The Darkened Sanctum

XI: "Just a Little Joke…"

"We've finally made it…" Blood loosely dripped from Ryu's gashed forehead, his body aching from the fights behind him, "We're just a step away…"

Above the three stood silent gates, made of metal with a huge mural done in red and blue painted on it. It was a massive circle with three smaller circles inside of it, each with a different symbol splayed over it. The room itself was dark, metal, the only light coming from cracks around the platform they stood upon. Everyone was tattered, having cuts and bruises of all sorts; glad the fight was finally over. All looked hopefully up at the gate…

"We're one step away from the Sky…" Ryu slowly moved, Nina behind him, to the center of the platform, holding his arms up at it. He was ready to embrace whatever glory was behind those giant doors, that slowly shook, faint dust falling.

"There's nothing there…" A voice whispered, the words echoing off the walls. "There is nothing at all…"

The doors spread open in one swift movement, dust falling down into the room. However, the outside was pitch black, no light whatsoever, as sand started filling the small room. Ryu could hear coughing around him, from Lin and Nina, as the thick substance swirled and curled about in the air in great plumes. Starting to choke for air, he tried to turn and find Nina, in an effort to save her from the dust sea. He waded through the rising substance, reaching out to her in vain. He was jerked downward; he was sinking into the sand, unable to get out. Clawing and fighting to pull himself free, he felt a hand wrap around his left arm. Looking up, he was staring at a glowing blue figure that stared down with a dark, shapeless face. It slowly held out its right hand, and Ryu tried to catch it, but when he caught the wrist, he was engulfed with the sounds of coughing ringing around him.

"Oh!" He woke up, cold sweat rolling down his forehead. Panting a bit out of shock, he found himself where he had fallen asleep, face partially buried in the white pillow. Letting out a sigh, he closed his eyes and sunk back down against the fabric, dark hair messily laying over his face and the object.

He then noticed that the coughing from his dream was still in the room.

"Hmm…?" He slowly rolled to the side of the bunk, and then looked down, hair hanging from his forehead as he hung upside down. Nina was sitting up in bed, fighting a painful sounding cough. "Nina! Hold on, I'll be right there!"

About to climb out, he pushed the light blanket off himself and discovered something. Somebody during the course of the night had very carefully stripped him of his clothing, leaving only his boxers. They even had painstakingly taken off his socks, and usually if anybody even SPOKE about touching his feet he'd twitch. He looked at the coat hanger and found his jacket and other accessories were gone. But hearing that cough threw him back into action as he dropped off the bunk, then kneeled beside her bed. He carefully began to pat against her back, looking worried, "Come on, Nina, you can get over it… come on…"

Irritated tears rolled from her cheeks as she finished the coughing fit, trying to swallow the rest down. Small frame shaking from the effort, she finally let out a long sigh, fighting it off. With her eyes held closed, she could feel Ryu carefully wipe away those stray tears.

"You sound terrible…" He spoke quietly, deep concern rooted in his voice, "Are you okay now?"

She nodded, looking at him. Nina blinked, noticing he was lacking his usual wear and thought he looked kind of odd with his hair down all over his face. She leaned over and looked up, as if searching for where his clothes were.

"I have no idea where any of my stuff went. Though, if my idea is correct…" He glanced over at the bunk beside his, where Cheryl and Lin had slept. Both were gone, the blankets lazily tossed back on the beds. "…They've got them. Do you want to help me find them?"

She nodded, but then only held her arms open to him.

"Huh? Oh! Oh…" He slowly picked her up, standing upright. Smiling a bit, he made sure she was held very securely, "I can imagine that you wouldn't want to walk around this early. Not quite awake yet, huh?"

She yawned in response, and then rested her head against the side of his.

"Good answer. Alright, let's go hunt down our troublemakers, eh?" He started off, bare feet kicking up dust as he walked across the bare floors. Through the wide opening and into the main tunnels, he watched as several antz came past and merged into the crowd, heading for the cafeteria. He was soon aware that some faeries were following as loud giggles began to rise through the air. Blushing a bit, he tried to ignore them, but of course, in typical faerie fashion, they had to start commenting.

"Woohoo!" A purple-haired one laughed, "Look at THAT hunk of manflesh! Teehee! All lean meat on that one!"

"With a little more body fat, hoo, I wouldn't mind bedding down with THAT one!" Loud shrieks of laughter rolled down the tunnel, "Tasty eye candy, that one!"

"…" Ryu's ears were red by this time. He turned off to the cafeteria, hearing the shrieks of laughter follow behind him. Growling a bit, stepping into the cafeteria, he walked up to the desk. The antz- and Soni- took one look then fell over each other laughing their heads off. "Hah, yes, it is very funny. Has any one of you seen any clothes walking past?"

"HAHAHAHA!" Soni SCREAMED with laughter, barely able to continue flying, "THOSE ARE THE CUTEST LITTLE BOXERS! I LOVE THE HEARTS!"

