Subj: [ffml] [MW] Super Tuesday
Date: 00-03-31 00:13:44 EST
From: agover@midmich.cc.mi.us (Aaron Gover)
Reply-to: ffml@onelist.com
To: ffml@onelist.com (FFML)
Gilgamesh frowned. He was having trouble with his newest computer
system.
"Whats is being wrong, my friend?" a familiar voice came from behind
Gilgamesh.
Welcoming the break, Gilgamesh spun in his cushy office chair to face
his old friend, the Professor.
"Bordam! Long time no see! Where have you been?"
"Oh, yes, I have done work! My discoveries will alter worldwide life!"
Daravon was always going on about some discovery or another. However,
due to his mangled language, no one was ever sure quite what he had
discovered. No one minded though, as Daravon was a freindly, gentle
soul, and they humored him.
"Is that so? I wish I could say the same." Gilgamesh grimaced and
pointed with his thumb at the terminal behind him.
"Oh? You are having error times?"
"Bah, this new Freeware "Moogix" OS is overrated. At least our
Shinrasoft Windows windows system _worked_. This shit is telling me that
I need to write a new driver! Jeez!"
"Computers being used are computers consumed in battle!"
"Boy, you said it... I think. Hey, lets go get some lunch!"
Daravon muttered something that Gilgamesh too to mean "Yes", and they
both headed into down the hall towards the ancient library's cafeteria.
"Discoveries of great magnitude! An ancient war, ten thousand
generations past! I will being famous!" Daravon exulted wildly as they
walked down the hall.
"Mmm... I think I almost understood that."
The conversation, if it could be called that, was cut off by a loud
rumbling.
"Goodness! Much confusion! That was?" Daravon tended to get worse when
anxious.
"That," replied Gilgamesh, pointing out the large window.
In the seas south of Doma, something was happening. Black clouds
materialized and began to swirl and take shape.
"How interesting! Studying them would be a delight to be hold of!"
"I think I agree with you... lets get back to my office." Gilgamesh
grabbed the Professor's arm and began to drag him back.
"Lunch is over?" the professor asked him, confused.
* * *
Vincent pondered. For the first time he could remember, he was
uncertain of his goal. He had been charged by the Lizard God, in all his
terrible glory, to unseal the dimensional bubble and return the Lizard
God's domain to real space. Lord Hecht had briefed him, and he had
thought his goal clear.
But now...
"Ash, just shut up before I kill you." Jeala spoke in measured, even
tones.
"But I'm just saying, I don't trust anything that bleeds for five days
and doesn't die." Ash said defensively.
"That might be an apt description of you if you don't shut your mouth."
"Both of you be quiet!" Chaerii was getting annoyed. So far there were
four of them in a Gear cabin built for at most two people, and one of
them was trying to look at a map. It had taken three days of hard work
to get Schmerzen up and running, and it seemed that Ash and Jeala were
threatening to take it apart.
Ash leaned forward and put his hand on the side of Vincent's seat.
"So, Vinny, you say that the Necronomicon is at this other base
we'regoing to?"
"No, Ash," hadn't he explained this already? "I said there is a good
chance that theres another copy of it there. I have... an errand... to
do there, and once I do that, I'll help you in any way I can."
Vincent said that last bit with an inner uncertainty. He was fairly
sure that they would be killed and--
--oh what am I babbling about? They're just humans. A dime a dozen--
Were they? He felt a growing feeling in his gut about this whole thing.
He supposed it was guilt (over humans?) but he couldn't shake it.
"We're approaching our objective, now." he had to emotionally distance
himself from them. They were tools. Nothing more. Weren't they?
Chaerii folded up the map. "Vincent, theres no island at these
coordinates... are you sure theyre right?"
"Yes, I am sure!" he said, sharper than he meant to. Seeing the hurt in
her eyes, he added "sorry... it is under the sea, not above it."
Why was he being kind to these humans? Did he think he could ever be
friends?
"Anyhow, hold on tight!"
Vincent put Schmerzen into a dive, and plunged into the sea.
* * *
"Whoakupo! Boss, did you see that?" Pvt. Kulero pointed at the
enourmous splash to the south.
"Yeah, I saw it, alright." Lieutenant Kuroma bit down on his pungent
cigar. He looked over his shoulder at the Moogles of his command. The
173rd Mounted Heavy Moogle Rangers, the so called "Black Head-Bobbers"
after the custom of rubbing their head bobbers with soot. This was one
of the few companies to be chocobo-mounted.
This elite company had been sent to the southern edge of Doma, simply
because Kuroma was suspected of supporting Turan. It wasn't true,
although he would like to see a little more action...
He spun on the radio officer.
