Ume- Princess Without a Kingdom (Current Chap:Final)

[dekar]

Ume- Princess Without a Kingdom

Chapter 1

She sat there, alone, in a dark abandoned alley in Pioneer 2.
No one knew she was there.... No one knew her. She was a foreigner, from Pioneer 1, which didn't exist anymore.

She just sat, pondering her situation.... Remembering her past... She drifted into sleep....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~
She awoke to bright fluorescent light flashing in her face. She blinked to correct her blurry vision and sat up. She stretched and yawned, stood up and fixed her dress. Realizing one of the ribbons in her hair was loose, she reached up, bent her head sideways, and re-tied her stubborn blue hair.

"Damn! Ow! Stupid hair! I loathe these ribbons!!"
As soon as she lifted her head back in the right direction, she was greeted by a stranger's face.

"Hey, you." said the tall, orange HUcast.
She jumped, startled, falling backwards. She was about to hit the ground but a strong hand grabbed her right arm and stopped her a few inches from the metal-plated floor. She was pulled to her feet by the HUcast with ease, and she was standing within a few seconds. A chunk of her bangs fell onto her face, and she blew it aside.

"Uh.. I don't quite know how to say this, but, why are you living in the gutter?" the tall guy said, raising one of his fingers to point to the dark alley.

"Because. It's none of your business." She replied, sounding angry unintentionally.
He looked at her suspiciously.

"Hiding. Thought so." the man in orange said, crossing his arms.

"No, I'm not hiding!" Ume demanded, placing her hands on her hips.

The HUcast laughed at the girl's tone, and un-crossed his android arms, placing them on his hips.
"Fine..." he said sarcastically, "Then, Miss Hobo, what's your name?"

The girl raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Why not?"

"......"

"Well? Am I gonna get a name or not?"

"Ume."

"Thanks, Lil' Lady. Mine's Assassin. Pleased to meet you."

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: dekar on 2002-07-11 21:16 ]</font>


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: dekar on 2002-07-14 21:18 ]</font>

[dekar]

Chapter 2

Assassin and Ume just stood there for a while, then, realizing that the girl wasn't moving, he reached out and grabbed her hand and shook it.

"Ack! What are you doing?!?"

"What's it look like?"

"Stop it! You're hurting my hand!"

"Tsk, you're too fragile and girly!" He said, releasing her hand. "I thought all FOmarls were tough ladies!"

"Hey, don't start, ok? I just went through hell!"

"Oh?"

Ume quickly stopped talking. She was saying more than she'd like to... Her thinking process was interruped by Assassin put his hands on her shoulders.

"Like what? It's ok, you can tell me, I'm not gonna laugh at ya!"

The young girl went silent for a while, thinking it over.

"I'll tell you, but not here." She scanned the area for any other people, and just saw some people walking around and talking to other people about various things. One was talking about how weapons are limited to hunters only, another was talking about her new wardrobe, and one was talking about Pioneer 1...... Her mind drifted again, memories coming painfully back....

Assassin's hand was waving on front of her face, trying to get her attention. It worked.

"I have quarters near here, if you want to talk there, we can go..." he said, trailing off, noticing the blank look she had on her face.

"Are you feeling alright? You look pale."

Ume looked him in his glowing eyes that, if they were human, would most likely be full of concern.

"To be honest, I haven't eaten in three days..." The force said, smiling and scratching the back of her head.

"I can fix that. My place is this way!" the hunter said proudly, pointing across the way.

[dekar]

That should be enough for tonight. Will type tomorrow.

What do you guys think?

*Wonders if anyone is reading them*

[SS_Death]

Nice. I like. Keep going!

[dekar]

Chapter 3

The duo began walking in the direction that was pointed out earlier, and it wasn't long until they reached the hunter's quarters. There was a fingerprint identification lock on the door, and Assassin pressed his thumb to it, activating the scanning device. Once it was finished, he pulled his thumb from the device, crying out in pain.

"Agh! Crap! It burns!! I knew I forgot something! I have to get this damn thing fixed!"
the android waved his smoking thumb in the air, as the door opened. He ran inside and found the sink, turned on the cold water and ran his injury under it. There was a loud hissing noise as his metal finger cooled itself down. Ume watched this, laughing so hard she was almost on the floor. After she was done, she wiped the tears from her eyes and blew that same disobedient piece of bang out of her face, she gave Assassin a coy look.

"I thought all you androids were smart, and could fix stuff yourself. Tsk, you're a girly man!"

The machine man turned to her, holding his finger in front of him to assess the damage. He dropped the appendage back to his side, and returned the look as best as he could, without making himself look like a bigger idiot.

"Well, ex-cuuuuuse me. I can fix things. Just not that evil door lock!"
Assassin turned to eye the door, still open, exposing the fingerprint scanner on the other side.

"Anyway, I should close the door."

"No, that's ok. I'll get it."

"Then I'll turn on the lights."

Ume went and shut the door while Assassin crossed the room from the sink and turned the lights on. The young force gasped at the sight of the room. Weapons. Swords. Daggers. Handguns. Every weapon she could think of was hung up on the wall or placed on a large shelf underneath the ones that were hanging on the wall. Slicers. Sabers. Scythes....

"....A frying pan?"

"Huh?"

"You have a frying pan hanging up on the wall!"

"I know."

"Why?"

"I got it when I joined WEAPON."

"Sure, sure."

"I did! I swear!"

Ume went silent for a moment.

"You got ripped off!" she said, laughing so hard that, this time, she was on the floor.

"No I didn't... wait, we came here to talk about where you came from, and why you were in the gutter."

