"Damn it!" he cursed under his breath, then raised his head and spoke loudly, for the benefit of any who might be listening to him. "Leave it to a gambler to try to cross the ocean to the northern continent before we crash," he boasted, allowing a tight grin to cross his face.
Confident in the trust his friends held in him, he allowed his thoughts to drift briefly. While it was true that crossing the ocean would not be the simplest of tasks, and the balloon which gave the airship its lift would provide it with a ballast of sorts, it would make it quite a bit more difficult to repair.
With a shrug and a dismissal of this rogue thought which had attempted to jostle his confidence, if only briefly, he inched his hand down to a lever set in the side of the wheel housing. Jerking it suddenly forward, the airship jerked forward in response, accelerating just as it lost altitude. White hair whipped about his face. Not sparing a glance away from his task, he called over his shoulder.
"Anyone for a game of Poker when this is over?" Strange. No response. From anyone. He gritted his teeth in frustration before calling out one final time, "Crash positions!" Still no response! Were any of them left on the ship?! Unfortunately, he had no time to put any thought into it. The ground was rising up at him like Alphonz rising up to a 'simple' couple hands of five-card stud. Fast, and sure it was going to win in the upcoming conflict. Except that this time, Setzer would put his money on the ground, rather than on Alphonz.
These were his last thoughts as the airship plowed into the ground, leaving a deep furrow behind it to mark its path.
"This is getting to be a habit." he muttered, looking for any signs of life among the wreckage. Nothing. To his knowledge, he was the only one of his friends left alive. A tear welled up in his eye, but he swept it away with a single, slender finger. "No. Some of them at least must have survived. Now I just have to wait... or find them myself."
His mouth twisted into a grimace again. The thought of searching all the known world for his friends did not appeal particularly to him. While not innately lazy, there was only one thing which this gambler held a true love for... and it was not to spend the next year searching through every city and house on the planet. Closing his eyes, he made his decision.
"Open for business!" Setzer exclaimed, leaning back in his pilot's seat. Just a few days ago, he had sent a carrier pigeon with word of the re-opening of the infamous 'Nightsider's Club' to every major city. "In a matter of at most a week, I'll wager, I'll have enough clients to pay for the remaining repairs on the airship. And if any of the others survived, they'll know where to come to." His fingers gently stroked the sharp chin which jutted from his face.
Suddenly, a movement! Whipping himself around, the razor sharp edge of a metal playing card poised between his fingers, he looked carefully about the ship. Nothing. He shook his head slowly, tucking the card back into his long leather jacket. "This gambler is getting old. Maybe it's time for me to cash in?" he mused softly as he settled back into his seat. Gradually, his eyes closed, and in moments, Setzer was fast asleep.
.................................................
A soft chuckle came from beneath the figure's hood. "This one shows some promise. Bring him to me for... reconditioning."
The warped shape which kneeled before the figure bobbed its head once in deference. "Yes, my lord." it hissed softly. "Consider him already a part of our ranks." With another, final nod, it backed out of its Lord's chambers, leaving the figure in dark contemplation.
As his vision slowly returned after years of sleep the bright lights left afterimages in his eyes. He approached the desk which sat nearby. He picked up his head-gear and turned it on. He read the records as they scrolled by, updating on him on what had passed in 1000 years.
"Hmmm.." he said to no one in particular. "Very interesting to see that, once again, the world has shifted power to good." He continued to read until he hit the last entry which read:
Elapsed time : 1247 years
"What!" He cried. "I was awakened after a SECOND war?" He searched his mind for an answer which did not come.
"I must see how the world has changed. If what I have read is correct, technology has not progressed as far as mine has." He pulled on his bracers and strapped on his sword to his waist. He checked the energy levels of the bracers and made his way out. He exited the room and walked down a silver hallway. He entered a door marked ARMORY.
Entering, he notice that many of the weapons had decayed over time. He walked over to the far wall and picked up the ice and thunder attachments to his sword. They were still operational. He attached them to his sword.
He picked up the mini-grappling arm, which also worked, and strapped it to his wrists. He hefted up the 420jX-542 Plasma Rifle and sighed. The power cells had deteriorated in the passage of time, beyond repairable limits. He dropped the gun where it was.
