Animal Crossing In Action: Duo Of Justice

Chapter 23: A Fiery To Remember

At night, Robert was having a dream about what happened back in Emblem. He was somewhere in the building and got trapped in the fire. For some reason, he couldn't move at all and was blacked out all of the sudden. As soon as he woke up from his dream, he quickly rose up from his bed and looked around his room. Then, he looked at one of his hands and clutched it really tightly.

The next morning, Vicki went to the hotel to find Robert and meet him there. As soon as she saw him at the dining room, she came to the table and sat next to him. She saw him eating his oatmeal very slowly and had a feeling that something was wrong with him.

"Morning, Robert," said Vicki.

"Oh morning, Vicki," said Robert, as he swallowed his oatmeal after chewing it. "How are you?"

"Doing good! And you?"

"I'm alright..."

"Oh really? You don't look alright to me..."

"I'm sorry, what do you mean?"

"Oh well...how do I put it this way? From the start, I've noticed that you've been eating very slowly; and I don't see you eat that slow!"

Robert got choked and coughed really hard until he could breathe again. "Okay, I admit it. There is something wrong with me today..."

"Then, care to explain it to me?"

Robert began his explanation to Vicki about the dream he had last night. He was somewhere inside of the building and got trapped in the fire before he passed out. That's all he knew, and Vicki remembered the time when he told her about it in their heroic versions on StarLily's anniversary.

"Ah right, I believe you told me that on StarLily's anniversary, correct?" said Vicki. "You know, the vision you had while we rescued Isabelle from the burning town hall?"

"Yes, that's right!" said Robert. "It's the same vision that I first had when we saved her. I can't point that out of why I couldn't remember..."

"I guess we have a mystery to solve..."

At the ship, Allen was looking at the candle's flame which it was flickering. Then, he glanced at the dark poison crystal he had around his neck. All of the sudden, Flare stopped by and knocked on the door very lightly.

"Master Allen, is this a good time for me to see you or perhaps I'll come back later?" Flare asked.

"What do you need, Flare?" Allen asked.

"Oh, I'm just telling you that I'm going to give those Duo of Justice some burning after Ivy's death!"

"I'm already aware of her death, but I don't know how the dynamic duo received the power much stronger than before! Just be careful when you face them, okay?"

"Yes, sir!" Flare bowed down to Allen before she left.

Back at StarLily, Vicki and Robert were walking around the town. When they stopped by at the fire pit, they warmed up their hands for just a few minutes. All of the sudden, Robert had a vision about getting trapped himself in the fire again. It frightened him as he quickly put his hands into his pockets.

"Hey Robert, what's wrong?" Vicki asked.

"It's happening again..." Robert replied, shaking his head.

"About trapping yourself in the fire, you mean?"

"Yes..."

"Do you remember anything else, besides fire?"

"Yes, there is something else...I remembered there were two people walking away from the fire and abandoned me."

"Two people, huh?"

While Vicki was thinking really hard about the two unknown people, she couldn't even point that out of who they were. She wouldn't believe that they were Lorelei and Darren because they never left his side, that's for sure. Unless, they must've been Allen and one of his retainers or possibly both of them. Suddenly, someone stopped by and interrupted her thoughts.

"Hey guys!" said Nick. "What are you both been doing?"

"Oh hi, Nick and Serenity!" said Robert. "We were talking about-"

"Planning to go find a place that is romantic!" said Vicki, after she interrupted Robert.

"Oh well, I wish there's a place that is very romantic," said Serenity, "but I can't seem to point that out of where that is..."

"Me neither..." Nick shrugged. "Unless if you two found one, let me or Serenity know, okay?"

"Y-Yeah, sure thing..." said Robert, as he gave Vicki an awkward stare.

"Well then, we'll see you guys later!" said Serenity, as she and Nick started to walk away from Vicki and Robert.

After Nick and Serenity left so sudden, Vicki made a heavy sigh and Robert quickly scratched his head. He cleared his throat and started to ask her a question.

"What the heck was that for?" Robert asked. "I was about to tell them that we're just discussing about-"

"The whole fire incident you had in the past?" said Vicki sternly. "Robert, did you forget that we're not supposed to discuss this topic in front of everyone?"