"Alley."

"Whatever."

[dekar]

Chapter 4

The force and hunter had both now found somewhere to sit, and now Ume was thinking about where to begin.

"Pioneer 1 wasn't the first civilization on Ragol. You know that much, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, it wasn't the second, either."

"You mean..?"

"Yes. A small group of wandering forces were there before them. Around a year before. Could you find any traces of that ship?"

"No, not that I know of."

"That's because they were destroyed, just like Pioneer 1."

"How do you know this?"

"I'm the only survivor. My family, my friends. Everyone I ever knew was aboard that ship. We constructed the residential dome...."

"You mean, the people on Pioneer 1 didn't?"
Assassin was spellbound, unable to move. The news hit him like a ton of blasts from Death Gunners.

"Why weren't you killed as well?" he asked, questioning the words she had told him.

"I ran. Not on my own free will, either. They told me to run, and when I refused, they casted Ryuker and pushed me inside."

"Do you know what that explosion was, then?"

"Yes..."

"Then tell me. I had relatives on Pioneer 1. I'd like to know why they were killed, and by what."

"Ok, I'll start from the beginning..."

"We had just landed. Our ship confirmed that there were excellent living conditions on the planet. We landed, and got off. My father, brother, and I were very important people on our ship, too. My father was captain, my brother was the defence specialist, and I was the cute one. Just kidding. I was in charge of everything that my father didn't cover. I was vice-captain."

"You? Vice-capitain? Pl-ease. How old are you?"

"17. Why?"

"You don't look it."

"Thanks...I guess. Anyway, carrying on, after living on the planet for a while, we noticed the animals there were friendly. Some young ones were actually kept as pets inside the dome. Young wolf and bear like creatures became common. Then we found ruins underground. We began to investgate them, and after about a week, 2 people were dead and many injured because there were powerful beasts inside there."

"I can back that one up."

[dekar]

Chapter 5

"My father, brother and I all decided to make it forbidden to go to the ruins. After seeing the deaths of those people, and witnessing all the carnage brought about by those monsters, we thought it was the best thing to do... Until something started warping the minds and bodies of the animals on the surface. They became violent all of a sudden. All of the pets inside the dome were either killed because they attacked, or were evacuated because we didn't know how their behavior would be in the future."

"But, when Pioneer 1 landed, they said that the animals were friendly..."

"Then whatever was messing with them must have given up, and went back to sleep when....."

"When what?"

"When they..."
Ume broke into tears, unable to continue speaking.

"Do you want something to eat or drink? Will that make you feel better?"
The girl just nodded, and continued crying with long, hard sobs. Assassin had already gotten up and went to the fridge, and was sorting through it.

"Well, it looks as if you have a choice..." he muttered, while still shuffling.

"Hmm?"
Ume had stopped crying and was looking at Assassin to see what he was doing, once again blowing a chunk of her bangs out of the way.

"Either you have, well, what looks like what's left of what my sister ate last night, or, we can go to the cafeteria and I'll buy you something. Pick one."

"You have a sister? Why isn't she here?"

"Because she's working. We're both hardly ever here, so it's not likely you'll see her."
At that moment, there was a hard knock on the door.

"Assassin?? You in there?" The voice said, sweetly.

"Ye-es." Assassin said, imitating the voice outside the door.

"Let me in then! I don't wanna burn my damn finger! I just treated it!" the voice commanded.

"Ok. Hold your horses."
Assassin walked across the room and opened the door, revealing a short, purple and greenish RAcaseal wearing a nurse's outfit. She peered in the door and smiled cheerily.

"I was right! There IS someone else in here!"
The ranger strode up and stood beside Ume.

"Is this your new girlfriend Assassin?" She said, happily, "And here mom and I thought you were gay!"

Assassin stared at her angrily, then dropped his head in embarassment. ._.

"She was sleeping out in the gutter across the way, and I felt bad seeing her there, so I invited her in for some food and stuff, and turned out hearing some important stuff about Pioneer 1..."
He was cut off by the ranger mid-sentence.

"Pioneer 1? Dad was on Pioneer 1!!!" she turned to Ume. "What do you know?!?!?!"

Assassin stepped in quickly, before the android girl tried to grab Ume.

"Waiiiit!!" He yelled. "Let me introduce you first."



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: dekar on 2002-07-04 20:33 ]</font>

[dekar]

Chapter 6

"Nori, this is Ume. Ume, this is Nori."
The girls looked at each other and said hello.

"Now, what do you know?!?" Nori asked eagerly, turning her smile into a grim stare.

"I don't. That's the thing. I was thinking about hiring hunters to go down into the mines with me so that I could figure out what happened...But, now that I know you two, I can depend on you guys to come down with me, right? I'll fill you in on what I know, if you think it'll help."

The siblings exchanged glances, but only for a second, before both eyeing the force.

"It'll help." they said together, without thinking much.

"Ok, so I told you that the ruins were full with monsters, right?"

"Yes." Replied the hunter.

"I know from experience." said Nori, with a sad face on. "So many people come to the hospital. Oh, and by the way, that's where I work. Continuing, there are so many people in there nowadays that we're running low on supplies. And too many people dying..." she trailed off, but seemed to right herself after a few moments.

"Fill me in on the conversation you were having, ok?"

Ume and Assassin recapped the situation, and all the while, Nori sat in awe.

"I understand. Now, fill me and Assassin in on the rest."

Ume nodded, and proceeded to fill them in.

