Chapter 17: Mason Rides Again
                       -----------------------------

        The party had split up.  Merine had decided it would be faster and
easier to find the spy if the party covered more ground.  This seemed
reasonable enough at the time, but there were fundamental flaws that
nobody had foreseen.  For one thing, Garland had been teamed up with the
two Returners who had shared a room with Kary on the airship.  This in
itself was not bad at all.  The fact that he had gotten separated and lost
was the problem.
        He had been aimlessly wandering the Doman halls, hoping he
wouldn't find anybody unpleasant.  So far, this had worked.  Since luck
was on his side, and that always seemed to be the case, he decided to
purposefully look for the spy, instead of just hoping to find him by
chance.  Ducking down a narrow hallway, he darted from wall to wall, not
knowing that that was one of the most conspicuous things a spy could ever
do.  He peered through a nearby keyhole to see if he was on the right
track.
        "Well well..."  Garland whispered, as he spied through the tiny
hole.  What he saw was a most unusual sight.  There stood a man, tall and
thin, with a long, dark grey coat.  He was obviously not old, as his hair
was a full black, much like Garland's.  He almost looked like a relative
of Setzer's, except this man apparently enjoyed his work more than Setzer
enjoyed about anything.
        'Well, except maybe gambling... and that Daryl woman...'  Garland
shuddered as he thought the last few words.  He didn't like that woman at
all.  She had stolen his new best friend...  'I'll get to the bottom of
that...'  he thought, clenching his fist.  'Nobody takes my friends away
from me!'  If he had known the truth, Garland probably would have felt
very stupid.
        Snapping out of his furious thoughts of revenge, Garland turned
his attention back to the young man in the coat.  He could now see the
man's face clearly.  He was not handsome, or cute, or even good-looking.
He was just a man, who's mother probably told him he was cute.  Just a
plain, ordinary, mediocre looking man.  Garland furrowed his brow.  He
stood up, and looked at a makeshift sign hanging on a nail in the door.
It read "Kromm."  Garland said the word aloud, puzzled.
        Surprisingly, there came a reply from within.  "Yes, who is it?"
the tenor voice asked cheerfully.
        Garland panicked.  He had been heard.  'Be cool, Garland...' he
thought to himself.  'He doesn't know I'm with the Returners...'
Individuality demanded that Garland not call himself a Returner, so he
always used the phrase "with the Returners."
        "You're not a Returner, are you?"  Kromm asked.  Garland nearly
suffered a fatal heart attack right then and there.  "Just kidding, come
in..."
        Garland sighed heavily, then pushed the door open, swallowing
hard.  "Kromm? Krome?  How do you say that?"  he was pulling out all the
stops from his old acting academy.
        "It's Kromm.  Rokegg Kromm."  he corrected as he removed a long,
tarnished glove to shake hands.  "...and you are?"
        "Oh...uh..." Garland momentarily forgot his name.  "Garland.  I'm
Garland."  he extended his own gloved hand, and grasped Rokegg's in a
handshake.
        "You got a last name?"  Rokegg asked, turning back to his work.
        "Uh..." Garland hated that question.  "No, not really.  No.  Just
Garland."  He gave a nervous laugh.  "W... whatcha makin'?"
        "Oh, just a couple..." he gave a slightly muffled laugh.  "A
couple, shall we say, 'advanced troops' for Akfek's army.  Real beauties."
        "Is that right..?" Garland asked, making a note of this.  He took
a seat across the room, near the door.  He couldn't see exactly how
Kromm's work could be mistaken for troops in any situation.
        Kromm looked up from his work suddenly, and looked Garland
straight in the face. Garland began to sweat nervously.  "You're not with
Akfek, are you?"  Kromm asked.
        "What? I... I mean...well..."
        "Oh, don't worry."  Kromm said cheerfully.  "Neither am I.  I just
work here."  Garland was confused.  "However, since you ARE an enemy of
his Lordship..."
        Garland was momentarily confused.  "...oh, I get it..." he said.
He did understand.  Kromm was mad as a hatter.
        "Mason!"  Kromm called.  The short soldier appeared through
another door on the opposite side of the room.  "Deal with this Returner
scum..."
        Mason and Garland looked at each other for a moment.  "You!"
Mason  growled, his face twisting into a spiteful sneer.
        "You?!" Garland said, his face in an expression of bewilderment.
Then, he was out the door and running.  "Why do I have to deal with HIM
again?!" Garland complained to himself.
        Mason came barreling down the hall a few yards behind Garland.
"Why do you run, coward?"  He shouted. "You KNOW you can beat me!"
        "He's right..." Garland thought aloud.  'Then again, he's probably
got some ace up his sleeve... wait a minute, this is Mason I'm dealing
with here...'  Garland stopped, and turned to face his vertically
challenged adversary.  "Alright, Mason.  I'll make you a deal.  Whoever
wins this fight is the final victor.  After this, we go our separate ways,
and all debts are cleared, all right?"