He packed a few miscellaneous odds and ends, ranging from flashlights to grenades, and stuffed them into his pack. Anything inoperational was left behind. He dusted off his cloak which hung limply in the corner, wrapped it around his body, and prepared to meet the world which had survived chaos and beyond.
The door to "home" opened and he walked out into the setting sun. The hues of red and blue collided in a battle of pinks and reds and the sun retreated from the night sky.
His first task was to see the world and see how much it has changed. But what he would do afterwards was a mystery to him.
"Zoom; grid #47b-5." Through the visor, Tucker could see exactly what caught his eye. A pigeon. With a note.
He raised his arm and fired off the grappling hook, which snagged the bird easily from the air without hurting it. He unraveled the note and read about some casino opening. This may be a good opportunity to obtain some money, Tucker said to himself.
He reattached the note and sent the pigeon on its way. He reactivated the visor and pulled up the overview map and noted the location of the casino. It was clear on the other end of the continent - a couple weeks' journey at least.
Well... let's hope it's worth it, Tucker said to himself. And with that, he began his trek.
"Father! Father, don't leave me now! Father!"
"Cecil, journey to the Mount of Ordeals to where I before gave you my power."
"Father, But why?"
"You are needed...elsewhere. Go, now, and prepare thyself."
"Father! Why? Prepare? For what?"
But there was no answer.
In an almost trancelike state, as if compelled by some otherworldly force, Cecil gathered his Crystal Armor, Shield, and Sword. Leaving all but a few necessary food items and a single elixir, he left in full Warrior garb.
* * *
Cecil landed the airship, which had been waiting outside the castle, at the base of the mountain. The trance broke, and he remembered that Rosa knew nothing of his departure. But somehow he knew there was no time to tell her.
The climb was as treacherous as before, but he easily dispatched the undead legions found there. Near the peak, he stopped, exhausted. Yet there was no time for relaxing - the otherworldly force pushed him along.
Again, trancelike, he entered his father's tomb.
"Cecil, my son, born of my blood, savior of the world, you are a true Paladin of the light. Now, another world is threatened - your world... the future. You are needed." Cecil walked to the room's center, and was engulfed by a blinding white light...
But wait - The light was TAINTED!
And that voice... THAT VOICE!
Suddenly he was falling, engulfed in a now blood-red aura. The words Zeromus were on his lips.
Fast.
Cecil's eyes were closed, the speed of the air pummeling his face threatening to tenderize his skin. He struggled to pull down the visor of his Crystal Helm.
And then his body was wracked with pain. He was crashing through some sort of building, a misshapen meteor out of control.
There was calm.
Cecil's body ached, but he tried to move. Nothing. His back throbbed.
Voices.
He knew not who they were.
Music.
Stopped.
Calm.
Darkness enveloped him.
Then it happened.
A strange light filled the room and in a flash and the warping of space, a person fell from the ceiling, crashing down on a table nearby.
Tucker removed his sword from its scabbard and attached the ice unit. The sword began to glow an eerie blue as the weapon charged up.
He cleared people away from the accident and studied the fallen man. His visor read:
Armor : Excellent
Weapons :Sword, crystalline nature
May have more concealed
Build : Excellent
Danger : Moderate/Major
Notes : Unconscious
Tucker deactivated and sheathed his sword. He spoke to the owner of the casino.
"This man will be no danger to anyone. He seems to have some power to him. He needs help. I think we should give it to him." Tucker smiled, something he rarely ever did.
With a large *CRASH*, the figure lay motionless on Setzer's brand-new, 20,000-GP mahogany heartwood table. Eyes tightening in frustration, Setzer launched himself from his seat, spilling his half-drained glass across the floor.
"This man is no danger to anyone," said the odd-looking man who he had lost that prime pot to. "He seems to have some power to him. He needs help. I think we should give it to him."
Setzer frowned, biting back the instinctive flash of anger which overtook him. "Remember.." he told himself silently, "a gambler may play the odds, but he finds out all that he can about them first."