"Well, after a while, the monsters from the ruins began slowly making their way into the caves, not too many, and not extra strong ones, either, just claws. Then claws became common in the caves, and we thought that wasn't much to be concerned about. Finally, Dimenians began making their way everywhere. In the mines, caves, the surface, everywhere! The only thing we noticed was that the monsters were always attacked by the gilchic, candadines, and sinow beats. It seems that the robots were not affected by whatever was controlling anything else, because the computers controlled their behaviors, and the conciousness, as we called it, couldn't mess with the computers. Eventually, no one could leave the central dome. It was just too dangerous. So, my brother, Joshua, my father, Sabis, and I went and cleared out each. The surface around the dome, the caves, we helped the gilchics in the mines, and then, finally, we went through the ruins...."

"And..?" Nori urged, hoping to get a response.

"And, I'm starving. Tell you what. You get me something to eat, and let me sleep somewhere tonight, and we can go down into the ruins tomorrow, and I'll explain what happened there in total, no details left out. Deal?"

Both android sibilings sighed. She had a way of getting what she wanted.

"Fine. What do you want?" Nori finally said, looking through her wallet to see how much meseta she had.
"And don't make it too expensive, I only have 5000 meseta on me, from my paycheck."

Ume almost fell out of her chair.
"F..F..Five thousand???!?! I can only dream about having that much!!"

The ranger could only laugh.

"You are such a suck-up."

Ume, knowing her scheme had been easily found out, laughed too.

"Only when I'm starving!"

mrph, can't believe i'm still typing so late at night:P


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: dekar on 2002-07-04 23:03 ]</font>

[breathofire]

This is cool and I'm happy there maby going to be fighting soon.

[dekar]

Chapter 7

The three made their way to the cafeteria, and Ume was eagerly looking through the brightly-colored hologram menu near the front. She was running through, underlining everything she read with her index finger.

"Yep!..That.. sounds good..Ok! I've decided!" she announced energetically, bouncing up and down on the front of her feet.

"Ok, what do you want?" Nori replied, just as happily. She looked at the menu as well, examining it for herself. "Maybe I'll get something myself."

After everything was ordered, (Nori ordering the spiciest thing on the menu, Ume ordering a small steak and a glass of juice, so that she didn't "get all bloaty"), the now-trio headed to the other side of the cafe, found a table with three chairs and sat down.

"Hey Assassin, why didn't you want anything?" Nori asked, while pigging out on her spicy dish.

"Eh, I'm not hungry. Actually, I ate before I went and talked to Ume."

"Oh?" the younger android said, with some suspicion. "What did you ea... waitaminnit! You didn't eat that cake that I went into the caves for, did you? It was for Kess's birthday!"

Assassin's eyes glowed brighter and his eyes got wider.
"Kess's birthday... is... tomorrow!! Oh... crap!"

Nori just laughed at this, knowing something that Assassin didn't.

"You're going to get another one." she said evilly, knowing how much trouble her brother was in. "Or else, she's gonna get soooooo mad!!"

Assassin looked up at a hologram clock that was on the wall in the cafe. It was roughly 12:30pm.

"ARE YOU GOING OR NOT??" the ranger screamed, thinking her brother was ignoring her.

"Yeeeeeeeeees!!!!!! I'm going!! And if I wanna be back by 5 in the morning, I'm gonna have to leave now."
And with that, the HUcast stood up and walked out of the cafe, walking towards the teleporter. Once he was gone, his sister decided to interrogate Ume.

"So, how old did you say you were?" she asked nicely.

"17."

"Heh, wow. If I were human, I'd be really tall by now."

"Hmm? How old are you?"

"I'm 19, but I'm always gonna stay this size and age. It kinda sucks, but it tends to make your enemies think you're a little kid."

"19. Wow. How old is Assassin?"

Nori scratched the top of her head thoughtfully, and finally answered, seeming to find the answer.

"23, I think. Lesse.. He's.. 4 years older...and Kess is turning 25, so he's 2 years younger.. Yeah. He's 23. Does he look it?"

"Not a bit. To be honest, he acts like a 10 year old girl."

Both girls laughed hard at the comment, knowing at least part of it was true.

"That's just because he only had sisters to be raised around, and dad was hardly ever home."

"How many sisters?"

"Three! Heh, the poor bugger. Oh well, he had that other kid that lived near us to play with anyway."

"Three? That's you, Kess, and..?"

"War Child. She and Kess live alone in another part of Pioneer 2. Gonna get all 4 of us together tomorrow to celebrate Kess's birthday. But he ate the damn cake, so he's gonna have to haul his ass down in the caves to visit the baker sisters that sell cakes down there."

"Shouldn't we have gone with him?"

"Nah, he'll be fine."

Just as Nori got that sentence out, Assassin came running in the cafe, beaten badly and carrying a cake.

"There are dimenians down there. Barely made it back. Sword getting dull. Ass was kicked hard. Can barely move. Nori...? Hospital.. now please...?" And with that, the badly beaten hunter collapsed. Nori looked down at her brother, then opened the package holding the cake.

"It's vanilla. You were supposed to get chocolate... But, seeing how hard you worked for it, I'll forgive you."

[dekar]

http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif i'm going to be gone all weekend, so it's gonna be difficult for me to update the fanfic until sunday. until then, all those reading, (if any) wait a little while ^_^

[dekar]

Chapter 8

Assassin slowly opened his eyes. (Or made them operational, making them glow.) He looked around the white room, straining to remember what he had done to get in the hospital. The cake! That's right... he had gotten the cake.. and collapsed in the cafe....
The orange and brown HUcast sat up slowly, still feeling slight pain from the injuries. He turned his head and scanned the room for someone, and saw nobody. He was just about to lay back down, but the door opened, revealing Nori and Ume, talking as if they were best friends.

