Bendit-Productions presents:

Like a Shooting Star

Featuring the characters of:
Ramza the Fox
Tergonaut
Rapidfire the Hedgehog
Vector

_______________________________________________________________

It
was a pleasant night in Sega City, the sky filled with the light if
the stars. Justin stared up into the heavens, enjoying a night off.
Stahlmansche had been quiet for some time now. Though the orange crusader
didn't like the thought of a silent Stahlmansche, there was little to be done.
He lay back on a hill in the middle of the Sega City Park with a smile. Some time to relax
wouldn't be all bad, he thought.

 

Then
something caught his eye in the starry sky. Two lights darting back and forth
somewhere in the planet's orbit. Justin sat up, activating the Omni-suit as he
did so. "What is that?" he said to no one in particular. There was an
explosion far off in the sky, almost too far away to be seen by the naked eye,
and he saw two spacecraft falling from orbit. One of the craft broke off to the
right, in the direction of the ECU headquarters. The other was headed straight
for him.

 

The
ship careened back and forth through the air, building up heat. The passenger
looked behind him to see the engine spewing smoke and discharging nuclear
radiation. It was a fail-safe put in place to insure the craft didn't set off a
nuclear reaction when damaged. The passenger cursed aloud, "Work you
stupid machine!” He slammed his fist into the console to no effect. The ground
came up fast and hard. The ship fell apart in the crash, ejecting the pilot
section. The cockpit rolled violently across the ground until it came to a halt
beside a hill. The cockpit cover blasted away into the air, shattering as it
collided with a tree. The passenger climbed out shakily, his onyx colored armor
sparking, as it had taken to brunt of the damage that would have been dealt to
his body.

 

An
orange clad figure dropped in front of the injured man. Seeing no inherent
hostility, the figure approached the pilot, who couldn't seem to stand
steadily. "Hey, you seem to have taken quite a fall." said a male
voice from the direction of the orange figure, he wasn't sure what he was
hearing was coming from anymore. He tilted his head in the direction of the
orange figure. Everything was fading. Only the orange figure shown with any
solidity. He fell to his knees, no longer able to support his own weight. He
fell face first into the dirt, the world fading from his view.

 

The
other ship's landing wasn't nearly as rough, sliding to a stop in a parking lot
next to Effective Cybertronics Unlimited. Stahlmansche at the door with
Terrornaut hidden away close by, seeming to have been waiting for this very
moment. The ship's cockpit cover jettisoned off, nearly striking Stahlmansche,
who didn't even flinch. Out stepped a red fennec fox with long spiked hair. The
light from the lot's lighting fixtures gleamed off of the dark metal of his
arms. He looked up at his new hosts, a sadistic smile on his face.

 

Stahlmansche
stepped forward and placed a hand on the fox's chin. "It's good to see
you... Adahn Valentine."

 

The
fox pushed the red tressed woman's hand from his face, taking hold of it and
bringing it to his lips. "You have a good blood flow." Adahn stated
with a calm, almost respectful tone, "As per our correspondence, you shall
be rewarded, once I find what it is I'm looking for." He let go of her
hand and began to walk toward the building, his back to the ECU's executive.
She could see an alchemical circle carved into his back, like a work of art.

 

Crossing
her arms and putting her hand to her chin, a grin creased Stahlmansche's
features. "And just what might it be that you are looking for?" she
said, an almost sultry tone mixed into the words.

 

Adahn
turned to face his new ally. He raised his hands into the air as if in praise.
"I search for God!" He shouted into the quiet night sky.

 

The
passenger opened his eyes, tired and in pain from the last nights events. He
looked around, trying to get a sense of his bearings. He saw someone to his
right, a red fennec fox that had long red hair with black tips. She was wearing
a blindfold, which the pilot knew to be for hiding the scars left where her
eyes should have been. "Jade...?" said the passenger, weakly. She
looked shocked, and maybe a little confused.

