A/N: I couldn't update this for some reason, but its here now, and I apologize for the long wait… And Blindspott is a band from New Zealand. I've got their CD on while I'm writing.

Disclaimer: I (sadly) do not own Star Ocean or any of the characters, places, or anything else related to it! Neither do I own anything related to Blindspott. (Excluding their CD…) And I don't own anything to do with any alcohol at all! (Actually, there's a bottle of JD's in my car somewhere… But that's beside the point!)


Chapter 5: Plots Thicken

"Now, you two should be old enough to know that throwing ice hurts." Adray scolded the two children, after casting several spells to restore their health. Healing and Cure Condition for the most part, Roger was rather frozen by the time Peppita had her payback, "You're pretty grown up now, both of you. You should know how to behave too." Adray gave them a rather weak glare and they both smiled back innocently.

"Grown up? After what we did the other night, I'm a REAL man by now…" Thought Roger and he caught a look from Peppita that meant she was thinking roughly the same thing. Yet Adray didn't notice.

"I'm sorry…" Said Peppita, putting her good acting skills to use. She grabbed Rogers hand and began dragging him from the room, "We'll play nice from now on, Mirage said something about baking earlier, so we're going to go find her!"

"Yea!" Threw in Roger before they had disappeared out the door. Adray was simply left wondering about the energy of youth and he returned to reading his book.

Peppita and Roger were headed for Mirages room when they rounded a corner and saw Albel walking towards them with a glass of water. What struck them as odd though, was the way his head was nodding slightly as he walked and his lips were twitching as if he were thinking out loud. Peppita immediately bounded up to him to see what was going on, "Albel? What are you doing?"

"Huh? What does it look like; this is a glass of water. I got it from the kitchen. Think before you speak you little worm." Albel said exasperatedly after apparently scratching his left ear with his claw.

"No! The lip twitching and head bobbing!" Insisted Roger who had taken the same interest as Peppita. They now both stood in front of Albel and were blocking his path. They weren't afraid of him, they knew that he wouldn't harm them around here; there were too many people on this ship for Albel to take on by himself. That was sort of everyone's guarantee with Albel, safety in numbers.

"Hey… Is that a UMD on your ear?" Asked Peppita in an almost hushed awe. She had spotted the white stick that was clipped to Albel's ear with wires running to each one of his ears. It had become visible for a second when Albel had raised his hand to apparently scratch his ear when he was in fact pausing the music; his hair hid it rather well though.

"What? What is this nonsense of which you speak?" Replied Albel defensively; "These two are really pissing me off, what I wouldn't give to cut them in half…" With the current song Albel was listening to, it had him in the mood to hurt someone, anyone.

"Aw silly," Replied Peppita in a teacher like tone that further irritated the tall swordsman, "UMD stands for Universal Music Device, you can access any song from any time period from any race that is a member of the federation from anywhere in the whole universe! They're really expensive…" Peppita finished her tone becoming more awed as her speech went on.

"Well, it's mine. So stop looking at me like that, and shut up before I cut you up till your food for the maggots." Spat Albel rather nastily, his temper was at its limit and despite the fact he'd learned something, he couldn't put up with this for much longer…

"Whatever…" Drawled Roger, "You wont hurt us, 'cause we'll just tell on you. You're not so 'Wicked' around here…" Roger was rather cocky and he gave Peppita a big grin, she grinned back, knowing he was right.

Yet, with a comment like that, Albel had definitely had enough, before either could react, he passed the glass of water to his clawed hand and drew the Crimson Scourge. As he unsheathed it, he carried the motion into a swing and as his sword came around he briefly saw the looks of sheer horror and disbelief written on both of their faces as the sword struck Roger and Peppita simultaneously in the head. Of course, Albel hit them both with the flat of the blade, yet it sent both of them flying backwards down the corridor. He wouldn't have hurt them badly or he would have to deal with a pissed off Fayt AND Cliff, not to mention everyone else… "Happy now? Only a fool would piss me off, and you thought you could outsmart me by technicality… Try proving your injury to anyone."

"Ahhhhh…" Was all Roger could manage to say as Albel deftly tossed the glass back to his normal hand, raised his claw to resume the music, and strode stoically past both of them. He didn't even glance down at the floor where both children lay semiconscious. He was too occupied by thoughts about besting Fayt to care about the weak like them. Where these thoughts had suddenly come from, he wasn't sure.

