Wild ARMs: Off on a Tangent
By: Chibi-chan
Part 18-1: “Love Is A Battlefield”
*
“What? Another odd destination?!” Captain
Bartholomew of the Sweet Candy exclaimed.
“And that place, of all places!
I may not be the smartest man in the world, but I’m not stupid or insane
enough to go there!”
“You
were stupid and crazy enough to get Cecil to be your pretend ‘blushing bride’
and stage a fake wedding,” Elmina countered.
“… fine,
let’s get this over with quickly then…”
*
The Demon’s Lab. Remote, secluded, for humans accessible only by boat and “invitation”, holding technology beyond what humans possess. The perfect place to begin construction on the potential destruction of Filgaia.
Lord Harken was prodding with his finger a dark purple-black crystal that hovered above what appeared to be the Elw Pyramid platform’s palette-swapped evil twin. “No, sir, I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all. This seems so very wrong…” he muttered to himself.
“Someone call me?” Emma asked chipperly upon teleporting in the room.
Lord Harken, never one to think before opening his mouth, said, “No, but you also fit in the same category…”
The female (allegedly, no one’s ever looked under her sheet, nor wanted to do so) Hiadan moved closer to Harken. “You’re so very cute when you’re honest, sweet cheeks,” she purred, “Why don’t I just send someone else on guard duty for a while so you and I can be alone…?”
Lord Harken said nothing for a minute, but his expression of sheer horror and panic said all that needed to be said. “But- but- but… uh… aren’t we, like, related?!” he finally said.
“More like half-siblings, dearie, and if that doesn’t stop our leader, why should it stop me?” Emma replied, creeping ever closer to the clearly unwilling man with every second, forcing him back against the large crystal.
Harken was running out of space between himself and Emma. “Uh… uh… well…” he stammered.
“Yeeeeessss, sweetcakes?” the scary scientist drawled. She had him right where she wanted him and there was nothing left to do but to see how he’d react.
A man can say some bold things when pressed between a rock and a hard place, or in this case, a mineral and a horny place. The poor man in our case gave it his best shot. “Ah hell, may as well come out and say it… You’re insane, calculating, ugly, and even by our standards, you’re a freak!” He pulled out a spirit ward out of nowhere and slapped it onto Emma’s forehead with a cry of “BEGONE, EVIL SPIRIT!”
Emma, completely dumbfounded, backed away. “You’re calling me insane?” she asked in disbelief before teleporting away.
Lord Harken blinked a couple of times, took out another spirit ward, and looked at it with wonder. “Wow, these things really work!”
*
“Well, here we are again on our own, princey,” Elmina said, “Kinda weird not having at least James with us, huh?”
Cecil, paying more attention to his surroundings than to his companion, mumbled a “yeah, sure, whatever” in response. The surroundings he was more interested in bore a strong resemblance to the Photosphere. It had similar wire configurations on the walls, a similar floor, and the same cold, industrial feel, but with a different color scheme. “Someone really needs to get a better decorator in here…”
“I suppose. Ready to go, or are there some tips you want to write down for them first?” Elmina joked.
Cecil shot her the kind of grin that makes one want to smack the grinner and said, “Nah, I’ll tell ‘em them in person.”
They couldn’t have taken more than three steps further in before the prince suddenly stopped. “‘Mina? Is it getting colder in here, or is it just me?”
The warrior woman stopped as well and turned to the boy. “Eh? Cold? No, I don’t think so, why?”
“Oh, nothing, must be me then. Nothing to worry about…” Cecil assured her, albeit distractedly. Yet, anyway. It could be that I’m just paranoid, but something doesn’t feel right here…
*
The kid’s hiding something. Has to be. Maybe he just doesn’t want to worry me, or maybe he’s not sure what’s the problem himself. Probably the latter, sounds more like him… Elmina thought. She watched him try to find a way to destroy one of those pesky security generators that activated the “zap panels” with little success. Yep, definitely doesn’t know what’s wrong.
“Oh, hell with it! Reverse Super Duper Elmina Machine Working Technique!” a frustrated Cecil yelled right before he kicked the machine as hard as he could. The machine quickly deactivated, as well as its twin across the room. “I’ll be damned; that actually worked…” he muttered in disbelief.
*
Another two rooms later…
“ACK! The floor’s dropping!”
“It’s called an elevator, Cecil. It’s supposed to do that. Now stop clinging to me and get your hands off my chest before I do something not nice.”
“Do I have to?” *WHAP!* “Ow! OK, I’ll let go!”
*
When the group reached the room with the massive metal double doors, Cecil was whining and still holding his cheek where Elmina gave him a good smack. “Did you have to hit so hard?” he complained.
“Yep,” Elmina replied without missing a beat. She turned her attention to the doors. “Shee… you don’t suppose saying ‘Open Sesame’ or a swift kick’ll open this up, do ya?”
Zed, yawning, came out of his hiding place and took a look at the door. “Hmph. Keypad. You’ll need the passcode to get past, more than likely.”
“And how do we get the passcode? It’s not like Hanpan’s gonna come out of the blue and tell us it,” Elmina asked.