 

"Vector,
he's waking up!" she shouted to someone off to the side. The voice that
had spoken wasn't Jade's, but that of another woman who he didn't recognize.

 

"Who's
waking up?" asked another voice from the side.

 

"That
thing that Justin brought in!" answered the voice using Jade's mouth.

 

"Okay,
okay, just a minute. I just put a TV diner in the microwave."

 

"He's
waking up now Vector!"

 

The
pilot's vision cleared and Jade was replaced by a young human woman with brown
hair tied into a braid. Soon a large, green crocodile entered the passenger's
view, his face stricken with annoyance at his interrupted meal. The two looked
completely foreign to the armored pilot. He tried to sit up, but found that he
had been restrained. He struggled to break free of his bonds, but they
responded with equal force to his to keep him down.

 

"Now,
now. Don't do that." came the voice of the crocodile, "My name is
Vector. I am an Administrator here in Sega City. Could you tell me your name and
where you come from? Also, do you prefer Chili dogs, or just chili?" The
woman gave a sigh and shot Vector a glare. "What is it, Modesty?"
asked the confused croc, stepping away from the woman slightly.

 

"Can
you worry about your lunch later?" said the young woman, her patience with
Vector growing short.

 

"Ramza
Kane Valentine, Hunter First-Class, Foundation Register 50010248..."
stated the pilot, calming down but not relaxing.

 

Vector
pulled a chair next to the bed that the armored pilot was strapped to, a sigh
escaping his lungs. "We're not your enemy... Ramza?" said the green
crocodile, "We just want to know about you. And what you'd like to
eat." Vector stood up as the microwave dinged, signaling that his food had
finished cooking. He pulled a plate bearing two chili dogs from the small oven
and returned to his seat, offering one of them to Ramza. "Here, you've
been asleep for a while now. You need nourishment." The pilot simply
stared at the offered food, hunger filling his mind.

 

"Vector..."
said Modesty, a slight edge to her voice.

 

"Yes,
Modesty?" replied the crocodile, an oblivious grin on his face.

 

"He's
still strapped down..."

 

"So
he is..." Vector responded, pressing a button that Ramza could see. The
braces binding him retracted into the table, and he was free. Standing up
quickly, he turned toward the door and attempted to open it. "What are you
doing?" asked Vector, quizzically, "Surely your wounds haven't healed
completely." The hunter turned to face the crocodile, his expression
hidden behind his visor. There was silence for a while. Vector continued to
hold out the chili dog, steam rising from it in thin wisps. Ramza stared at it
for a while, the silence building as Vector and Modesty stared back. Then,
without a word, Ramza reached up and pressed a button at the base of his neck.
There was a flash of dim, almost gray light as his helmet dissolved into a
matrix of programming. The face of a male black fennec fox was revealed, long
black hair falling into place behind him. His was a face that had obviously
seen the horrors of war and then some, but now, it only displayed a look of
extreme hunger. He snatched the chili dog from Vector's hand and devoured it in
a single bite.

 

"Who's
Jade?" came a sudden question from the otherwise silent Modesty, "You
called me Jade when you woke up. Who is that? Your girlfriend back home?"

 

Ramza
wiped the remains of the chili dog from his face, a stoic expression taking
hold of his countenance. "She's my younger sister." he replied after
a moment of thought, "Now allow me to leave. I must leave now!" His
sudden shift in emotion caused the two others within the room to back away
slightly. Soon after his outburst, a figure walked into the room. He was bald
and had a pale complexion. Shoving the man aside, Ramza ran out of the room,
jumping though a glass window from the fourth floor. He fell quickly and
collided feet first with the pavement, forcing him into a crouched stance and
creating a small crater.

 

Vector,
Modesty, and Justin looked down at the crater in the street that Ramza had
formed from his fall. "You'll have to be the one to go after him,
Justin." stated the Admin with a sigh.

 

"Things
just keep getting more, and more interesting around here, don't they Vec?"
said the hairless man with a slight scoff.