"...The kid next door!!" Nori said, laughing hard.

"Really?"

"Yeah! Why would I lie!!"

They both started laughing, but, seeing Assassin awake, they stopped.

"Hey!" They both said, still trying to stop laughing. Assassin just looked at them strangely.

"Women."

Ume looked at the hunter with criticism.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. When did I get here?"

The RAcaseal looked at him, then looked at the clock. 9am.

"Around six hours ago. You were out cold... Wait. You said something about there being dimenians in the caves. Is that true? I informed the principal, and he said it's important that he knows wether or not it's true."

"Yes, it's true. I have the photon injuries to prove it."

"Ok.." Nori turned to leave. "I'll be right back. I need to inform him immediately."
After Nori left, Assassin turned to Ume.

"What was she telling you before you got here?"

"Oh, nothing."

"Tell me the truth."

"About the time you and your neighbor tried to dress up as adults or alter your costumes when you were younger to get into a...."

Nori walked in at that moment. She was breathing heavily.

"The principal asked that we, the three of us, would go down there tomorrow night and clear them of all monsters."

"The caves?"

"The caves, mines, ruins. Everywhere. And, since Ume was going to take us down there in the first place to tell us what happened, I agreed for us."

There was a loud sound as Assassin tried to un-hook his special android I.V. needle, and everything connected to it fell to the floor.

"Sorry. It's just... I hate dimenians. They.. are just so strong. I'll have to go buy weapons now."
Assassin got up, pulled out the I.V., and strode out of the hospital. As soon as he was gone, Ume and Nori continued their conversation.

"What else did he do when he was younger?"

Meanwhile, Assassin was nowhere near the weapons shop. He was at the bar, ordering a drink.

[dekar]

Chapter 9

Assassin just sat, drinking drink after drink. Thinking deep thoughts... Only talking to order another drink.

'I wonder what Ume and Nori think of me now..' he thought to himself.
'They must think I'm a weakling. First, she goes and says I'm gay, right in front of Ume.. But I'm not gay.. always busy fighting. Doing quests and making money. I'm not gay. I'm not gay. And next time I see Ume, Nori, and my mom, I'm gonna have a girlfriend to prove it. Hopefully.'

The android opened the front of his battle mask and drank some more.

'I wonder... Why am I afraid of fighting now? Is it because I was beaten so badly?'

"No." he said out loud, not caring if anyone heard. Someone did. Dr. Montague was sitting a few seats over in the bar, and, apart from him, there was no one else in the bar.

"No, what, Assassin?"

The force slid from his seat and walked over to where the android man was sitting.

"You...you're.. Doctor Montague. Hi. You drink too?"

"Occasionally. What are you thinking about? Why'd you say no?"

"Oh, just thinking out loud."

"Ah, I see. Well, mebbe you could fill me in?"

Assassin nodded and filled the doctor in about him getting beaten down in the caves, and how he was supposed to go down there tomorrow.

"Ah, I see. Well, I think I know what the problem is. You are embarrassed. You were beaten, and you think that now you're sister thinks less of you, right?"

"Not just my sister..."

"There was someone else there when you came out of the caves?"

"Um.. no. Never mind."

"Oh, ok. Well, that's just my opinion, hahaha." the force stood up. "I have to go now. See you around?"

"Yea, maybe later, Doctor. See you."

The HUcast resumed thinking and drinking, alone now, just him and the computer that makes the drinks.

"Maybe that's it. Maybe I was embarrassed because... Nah."
Assassin took a big swig of his drink and deposited meseta in the computer for another drink.

[dekar]

Chapter 10

It had been 5 hours since Assassin left, and Nori and Ume were both looking for him. They had searched everywhere but the bar, and had finally decided to look. As they walked in, they immediately noticed how empty it was, except for the dimly-lit outline of the HUcast they were looking for.

"Assassin?" the force called, hoping for a reply. There was none. The girls walked up and spun the barstool around, revealing that the android had drank so much he had went out cold.

"Does this mean I have to lug his butt to the hospital again?" Nori said sarcastically, feeling relieved she had found her sibling. The ranger lifted her brother's upper body, and turned herself around to pick him up, like a piggy back. She wrapped his arms around her neck and lifted his legs to waist-height. Bending foreward, she lifted the larger android onto her back, and began to leave the bar. Ume watched all this, surprised at the strength her new ranger friend had.

"Wow, I didn't know you were that strong. Last time, we both carried him there, this time, you're carrying him, no problem."

"I was tired then. This time, I had some sleep to run on. Plus, if we carried him that way again, he'd most likely get even sicker than he is now. Believe it or not, this is his first time drinking. He drank so much for a first time alcaholic."

They had reached the hospital just as Nori had finished her sentence. I'm gonna go in, and test his blood alcahol level, and put the I.V. needle in again. If you want, you can come in too, or, you can wait outside, if that's better for you."

"I'll wait. It'll give me time to think. Go ahead."

Nori turned, Assassin still on her back, to the hospital entrance. As she walked in, the doors slid open, and as she went further in, they shut with silent 'whoosh' es.

'I wonder if the messages that my father and brother set are still in the ruins... I wonder if they survived... But no one could live through that kind of explosion...' Ume sat outside, thinking deeply about her past, but was interrupted by a shrill scream. She ran inside to see that Assassin was the one screaming. He had awakened while Nori was inserting the I.V. into his arm, and, not remembering where he was, screamed out in pain.