0o0o0o0

Sophia's mood hadn't really lifted, she had gone down to the kitchen for a sandwich, yet had seen Albel exiting with a glass of water. She had practically bolted back the way she had come when she saw him with such an angry look on his face. Yet… When he spotted her, their eyes locked for a second, and Albel's face had gone emotionless. No smirking. No sneering. None of the typical Albel behaviour. And she also realized that when she turned and ran from him he didn't laugh until he faded from her hearing. Albel always laughed at anyone that ran away from him, anything that ran away from him…

She had to stop thinking and relax and she knew it. But, to make matters worse, she had lost her precious UMD; it was a 17th birthday present from her parents and she had managed to keep a hold of it ever since Hyda IV. Now, after everything was over, she had lost it. She needed relaxing music; instead she lay down on her bed and listened to the substandard music that was on the Moonlight's databanks. She didn't like this holiday much so far, she decided to try and convince the girls to go shopping this evening, or maybe tomorrow…

0o0o0o0

Mirage let soft sighs escape her lips as Cliff left soft, slow, wet kisses down her neck. He was heading towards her breast and Mirage shivered in anticipation. "Ahhhhh… This feels so good. I don't want anything to stop this." She ran her fingertips in circles over Cliffs back and was rewarded with little shivers from the big man.

"Mirage!" Peppitas voice yelled enthusiastically through the locked door to the woman's room, "Why is your door locked?" Roger gave her a wink.

"Oh, shit!" Cliff whispered and urged, "C'mon, hurry up and get dressed…" Both Cliff and Mirage frantically struggled for their clothes and set about looking presentable. "Why now? Of all possible times…"

"One second, I'm just having an important conversation with Cliff!" Mirage yelled back as she straightened her jacket and Cliff leaned over the bed and pushed the 'Open Window' button, the room needed a little airing out…

Roger grinned at Peppita, "Conversation? Is that what they call it these days?" He whispered and she giggled back, Roger began pounding on the door, "Hurry up! You said you were going to help us with some baking! Don't go back on your word now!" He yelled in mock frustration, while he was really trying to suppress the laughter within.

"Impatient little bastard, isn't he?" Cliff whispered to Mirage as he dealt with his renegade belt, and started walking towards the door. He looked back for the signal.

"Don't let them hear you say that!" Mirage forced out as quietly as she could as she quickly straightened the bed sheets. Once done, she gave Cliff the 'Yes, open it.' signal.

Cliff hit the 'Unlock' button and two balls of energy fuelled with baking anticipation burst into the room. "What are we going to make?" Yelled Peppita, Mirage just rubbed her forehead, as she tried to bring her mind back from where it had previously been, and tried to remember some baking recipes.

"Uh… Chocolate slice and chocolate chip Biscuits? How bout that?" Mirage offered once she had decided it wouldn't be too hard to control them with a simple recipe like that. Cliff simply laughed and grinned. "What's so funny Cliff?" Mirage asked with genuine curiosity.

"Remember when I tried to help you make those on the Diplo?" Cliffs grin was rather large and both Peppita and Roger had the feeling Cliff wasn't the best cook around…

"Yea…" Replied Mirage slowly, and with a gleam in her eye said, "Crispy… Would be about the best compliment I could give. Perhaps well cooked?" At the confused look she was given by the children, Mirage elaborated, "Cliff thought adding some strong alcohol would make them better… Ever seen an oven explode? Very un-cool…"

"Ah, well, I'll just help you guys this time round, right?" He glanced at both Roger and Peppita and found that both of them looked threatened and their faces had gone rather pale, "Kidding! Kidding!" Hastily added Cliff and waved his arms defensively.

"Look you two, ignore him. We'll have dinner soon, then if we start on the chocolate slice afterwards they'll be ready for lunch tomorrow, sound good?" She was rushed by two hugging small people and smiled at Cliff, he simply smiled back.

0o0o0o0

Albel was on his way to the gym to work out. He had to keep fit, and he knew this ship had excellent facilities. Yet, he halted before the door when he heard voices, the tone suggested something secretive. Albel knew knowledge was also a form of power and anything that could help him get the better of Fayt… "Why do I suddenly care so much that he beat me? … The blonde ape and that Aquarian wench were there too… But, it was the blue haired maggot that mocked me, and delivered the final blow… I hate that little bastard!" Albel was suddenly roused from his thoughts when he heard Maria's voice speak.

"Fayt seems so down, ever since we slept together… It's sad, I'm worried about him."

"She does sound worried to my ears, but the knowledge of an affair is far more important than her emotion to me. This is very helpful information… I must be able to use it somehow."

