Another chapter down... Sorry for the week-long wait: delay was for desperately needing to finish final assignments for class and the sad passing of a beloved family pet. Also, writer's block is a surefire pain in the ass, so it was kind of irritating writing this one… But enough about that; hopefully this one turned out both somewhat action-packed and funny.

Title is "Always Hardcore" by Scooter for this one...

Themes are: Kioku - See-Saw, One (Always Hardcore) - Scooter, and of course, the Bantam Bouncers song. That's right, the Bantam Bouncers are in this. If you read the Author's Note you'd know that. Don't say I didn't warn you ahead of time…

Chapter 6: Always Hardcore

The next morning, Norma was wandering Werites Beacon as always, looking for something to cure her boredom. She was going to ask Wally if he could come with her to explore the Man-Eating Ruins with her again, but he declined. Not only did he say no, but he seemed irritated she had even asked. When she questioned why he seemed to hate the place, he needed only to remind her about the complete failure his team had when they tried to retrieve the Whisper Crystal. Norma herself had also failed to mention to him she was nearly killed and/or petrified by falling asleep on a monster bed when she and the Fun Bunch went there seeking the same object. After that conversation, Wally had wandered off somewhere within the city, and she was left to her own devices…

Now, her feet had led her over to the entrance of the graveyard, the large stone monument standing near the path at the bottom of the hill. Why had she gone here of all places…? Turning to the stone plaque beside her, she mulled over a thought. "Well, since I'm here I may as well visit Teacher." Norma said to herself, and turned to walk up the hill to the graveyard.

The graveyard wasn't completely silent, as a breeze made the leaves in the trees rustle and birds sang on their branches. One flew overhead, riding the currents of the wind with outstretched wings and landing on the wall bordering the graves. Norma couldn't help but smile good-heartedly, even while the wind was blowing in grey clouds and covering the blue sky above. She passed the wall and entered the maintained yard, walking the familiar path towards his gravestone. Inwardly she was relieved that Zamaran was nowhere to be seen.

Stopping in front of Sven's gravestone, she grinned, "Hey Teacher, miss me? I haven't found the Everlight yet, but I'm working on it. I'll have it in no time!" The stone remained silent, and she brushed some dirt off of the top of the marble. "...You know, someone's staying with me now. Do you remember that mean Ferines guy I told you about, the one with the black wings that come out of nowhere sometimes and tried to kill us a lot? That's the one."

The brunette glowered at the rock as an answer seemed to appear in her thoughts in his voice, sounding all kinds of disbelieving. "I am not crazy! He's really alive, seriously! …I just don't know how. He won't tell me anything about it; clams up every time I ask. Though… he has been nicer to me, and hasn't insulted me that much. I think whatever happened up there changed him." She pointed towards the sky for good measure. Lowering her arms she sighed and crouched in front of the stone, light reflecting off of the smooth surface. Another imaginary response, and she pouted. "…I don't know what you are talking about; I don't like him! You're just jealous!" She yelled at the large slab of rock, a slight tint of red on her cheeks.

Her argument with her teacher's memorial had blocked out her noticing the sound of light footsteps coming up the path from behind the wall. The bird perched on it saw the incoming figure and chirped a warbling cry before flying off in the direction of the fountain. "…But, I still want him to lighten up a bit, who wouldn't. And…" Norma thought to herself, trying to put her thoughts into words aloud. Norma could hear her teacher giving her a lecture about how one shouldn't trust enemies so easily, but that she should go for it anyways. Just because... He was always the risk-taker of the two. "…Ok, I'll help him find whatever he's looking for. Hell, then I can have him help me find the Everlight as payback!" She pumped an arm into the air and grinned, "This, I promise!"

"Promise what, Norma?" Norma leaped, flinched and squeaked in shock all at once. She peered behind her and saw a familiar face. Fair wavy hair with a headband of flowers upon her head, the current Merines looked at her with a curious expression.

Norma struggled with her words for a moment, then hastily said, "Th-That I'll find the Everlight, of course! What else would it be?" She didn't think that the girl had bought it, but she pushed aside the topic and tacked on, "So, what are you doing here Shirl? Were you looking for me?"

Shirley shook her head delicately, "No, I was just visiting Stella."

"Ah." Norma felt a bit guilty now. She was just doing the same thing she was; talking to a close friend/relative. She looked up towards the sky, "It's really been four months since then, huh? And two months since the Wings of Light."

