Disclaimer: "Virginia... There's something I have to tell you before I go..." "Don't die Jet!" "I'm doomed... But Virginia... I... I..." "Yes?" "I... don't own Wild ARMs! Ugh...(dead)" "NooOOoOo!" "(alive again) Oh yeah, and I don't own 'No one Else Comes Close' by Joe either. Ugh! (dead)" "...NooOOooOo!"
DAY 3 - Twister and Nudity8:30 A.M – Clive's House
Everyone had finally awoken that morning, and as suspected Jet was already better. They gathered at the table for breakfast, as well as Clive's newfound information.
"Well, let's hear it." Virginia said. Clive took a sip of his coffee.
"First of all, we'll begin with The Fallen. Apparently it was the name of the strongest portion of the Demon army, a special ops team, so to speak. They were the ones that fought the Guardians themselves in the Guardian War long ago. Whether or not The Fallen of today are one and the same is yet to be found, but so far, it looks as though they are indeed the same group from centuries ago. Which brings me to my information on Eroz." He took a breath and continued. "As Jet no doubt noticed from their battle, he is in fact an android, similar to Jet, but much more powerful. Where Jet has been built for Filgaia's restoration, Eroz was designed for combating the Guardians." He showed them a picture from one of his textbooks. "This is a depiction of the Guardian War, when the Guardians fought with The Fallen. If you look over here," he pointed at a man with long hair holding a familiar large sword. "You will see the man that we saw earlier, named Eroz." Jet looked closely at the picture.
"His hair's a little longer, but that's him." Jet thought for a moment. "How many people are in this... Fallen group?"
"It says in my notes that originally they consisted of twelve warriors, one to combat each Guardian. Obviously all were immensely strong, but the Guardians somehow managed to defeat them, but down to the point that they lost all their powers. I'm guessing that's when they were sealed in mediums (It didn't really happen that way in the game though, take note). Eroz is most likely one of the twelve, and they probably have an army up by now."
"Well, it's great we have all this info and all... But what are we gonna do about it?" Gallows asked. Clive gave him a smug look.
"I thought we could visit your grandmother and receive some advice on releasing more power from the Guardians, there may be some way to strengthen the summoning strength that we don't know about. It's probably the best place to start." Gallows' jaw dropped.
"Man no way am I visiting my grandma, she freaks the bejeezus outta me." Gallows shivered in fear.
"You're such a wuss." Jet rolled his eyes at him. "I fought him, and I know for sure that we need all the help we can get, the Guardians especially."
"I agree. I'm sure Halle will know what to do." Virginia gave an affirming nod.
"Come on guys!" Gallows tried to change their mind, but they weren't listening.
"So we're going to the Baskar Colony!" Clive stated
"Hey gu-"
"Let's do it!" Virginia got up.
"But I think-"
"Yeah, whatever, let's move."
"Hey guuuyss!!!" Gallows hated being ignored, but the gang had already gone out the door.
"Move it or lose it, Bigfoot." Jet called. Gallows followed, grumbling and crying under his breath.
9:00 A.M – Baskar Colony
After a quick ride on Lombardia, they had arrived at the Baskar Colony. Gallows was happy seeing his home, but still freaked about seeing his grandmother. Clive pushed a reluctant Gallows forward, and they headed for Gallows' house.
Upon entering Gallows' home, they were greeted by his little brother, Shane.
"Long time no see big brother!" Shane smiled and waved at the gang. "What brings you all here?"
"We need to see Granny little bro!" He peered around the house cautiously. "She in here?"
"She's at the shrine. Why, is something the matter?" Shane asked curiously.
"Just need to discuss some things about the Guardians, is all." Gallows and the gang headed back out. They entered the shrine to find grandma Halle praying. She heard them enter, and turned around. Gallows was relieved to see her happy and he relaxed.
"Ahh hello children!" She smiled. Then lifted up her stick.
BAM.
"Ow! What was that for?" Gallows' forehead started developing a lump.
