Subj:	 [ffml] [MW] All Hell Breaks Loose
Date:	00-03-26 22:36:07 EST
From:	raumkatze2@aol.com
Reply-to:	ffml@onelist.com
To:	ffml@onelist.com

From: raumkatze2@aol.com

     "If for kindness, you substitute blindness, please open your eyes."
          - Depeche Mode, 'Condemnation'

     Vincent Valintine, at the age of 27 had never trained as a pilot, but 
after only one previous flight in one of these things, he was effortlessly 
soaring through the air in this gear from the Mobliz hanger, which he learned 
was named Raum Katze.  He marveled at how easy it was to pilot one of these 
gears.  All one had to do was will the machine to fly, and it did.  The gear 
also featured an intuitive sense of direction, which helped Vincent find his 
way around this unfamilier world.
     Southvale, his destination.  Soon, he would be free of this awful curse. 
 He descended to ground level, and surveyed the territory.  This had 
obviously been the site of a gruesome battle only days ago.  Dead bodies were 
strewn accross the ground, some moogle, but mostly human.  Vincent shuddered, 
but he knew he had to carry on.  Soon this would all be over with.  He set 
about looking for the gear.  In addition to the machine's intuitive direction 
finding abilities, it also had stored in it's PROM chip the locations of all 
other Gear hangers.  Vince was able to see that the final hanger was only a 
quarter-mile away, underneath the ruins of a fort.  Then he saw something 
else in that direction, more Reptites!  'Those guys again?' thought Vincent, 
'They must be the ones who've cursed me...'  He quickly flew in the direction 
of the fortress.  Then he saw the Reptites with his own eyes.  There were 
about fifty of them, approximately twenty of which were riding saddled 
dinosaurs, each of which were about twice the size of a chocobo.  Each 
reptite carried a scimitar.  Upon seeing Vincent's Gear, the Reptites 
prepared for battle.
     Vincent chuckled to himself.  There sure were a lot of them, but their 
weaponry was so primative that they would be no match against his Gear.  The 
Reptites began to charge.  Vincent immediately started mowing them down with 
the Gear's semi-automatical canon.  The Reptites did surprise him a little, 
though.  They were very quick, and many were able to dodge his fire.  Some 
others, who were not able to dodge in time, took more than one hit to kill.  
Their armor was very strong.  
     Then, without warning, Vincent felt a jolt.  Appearently while he was 
concentrating on firing at the Reptites in front of him, one that was behind 
him had rammed his scimitar right into the Gear.  Vincent quickly brought the 
gear up to a higher altitude.  The Reptite fell off, but the damage had been 
done.  "Loosing power," Vince could hear the machine say in his mind's ear.  
He descended back to ground level, as to use less power.  Vincent tried his 
best to kill the remaining Reptites, but as the power diminished, the firing 
of the Gear's gun became more erratic, shooting out in short bursts.  He 
managed to get most of them, but when there were only a few left, the power 
finally ran out, and the Gear fell over.  Before he knew it, several Reptites 
had surrounded him.  One of them stepped onto the hanger, and raised his 
scimitar in the air.  Vince kept his eyes open, preparing to face death with 
dignity.
     But before the Reptite could deliver the death blow, he and the other 
reptites were vaporized by a beam of energy. Vince turned his head to see who 
or what had just saved him.  He saw a mech, not unlike a gear, which was 
piloted by someone that looked like a cross between a moogle and a human.  
Vince manually opened the cockpit of his gear, and approached his savior.  
"Um, thanks." he said.  Then he was surprised.  The figure inside the mech 
was weaping.  "Not again!" said the pilot, "What have I done?!"

[I should be getting to bed now.  I'll write more tomorrow if I have time.]