 

"Why
do you say that?" questioned Vector, "Is there a carnival in
town?" Without a response, Justin activated his suit and became Tergonaut.
He jumped through the hole created by Ramza and flew off after the fox.

 

            Four sets of eyes watched the HQ
Tower that day, the eyes of a fox and eyes hidden behind a clear carapace. A
crazed look washed over Adahn's face as he watched Ramza plummet to the ground
below, raw adrenaline coursing through his veins. The look of sadistic glee was
replaced with a scowl when he knew the black fox had been unharmed by the fall.
Standing from his perch atop a nearby building, he turned in the direction
Ramza had run. "Well, that's no fun..." he stated with a somewhat
bored tone, "What's the point of leaping from a fourth story window if you
don't die as the result!" The last of these words bore a caustic edge;
Adahn's scowl only emphasizing the emotion. He turned to the chitin armored
figure standing to his right, Terrornaut. "Fare a merry chase?" he
asked, more to himself than the insectoid armored woman.

 

            "I would ask a question of you
first." Terrornaut nearly commanded, her trust in her newfound ally very
thin, "What reason do we have to follow this Ramza, character?"

 

            Adahn glared back at Terrornaut as
if she actually were a insect that needed squashing. "My reasons are my
own. You'd do best to remember that, little fly." said the red fox, a
small smile on his face as his expression softened.

 

            "He is a threat that should be
extinguished." replied the woman. She raised an arm, spines at the ready,
only for Adahn to bat her arm away. The fox was filled with anger and
annoyance. "Only I get to break my toys!" he shouted as he turned and
leaped from the rooftop, jumping to the next. Terrornaut watched the crazed
fox's movements with great distrust, before following after him. She would have
to dispose of the creature when the chance arose.

 

            Foreign streets on a foreign world
had Ramza running in circles. He didn't know where his target was, just that he
had to find him fast. The onyx armored fox stopped in the middle of a park,
feeling the eyes of stranger's upon him. He turned around to see an
anthropomorphic red hedgehog, followed shortly by the woman he had seen in the
HQ tower's lab. "Is this the one Vector wants us to find, Carrisima?"
asked the hedgehog to the one Ramza recognized as Modesty.

 

            "Yeah, that's him" replied
the brown tressed woman. The two of them approached the fox, caution in their
stride. Ramza simply stood in the center of the small park, seemingly waiting
for them. "You should come back to the lab." stated the hedgehog, a
somewhat annoyed expression on his face, "I was expecting to have a nice
diner with my wife. So if you wouldn't mind returning to the HQ tower so that
Modesty and I can have the evening we planned?" This was Jason Rapidfire,
husband of Modesty Rapidfire.

 

            Ramza was about to turn to leave,
when he heard a sound that was strange to him, yet he could sense was
threatening. His senses that had been sharpened by battle and war proved to be
correct, as a sharpened spine whizzed by Jason's head and into the ground next
to Ramza's foot. The hedgehog drew his blade and turned to see Terrornaut
hovering just above the ground. "Another pest interrupting Modesty and I's
evening." raged the hedgehog, a scowl overtaking his face, “What do you
want, Terrornaut?”

 

            Terrornaut landed, keeping her wings
out. “Move away from that fox.” Her tone was cold and calculative, showing no
distinct interest or emotion.

 

            “And why should we do that?”
questioned the red hedgehog, drawing his blade, “What could Stahlmansche
possibly want with him?”

 

            “That is none of your concern.” The
winged woman didn't wait for them to initiate combat, firing several spines at
the duo. Jason reacted instantly, swatting them away with his blade and
charging his assailant. The hedgehog brought his blade up, Terrornaut defending
herself with by hardening the carapace on her left leg and using it to block.
She used the momentum to kick with her right leg, before doing a midair back
flip and firing spines at the approaching Modesty. The woman spun to the side,
dodging the spines, and then slid below the flying woman and kicked up.
Terrornaut once again hardened her armor just as the blow struck, however, this
time it wasn't enough. A crack formed in the armor and the woman was sent
farther into the air.