"Mm-hmm." The blond girl agreed and nodded, expression sad. The two remained silent for a bit, then she turned back towards Norma with a serious look on her face. "Norma…"

The brunette paused and turned back to her. "Yeah, Shirl? What's up?"

"…" She shook away her serious expression, leaving a light smile in its place. "Ah, never mind. I must have forgotten what I was going to say."

"Hey, G-Girl's already has enough amnesia for the rest of us, don't get it too! Well, I'm hungry, so I'll see ya later Shirl." Norma said, and the two girls said their goodbyes and the brunette left. Her feet make hollow clapping sounds against the cobblestone path until she turned the corner around the wall and disappeared from sight.

Shirley walked slowly over to her sister's gravestone, wondering to herself about Norma's strange behavior. "She wouldn't just hide getting help in finding the Everlight from us; she uses every chance she can get trying to find it." She said to herself. …And who was she going to help? Surely the others aren't looking for anything as far as she knew, they would have told her and Senel. …Is Norma hiding something from us?

x x x

At that precise moment in time, Walter was walking along the streets, popping the last crumb of a croissant in his mouth, listening to far-off conversations as his feet led him to nowhere in particular. He passed by the fountain, and continued along the streets and across a bridge to another part of the town. His feet finally stopped and the blond looked around him to see where he had ended up. A large building with a red cross in the center of it loomed in front of him; so he had ended up at the hospital.

He didn't think much more of it, because he noticed a familiar caped figure stepping out of the hospital, accompanied by a more frail-looking girl with a brown and pink dress. As she was looking back and chatting with the girl behind her, the Ferines sprinted and dove into a patch of bushes on the edge of the canal. He crashed into the foliage and nearly fell into the water nearby.

The short brunette girl with ribbons in her hair started and looked behind the knight, "Did I just see…?"

Chloe looked over at her with a confused look, then peered towards the bushes, "What is it, Elsa?"

"I swore I just saw a man dive into the bushes over there…" Walter silently cursed from his position, but if he so much as moved the leaves would rustle, confirming Elsa's prediction of a figure being there. A sharp branch was digging into his back, making his crouching position even more uncomfortable. This was humiliating!

She looked over the brush, then turned back towards the brunette, "I don't see anything."

Elsa sighed, "Maybe I'm just seeing things…"

Chloe smiled at the younger girl, "Hey, we were supposed to go to the bakery, right? If we wait, there might not be much left." Elsa nodded and giving the bush one last look, she walked alongside her across the bridge and out of sight.

Waiting a few moments until the odds of him being seen were slim, Walter poked his head up and peeked through the foliage to check if they was gone. He detangled himself from the bush, picking the twigs off of his shirt and pulling away the branches snagged on his cloak. He reached into his hair, and was dismayed to find leaves there. He growled to himself and started brushing the twigs out of the blond locks.

Footsteps approached him from the bridge, and he noticed an older man in a green robe walking around slowly, seeming exasperated with himself. The blond quietly watched him shuffle across the bridge and head towards him. He picked one last leaf out of his hair right before the man came into closer view. He continued his walk as if there was nothing in front of him and bumped into the Ferines, nearly bowling him over. Quick instincts made him catch himself on the ground, and he easily flipped back onto his feet with an indignant look on his face.

Before he had a chance to snap at the old fart, the graying man held his hands in front of him in apology, "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to run into you like that."

Walter exhaled a breath, irritation rising in his chest, "A little hard not to, I was right in front of you."

He lowered his head and seemed to hide calm annoyance behind his tone, "Yes well, unfortunately my eyesight isn't what it used to be. Anyway, I'm sorry for running into you like that, but could you tell me if there's now a library here?"

The blond thought to himself for a moment, not remembering there being any library at all in Werites Beacon. The only place he knew about that had such a thing was probably one of the wealthier citizens of the town, along with that bookwormish crystal eren Will. He shook his head, "A library? …No, I don't think there is one."

The older man exhaled patiently and nodded, "I see… Well, thank you again, young man." He turned and began his way back across the bridge towards the center of town.

The Ferines shook his head at the odd encounter and followed the older man to the crossroads where he turned and walked up a path towards the park.

x x x

Inside the center area of the park, one bandit stood near the edge of their caravan, chewing on one of the pieces of meat that had been roasting on the grill for around 20 minutes. Enjoying the tender taste and smoky flavor, he peered around waiting for Csaba to come back from shopping.