Turning to the odd-looking man, he nodded briefly, gesturing toward a half-hidden door. "Take him in there." he said softly, wondering if he should expend the effort to clean up the table, or leave it as an "art piece". He grinned, stepped up to the table, and spoke out loudly. "That man just fell from the heavens. I have been there, and I have seen the Statues! It was their will that this man come to earth, and this table is the first sign of that passage! Now while I am not a particularly religious man, as you all well know, I can see value when I am faced it. The bidding will start at 20,000 GP."
Mumbles from among the crowd. No one looked terribly interested... or at least, that's what they wanted him to think. One finally spoke up. "I'll give you 1000 GP."
Normally, Setzer would have taken the offer, but his pride had been trifled with. "1000! What is this?! I have told you no lies! And you all know as well as I do that I could sell this for five times whatever you might pay to those of the Cult of Kefka! However..." he said, his voice calming, "I do not care to deal with them, and you are the clients of my establishment. So I give you certain privileges. Let me hear a real bid." He held up a hand, forestalling any bids for the moment. "Let us start instead at... 50,000."
Everyone gaped. A few shuffled out, indignant looks on their faces. But most stayed.
The creature let out a howl to signal that the hunt had once again started.
And around the world, people closed their windows to shut out any evil spirits which might lurk.
Beads of sweat and a nervous air hung over the table as Setzer dealt out the final card to each person. There were four others at the hard oaken construct they sat at, and with a final toss of a chip, Setzer smiled tightly. "Since I'm the dealer, I call the order." He pointed at the man to his left with a casual gesture. "High." he mumbled hoarsely, placing his cards before him on the table.
The next was an odd looking sort, with some kind of metal doo-hickey crossing his scalp... almost as if it were a crown of sorts. "Not much to worry about from this fellow," Setzer thought to himself as the man declared his hand. "Low."
The third man folded rather than sacrifice more of his rapidly dwindling chip supply to the enormous pot, and the last person, a dashing young woman with a nervous bite about her lower lip called out, "High."
Which left Setzer. With a flashy grin and a sweep of his hand toward the pot, he spoke. "High-Low."
************************
"I lost?!" exclaimed Setzer in disbelief, looking over his cards in frustration. "How could I have lost?"
Uttering short curses, he folded his arms before him, glowering at the pot which by all rights should have been his... had not that odd man revealed his hand to be but a few cards lower than his. Finally, he pushed himself away from the table, tossing back the drink which had stood at his elbow untouched the whole night. "I'm out for a while." he said to the table, racking up his chips and depositing them in a pocket inside his jacket.
************************
Steps behind him. Someone waiting.
"Take a seat, my dear.." he said with a faint grin, gesturing to the figure who stood behind him... not bothering to turn around and confirm his suspicions.
************************
"What!" exclaimed the figure, eyes glowing a dark green beneath the shroud it wore. "Setzer and Tucker have made contact?! Fool." With a gesture of its arm, the wraithlike creature evaporated in a burst of flame.
The figure turned to another form. "Make certain that whatever camaraderie they form does not last. Or I will be forced to take things into my own hands."
The wraith nodded frantically, its color changing slightly in its fear of its master. Without a word, it scampered out, intent on its task.
A few minutes went by and the potion began taking effect. The cracking and popping of bones resetting was accompanied by a howl of pain from the man. The wounds and lacerations on his flesh mended and soon the man was once again whole.
Tucker carefully removed the stranger's helmet to be met by the eyes of the man.
"Hello, my name is Tucker," Tucker said, arm outstretched to help the man up.
"What?! Where's my sword?... Who are YOU? Where am I?" He opened his eyes and was staring at a Slender figure with ivory hair and princely garb. There was a pouch at his waist that belied the fact that the man was very rich.
"Nice to see you awake, my friend, and even nicer that you could bring, with not a little help from myself, a sum of 160000GP this evening, which should cover the repairs to my building. You made quite a mess you know."
Cecil sat up. He vaguely remembered falling...and the crash. Where was he?
"Uh, about the damage... I'm, uh, sorry... I would have much rather used a door, if I had a choice. Thank you for helping me."
"Actually, I tended your recovery." The voice startled Cecil - he hadn't thought that anyone else had been in the room.
Turning toward the strange man in an even stranger helmet, he cast the Paladin spell Scan. For some reason, it wasn't working correctly, and all he found out about the man was that he would be a force to be reckoned with if fighting came in to the scene.