 

            Seeing an advantageous moment, Ramza
activated a function in his suit that called forth what looked like a thick
metal buckler to his left hand, latching to his arm and a trigger mechanism
placed in his hand. Ramza raised the device, leveling it with the vulnerable
Terrornaut, and firing a shot. The woman reacted just in time to fire a spine
in an attempt to deflect the bullet, but instead of deflecting the bullet, it
set off a small explosion when it struck. A lack of information presenting
itself, Terrornaut elected to flee from the battle. Ramza lowered his weapon
and glanced at the two who had come looking for him. Maybe he could use their
help after all. The thought was cut short as a blade was pressed against his
spine.

 

            "Hello, 'Little
Two-Tail'." greeted a voice using a nickname that Ramza had bore in his
youth. Ramza knew immediately who it was behind him, a cold chill running up
his spine. "Little Two-Tail came to play with big brother, did he?" A
metallic hand reached up from behind and brushed Ramza's cheek, soon digging in
and drawing blood. There was a moment of silence before the voice continued,
"Your blood was always some of the best, Little Two-Tails. You should have
played nice, you know. Then you might have kept that little biological defect
of yours."

 

            Having heard enough, Ramza called a
blade to his hand, turned, and slashed in a wide arc. But there was no one
there. He was sure he had heard Adahn, and there was proof to substantiate the
claim. The ground had been disturbed and the fresh wound on the fox's cheek
still bled slightly, but where had he gone? Ramza felt ill at ease, but shook
the sensation away just as the orange figure he had seen when he first arrived
on this planet arrived in the small park. The figure walked forward in Ramza's
direction, the black fennec now able to see that the man before him simply wore
orange armor. A confused look came over Ramza's face.

 

            "I see the Rapidfire couple
found you." said the armored man, looking in the direction of the hedgehog
and woman who were shooting glances at each other. Ramza ignored this, staring
at the man incredulously.

 

            "Why are you away from your
post?" questioned the fox, causing the orange clad figure to stop in his
tracks.

 

            "What?" asked the armored
man, "I think you've mistaken me for someone else. I am Tergonaut. We may
have similar armor, but I'm not from where ever you came from."

 

            Ramza didn't quite understand, but
he didn't have the time to argue about it. "I need to find-" his
sentence was cut short, however, and a creature dropped out of a tree and began
to shuffle toward them. "What in world is that?" asked Tergonaut,
raising his arm and reforming it into a weapon. He lowered his arm when he saw
what was before him, however. The creature was largely crystalline in nature,
but there was a part of it that was obviously the face of a human male wracked
with pain. "We have to get that stuff off of him!" shouted the orange
clad Moderator. But before he could even attempt to pry the crystals off of the
man, a shot rang out from behind him and the creature's chest bust in a spray
of blood and crystal.

 

            A feeling of shock washed over
Tergonaut, who turned around to see Ramza lowering his weapon, steam still
trailing from the barrel. "I must be on my way." said the fox,
getting ready to leave in search of Adahn once again. However, a gauntleted
hand grabbed his shoulder, stopping him in place. "Can I help you?"
asked the fox in reply.

 

            "You can come peacefully."
Tergonaut commanded rather than offered.

 

            Ramza turned, facing the orange
crusader. "I have no time to play games with you. Right now, Adahn could
be out there creating more of those abominations!" Ramza's expression was
filled with annoyance. In his mind, he was doing the right thing, and these
people were getting in his way.

 

            "You'll have plenty of time to
explain that at the HQ tower." stated the orange armored man, an edge to
his voice. Ramza sighed, looking about. At least there was a chance that he
could find a clue as to Adahn's whereabouts.

 

            "Fine." accepted the onyx
armored fennec. And with Ramza's submission, the four returned to the HQ tower,
where Vector was waiting with grave news of his own.

