El-Hazard is the property of Pioneer/AIC. All original characters are property of dooky. Warning: this story contains gratuitous use of the word "testicle." EL-HAZARD: THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME The Shape of Things So Far- Ifurita discovers that Qawoor is a descendent of her creator. The Bugrom gain control of Dorusland, then install Fran as a puppet monarch. Fatora and Alielle take charge of Roshtaria's defences to relieve the burden on Rune, but Rune does not take this well. Afura travels to the Holy City to investigate the new Alpha Priestess, and discovers a mysterious conspiracy of silence. Makoto and Amiri start to research the Phantom Tribe's powers. Fujisawa writes a newspaper article pleading for sympathy towards the Opaques. Parnasse is concerned when Mycea reveals herself to be racist. Mari feels rejected when Fatora can no longer spend time with her. Tenax begins work at Nanami's restaurant. A speech by Fran is sabotaged by someone calling themselves the Purple Lightning. Doht shows Afura proof that the Heretic Prophecy contains a hidden message from God. Reluctantly, she agrees to give him the full text. THE EIGHTH MONTH: ANTIMATTER BLACK Many years ago in El-Hazard, there was a man who designed weapons. He was very good at it; so good, in fact, that he regarded himself as one of the greatest geniuses in history. Suffice it to say, he was not the most psychologically stable person in the world. Each weapon he produced was more perfect than the last. As the years went by, he became ever more proficient in the art of mass destruction. Until one day, he created a weapon so potent, so unstable, that it killed him. Or so the story goes. In actual fact, the weapon transformed him. No longer existing in a physical sense, he was suddenly the genius he dreamed of being. He saw all, he knew all. He was a God. And that was when his mental problems really began. Day 217 "Incredible. Refusing to speak with a Muldoon priestess? That's unprecedented!" Miz exclaimed. Afura nodded. "Personally, I think Doht is having too much of an influence on the Alpha Priestess. He doesn't like the Muldoon priesthood. He's said as much." Miz looked concerned. "Did you see Doht while you were in the Holy City?" "Just... briefly," Afura lied. "Be very careful of that man," Miz warned. "He's dangerous. When people like him get promoted, the power goes to their heads." Afura tried to change the subject. "Well, I'm pretty sure there's something untoward going on in the Holy City. I'm hoping to return there soon." Afura hated keeping secrets from Miz. She wanted desperately to tell her about the message from God. But that would mean telling her that Doht now had the prophecy. She couldn't justify handing it over after promising she wouldn't. Not yet. But soon, when they found that message... she would have all the justification she needed. "Watch out, here I come!" The Shinonome Diner's newest waitress dodged in between the customers with three precariously balanced trays. Mycea observed Tenax's actions closely. "God, I hate her." "But why?" Parnasse asked wearily. He was all too aware of his girlfriend's disdain for Opaques, but Tenax had presented no reason for Mycea to dislike her. "All she's done since she started here is be nice to you." "That's the problem. She's too nice." "Too nice?" Mycea nodded. "Yes. Don't you think it's suspicious?" "No, I don't. Did it ever occur to you that maybe she's just a nice person?" "Oh, come on, Parnasse. You are so naive. She's obviously up to something." "Ssh!" Parnasse urged. "She's coming!" Tenax approached Mycea. "Hey," she smiled. "I got a tip. Here you go." She pressed some coins into Mycea's palm. "What's this?" Mycea asked. "Half the tip. It's only fair, since you do half the work. Well, I'll go and see if Nanami needs a hand in the kitchens." She walked away. Mycea was furious. "Did you see that? Did you see what she just did?" "Yep," Parnasse replied. "She gave you some money." Mycea growled. "This means that every time I get a tip, I'll have to share it with her! You know why she's done this? She knows I get more tips than she does, because I'm not a..." "Don't say it!" Mycea looked disappointedly at Parnasse. "Lighten up. It's only a word." She shrugged and walked off. Parnasse was joined by Nanami. "What's up?" "Oh! Nothing!" Parnasse assured her. "Fair enough," Nanami replied. "Hey, it's Alielle"! "Huh?" Parnasse looked to the doorway and saw that his sister had just entered. "There's something about her that looks different," Nanami mused. "Hey, Alielle! Did you change your hair or something?" Parnasse knew immediately what was different. "Alielle!" he hissed. "You've forgotten to..." "I know!" Nanami exclaimed. "You're not wearing your thingy. What do you call it? That diamond thing on your forehead..." "It's called a dhar," Parnasse replied. "All Dorusians wear it. Alielle, where's yours?" He was visibly agitated, as if Alielle had committed some grave social transgression. "I'm making a political statement," Alielle said calmly. "A lot of Dorusians in Roshtaria are doing the same. It's a protest against the Dorusian government." Parnasse looked confused. "Why?" Alielle sighed. "Haven't you been reading the papers, Parnasse? Our country's government is collaborating with the Bugrom. They've got Fran on their side. That's why they're not wearing the dhars." Parnasse shook his head. "Mother would kill you." "Mother would be proud that I'm expressing solidarity with our oppressed population," Alielle replied. Nanami blinked. Alielle's transformation into a politician had been remarkably rapid. There were times when she sounded exactly like Rune, and others when she sounded (perhaps more disturbingly) just like Fatora. "Hey," Nanami said, "have either of you heard the rumours about the Purple Lightning?" Alielle nodded. "Yes. There have been a lot of sightings, mainly in Dorusland's capital. But they all contradict each other. Some people are certain it's a man, and other people swear it's a woman." "Who is it, some kind of resistance fighter?" Parnasse asked. "Sort of," Alielle said. "But they never actually attack the Bugrom. They just... undermine them. Make them look stupid." "An asexual, non-violent resistance fighter?" Nanami pondered. "Only in El-Hazard..." "What can you sense?" Amiri asked. Mari concentrated. "Your immune system is active against a minor viral infection. Your left arm was recently broken, and has healed. Hmm... you have a paper cut on your right hand. Do you want me to heal that?" Amiri looked to Makoto and Ifurita, who were standing in the midst of an array of scanning equipment. "Go ahead," Makoto nodded. "I'm done," Mari said, little more than a second later. "What?" Makoto replied. "That was too quick, I didn't get anything! Ifurita, did you pick anything up?" "There was a brief stream of energy from Mari into the doctor. Like all the other tests, it only flowed in one direction." Makoto shook his head. "And we still have no way of disrupting the energy flow. Okay, we'll try it again, on me this time. Mari, I don't want you to start healing straight away, alright?" "Yeah, yeah," Mari sighed. She placed her hand on Makoto's shoulder and set about detecting his ailments. "Okay, I'm detecting... a headache, probably stress related. And you have a mysterious dull ache in your left testicle." Ifurita giggled. "Hey!" Makoto objected. "It' not