“There’re four other doors… How ‘bout we go flunkie hunting?” Cecil suggested, jerking his thumb toward the door to the immediate right of the big doors. Anything to get away from the cold…It’s gotta be coming from behind those big doors… Just what the hell could be causing this anyway?!
*
Four golems retrieved and reprogrammed to suit our agenda, with the exception of Barbados, which has been deemed uncontrollable. Disposal in the desert has been carried out for Barbados.
The Darkness Tear is 80% complete. Once finished, we can say farewell to the
humans and Guardians.
The Darkness Tear is based on
research done on the Tear Drop. Using
the notes, we can make the opposite of
the Tear Drop, thus creating a powerful weapon that can attack the Rayline, the
network that sends life energy throughout Filgaia via the weakened Guardians.
The Darkness Tear. The antithesis of the Tear Drop, it emits anti-life energy. With it and proper usage, the world is ours!
*
“This… they couldn’t have…!?” Zed cried. “Don’t they realize they’d die too if they wiped out the Guardians?!”
“The Darkness Tear…” Cecil whispered. “Is that it? Is that what I’ve been sensing…?”
“If it is, princey, then we’d better get going and destroy the thing!” Elmina declared.
*
“Red! So nice to see you again!” Lord Harken chirped when the warrior woman and the prince got past the double doors. “I see the odds have been evened a bit this time. No four-on-one this time, fun as it was.”
Cecil only had the chance to briefly glance at the crystal behind before the overwhelming cold he felt made him drop to the floor. “Cecil!” Elmina called out, rushing to the boy’s side.
“That crystal… must be the Darkness Tear…” the prince got out, managing to remain halfway alert and somewhat upright on his own.
“Man, I knew there was something seriously wrong with this dumb rock!” Lord Harken proclaimed after watching Cecil fall. “Now I really don’t wanna know what Emma and Zeik plan to do with it! Not that I’m just gonna let you wreck it. I’m on duty and I’ve seen what those two do to those who fail them…” He summoned his scythe and beckoned to the red-haired warrior. “So, ready for a fair fight, Red?”
“I was born ready, handsome,” Elmina replied, drawing her sword. “Don’t worry, princey, big sis Elmina will get rid of the Darkness Tear and give this idiot a lesson or two about picking fights he can’t win!”
*
“New
tricks?” Elmina asked. “Don’t tell me
they’re like the ‘new tricks’ you used last time. Boy, was that a disaster!”
“Eh,
that was then and this is now! Come
on!” he said.
*
“Heh, check out my new trick, Red!” Harken called out. He suddenly rushed forward with a swipe that missed Elmina by a mile. Unfortunately, the swipe was merely a set-up for something more devastating.
The Fast Draw sword abilities can produce some awesome and painful effects. This particular move did as such. Dark, giant ethereal pick-up stick-like spikes went through Elmina like swords through a magician’s basket. Needless to say, it hurt like hell. Elmina fought the urge to scream, refusing to give him the satisfaction. Still, the damage was done and she was now on one knee facing the Hiadan warrior. Harken readied to finish her off…
*
*
… then Elmina bashed Harken’s foot with the hilt of her sword, thus stopping him before he could deliver the final blow. Taking the opening she saw, she lunged at him and sent both of them down to the floor with Elmina on top of Harken, sending his scythe flying and dropping her own sword in the process. “New tricks never beat my old trick, handsome,” Elmina told him in a falsely sweet tone.
“I forgot to watch my feet yet again. I should’ve known better. You always go for the feet when you’ve nothing left to lose,” Harken replied, not sure how he knew that.
Elmina was stunned. “It… it is you, isn’t it? Garrett, you…?!” she breathed.
“Garrett? Who the hell is Garrett? And why do I know these things?! Who… Who are you, Red?!” Harken cried. Something was wrong, and this time it wasn’t related to the crystal. All he knew was that he was remembering things he didn’t recall ever doing with the human woman on top of him and that he wasn’t feeling very well.
Without warning, some of Emma’s fly-like familiars came out of nowhere and dragged Elmina off and away from Harken. Emma did not appear, but her voice could be heard speaking. “Oh my, my, my, I mustn’t let you take my dear little masterwork away, nor let you have the Darkness Tear. Terribly sorry, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do, you know.” Harken, the Darkness Tear, and the fly familiars then were teleported away.
“DAMMIT! Damn, damn, dammit!” Elmina swore. “I found him, I finally FOUND him, and he gets taken away from me again! Dammit!”
Cecil, recovering from the effects of the Darkness Tear, slowly made his way to his companion. He dropped down next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. “Next time. We’ll be seeing him again; I know it.”
Elmina only whispered, “Garrett…”
*
End Chapter 18-1
Chibi’s notes:
Yeah, I know I didn’t put separate notes the last time I split a chapter, but I felt I had to this time. Yes, the chapter title is also the name of a Pat Benatar song. I listen to waaaaay to much Pat Benatar music.
Rudy: *twitch* No… more… “Promises in the Dark”…
Who asked you? *thwap!* So much flashback stuff going on in the fic now…
If you know what pick-up sticks are and/or who Pat Benatar is, go get yourself a cookie.
Rudy: Random much? *WA-TAK!*
Shaddap, Roughnight. -_-;