Even if the townspeople didn't appreciate the park being taken over by their presence, they didn't protest them buying goods from their stores, mainly food… A little less area in the park was a little hardship compared to the economic growth the shops enjoyed, not to mention both of their camps had been destroyed and not yet rebuilt. They also haven't been robbing people while their caravan was settled in the park. All of those, plus the fact they liked staying in the lively town of Werites Beacon. There were lots of pretty girls hanging around, mainly one redhead that kept visiting and flirting with unofficial first mate Csaba.

Gnawing on another piece, he watched, not noticing the figure walking up the path and along the grass, clad in red and black.

Geit, whom was taking a nap near a tent at the entrance of the small circular plaza, pricked his ears and opened his eyes. He lifted his head and wolfish eyes locked onto the unfamiliar figure. The man looked different, but the scent was the same one that was on his companion Moses and his friends. That scent lingered in his weapons after the large fight the day after the party. Geit stood up, now recognizing the man as an earlier enemy that he had fought.

He took a stance near the entrance and growled softly, hackles rising slightly. The bandit near him jumped and looked over at the large galf, confused. "Eh…?"

One of the shorter bandits walked over with a short sword and an oil-soaked rag in his hands, "Hey Toni, what's up with Geit?"

Toni shrugged, looking back to his friend, "I dunno; he just started growling for no reason. Maybe he's going senile or something'…"

His friend shook his head, choppy brown bangs swishing in his eyes, "Moses would hit you if he heard you sayin' that." His eyes caught a blond figure who had halted in his walk, staring at the galf with an exasperated expression. "Huh, looks like he's just growling at that guy over there."

"He never acted weird with any of the people here though. Is he just hungry?" Toni looked over him and scratched his head. That blond guy looked sort of familiar…

"You idiot, he always whines at us when he's hungry. Or steals our steaks. Or both." The friend retorted, snorting through his nose.

"Don't call me an idiot, idiot!"

"Only idiots call other people idiots, idiot!"

"Then you're an idiot too!"

"…Should we go see what's up?"

"Probably."

Toni and his buddy put down the items they were holding and strolled over to the blond and the growling galf.

x x x

Oh great, it was that damned mutt again.

He had hated it since he found an endless amount of galf fur stuck all over his clothes (and snickered at by a few Ferines at Maurits' Hermitage) after the events of the Waterways ambush. He hated it since it had jumped on him while he was taking a much-needed nap the day before the battle at the Bridge. He hated it since it managed to get into his bedroom near the conference hall and chew up a pair of his best boots when the group had arrived before Shirley's Rite of Accession. He hated it since it had attacked him alongside the rest of Senel's group at the Mirage Palace. He still hated the thing, and here it was, growling softly at him with hackles raised in Werites Beacon...

Did he mention how much he loathed the grand galf? He really did.

Walter nearly growled right back at the galf and glared at it. "You again... Why won't you just run back to the woods and leave me alone for once?" The two continued their staring contest, both intimidating figures in their own right. Walter's icy eyes then caught two approaching bandits walking towards them, and he turned his eyes towards them, flicking back to the galf every so often.

Toni snapped his fingers and whistled at the galf, "Geit, down boy! Quit growlin' at the guy!"

His friend shook his head, "Toni, Geit only obeys the boss, ya know that already."

"S'not a crime to try, is it?" he retorted irritated. He turned back towards the man and shrugged, "Sorry bud, I dunno why he's growling at ya; usually doesn't do that…"

Walter frowned at the galf, "Well, we aren't on very good terms."

Toni's bud scratched his scalp curiously, "Wait, you know Geit?"

"Unfortunately. The same goes for your ringleader…"

Toni thought hard about that statement, and it clicked suddenly for him, "Hey, Kit. Isn't that the guy we saw runnin' scared from that dragon a couple days ago?" Walter started, and the bandit grinned. "Ha, I knew it! You are that guy! I don't blame ya for runnin' honestly, it was pretty big, though it's a good thing boss and the rest of us was there to beat it!"

Toni laughed, and Kit watched the stranger's expression change into annoyance and partially anger, and was filled with apprehension. If those icy eyes were any measure of what kind of a person he was, he was not someone to be trifled with. "Uh, Toni…"

"I mean seriously, are we made of awesome or what; even Vaclav was scared of us back when we ambushed 'em at the Waterways!" Had he been a puppet, his nose would have already been a large sapling by now, with all of the false praise and bragging rights he had bestowed upon himself. Even Geit had paused for a moment in his growling to look at the exuberant bandit as if he were a particularly loud insect.