"AAAAAAAAIIIIIIIEEEEE!"

"Assassin, quiet down. You're in the hospital. I put an I.V.in your arm because your alcahol level is scary." Nori was trying to calm him down, and when Ume walked into the room he had wiggled the little needle that was the I.V. out of his arm, making Nori very upset. The HUcast looked at his sister, the needle, and Ume, then finally settled down.

"Argh, my head hurts something awful."

"Ah, you're first hangover. I'm going to give you something for it, that will get rid of it immediately, cause we gotta be at Kess and War Child's in 30 minutes for Kess's birthday."

"Aw, crap. I forgot."
'I made an ass out of myself again' he thought to himself.

[dekar]

Chapter 11

The medicine kicked in almost right away, leaving Assassin pain free. They were on their way to the party when Nori finally said what was on her mind.

"Why were you drinking?"

"Hmm?" replied the orange HUcast, not paying full attention.

"Why were you drinking? Answer the question."

"I dunno. Cause I felt like it, I guess. I had to sit and think."

"About what?"

"About why the dimenians were in the caves.. about how they could've gotten to the caves, and why the machinery went screwy.." The trio had reached the door of WC's and Kess's quarters. Nori and Assassin stopped to quickly brief the newcomer to who's who.

"Ok, our mother's not here, so consider yourself lucky. Kess is the one with ribbon-like flaps on the back of her head, and War Child is the one with them at the sides, only smaller. Kess can be a bother sometimes, but usually, she's fun to be around. War Child probably brought her hubby and daughter, so the other people there should be easy to recognize. Nakago has a ponytail with blue hair, and the other girl there is most likely Kei, because Helena is usually at home for one reason or another, and Nakago II usually stays home as well. Any questions?"

Ume thought for a second, then finally seemed to find something to ask about.

"So, do you think Kess will be pissed that her cake is vanilla?" ^_^;

Assassin turned and glared at her.

"She won't. Don't worry." Nori said quickly, before Assassin could comment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The party went along without incident, and now the three hunters were heading back to Nori and Assassin's quarters, and once they got to the door, started arguing over which one would open the lock.

"I did it last time!"

"So?? You also had me drag you to the hospital twice. Time for some payback!"

"I still have burn marks on my thumb!"

"So? I almost got impaled when you freaked out at the I.V.!"

"It was your fault! You should've been more careful!"

"I WAS being careful!"

"Fine. But next time, it's your turn for sure."

"Ok."

Once again, the HUcast pressed his thumb against the scanning pad on the door. And, almost like routine, ran inside and ran it under cold water. When the door was locked, and all three of them were inside, they sat down and began disscussing where everyone will sleep.

"There's a bed in the other room. Since we have one other bed left, I take the liberty of giving it to myself, the prettiest RAcaseal in the room!!!" the short ranger declared, both girls running into the other room, locking Assassin out. After a few seconds, there was some ruffling inside the room, and some blankets and a pillow flew out of the doorway, into the android hunter's face. The door slammed shut again after that, followed by some giggling.

"Laugh it up! One day you guys will regret this!" Assassin yelled, hoping to scare the girls.

"No we won't!" came his reply, almost in sync.

[dekar]

Chapter 12

The next morning, after they visited the cafe again, they prepared to enter the caves. Assassin took his RED HANDGUN, Nori took her YASMINKOV 7000V, and Ume, being unarmed, went to the weapons store to buy a weapon. Instead of the normal man being there, there was a short, young HUmar with blue hair and a purple outfit, so short he had to stand on a stool.

"Um.. where's the other guy?" she asked politely.

"He had to go out and get something. He'll be back soon, and he didn't want to leave the shop alone, so he asked me to watch it."

"Ah, I see. Are you his son?"

"Yes."

"Ok then, do you have any weapons that are good against A.Beast and Dark?"

"Let me check." The young boy got off the stool and looked through their inventory.

"I have a CLUB OF LACONIUM that you can buy, if you want. 15% extra damage to A.Beast, 25% to Dark."

"Ok, then. Deal." Ume took out the money that Nori had given her to buy something, and paid for the club.
After buying the club, Ume went to the teleporter where she was to meet the other two hunters.

"Ready?"

"Yes. Let's go."




<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: dekar on 2002-07-09 20:45 ]</font>

[dekar]

Chapter 13

They entered the caves, and walked through the first door. After a few seconds, there was a shouting sound behind them, and they turned to face what had made the sound.... And saw dimenians.

"Damn! They didn't show up until you were deeper in the caves before! They... are getting closer to the surface!"

Assassin began shooting them, frantically as they came towards him. There was a wierd whooshing sound behind him, and he felt stronger. He turned his head to see that Ume had casted Shifta and Deband on him.

"Thanks, Ume."

"No Problem. Just shoot them."

Nori, meanwhile, was across the room shooting the dimenians from the corner, and, since her brother was keeping them busy, she wasn't being attacked. Pretty soon, the room was empty, save some nasty purple puddles.

"Agh! Those things are stronger than I last remember! And where are those evil sharks that used to be here?" Nori walked out of the corner, and towards her allies.

"Maybe they mutated, like the boomas did, to become evil sharks. You think?" said Assassin, while checking out his gun.

"It's possible. But, why all of a sudden?"

"I don't know."

The two looked at Ume.

"What? Why are you looking at me that way?"

"You must know why." the ranger said, in a scared voice.

"..... I think I do, but I'll tell you when the time comes."

"Fair enough." Assassin said, but with some concern. "If we even make it through here."

"I think we will. I have faith in Nori and... well, I don't know about you."