"…What?" He looked down, just now noticing the pattern. Somebody had VERY CAREFULLY drawn big pink hearts all over the poor things. Now as flushed as ever, and rather pissed off, he growled, "Where did she go?"

"HAHAHAHAAAA!" Soni collapsed to the floor, little feet kicking as she rolled about, "HAHA!"

"Grr…" Ryu stepped away, looking up and down the exits. He took the west one, holding Nina close, about ready to burst a vein. His temper was rising; his body heat was also rising, but so far only a cozy warm that put Nina into a little nap. Ryu's eyes were still their calm blue, however, so he had a way to go before there was any danger of his dragon form emerging. "I swear… I'm gonna kill that terrorist woman once and for all…"

"Excuse me?" A pair of orange shoes stood in the metal doorway, staring into the office. Glass from the sectioned-room's window still lied about, a small amount of blood scattered about. The man had his back to the figure, cleaning off the bed in the operating room, having just put away the filters that went unused. "Hey, you, there's a customer!"

"Hmm?" The doctor looked up, wearing his cracked glasses. He slowly shuffled out to the young man, his foot having been quickly taped up and put carefully back in his shoe. Stopping before him, the man smiled, "Can I help you?"

"There was something I wanted to ask you about." Bosch's image, through the glass container in the room, was wavering as bubbles rose up in the liquid. He moved his hand up and lightly tapped the glass, "About this…"

"Ah, yes… the arm of a Chosen… Dragon-linked, you know. They may tell you they don't exist but-"

"Yes, yes, I wanted to know where you got it from."

"Hm." He thought for a moment, and then recalled, "The woman who had linked with this particular being went insane near PowerOne. High-ranking rangers had chased her down and they managed to sever the arm off her mid-form. She died, her body rotting away, but the arm remains perfectly preserved. We keep it in there as per regulations, you know. Tests have shown the limb is still alive, actually, the tissue just refusing to die."

"…Can you transfer this kind of link to another person?" Bosch glanced at the black arm, which sported glowing red claws. The severed veins still hung from the end, the fingers lightly twitching every-so often.

"You don't mean to tell me…? Listen; there have been only three cases of people linked to the dragons, all with extremely high D-ratios. Even the highest-ranking one chose to shut down his link; the other two tore themselves apart."

"You didn't answer my question…"

"…Well…" The doctor sighed, "In theory, you could at least attach the arm. It is unknown if it will transfer the link to the new body. But you would have to have a good reason to-"

"Up front, 30,000,000 zenny."

"…I can't do this. As I recall, you still have both of your-"

Whisking out his blade, Bosch rested it on a counter as he took off his jacket and his shirt. Carefully placing those aside, he took up the blade, and in front of the doctor, he grit his teeth and brought the weapon down quickly across the beginning of his right arm. The limb dropped to the floor, blood rolling from the wound. "N…now you can…"

"Hello," Cheryl giggled, having being found in the marketplace, wearing Lin's clothing, which was all much too big for her, "I'm Lin, the highest paid person at Trinity! Beware of my aim, it's deadly!"

"Mm-hmm," Ryu stared down, not at all amused, "Where can I find the REAL Lin?"

"You're looking at her!"

Sighing, still holding the sleeping Nina, he changed gears: "Where can I find Ryu?"

"Here I am…" Lin strolled out, wearing Ryu's clothes, from behind a display stand. The clothes were much too small for her, tightly stretched over her figure. Her tail was bent uncomfortably in the back, coming up and over the belt. She even had her hair tied up like he always did, and the goggles holding up her bangs, "Ryu 1/8-something or 'nother. Occupation: Village idiot and ranger dumbass. My social security number starts in 322 and ends in 990, can I tell you any more?"

"Hey!" Ryu frowned, "That's not funny!"

"It is to me! Now look at this, tsk," She looked herself over, "Your clothes are so small! I mean you must have a 2 body fat ratio or something. No hole for the tail, either…"

"Maybe because I don't have one?"

"You're not Ryu, you don't look like him," Cheryl giggled. She had to push the hood back up her head, the poor thing loose since Cheryl didn't have the ears to fill it out, "You are kinda cute in those boxers, though!"

"Hah, now please, give me back my clothes."

"Aww, but the material breathes so easily…"

"Now!"

As the two argued, Cheryl felt something buzz in her borrowed pocket. Stepping off to the side, she pulled out the compact mirror that was vibrating. Flipping it open, she noticed the speaker, and then cheerfully spoke, "Lin speaking, how can I help you?"

"Hm?" The speaker on the other end paused. "…Excuse me?"

"Lin speaking, how can I help you?" Cheryl patiently repeated.

"…You're definitely not who I want to speak with. Little girl, is Lin somewhere near you?" Lin's boss was, fortunately, more patient than others with children, so he leaned back in his chair and spoke calmly.