 

            Terrornaut returned to the ECU
building later that day. The cracks and, scrapes, and burns in her armor were
nowhere to be seen, having mended themselves in route to the office building.
Standing next to the door, flipping a vial of a red liquid between his fingers
was Adahn, a smug grin on his face. He motioned for the insectoid woman to
follow him into a room to the side, saying nothing, just grinning. Thinking a
moment to assess the situation, Terrornaut followed the fox into the room. The
door closed behind her, and Adahn stood with his back turned to the woman. "I
know of your little scheme." he said, a hint of playfulness in his tone,
"You wish to kill me." He looked over his shoulder, wagging a finger
at her. "Such free thought in a toy is unbecoming. But I feel like being
nice." The fox spread his arms wide, placing the vial in a pocket of the
small cape that dangled around his waist. "Go ahead and strike me
down!" A crazed open toothed smile graced the red fennec's face as he
laughed aloud, raw adrenaline coursing through his veins.

 

            Terrornaut didn't hesitate, thrusting
a clawed hand into the mad fox's exposed flesh and tearing out his heart. Adahn
lurched forward, grasping a hold of Terrornaut's shoulder. Blood poured from
the open wound that the woman had created, but the fox continued to laugh. He
laughed, chuckled, and jeered until all life faded from his body, a look of
sadistic glee still plastered to his face.

 

            Terrornaut wiped the blood from her
insectoid gauntlet and left the room, leaving two small drones to clean up the
mess. She entered Stahlmansche's office, having been called soon after she had
fled the battle with the Rapidfires. Stahlmansche and the Armada General
Espadrille stood next to the desk in the center of the large room. Sitting atop
the desk was a container that the woman hadn't seen before. Terrornaut elected
not to ask, proceeding to report, "We created the distraction that you
needed. However, Adahn has fallen."

 

            "Yes, I've fallen and I can't
get up." mused a voice, coming from Stahlmansche's chair that had been
turned toward the window. The chair turned and in it sat a smiling red fennec
fox. "Sorry to leave you in such a bad sort back there, love."
Terrornaut was silent for a long time. "What's the matter? Puppeteer grab
you by the strings?" There was absolutely no sign of any injury from the
woman's attack, not even a hair out of place. It was as if it was a completely
new Adahn. However, even in the face of such a surprise, Terrornaut didn't miss
a beat. "You called me, ma'am?" the woman said, ignoring the mockery
of the mad fox.

 

            Georgia walked to the side of the desk and
placed her hand on the metal box. "Espadrille has acquired a gift for our
new friend." said the scientist with a smile, "And so we will be
accompanying him to a site that has already been secured by our agents."
Terrornaut looked on with a blank expression under the bioplate that covered
her face. "As you wish." Was all she said. Georgia motioned for Espadrille to pick up
the container and the four were on their way.

 

            Ramza sat in a spartan room,
furnished only with two chairs and a table. There were no windows or other
accoutrements in the small space. Vector, Tergonaut, and the Rapidfires stood
on one side of the table, while Ramza sat in the chair on the other side. The
lot of them were silent for a long time, until Tergonaut stepped forward. “Just
tell me why. Why did you just kill him outright?” asked the orange crusader,
“Why didn’t you let me try to save him?” Ramza stared up at the orange clad
man, a stoic look in his eyes. "He was already dead. There was nothing you
or I would have been able to do." stated the fox, coldly.

 

            "Not good enough!"
Tergonaut shouted, slamming his fist into the table, "He was moving. He
was alive."

 

            "He was dead as soon as he had
been infected with the Cubia Virus."

 

            "Cubia Virus?" said the interrogating
party in unison.

