian redness!
I let out a deep breath as I stare up into the nighttime sky.
Suddenly, however, a small group of what looks like flying saucers come flying out of where the mansion used to be, soaring up into the stratosphere!
Supporting Mick on both sides, we stare up at the ascending getaway ships.
"Don't take it too rough, Mick. At least we made it out alive. Tomorrow's another day..."
"Indeed," he replies. "They're pedal-powered escape pods... They won't get too far."
Looking up as they soar over our heads, I see that he's right. Within the translucent center of one of the pods, I see what looks like Lynx, crammed in with a goblin, who's being barked at by Lynx to pedal twice as fast, in order to keep the ship afloat.
"Hmmmm... yeah, I think you're right," I say. "Human power can't be much of a replacement for a nice fusion reactor, especially when talking about interstellar travel."
I look over to Kid. But, ironically enough, instead of the pouting face I sxpected, it seems like there's a quality about her that I don't think she had before... something more at ease about her, in a subtle sort of way.
"Tonight, we rest. Tomorrow, the search continues,"
says Mick, triumphantly.
And so, for this adventure, we have come to...
THE END
(or is it!?!?!?!1/1/1/1/1/1/1/1/1)
And so, the curtain closes on another tale. However,
another time, after the spotlight had faded from Kid,
Mick, and the Martians...
...In another place and another time... a similar band of adventurers had come forth, equally unsuspecting of their other selves, and life went on as they strode out into the great unknown.
But, that's another story for another day. For now, I shall put down my pen."
As I softly close my grandfather's diary, I hear my mother's voice call to me from downstairs.
"Didn't you hear me? Your friend is here!"
I turn around, already knowing who it is. My door opens quite energetically, where I see a strangely nostalgic girl barge in.
"Serge! We found some ruins of an old mansion up in northern Kitsune Forest today! Come on, let's go exploring!"
Fin
--------End notes-------
So there it is. I think the next one up is Homecoming: Shea's Light. Even more depressing than the ending of Le Tresor Interdit.
---------Begin Story-------
"Boy, did her information help. I thoguht the perimeter's counterspell would be quite a problem."
Kid's braid sways gently from side to side in the cool nighttime breeze.
So far, we've managed to slip through the magical shield network undetected and sneak into Lynx's domain. Still,
this inner region can make for some pretty rough travel.
Kid, Magil, and I comprise this party of three...
However, while walking behind Kid, I can't help but notice her ponytail endlessly swishing back, and forth... back,
and forth... back, and forth...
I'm starting to get sleepy... so, so sleepy...
"...Serge..."
"Serge!!"
"Huh!?"
"Snap out of it, lazy bones!"
Looking up, the tall, shadowy mansion of Lord Lynx looms before me. I can't believe we're there already... I must have been really out of it.
"The hell were you daydreamin' about, mate? Let's go!"
Kid says, disappearing into the mansion.
"Hey, wait up, Kid!" I shout, frantically chasing after her. However, she's already deep inside.
The darkness engulfs me...
Passages extend to the left and right. Wherever we turn,
darkness awaits...
We head down the path. After a while, it ends at a stained wooden door.
"Guess this's the study."
This huge room is faintly lit by the moonlight, shining in through a tall window. In the back of the room stands a large, ornately decorated desk.
Row after row of bookshelves house thousands of thick,
dusty books. A painting is hung on the rear wall, sharing space with various exotic curios.
I walk over and examine the painting, illuminated by the pale moonlight.
It's an oil painting of a very strange landscape. I've never seen anything quite like it before.
It's a depction of an endless, scorched desert, filled with red sand stretching out to the horizon. There,
unbelievably tall mountains soar upwards for miles and miles, meeting a blazing orange sky.
It seems surreal, almost out of this world. But even more than that, it seems like a very sad, lonely painting, as if it's depicting a fleeting memory of a desolate soul. What kind of person could have painted this?
And furthermore, why's it here in the study? None of the other stuff around here matches it...
Noticing me, Magil comes to my side.
"Sorry... I guess I got distracted."
Noticing his sharp gaze, I get the feeling he's going to berate me for my stupifity, getting caught up with a silly painting like this while we're in enemy territory.
However, I'm mistaken.
Even after I start to walk away, Magil doesn't seem to budge, still staring up at the painting.
I look back at him, and suddenly realize what's going on.
Usually, I'm at a loss to what he's thinking. Up until now,
that was the way it was.