funny! I... what the hell?" For a few moments, he and Mari remained motionless. Then he jumped back. "I think... something weird just happened," he said. "Mari, are you okay?" Mari suddenly started smiling- a distant, vacant smile. "Heh," she said quietly. "I said testicle. I suppose that was pretty funny..." She walked unsteadily over to Ifurita. "I'm bored. Can we finish now? Pretty please?" She draped herself over Ifurita, grinning. "You're cute." "What's wrong with her?" Amiri asked. "If I didn't know better, I'd swear she was drunk." "Endorphins," Ifurita replied, trying to discourage Mari from feeling her breasts. "I'm picking up a massive quantity of endorphins in her brain. They weren't there a minute ago." "Well, that explains why she's suddenly so happy," Amiri said. "But how did they get there?" "I think..." Makoto began, "I think I did it." Ifurita looked at him, concerned. "What?" "She was looking inside me... then when you laughed, I was distracted for a second. Then I realised I could see inside her too. I just hadn't known what to look for." "What did you see?" Amiri asked. "She was so... depressed. So angry. For a moment, I thought I should do something about it. The next thing I knew, this had happened." "You stimulated pleasure hormones to relieve her depression," Amiri observed. "Makoto, this is an important discovery. The polarity of the energy flow can be reversed. If it works with Mari, it could work with the Phantom Tribe. I wonder what would happen if the polarity of their powers was reversed?" "We'll have to feed it into the equations and find out," Makoto replied. "Ifurita?" "Um, yes," Ifurita said, still distracted by the blissfully happy goth wrapped around her. "Come on..." Mari smiled. "I bet you'd like it if you tried it..." "Really, I must decline. But thank you anyway," Ifurita said, embarrassed. "Please... it'll just be our secret..." Jinnai surveyed the map of Dorusland in front of him. "Excellent," he smiled. "One of the key nations of the Alliance... and it's in Bugrom hands! This is the perfect point to launch an attack on Roshtaria." "Have you no tactical ability at all?" Nahato frowned. "Roshtaria EXPECTS you to invade. Half the troops in the Alliance are massed along that border. Leaving other nations vulnerable. Take Styrenia, for example." "Styrenia?" Jinnai studied the nation's position on the map. "It's strategically worthless." "But it's ripe for conquest. It's a pacifist nation, with only a small army, most of which is defending other Alliance countries. In its whole history, it's never been conquered. Taking it would be a serious blow to the Alliance's morale." "Styrenia it is," Jinnai nodded. "I'm afraid you'll have to fight this battle alone," Nahato pointed out. "There's a significant Opaque population in Styrenia. They'd see through our illusions. And I'd prefer to keep our involvement in this war a secret for the time being." Diva entered the room. She was visibly pregnant, with what Jinnai assumed was the new queen. He still didn't really understand the whole Bugrom life cycle thing, but asking questions, as he'd found, was fraught with difficulty. "Mr Jinnai..." she began. "Yes?" Jinnai responded. Diva cast a glance at Nahato, then looked back to Jinnai. She sighed. "It can wait." She left the room as quickly as she'd entered. Jinnai seemed concerned by her behaviour. Nahato didn't. "Where is Sakura?" he asked. "Sakura?" Jinnai echoed. "She said something about going out for some fresh air..." Sakura was feeling strange today. She couldn't explain it. She just needed to be out... out of that damn hive, away from everyone. It felt as if... there was too much of everything. Too much energy. She flew higher up, and aimed her Power Key Unit at a random patch of sky. The target didn't matter. She fired. A series of black bubbles shot into the middle distance, sucking up the energy around them until they collapsed. It felt good, as if some primal urge within her was being satisfied. Sakura decided she'd like to do it again. And again. Day 228 "Hello? Is anyone there?" Rune looked up to see the source of the voice. Yes... do come in." Alielle entered Rune's bedroom with caution. "It's only me. You've been spending a lot of time in here, you know. I haven't really seen you..." "Is there any more news from Styrenia?" Rune asked, changing the subject with remarkable speed. "Only confirming what we already know," Alielle sighed. "The Bugrom took it in less than a day. They're trying to set up another puppet government like the one in Dorusland, but they're not getting much co- operation." "How strange," Rune said. "It took the Bugrom weeks to take Dorusland. This invasion was much quicker. I know Styrenia wasn't as well defended, but even so..." "You know..." Alielle said tentatively, "we could really use your help." Rune shook her head. "I'd just be getting in the way." "Is that really what you think?" Rune let out a long sigh. "It's... deeper than that. I'm sure Fatora's told you about the terrible depression she suffered after our father died. I promised her then that I'd shoulder the responsibility of being a princess. And since then, that's how it's been. I was the one who'd make political decisions. I was the one who'd give birth to the next generation." "That was a lot of responsibility for just one person." "No, I didn't see it like that. I had a clear purpose in life. It defined me. But now... I find that I can never have children, and Fatora can do my job better than I can. So what is my purpose?" Alielle smiled. "Fatora's not as great a politician as you think. She can be a little heavy handed. If there wasn't a war on, she'd have alienated half the Alliance by now. She lacks your diplomatic touch. Besides, she only started doing this to help you." Rune nodded. "I know. I just feel at a loss. I've spent my whole life working on one thing or another, to the degree that I've never really had any free time. Now that I have, I don't know what to do with it." "You don't have to spend every waking moment working for the good of the country," Alielle said. "Fatora seemed to manage just fine with that concept. Perhaps you should try to be more like her." Rune blushed. "But I've never... I mean, I don't share Fatora's interest in... um..." "Not like that," Alielle laughed. "Well, not straight away... I mean you should learn to relax, and enjoy the perks of being a princess, like Fatora does. Order the most famous writers in the country to produce a ten-hour play about how great you are. Invent a really stupid public holiday. Name a chain of islands after parts of the female anatomy." "But I couldn't do that..." "Why not? Nobody's going to stop you. You're a princess! I think you need a lesson in how to be irresponsible..." Hearing small footsteps, Fujisawa stopped at the door of the staff room and looked over his shoulder. Cerev stood expectantly behind him. "Oh, hi, Cerev," Fujisawa smiled. "What can I do for you?" "I liked the article you wrote," he said. Fujisawa really shouldn't have been surprised, but he was. "You read newspapers? That's unusual for someone your age." "I like the Roshtarian Observer. It's very balanced. I don't like the Roshtarian Sun though." "No," Fujisawa said. "I think we can agree on that point." "It's too juvenile," Cerev continued. He smiled wryly. A child could read it." "So they say," Fujisawa laughed. Cerev took a piece of paper from his pocket. "I noticed