 

            Ramza sighed and looked hard at those
who were questioning him. "The Cubia Virus, named after Cubia, the God of
Negative Reality, slowly and painfully transforms living tissue into an organic
crystal substance. The victims are turned into crystalline abominations."
he informed, pausing a second to let it sink in, "There is only one cure.
A specific genetic sequence that counteracts the virus, but does not nullify
it. Those who survive typically gain some sort of power. Adahn bears this
disease, as do I." Ramza exhaled, his cold breath visible in the warm air.
He raised his hand and the air he had exhaled froze and fell to the table,
shattering against the metal surface.

 

            Vector was intrigued. "You are
infected, yet you seem to have no worry of infecting others." he stated,
grabbing a shard of the ice that Ramza had formed.

 

            Ramza shook his head, "It is
not contagious in the normal since of the word. Though the disease's source is
still unknown to us, we have determined that it can only spread via the crystalline
flesh of those who have been infected. I have no method, or desire to infect
the innocent."

 

            "You said that the only cure is
a specific gene sequence?" asked Jason, "Does that mean that there's
only one family that's immune? Wait, wouldn't that make this Adahn individual
related to you?"

 

            Ramza was silent for a moment,
seeming to take that particular comment like poison. "You are not entirely
wrong in your assessment. However, it is only one gene sequence that is needed.
A sort of thirteenth chromosome."

 

            "You didn't answer the last
question." stated Jason "Is this Adahn character related to you?"

 

            "Yes..." admitted Ramza,
his voice low and soft, as if he found the truth offensive, "He is my
older brother. He was kidnapped when the Foundation nearly fell in the war
against a man named Nero Strahl. When we found him, he was maddened and had
been infected with the virus. Cubia Worshippers had used him as a lab rat, as
he had proven nearly immune to the effects of the virus."

 

            "That's horrible...” muttered
Tergonaut, "But what I don't understand is your wish to see him die. You
should want a cure just as much for him as for anyone else who's been
infected."

 

            Ramza looked up at the orange
crusader, the same stoic look in his eye as before, "I am a soldier. It
doesn't matter what I want."

 

            "But-" began Tergonaut,
only to be interrupted by Vector, "There isn't time for this. Not only has
it come to my attention that several citizens of Sega City have gone missing, but the Figment
Keys were stolen earlier today."

 

            Everyone looked at the lab coat
wearing crocodile in shock. "Why are you just now telling us this!?"
shouted everyone in unison, save for Ramza who was curious of the situation.
"We need to get those back, now!" came a dry from Tergonaut as he
moved for the door, "Where are they? I assume you placed a tracker on
them?"

 

            "What are the Figment Keys?"
asked Ramza, not understanding the conversation. The others stopped to look at
the confused fox for a moment, trying to decide whether or not to tell him.
“Well,” started the green croc, “the Figment Keys are objects of great power.
We still don’t fully understand them ourselves. Anyway,” He turned back to
Tergonaut and the others, “They appear to be somewhere within a recently
discovered Segan ruin on the moon.”

 

            “I’m coming along.” the fox blurted
out as he stood from his seat, “There is a high chance that Adahn has something
to do with this.”

 

            “None of you are going anywhere!”
shouted Vector as he stood from the table, “First of all, a ship needs to be
prepared for those who can’t fly, and second, you still need to tend to your
wounds.” This last statement was directed toward Ramza.

 

            “I am fine” stated Ramza in a flat
tone. “Ok, then I’ll go prepare a shuttle.” replied the lab coat wearing croc,
moving for the door.

 

            “Vector!” shouted Modesty from
behind him.

 

            “Right…” said Vector as he turned back
around, “Well, take off your armor so that I can see the damage.” Ramza
hesitantly reached up to his wrist, deciding to trust these people for now. He
pressed a button and his armor flashed away in a kind of grey light. The fox
was covered in scars and burns from various sources. There were scorch marks on
his hands, grooves in his back from some kind of whip, and a large patch of fur
was missing from his hip. However, all of these scars were old, leaving no sign
of any newer wounds. Ramza stood there, dressed only in a pair of boxers,
feeling a bit awkward.

