Hey... tonight's Game Over Giveaway event inspired me into writing a fanficcish documentation/IC interpretation of the whole point of the thing. So, I banged this out in an hour and I hope you all enjoy the read, as well the allusions to things I have yet to get down in writing in my main fanfic, Brothers in Arms. Which, I now realize, is now inappriately titled because I've changed some of the characters. O_o I'll have to fix that.
EDIT: Done.
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Kupi sighed, waiting. At her side were all six of her friends, each one a destined ally in the battle with a Falz that had nearly destroyed her soul. Now they were all waiting with her, looking apprehensive. None of them had much of an idea as to what was going on, other than Kupi had told them that she wanted to give away all of the strongest weapons, armor, and miscellaneous equipment that they owned. At first they'd all been unsure as to sanity of the plan, but the last time Kupi said it was time to do something weird the universe might have ended then and there if they hadn't gone along with it.
Kupi rolled back one of her dress sleeves and looked at her watch. "7:55. They'll be coming soon," she said, just a hint of the building excitement in her voice. Kupi had never been a prim and proper FOmarl like most of them. Some had even said she'd be far better off as a FOnewearl, in which case she'd at least have looks to match her personality. But, she was what she was, except for the fact that she wasn't for a fair amount of time. Kupi had once been a him.
Long after Kupi's primary struggle with fate had ceased, there was still the matter of the Ruins and their inhabitants. One would have thought that Kupi had had enough demons to last a lifetime or more, but he found a certain satisfaction in putting his building talents in the realm of being a hunter to good use. Oddly enough, he preferred to slay monsters in the Ruins, the very place in which he had fought for his soul. Sapphire, one of the other two Forces in their group of friends, had ventured the guess that since Kupi had seen the worst that they had to offer, the Ruins posed no threat to him. Kupi was never certain himself. He just liked the Ruins.
The Ruins contain an odd sort of crystal. They were large and teardrop-shaped, though with more jagged edges than the word "teardrop" suggests. Inside each one was a string of runes, inscribed into the center of the crystal itself through some esoteric means that escaped the knowledge of those of the Pioneer 2. The thing about magic, especially that involving arcane symbols, is that there is very little room for error. These crystals flowed with magic, and a single little erroneous etch within them could cause them to do unpredictable things, to say the least.
Kupi was making his way through another of the Ruins' seemingly infinite number of halls when he and Sapphire, who was with Kupi at the time, had come across the crystal that had changed everything. It was emitting light of rapidly changing colors and intensities, sparking, and doing everything that suggested that was about to have a very serious breakdown. Sapphire inspected it from all angles, keeping a safe distance at all times. Once the FOnewm had firmly espablished that he had no clue what this thing was doing, he turned aside and starting typing out a message on his BEE mailing device to send to the rest of the party, at various places aboard Pioneer 2. Kupi chose that moment to slowly, carefully, nudge the giant crystal with his Caduceus. Sapphire picked up on the motion just before contact was made and slurred a warning into a single word, "Kupidontouchthat--"
There was a sound like an explosion, and there wasn't a Kupi. Just a robe, a stick with an ornamental winged beast on the end, his hat, and his shoes.
Sapphire quickly drew the BBE Mailer again and, making several typos and not bothering to correct them, informed everyone that they were not to "pamick" and start searching the Ruins for any sign of Kupi. Janise was the one who found him, or rather her at this point. She made special note to teleport down a blanket to cover the necessary extremities before calling in the other five people. When Kupi came around, she had no idea why Sapphire looked so concerned, why Janise was rubbing her head, or why Jason and Maga Fay were leaning against each other for support so the laughter didn't make them collapse. The explanation took a while, and calming Kupi down after she realized what had happened took even longer. It is difficult to accept that you've wound up on the other side of the gender scale after you've just completed puberty.
And that was why she was here, now. Waiting to hold a party to give anything of value that she owned to whomever looked like they needed it. Even, Kupi realized, the Caduceus that had technically gotton her into this mess. The watch started to beep a cheery little tune to state that it was 8:00, and the festivities began.
Hunters, Rangers, Forces, Humans, Androids, and Newmen flooded through the designated area, all ready and willing to get something for the effort they expended in arriving. Some that came were experienced, some were mere beginners. Some came to receive their boon for themselves, others on the behalf of another. Nigh all were thankful for what they received. There were even a few people impersonating Kupi (in costumes, she later remarked, that were grossly inadequate), though they were eventually sorted out and no feelings were irrepirably hurt.
Two hours later, the last of the visitors left for the Hunter's Lobby, leaving Kupi and his friends (now exhausted from carrying all of the red, green, blue, and orange inventory boxes around) alone with a little more loot left. Slowly but surely, they piled what remained at a deserted observation deck. There would be one last visitor, Kupi said. The party was over but they'd come. And, sure enough, a small girl in a bright teal dress rounded the corner and said, "Did I miss the party?" Kupi motioned towards the heap of multicolored boxes. "It's all yours," she said. The FOnewearl's eyes widened to encompass the upper regions of her face. She was still searching for a mass-transit method for all the items when Kupi and her friends left.
Back at their apartment, Sapphire locked the door behind the group as all seven returned. "Okay, while I'll admit that seeing all those smiling faces was a very heartwarming experience indeed," he started, "We are now dirt poor. I do hope that you've got an explanation for this."
"You can't take it with you," Kupi replied.
"What?"
"You Can't Take It With You." The tone in Kupi's voice had changed. Maga Fay leapt up from where she sat.
"Kupi! You can't--!" she faltered, looking for the right word.
"But I'm going to. If I get this wrong, none of us will know. And even if I get this right... we won't know. This has to be done, Maga Fay. There is no turning back now."
Maga Fay never made a sound. She was not that type of fighter. What she was was a cruel, dishonorable witch that would do anything to preserve her own definite way of existence. Kupi never saw the Megid blast coming, nor did it matter since the Megid vanished into the air. So did Soki's dive to deflect it, Sapphire's shock, and Jason and Janise's respective displays of guarding prowess. Bob, the RAcast, stood still.
The air within the apartment twisted and distorted like the disruption of vision through heat, all was chaos for a moment, and then...
Everything was the same, but different.
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Kupi on 2003-03-01 20:36 ]</font>
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