Post #118 [Cecil]

[Welp, time for another long-ass post from past-Yours Truly. :P]

Posted By Cecil (Member # 47) on :

A burst of thunder filled the air of Scaraba as the group of Paula, Jeff, Poo, Sandra and Nebiroth descended from the sky into the northern part of the city.

[Yeah, notice that everyone of the Chosen Four BUT Ness is here. :P

It's not that I had anything against the poor kid personally or in the context of his character and story. I did however feel in terms of attention in IFs and other material in general, he did end up hogging a LOT of attention. I get he's the main character of the main characters here, but I don't necessarily see that as an excuse to ignore the other playable characters in any game completely. >.>

I don't blame Ness, so much as I blame the over-zealous fans he can have. :P

Sorry, just a mini-rant of mine... I hope that doesn't happen again, but who knows. :P]

Sandra looked around at the stone buildings and the trees, and took note of the heat. She was definately somewhere in the desert, a very dangerous desert to travelers.

[As far as I recall, this is her first time dealing with a desert climate, and her outfit is black, the same color that holds heat in the best, despite its 75% resistance to Fire it gives her. :P]

Poo broke the silence, "Where do we start looking for Everdred?" Sandra remembered her dream and what Hydra told her, "He's supposed to have been in the middle of some bazaar when he was frozen." she replied.

[Yeah, not that you'd know where to look, considering you never left the confines of Eagleland or even Twoson during your early life before Santranus. :P]

"Then we need not go far." Poo said, as he and Paula led them over to the central portion of the City, where the Baazar was held. The town, just like the rest of the Earth, was frozen in place, just as suspected, but Paula and Sandra saw no hair or trace of master thief Everdred.

[Well if he's a master thief, it would be hard to find him if he's up to something, wouldn't it? :P]

"Hmm... where is he?" asked Paula. "Maybe he's known to these people, and has disquised himself. He is supposably a thief, and they don't always walk around in the most obvious attire." Poo suggested.

[See, Poo knows what it's all about. Granted, Poo has never actually MET Everdred before, considering some theorize he died after the encounter you have with him in Fourside, but personally I never bought it. <.<]

Sandra suddenly stopped in place and gasped at the sight of a person frozen in place behind the booth of Red Snake, a man with a Small brown derby, and a bright aloha shirt that stood out. He had a black and bushy mustache. She recognized the character.

[In case you don't understand... I had it that Everdred knew the girls even back when they were really young. They were also some of the few people who weren't at all intimidated by his 'thief' profession and thus he grew to respect them both and became a sort of out-of-the-way friend of theirs. So yeah, Sandra considers him an old friend, despite his profession and his questionable past. :P]

"I found him!!" she screamed, as she ran over to the frozen Everdred, who looked like he was about to sneak a snake bag from Red Snake when the town became frozen. Sandra decided to waste no time, and quickly cast Dispel on the frozen Everdred.

[More silver coins rain from the heavens, yo! >.>]

Soon the master thief unthawed, but the side effects caused him to fall over, which Sandra had forgotten about. Everdred, on his back and a little dizzy, dumbfounded to say the least.

[Where's your 'master thief' skills now, Everderp? :P]

"What happened to me?" His vision cleared, he soon saw Paula, Jeff, Poo, Sandra, and Nebiroth, who had just recently came out of one of the houses with a red cross on it, wondering what it was.

[A little bit of side-lulz with Nebiroth wondering what a hospital is. :P]

"Little Paula? What're you doing here right now? Aren't you on rest?"

["Little"? She's almost 5'11" now, you klutz. Probably about as tall as you. <.<]

"Long story, Mr. Everdred. We'll explain soon enough..." Paula replied, "Let's just say Earth is in trouble from a different problem now." Everdred looked around in responce to Paula's explanation. Sure enough, he had caught gist that the world was in a mess, a frozen mess.

[...of tangled webs and wires? o.o]

"Why is everyone frozen in place?" he asked. Sandra answered Everdred, attracting his attention, "The world has been shot with a strange laser that seems to have created some field of time around it that is freezing the unlucky in place. You were also a victim, and so were Paula, Jeff and Poo here at one point. I wasn't here on the Earth when the beam hit, so I was unaffected."

[Yeah, I'm not sure if Sandra would have been frozen like the others if Auto-Haste wasn't a factor and if she HAD arrived on Earth a few hours earlier than she had. Interesting what-ifs, maybe for another time. >.>]

Everdred's eyes buldged as the words "I wasn't here on the Earth" went into his ears, and he realized it, "Little... Sandra?! You're alive!! You're okay!! I've missed you since... since..."

["...since you vanished into the voids of time and space with that strange Blue Box." - Sorry, I had to make a Doctor Who reference somewhere. :P]

"Yes, it's me... I know I've probably caused you a lot of grief." Sandra replied, lowering her head in slight shame. She felt bad that she had to do what she did as a five-year old. She had little choice in the matter though. That or Twoson and the rest of the world be fried by some dragon being...

[Yeah, the portal she jumped into, it was going to release this moderately-powerful dragon to wreck havoc on an unprepared town. Sandra, being in her five-year old mindset, figured if she jumped in, she might reverse the flow of the portal and send it back, but ended up getting her stuck away from home for 10 friggin years for it. I hope she learned her lesson. :P]

"No... no... Paula told me after you disappeared of what really happened. I was depressed when I heard about it, but I always had beliefs that you were still alive, no matter where you had gone."