Date:	00-03-27 08:59:49 EST
From: raumkatze2@aol.com

     "Who are you?" asked Vincent, "And what's wrong?"
     "The answer to both of those questions," said Junior, "Is that I am a 
monster."
     "Why do you say that?"
     "I hate killing," said Junior, "But I can't seem to stop doing it.  I 
had just spent weeks trapped under water while this magitek armor was 
repairing itself, and the first thing I saw when I managed to get to the 
surface was those reptites on top of your machine.  I was already feeling a 
little insane from being isolated for weeks on end, and then I just snapped 
when I saw them about to kill someone in a mech that reminded me of my own.  
I want to be left alone now.  I'm so ashamed.  I try to do good, but time and 
time again I end up doing something bad."
     "What if I told you that you're not the only one?" said Vincent.
     "So, what's your story?" said Junior.
     "Well, lately I've been under some sort of curse.  Lately whenever I try 
to do something positive, it ends up backfiring on someone else.  All my 
life, I've tried to be a good..."  Vincent trailed off.  Something was 
strangely wrong.
     "What's wrong?" asked Junior.
     "I... can't seem to remember very far back.  Before this Moolge War and 
Expo War stuff... I can't remember anything..."  Vincent sat down.  A cold 
shiver went up his spine.  
     "I wish I could trade places with you," said Junior, "I've been alive 
over 600 years, and I can remember every excruciating second."
     "My childhood... I can't remember anything about my childhood," said 
Vince, "What's wrong with me?  Why didn't I realize this before?  I was so 
caught up in these various pursuits that I never had a reason to think back 
very far.  But shouldn't I remember _something_ that happened before all this 
stuff?"
     "I wish I could help you with that, but I can't.  I think the best thing 
I can do right now is to find some place where I'm completely isolated from 
society, so there's no chance of me hurting anyone else."
     "Wait," said Vincent, "There's something else I could use your help 
with."
     "Unless it involves violence, I'll see what I can do."
     "Well, I will involve some fighting, but you won't have to hurt a living 
thing.  It's a robot that you'll have to fight."
     "Maybe I'll help you, but first tell me exactly what your purpose is.  I 
don't want to aid someone who is doing evil."
     You know that curse I was talking about?  Well, underneath that fort, 
there is a seal I must break to lift the curse.  The seal is guarded by a 
robot.  I would fight it myself, but my Gear is out of power."
     "Alright," said Junior "I'll help.  It's the least I can do to attone 
for the things I've done in the past."
     "Thanks, big time," said Vince, "By the way, what's your name."
     "You can call me Junior."
     Vincent showed Junior to where his Gear had told him the hanger was.  
Junior used his blade arms to dig until he hid the mesh of metal that blocked 
their entrance.  Junior then blasted that with his magitek beam.  The two 
walked down the staircase, Junior taking the lead, so as to protect Vincent 
from anything they might encounter.  
     Once they got to the hanger, it didn't take long for the Guardian to 
find them.  It started shooting at them.  Junior stood in front of Vincent to 
protect him for the machine gun fire.  Then he ran up to the robot.  He 
raised both of the armor's blade arms, preparing to bring them together on 
the robot, cutting it in half.  Then he stopped.  He could bring himself to 
do it.  Even though the Guardian was just an automaton, Junior didn't feel 
right about destroying it.  "What are you waiting for?!" shouted Vince, 
"Smash that thi...ARRRGGH!!"  The Guardian had begun shooting at Vince with 
machine gun fire.  In anger, Junior brought his arms together on the 
guardian, ripping it in two.  Then he went back to Vincent, who was clutching 
his shoulder, where had had gotten hit.  "I'm so sorry," said Junior, "It's 
all my fault.  I should have just destroyed that thing when I first had the 
chance."
     "Don't worry about it," grunted Vince, "Soon the seal will be broken and 
we can both go back to living our lives."
     "I should take you to a hospital," said Junior, "You're bleeding badly."
     "First we've got to break this seal, then you can take me where ever you 
want."
     "So where is this seal?"
     "Beyond that door," Vincent said, pointing to a metal door with no 
handles, "You'll have to blast through that.  Then blast the pedistal that's 
in that room."
     "Alright," said Junior.  He blasted down the door, and he and Vincent 
went inside to room of the seal.  Junior then shot his magitek beam at the 
pedistal.  Then something unexpected happened.  The ground began to shake, A 
loud rumbling sound was heard, and the room filled with a blinding light.  
Then, just when it felt like to place was about to blow, it all stopped.  
Vincent and Junior opened their eyes.

[alright Vince, you pick things up here.]