Disclaimers 'n' crap: Haihai, peeps! Whew, I can't believe how fast I whipped this up. Be prepared to take in A LOT of backstory that, probably, only I will understand. I'll TRY to get everything to make sense by the end of the fic. By the way, Mandy, to answer your question, Crystal Class is used to classify the abilities of members of the Crystal Alliance (see my profile for more info). No, Shelby does not have a Crystal Class. As for the rest of your S&S questions, they're answered in this chapter. I don't own Lafayette. Everything else (except for the stuff I already said I don't own) is MINE. Enjoy.
"Wait a sec, Otacon. Lemme get this straight:" said Scott after hearing the news about his comrade, Auggie "He's missing an eye, and his other eye is now even more powerful than the two put together?"
"For the third time, yes, Scott," said Otacon, exasperated. Just then, Auggie himself came out from the next room, sporting an eye patch over his left eye socket.
"Hey, mon," he said, casually, as though nothing were wrong.
"Auggie!" cried Julitette, running up to hug him. Auggie put an arm around her and turned back to Scott.
"So," he said "You heard the freaky news, man?"
"Yeah," said Scott "Now, if only you could shoot lasers from it now…" They chuckled.
"Yeah, man," said Auggie "Never thought I'd be sayin' this, but I really gotta thank your step-mom for this." He gestured to his eye patch.
"Ha ha, don't say that Auggie," said Scott, smiling. Then he put a hand on Auggie's shoulder and his face became more serious. "Please…don't say that."
Later that evening, the gang was settling down for bed back at the base while Scott, however, stayed outside and looked up at the night sky. He heard a rustling behind him and spun around. It was Shelby.
"So," she said "First big victory today."
"Yeah," said Scott. There was a pause, then: "Alright, I knew this was going to come up. You want to know about Michelle, don't you?"
"I know that she's an artist and I know that she's working with Rosemary in communications," said Shelby, seriously "What I don't know, is where you stand with her!" Scott sighed.
"Alright, here's the deal," said Scott, calmly "When I lost you and came back to this world, I was…the only one left from our world. Michelle was the only girl I had ever been infatuated with here, so I went to her and we…you know…"
"…became a couple?" said Shelby, he voice getting colder.
"We're not married!" said Scott "Yes, I got into a relationship with her. Yes, we've been boyfriend and girlfriend for years. Yes, I love her…but I drew the line at marriage because of you. Sure, she's got the celebrity factor and the looks and she really cares but she's still not you. Ask her yourself, she'll tell you about all the times I've put you over her!" Shelby was beginning to look less and less skeptical "Look, when I came back here, I vowed never to marry another woman. Now that you're back, I want you back. Michelle will still be my friend, but…I've already lost you once. I don't want to lose you forever." Shelby's eyes began to tear up considerably. She flung herself into Scott.
"Scott, you won't lose me," she sobbed "I won't leave you! I love you!" Feeling as though an empty void in his heart had just been filled, Scott leaned down and kissed her tenderly. They held the moment for a long time.
At that moment, I knew truly had her back. In a moral sense, anyway. But, boy, I wasn't expecting the change of subject.
When the two recovered from their emotional moment, duty called again.
"So," said Shelby "Elaine, what has she done to you since her big demonic resurrection?" Scott's face darkened.
Okay, so maybe the Realm Master can get this stuff in now. Most of it anyway.
"When Elaine came back, about 23 years ago" said Scott, beginning to weave his tale "Lafayette had just succumbed to Pastel, you know, that demon living inside him. Anyway, Pastel actually established a relationship with Elaine and it literally drained me of my sanity. Then Raiden, who used to be very closed about his past, finally accepted his past and it not only 'opened the doors' for him, but it also made him immune to Elaine's powers! So I knew I had to do the same to cure myself."
"So, what did you do?" said Shelby.
"…I…let her take me again…" said Scott. Shelby nearly popped a vein.
"YOU WHAT?" she screamed "SCOTT, WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!?!"
"I was thinking," said Scott "'If that albino pansy can do it, so can I.' And it worked. I became immune to her powers as well."
"Scott," said Shelby "Sleeping with that bitch was what landed you at Horizon in the first place!" Scott bowed his head in shame.
"Yeah," he said "There was one thing that didn't get cured. When Elaine came back and I lost my mind, I…well…that's when I started using guns and knives in addition to my usually axe and sword. I wasn't doing drugs anymore…but I was killing people." Shelby looked at him in astonishment.
"No…"
"Yes…" said Scott mournfully "But I had the others with me through the whole thing and…well…they're pretty much the glue that holds me together now." Shelby just sat there, trying to take all of this in.
"So…" she said "That's…another reason you stayed with Michelle all this time."
"Yeah," said Scott "Look, it's late, you should probably hit the hay."
"Yeah, probably," said Shelby, getting up. She was about to go back inside when she stopped and turned back to Scott. "Oh, by the way, 'congratulations' on your little sister." Scott froze.
"I don't have a little sister," he said, bitterly.
Regardless of what this sounds like, I actually knew exactly who Shelby was talking about.
"Then," said Shelby "Who's Aelita? Snake and Raiden said she was Elaine's daughter."
"She's not even related to Elaine!" said Scott, fiercely.
"Then who is she?" said Shelby.
Elsewhere in the base, Michelle sat staring at her monitors. She was still reeling from what Scott had said about getting back together with Shelby. She didn't mind Shelby so much, but Scott was the only boy she had ever really had feelings for, or had ever really had feelings for her. She had something with Scott and she didn't want that to go away.
"Rosemary?" she said faintly to the woman and comrade she had come to think of as a mother "Hold me." Rosemary took Michelle in her arms and sat there cradling her a long while. Rosemary was used to doing this by now, as she and Raiden had two children of their own, but it was still nice to know that someone not family could see her as a loving parent they had lost long ago.
Everything had just begun for us. Over the next two years, we would grow a reputation against our enemy…as a group to be feared. And they feared us. But building up this reputation would, in the end, be our downfall, and Aelita would benefit the most from it.
Who IS Aelita? Sorry, Code: Lyoko fanboys and girls, this is a different girl, entirely my character. She'll be in later. Hope you MGS fanboys and girls enjoyed the Otacon cameo. I don't own him either. Hope to update soon!