 

            When Vector was finished looking him
over, he sat back down. “You can put your armor back on.” He informed with a
slight bit of confusion, “There isn’t a single new mark on you, but where did
all those scars come from?”

 

            Ramza’s armor returned in the same
grey flash as before. “War, pure and simple.”

 

            “I see.” Returned the crocodile,
“I’ll be off to prepare that shuttle… as soon as I grab a bite to eat.” Ramza,
Tergonaut, and the Rapidfires prepared themselves for the trip ahead of them,
not knowing quite whet was in store for them. It didn’t take long for the small
shuttle to be prepared, only requiring enough room for two people, as far as
Vector knew. Ramza stared at the small space, seeing no room for himself.
Tergonaut approached him and said, “You and I will have to defend the craft
from the outside.” Informed the orange crusader, “Think you can keep up with
us?”

 

            Ramza looked toward the shuttle, and
then back to the orange clad man. “I can’t fly.” Stated the fox bluntly.

 

            “You… can’t fly?” quoted Tergonaut,
an astonished sound to his voice, “That could be a problem…” Ramza shook his
head, walking to the side of the craft. Pressing on a small metal pouch in his
suit’s waist, a small circular object shot out and latched itself to the
shuttle trailed by a thick cord.

 

            “I do not think it will be a
problem.” said the fox as he grabbed a hold of the small craft, his gunshield
in his hand. The Rapidfires boarded the shuttle, glancing at the fox that had
attached himself to its hull. A hangar door opened in the HQ tower and they
were away. Ramza’s grip on the craft tightened as he anticipated the
confrontation with the thing his brother had become.

 

            Adahn and Stahlmansche stood within
a great chamber of the Segan ruin within the moon. The room was completely
overgrown with roots that looked as if they belonged to some form of tree. In
the center was a giant crystal which the roots seemed to be growing out of in
like veins. All around the complex, several of the crystalline creatures like
the one Ramza killed on the planet shuffled about, clearing debris and other
kinds of detritus. Adahn looked up at the massive crystal, a sadistic grin
forming on his face. “Cubia…” he moaned to himself.

 

            Waltzing over to where Espadrille
stood, bearing the box containing the Figment Keys. The red fennec took the box
and approached an alter just below the crystal. He placed the Keys within the
alter in seemingly specific locations that he had known before hand. As he
placed the last Key, the facility sprung to life, a holographic display of the
moon fading into perspective between the alter and the crystal. However, what
had caught Adahn’s attention, as well as that of the others assembled there,
was a marker on the display that they all recognized as an approaching shuttle.
“Oh-boy! We’re going to have a party!” shouted the fox with twisted glee.
Taking the vial of Ramza’s blood that he had acquired earlier, he smashed it on
the ground. The crystalline creatures immediately took notice of this and
rushed for the spilt blood. As they touched it they melded into one form. Their
unified body slimmed and became covered in an ethereal cloak. All that had been
human was wiped away from the creature, its eyes glowing with an eerie purple
light underneath its shadowy hood. “Do be a dear and keep them distracted. I
shall not be long in joining you.”

 

            The creature rushed out of the
chamber, followed by Espadrille and Terrornaut after a quick nod from
Stahlmansche. The red tressed woman looked up at the crystal, a sense of allure
washing over her. “It’s beautiful…” she stated, calmly. Adahn approached her,
brushing a furred paw through the woman’s hair as he passed her.

 

            “That it is… That it is…” his voiced
trailed off and his footsteps went silent. The woman turned to investigate the
sudden silence, only to see that Adahn was gone. The tunnel that the others had
taken was now dark and featureless. A look of curiosity and suspicion overtook
her as she stared down that empty darkness, a sense of wrongness emanating from
it, even to her. She turned to look back toward the crystal and the hologram.

 

            Her eyes widened in horror as Adahn
withdrew his blade from her heart. She began to fall, losing the strength in
her legs, only to be caught by the maddened fox and suspended into the air.
“Sad, broken, little toy…You are tainted…” he groaned, the madness temporarily
gone from his voice. He then through the woman, smashing her against the wall.
Her corpse hit the tiled floor.