"Why not?"

"You were smacked down before.."

"And it won't happen again, cause you guys are with me, right?"

Ume and Nori glanced at each other and laughed.

"Right..."

[breathofire]

Hear somthing that u can put in if u want evil sharks with laser beams on there head

[dekar]

Chapter 14

After clearing out many, many rooms, they finally cleared the caves completely.

"Whew! I'm exhausted!" exclaimed Ume, wiping the sweat from her brow.

"Same." Replied purple ranger Nori.

"Agh.. I'm the one who did all the work! You guys should be slightly winded!" shouted Assassin, throwing the gun to the ground. "Ume only sat behind me and casted spells! And you, Nori, ran into the corner in every room, leaving me to flee from the damn dimenians!"

"So?! You're a HUNTER!!! You're designed for that kind of punishment!" yelled Nori in anger.
"And Ume did just as much work as you did. She casted healing and status-increasing spells on you, left and right!"

Assassin sighed, knowing Nori was at least a little right.

"Anyway, we should be heading to the ruins in an hour or so. We just need to use the telepipe, and go back and get some items, and rest."

Both Ume and Assassin nodded, and waited for Nori to drop the telepipe. Once she did, they both walked inside, one by one. They arrived on Pioneer 2 and stocked up on Mate's and Fluid's, and walked towards the teleporter. They reached the door, then sat in front.

"We'll rest here, for now." Assassin said, crossing his legs.
After they got their stuff together, (Assassin changing weapons to something stronger, Nori using some mono and di grinders on her YASMINKOV) they stood up, and walked into the teleporter to go to the ruins, unprepared for what they'd hear and find.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: dekar on 2002-07-09 22:11 ]</font>

[dekar]

Chapter 15

As with the caves, the ruins were silent when the doors opened to the first wide-open room. Assassin stuck his head out to survey the room. As soon as he did, a few claws floated down from the ceiling. He put his head back in and stepped back, the door closing in front of him. He turned to the two girls, waiting for what he would say.

"We're uberscrewed. There's gotta be sixteen or eighteen of them in there."

"Of what?" Ume asked, looking at Assassin with concern.

"Claws. And some dimenians were in the corners, too."

Nori crossed her arms and thought aloud.

"Well, I brought my SPREAD NEEDLE, what did you guys bring?"

"CLUB OF LACONIUM."

"DRAGON SLAYER."

"Hmm.. Ume.. can you use handguns?"

"Uh, some, I guess."

"We need to give you a long distance one, because you'll get toasted if you try to get in and hit them. Here." the ranger gave the force a SUPPRESSED GUN, and quickly showed her how to use it, explaining that it only had a three shot charge, and it needed to quickly recharge after the three shots were taken.

"OOOOk.. I see. Thanks Nori!"

"No problem."

The three-hunter group walked into the room, shooting as soon as they entered. When the room was cleared out, they walked to the other side of the room, where there was a small capsule with a hologram message in it. Ume pushed the button to activate the message.

"To whomever finds this..."

"Hey!" exclaimed Ume, seeing the FOnewm with a blue outfit, and glasses. "That's my dad!"

"We are heading down to see what has been mutating the animals here on Ragol. My son, Joshua, my daughter, Ume, and I are going to the bottom, most likely the source or all this trouble. But, we are carrying a magic-fueled bomb with us. I have not told Ume, because I know she would not let Joshua and I set it off, even if we needed to. I will tell her when the time is right. But, to more important things. The claws and dimenians down here are smarter and more powerful than the ones in the caves, mines, or surface. My guess is that they are older. They seem to swarm more here, too. I am exhausting my magic supply healing rather than attacking. I leave that to my son, since he is a HUmar."

"Wow.." Nori whispered. "There's a lot of things we missed. "

"Ume is becoming a very strong magic user. I hope one day, she'll be able to become better than I am. Or, if the situation is as I feared, as I WAS. This is all for now. I'll leave more messages for anyone unfortunate enough to be down here to find them."

Ume stood in front of the holomessage, speechless.

"Let's carry on." she finally said, walking away from the small orange pod.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: dekar on 2002-07-09 22:15 ]</font>

[BWS-1]

Not too much characters, many different personnality, entertaining to read, keep on http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[dekar]

Chapter 16

After clearing out the next few rooms, they found another pod.

"Hello again... If anyone finds this, you are doing as well as we did. There are strange crystals everywhere. They look like messages, don't they? If I could read them, I'd tell you what they say, but, these are in an alien language. That must mean this whole place..." The hologram force looked around the room. "Is an alien spaceship. A species of people we have yet to meet. It's possible. Hmm... this bomb.. if the maker of this bomb is right, it'll just wipe out any animals that aren't native to this planet, leaving the buildings, and animals intact.. but if the maker is wrong.. it may have no effect. We don't know. All we know is what was left in the note he left. He died making this bomb, the poor guy."

"Ah, I remember that guy." Ume said, raising her finger up in the air. "Professor Azeler. He.. was very smart."

The hologram continued.

"But, anyway, we are about to enter the teleportation device to the lower level." The force turned and pointed towards the door across the room. "So, you should buy some supplies before you go."

"He's right, ya know." Assassin said, stepping away to set a telepipe.

"Good luck, until my next message."

The three tired hunters walked into the item store.

"Thirty trimates, Dimates, Monomates, ten Difluids, Monofluids, And Trifluids, please." said Assassin to the lady dressed in green.

"Ok. Here you go. That'll be 60,000 meseta for the trimates, 9,000 for the dimates, 1500 for the monomates..." Ume and Nori walked outside while the HUcast purchased the essencials.