"You ingrate! What kind of grandson doesn't visit his loving grandmother? I bet I could drop dead here and you probably wouldn't notice, would you?" Halle snapped at Gallows, causing Jet to smirk.
"Ow... My head..."
BAM.
"PAY ATTENTION FOOL!" Halle smacked him again. Jet's smirk turned into a chuckle.
"Well, what brings you all here?" Halle had reverted to her good-natured self.
"We would like to know more about the Guardians and the Guardian War." Clive responded, then filled her in on their encounters with The Fallen.
"This is indeed bad. I have heard quite a bit about The Fallen, and none of it is good." Halle was uncharacteristically serious. Clive then asked about the mediums.
"Is there any way to release more power out of the mediums? We already know about summoning the Guardians themselves, but from what we've seen from only one member of The Fallen, I think we'll need more firepower." Clive waited for an answer. Halle sighed.
"Well... There may be one way..." Halle seemed reluctant to tell them.
"We'll try anything." Virginia spoke up. She was determined not to be as defenseless as she was before. Halle sighed once again.
"Okay, you asked for it..." Halle began. "The mediums were created at a sacred forge a long time ago. The forge itself was created at the base of a volcano. The souls of the Guardians were sealed there."
"How does this help us?" Gallows asked impatiently.
BAM.
"Shut up moron! I'm getting to it!" Gallows started bleeding, as well as having three big lumps on his head. "As I was saying, the Guardians were sealed here, as there was no other forge with a heat strong enough to create or destroy their mediums."
"I see what you're getting at." Clive said. "You want us to destroy the mediums?"
"Not quite. If the mediums were to be remolded into diamonds, they could be effectively stronger with the use of a special piece of technology created by the Guardians themselves. The technology they used to defeat The Fallen many years ago."
"Guardian technology? Incredible..." Clive was obviously enjoyed receiving new knowledge, practically jumping with joy.
"Anyway, all we have to do is get to that forge and remold the mediums, and find this Guardian technology thing, right?" Jet was getting impatient, and wanted to settle this already.
"Ah, that is exactly the problem with doing this." Halle said with a hesitant grin. "You see... The forge has recently been converted into a special hot spring..."
"Well that couldn't be too bad." Virginia said confused.
"You see, the special thing about it is... It's a nudist colony hot spring." Everyone's jaw dropped. Clive was the first to snap out of it.
"Um... Well... I guess we have no choice but to get in there and do it." The others stared at him in disbelief. "What?"
"If you're so eager, why don't you do it?" Jet said, desperate to get out of it.
"Calm down, all of you!" Virginia scolded them. "I'm sure we can find a way to do this without any needless embarrassment." She blushed at the thought of being in a nudist colony with the guys. 'Eww.'
"Actually, I was about to get to that." Halle walked up to them. "You see, this certain technology was put into a special dungeon created by Raftina, known as the Intertwining Hearts. It was made specifically to ensure only certain people could enter." She turned to Jet and Virginia. "I think you two should head for that. Something tells me that you two will be able to get it."
"Sure!" Virginia said, glad to get out of going to the nudist colony. Jet just shrugged. Halle then turned to the remaining two, who were looking very distressed.
"That leaves you two to go the Forge and turn the mediums into diamonds."
"B-But Granny!!!"
BAM.
"Stop whining, pussy-face, it's not like you have anything to hide! And Clive, I'd like you to go to keep Gallows in line." Clive gave in and sadly nodded.
Gallows' head had begun to look abnormal with all the lumps. "This sucks..."
"So, where is this Intertwining Hearts place?" Jet asked.
Halle smiled and headed for one of the walls, then pushed a hidden switch. The wall slid away and the cavern downstairs opened up.
"The Baskar Colony was built on top of it for protection." Halle explained. She went over to them and took their mediums. "Now you two run along, and be sure to find the Guardian Technology."
"Good luck guys!" Virginia waved to her other two teammates, who were looking glum. Jet just smirked and followed Virginia down the stairs.
