Clive glanced back and forth between the two other Drifters. He recognized the girl from the station earlier; she was a passenger in 1st class, and Tony, one of the train workers. Neither were likely to interfere. (Still), he mused, (at least this is better then my last job…)
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Nine days before the fateful encounter…
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Clive followed Borgnine up to the entrance to the caves within which the monster rested. As Borgnine started to lead the way in, Clive raised an arm to stop him.
"This is an assignment I alone have accepted," Clive told him. "I shall take it from here."
"Listen, Clive…" Borgnine replied, "I know you have quite a reputation as a Drifter, but this is your first time in these caverns. I'm sure you'll need me as your guide. And you've heard of the buddy system, right? They say two heads are better then one. I can help you."
"Yes, I appreciate your concern," Clive said, and shock his head. "But my mission is to exterminate the keeper of these caverns and to protect the residents of the village. I believe that was the deal."
"Uhhh… Yes," agreed Borgnine hesitantly, "but… What does that have to do with me?"
"In other words," Clive explained, "you are one of the residents that I must protect. And as you mentioned, this is indeed my first time venturing into these caverns. As a result, I would not be able to ensure your safety if you come accompany me. Please, there is no need to worry. I shall complete my assignment, and return promptly to collect my bounty." He heard Borgnine muttering as he entered the cavern alone.
"He seems confident enough, but going in there alone…? Doesn't he realize this cavern is called… Den of Miasma…" Clive armed and checked his ARM, and strode forward confidently.
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Clive glanced around as he entered the next cavern. So far, he hadn't had much difficulty with the denizens of the caves, but as he glanced around, he realized that it was going to get a lot harder in here. Miasma was drifting around the cave and he could hear a rhythmic breathing noise in the distance.
"This miasma…" he murmured to himself, "I can sense the keeper… It's not too far now to the throne where the keeper awaits." As he strode forward, the ground behind him groaned.
"Hm?" he exclaimed in surprise, and turned. As he watched, a section of the ledge crumbled and fell into the abyss below. "So my retreat has been blocked off… I take it guests are not very welcome here. I must confront the keeper and inquire about the way out." He quickly turned and walked on. As he rounded the next corner, he found a large, spherical cocoon. As he watched, the monster he had been seeking walked out and roared.
"It looks much bigger and more agile then I expected…" Clive mused, noting the serpentine body and large bat wings. "And it assumes such a cautious stance… I mustn't let this one escape. I won't get another chance if I let it fly off. As long as I have accepted this assignment, I will carry it out with grace. I shall get rid of you at once!" He quickly opened fire, even as the monster lunged forward. Clive quickly climbed to his feet, and glanced back in time to see the monster flap its wings, and take to the air.
"With your evasive maneuvers…" Clive muttered. "It may be easy for you to evade my shots… But I will not just stand her and allow that to happen!" He quickly pulled his Arm up to his shoulder, and carefully took aim. Although the monster tried to dodge, it failed. Before Clive could reload, however, he was once again knocked from his feet by the monster's attack.
Clive fired one last time, and the monster sagged to the ground and died.
"I possess the ability to track my prey's trail. I can foresee it's slightest move…" Clive said, shaking his head. As he turned away, he heard a rustling from behind him. "Hm…?" He turned, and realized that the monster wasn't as dead as he thought. Before he could dodge, the monster blew a gas at him. In surprise, he inhaled, and as the first pangs of pain hit him, realized that he had been poisoned.
"How could I be so…careless…? I could have easily prepared if only I had predicted the source of this miasma to be the monster." Even as he sagged, the monster flew up into the air. "No…stop…" Everything went black… As he fainted, one last thought went through his mind. (I have failed. I always seem to fall short at a crucial moment… Always…? One of these days…I…)
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Clive groaned as he woke and tried to sit up. He still felt occasional pangs of pain, but the poison seemed to have settled for now.
"How long have I been out…?" he groaned and glanced around. "It doesn't seem to be too long, but…" he shakily climbed to his feet. "Toxic matter has entered my system. The effects don't seem to be too serious yet, but the more I move, the more it will eat away at my body. Calling out for help will not do… It may be quite a risk, but the wise choice would be to head back to the entrance, rather then wait here until help arrives…" He started to stumble out. Even as he entered the next corridor, he felt the room shake.
"Not again…!" he groaned as a massive boulder fell and blocked the exit. "I can understand if I were an intruder, but to impend someone who is trying to leave…? I must have been a rude guest. A boulder of this size probably would not budge from one or two bombs… Perhaps placing a number of bombs in succession may work…" He dropped several bombs at the base of the boulder, and lit the fuse of the fist. He stumbled back and took cover behind a rock. The bomb went off, and set the others off at the same time. When Clive glanced up, all that was left was a fine powder. He climbed back up, and stumbled on towards the exit.