a few grammatical mistakes in your piece. I made a note of them." "Well, thanks..." Fujisawa took the paper from Cerev. The word 'prodigy' seemed insufficient somehow. "I won't tell the other students," Cerev said. He turned and headed off down the corridor. Amazing. Fujisawa walked into the staff room, only to find it empty. A copy of the Roshtarian Sun lay on a table. The same sort of morbid curiosity that compels people to sneak a look at a road accident suddenly took hold of his brain. He knew reading the Roshtarian Sun would only make him angry. But part of him had to know... What was Jennown Doht saying today? Five seconds later, he was searching through the abandoned tabloid for Doht's column. JENNOWN DOHT: THE VOICE OF REASON 'In the past few days we have witnessed the fall of another Alliance nation to the Bugrom. But why did Styrenia fall so quickly, when Dorusland stood firm for almost a month? The answer, my friends, is obvious. While Styrenia invited Opaques to enter their country and take jobs from hardworking citizens, Dorusland resisted the blue advance. And now we see why. The only explanation for the rapid invasion of Styrenia is the Opaques. It must now be clear to all that they are working with the Bugrom.' Fujisawa's morbid curiosity was suitably satisfied. Jinnai glanced smugly at the apparently ordinary teenage boy behind him. Here in Dorusland, it was necessary for Nahato to disguise himself as somebody less conspicuous. "Prepare to witness some real intelligence work!" Jinnai gloated. "It seems that you, with all your fancy powers of invisibility, still haven't been able to capture the Purple Lightning. It's a good job that ONE of us is competent." "You'd be nowhere without us," Nahato frowned. "We were the ones who taught Sakura how to use her powers. We bombed the Stairway to the Sky. And we replaced Fran's generals with doubles." "Yeah, well... you did what?" "It was simple. Fran does whatever his generals tell him. We just had to guide him to defeat." "Hmm," Jinnai pondered. "I thought his tactics were a little odd..." "Besides," Nahato cut in, "this Purple Lightning could hardly be considered a priority. He poses no threat." Jinnai snarled. "That's not the point! He's undermining my authority! If the Dorusian resistance was a heavily armed militia or something, people would understand why we couldn't catch them all straight away. But no! The Dorusian resistance is one guy committing petty acts of public nuisance. The fact that we haven't caught him yet makes us look like idiots!" Groucho approached Jinnai. "Qlnbg," he said. "Xr bmdsk wsbrf." "Good," Jinnai nodded. He pointed to a house in front of them. "According to our tip-off, the Purple Lightning is hiding on the top floor of that house." "In there?" Nahato asked, incredulous. The house was clearly very old- a tall, cheaply built stand-alone structure made mostly of wood. Something wasn't quite right, he thought to himself. This could be interesting... "Advance!" Jinnai called to his troops. "I want him alive!" One after another, the bugs charged through the door of the house. The whole building shook as the bugs inside ascended the stairs. "Should you really be sending so many of them in there?" Nahato asked. "The building doesn't look especially..." He was interrupted by the sound of splintering timber, followed by a crash. Within seconds, the rickety house collapsed under the massive weight of the Bugrom on the upper floors. Jinnai approached the pile of bugs and broken wood. "Groucho!" he shouted. "Are you under there?" Groucho crawled out from underneath the incapacitated bugs. "Hfnrl bkhpt," he said pathetically. "Well?" Jinnai probed. "Did you find ANYTHING?" Groucho held out a piece of paper, which Jinnai snatched. Th writing was Dorusian- he couldn't read it- but he recognised the signature. "The Purple Lightning," he said to himself. "Damn. This whole thing was just another set-up." He turned to Nahato, expecting to see his usual smug face. Instead, the boy was in conversation with an unfamiliar man. "Fine, dismissed," Nahato snapped. "Mr Jinnai! Over here, now!" "What?" Jinnai demanded. "And who was that guy?" "One of my intelligence operatives. There are worrying developments in Roshtaria. They have another Demon God on their side." "Damn," Jinnai cursed. "That's not all. Your old friend Mizuhara is planning something that could wreck this whole operation." "What? What's he planning?" Jinnai was suddenly agitated at the mention of his rival's name. "That's not important right now," Nahato replied. "He's working on it with Ifurita and an Opaque traitor. Even if we kill Mizuhara and the traitor, we probably won't be able to kill Ifurita. She'd carry on the work." "Well, is there anything we CAN do?" "Yes. In order for their plan to succeed, they need the co-operation of another Earthling- one I haven't heard of before. Her name is Kurai." "Kurai?" Jinnai repeated a name he hadn't heard in four and a half years. "Surely not... Mari Kurai?" "You know her?" "Yeah, I remember her. She was the weirdest person I ever met." "Call Sakura," Nahato said. "You have to kill this Mari Kurai as soon as possible." "Set the frequency to three thousand eight hundred vibrations per second," Makoto called. Ifurita tapped the parameters into the ancient machine. "Ready," she replied. "I've a feeling this is going to work," he smiled at Ifurita and Amiri. He had long since given up smiling at Mari. She never smiled back. "Okay," he nodded to Mari. "Now try to read me." Mari put her hand on Makoto's shoulder, an action she was quite used to by now. "And... start up the machine," Makoto called to Ifurita. "It's done," she called back. "I... can't read you," Mari said. "There's some resistance." "But I can read you," Makoto replied. "It's so much easier than it was before." "Don't even think about doing that endorphin thing again," Mari warned. "I've never been so embarrassed in all my life." "Ifurita," Amiri said, "are you detecting the polarity of the energy flow?" Ifurita nodded. "Yes. It's... one hundred percent reversed. This is it! You were right, Makoto. Spatial vibrations DO affect the polarity of micro- energetic charges!" Makoto broke the link with Mari abruptly. "I don't believe it. We may have found a way to disrupt the Phantom Tribe's powers." "WE still have to determine the frequency of their powers," Ifurita pointed out. "Plus, we'll need to develop a delivery mechanism, and..." "Never mind that for now," Makoto cut in. "This is a major breakthrough. We should celebrate, Ifurita! Doctor, will you join us?" "Of course," Amiri smiled. "Lead the way." Makoto, Ifurita and Amiri filed out of the lab in high spirits. Only Mari remained. "Not even so much as a thank you," she said to herself. "Charming." Nanami noticed the solitary figure standing in the middle of the restaurant. "Mari?" she said. "We're not really open yet..." "That's okay. I'm not hungry." Nanami smiled. "Okay. Well, what brings you here? I don't think I've seen you here since you quit." "I just... I don't know," Mari sighed. "I suppose I wanted someone to talk to. Everybody's just been so busy recently." "Well, let's talk." Nanami sat at one of the tables, and gestured for Mari to join her. Reluctantly, Mari took her lead. "So, what's on your mind?" Nanami asked. "Everything," Mari replied. "I'm sick of this place. I want out. I mean, for a while I thought it was cool. But now I