But at this very moment, I completely understand him.
Magil is...burning.
A slight glow has started to radiate all around him. It seems like his fury has somehow tapped into the force of Maxwell's Demon, allowing him to violate the second law of thermodynamics.
Actually, no, it's as though the helium and hydrogen free atoms drifting around the area are somehow causing a thermonuclear fusion reaction. The neutrinos of a reaction like this could be visible even in a cup of water.
Fasciniating...
The look on his face is the same cold expression he always wears. However, his internal temperature has clearly risen by more than a few degrees.
"Serge... if anything should ever happen to me, please take care of Kid..."
But before I can even get the chance to ask him what he means...
His face turns red, his blood hot as lava, as though he's being stripped down to some sort of primal awareness,
ready to attack whatever comes his way.
"Finally... after all these years, I have you," he repeats over and over again, continuing to stare at the strange painting.
His sharp, radiant gaze seems to pierce through the painting and beyond the mansion wall, as if he's seeing straight into the ethereal demiurge, Father Time himself...
Behind that mysterious porcelain mask of his lies a consciousness oon the brink of critical mass, somehow innately prepared for this very day... for this very moment.
"Hey," Kid says as the flames start to take on a blue hue, like that of a Cherenkov Reaction. "if ya keep on burnin' like that, yer gonna get us spotted."
Suddenly notcing Magil's intesity, a giant sweat drop appears on her cheek, as a vein at her temple starts to throb prominently.
Women... will they ever truly understand the true nature of males?
"Kid, Magil is on the verge of something big here. If you're any kind of wife, you'll at least console him with one of your bittersweet smiles."
Whap!
"Ughhh..."
"Hey, snap out of it, mate."
Kid had gone to the trouble of removing one of her high laced boots and hitting me over the head with it. I awak from my daze, rubbing my head.
"Huh? What the heck... I was only joking around, Kid."
"Hrmf."
"...What's goin' on with Magil?" Kid asks.
"...I don't really know, but, something's been awakened inside him. Something fierce. I think he sees something in that painting... maybe Lynx himself..." I say, pointing to the bizarre painting as the 50cc of blood per second routinely flows through my temples.
"That thing? It's just a stupid picture of a desert!" she yells, beyond bewildered.
At any rate, Magil remains transfixed on the glossy oil canvas, glowing with that pale blue radiance all around him.
Suddenly, something even stranger happens -- his right fist explodes into a ball of blue fire!
After the flames abate, a strange symbol has emerged on the back of his hand -- two diagonally crossed broadswords, with an S shape in the middle, interlocking the blades.
"Kid! Serge! We will no longer have to worry about keys,"
he says, as the pale blue glow continues to radiate from his body.
Ah, Magil... always good for some quality gobbledygook.
Magil turns and walk back towards the entranceway.
There, he holds out his hand, and after a few moments,
the door starts to burn!
I rush over, eager to see what's going on. What I see next amazes me -- nothing but a hole remains in the space where the door handle once was!
Easily pushing the rest of the door open, we follow Magil out of the room.
Proceeding along the path, we come to a firm-looking set of doors on the left.
Magil steps towards the door with his burning hand extended.
The instand his glowing blue palm touches the door, the lock simply disappears.
"Whoa, Magil! Why didn't ye ever use that hand of yers before?"
Kid purses her lips, slipping silently into the treasure vault.
The hole left by Magil's new magic is perfectly round,
with smooth edges, almost as though it had been cut with an incredibly sharp blade. Also, there doesn't seem to be a single scrap of wood left on the floor.
"Even I don't know where the scraps go," he says from beside me as I enter through the doorway.
Taking our first few steps inside, Kid whistles out loud in admiration. "Cripse... look at all this loot!"
I'm taken aback as wll, despite the fact that this room smells like insceticide that's been kept alone in a drawer for years and years...
Faintly visible in the dim light, a mountain of gold and silver treasure, countless works of fine art, and other shimmering artifacts fill the spacious room.
Magil walks around, amazed at all the items scattered about the room. Oddly enough, he starts to go crazy over some of the more eclectic, less valuable looking items.
"Ah... a statue of the hero Kafoul from the planet Tarus... a stuffed Darmafos from Saturn... A Trifid worm plant from Greylens... Krendathu Royal Jelly on a Lifemaker-inscribed plate... the Apostle's Crystal... and what's that over there? Could it really be a genuine Swiss Army Knife, embedded with Zora's Blue Stone?"