"Uh, thank you... but where am I?"
Setzer proceeded to explain to Cecil that he was in his Casino.
"... and, by the way, who, may I ask, are you?"
"Cecil, Paladin, half-Lunarian... and you?"
"I'm Setzer, gambler extraordinaire and proud owner of the world's fastest airship. And this is Tucker."
Tucker nodded his head.
"Wait... you said you were the Paladin Cecil? But I thought that you were only a legend. You had a brother, and slaughtered some evil psychot from the moon who played with a stacked deck..."
"Legend... you're not implying that... no, I'm not... in the future?"
Cecil looked to Tucker.
"That would explain that doo-hickey on your head, and why it's bigger than a helm like mine."
Cecil looked for his helm, then gasped loudly.
He jumped from the bed, in robe only, and walked to where his armor lay.
"No, NO, THIS CAN'T BE! My crystal armor, MY CRYSTAL ARMOR! It's... it's... turned... BLACK! And my sword!"
The only explanation he could think of came to his mind, and it would explain the ineffectiveness of his scan spell... he was once again the Dark Knight...
Tucker looked up, grinning at Setzer's introduction. "You too. I'm Tucker. I -" He seemed about to continue, when suddenly he stopped, staring at Setzer with odd, narrow eyes.
"You all right, old boy?" asked Setzer, casting a nervous glance toward the unconscious Cecil who lay on the bed, unmoving. He turned back to Tucker with a forced grin on his lips.
The man known as Tucker stood there before him, weapon drawn and advancing slowly. Setzer blinked in surprise, hesitating for a mere heartbeat before launching himself back behind a table.
"Hey, hey... sorry about the old boy crack..." he said uncertainly, but this did not deter Tucker's progress at all. Slashing with his sword, he cut through the table, leaving two halves behind him.
Setzer frowned, rummaging through his jacket for his cards. "That was my favorite table!"
Tucker rumbled, his voice sounding hoarse and scratchy. "I thought the other table was your favorite," he said - then, almost as if he had said too much, he immediately launched himself at Setzer, trying to skewer him with his surprise.
Setzer's reflexes had not been dulled at all in the past two weeks. Sidestepping the somewhat clumsy thrust, he grabbed Tucker's arm and threw him over his shoulder, sending him flying into the wall with a thud. Suddenly, a noise behind him.
Setzer turned slowly, a look of dread quickly overtaking his face. Cecil was rising... and grasped a dark crystal sword in his hand. Sometimes even a gambler has to look at the odds, mused Setzer silently as he backed slowly toward a window. Cecil and Tucker advanced step by step, eyes fixed upon Setzer with murderous intent.
With a quick movement, Setzer went crashing out of the window to fall to the ground below. Scampering up, he looked back at the airship with a loving, tragic glance, then began running, hoping to make it to Jidoor before these two caught him.
****************************
Meanwhile, Tucker watched Setzer bemusedly as he danced back and forth, evidently dodging some sort of invisible blows. He stood up slowly, taking a step toward Setzer. "Setzer... are you all right?" he asked, holding out a hand.
With that, Setzer flung himself out the window, landing unharmed on the soft ground outside the airship. Tucker shook his head with a sigh... "He's mad... mad.." and went back to his tending of Cecil.
He felt the hunter nearby.
"Wait here, "he said to Cecil. "You need to gain your strength."
Tucker rose and approached the window. He watched as Setzer backed away slowly, screaming words at Tucker like, "You'll never get me" and such.
Tucker lowered his visor and scanned the area. He zoomed in on grid h-4 and saw, in the distance, the beast. It rapidly approached the airship and in a flash was only a few meters behind Setzer, who was too busy screaming warnings to "not come any closer" to realize the danger he was in.
This practical joke had gone far enough.
Tucker, sword drawn, leapt from the same window Setzer had leapt from, landing on Setzer, knocking him down, just in time to see the beast leap overhead.
Tucker removed a small device from his belt and pulled a pin out of it, and then proceeded to throw the device at the beast. The object exploded, sending the creature back. It growled and said something in a foreign tongue. Then, it vanished.
"Soon, we will be on even terms," Tucker translated.
Tucker looked down at Setzer who seemed to still be playing his little practical joke and laughed.