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Clive felt himself collapse onto his knees as he reached the exit. Borgnine looked up and ran over.
"Good heavens!" he exclaimed. Clive collapsed into a sitting position as Borgnine reached him. "Are you all right? What a fever! What happened to you in there?"
"I believe…" Clive gasped, "I have been afflicted…by poison… If only I had been…more…careful…"
"Wh-What about the monster?" Borgnine asked, glancing up nervously.
"It took to the sky…" Clive replied, "and…"
"Okay," Borgnine interrupted him, "understood! We'll take care of the rest, so…" Clive slowly closed his eyes as he began to faint again. "Hey, hang in there! You're going to be all right!"
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Clive woke up, shaking old dreams from his mind, and realized that he was lying on someone's bed. As he glanced up, Fram, one f the residents of Ballak Rise entered the room.
"Oh, you're awake," she said, "hold on a minute. I'll go and get something." She walked over to a desk in the room. Two other people, Huey and Borgnine, joined them as she handed Clive a cup of green liquid. He carefully sat up as he took it from her. "Here, this should warm you up."
"Why, thank you," Clive said, and sipped it. He chocked and held to cup away from him as he tried to deal with the terrible taste. "Wow," he gasped, "this is really something. What is it?"
"Knocked your socks off, huh?" Borgnine asked. "Well, here's a hint." He held out a plant commonly used as an antidote.
"Antidotes…?" Clive asked.
"That's right. It's more potent then your regular off-the-shelf antidote," Huey bragged. "We boiled in a great cauldron. Well, I'm just glad that it had the effect I was hoping for! Now I know I can sell it to customers." Clive raised an eyebrow. Although he wouldn't be so impolite as to say so, he didn't think anybody would buy anything that tasted like this. Borgnine put the plant away in his pocket.
"Of course," he added, "I almost broke my back hauling you out of that cave when the monster got you. But… All's well that ends well, right? Now we can get on with our lives."
"A monster…in a cave…?" Clive murmured. He glanced up, remembering with a start. "That's right! The monster! What became of it?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Borgnine asked, confused. "You chased it away, didn't you? While you were recovering, the men grouped together and marched to the cave to look for the beast, but it was gone."
"All they could find was it's lair," Huey described, "deep in the bowels of the cavern. No trace of the monster was found."
"And?" Clive asked worriedly. "What did they do with the lair?"
"Well…" replied Borgnine. "They torched it, of course. We don't want that thing coming back, do we?"
"They… They torched it?" groaned Clive sadly.
"Yep," nodded Borgnine. "Now the monster's toast, right?" Clive glanced into the cup worriedly for a second.
"All I did was hurt the monster and chase it from the cave," he explained. "But inevitably it will want to nurse its wounds in the safety of its lair. If that is gone, then certainly…" The room darkened as something large roared outside. "It will come and take revenge on those who destroyed its home." Clive concluded miserably. "Your village and all who live here are in danger." He climbed to his feet, grabbed his ARM from beside the bed and headed towards the door.
"Where do you think you're going?" Borgnine asked. "You need more rest!"
"I accepted this assignment," Clive said, glancing over his shoulder. "That's why I must see it through to its completion. I'd never forgive myself if I gave up on my clients. Very unprofessional."
"Then, here…take this," Borgnine said as he tossed Clive an antidote. "The monster's poisonous, right? I think it will come in handy."
"I'm sure it will," Clive nodded, and ran for the door. Outside, he glanced up as the monster flew overhead. He turned and ran for the ladder to the roof. As he reached the top, the monster settled to the roof.
"I have you now!" Clive shouted as he blasted a shot in its direction. To his surprise, the badly wounded monster lurched back, gave a sound like a distressed hamster, and exploded. The villagers started to cheer and clap as Clive started to climb down to the floor.
"Hey, well done!" Borgnine congratulated Clive as he reached the bottom.
"Thanks…" Clive said, and sighed. "But I guess I'll need to find a new job now…"
"Well, as it so happens, there's a treasure on route to Baskar Colony that needs guarding…"
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Legal Notes: Wild ARMs 3 and the associated charactersand storybelongs to Media Vision/Contrail. I have no intention of gaining any money from this document.
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Author's note: Well, here it is. During my second time through this game, I got the idea to get the story down on computer, and I have been spending the last few months working on this (blame the long length of time to the upcoming HSCs, slow paraphrasing from the game, and simple laziness on my part). For those who have not yet played any of the Wild ARMs games, ARM means Ancient Relic Machine. I'm copying the text of the voices in this story straight from the game text, so any spelling errors and grammatical errors should be kept to a minimum. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.