"Your dad.. looked pretty tough for a FOnewm." said the ranger girl, sarcastically.

"What's that supposed to mean? Are you suggesting that there is something wrong with forces?"

"No. It's just.."

"IT'S JUST WHAT?"

"I have no problem with forces. It's just every FOnewm I've ever met looked like a fruit."

"Point taken."

[dekar]

Chapter 17

The trio had taken the teleporter down to the deeper part of the ruins, and had found something on the floor.

"That's.. my father's glasses. With a message beside them."

Another message sat beside the blue FOnewm glasses. Ume walked up to the message and turned it on.

"This is the end of the road for Ume. I am not going to put her into any more danger. Her brother and I will go on alone..."

"This room does look familiar. This is where he casted Ryuker and pushed me in."

The message froze for a second before the force came back on.

"I forced her to go into the ship that was detected on our sensors. Before I left, there was a ship arriving, the Pioneer 1, I think it was called... And yet another was coming, the Pioneer 2. She should be safe on the Pioneer 1, for now... If she isn't then, my sacrifice wasn't worth making. It is as bad as I thought. We will have to use the bomb. If you are listening to this, Ume, I'm sorry. I'm leaving my glasses here, and hopefully, you'll find them. If you are mad at me for doing this, then be mad. I need to save what is left of the people we landed with. The lives we'll be saving. There's no other way.."

"Father.. I'm not mad.." Ume whispered, still watching the rest of the message.

"I'll be going now. We only have 2 more message pods left, so we'll still be leaving traces. Good-bye for now."

Ume picked up the glasses, and put them around her neck. After they were safely around her neck, she lifted them up and put them on her forehead.

"Let's keep going. I want to find out more..."

[dekar]

Chapter 18

The three kept going, waiting for another message, and finally, they found one, after clearing out what felt like millions of rooms.

"We're almost there. Once we get to the source of the problem, we have to use all our magic to activate the bomb. There isn't a way to deactivate it, and it explodes once there is enough magic energy to fuel it. I'm talking immediately. We won't even get enough time to refill our magic and cast Ryuker. That'll be the end. Even though it is not designed to injure humans or newmans, it may anyway. The ruins will most likely collapse part or even all of this place, taking us with it. We are now going deeper into the ruins. Another advisary. Whatever it is that is doing this must be very ancient, and very dangerous, to have been sealed here with such caution. Be careful."

"I..I didn't know about that bomb...." Ume said, tears welling up in her eyes. "I should have known there was a reason for going down there other than to look for survivors. There was always something they wouldn't tell me.."

"My god... they had a huge magic bomb, to blow up Dark Falz... Why didn't I think of that? It would've been hella easier!" Assassin said, not knowing the stupidity of his words.

"Hey, Assassin?" Ume said, putting on a fake smile. "Do you have your frying pan with you?"

"Uh, yeah. Why?"

"Because I want to beat you to death with it!!!"

Sorry this chapter is so short, it's 12:30 at night.

[dekar]

Chapter 19

After watching Assassin flee from an enraged Ume for a few minutes, she finally decided to step in.

"Stop it. Assassin, appologize to Ume before I beat you BOTH to death with that frying pan!"

Ume stopped chasing Assassin, who stopped running when he heard what Nori screamed.

"I'm sorry, Ume. I was just kidding. I thought I'd lighten the mood, but it uberbackfired."

"I'll forgive you, as long as you stop putting uber in front if words."

"Deal."

"Onward!" Assassin shouted, running for the door. After running through the door, and out of sight of Nori and Ume, the android turned around and ran back in, knowing what they's say.

"Wrong door, you ass!" shouted ranger Nori, laughing as her brother ran back.

"I knew that!" he yelled back, running through the door closest to them, this time, the girls followed. This room, oddly enough, was empty, save another strange pedestral with alien enscriptions. There, in the middle of the room, was the last pod message. They walked up and activated it. This time, a humar with crimson hair, tyed back in a ponytail, and a blue outfit.

"It's my brother! Joshua!" Ume said, pointing to the hologram. "Can you tell he's younger than me?"

Both the hunter and the ranger shook their heads. They turned to the hologram to watch it.

"My father had gone up ahead to set the bomb. When he comes back, we are both to use our magic, even if mine is weak, to activate the bomb. When it does, we do not have time to escape. The part of the ruins we are in will most likely collapse, killing us both with it. My dad let me do this message as my last words, type thing, but I'm not really good in these situations. I just wanna say, if you're watching, Ume, that I'm sorry this had to happen. And if it's someone else, then be careful." The hologram boy turned.
"My father is back. I must go. Good bye."

Once again, Ume just sat there, dumbfounded. The only thing she could utter was: "Whoa.."

Assassin looked at her, and then the hologram, and then her again.

"What's so shocking?"

"My brother... he was..."

"Was what?" Nori popped in.

"Was a huge jerk towards me all the time. I didn't know he gave a crap!"

Both Nori and Assassin's head dropped, in surprise, and sighed. ._.;

**Writer's note. Yes, I know I skipped ruins 2, but there was a reason. And that reason was, the fanfic would get long and dragged out if I did.**

[dekar]

Chapter 20

"Ok, that's enough. I know what happened. We can go back to the ship now. I'll explain it all.."

Assassin dropped a telepipe, and the three walked in. They made their way to the principal, and the truth would be told there.

**Ok, I'm not gonna be in town all weekend and I don't feel like writing the end now. Sit tight, I got a reeeeeeally good idea for the ending.**

[SS_Death]

Looking forward to it!