...I had no idea he knew about all think kind of stuff... I had no idea there was -anybody- out there who knew about junk like this so much.
"Hey, lookie what we have here," Kid says, walking over to an old movie caera. Feeling a but camera-friendly, she stretches out across the treasure, posing with a somewhat awkward smile for the camera.
"The teleprompter's not in order," mutters Magil,
abandoning the clunky machine he'd been checking out.
Suddenly, there's a noise over in the far corner.
I look over, seeing one of the items suddenly being knocked over. None of us are anywhere near it, though.
I unsheathe my knife as Kid and I exchange glances. She goes goes to check it out, taking careful, quiet steps.
"Ah, hell, it's just the Assistant Director," she says. "Ya bublin' crew... Always gettin' in the way!"
The Assistant Director tries to explain, but is cut off by Kid.
"Yer gonna make me screw up my lines!" Kid continues.
"And besides, can't ya see we're right in the middle of a great find here!? And get me an Evian for cryin' out loud!"
But then, something catches my eye. Over in the back of the room, behind the Claire Bible and Ideonite that the Assistant Director had knocked over, a shimmering red light streaks out, barely visible behind all the items.
"...The Frozen Flame..."
On an intricate pedestal sits a magnificent scarlet crytal. It's so perfectly radient, it seems as though it's unreal, like a product of plygon technology. It slowly rotates on the pedestal, beckoning us...
"Halt! It may be dangerous."
Magil extends his faintly glowing hand out towards Kid,
yanking her hand backk just as she's about to grab the fabled item.
"Easy, Magil... remember what that hand of yours can do..."
But then, the scarlet jewel suddenly vanishes into thin air!
We stare at each other, confused.
Magil approaches the pedestal a few moments later,
using his hand to burn a hole into the top of the platform.
We peer down inside it. There, amongst an array of mechanical equipment, we see a circuit controlling the revolving pedestal, and another controlling a red lgith of some sort, flickering on and off.
"Ah, a hologram... A fake, just as I expected," Magil says, looking around by the back of the pedestal.
"Here's the cord..." he says, following along its path. "It should lead us to..."
"Ah hah," he says, stopping at the wall where the cord goes into. There, we find nothgin but the stage hand,
fumbling around with the power outlets. The short,
oriental man looks up at us with a worried look on his face...
"...Ya worthless piece'a garbage!" Kid yells, shaking the stage hand by the neck! "what'd ya do with the real Frozen Flame!?"
"Come on, Kid," I say. "He wouldn;t know anything about anything that importnt. He was probably just trying to fix the lighting in here and tripped over the Frozen Flame's cord."
Kid reluctantly releases her grip from the stage hand's neck, who gives a nervous, apologetic smile to us all before quickly scampering away.
"And get me an Evian alrady!!" she yells as he scurries out of sight.
"The real Flame's gotta be around here somewhere..."
"I have a feeling the real Flame would not be stored in such an esily obtainable place, Kid. We should search elsewhere."
"Aye..."
We say goodbye to the treasure vault for now, resuming our search.
After a little while we come to a door on the left. The terrace lies ahead.
"What's with all this junk? Must be a storeroom or somethin'..."
It seems like this is the inner mechanics of a clock tower.
However, the gears look old and rusted, and cogs are spinning randomly without connecting up with their proper teetch. I doubt the clock's still in use toady; the room seems to be currently used as a storage area.
A large object catched my attention, off in a far corner of the room. It's too dark over there to see what it is,
though.
I start to look around a bit, peering in under some of the covered items.
But then, all of a sudden...
"What's that...? What's going on? I didn't do anything!"
Tension rises as a low rumbling sound starts to echo out through the room. The light in the room has also dimmed rather suddenly...
Kid looka round the room with newfound interest.
"I feel it too... Where's it comin' from?"
I follow my ears over to the far wall. It seems to be coming from that direction. Kid approaches the dark,
dusty rear half of the room with slow, cautious steps,
attracted by the suspiciousness...
The wall is covered with a large cloth. Whatever's making the noise seems to be coming from here.
Kid and I look at each other. I hesitantly grip my knife as she gives the cloth a tug.
"Whoa..."
A vast collection of twinkling lights are lined up in an orderly fashion across the entire wall.
I've never seen anything like this before... There's hardly any light in the room, nor does the moon's light shine in on us here, but somehow, these lights twinkle and sparkle on their own, as if they contain a spark of fire within each of them.