"Look, I never did anything to you," he said casually to Tucker, even as he took another step backward. Leaves and damp twigs crunched underfoot... but Tucker continued to advance on him, eyes glimmering with a barely contained fury.
Setzer smiled thinly, holding out his hands in a gesture of surrender. "You got me, friend," he said smoothly... waiting... for the perfect time... now!
Setzer cast the smoke bomb on the ground just as Tucker was raising his arm to strike. Almost instantly, the air was covered with a thick fog, leaving visibility at nil.
Setzer turned and ran.
Why would they have attacked him? Jealousy? Perhaps they had wanted the gold voucher he had obtained? It really made little difference to him... the holding of the gold was not nearly as exhilarating as the obtaining. He would have given it gladly, without a fight.
Yes, that must be it. A plot by the two of them together... but... still, it was odd. So convuluted a plan, with such high probability for failure.
Setzer sighed heavily, still breathing quickly. It hurt his head to think. He mopped at his brow with the back of his hand, pulling it away slowly. A dull sting covered his forehead, and he gazed down at his hand in mild bemusement, noting the bright red stain engulfing it.
"I'm bleeding. Badly. At this rate, I give myself 5 to 1 odds that I'll die before I make it to Jidoor." Setzer chuckled wryly. "Too bad there's no one around to take those odds."
With a shrug, Setzer looked around at the scenery, noting Mt. Zozo in the distance. Excellent. Now if he just turned a bit more to the left...there! Given about six or seven hours' travel, he would make it to Jidoor. He briefly contemplated tearing off a piece of his jacket to patch the wound on his head, but dashed the thought from his mind. He had had the long brown leather coat for longer than he could easily remember, and would not abuse it so easily, even if it meant his life. Determined, Setzer marched on.
************************
The body of a dashing man, white hair gleaming brightly in the afternoon sun, collapsed just outside of Jidoor that day. His breathing was shallow, eyes fluttering wildly. From there, he was taken to the Inn and put to rest with treatment.
He charged into the fray, cringing at the power his Sword brought him... it felt almost good to draw blood from the beast. With the connecting of his sword to the surprised beast's flesh, it turned its attention to him. "... Dangit, forgot they can attack back."
Tucker was able to stand as the beast fell backwards from blows Cecil inflicted. He was exhausted, as the beast finally turned and fled.
"...must be getting old... Tucker, what happened?"
"Setzer took off running, like in a daze. I tackled him to save him from that beast, then, when I thought it was gone, it got me from behind, and Setzer fled. He must be under some sort of spell..."
"He's running pretty fast. We need to catch up with him."
Tucker and Cecil set off after Setzer. He was pretty far ahead, and heading toward Jidoor. He didn't let up, and the duo were forced to keep going without rest as they followed him.
Then, near the city, he collapsed. He had been so far ahead, it took them ten minutes to get to his side.
"Well, there's a town ahead, which means it probably has an inn. Help me carry him." Cecil's voice was slurred from exhaustion.
Once in the inn, Cecil tried casting Heal. He could feel the energy surge through him, but it was weak. At least he could still cast his spells as a Paladin. Hoping that worked, he and Tucker choose to call it a night and rest...
When Setzer woke, he seemed to be in a state of panic. After careful explanation of what happened, not to mention a showing of a recording through his visor to Setzer, Setzer seemed to accept what had happened and made up for the loss.
Tucker took this opportunity of peace to get up and replenish his supply of everything he had used. He left the inn and refilled several flasks of water. He added a strange mixture to the water, turning it a strange silver color. Using the light of the sun, he recharged all his equipment and sset his sights forward for the rest of the day.
Noting the strength of the beast from the last battle, the creature seemed to get stronger as time went by. He had used a thermal grenade, one of the three he had, just to scare the beast. Normally, a thermal grenade would easily incinerate a complete city block. He felt the time was close to tell his story and the story of the beast to his new friends.
* * *
"The future is a bleak place. Death and carnage rule and chaos lives supreme. I am a traveller from the future, hence all my equipment. I sent myself back into my past - your present - to see if I could prevent the evil from conquering. The beast was an agent of evil sent back to stop me; half demon, half human. Its size grows with each evil act I do, the more angered I am, the greater in size the beast is.