Been really good so far!

[dekar]

--End Chapter--

Ume, Nori, and Assassin walked into the teleporter leading to the principal. Ume jogged up to the big man, her friends trailing not far behind. Soon, she was standing in front of him. This was the moment she had been waiting for.

"You've pieced the info together?" The prinicipal asked, with anticipation.

"Yes. I'll begin. When the forces, (including me) landed, the animals were gentle, yes?"

"Yes."

"Same with Pioneer 1. But this time, the animals mutated, THEN the dimenians came. When the forces landed, there were Ragol's natives, and dimenians only. Which brings me to my next question. Why? Well, that blast sounds like a good explaination. But, what was the blast? The Pioneer 2 was ten years away, and the blast occurred when it was nearing the planet, right?"

"Yes."

"Then, that seems to have me boggled a bit. Hold on." Ume lifted her thumb and bit away at the nail, her gaze drifting to the floor. All of a sudden, her body jerked as if she had been shot in the stomache.

"That's it. The bomb! But... Ah... I see now. They didn't get to set the bomb off before the "conciousness" got them. Whatever was controlling the native animals has to be able to control the minds of anything it wants."

"The hunters and research team that disappeared..."

"Exactly. It got them. And, I'm gonna bet all my meseta that he got them to alter it and then set it off. It looks like it was altered to damage people with radioactivity. When it was set off, it mutated the animals instead of killing them, making them stronger. It warped the dimenians then, too, since there is yellow and purple ones. But, anyway, back to the subject. Rico must have gotten mind warped too. Maybe she's the one that screwed up the mines? Maybe not. But I think it needs to control people to get things done, because it is trapped. I think we should look for survivors one last time, and then seal the ruins again."

"But.."

"I know. Rico. I don't think there is anything that can be done about that, sir. I lost my family in the same way. Mind control. Don't you think we should make it so that no one else can?"

"Indeed. You are right. I will give you and your friends there the pleasure of clearing out that hellish place. Are you up for it?"

"WAIT!" Assassin cut in. "Can I bring someone?"

"Sure. The more the merrier!"

"YYYYYYes!!" And with that, Assassin ran down to the hunter's quarters area and knocked on the door next to his. Pretty soon, the door swung open and a yellow, black, and white FOnewm stuck his head out.

"Hey, dude! Wuz goin' on?" he said happily, giving Assassin a high five, missing, and falling on his face. he got up and continued talking like nothing happened, fixing his huge hat.

"Nothing much. Wanna come down to the caves and seal them off with Ume, Nori and I?"

"Who's the Ume chick?"

"Oh, she's a fomarl, and no, she won't like you. And yes, she can fight well, and yes. She did kick my ass."
After hearing this, the FOnewm laughed as hard as he could.

"You got your ass kicked by a girl." he howled, trying not to fall on the floor again.

"You dress like one. Now that's enough laughing. Let's go meet them."

"Ouch, man. Low blow." Just as the force said that, Ume and Nori turned around and looked down the corridor leading to the hunter's quarters. As soon as Nori saw the force she sighed.

"Why are you bringing Baka?"

"Because. I haven't gone fighting with him for almost a year now. Plus, it's funny to see him fight."

"Oh, har-dee-har-har." Baka said, straightening his glasses. "Let's just go... Wait a minute. Is that Ume?"

"Yes, I'm Ume."

"No wonder Assassin likes you so much." Ume raised and eyebrow and saw that Assassin was not defending that comment, just looking at the metal plates that were on the floor, and pushing any dirt that was on it between the cracks.

"See? I can tell these things."

After an awkward few seconds, Nori finally stepped in to break the silence. "C'mon. It doesn't matter. We have some ruins to seal."

__________________________________________________ _____________________________

The trio of brave hunters, (and Baka) successfully cleared out the ruins, and, with the principal's help, sealed it again. But this time, while going through, they found a room they had missed, and, inside, lay Ume's brother and father, and Red Ring Rico, all alive and well. It seems, as long as the "consciousness" has them, they can't die from not eating/drinking, because the creature gives them some of his life essence to keep them alive. When Ume's father explained what happened, it seemed she was close. REALLY close. When the creature took control, it also guarded those imprisoned from it too, because it still needed them. The scientists weren't so lucky.

Rico was re-united with her father and family, Ume had hers back. Things settled down for a while, for about 5 years, when Ume and Assassin got married! Nori found someone to settle down with, too. He was a HUmar, Strife. They are soon to be married.

**The End!!**

-Writer's note: I will most likely write a sequel. It depends on how much you guys liked this one!-

~Dekar, a.k.a. Assassin, a.k.a. Nori, a.k.a. Ume a.k.a. Ray, a.k.a. Artemis.~

[SS_Death]

On 2002-07-14 21:18, dekar wrote:

Rico was re-united with her father and family, Ume had hers back. Things settled down for a while, for about 5 years, when Ume and Assassin got married! Nori found someone to settle down with, too. He was a HUmar, Strife. They are soon to be married.

**The End!!**

-Writer's note: I will most likely write a sequel. It depends on how much you guys liked this one!-



More! Must know more! How did Ume and Assassin end up married??? Must have sequel, must know what happened in intermediate time...

[black_ablaze]

Dude! I agree completely! Write more sometime!

[dekar]

i'll see what i can do about a sequel. actually, i was gonna write one about assassin's/nori's/baka's/kess's/war child's youth, but mebbe i'll write the sequel after all. just gimme a while to recover from the brainstrain... o.O



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: dekar on 2002-07-15 20:40 ]</font>