        A wide grin spread across Mason's face.  "Fair deal.  That is, as
long as I win...  Now let us begin!"
        "Yeah, yeah..." Garland said, rolling his eyes.  He planned to
take Mason out in a single attack.  He watched as Mason wheeled back, and
through a single punch.  It rapped harmlessly against the Adamant plate.
"Tsk tsk..."  Garland chirped. "Had we forgotten about that?"
        "Oh, no, I hadn't forgotten," Mason chuckled confidently. He
produced a small vial containing a cloudy yellow liquid.  Laughing
heartily, he threw the vial against Garland's clothing and armor.  It
seemed to have no effect.
        "Well?" Garland asked expectantly. He looked himself over. Nothing
seemed out of the ordinary... Then Mason through his second punch.
instead of hurting Mason's knuckles, the adamant plate shattered under the
force of the attack!  "What?!"  Garland asked, feeling pain for the first
time in awhile.  "What did you do?!"
        "MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!" Mason laughed maniacally.  "Behold the
genius of Rokegg Kromm!  Even Adamant has it's chemical weaknesses, you
know!!"  He lunged forward, and punched Garland in the stomach, with much
satisfaction.
        "Why you... little..." Garland drew his sword, and charged Mason
with an angry vigor.  "I'll tear your head off!"  he shouted, taking a
swing and missing.
        "So, the truth comes out now!"  Mason mocked triumphantly.  He
hopped nimbly back and forth, landing on one foot, then the other.  "You
have little skill apart from your fantastic equipment!"  He threw a punch
at Garland's face, but it was blocked, and caught.
        "Is that so?"  Garland smirked back, noting how incredibly strong
Mason was for his size.  Using both hands, he hoisted Mason , by the arm,
above his head.  "Is it?!"  Garland shouted, smashing Mason's body against
the stone floor.
        Mason gasped as his breath left him momentarily.  He felt the
pain, and knew that it was real.  Garland had begun to head down the
hallway, apparently toward Doma's main entrance.  "So... there is some
fight in you after all, eh?" He quickly leapt to his feet, grabbed a small
shield off a wall display, and drew his cutlass.  "I'm not down yet,
Garland!!"  he shouted as he pursued his enemy.
        Garland rounded a corner, and stopped, breathing heavily. "Maybe
I... underestimated that little pipsqueak..." he wheezed, holding his
aching chest.  'I have to get out of this place...' he suddenly thought.
'This castle is Hell on Earth... I should be searching for my orbs, not
rescuing some spy...' he began to trot in the direction of Doma's main
entrance.  Then he broke into a full, panic stricken run.
        "Leaving so soon?"  Mason shouted, in fairly hot, or at least
warm, pursuit.  "But you haven't had any Tea!"  He poured on the speed, as
he barreled down the hallways.  "Tea, as in cross!  I'LL CRUCIFY YOU!!!"
                               *  -  *  -  *
        "Wh-what are you doing here?"  Kraken asked, as he saw Tiamat land
a few feet away from him.  She had apparently leaped from a high height,
probably a window.
        "Well, there was this spy..."  Tiamat began sarcastically.
        "Hmph," Lich grunted.  'Such petty emotions...'  He smiled
inwardly.  'I figure I'm better off without such things as jealousy,
or...' For a moment, Lich felt a strange twinge inside of him, somewhat,
but not entirely, unlike being stuck by a small pin.  Before he could
think such a foreign feeling over, His Master came barrelling through the
main gates of Doma.  "Hmmm... any luck?" he asked somewhat ominously.
        Garland was breathing heavily.  "Luck?"  he breathed, laughing a
laugh of Irony.  "Why would I have luck?  If you mean the spy..." Garland
paused, still attempting to catch his breathe.  "...I gave up on that...
not my style..."
        Kary dropped from where Tiamat had a few moments before.  "Is that
right?"  She asked genuinely.  "So now what are we gonna do?"
        "We're gonna wait right here until Setzer and the others get
back..." he answered, still breathless.  "...and then we leave... I don't
know after that."
        "How about we look for the Water Orb?"  Kraken asked hopefully.
The other fiends ignored him, and helped Garland to his feet again.
        "Well," Tiamat began. "Let's head back to the Airship, and get a
little rest."  Garland nodded, and they began the walk back, Kraken
lagging behind and kicking stones.

        The small band had made it within about fifty yards of the ship,
when they began to hear an odd sound.  A sort of humming, it was.  It grew
louder, and louder, and louder still, and soon the ground beneath them
began to tremble with an unseen force.  "Lich!"  Garland commanded.  Stop
this quaking!"
        "I can't, Garland!"  Lich shouted above the loud hum.  "It's not
caused by anything natural, or magical!"  Just as the Earth Fiend finished
his statement, the earth behind the group exploded in a shower of dirt.