 

            Adahn approached the alter, giving
no more notice to the dead woman. He stood in front of the alter, lifting his
own blade to his neck. With a maddened grin, he slit his own throat, pouring
his life blood upon the stone and giggling like a madman. He fell onto the
stone plinth and the roots devoured his body.

 

 

            Leaving the shuttle that Vector had
provided outside of the ruins, Modesty and Jason removed their environmental
suits once they were within the ruin’s simulated atmosphere. The ruins were
quiet save for the sound of a heartbeat in the distance. “I have to hand it to
you, Omni-pants… You have a knack for getting us into odd situations.” Blurted
out Jason, amusing himself.

 

            “I can’t help it that the Mobius
Forum World is always threatened by some great evil or another.” Returned
Tergonaut. The four of them cautiously entered the building, the heartbeat
getting louder and louder as they progressed further down the hallway. Soon, they
found themselves in a large chamber filled with computer displays and a few
floating platforms. “What in the world is this?” asked a curious Modesty,
“Tergonaut, have you ever seen anything like this in other Segan ruins?”

 

            “Never.” Replied an astonished
Justin under the visor, “Everything seems to be receiving power as well.” The
orange crusader stepped toward one of the readouts and looked over it.
“Everyone, over here! I can read this.” The orange clad man looked over the
text for a moment. “It says that this place was used as some kind of prison…
But other than that it doesn’t make much sense…”

 

            “Is there anything in there that
could tell us where Stahlmansche and her miscreants might have gone?” asked an
impatient Jason.

 

            “Wait, I found a journal entry.”
Tergonaut interrupted, “Day one: We loaded the blasted thing into the central
containment cell. The higher ups say that it’ll provide us with continuous
reusable energy, but I don’t know… It just gives me the creeps. But what
managements says, goes. Day ten: Crazy the things some of the guards can come
up with isn’t it? Saying that they hear a heartbeat coming from that new power
crystal… thing… I swear, I’m taking leave for the planet as soon as I can. Day
fifteen: I don’t like the look of this… Some inmates have gone missing.
Management thinks that they escaped, but I don’t… That thing ate them, I KNOW
IT! I… I hear it talking sometimes… Nothing understandable, but… It’s hungry…
Day twenty-five: They’re all gone… All of the inmates are gone… It’s coming for
us, it’s coming for us. The darkness hides the things that you can see. Don’t
trust the walls! They are its eyes. Day forty-one: I’m the only one. I’m
chosen. I play and dance and the others sleep. I stay happy while they cry!
Look at the sun so pretty, and the moon so jittery! So many eyes in the sand
with love in its heart for the chosen.”

 

            “Is there anything else?” asked a
disturbed Modesty.

 

            “No.” answered the orange crusader,
“It just ends there.”

 

            “Poor sods.” Muttered a sympathetic
Jason, “Looks like all of them went insane because of this crystal thing.”
Tergonaut took a moment to make a copy of the data stored on the computer,
hoping to pour over it later. Just as he finished, a scrapping sound came from
above them. “I’m not the only one who heard that, right?” asked the red
hedgehog, drawing his sword.

 

            Ramza called forth his sword and
gunshield, and took a defensive stance. “Unless you wish to leave your flank
exposed, I suggest we form up!” he commanded more than offered. The others took
the black fox’s advice, forming rank and each facing a different direction. There
was silence, the scrapping coming to a halt. The air was stifling, the tension
of the group rising with every second. Then, without warning, a shadowy
creature phased out of the ground under Modesty at lightning speed and threw
the woman into the air.

 

            “Carrisima!”  shouted Jason in dismay. He moved to aid his
wife, only for a blue metallic hand to find his gut. The red hedgehog
backpedaled quickly and looked up to see Espadrille already advancing on him.
Jason reacted swiftly, dropping his sword and