"Are you finished with your visions of grandeur yet?" Walter interrupted, reaching the limit of his patience with this man. "I came to the park for a bit of peace and quiet, not endless chatter from the wannabe-thief underlings of a stupid bandit."

The two bandits glared at him, Kit especially, "Hey, you can call us wannabes all you want... But when you insult our leader then it gets personal!" Geit growled angrily at them to improve their point.

The Ferines tipped his head back slightly and laughed mockingly. "Oh please, you two and your dog can't so much as put a scratch on me… Your leader wouldn't be able to defeat me, neither could you." How false that statement was; Moses was a formidable opponent alone, but with his friends he was a definite threat. However, out of these three, only the galf was a dangerous one. He could fight these guys without eres, his fighting skills were good enough for their level.

Toni growled and put up his fists in an aggressive stance, "That's it, you'll pay for that!" He swung at the blond, who quickly sidestepped and left the bandit reeling from the empty blow. The blond smirked, like this fight would be won with no effort at all.

Kit grinned, "A fight, huh? Sound like fun; c'mon Geit!" The other two charged towards him, Kit thrusting a fist out for an uppercut. Walter ducked and used a hand to push the other away. However, he didn't expect the large grand galf to attack him from the side. The large animal leapt and tackled him to the ground, hot breath breathing on his face as he growled angrily. Walter glared at the beast before grabbing his chest fur and slid himself underneath before raising his legs above him, kicking upwards into Geit's stomach.

The galf yelped and immediately leapt away, and as he did both Toni and Kit were back into the fray, fists and legs flying, both eager to land a hit. Walter blocked most of the hits, occasionally parrying himself and sending one of them onto the ground. Without realizing Geit's presence behind him, the galf barrowed into him from behind, sending him to the ground. The blond quickly caught himself on the ground and used the momentum to flip himself back onto his feet.

When he was back into his fighting position, Kit caught him off guard and landed a solid blow to his face. He stumbled away and the three were back in front of him. Walter panted quietly and put a cool hand to his cheek, feeling a dull ache there. Damn it, that was going to form a nasty bruise later that evening… He glared at the three and charged for another bout of flying fists.

x x x

Norma was currently at the café munching on a pastry, appreciating the flavor of the strawberry filling. She had looked around for Wally around lunchtime, but saw no sign of the Ferines anywhere. Eh, maybe he just didn't want to be found quite yet. In any case, he'd make himself visible during that evening, she thought, and took another bite.

Nearby, someone had run up to one of the various citizens of the city, and whispered excited blurbs of gossip into their ear. Apparently, it was a big deal, as the other had an excited gleam in their eyes and ran off towards the northern part of Werites Beacon. Norma furrowed her brows and took another bite of her food, ignoring the nagging curiosity in her brain. Even if she didn't go immediately, she could always ask JJ what was up in the city that day.

With that thought in place for her schedule, she finished her food and walked over to Senny's house for a visit. Or to annoy him, whichever came first.

x x x

After a while, the four had accumulated various bruises and scrapes from the fight, but were still staring each other with anger and dislike, if not more so since the scrap had begun. Not knowing about the other 's injuries-though they were worse off than him-Walter was still sporting the not-yet-formed bruise on his face, along with small scratches along his right arm and a smart in his side where that shorter one had sucker-punched him. Then again, he was a bandit. Bandits fight dirty.

All of a sudden, the heavy tension that was thick in the air evaporated at a very unusual circumstance that had been added to the scene. A drumbeat… no, more like the beat of a tune in a club, had permeated the area around them. The other three were just as confused as he was, and they looked around for the source of the sound. Walter's eyes soon caught a pair of figures, one a man and the other a women, who were… oddly dressed, almost like performers. One of which sported what must have been the largest pompadour he had ever seen. Another odd circumstance was the sudden appearance of some citizens, all standing in a formation like that of a musical troupe; they too wore similar matching outfits, though not nearly as whimsical as that of the two mysterious figures.

The two leaped from their position in front of them, with the citizens behind them. The beat began to pick up, and the man began to sing. "Hey, yo, you four causin' trouble; Don't 'cha know the rules of this town?" The blue-haired man began, and for every note he sang, the women wordlessly danced along to the seemingly-choreographed routine.