realise it's just like Earth. War, fighting, bigotry... People are just as stupid here as they are back home." "Do you miss Earth at all?" Mari shook her head. "Not especially. Like I said, Earth and El-Hazard might as well be one and the same. My problems here are exactly the same as they were on Earth." "What problems?" Nanami probed. Mari looked away. "I don't want to talk about it..." "Please, Mari," Nanami pleaded. "Tell me what's making you so sad. I want to help." "You can't help!" "I'll be the judge of that." "Okay, fine," Mari relented. "But just remember, you were the one who asked." Nanami wasn't completely sure what that meant. "I was in love," Mari continued. "Really in love. I'd have done anything for her, Nanami. But she didn't know. I couldn't tell her, for obvious reasons. At best she'd have been embarrassed. At worst, I'd have been made the laughing stock of the whole school. Again." "I'm sorry," Nanami said. "It sounds like you really cared about her." "I did. But in all the time I knew her, I hardly spoke to her. I was so scared of saying something stupid. So I just watched her from afar. And it destroyed me. Knowing she'd never love me, waiting for some boy to take her away from me..." By now, Mari was close to tears. "Who was she? If you don't mind my asking?" "I can't say..." "What does it matter now? We're in El-Hazard." "Well..." Mari sniffed, "as I said before... my problems are exactly the same here as they were on Earth." It took Nanami a few seconds to assess the full ramifications of Mari's last comment. By the time she'd realised, tears were already streaming down Mari's face. "Me?" Nanami asked cautiously. "You have no idea," Mari sobbed, "just how much I love you. You're everything to me. You have been ever since the moment I first saw you. If you so much as said hello to me, I'd be in heaven. But I knew you could never love someone... like me." "You should have said something," Nanami said. "Why? Would it have made any difference at all to you?" "It does make a difference," Nanami insisted. "Really, I'm... very flattered that you think so much of me." Mari shook her head. "No!" she said between sobs. "Please, credit me with some intelligence. I can see how embarrassed you are. This is just what I knew would happen." "Mari, I don't get it. If you thought for so long that I'd reject you, why didn't you look for someone else?" Nanami asked. "It doesn't work like that!" Mari insisted. "You were the only one I wanted. I'd have given up anything... everything... just for you to love me like I loved you. But no, fate decided not to let me have the one thing I really wanted. Instead, it chose to taunt me with a constant reminder of what I could have had, if only I'd been good enough..." "Mari, please!" Nanami cut in. "It's not a question of that. You are good enough..." "Then WHY?" she screamed. "WHY DON'T YOU LOVE ME?" Mari got up and ran from the restaurant, crying. Nanami stayed right where she was. "Oh my God..." she said to herself. Fatora sat in the centre of the war room, glancing from one map to another. "Do we have any more information from Styrenia?" she asked one of the generals. "No, princess," came the reply. "All lines of communication are down. There's very little chance of..." "Shut up and keep trying," she snapped. "Fatora..." a voice said. "You've been trying this for days now." Fatora looked to Alielle, who had just joined her in her elevated position above the giant map. "Alielle," she said, "we have to get more information about the fate of the Styrenian government. It's imperative that we..." "I know you're worried about your friend Formyka," Alielle interrupted. "Friend?" Fatora said, incredulous. "That bitch Formyka? Have you gone insane? She's my sworn enemy, the bane of my existence! I don't give a damn WHAT happens to her!" "You've obviously been giving it a lot of thought recently..." "No I haven't! I... completely forgot that she rules Styrenia!" Alielle sighed. "Whatever you say, Fatora. But you should know that it IS possible to have someone as a rival and still care about what happens to them." Fatora put her head in her hands. "That idiot. I bet she's got herself killed somehow. That's just the kind of stupid thing she'd do." Alielle tugged Fatora's sleeve. "Um... Fatora..." she said, looking over at the entrance. "Is THIS the war room?" a familiar voice said. "It's not as big as I thought it would be. Ours is twice the size, and we've never even had a war! And just who decorated this place? Come on, was this EVER fashionable?" "Princess Formyka!" Alielle called. "You're okay! Wow, what a relief!" Fatora sighed, partly out of relief, partly out of trepidation. "Had to turn up HERE, didn't you?" "Oh, Fatora, honey, you wouldn't believe what an adventure I had getting here... evading the Bugrom for days on end, and with only five changes of clothes!" She pointed to her two servants, who were weighed down with her luggage. "Hey have you SEEN that new Demon God Jinnai's using? Whoa! I'd like to wind HER motor, if you get my drift!" "I don't believe it," Fatora said. "She just participated in the conquest of your country, and you want to have sex with her?" "I think it's wrong to hold grudges." Fatora shook her head. "Well, now that you've bravely deserted your country, what do you plan on doing?" "I deserted... I mean, temporarily vacated my country for a very good reason," Formyka insisted. "So that I could come here to Roshtaria, and begin the official Styrenian government in exile. Okay, who wants to be prime minister?" "Me! Me!" both of her servants shouted. "Okay..." She pointed to the female servant. "You can be prime minister." She turned to the male servant. "And you're my new defence secretary." "Yay!" they said in unison. Formyka assumed a commanding pose. "Believe me. We will not rest until the Bugrom are expelled from our great land. No matter how long it takes, no matter how much effort... we will prevail, and restore to Styrenia the freedom it so rightly deserves." "Wow," Fatora whispered to Alielle. Alielle nodded slightly. "It looks like we're seeing another side to Formyka." "Oh well," Formyka said. "That's enough governing for the time being. Who wants to go to the beach?" Her servants squealed in delight. "Okay then. Yeah, see you in a month or so, Fatora. Good luck with the war and stuff." She left the war room with her servants in tow. "That woman is unbelievable," Fatora sighed. "I know," Alielle replied. "It's not even bikini weather." "I think she's a spy." "You've got to be kidding," Parnasse replied. "Tenax, a spy? That's completely ridiculous." Mycea reclined on the grass. "No it isn't. My dad says that a lot of the Opaques are really spies for the Phantom Tribe." "Oh, I see," Parnasse nodded weakly. "And they sent a highly trained spy... to work in a restaurant? Come on." "Think about it!" Mycea urged. "Nanami was responsible for screwing up their plans last time. So they sent Tenax to keep an eye on her." "Look, what's wrong with you? Why can't you trust her? Even the royal house trust her. She's the student of my sister's doctor, you know." Mycea's eyes widened. "She's been in the palace? Well, that proves it!" "No! It doesn't! You don't have any actual proof at all, do you?" They were both distracted by a loud noise overhead. Looking up, they saw a giant object flying towards the city centre. "What the hell is THAT?" Parnasse gasped. "I've seen