"Xuramu! Get in touch with home base and inform them of our situation,
and ask for orders."
"Yessir."
Maybe this would be his chance to get back into the inner circle...
* * *
Vincent looked at Junior.
"What it blazes was that?"
"I dunno, but lets get--"
They were cut off by the sudden rumble the base was emitting. It felt
like they were inside a giant maracca.
"I guess breaking the seal wasn't such a great idea..."
Junior just glared at Vincent as the shaking intensified.
* * *
As the altimeter continued to reverse, Vincent deftly maneuvered
Schmerzen into the underwater gear hanger.
As they stood at the feet of the giant blue gear, they heard a voice.
"It's about damn time you got here. Only been waiting thirty thousand
years."
"V'terr!" Vincent was shocked to see the man here -- and V'terr was...
different. No longer an old man in a wheelchair, he was a now a
middle-aged man in striking blue armor, with a white cape. At his belt
he wore a scabbard for a sword, and the hilt of the sword was wrapped in
gold wire. The crosspiece was done in the same blue-teardrop insignia of
the amulet that V'terr had given him.
"So, boy," he addressed Vincent, "when were you planning on telling
them? Huh?"
"Telling us what?" Ash growled, eyeing Vincent.
"Nothing. I don't know what you're talking about." Vincent began to
walk past V'terr, and was shocked when the supposedly dead man grabbed
him by the shoulders and shoved him to the ground. Vincent landed
ignobly on his butt. When he tried to get up, he found the tip of
V'terr's sword to be poking uncomfortably into his adam's apple.
"You can throw away your own life. I've done all I can to convince you,
but I won't let you hurt these people. Now you make a choice: you can
try and fight me, or you can give up your insane quest to release the
Lizard God."
Chaerii gasped. The Lizard God was referred to in only the most ancient
of texts. Aeons ago, a lost race of technologically advanced reptites
-- a different branch of reptite evolution than the current species --
had ruled the world. The humans had rebelled, and eventually won at
great sacrifice. Sealing up the lizard god with seven seals, they had
rebuilt -- and forgotten.
"It is my duty as a reptite--" Vincent argued.
"Hah! Whatever gave you the idea you were a reptite?"
"What do you mean?! How could it be otherwise!?"
"Back during tha last stages of the war, we dipped into something that
might have been best left untapped: Biological Warfare. We released a
virus which was harmless to humans, but deadly to the dominant race of
reptites. They no longer exist, except as cybernetic shells for
consciousness."
"Nonsense! You're wrong!"
"Okay, answer me this: What are your earliest memories?"
"Well, there was the Sz'Tert ceremony at my coming of age..."
"Earlier..."
"Unn... I... I don't know... I... can't remember."
"Thats right. Lemme tell you who you really are: You're a human, with
some Reptite DNA spliced in. Youve been brainwashed and mindfucked until
you believed their lies, and now you're playing right into their plans
like a puppet. Hows that for freedom?"
"No.... It... no..."
V'terr cupped his hands around Vincents head and lifted him to a
standing position.
"Now, are you going to keep up this insanity, or are you going to do
whats right?"
"I... Im not sure if I think it's right... but Im not going to try and
unseal him."
V'terr put his hands on Vincent's shoulders and looked him in the face.
"Im proud of you. You're not a boy any longer."
"Thank you. May I ask you a question?"
"Maybe."
"Who are you, really?"
"Hah. You're not ready for that, yet."
"But --"
Vincent's protest was cut short by a flash of light, followed by
rumbles that grew in intensity.
They all looked at one another.
"The Seal!" they said in unison.
They began to run.
* * *
"Ekindu! Do you read?!" Gilgamesh shouted into the intercom in his
office.
"Yes sir." came Ekindus voice over the intercom, weakly.
"Activate the Figaro apparatus!"
"Yes sir!"
Plates began sliding over the windows, and soon the library was dark,
except for lamp light.
"What on earth being this?!" Daravon looked at the now closed windows
uneasily.
"Reports have come in that an island has surfaced about fifty miles
south of Doma, in the ocean."
"And!?" Daravon was alarmed.
"Ive made some modifications to the library. We now have a submersion
and travel system like they do!"
"And?!" Daravon was terrified.
"We're going to the island!"
Daravon fainted.
"Full speed ahead!" Gilgamesh shouted into the intercom as the library
sank into the sand.
* * *
Kuroma's troops mounted up. They were preparing to do some amphibious
scouting on the new island.
"Finally, some action!" yelled Pvt. Kulero.
While he was more reserved than that, Kuroma was happy to be doing
something too. Patrol duty sucked big hairy rancid chocobo turds.
* * *
The party ran deeper into the cave.