"Fighting is banned!" "Violence too!" Two of the backup dancers piped up, startling the Ferines while the bandits blinked, completely confused but whom seemed to know what was going on.

"Exactly! Just what they said. You gotta obey the rules at all times, ya dig?"

"What if you break them?" A townswomen sang, wagging her finger.

"Oh no!"

"What if you disobey?" Another piped up.

"Brrrrrr!"

"What'll happen? What'll happen? What'll happen? What'll happen?" The entire band of citizens sang, increasing in volume with every sentence.

"Thooose who break the rules will get to feel, the iron hammer of justice and it's thunderous peeaal!"

"YEAH! They're defenders of justice!" One man had gotten behind them and sung loudly, scaring the four our of their wits.

"If there's a crime, we'll stop it! If there's a brawl, we'll squash it! Oh, yeah! That's...our...gig!" They all begun dancing, finishing off the song with a finale.

"Go Bouncers~!" The chorus all sang, mimicking the poses of the other two.

The bandits seemed to cringe away from the the two, Geit had sat down during the song with his ears lowered against his head and Walter was so dumbfounded by what he had seen that he was speechless. "I… What…?" He mumbled out, eyes wide and confused. Who were these people!

The blue-haired man put his hands down and looked over the four at them, then turned his glance to Toni and Kit. "Hey brothers, haven't I reformed you two already?"

The bandits had seemed to shrink even more, "Yes…"

He crossed his arms, "Well, what's all the commotion about then?"

Toni angrily shot a finger at Walter, "He insulted both us and our boss Moses, and we won't take anyone insulting him!" Kit shot him a warning look and punched him in the shoulder.

The pompadour-sporting man looked over at the Ferines, who was tempted to bolt right then and there, but stayed and kept his gaze at the ground. He may have seemed strange at first, but now Walter remembered this man from the battle against Vaclav. He was a powerful swordsman, and an intelligent soldier who would recognize him if he wasn't careful. Knowing Senel, he had probably told him the entire story about the automaton's presence around the town, the events at the Wings of Light along with everything else.

The man gestured to him, kneeling on one leg, head thrown back and arms in the air. "Wayward youth, why are you so quick to injure others with your swords of words? Why are you so cold, so unforgiving, so without justice and brotherly love?" He said it in such a dramatic and theatrical performance that the Ferines couldn't help but look up, as if to register if this guy was being serious or if it was all a joke.

The man glanced back at him, and a moment time sped by slowly between the two. In this moment, his eyes widened slightly as recognition appeared in his features. As he recalled who he was, Walter's own eyes widened the smallest fraction in his discovery and, even though he hadn't been defeated by the two, news had been sure to spread of his death from them.

Time had sped back up again, and the blue-haired man moved first, lowering arms and opening his mouth to say something. Walter moved next, in which he pressed his foot on the man's bent leg and stepped up, using his shoulders to propel him over the Bouncer. He landed softly, and the women reacted next, running to catch him. She was too slow, for when she had gotten to where he had stood the Ferines had already sprinted towards the exit. And as the two bouncers regained their wits, he had vanished around a corner and out of sight.

The blue-haired Bouncer stood up and silently gazed in the direction of where the young blond man had run off too. The dancers had begun to dissipate around to the other areas of the city, and the bandits to their caravan, leaving the two alone in their part of the park. He turned to his female partner and said, "Isabella, did you recognize him too?"

She nodded, "Yes Curtis, I did… Although I haven't a clue on why he is here, when Senel said he was deceased."

"As do I, but he was here before our eyes nonetheless. We must report this to Will immediately."

"Yes Curtis." With that, the two departed towards the sheriff's house, disappearing around the bend opposite of where the blond had run off to.

x x x

If you were at surprised to see the Bantam Bouncers in this, don't be. I'm trying to include mentions of a lot of characters in this story, minor or not. Also, if you had read the author's note at the beginning of the chapter, there's a warning about their appearance. You shouldn't have skipped it this time~ :P

Reviewer Corner

Shiroi Iyasu - Well, if that chapter was worth the wait I certainly hope this one was as well~ :D And as much as I disliked how much gald one got from level grinding, it's worth it getting those lovely Black Onyx and Moon Crystals. And it is a genre, but maybe just not a popular one that the AU tag or general genre wouldn't cover.