"She's talking to you."

"Hm?"

"I am Lin!"

"Then… is there another adult around you?"

"You could speak to Ryu, but he's fighting with a ranger who's got nothing on but his boxers!
"…" The man blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, hold on," Cheryl looked to Lin who was keeping Ryu held back by pressing against his forehead, "Ryu! You have a call!"

"What?" She suddenly let go of Ryu, sidestepping away from him, plucking up the compact, "Ryu speaking. This isn't a good time, sir…"

"Lin, what is going on?" Her boss sat upright, staring at the speaker as if demanding a reasonable explanation from the object.

"What is that thing?" The REAL Ryu abruptly snatched it from Lin, then moved away from her, "Hello?"

"…" Silence on the other end.

"Give me that!" Lin snatched it back, "Call me again later, honeybunny, love you!"

Cheryl giggled as Lin snapped it shut and tossed it back to the girl, putting it in her pocket. She then noticed the arguing being tossed back and forth was awaking Nina, so she lightly tugged on Lin's tail to get attention, "Hey, maybe it's time to stop playing dress-up…"

"Alright, if you say so, Lin," Lin smirked, "Shall we undress here…?"

"Go find a restroom, you perv!" Ryu shifted Nina a bit, glaring a hole through Lin.

"You're the pervert, thinking the bad thoughts. Come on, Lin, let's go back to being ourselves, what do you say?"

After a few minutes, Lin gave back Ryu's somewhat stretched clothes and took Nina for him so he could get dressed. They all met back at the cafeteria where they had to have Marshmallow Gem cereal for breakfast since it was all the faeries served. Ryu was in an expectedly foul mood when he came, but he did manage to smile down at Nina before sitting.

"So, now that I've tormented you for the day, what are the plans?"

"We need to leave and continue up."

"Good idea."

"Wait," Cheryl paused in her eating, swallowing a mouthful of the sugary food, "Where are you going?"

"Up… to the Sky." Ryu sounded a bit hopeful, an airy tone to his voice.

"Really…" Cheryl looked as if she was daydreaming. "Me, too!"

"Hmm?" He looked straight at her, "…You can't."

"Why not?"

"Listen," Lin spoke up, around a mouthful of marshmallows, "You're asking a terrorist, a wanted man, and a laboratory experiment if you can go with them to find something that may or may not exist. Every single Ranger in the shelter is currently hunting us. We can't possibly bring you with; it's way too dangerous. We don't need you to… er… die. Again."

"You have to bring me," The girl brushed back her long hair, "Otherwise I'll go alone. I don't want to hide; I want to be known by a name."

"We already do…" Lin smiled, "Mission accomplished, little lady."

"But… no… I mean…" Cheryl sighed, "…I agreed to go to BioCorp Labs because… because I wanted to get my name known by everyone. I didn't know they were going to… going to do… but… you must let me come! I know the sky is there; I want to find it, too!"

"…" Ryu let out a deep sigh, "We just don't want you to get hurt again…"

"I won't!" Cheryl frowned, "I won't ever let anybody hurt me again!"

"There are some things in life you cannot avoid… injury, unfortunately, is one of them." Lin took a spoonful of the cereal, and in between loud, crunchy chews, she spoke, "Why can't you stay down here with the faeries?"

Growing a deep, adult tone, Cheryl responded, "I won't allow myself to."

Ryu stared, recognizing that voice as that of the great dragoness… "…I… suppose it can't be avoided, then. We'll leave after breakfast. You'll need a way to protect yourself because we can't always protect you. If you can, find a pair of shoes for yourself… we'll be heading through ice upon ice upon ice. Beyond that… I'm not sure."

"Oh, you'll need shoes alright," Lin laughed.

"Okay!" Cheryl hurried to finish her cereal, "Yay, my adventure!"

"Your adventure…" Elyon had been watching the entire time, from when they had encountered the sleeping dragon to the last thing she had said. "…I knew I should have personally terminated Vyzhit… but now…"

"But now you've got your wishes." Cupid had strolled in, Rasta walking beside him, tail bobbing here and there, "She lives and smiles, but she is still not YOUR Cheryl, is she? I told you that sending someone else, even Vexicon and his assistants would not bring down an original dragon. Though her body was torn asunder, her soul seems intact."

"…Can you tell me if the soul I see Cheryl possessing is only of Vyzhit's?"

"…I can at least tell you, sir, that she is a very good actress."

"Are the rest of them coming yet? I've been waiting a day and a half for that meeting and Hortensia never got back to me…"

"Yes sir, we had some setbacks though… we… had to fill out the paperwork noting the fact Tantra is very not alive, sir. Then we had to note the death of Vyzhit but also fill out the paperwork saying she existed in the first place. We just all got it finished, and the rest should be coming in after morning meals."

"Very good; you might as well take a seat and wait, then. We have much to discuss this time…"