one of those before..." Mycea replied. "It's a... a Bugrom transport! Oh my God, we're being invaded! They're here!" "Mycea, I don't think..." She cowered behind Parnasse. "Protect me, Parny! You can do it!" "From BUGROM? Are you serious?" he replied. "Look, I don't think they're invading. I only see one ship." "Then... why are they here?" The square had emptied rapidly upon the appearance of the transport. Only four figures remained- Shayla, Afura, Qawoor and Fujisawa. "It must be a raid," Shayla said. "But if it is, they're taking their time." "Perhaps they're selecting a target," Afura theorised. "Although I'm surprised they aren't going straight for the palace. It's the obvious choice." "Well, I hope they've brought along that Demon God," Shayla said, cracking her knuckles. "It's payback time for that bitch!" Fujisawa shrugged. "Who'd have thought it? Sakura Tamaro, a Demon God. She always had a reputation for being moody, but..." "I rather hope she ISN'T here," Afura said. "Our last performance against her was hardly exemplary." "I just hope they didn't bring any bugs," Qawoor sighed. Jinnai didn't know what was more infuriating- the fact that there was a flaw in his plan, or the fact that Sakura was the one who found it. "So how exactly am I supposed to find this girl? There's got to be hundreds of thousands of people in this city." "Well..." Jinnai replied, "she's, um, very distinctive. You'll know her when you see her." "But there's nobody down there!" Sakura objected. "They're all hiding!" Jinnai sighed. "I guess we'll just have to get out and ask then, won't we? Zeppo! Land this thing, will you?" "They're landing!" Qawoor cried. The transport descended to the ground, taking up almost half of the main square. Jinnai stepped down from it, followed by Sakura. "Jinnai!" Fujisawa said angrily. "You have a lot of explaining to do, young man." "Good afternoon, sensei," Jinnai acknowledged. "It's a pleasure to see you again. I don't think you've met Sakura. She's my new Ultimate Weapon." "We're ready for you," Shayla snapped. "Don't think you can just glide in here and start attacking us!" "Who said anything about attacking?" Jinnai replied. "I'm just here to ask a favour of you. I'd like to know the whereabouts of one Mari Kurai." "Who?" Qawoor asked. "You know," Afura hissed. "The scary girl who wears black." Fujisawa frowned. "We're not telling. I have a duty to protect my students." "Oh well," Jinnai said. "I don't suppose I can blame you for that. Unfortunately, without this information, Sakura might just be forced to LEVEL THIS CITY!" He started to laugh uncontrollably. Sakura looked at Jinnai quizzically. "Um, Katsuhiko?" she said, barely audible over his laughter. "Katsuhiko? HEY, KATSUHIKO!" Jinnai ceased laughing abruptly. "What?" "I'm confused. Do you want me to destroy this city or not?" "Idiot!" Jinnai exploded. "What do YOU think?" "Ummm..." Sakura paused, obviously deep in thought. Jinnai waited patiently for a few seconds, but it soon became evident that an answer was not forthcoming. "Forget it! I don't have the time to stand here and wait on the offchance that your minuscule brain will ever come up with anything of any significance. Now, just do your job and blow this city up!" "Okay!" Sakura rose effortlessly up into the sky, then added, with a slightly annoyed expression- "You could have just said so..." "Stop!" a voice said from overhead. Ifurita descended from the sky with Makoto on her back, followed closely by Three. Jinnai jumped back. "Mizuhara? Shit! Sakura! Shoot him, now!" There was no response. "Sakura?" he called. "Are you listening to me? I thought I told you to..." Sakura winced. "Too much... too much... energy!" She began to fire wildly in all directions. The large black bubbles she produced hovered around her, and shrank down until they were barely visible. "What's she doing?" Makoto asked. Three frowned. "Zero energy. It is more versatile than it appears to be." "What do you mean?" "Until now, you told me that you had only seen it used to drain energy from others. But it has more uses." The tiny bubbles shot outwards and slammed into the surrounding buildings. Chunks of masonry exploded upon the impact and flew out in all directions. Jinnai took shelter behind his bugs. "Sakura! Have you gone crazy? You're gonna get me killed!" "How does she do that?" Makoto gasped. "Manipulation of air pressure," Three replied. "The zero energy bubbles drain energy from the air trapped inside them. The air cools and contracts, so the bubble shrinks. Then she launches the bubble at the target. It breaks on impact, the air heats up again and expands rapidly, hence the explosion." "Makoto!" Ifurita called out in distress. "I'm detecting something... unpleasant." "Could you be more specific?" Three asked irritably. "No. It's just... something." Another, considerably larger explosion was heard above. More rubble rained down on the square." "Sakura!" Jinnai yelled. "This is all very impressive, but would you PLEASE let me get out of the way first? Damn it, I said STOP!" "Why won't she listen to him?" Makoto asked. "Previously, you expressed surprise that Sakura was capable of such destruction. I am beginning to doubt that she has total control over her actions." "You mean something's controlling her?" "I think so. Perhaps it is her Demon God half. Perhaps something else..." Shayla looked over at Fujisawa. "We've got to do something. Come on." "Right," Fujisawa nodded. "I'm with you." Fujisawa charged up the side of the nearest building. At the same time, Shayla launched herself up towards Sakura. "Hee-yaaa!" Shayla cried, sending a volley of fire in Sakura's direction. She barely noticed. Shayla's fire was harmlessly absorbed by one of the nearby zero energy bubbles. From the opposite direction, Fujisawa soared through the air in pursuit of Sakura. "Fujisawa... KICK!" Sakura casually looked over her shoulder at him, and directed one of the bubbles to shield her. Fujisawa hit the bubble, which exploded with an almighty bang, sending him flying through the wall of a nearby house. "Hey!" Shayla objected. "You're gonna pay for that!" Sakura slammed a bubble at high speed into Shayla's abdomen. She ricocheted off one building, into another, and landed painfully on the ground. Her body twitched as random sparks of fire shot from her. "Shayla!" Afura ran towards her, followed by Makoto, Ifurita, Three and Qawoor. "What's happening to her?" Makoto demanded, horrified. "I don't know. Help me remove the Lamp from her, quickly! The rest of you, try to hold Sakura back." Qawoor nodded and ran back to the centre of the square. Ifurita and Three took off to engage Sakura. Makoto and Afura wrestled with the convulsing Shayla, eventually releasing the Lamp of Fire from her arm. Her body went limp. "Thank God," Afura sighed in relief. "I think she's okay now." "What about the Lamp?" Makoto asked. "It looked like it sustained some damage. It can be repaired." Shayla murmured. "That... skinny bitch!" "Yes, she's okay," Afura nodded to Makoto. Ifurita and Three circled Sakura from a safe distance. "I should warn you," Ifurita called, "my program prohibits me from attacking Sakura." "I know," Three replied. "Try to keep her distracted." Ifurita darted to and fro before Sakura in an elaborate, zig-zagging pattern. The part of Sakura still semi-aware of her situation assumed there was some method to this. There wasn't. A split second