The hum we heard earlier, like that of a firefly buzzing around, seems to be coming from everywhere on this wall.
Speaking of fireflies, that's very much how it all looks,
as well -- endless amounts of bright greens, reds, and blues twinkle and sparkle on the assortment of panels before us.
Metal components of some kind seem to be integrated into the ceiling and the floor. What could all this be used for?
Lynx... what has he up to all this time?
Strange paintings, and now strange flickering walls,
hidden completely out of sight...
The atmosphere in here, I suddenly realize, feels strangely similar to when we where standing in front of the painting. Maybe it's Magil; his radiance has returned to a bright blue glow.
Looking over at him, he looks as though he never left that room. He standds there, examining the wall with his lips pursed and a bead of sweat rolling down his cheek.
"Hey mate, come check this out!"
I turn my head over towards the far corner where Kid was investigating. It seems she's uncovered something more...
It looks like some sort of huge box. It would probably be taller than Magil, if it wasn't tipped on its sife.
It has a set of doors which open freely on its front face, which contain strange, colorful mechanics inside.
"Isn't this about the usual size of the box that a fridge comes in?" Kid asks.
"Kid, let's think for a minute," Magil says. "How could this be a refrigerator box, if refrigerators haven't even been invented yet?"
Good call, Magil...
"Oh yea, I forgot. Well uh... It looks an awful lot like a.
uh... non-electric refrigerator... box... thing... er..."
Magil and I glance at each other. Magil blinks.
"Aw, hell, what does it matter what I call it!? It's got nothin' to do with the Frozen Flame!" she yells, kicking the box.
Suddenly, the box starts to rumble! Lights begin to shine and shimmer all over it, letting out strange noises!
It lets out a wild shrill as two flaps open up on both sides of the box. There, large legs sprout out! This thing,
whatever it is, towers above us as it rise to its feet!
Then, two more flaps open out, where two strong and sturdy arms begin to grow outwards, just as the legs did!
Finally, a round dome rises up out of the top, complete with two wide eyes, a gaping mouth, and a rotating,
arc-shaped antenna!
Frightened for my life, I ready my weapon against the huge montrosity before me!
"Aha, ahahahaha, hahaha!"
Kid, on the other hand, can't seem to stop laughing.
Yeah, it does look kind of clunky... maybe even a but funny-looking, but still...
Uh oh... I think we rubbed it the wrong way! It looks down on us with a frustrated smirk on its face. In the center of its torso, the two original flaps slowly open,
revealing a complex network of psychedelic colored gears,
chains, and... a pair of huge gatling guns!
Kid can't seem to help continuing to laugh and taunt the thing as we scurry from place to place!
However, suddenly, a clear voice echoes out over the chaos! "Kid! Serge! Hide, quickly! I will deactivate it!"
Upon hearing Magil behind it, the thing starts to whipe around.
In a flash, Magil has leapt into the air, dashing with full force towards the fridge, er, non-fridge thing...!
He shoots downwards, landing a direct kick on the back of its head!
It teeters for a moment as Magil lands safely away from it. Then, miraculously, it falls lifelessly to the floor before us, as pieces of its beaten body fly out in all directions!
Its batter box (two AA, sold seperately) tumbles away,
stopping inches from my feet.
Magil stands there, a glowing champion, burning with a blue radiance like never before.
"Are you two all right?" he asks us.
"hehehe, my belly hurts, but yeah... Heh, heh..." Kid answers, still unable to stop laughing.
I silently nod to Magil.
Looking over the junked remains, Kid seems to have found something of interest. She reaches out and takes some sort of white object, quickly stashing it down her bosom.
"Hey Kid, what's that?"
"Nothin'. Mind yer own business, Serge."
"Let us search elsewhere. There are many clues left to be discovered..." Magil says with a cocked eyebrow, before heading to the door.
Thinking back on all this, Magil's been getting stranger and stranger lately.
How could he have known where its weak spot was?
What kind of background does a guy need to have in order to know about stuff like that? I always knew he was strange, but I'm finding out now just how strange he really is...
In any case, I'm glad to have him on our side. That thing would have made mincemeat out of us if he hadn't been here...
I follow the gallant, luminescent figure of Magil out of the room.
Just as we reach the bottom of the stairs a wall of light suddenly flashes out in front of us!
I almost run into it, but I barely manage to stop myself before colliding with the blistering hot thing!
