Crescent Play
Chapter 8: Confrontations
Disclaimer: I do not own T.O.M.E or any of the characters involved except Levin and Selel
Levin, Selel, Alpha, Nylocke, and Flamegirl were walking down the passes of Lavendera;. It was a bright, sunny day, and Nylocke was in an extraordinarily good mood.
"Ah, to be back to our normal ways at last," he said. "Sir Levin, Sir Selel, tell me. What do you two plan to do now that your contract is broken?"
Selel looked to Levin, who shrugged. Levin had filled in Selel about telling the group about the Forbidden Power, unfortunately, someone had overheard their conversation. Rumors were spreading like wildfire about Alpha and his use of the Forbidden Power.
As the group continued walking, they passed by a large crowd of players, and overheard whispers being aimed at them.
"Hey, it's those guys from the tournament!"
"Wait, that redhead up front? Is that Alpha?"
"You mean that freak who has that 'Forbidden Power' thing? Stay away from him!"
"Seriously?! That's him?"
As the group was making their way through Selel turned to yell at some of the people who were whispering, but Levin put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.
"If you engage you'll be playing right into their hands, it's what they want," Levin warned him in a harsh whisper.
"So we just let them talk smack about our friend and do nothing about it?" Selel asked back.
"It doesn't matter," Alpha said as he continued walking.
The twins watched him for a moment before jogging to catch up. The group made their way to the forest, where Kirbopher and Gamecrazed were waiting for them.
"This is gonna be fine right? Things'll just go back to the way they were before right?" Kirbopher was talking to himself as he paced.
"Is it weird that I'm talking to myself?" He asked Gamecrazed.
Gamecrazed closed his eyes and shook his head, "No. It's not,"
"Oh, that's good," Kirbopher sighed with relief.
"Also, the others are here," Gamecrazed told him.
Kirbopher immediately tensed up as he looked ahead and saw the group approaching. "A little warning woulda been nice!" He whispered to Gamecrazed who shrugged.
"Sir Kirbopher! It is good to see you well after the tournament!" Nylocke shouted as he approached, "And a good 'morrow to you as well Sir Gamecrazed,"
Gamecrazed bowed from the waist in greeting.
"So, uh… heh, how you guys doing?" Kirbopher asked.
"Doing good all things considered," Flamegirl replied, "You?"
"Oh, y'know, took a break after the tournament, but now I'm back and ready to go at it again," Kirbopher explained.
"Seems you might get your chance sooner rather than later," Selel said as he nodded over his shoulder.
The group looked outward and saw they had been surrounded.
"Oh great, here we go," Alpha said as he took up a fighting stance.
The others summoned their weapons before some of the figures began to charge them.
Meanwhile. Another ominous, figure was watching from the edge of the tree line.
"Yes… show it to me!" It said to itself in a harsh whisper.
Alpha dodged a charge by leaping over his attacker, and Selel finished them off with a quick double cut. Levin planted his shields and a wall appeared, blocking a barrage of projectiles.
"C'mon man! Why don't you use that 'Forbidden Power'? Or was that just a load of BS?" one of the attackers taunted
"He probably faked it, lied to make himself more popular," another replied.
"Enough!" Alpha shouted as he threw out an electric attack that fried two of the attackers, as a third began to charge he deflected it with his shield before bashing them away and causing them to explode into a "Lose!" screen.
As the smoke cleared, the group saw a newcomer standing a few yards away from them.
"They think it's a lie, they think you made it up. But I know the truth! The Forbidden Power is real! Show it to me!" It said.
The figure was wearing a blue robe that covered its entire body except for its inky-black limbs and face, two glowing pink eyes glared at the group.
Username: Thorment, Class: Spellcaster, Powers: Black Magic
"Ugh… not sure if this guy is a dedicated roleplayer or just… naturally unsettling," Flamegirl said.
"Could be both," Selel added as he stepped forward towards Thorment and readied his blades.
Alpha held out a hand, "I've got him."
"Oh ho! So you'll show it to me?" Thorment asked.
"No, but you need to leave. Now,"
"Is that a threat?"
"No. It's a demand."
Thorment laughed maniacally as he lifted his hands above his head, a multitude of green spheres appeared and flew towards the group. Levin was quick to act as he rushed forward and planted his shields. A dome of silver energy surrounded the group, and Thorment's orbs bounced off harmlessly.
"Levin, stay out of this," Alpha said.
Levin looked to his friend before nodding. He lifted his shields and the dome faded. In a flash, Alpha was off. He charged at Thorment, who threw his hands out to his sides and sprouted a pair of black wings. He took to the sky before doing a loop and dive-bombing toward Alpha.
"Show it to me! I know it's real! I can't be the only one though! They'll keep coming until you reveal the Forbidden Power!" Thorment shouted as he plunged towards Alpha.
Alpha leaped into the air, his fist catching alight with his Vulcan Punch, but as he flew towards Thorment, the static of the Forbidden Power began to fill his mind, but only just.
He shook it off before slamming into Thorment, the attacker was knocked aside and crashed to the ground, exploding with a "Lose!". Alpha landed and looked at his open palm.
"Well done Sir Alpha!" Nylocke shouted.
"You ok?" Flamegirl asked.
"Yeah… er… I don't know," Alpha said. He turned back to the group, "This, thing. I can still feel it, in the back of my mind. Like it's taunting me. I just want it gone. I never want to feel it or to hear the words Forbidden Power, ever. Again."
Kirbopher listened to his friend voice his grief and closed his eyes. He walked up behind Levin and Selel and tapped them on the shoulder. The twins turned back to him and he nodded into the woods behind them.
The trio left the group for a moment.
"What's up Kirb?" Selel asked.
"You two shouldn't be involved in this," He said.
"What do you mean?" Levin asked.
Kirbopher looked at them before sighing, "I'm not just Kirbopher. I'm Zetto," he said.
The twin's eyes widened in realization.
"You're… Zetto… Oh shit," Selel said.
"Relax, I'm not going to report you to the Net Kings," Kirb told him.
"One less load off our shoulders," Selel said jokingly to Levin who had his hand on his chin as he contemplated the situation.
"You're thinking about something, what is it?" Kirbopher asked Levin.
"If you're Zetto, I take it you've got a plan. You were always the schemer type. And I'll guess Kizuna's in on it too. You two put on a show for the tournament to throw suspicions off you, right?"
Kirbopher chuckled, "Not bad. You're as quick on the uptake as ever,"
Levin nodded, "What do you need from us? How do we fit?"
Kirbopher shook his head in disbelief, "It's simple. I'm going to approach Alpha, as the real me. I'm going to tell him what my plan is. I need you two to keep him involved and keep him in the loop, but don't directly tell him. If he knows it's coming from me he won't listen."
Selel looked to Levin who nodded.
"You're just going to go along with this?" Selel asked.
"He outranks us, remember? We're not employees, we're casualties. The sooner we can do our part to get this over with, the better," Levin told him.
Selel shook his head, "Even if it means lying to our friends again?"
Levin sighed, "I know I said no more secrets, but-"
"Exactly! No more secrets! We can't lie to them. They'll never trust us again if we do!" Selel cut him off.
"Listen, if this is putting too much on you two, we can do it another way," Kirbopher jumped back in.
Levin looked to him, "It'd be preferred."
Kirbopher nodded, "Alright. New plan, I'll do what I was originally going to. I'll lure Alpha to the arena, we'll extract the last of the Forbidden Power from him. I need you two to play guard duty. Escort him there, and keep anyone else from interfering. If they ask, tell them the truth, but don't mention my secret identity."
"That we can do," Selel said.
Levin nodded, "When do we start?"