later, Three fired a volley of energy blasts into Sakura's back. Sakura cried out in pain, and seemed momentarily confused. Qawoor, standing below, sensed her chance to strike. She raised her arms in preparation, and suddenly noticed something black heading towards her. Qawoor's screams echoed across the square. "What happened?" Afura gasped. "I saw something hit her," Makoto replied. "Something black. It seemed to come out of one of the bubbles." "Get it out of me!" Qawoor screamed. Suddenly, her protests subsided. "Sorry," she said in a calm voice. "That was most undignified." Afura ran towards her. "Qawoor, are you okay?" Qawoor answered her concern with a well-targeted jet of water. "Keep away!" she warned. "Sakura! Can you hear me?" Sakura looked down at her, apparently confused. "The Ifurita behind you is vulnerable to your attacks. You would be well advised to target her head and spinal column in particular." Afura struggled to her feet. "Qawoor, what the hell are you doing?" "That's not Qawoor!" Makoto called. "There's something controlling her, I'm sure of it!" "In that case, I'll have to persuade it to leave," Afura said. "Qawoor, I'm sorry about this, but..." She called a tornado into being, and hurled it at Qawoor. Unprepared, Qawoor was swept up by it. "Stop!" she called. "Can't... keep... hold on..." "There it is!" Ifurita exclaimed. "It's leaving!" A translucent black dart made its escape from Qawoor's body and flew aimlessly away from her. It collided with an unsuspecting Makoto. Makoto stared up through the blackness. It was like looking into infinity itself. "Who's there?" he demanded. Fleeting images made patterns in the darkness. Odd, abstract shapes, which might just have been faces... "I know you're there! He insisted. "Show yourself!" "It's been too long," a voice replied. "Hello, Makoto Mizuhara. What an unexpected pleasure." Makoto gasped. "That voice... I know you!" "You most certainly do. You know me through your beloved Ifurita, and through your friend Qawoor Towles. The greatest mind in El-Hazard's history... the creator of the Eye of God... But you know me best by another name." The face formed in the blackness before Makoto, and he was no longer in any doubt. "Arjah," Makoto said. "You're... the one who created Ifurita? You're the man I saw in her mind! Jahad Ito Arundel... and Arjah... are one and the same, aren't they?" "Well deduced, Makoto Mizuhara." Makoto frowned. "But you're dead. You died thousands of years ago." "Death is such an imprecise term, wouldn't you say?" Arjah replied. "Let me give you some advice, my friend. Be very careful with zero energy..." His image flitted from one side of Makoto to the other. "Look at me. The zero energy that enveloped me did something extraordinary. I became one with it. Now I am composed entirely of zero energy." "But that's impossible," Makoto stated. "Zero energy is literally nothing. You can't be composed of nothing." "That all depends on your definition of nothing," Arjah rebutted. "I have existed in this state for thousands of years. It's been quite an experience. But recently, I've begun to tire of such an existence. Omniscience can get so repetitive..." "Omniscience? Are you trying to tell me you know everything?" "It's no idle claim, Makoto Mizuhara. I exist in the centre of a dimensional vortex. I see everything. Everything." Makoto shook his head. "Another deception, I'll bet. Didn't you once claim to be some high priest of dimensions?" "I speak the truth!" Arjah bellowed, indignant. "I have witnessed every second of your life. I saw your birth, in that underdeveloped dimensional backwater you call home. I watched your childhood, your adolescence... your earl, feeble attempts to curry favour with your friend Nanami. I saw your journey to El-Hazard, and your subsequent bungling attempts to duplicate my genius. Then, I witnessed your success, and the first night you spent with my creation, Ifurita..." Makoto said nothing. He stood his ground. "Tell me," Arjah smiled, "were you impressed? I'd always wondered how she'd perform in that capacity..." "Shut up!" Makoto demanded. "What's wrong with you? Why have you been watching me so obsessively?" "Didn't you hear me? I see all! Every second of every life in a vast multitude of dimensions. Yours is just one of many. For millennia I have witnessed the lives of great leaders, scientists, artists and warriors... every moment of their lives." With a slight sigh, he added- "It's really not as interesting as you'd imagine." "What do you want?" Makoto challenged. "What do you think? I want to exist, just as you do. I'm tired of immortality. Soon, my life will be restored." "How?" Arjah laughed. "I've seen enough to know not to reveal my plans to you. I think it would be more entertaining to let you find out for yourself." The images around Makoto began to distort. Arjah's voice grew distant. "We'll meet again soon, Makoto Mizuhara. My influence in this world is growing..." Everything went white. "Did you see him too?" Makoto groaned and squinted up at the figure above him. "Qawoor?" Qawoor knelt down beside him. "What WAS he?" "I've seen him before," Makoto sighed. "And just when I thought things couldn't get any more complicated..." Above them, the battle raged on. Sakura's power seemed to be building, as she fired at Three with increasing rapidity. One f the bubbles hit. Three jerked back and winced. "Three!" Ifurita cried. "Are you alright?" Three stayed silent for a few seconds, trying to regain her bearings. Then she smiled slightly. "Don't worry, Ifurita. What doesn't kill you..." She pointed her staff at Sakura. "...can only make you stronger." A stream of black bubbles shot from the staff and slammed into Sakura. Three descended unsteadily, exhausted. Sakura dropped unceremoniously out of the sky, landing in the transport where Jinnai and the bugs were hiding. She looked up. "Whoa... what happened?" Jinnai ran over. "Sakura! You okay?" "Yeah, I think so," she said, getting up. She noticed the rubble around her. "Hey, who did this?" "YOU did, you dummy! Don't you remember?" A small, black clad figure walked into the square. "Shit," said Mari to no-one in particular. "What's going on here?" Makoto was the first to notice her presence. "Aagh! Mari, you have to get out of here!" "Why?" "Just do it!" "But I want to know what's happening..." Jinnai gasped as he saw his target. "Sakura! That's her! Next to Mizuhara! Kill her, and hurry!" "Right." Sakura flew out of the transport and towards the figure. "YOU?" Sakura stopped in mid air. A few feet away from Mari. "Hey," Mari said. "I remember you. You're that singer I met in Shinonome. What's your name again? Hell, I've forgotten. Was it Saeko something?" "Aaaargh!" Sakura growled. "What is the MATTER with you? All of this and you still don't know who I am? Oh, I'm gonna enjoy this!" Mari tilted her head innocently. "Enjoy what?" Sakura jabbed her Power Key Unit into Mari's chest and fired. Mari fell backwards silently. "No!" Makoto cried. "My God, what have you done?" "Yeah..." a voice said. "That really, really hurt. What's your problem?" Mari got to her feet and regarded Sakura with a hurt expression. "Mari, you're still alive!" Makoto exclaimed. "How?" "That's what I'd like to know," Sakura frowned. "Die!" She fired another round. Mari stumbled back slightly. "Hey!" she objected. Still no effect. Sakura grumbled and fired a succession of blasts into Mari. Bang. "Ow!" Boom. "Stop it!" Bang. "Bitch!" Boom. "I'm warning you! I'll start hitting back!" Sakura withdrew her weapon. "Damn it, why do you insist on making me look like an idiot? Why don't you just die?" "Sakura!" Jinnai called. "We haven't got time for this! Just do something!" "Hmm..." Sakura held up her Power Key Unit, and studied it carefully from a variety of angles. Then, with masterful precision, she brought it down hard on Mari's head. Mari fell to the ground. Sakura picked her up and took off. "Fantastic." She deposited Mari in the transport and smiled at Jinnai. "Look! I did it!" "What are you grinning at? Do you want praise, is that it? 