I look a bit closer at it once I've caught my bearings. In addition to the bright light in fron of us, strange markings are scattered around on the floor within it.
Around the markings, a small ditch runs in a perfect circle, where the columns of light radiate up from. A weird sort of shrill seems to be coming from it, as well.
"What is it? Can you break through it with your magic?" I ask Magil.
Without saying a word, Magil shifts his glance over to Kid.
What're ya lookin' at me for?" Kid asks defensively
Magil points to her chest.
"Oh, my bunny?"
Kid reluctantly reaches into her bosom. She takes out a plush bunny hand-puppet, saying "It's my toy, I found it fair 'n square."
So that's what she found in the wreckage... A toy bunny. But what good would that be here?
"Kid, this is actually a 'Martian Forest League Concealed Lesser Armament Bunny', and it is far more than a toy."
Kid gawks at Magil, as do I. I suppose I'm expecting him to yell "Gotcha!" any time now, but he just stands there, aloof as ever.
He puts the white, fluffly, blue-eyed bunny puppet onto his hand with utmost care.
"So uh... This Martian Forest League, uh... Lesser Armament Bunny..."
"Martian -Concealed- Forest League Lesser Armament Bunny," Magil corrects, as solemn as a philosophy teacher.
"Right... this Martian Concealed Forest League, uh.
Lesser Armament Bunny... what is it?"
"Please, Kid, such technology is hopelessly beyond human comprehension."
"Well what does it do then?"
"Watch."
"Wait, uh... no, that's okay, Magil..."
Magil turns around, facing the columns of light.
Entirely unfazed by my presence, Magil starts to dance around, waving the bunny around throught the air as he recites some sort of weird incantation.
"Heat cup... provolone... soccer mom...!!"
It's like he's wasted or something...
And then, after a few moments, the glimmering light begins to subside!
Well, whatever. I stopped trying to figure out this whole mess a long time ago.
"Serge..."
Magil turns to me, staring into my eyes with relentless honesty. He holds the bunny (The Martian Forest League Lesser Armament Bunny, mind you) out in front of him,
saying "I entrust this to you. Please, if anything should ever happen to me, use it as I have..."
"Magil... I humbly accept this most sacred gift. I shall use it sparingly and appropriately," I say with a deep bow.
Hey, when in Rome...
"This enchanted seal can never be completely removed,"
Magil continues. "It will require one to re-extinguish it from time to time.
By doing what I have done, this intrument can be used to temporarily nullify the effects of seal. Please,
remember how to use it, for someday you too may find yourself in need of its assitance."
"So it's safe to cross now?"
"Yes. We must hurry, though."
Walking across it, I feel a little bit of a shock run through my feet as I take my first few steps, but nothing serious happens.
Once we're across, we come to a solid oak door after a bit of walking.
Kid opens it, slowly...
Having come this far, I take a deep breath. It's almost pitch black inside this room... All I can tell that it's very large and very cold. I can make out something in a far corner... It's a large metallic structure of some kind.
A billowing voice echoed down from high above.
"Finally, you've made it. I was wondering if you pitiful apes would ever show up."
And there, amidst the shadowy interior of this spacious room...
...Lord Lynx awaits!
Before him, shimmering off the dank walls and ceiling of this underground cavern, a scarlet jewel radiates a deep,
red light!
The Frozen Flame...
"L...Lynx! I have you now!"" Kid shouts, feral.
"I beg to differ, young lady!" Lynx taunts, leaping down from the rocks, dashing towards her with amazing speed!
Kid takes on a battle stance as she readies herself for him. However, he quickly dodges her attack, picking her up and tossing her through the air as though like a ragdoll!
"Urrghh..."
"Kid!"
She's been thrown backwards onto a wall behind us, as Lynx returns to hear where he stood, unfazed!
I run over and scoop Kid up into my arms.
"Oh, how sweet. The apes care for each other. However, I would be more worried about yourself, young man!" Lynx shouts, laughing at the top of his lungs.
That beast... There has to be something I can do. But,
he's so fast! I've never seen anybody move like that...
As Lynx continues to laugh, I try desperately to ignore him and fight off this sudden feeling of hopelessness.
What would Magil do at a time like this... Wait, where is Magil? I haven't seen him since we came in...
Wait, what's that?
Is that... a guitar?
Just a second ago, a strange sound echoed throughout the huge cavern. It couldn't have been Lynx... he seemed to be caught off guard by the sound as much as I was.