[I guess that's reassuring... but it seems to show you had more hope for her than her own sister did. That's kinda depressing when I look back on it.

Then again... their bond, man... their bond... Paula would be better inclined to make that determination than another other than Sandra herself. >.>]

Sandra looked back up with a slight smile at him, "Thanks for believing in me, I guess. My last 10 years have been a mixed bag, but I have managed to get home in the end, so that's all that matters right now. I'd go into details about the 10 years... but we're not out of trouble yet!

["...they're after you and want your great master thieving skills!" :P]

The people that are behind this are still at large, and they are trying desperately to destroy us all. Mom and Dad, as well as three of their friends, they're prisoners in the hands of these people. They are from space, and their ship seems to be the source of the beam."

"Like the one behind you?" Everdred pointed to Nebiroth.

[I can only imagine Everdred being secretly scared stiff, looking at Nebi like that. XD]

"Nebiroth from a different world also. Nebiroth and Sandra meet under not-so-good choices. Nebiroth was enemy of Sandra once." the demonoid replied. "Yes, Nebiroth's on our side." Sandra agreed.

[Meh, to be honest... Nebiroth... the REAL Nebiroth never fought Sandra at all, so I doubt they were truly enemies at all. Sardius just jerked Nebi around into thinking that. XP]

"Hey, aren't you that samurai prince that joined Paula's group when they were fighting that Giygas being?" he said, pointing to Poo, and then he saw Jeff, "I remember you vaugely too from Fourside in the alley of Jackie's. I never caught your name thought beforehand."

[Well at least he remembers Jeff... but how the frack he knew about Poo...? I guess maybe he read something about it in the different newspapers sold around the world at the different hotels? <.<]

"Yes." Jeff replied, "I remember. My name's Jeff, and that's Poo, Prince of Dalaam." Everdred smiled a little, and picked himself off the ground, but then a question washed over him, "Um, I just realized something. If I was frozen, and Paula and her friends there were also, who freed them?"

[The Time Bunny of Easter-hereafter did, Everdred. O.O]

"I did." Sandra replied, "I've learned an abundance of magic over my recent 10 years in that other world. Nebiroth seems immune to the beam naturally for some reason, so he was also unaffected. I used some of my magic to undo the effects around various people.

["...Including a spy for the enemy using the time beam, to our misfortune." ಠへಠ]

Sigh, too bad one of those creeps from above had taken the form of my dad's friend Johnson, who I personally unfroze, and let learn about my powers. He's likely told his buddies that I can do that now, and I'll be a big priority in their path of destruction."

[Yes... even this incarnation of Sandra tends to think heavily into matters when it comes to the possibilities of how her enemies try to gather intelligence and info on her. Other incarnations still tend to do things like hold back their true power intentionally to trick any would-be observers into underestimating her in future battles.]

"We won't allow that to happen, now will we, Sandra?" Everdred chuckled, "You and your sister have always been very resourceful, and when you two are together, you're almost unstoppable!

[We'll have to see about that, ol' wise 'master thief'. :P]

You're both smart, and you each possess abilities unique to you. Plus you guys have me, Jeff, Poo, er... Nebiroth, and... wait a sec... Where's Ness himself at?"

[lol, I love how only NOW he notices Ness of all people is missing. XD]

"He's with another sub-group. We're not the only unfrozen people. We split off from the main group to find you because Sandra got immensely worried about you, and because Jeff needs to go to his father's lab in Winters for some things." Poo explained.

["and because he's is up to some crazeh plan he won't tell us about!" D:]

"Winters? Lab?! Wait a second, I remember you completely now! You're Jeff Andonuts, son of Dr. Timothy Andonuts of the Winters Science Club! 

[Yeah, me and giving canon characters first names that were never established in the main games again. :P

Also, unlike some people, I don't consider Jeff's father to be Loid from Mother 1. Loid might be a more distant relative, a grandfather or great-grandfather perhaps, but definately not Jeff's father. >.>]

I had small links to him through Maxwell Labs of the Snow Wood boarding school. Maxwell used to be a good friend of mine, you know." "You knew Maxwell? How? I thought he lived in Winters most of his life!" Jeff was dumbfounded.

[Good flapping question there, Jeff. :O]

"Maybe we can find him too, and he could help me explain."

"Yes, we ARE heading to Winters next... but one thing is yanking at my curiousity, Mr. Everdred: Why are you here in Scaraba?" Paula asked him. "Well, to tell you the truth, I was about to steal this guy's snake bag here because I needed it on my trip to the pyramid."

[And do what with it, exactly? The Hawk Eye was removed months ago, by Ness and his group no less. :P]

"You were heading to the pyramid?" "Yes, I wanted to see if anything was left from when those raiders went in and stole the Hawk Eye."

[Okay, fair enough reasoning there I suppose. But I still bet you Ness and them looted the place clean before they left. :P]

Paula, Jeff and Poo sweatdropped at the fact Everdred didn't realize THEY were the ones who took the Hawk Eye for the Deep Darkness.

[lawl XP]

"We'll explain about that later." Poo said to him, "But we need to head over to Winters for Jeff. We need to line up and prepare to teleport." "Yes, we should." Everdred agreed.

The group gathered outside of the gates of Scaraba, and in a space area, and Poo soon used Teleport Beta to take off to Winters in a flash...

[And promptly start to freeze their asses off... well most of them anyways. >.>]

[AC/Post Count: 20/118(10:59)]