'Congratulations, Sakura, you managed to knock a schoolgirl unconscious on your seventh attempt?' You're the lamest Ultimate Weapon I've ever seen! Zeppo! Get us out of here, now!" The transport lifted off the ground. "I'll follow them!" Three said. "I can still fight Sakura..." "Your energy levels have been critically reduced," Ifurita warned. "And I'm detecting several errors in your combative systems." Three grimaced. "I... was not designed to use zero energy. I'm having problems integrating the technique into my arsenal... but I can still..." She fell to her knees. By now, the transport was just a dot on the horizon. Mari awoke to the sound of laughter. She glanced around. She was in... well, what WAS it? The walls and surfaces looked vaguely organic... Right, this must be the hive. She quickly located the source of the laughter. Jinnai was standing a short distance away, with an unfamiliar woman at his side. Other figures stood behind the, but she couldn't make them out through the shadows. "See that?" Jinnai said to the woman. "One of Mizuhara's allies, AND the key to one of his devious plans!" "Very good," the woman replied, a little wearily. "I'm telling you, Diva, this is... oh, you're awake, are you? Well, Kurai, prepare to witness the might of my legions! Come forth!" Two giant, bipedal insects stepped out from the shadows. Mari looked at them with an expression of mild surprise. "See?" Jinnai smiled at Diva. "She's struck dumb with terror! What do you think, Kurai? What do you say to THAT?" Mari remained silent for a while longer, a question obviously forming in her head. Finally, she spoke. "How do they breathe?" Jinnai's expression of superiority changed to one of utter bewilderment. "W... what? What kind of question is that?" "Well," Mari clarified, "insects on Earth absorb oxygen directly through numerous apertures in the skin, and distribute it via a series of internal tracheae... but taking into account the body mass to surface area ratio, that system almost certainly wouldn't work for such large creatures. Too much mass. I wonder if they have lungs instead..." "Hey! Shut up!" Jinnai commanded. "I don't care! Now, aren't you the least bit impressed with my magnificent followers?" "Oh, sorry," Mari apologised. "They're very nice." Jinnai put a hand to his head. "NICE?" "Mm-hmm. I especially like the purple one. Do they all have names?" Jinnai nodded. "They certainly do. Groucho! Escort our scientifically curious friend to the cells!" Groucho walked forward, took a closer look at Mari, then quickly retreated. "What?" Jinnai demanded of the bug now cowering behind him. "Hnpshk nmtr!" Grouch said meekly. "She's what? Death? Don't be pathetic! She's just a chick in a black dress!" Diva looked carefully at Mari. "She does look remarkably like the legendary incarnation of Death..." "Well, I know her better than any of you, and she ISN'T Death!" Jinnai shouted. "Margaret! YOU take her away!" Margaret whimpered an objection. "Do as he commands!" Diva said. Margaret reluctantly took hold of Mari and began to lead her away. "Margaret?" Mari said. "That's a crap name for a bug. If I had a bug, I'd name it Lora, after Lora Logic, saxophone player in the original line up of the legendary X-Ray Spex. Or perhaps the drummer. What was he called again? Oh..." "She's too weird," Jinnai sighed. Diva looked to the other bugs in the room. "You are all dismissed. I wish to speak privately with Mr Jinnai." The bugs quickly obliged and left. Jinnai gulped. Whenever Diva did this it was always bad news. "As you know, I will lay the new queen's egg in a few days," she said. "However..." "What?" Jinnai urged. "My condition is deteriorating rapidly. Much faster than I thought it would. I fear I may not live to see the new queen hatch." "B... but..." Jinnai stammered, "you have to educate her!" "I know. This has never happened before. But then, in the history of our Empire, no queen has ever had to replenish such a large portion of the population. I suspect my constant breeding has quickened the onset of my demise. For any other queen in our history, this could mean disaster, but..." She smiled at Jinnai. "Fortunately, I have you. My messenger from God. You can educate the new queen for me..." Jinnai shuddered. Oh God. Day 242 "Come on, Miz. It's been two weeks." Miz frowned. "Now, Shayla. You know it's dangerous to use the Lamps unless you're fully fit." "But I am! I've completely recovered!" Shayla looked across Miz's living room at Afura, Qawoor and Fujisawa, hoping for some support. Afura nodded. "She's right, Miz. She seems as fit as ever." "Very well, then. I've managed to repair the Lamp casing. You really should be more careful though, Shayla. This is the second casing you've broken..." "I fell on it!" Shayla said defensively. "Well, whatever happened, it's repaired now." Miz handed the Lamp of Fire to Shayla. "Go on, check it's working. But just a small test. These are new curtains." "Okay!" Shayla strapped the Lamp to he arm excitedly. "At last, some power! I feel..." She paused. "Uh oh." "What?" Fujisawa prompted. Shayla went through a rapid succession of poses, all of which would have looked very impressive had they been accompanied by fire. "It's not working!" she said, alarmed. "I don't feel a thing!" Miz looked perplexed. "Give me the Lamp. I'll take a look." Shayla removed the Lamp and handed it to Miz, who placed it on the table. The others gathered around her as she prised the object open with a metal rod. "The source seems to be intact." Miz prodded the source, a mall chunk of red stone, with her metal tool. It glowed brilliant orange in response to the contact. "It should be working," Miz shrugged. "The source is fine." "Do you think the zero energy attack could have something to do with this?" Qawoor offered. Afura nodded slightly. "Well, it did make you lose control of the Lamp, Shayla." Miz considered this. "Hmm. The link between a priestess and her Lamp is very sensitive. And we don't really know how this zero energy works, or what it can do. It's possible that your link to the lamp has been damaged." "But... what does that mean?" Afura sighed. "It could be only temporary. But if your link's been severed completely, you may have to re-learn your elemental abilities from scratch." Shayla's jaw dropped. "That... could take years!" "It's going to take years." Nanami gasped. "You're kidding!" Makoto shook his head. "Afraid not. Three says the Stairway was so badly damaged, it'll be at least two years before the princesses can use the Eye of God again. And that's if we start repairs straight away." "What's happening to this world?" Nanami sighed. "I'd just got settled here. Now everything just... seems to be going to hell." "You're not usually this pessimistic." Nanami