"Well now, you two." She handed Clive the mediums. "I believe you have a colony to get naked in?" She laughed at them as they sat on the ground moping.
9:15 A.M – Intertwining Hearts
Jet and Virginia had expected the dungeon to be as dank and dull as they had always been, smelling of dead animals and fart. This dungeon was nothing like that. The walls were brightly colored, and there were plenty of lights. It also had a fresh lavender scent to it.
"Well... This is different." Jet looked around confused as to why a dungeon would be presently so cutely.
"She did say it was designed by Raftina." She giggled. "I guess they weren't kidding.
"I think I prefer my dungeons dark and dangerous. At least I know what to expect." Jet felt nauseous with the bright and bubbly atmosphere of the place. "Let's just find this thing and get outta here." They stepped into the next room to find a puzzle resembling something like...
"A karaoke club???" Virginia and Jet said at the same time. The room had a circular stage in the middle, with speakers and a subwoofer surrounding the stage. A microphone was in the middle, as well as a guitar and a pair of maracas. A large computer screen was in front of it, resembling the computers they had seem in the Leyline Lab. They saw a sign near the exit.
"To pass this room, you must play a duet as beautiful as Raftina herself." Jet eyes narrowed.
"Raftina sure is big-headed for a Guardian" Jet sighed in disbelief.
"Come on, I think this'll be fun!" She pulled Jet along with her onto the stage.
"Oh God, I hope the others guys are doing worse."
9:19 A.M – Fiery Passions Nudist Colony
"Man, is it just me, or do we always get it bad?" Gallows said to his equally depressed companion. They stared up at the sign, 'Fiery Passions – Release your inner love!' "Man this isn't fair."
"Never mind Gallows." Clive tried to be more positive, but he didn't look the part. "We have to do this." They trudged inside and up to the counter.
"Hello, what can I do for you?" the naked counter man smiled. Clive and Gallows shuddered, trying to ignore the fact that he was naked.
"Yeah, we'd like to enter. How much is it?" Gallows asked, staring at the ceiling.
"Well, the normal price is 500,000 gella per person, and for couples, it's 15,000 gella."
Clive and Gallows looked at each other, then shrugged. Gallows put an arm around Clive.
"Me and Honey-Buns here would like to take your couple offer please!" Gallows said with a smile.
"Yes, we plan to release our inner love here!" Clive said, putting his arms around Gallows' waist.
"Ah... Okay... T-That'll be 15,000 gella." The man's face was twitching as he took their money. "Y-You'll need to undress in the changing room before entry." He pointed at the room.
"Of course, of course! Thank you sweetie!" Gallows blew him a kiss.
"You know I don't like you doing that!" Clive playfully slapped him on the arm.
"Haha, oh you!" Gallows pouted and waved the air in front of his face, before they finally left for the changing.
"God, I'm not a man anymore!" Gallows and Clive both said, crying.
9:19 A.M – The Karaoke Puzzle
"I don't wanna do this." Jet said childishly. Virginia was already strapping the guitar around Jet.
"Jet, we have to! Please?" She tried to look at him as cute as she could. Jet blushed and looked away.
"Argh, fine, yeah, whatever." He never could win against Virginia, and it sucked.
"Alright! Let's pick a good song!" Virginia began scrolling through all the songs. "Okay, if it has to be as beautiful as Raftina, then we should sing a love song!" Jet had long given up fighting her and just sighed. "This looks like a good one! Let's do it! It says here the guy has to sing this one, and I just play the maracas!"
"Yeah, whatever." He looked at the screen, and started playing the guitar as it showed him on the screen. Then he began to sing.
When we turn out the lights
The two of us alone together
Something's just not right
But girl you know that I would never ever let another's touch
Come between the two of us
Cause no one else will ever take your place
Chorus:
No one else comes close to you
No one makes me feel the way you do
You're so special girl, to me
And you'll always be, eternally
Everytime I hold you near
You always say the words I love to hear
Girl with just a touch, you can do so much
No one else comes close
And when I wake up to
The touch of your head on my shoulder
You're my dream come true
Oh, girl you know I'll always treasure
Every kiss, every day
I love you girl in every way
And I always will cause in my eyes
Chorus (2x)
No one else comes close
No one else comes close
Damn I love you
By the end of the song, Jet's face was deep red. Virginia squealed with delight.