"This is great! Vincent here decides not to kill us all, and somebody else
decides to do it for him!" Ash was getting out of breath.
"No," replied V'terr, "I knew this was going to happen, just not so soon."
"Then why'd you stop me?!" asked Vincent.
"Because... You're the only one who can seal it back up."
"Oh."
By the time they got to the enterance to the sealing room, the rumbling had
grown considerably.
"Here," V'terr offered Vincent his sword, "You might need this."
Vincent considered the sword. It was a magnificent weapon, but something about
it bothered him...
"I don't think I'm ready for that yet."
"Hmm... Maybe you're right. Anyway, you four go in and meet your destiny."
"What about you?"
"It's not my destiny to face him."
The four looked dubiously at V'terr, but didn't argue.
"Ready?" said Ash, unholstering his finally-fixed shotgun.
"No." replied Vincent with a grim smile.
"Good."
They rushed in.
* * *
Junior and Vincent began to run for the exit, thinking that the cave was
collapsing, when they literally ran into four strangers. All six people came
quickly to their feet, and Vincent found himself looking down the barrels of a
shotgun held by a very suprised looking man. Vincent held his injured arm.
"Vincent... what the hell is going on?" the man asked.
"How did you know my --"
Vincent was cut off by pure shock. At this man's side was... him. It was like
looking into a mirror, except... for the eyes. That was it. This man had yellow
eyes, the color of autumn leaves, while Vincent's eyes were like those of an
albino.
"What the hell?!!" they both said in unison.
"Is this your brother, Vincent?" a young albino woman asked the yellow-eyed
man.
"Of course not," he said, "do you think someone would name identical twins the
same name?"
"And who are you?" another woman asked Junior. Se was nearly seven feet tall
and dwarfed Junior.
Junior was scared, but determined not to wuss out this time. He drew himself up
to his inconsiderable height.
"Im Junior. Err, I mean, Mog Junior."
"Oh great. Just what we need. The son of the moogle trying to take over the
world and Vincent's twin brother..." the woman began.
That was when the cave did start to collapse. At least the back wall.
Through the growing cracks in the back wall, bright green light streamed
through.
"Lets break the seal, Junior! Once we break the seal we can go to a doctor!
BAH!" Junior mocked.
"Hush!" said the man with the shotgun. "Vincent, what should we do with these
guys?"
When both Vincent and the yellow-eyed man looked over, Ash got irritated.
"Okay, look! You, " he said pointing at the yellow-eyed man, "Are Vinny. You,"
pointing at Vincent, "are Vince. Got it?"
"Yes", they said in unison.
They watched as the entire back wall of the cave was absorbed by the greenish
glow. A nasty shape began to take form in the light.
"Oh, _shit_" cursed the Yellow-Eyed man, softly.
"Hallo, Menschen! Bilden Sie Weise für Lord Hecht, Annihilator des Gedankens!
Bereiten Sie vor sich zu sterben!" a voice bellowed from the light.
"What's he saying, Vinny?" The blue shirted man asked.
"'Hello Humans! Make way for Lord Hecht, the Annilator of Thought! Prepare to
die!'"
"He sounds nice."
"If we don't die today, remind me to break your nose."
"Jeez."
Junior looked over to the Yellow-Eyed man.
"Uhm, other Vincent, shouldn't we get the hell out of here?"
The yellow-eyed man did not answer, but the Amazon did.
"How?"
Junior looked at the entrance, and saw that it was blocked by a pile of rubble.
"Fuck! God damn I hate MagiTek Mechs, the first time I actually need it, I
leave it in the gear hangar!"
"Yes, that might have come in handy, along with my gear Schmerzen..." the
yellow-eyed man murmured as he desperately tried to think of a plan.
"Jeala, Junior, Ash, start clearing that rubble. Vincent, Chaerii, you come
with me," the yellow-eyed man gave orders like a seasoned pro.
"We've got to keep Hecht distracted while they clear the exit."
As if summoned by his name, Hecht coagulated from the light. Many descriptions
quickly fluttered through our hero's minds, but Ash's was the most apt. Hecht
looked like the bastard offspring of a T-Rex and a tank, after being hit by a
train. Twelve feet tall and sporting a Vulcan cannon at the end of his left arm,
Hecht was easily a match for them all.
"But we aren't trying to win," Vincent thought as he raced for cover behind a
rock, "We're just trying to buy some time..."
As he watched the yellow-eyed man, he wished he was half as brave.
* * *
Vincent was pissed. V'terr was fucking with his mind, his friends were in
danger, he met some whack ass coward red-eyed version of himself, and he just
wanted some peace and freedom. Woe upon the man or thirty-thousand year old
psycho cyborg lizard who fucked with him now.