"Oh, that's right! I did mentioned that before, have I? Probably, I almost forgot about it..."

"Yeah, you sure did..."

Later at night, Robert was lying on the bed, but he couldn't sleep at all. He was looking at the candlelight which it was flickering on the table. All of the sudden, he had a vision once again. He was on the floor coughing while the fire was still burning inside of the building. Then, he saw two people standing in front of him, laughing in a darker way. As soon as he looked close enough, two people looked so famailar to him before they turned their backs on him and walked away. When the vision ended, he quickly sat up from his bed and shook his head.

"Oh my god, I think I know who those people are..." said Robert anxiously.

The next day, Vicki was sitting at the town tree and started to drink her coffee. Robert immediately came to see her and sat next to her. He was ready to tell her of who those two mysterious people were.

"Vicki, I had this vision again last night," Robert explained. "I remembered who those two people were; and they started the fire in the first place!"

"Then, who are they exactly?" Vicki asked.

Before Robert could answer Vicki's question, he suddenly saw a fireball approaching to them. He quickly dragged her away from the town tree before they got a direct hit. They immediately turned around and saw of who started throwing the fireball.

"Sorry to interrupt your conversation, but it's time to burn you into crisp!" Flare exclaimed.

"Hey, we're not expecting you to show up by the time like this!" Vicki exclaimed.

"Yeah, we're going to stop you no matter what!" said Robert angrily.

"I'm sorry, but who's 'we'?" said Flare, being confused.

"Come on, Vicki, let's do this!"

"Right!" Vicki nodded.

Vicki and Robert began to transform into their heroic versions. This was the first time Flare found out that Vicki was Phantom Angel. So, the Duo of Justice were ready to stop their villains no matter what.

"I don't believe this!" said Flare surprisingly. "The mayor of StarLily is actually Phantom Angel?! So be it! I will burn you into cinders, too! Henchmen, attack!"

The Duo of Justice were fighting off against Flare's henchmen. Flare was ready to unleash her fire power, but she didn't notice that Sammy and Jimmy were coming to her direction. But they started to panic as their eyes and mouths were wide-opened and quietly avoided her before she caught them in sight. She called out the koala wearing the sunglasses named Eugene. She gave him the torch, and he started to throw it at the dynamic duo. When the Duo of Justice were through with the henchmen, Masked Swordmaster pushed Phantom Angel aside and stepped away before the torch incinerated them. As soon as the torch touched the ground, the fire began to separate them from each other.

"Oh no, Masked Swordmaster!" Phantom Angel shouted, as she was frightened when she saw her ally got surrounded by fire.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be alright!" Masked Swordmaster shouted, while he was starting to cough.

"As soon as the fire grows bigger, your so-called knight in shining armor will be turned into ashes, Phantom Angel!" Flare laughed.

Masked Swordmaster defended himself while he was trying to get away from the fire. But suddenly, the fire was getting bigger now that he couldn't escape. Few seconds later, the vision started to come back to him before he collapsed to the ground.

It all started one year ago, Allen started barging into Robert's house without knocking the door. Masked Swordmaster immediately stopped him from trespassing inside of the house. So, he pushed him aside and noticed that there's a small box on the table. The white knight opened the box and found something very unexpectedly. He slowly moved away from it and leaned against the wall. All of the sudden, someone knocked him down right away and made him fell to the floor. He slowly turned around and saw of who it was.

"C-Charlene...?" Masked Swordmaster groaned. "W-Why? Why are you doing this?"

"I'm just doing this for my beloved Allen's sake, you fool!" Charlene answered, as she pinned down Masked Swordmaster with her scepter.

"That's right, getting my revenge is my main priority!" Allen exclaimed, as he took the box that contained the dark poison crystal and put it next to his foe's face. "Sleep tight while I'm setting this place on fire!"

Masked Swordmaster tried to move away from the dark poison crystal and stop his enemies, but he was too weak to move. As soon as Allen started up the fire, he and Charlene left Robert's house and started to laugh. The white knight began to cough so hard that he could barely move a muscle. While the fire was spreading inside of the house, he was sweating very fast and fell unconscious all of the sudden. Few moments later, he heard footsteps approaching when he was out cold.