"I decided to flee from the beast in sleep and I did so in the capsule I first came back in. I told it to wake me when the War of the Magi was over. To my surprise, it woke me after a SECOND war. And now the beast is back.
"And it is set on stopping me from helping the forces of good win a third war."
Setzer turned restlessly in his sleep, one-quarter awake as his mind constantly turned to the dull, throbbing wound at his scalp. His jacket had been draped over a chair by a still-puzzled Tucker, and his cards stacked neatly on the table next to his bed.
When Setzer awoke, it was Cecil who was looking over his turmoil-ridden sleep. With a quick movement, he opened the door, casting a soft shout down to Tucker to join him. Taking his chair once again, he watched the man whom he did not know at all, but whom he had melded a kind of strange bond with.
Cecil shook his head, breaking his thought. Whatever strange ties held he, Tucker, and this gambler together, it was not to be thought of now. "How are you feeling?" he asked, careful not to let the volume of his voice raise any higher than he thought would be comfortable.
Setzer groaned in response, rubbing at the bandage at his forehead. "Like I played Jack high against a straight flush in five card," mumbled Setzer.
Cecil looked at Setzer in bemusement, a small smile forming on his lips. While he did not know these strange terms which the white- haired man spoke of, it seemed that he was rapidly regaining his spirit... and from there, it would be merely a few steps until his body joined it.
Suddenly, the man's eyes flashed open, and he stared at Cecil in amazement. "But... you! You and..." The door flashed open, letting the light from the hall shine about the looming form of Tucker. "Him! You tried to kill me!" With these words, the man's eyelids closed to a casual, relaxed look in a matter of moments. His voice, which had so recently been filled with astonishment, became cool and calculated.
Tucker shook his head briefly. "No. You just... bolted..."
Setzer frowned. "Bolted, you say? And who would not, after your assault on my person? And such an unreasonable assault, I might add." Setzer tapped his finger lightly on his chin, as if to emphasize the point.
Tucker took a few steps, taking a seat in a chair and speaking quickly. "Let us explain what happened," he said, recounting the events of the airship.
At the end, Setzer frowned, leaning back. During Tucker's speech, he had taken the cards from the table beside him, shuffling them innocuously. Gradually, the shuffling ceased, however, and he nodded in agreement, finally.
"All right. You didn't mean to attack me. Or you didn't see me. I'll take those odds. But what happened, then?" Tucker and Cecil looked at each other blankly, then shrugged in unison. "Who knows?" whispered Cecil, who had gone to stand by the door, hand on his sword, while Tucker told his tale.
Setzer nodded, then sighed. "Well, there is nothing to be done for it. I believe I will rest a little while longer, then begin to make preparations for the airship to be fully repaired. Now that I have the funds to do so..." he added with a grin, exhibiting the note he still held.
With that, Setzer leaned back. In but a few moments, he slept again. Tucker and Cecil exhanged meaningful glances, and Tucker nodded to Cecil. "It's my watch. Take a break or something." Cecil shrugged in response, and stepped outside, still clutching the hilt of his crystalline sword... eyes haunted with suspicion....
True, they spoke truth, but Setzer remembered vividly some twisted story of them attacking him. Cecil knew that what one holds as belief is not so easily shattered...
"But my Liege, King of Baron, why must we attack the
Mysidians?"
"Cecil, they are a threat. The crystal should not be in
their hands."
He had accepted this feeble argument on his beliefs that the King WAS just, only to be proven wrong. He had an idea of what was going through Setzer's mind.
Oddly, though, he also KNEW that there was something truly evil approaching.
He broke from his memories.
He had felt it before, right before Setzer bolted, but had shrugged it off then. Was it that beast... or...
"Tucker! Watch Setzer, make sure he remains safe. I know where it's coming from!"
Cecil bolted from the door, dashing through the nighttime onlookers in the city. He WAS out of shape, but he pushed through the lactic-acid-induced pain. He knew that if he didn't reach the outskirts of the city before IT did, lactic acid wouldn't be the only pain he and his friends would feel. There it was...
Cecil yelled with rage as he came upon the creature... it had a different form, but... THE ESSENCE was the same.