Closing with Hecht, he zig-zagged to evade machinegun bursts. Rock fragments
ricochet'd past his face, some of them grazing deep enough to send small
rivulets of yellow blood down his cheeks. He didn't feel it. He summoned his
power, fueled it with his rage, and focused it on his fists and feet.
Leaping with all his strength, he took Hecht in the sternum with his left foot.
He saw the metal dent and heard the crunch of bone. He landed on his knees, and
spun his torso, landing his right elbow in the back of Hecht's left knee. He
backflipped back out of range of Hecht's claws.
"Vincent... is that any way to treat your adoptive father?"
"You're not my father, you asshole!"
"Hmph... I see that somebody has filled your head with nonsense. Well, we have
ways of erasing that!"
The fight continued.
* * *
"We have to move FASTER, Jeala!" Ash was worried about Vincent.
"I know! I know! Theres too much rock -- oh my God!"
A gurgle filled the chamber. Vincent had been too slow.
Vincent struggled weakly in Hecht's claw, but all could see that his injuries
were severe. Yellow blood dripped to the floor.
"No!" five voices rang out in anger.
It was no use denying reality -- Vincent was dying.
* * *
Vincent watch Hecht finally catch the yellow-eyed man. His heart was in his
throat. It was like watching his own death, and he had done nothing to stop it.
Tears ran down his face.
No more.
"No MORE!" he stepped out from behind his rock, the germ of an idea in his
head.
"Why don't you kill me, too?! I'll even help you!" He began to walk towards
Hecht.
"You humans... You crack me up. First you cling to life and then you ask us to
kill you! I love it!" Hecht chuckled, sounding like an Idling semi.
Vincent rushed towards Hecht.
"You wanna kill me?! I'll give you all the help you need!"
C'mon, curse, work.
He stood before Hecht.
"Look, here I am! Kill me! Ive helped you!"
"Yes, you've been a great help. Haha."
Hecht dropped the weakly stuggling yellow-eyed man, and swung his claws at
Vincent. Vincent felt them rip through his chest.
Black.
* * *
Junior, Jeala, Chaerii, and Ash watched this with horror.
Why was the other Vincent so intent on helping Hecht to kill him?
Before they could wonder any more, sunlight streamed into the cave, and
something blue... followed by something military green and something else a grey
silver color... fall into the room.
"Looks like Im just in time!" V'terr's voice came from Schmerzen, as the gear
fell and landed behind Hecht. The gear picked the monstrosity up and smashed him
against a wall, dropping it. Hecht didnt move when he hit the floor.
He hopped out of the cockpit, and surveyed the bodies of the two Vincent's.
"Oh no.... SHIT... Im almost too late..."
Chaerii cradled the red-eyed Vincent's head.
"Why... Why did you help him kill you?"
"Heh..." he chuckled weakly... "I've been cursed... whenever I try and help
someone... something bad happens to them... I... used that on him."
The other Vincent chuckled, coughing.
"GOod plan... I just wish you'd thought of it earlier..."
"There's no time for this! Ash, you take Schmerzen and head to the exterior of
the island. You and you take your craft and follow him!"
As if to emphasize this point, an ear-shattering roar came from the green
light, followed by booming footsteps.
"The lizard god. Now get the hell out of here!"
"What about you?" Chaerii asked.
"I've got something to do.. Now go!"
He scooped up the two Vincents easily, his muscled arms barely straining.
"Ash! Use Schmerzen to clear the rubble! I need to go into the base!"
Ash did as he was told.
"I'll see you outside!" he yelled, running into the corridors.
* * *
Darkness again filled the chamber, clouds had covered up the sun.
"HECHT. YOU HAVE BEEN BEATEN AGAIN. I SHALL REVIVE YOU, BUT NOT AGAIN AFTER."
The Lizard God physically filled the chamber. He shot a beam of green light into
Hecht. Wires reconnected themselves, cells reorganized, and Hecht revived.
"Thank you, My master. When shall we begin our conquest?"
"WE SHALL NOT."
"But Master? What is your plan, then?"
"IT WOULD PLEASE ME... TO WIN AN ELECTION."
To be continued (FINALLY!)
--
"Itchy. Tasty." -- Resident Evil
Aaron Gover (aka VincentValintine)
http://happythoughts.8m.com
agover@midmich.cc.mi.us
ICQ: 30189072
"If my doctor told me that I only
had six minutes to live, I wouldn't
brood. I'd type a little faster."
-Issac Asimov
"Master, sir, did you see my
MAD SKILLZ!?"
-Hammer, Xenogears
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Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 00:03:46 -0600
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Subject: [ffml] [MW] Super Tuesday
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