"Jet, you never told me you had such an amazing singing voice!" She had been enchanted by Jet's melancholy voice. "You're also really good with a guitar! You were great!" Jet just blushed even more.
"Whatever... The door's open. Let's go" Jet marched off into the next room, Virginia hanging onto his arm.
The next room had a floor with a five by four grid of circles, each row a different color – red, green, yellow, and blue. Nearby was a small spinner, showing all the colors and a body part. They read the next sign.
"To open the door, you must play this game by pressing the correct color with the correct hand or foot. Stay up for 15 spins. Both of you must do it at the same time!" Jet looked at the floor panel, then the spinner.
"Oh God, this can't be good..." Jet said. (Twister, anyone? D)
9:40 A.M – In the Nudist Colony
Clive and Gallows had reluctantly stepped out of the changing room, clutching their precious jewelry in embarrassment.
"Man this is so totally stuffed up." Gallows said, his face pink.
"Let's just find the forge and get out here." He saw another nudist walking by. "Erm... Excuse me sir."
"Hi! Haven't seen you around! Name's Bob! Nice to meet you!" He held out his hand for one of them to shake, but neither Gallows nor Clive showed sign of moving their hands. Gallows managed to end the stand by awkwardly tapping him on the leg with his foot. Bob just shrugged and let it go. "So, what can I do for you two?"
"We'd like to know how to reach the base of the volcano from here." Clive asked, in a hurry to move on.
"Oh, that's simple! Just head down that corridor, take a left at the toilet, then go straight until you see the sign. Then you turn right, and go..." His instructions went on for quite some time. "... And that's where the base is! Simple, no?" Clive's eyebrow was twitching. Gallows gave him a kick to the shin, and Clive shook his head and returned to normal.
"Uh... Yes... Thank you for that." Clive tried to remember everything he said and waddled off (It couldn't be easy to walk and hide it at the same time).
"Man, why can't anything work out for us?" Gallows groaned, as they got lost again. "Please, just one good thing, and I swear I'll stop complaining."
"Hey there sweetie! Need help?" Gallows smiled and silently mouthed 'thank you', then turned to see where the feminine voice came from, only to be thrown back in fear. "Are you okay cutie?" 'She' giggled at Gallows. Clive was close to puking at the sight of her.
The 'woman' had warts all over face and body. Facial hair was growing under her nose, and her body was freckly and wrinkled. It was truly a disturbing sight. Gallows was scared out of his brains.
"OH GOD!" He yelped. He grabbed his eyes. "IT BURNS OH GOD IT BURNS!" Clive was clutching his mouth and bending over.
"Haha, you guys are such jokers!" She playfully slid a finger on Gallows' arm, causing him to freeze up before twitching uncontrollably. "You're a real looker, you know that?"
"Someone kill me now..." Gallows looked up at the sky with tears in his eyes.
Clive swallowed hard then whispered into Gallows' ear. "Get her to lead us to the volcano base!"
Gallows threw a freaked out glance at Clive. "Are you out of your freaking mind? That thing is a walking disease!"
"I know what you mean, but we're lost, and the sooner we do this, the better. Just use your Gallows charm!" Gallows whimpered, then sadly gave in.
"Hey... Ugh... 'Beautiful'... How about leading my friend and I here to the volcano base?" Gallows found it harder to act like she was hot than acting as though he was a homosexual.
"Hehe... Hmm, you are quite handsome... But I'll need a little more motivation!" She leant forward and closed her eyes. Gallows drew back, his face shriveling up as if he ate something sour.
"Do it!" Clive whispered, sniggering slightly.
Gallows gave another whimper, before closing his eyes and moving forward. As soon as his lips reached hers, she had grabbed him and pulled him in for a long, wet kiss.