Suddenly, a figure comes forth from out a dark corner of the room!
Carrying a portable amp at his side and a shiny guitar across his chest, electrified sounds continue to roar throughout the cavern again and again as the figure continues to come towards us!
It's... Magil!
Wait... Magil!?
From what I can tell, it looks like him. Sort of.
Although having somehow changed into skin-tight,
riveted jeans, trendy goggles, and a cool-looking shirt exposing his defined torso, it seems to be Magil in the flesh.
Lights shine up from behind him, dazzlingly illuminating his glistening spiked hair and ponytail!
"M, Magil...!? What do ya think yer doin'?" Kid asks,
recovering from her daze.
But Magil says nothing, continuing on with his enthusiastic solo.
"Aahhhhh!! Nooo!!"
"Th, that noise! Stop! Stop that noise!!" Lynx shouts,
holding his ears.
"What's that? You'd like a little 'Stairway to Heaven?
Your wish is my command!" Magil shouts with a huge smile, before wailing on the guitar even louder!
Before long, it seems like Lynx is going mad, listening to the harsh dissonance.
His head starts to vibrater, before selling up more and more like a ballon!
Then, all of a sudden, his head pops!
At the same time, a countless number of cracks start to run up his body, snapping away parts of his body piece by piece, until a number of slender, green tentacles make their way through his body, writhing all around him!
"Whoa... What's goin on!?"
"Serge," Kid says, rising to her feet. "this's a bigger fight than I expected... I'm countin' on ya, you got that?"
"I don't know, Kid... I can't throw myself into the thick of battle now! Who would narrate the story if something was to happen to me?"
Suddenly, the remains of Lynx fly out in all directions!
And with that, Lynx has completed his metamorphosis!
A gigantic, slimy, lime green octopus stands before us,
eagerly awaiting our doom!
"I have you now, Martian Conjurer!" Magil shouts! "I have searched the galaxy for over five hundred years for you, wretched H-class Space Criminal!
I have hidden my identity as a mere human, traveling with these people in order to track you to this very spot.
But now, such trick are no longer necessary! Behold, for I am Universal Detective Mick Van Jovi!"
As soon as Magil, er, Mick says this, light streaks out from all around him. When I can see again, he's changed again into some sort od polished metallic body armor!
"And now...I come for you!"
Magil turns toward the grotesque octopus, and hurls himself into the air!
The octopus takes on a look of shock and disgust as Mick reveals himself.
"Ah, my ever trendy antithesis, Mick Van Jovi... so, you have finally found me.
...It was because of you that I was forced to flee Mars.
Fleeing in haste, I accidentally crash-landed on this hellhole planet! My fusion reactor was rendered useledd,
leaving me stranded here, all because of you!"
"I... I was forced to eat my own ship to survive!" he continues, sobbing. "The control panel... the steering wheel... I even had to boil down the seat mat for food!"
"...And now, five hundred years later, you come to arrest me just as I have finished repairing my fusion core?" he yells, nodding to the Frozen Flame!
The Frozen Flame... a fusion reactor!?
Within Magil's eyes, a silver flash of light shines out as a pale pulse runs down his glimmering armor.
"Ah, the Martian Cyclone Crystal Fusion Reactor. Too bad that after I'm done with you, the reactor won't be the one needing five hundred years of repairing!"
"Not if I can help it!" the Martian Octopus shouts!
Not missing a beat, Lynx instantly starts to shoot his heavy grey pistol at us, showering the room with jagged beams of light!
While we're busy dodging the plethora of light rays,
Lynx suddenly snatches the Frozen Flame, and runs into the huge metallic saucer-shaped object over in the corner!
In a flash, the thing starts up, rising high above us in a matter of seconds! The thing could easily weigh ten thousand tons, yet it hovers over us as easily as a bird!
"How do you like my new and improved Galaxy Mothership?" we hear Lynx's voice boom throughout the cavern. "I apologize, but I do believe I will not be coming back to Mars with you, my dear Van Jovi!"
The ship fires an even more intense barrage of ammunition at us, causing the walls and ceiling around us to crumble and break apart!
Aaaahhh!! The cavern is collapsing all around us! Boulders of all sizes are frantically raining down on us!
Oh no! Magil's been struck down by a huge boulder! He's helplessly trapped beneath it!
"Magil! No!!"
I rush over to him and push the gigantic boulder off! The boulder seems to have crushed some of his armor,
though! He's hurt bad!