"Well, it was the three of us, and we were all drunk. You can't be surprised he blames himself… That's just Fayt."

"That Aquarian! And it was a threesome! On the night of Sophia's party nonetheless… Poor girl… WHAT! I don't give a shit about her! Why did I just think that! Arrgh, but… I can see a plan forming here…" Albel turned away and started to head off to sort out the final details, instead of working out, before dinner as Maria began to ask Nel something about approaching Fayt. He had a plan, and it could be started right now.

0o0o0o0

Sophia had not enjoyed dinner very much. It seemed an uncomfortable silence hung in the background; everyone seemed to be aware of it. Yet no one was sure as to whom it belonged, if it was one, two, or maybe many people, possibly everyone. But they all seemed to be their usual selves. Sophia was just glad to be out of there. She was about last to leave after clearing the table and as she got to her room, she felt vaguely relaxed. The door opened automatically and she heard it slide shut behind her.

"Click"

"Wait, that sounded like the lock… Why would the door lock?" Sophia spun around and almost died as she came face to face with Albel Nox. She staggered backwards instead and ended up stopping against her bed. "What… Do you… Want?" She managed to choke out.

Albel slowly walked towards her. "Well, a few things… A repeat performance of the last night would be nice." There was a gleam in his eye, Sophia could tell he wasn't asking without some sort of deal, or bargain, nevertheless, she wouldn't give in easily.

"No." Spoke Sophia decisively. She wasn't going to play his games.

"But you haven't even listened to what I have to offer?" If the grin on Albel's face was any bigger, Sophia would have screamed, he was definitely scaring her.

"Look, you… You jerk, I'm not interested. There's nothing you can give me to make me do that again, it was wrong. My boyfriend is really alive…" Sophia was shaking inside, yet, she kept her outward appearance strong, she couldn't afford to lose any ground to this madman.

"What? Give you? I don't think so. I was going to give Fayt a detailed description of what happened… How you moaned my name…" Albel remarked in an extremely casual voice, "You can have some time to think about it, till this song is over."

The words 'What song?' Were on Sophia's lips, yet before she could speak, Albel reached up to his left ear and bought down a tiny white stick with his clawed fingers, he began to push buttons then a rock song began playing. Sophia was seriously considering giving in to his demands, and then it clicked. "Hey! That's my UMD! Give it back!"

"What? No, I like it. I'm keeping this. If it's yours, we'll just add it into the deal." Albel smirked and clicked it off before putting it back up on his ear. "So, are you going to do what I say? In return, I won't speak about it to anyone." He gestured in a friendly deal making manner, yet could tell Sophia wasn't really buying it since she had seen the UMD.

"Actually… I… I think you… You can… Go fuck yourself!" Sophia choked out. She tried to turn and run, but she was already hard up against the bed and ended up nearly diving over it into the wall. Albel lunged for her with his claw and the sound of it slicing through the air seemed to echo, swiftly followed by the sound of it making contact and shredding through soft material. Sophia crashed onto the bed with a cry and spun around to look at Albel.

"Bah." Was all he said as he held his claw in midair. From the blades hung a mess of orange and brown fur. As Albel looked at it he knew things were going very badly indeed.

"My Kitty Cat!" Shrieked Sophia. She leapt up as she grabbed her pillow and started beating him with it. She had had enough, she didn't care and she just wanted him gone.

Albel swiftly grabbed the pillow with his good hand; he couldn't afford more damage by using his claw. He threw it to the floor and stared her down. "Look. I will buy you a new one. Now just remember, my offer still stands. There are other things this information is useful for besides screwing you." He spun around and stalked from the room. Sophia simply retrieved her pillow from the floor and began to cry herself to sleep. She prayed everything would work out.

By the time he had returned to his room Albel had calmed down somewhat. He kicked back on his bed and changed the song to an old band from earth, a country called New Zealand had an old band called 'Blindspott' and their music was good for thinking. He decided he wouldn't wait; Fayt would get what was coming to him tomorrow, unless someone else thought they were better than even Fayt. He doubted that. He prayed he wouldn't suffer nightmares again, if last night was free of them, maybe they were gone? Maybe.


A/N: Did anyone notice the cat on her staff? I thought it was a black cat, till I saw it. I didn't like the orange one, so Ikilled it. In the next chapter you'll meet Meor, and the Crimson Scourge will speak. Expect it a lot sooner, its practically written already. I just need time to edit it! 4am is not a good time.