Clive couldn't take it anymore and puked all over the floor.
When she finally let him go, Gallows fell to the floor, limbs in the air, twitching.
"That was great handsome! Now I'll take you to the volcano base! Follow me!" She started walking, so Clive quickly ran over to Gallows, and hauled him with him by kicking him along, not wanting to remove his hands.
"It burns... It burns..." Gallows muttered, still twitching. (My God, that was visually disturbing puke)
9:40 A.M – The Twister Puzzle
It took Jet and Virginia awhile to get the idea of the rules, which had conveniently been written down and left in the room. After getting the gist of the game, they gave it a shot.
"Okay, so now we gotta spin that dial thing right?" Jet asked. "And then we put whatever limb it shows onto the color?"
"Yeah that's it! Let's do it!" Virginia said, then spinned the dial. "Left hand, green!"
The first six turns went smoothly, they managed to reach the colors without the need of invading each other's space. Then trouble began.
"Left foot, red!" Jet yelled after spinning the dial. Virginia accomplished this easily, as she was already on the red side. Jet unfortunately would need to go underneath her to reach it. Jet went as red as the spot and slowly edged his foot over. "S-Sorry..." He said embarrassingly, feeling his back brush against her thighs.
"I'It's okay..." Virginia said with a blush. "Spin the dial."
Jet spun it again. "Right hand, blue!"
This time, it was simple for Jet to reach, but Virginia was going to have to reach around Jet's neck to reach it.
"S-Sorry." Virginia said this time.
"Y-Yeah, whatever." He could feel her hair falling around his face. 'Smells nice...' Jet snapped out of it and spun the dial again. "Right leg, green!" This was fairly simple for both of them and they moved onto the tenth spin.
"Left hand, yellow!" Virginia yelled. Jet crossed his arms over and made it with ease. Virginia almost fell, but Jet caught her with his body.
"Hurry! Get back up!" He felt her figure on his back, making him feel hot inside.
"Thanks Jet!" She said, as she spun the dial again. "Right leg, red!" They stood still for a moment to work out how to pull it off. Their right feet were on green, all the way on the other end of the mat from red. "What do we do now Jet?"
Jet thought for a minute, and had an idea. It was risky, but nothing else came to mind. "Sit tight, I've got a plan." Jet started to release his accelerator. "Here we go!"
With some quick and near impossible maneuver, Jet managed to turn both Virginia and himself around so that they were facing up, and moved their legs onto red. But now they were in a fairly awkward position. Their right hands and feet were on red, and left hand and foot were on blue. This made their arms and legs wrap around each other, causing them both to blush fairly hard.
"You okay?" He asked Virginia, his voice slightly muffled from Virginia's hair getting in his mouth.
"Yeah..." Virginia managed, but she wasn't going to be able to hold this position for long. Jet managed to spin the dial again.
"Right hand, red!" Thankfully, it was already there, and from what the rules said (in here anyway) it still counted as a spin. They sighed with relief and made the third last spin. "Right leg, yellow!" They tried to find a way to move their leg and still keep their hand on red.
"I know!" Virginia said. "We'll need to do this at the same time!" Jet nodded and she explained her plan.
They lifted their right feet, then twisted right, going all the way around to reach yellow, crossing their arms over again. Now Virginia was once again underneath Jet. They sighed with relief after their success. Virginia reached out and spun it again.
"Left hand, red!" Virginia uncrossed her arms and put her left hand on the red. Jet put his arm around Virginia's neck to reach it as well. She spun it for the final time.
"Right hand, yellow!" Virginia reached it with ease, then Jet reached in from under her arm, accidentally bumping something on the way. "Ack!" She flinched, almost falling, but Jet managed to catch her.
"S-Sorry." Jet said ashamed.
"It's okay. It was only an accident. Not let's finish this!" Thankfully she wasn't too angry. Jet nodded and reached for the yellow. As soon as his hand landed, a chime rang out to confirm that they had passed the puzzle. They dropped to the floor in exhaustion.