As visibility reached zero percent, Garland heard several sounds...
maniacal laughter, the clanking of metal, the ear-splitting cry of some
massive beast.
        As the dust cleared, a truly massive shape came clearly into view.
It stood at least twice as tall as the fully powered Lich, and gleemed
silver as the sun shown off it.  The beast was a mechanical monstrosity,
loaded with weapons, and looked positively invincible.  Maniacal laughter
rose up from somewhere behind the monster's head.  The small figure of
Mason peeped out from behind a shoulder.
        "HIM again?!" the fiends shouted in unison.
        "Did you really think you could escape so easily, Garland?"  The
small man asked from his vantage point.  "Our battle is not over until I
win!"  He shouted enthusiastically.
        "Oy..." Garland sighed, obviously tired.  "You're crazy, you know
that?"  He shouted back.  He drew his sword despairingly, not nearly as
confident as usual.  Lich called forth his scythe from the Dark Void.
Kraken dug through his bag of stolen goods, finding a spear for himself,
and a pair of daggers for Tiamat.  Kary prepared her recently acquired
sword.  "DoomGaze!"  Garland shouted.  From behind the Falcon, the Black
form of the Eagle of Death rose, and set itself down near him.
        "What is your command, sir?"  The machine asked.
        "Use your weapons to deal with this beast!"  Garland commanded
wearily.  DoomGaze stood motionless for several seconds, as Mason gloated.
"...Well?"  Garland said expectantly.
        "Weapon systems are down, sir..."  DoomGaze said, almost
despairingly.  Garland and the fiends were visibly upset.  "...I seem to
be devoid of purpose at the present time, sir."  Garland nodded, and waved
him away.
        "Ha!"  Kraken laughed, attempting to raise moral.  "Even without
DoomGaze, we outnumber this thing five to one.  We shouldn't have any
problem defeating it!"  The grouped raised their weapons, and charged.
        "I don't think so!" Mason said, whispering into the beast's
hearing facility.  With lightning speed, the monster raised an arm to
Kraken's face.  Kraken's body was seized by motes of white energy, and he
flew back, screaming.  The motes did not leave him when he hit, however.
They remained, dancing around his crouched form.
        "You bastard..."  Tiamat scowled, as Mason grinned sadistically.
        "So, Garland..."  Mason began cruelly.  "Seems you have some
rather... unique friends here.  That weapon should only react to creatures
with magical properties."  The great beast's metallic body heaved up and
down as it breathed.
        "Wh... what IS that thing?"  Kary asked, bedazzled by its
strength.  She cautiously edged to one side, attempting to gain a position
of advantage.
        "It is the product of Kromm's genius, friends!"  Mason laughed, as
the monster prepared for another attack.  "...and as you can see, he
thought of everything!"  He gestured in Kraken's direction.
        "How DARE you!?"  Tiamat exclaimed, lunging towards the bulky
figure, weapons ready.  As she came down upon the creature, her knives
connected so heavily, they were forced out of her hands.  Such a blow
would have ended any natural creature's life in an instant, but the
daggers simply bounced off the metal exterior, and clattered to the
Ground.
        "Now,"  Mason began, a cruel grin appearing on his dirty face.  "I
think it's only fair that it be my turn to attack now.  After all, I've
given you two free initial moves, Eh?"  The beast raised it's left hand,
and the gleam of the sun off five razor sharp, retractable claws was
instantly visible.  With the speed of lightning, The metallic monstrosity
lashed out at Garland, going for an instant deathblow.  The attack,
however, was fairly predictable, and Garland leapt a few feet back,
leaving the clawed crusher imbedding itself into the ground.
        "How could anyone come up with such a design?"  Kary asked.  She
had been closely watching the beast, looking for a weak spot.  The
creature lacked armor in several spots on it's right side, especially the
face.
        "The beauty of it all, my dear, is that Kromm didn't come up with
the design." Mason turned to explain the situation to the red-headed fiend
of fire.  "He merely took the original animal, and vastly improved the
design.  Animals have so many flaws, you see."
        Lich had had enough.  "Step aside, Master..." he began darkly,
stepping forward.  "I'll handle this."  In full morbid splendor, Lich
darted forward.  His speed was far beyond that of any human, or even
machine.
        "Huh..."  Mason grunted.  "You think you alone can compete with
the BMB 124?  That is something I would truly like to see!"  He readied
for an attack, and a great explosion arose when the two met.  Lightning
flashed, and dust flew.  Visibilty again began to decrease.
        "What's going on in there?!"  Garland shouted.  Kary gripped her
blade tightly, and leapt into the fray.  Tiamat followed her example,
unaware that her hands bled badly from her previous, and falty attack.
"That's right..."  Garland said grimly.  "NO ONE CAN DEFEAT THE FIENDS!"
The rage of battle drowned out his words, and he prepared for his turn...