He ran for the inn door and almost bumped into a woman who was being carried in. He apologized profusely as made a mad dash after Cecil. Cecil stood in the outskirts of the city and, even from a distance away, he knew his foe was there.
Cecil began fighting the beast, all alone in his struggle, blow for blow, and would have done well except for the fact he had a blade of darkness and not of light.
"Cecil!" Tucker said. "Take my blade!" Cecil seemed the better swordsman then he. He unsheathed his blade and turned on the Ice command. He threw the sword, handle first, which Cecil easily caught and began to fight the beast with.
Tucker knew he had to help his friend, for Cecil had little chance for beating this beast. Not in the new form it had taken. He channeled up all his energy that he had and fired it at the beast, hoping to take it out.
"SHI-SHI HOUKOUGAN!" Tucker screamed as the energy poured forth from his body, slamming deeply into the side of the beast. The beast flew back several yards, only to get up again. Although badly hurt, it was not dead. Confident that Cecil and Setzer could finish off the beast without him, Tucker fell the the ground, drained of all energy.
He dodged another blow, quickly slicing a gash across the creature's forearm that should by all means severed the limb. It produced little more than a scratch.
He heard Tucker's voice behind him. "Here, take this." He turned while still defending against the blows from the beast, and almost fell over as Tucker's sword came straight at him. Luckily, he grabbed it with his free hand before he lost his balance. "Damn, must be getting rusty..."
Dropping his dark sword and using instead the new, somewhat strange weapon, he turned, slicing at the beast as it tried to take off his head with its gaping maw. The beast bellowed as Cecil connected with the sword. Good, at least now he could counter.
A bit overconfident now, the beast had a massive claw endowed paw slashing through Cecil's defense as a bolt of energy struck it from the side, sending it flying. Not questioning his good fortune, Cecil charged the beast which was hurt, but by no means incapacitated. He was able to strike twice before seeing a metal-edged playing card fly past him into the beast's eye. He mumbled thanks to Setzer...no one else had cards like that.
Cecil thrust the sword upwards, seeking to impale the creature's heart. But as he did so, it dissappeared. It was only now that the adrenaline failed him, and he collapsed.
He sighed deeply, face assuming a look of mourning. The airship. He had had to leave it. The enormity of what he had done was just hitting him. Daryl's airship. He smiled briefly in remembrance of her. "I hope you'd be proud of me, Daryl," he murmured, much to the consternation of a nearby pedestrian who scuttled away from this madman. "Just don't take the airship's demise against me? Who knows... maybe I can repair it... again..."
Setzer looked around, suddenly realizing just where he was: by the western gate of the city. Looking out, he watched the rain come down in torrents, splattering into the mud in the plains stretching out from Jidoor. He sighed again. Rain always depressed him, probably because of the quality of flying weather it made.
Well, time to get back. A hot mug of cider would do him well right now. He turned around, slowly, utterly missing the rather large blackjack aimed at his head. He crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
***************************
Setzer came back to the world of the living, eyes groggy. He was in a cellar somewhere... or a dungeon? He had no idea what time it was, or how long he had been out. But he could no longer hear the rain. 'Great,' he thought. 'Now I'm sure not to be depressed.'
He looked around his confines. No light was available, but for a flickering lamp on the wall next to a stairwell. His arms were stretched above him, so that he hung limply. His arms hurt. 'Chains. Means that this isn't a new cell. Not much help, but I can use all I can right now.'
Setzer waited. Finally he slept, fitfully.
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Setzer was awakened by the sound of a large door opening and closing. He waited, straining with eyes to see in the dim light surrounding him. Finally, the figure stepped out of the shadows, light reflecting off the finely chiseled face, amber eyes, and light gold hair.
'She's beautiful...' thought Setzer for a brief moment before realizing that this woman was most likely responsible for his capture. He watched her silently, wincing as yet another new pain surfaced in his consciousness.
"What do you want?" he croaked, throat dry with the hours (days?) of hanging limply in the cell.
She merely shook her head. Walking over to a table that had been placed there obviously recently, if Setzer could depend on his memory at all. She withdrew a long iron fork and began heating it in a small iron working furnace which stood nearby. Still she did not speak.
Finally she turned to Setzer. His eyes widened in fear as he realized what she would do.
He screamed for a long time.