"Masked Swordmaster!" the first voice shouted.

"Big brother!" the second voice cried. "Darren, we've got to save him somehow! Otherwise, he will die!"

"Yeah, I'm on it, Lorelei!"

Everything seemed to be dark for Masked Swordmaster because he was still unconscious. What he felt right now was the pain, nothing else during the fire incident. All of the sudden, someone quickly approached to him and gave him the comfort hug.

"Oh man, I'm so glad that you haven't turn into ashes yet!" said the familiar voice.

"I...haven't?" said Masked Swordmaster quietly, while his eyes were still closed.

"No, you haven't! It's a good thing that I surpassed the fire with my portal magic and found you unharmed!"

"P-Portal magic?" Masked Swordmaster suddenly opened his eyes and saw Phantom Angel holding him tight. "Phantom Angel?! Is this a dream or is this real?"

"Everything around us looks real to me!" Phantom Angel replied.

Phantom Angel and Masked Swordmaster were inside of the barrier to protect themselves from the fire. Phantom Angel used her crystal staff to extinguish the fire on one side. Masked Swordmaster used his crystalized sword to cool it off on another side. After the huge fire was gone, Phantom Angel's barrier had disappeared, too. Flare was not very happy when she saw the dynamic duo had survived.

"No way, you two are still standing?!" said Flare angrily.

"Of course we're still standing, Flare!" said Phantom Angel, as she was ready to call out her attack. "Crystal whirlpool wrap!"

The whirlpool surrounded Flare and made her got all wet. As soon as it disappeared, she spat out of the water from her mouth. Then, she was ready to launch her fire attack at the Duo of Justice. But something was not right, Flare's fire power was somehow extinguished.

"No, my fire power!" Flare exclaimed. "What did you do?!"

"Let's just say Phantom Angel cooled you down already," Masked Swordmaster grinned, as he turned to his ally. "Time to give Flare the grand finale, Phantom Angel!"

That was the cue for Phantom Angel as she used her crystal staff to call out her ultimate attack and defeated Flare. Right after the fiery warrior was eliminated, the curse was removed from Eugene and he was back to his normal self. Even though, he didn't remember exactly of what happened or where he was right now.

One hour later, Vicki and Robert were standing in front of the fire pit to warm up their hands. Robert began to explain the situation to Vicki about the fire incident in his past. He told her about who the two people were in his vision. He finally remembered of where he was and what he was doing before Allen started the fire. He also told her that he heard voices, including Phantom Angel's when he was blacked out. That was the end of his explanation.

"Ah, so Allen and Charlene were trespassing your house before he started the fire?" said Vicki.

"Yes, they were there," said Robert. "They tried to burn me into crisp when I was too weak to move with the dark poison crystal beside me."

"I see...But after that happened, you heard voices out of nowhere, including mine's?"

"Yeah, but two voices sounded very familiar when I was unconscious..."

"Let me guess...Lorelei and Darren, I assume?"

"That's them alright! After I heard them, I suddenly heard your voice as well before I woke up and regained my conscious!"

Vicki hugged Robert very tightly for comfort and gave him a kiss. They were very relieved that their topic was solved and kept it in secret. As soon as they walked away from the fire pit, they ran into their friends and siblings who were standing right behind them.

"Robert was afraid of the fire in his past, and you didn't even tell us at all, sis?" said Nick, raising his eyebrow.

"No, he wasn't really afraid of the fire, Nick," Vicki explained. "He just had a memory about what happened to himself when he was trapped in the fire back in Emblem."

"Oh, of course, I remember that," said Lorelei. "Darren and I rushed to our house and saw my big brother lying on the floor unconscious while the fire was spreading!"

"So, you do remember that time," said Robert.

"Exactly, we saved you from the horrible fire, dude," said Darren.

"Ah, that make sense now! I'm not sure why I can't remember exactly from the first place until now!"

"Talk about the strange case, isn't it?" said Vicki.

While everyone was still talking and laughing at the same time, Robert had no trouble of having a vision about fire in his past anymore. With Vicki by his side, he had a good feeling that his life would change so sudden. He knew that he would always stay by her side forever.