"Finally, it's over." They sighed, both too tired to remember Jet was on top of her. They lay there catching their breath for a moment, then realized their position, and hurriedly stood up and moved onto the next room.
9:58 A.M – The Volcano Base
"See you round, honey!" The old hag blew a kiss at Gallows, making him flinch. She then went back down to the resort.
"Finally, she's gone." Said Gallows in relief. "I hope I never have to see her again!"
They walked into the base to find a large cavern built within the volcano, with a forge in the middle, along with a lake of lava.
"Grab that diamond base and let's get to it." Clive said, grabbing a work coat and putting it on before throwing Gallows another one. "We're going to need our hands for this."
One by one, they remolded the mediums into new diamonds, the symbols still surprisingly clear on them. After finishing the molding, they took them outside and waited for them to set.
"It should take around ten or so minutes to set completely, so we'll just waste time until then." Clive said. "Any ideas?"
"Okay let's play this game. I'll say the name of a food, and you gotta say another food beginning with the last letter. Ready? Pie!"
"Eggnog."
"Um... Grilled beef!"
"Fish fillet."
"Um... Uh... Crap!"
Clive sighed and decided to busy himself with something more challenging, like watching ants. Gallows just kept trying to find a food starting with T.
10:01 A.M – The Final Room
The last room had a chest in the center of the room. The rest of the room was empty, giving the two a sense of déjà vu.
"This time, you stay here, and I'll open it." Jet warned, cautiously approaching the chest. Virginia watched him intently. He reached the chest and opened it, to find a glove somewhat similar to the one he wore on his right hand. He shrugged and grabbed it, then waited for something to happen.
CRACK.
He looked down and noticed that he wasn't going down, instead up. Or rather, he wasn't moving, but everything AROUND the chest was sinking. He whipped around to see Virginia sinking along with it.
"How ironic." He rolled his eyes and dashed over to grab her again, then ran back out to the exit.
He got out just as the place began to cave in, protecting Virginia with his body to shield her from any debris. When the crumbling stopped, he got up and pulled Virginia to her feet.
"You okay?" He asked, dusting himself off.
"I'm fine. Thanks again Jet! Looks like you saved me yet again!" Virginia smiled, just as Halle came walking over to them.
"Excellent, you found it!" Halle congratulated them.
"What is it?" Virginia asked.
"I'll explain how this all works soon. For now, you two should rest." She led them to her house and served them some food, before they went off to bed.
10:10 A.M – The Nudist Colony
"Well, let's go." Clive had packed the new diamond mediums into a satchel. They headed back to the entrance eager to get their clothes on, they were starting to feel a little chilly.
"Are you already ending your stay here?" The clerk asked them.
"Oh yes! We decided we need a little more alone time!" Gallows got back into homo-mode.
"Shall we go darling? I can't wait any more!" Clive said before grabbing a rose into his mouth and reaching his hand out to Gallows. "Shall we dance???"
"Yes!" Gallows took his hand, and they proceeded to tango out the exit, while humming tango music.
"That's a nice couple..." The clerk stated, before getting back to work.
10:16 A.M – Baskar Colony
"We're back." Gallows said weakly, followed by an equally tired Clive, who dumped the bad onto the table.
"Good work you two. Have some food, and rest. I'll explain everything this afternoon." She gathered the diamond mediums and gave them some food. "You two go to sleep when you finish eating."
Too tired to answer properly, they just grunted, ate, then went to bed.
END DAY 3 – MIDDAY
Author's Notes
Ack. It's past midnight here, and I'm pooped. But hey, I decided I shouldn't leave everyone thinking I was going to stay as serious as I was last chapter! I'm still going to put plenty of kooky situations; just it's going to follow a real storyline. The reviews are helping me a lot, so thanks again!
NEXT TIME!
The gang learns the secret to unleashing the true power of the Guardians! But when they find out the price to pay for it, will they continue to use it? And why does the Guardian Technology resemble Jet's glove so much? GASP! It's so exciting!