looked to the floor. "It's ever since my brother took Mari." "I know," Makoto said. "Well, at least we got enough data from our experiments on her to proceed with our..." "Makoto!" Nanami interrupted angrily. "Never mind your damn experiments! The girl's been kidnapped! She could be dead!" "I... I'm sorry. I've just been doing so much research lately, it's all I think about. I'm sure she's okay." "You think?" He nodded. "Well, zero energy doesn't seem to harm her for a start. Must be another side effect of her ability..." "I'm sorry I got angry," Nanami said. "It's just... something happened a few hours before she was kidnapped. She, well... she told me she loved me." "She what?" Makoto responded, incredulous. "Seriously?" "She seemed pretty serious about it." "I don't know," Makoto said. "Mari says a lot of things." Nanami moved closer to Makoto. "She meant it. I know she did. And ever since she said it, I can't help feeling responsible..." "For what?" "For her. She was so upset that I didn't love her. I feel like I'm to blame for screwing up her life." "That's not true," Makoto reassured. "What could you have done?" "I could have paid more attention. If I'd worked it out sooner, maybe I could have... I don't know. But it all seems so obvious now. That's the reason why she was always so shy around me... why she was so keen to make me happy. I just wish I'd had the chance to straighten things out with her. But now I might never see her again." "You will," Makoto said. "We'll get her back. I'm certain we haven't seen the last of her." Nanami sat down sadly. "I hope you're right, Makoto." "Come on," Alielle smiled. "You wanted me to teach you how to enjoy yourself, didn't you?" "But... it just seems so cruel," Rune replied. "It's also funny. Funny outranks cruel. That's what Fatora taught me." Rune was clearly tempted. "Well... alright. But just this once." "Okay!" Alielle grinned. "Let's go!" She and Rune stepped out into the corridor. Londs was standing nearby. "Go on!" Alielle hissed to Rune. "You start!" Rune blushed. "And stop blushing!" "Sorry," Rune whispered. She regained her composure, and, making sure that Londs could hear, began. "Alielle... I've never felt this way about anyone before." Out of the corner of her eye, Alielle could see Londs' sudden expression of surprise. She suppressed the urge to smile, and answered Rune. "Nor have I, Rune." "But..." Rune continued, momentarily forgetting what came next, "I'm so scared of these feelings. I don't understand them." By now it was all Londs could do to disguise his horror. "You will, Rune," Alielle replied. "I'll show you how..." They walked, arm in arm, past Londs. Rune looked up at him. "Londs, you look like you're about to say something. Is something wrong?" "N... nothing..." he stammered. "Oh, good." Rune and Alielle walked off down the corridor, and turned the corner. A few seconds later, Londs heard hysterical laughter. "That was brilliant," said a voice that sounded a lot like Alielle's. "Fatora will be SO proud!" "Where are we going?" Parnasse asked for the fifth time as Mycea dragged him along the street. "You'll see when we get there," she replied. Parnasse thought he could hear shouting. "Hey... do you hear that?" "We're almost there now..." They reached the end of the street, and Parnasse could see the source of the raised voices. Some sort of march. Very well attended, too. There must have been at least a thousand, and that was only the group he could see. "What is it?" "They're protesting against the Opaques," Mycea smiled. Parnasse's eyebrows almost jumped off his face. "You brought me here so we could watch THIS?" "No," she said. "I thought we could join in." "WHAT? NO! NO WAY!" "How come?" Parnasse didn't know where to begin. "Because... because I don't agree with it, for a start! Can't you understand that?" "But EVERYONE agrees with it. You're just not informed enough on the subject. My dad says..." That was when Parnasse realised something unnerving. All the time that he had been trying to change Mycea, she had been working to change him. The protestors moved ever closer, their chant of 'Blues out' now echoing in his head. He took Mycea's arm. "Come on. We're leaving." "But we just got here." He groaned. "Mycea, it's dangerous! This is an Opaque area they're marching through. Doesn't that tell you something?" Mycea stared back blankly. "They're looking for a fight! They're trying to provoke the Opaques!" "But it's a peaceful protest," Mycea objected. "It's not our fault if they choose to attack us. We're just exercising our democratic right..." Parnasse closed his eyes. "It must be me. That's the only solution. This all makes perfect sense, and I'm the one who's crazy. Right?" He opened his eyes again. "Uh oh." "Hmm?" Mycea responded. "What's up?" group of Opaques had wandered unintentionally into the path of the protestors. They were doing their best to get out of the way, but this was the opportunity the protestors had been waiting for. Opaques, they had discovered, were extremely difficult, to provoke, upset, or even annoy. Most Opaques still had vivid memories of the appalling treatment they'd suffered at the hands of the Phantom Tribe, so were quite prepared to put up with the bigotry they faced in Roshtaria. Well, if they weren't going to be provoked, this was the next best thing. A number of the ringleaders began to chase after the Opaques. In the space of ten seconds, the peaceful protest descended into little more than a riot. "Stay if you want," Parnasse frowned. "I'm going." He suddenly realised his way out was blocked. The protestors were swarming everywhere, and getting angrier by the second. He tried to push past them, but it just seemed to make matters worse. Fights were breaking out in sections of the crowd. Shit. There was no escape. "Let me through!" a female voice cried. "For God's sake, let me through!" Parnasse caught sight of the woman. "Hey," he called, helping her through, "are you a doctor? There are people getting..." "No, no," she replied. "I'm a journalist. Wait a second..." She looked at him closely. "Sorry, I mistook you for someone important. Has anyone ever told you that you look just like..." She caught sight of a fight nearby. "Never mind." She hurried over and took out her notebook. "Kagsi Vulpix, Roshtarian Observer," she said to one of the combatants. "Could you tell me how you feel right now, sir?" A string of unusually philosophical thoughts drifted through Parnasse's head as he struggled to find a way out. What made people do this? Were the Opaques really a threat? Did these people really even consider the Opaques to be a threat? Or did they just want someone to hit out at? Something behind him exploded. He didn't bother to look back. He had already come to a conclusion anyway. "This... SUCKS!" he yelled. TO BE CONTINUED "Antimatter Black" featured- Makoto Mizuhara, Katsuhiko Jinnai, Mari Kurai, Parnasse Ralielle, Nanami Jinnai, Princess Alielle, Mycea, Afura Mann, Sakura Tamaro, Ifurita, Nahato, Princess Rune Venus, Shayla- Shayla, Arjah, Masamichi Fujisawa, Princess Fatora, Qawoor Towles, Ifurita Version Three, Miz Fujisawa, Queen Diva, Princess Formyka, Doctor Amiri, Cerev, Kagsi Vulpix, Tenax, Groucho, Number One, Number Two and Londs. dooky 7th November 2001 Proofreading by the magnificent Firebird... Ferior. Thanks also to Roy for inventing the word 'dhar'.
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