"Feel like running yet, fools?" Lynx shouts from inside his cockpit.
"We gotta get outta here!"
"We can't just leave Mick though," I shout at Kid! "Look at all that armor he's got on... it'll be impossible to carry him out! Even with three people, it would still be tough!"
"...Don't... don't worry about me," Magil mutters, as his armored fingers suddenly grasp my ankle.
"Serge..." Magil gasps. "Th, the M, Mart, Martian For,
Forest League J, Jun, Junior..."
"The bunny," I interrupt.
"Yes," he says. "The b, bunny... use it..."
Ah! Of course! The bunny!
Taking the soft puppet out of my pocket, I look back over to Ma, er, Mick.
"Serge... Use it... as I have shown you... it is a m, multi-use d, detonator. And please, look after Kid, if death c,
comes for me..."
I clech my fists as I raise my head, looking up towards Lynx's dreadful ship.
"Lynx! Behold!" I shout, raising my hand up into the air,
pointing the bunny towards the ship!
"You! Where did you get that!?" Lynx shrieks.
"No," he continues, "You must not use it! Please, it will negate the stability of the fusion reactor! It will kill us all!!"
I llok down to Magil. Dammit, I mean Mick. I look down towards Mick, who nods back at me confidently.
Ignoring Lynx's pleas, I close my eyes, and mimic the enchantment Magil preformed earlier with utmost care.
"Heat cup... provolone... soccer mom...!!"
"Good, S, Serge. The detonation sequence h, has been initiated. It's on a t, timed delay," Mick says. "We must escape before that ship detonates!"
Kid and I hoist his heavy body up and start to drag him out of the spacious cavern.
We're not very far out, when suddenly...
A giant explosion rocks the entire area around us!
From far behind, we hear Lynx shriek "My ship...!" over and over again!
The walls around us are beginning to tremble and shake more and more! Oh no, the entire mansion is collapsing!
"Run, Serge!" Mick shouts, as Kid and I desperately try to scamper away faster!
Mick seems to have regained a bit of strength and adrenaline, helping us by limping a bit as we carry his incredibly heavy body through the dark, twisted corridors of Viper Manor.
Come on... please... don't cave in just yet...
Dammit, just a little longer... please...!
Yes! We're out!
Looking back on the mansion from a safe distance, we watch it collapse under its own weight! It comes toppling down into what looks like a sweltering black hole, infused with a deep Martian redness!
I let out a deep breath as I stare up into the nighttime sky.
Suddenly, however, a small group of what looks like flying saucers come flying out of where the mansion used to be, soaring up into the stratosphere!
Supporting Mick on both sides, we stare up at the ascending getaway ships.
"Don't take it too rough, Mick. At least we made it out alive. Tomorrow's another day..."
"Indeed," he replies. "They're pedal-powered escape pods... They won't get too far."
Looking up as they soar over our heads, I see that he's right. Within the translucent center of one of the pods, I see what looks like Lynx, crammed in with a goblin, who's being barked at by Lynx to pedal twice as fast, in order to keep the ship afloat.
"Hmmmm... yeah, I think you're right," I say. "Human power can't be much of a replacement for a nice fusion reactor, especially when talking about interstellar travel."
I look over to Kid. But, ironically enough, instead of the pouting face I sxpected, it seems like there's a quality about her that I don't think she had before... something more at ease about her, in a subtle sort of way.
"Tonight, we rest. Tomorrow, the search continues,"
says Mick, triumphantly.
And so, for this adventure, we have come to...
THE END
(or is it!?!?!?!1/1/1/1/1/1/1/1/1)
And so, the curtain closes on another tale. However,
another time, after the spotlight had faded from Kid,
Mick, and the Martians...
...In another place and another time... a similar band of adventurers had come forth, equally unsuspecting of their other selves, and life went on as they strode out into the great unknown.
But, that's another story for another day. For now, I shall put down my pen."
As I softly close my grandfather's diary, I hear my mother's voice call to me from downstairs.
"Didn't you hear me? Your friend is here!"
I turn around, already knowing who it is. My door opens quite energetically, where I see a strangely nostalgic girl barge in.
"Serge! We found some ruins of an old mansion up in northern Kitsune Forest today! Come on, let's go exploring!"
Fin
--------End notes-------
So there it is. I think the next one up is Homecoming: Shea's Light. Even more depressing than the ending of Le Tresor Interdit.