Final Fantasy/8-Bit Theatre Fanstories

[Jared Todd]

Okay, it's been long enough, and I already made the fifth part, like, 5 days ago, which was the day after I posted the third part. BAH! You guys can't wait for that long, you just can't. It's impossible. Heck, I can't.

"It.. is time.. to see... if you are the one I'm looking for..!!" his fingers charged with electricity.
Black Mage immediately put his hands together, enough warning for him, trying to fit in as much energy as he could into the orb of power beneath his robes, obstructed from my vision.
The face grinned beneath the mage hat.
"That's it... show me your true colors.."
The doppelganger obviously was trying to represent Black Mage, but a much darker and evil version of him. As his hands clasped with stronger electric current, the smell of burning metal scoured across the waste of grey. It was getting stronger now, as well as the energy Black Mage had in his hands I couldn't quite place. Clouds of swirling black surrounded the skies around us.
"Now, defend yourself!"
As the clouds parted directly above Black Mage, striking and thunderous rage of legions of lightning bolted down toward the ground.
Black Mage stepped back, and cried out a spell. He spun around, and before he could release the orb, I managed to see what was between his hands. It was white! Black Mage kneeled to the ground, and a vibrant and beautiful flash of green filled the grey world, and with Black mage as the eye, a rippling tornado surrounded him, and the bolts of lightning were instantly trapped among the bowl of wind. The wind started rippling, and shocking with electricity, storing the bolts inside the wind.
"Black Mage..!!" White Mage cried, running toward him, but the wind tossed her easily off and away from him.
As the giant orb of wind and electricity now surrounded Black Mage, it slowly started to subside the electricity useless. As Black Mage made an incoherent sound of suffering, the rippled tornado flew away from him and dissapeared with sparks. Black Mage collapsed to the ground, his gloves surging with electricity for a second before that dissapeared too.
I stood back, astonished.
"... was that..." is all I could manage out. Black Mage growled a human growl under his breath, and shuddered, breathing heavilly.
"I can't control it as much as I can normal Black Magic..." he sighed, putting a hand to his mouth, wiping it off, "I have no idea what it is.. I didn't think it was White Magic.."
Immediately, I looked to the doppelganger.
"The wind attack... but..."
Black Mage slowly started rising, staggering toward White Mage.
"Red Mage, you were foolish to say there isn't anything you don't know about magic," the doppelganger shook his head, and put both hands together in front of him, "What you call White Magic, I prefer to call positive magic.."
He dissapeared and re-appeared next to White Mage, and kneeled down to White Mage softly. Black Mage could do nothing but collapse again, tired. The imposter put a hand out to her. I could see White Mage stare into the imposter's eyes for a second, before taking his hand and rising up with him.
"So... I can use White Magic then.." Black Mage muttered, disgustedly almost.

I get it now, it's a parlor trick.. that's it. It's just a-"
"No, Thief, I made this with my mind! I don't know how I'm doing it, but I've been working on it lately."
The ball slowly tossed and turned in itself, starting to grow bigger, flames waving slowly in controlled directions.
"Cool, right?"
"But how..??" Thief questioned, "If.. if a lowly human like you can control magic.."
Fighter looked at Thief, and the fire in his hands dissapeared in a wisp of smoke.
"You mean, you think you can do it too?"
Thief shook his head.
"No, Fighter. I don't think I can do it," he narrowed his eyes, and put his hands together like a magic user would, and concentrated on them, "I know I can."

"Anyone can," he smiled a little, and walked between I and Black Mage, "Anyone can use negative magic as well.. if they have the need for power and enough negativity."
I put my hand on my chin. Magic was my plaything, there hadn't been anything to do with negativity and positivity in my days of learning Red Magic.
However, Black Mage nodded understandably.
"S'why sacrificing makes people like me stronger.. why Darko entrusted me with Blue Magic.."
"That's it. It's time you stopped faking. Who are you, you imposter! How do you know so much about magic, and why are you sharing your knowledge with us?"
White Mage was still silent. She stared between Black Mage and his doppelganger, overwhelmed and confused looks on her almost-hidden face. His eyes flickered under the hat he wore.
"Janus..." escaped his lips, and I was stunned.
I thought a second, doubting my initial shock.
"J-Janus.. the greek god?" I raised a brow, "The god of power, and twofaced-ness."
He nodded shortly.
"I am named after the one and only, I'm afraid. I'm the god of White and Black magic, and the inner workings of the two."
White Mage cleared her throat, and looked to Janus.
"I'm sorry, but... the White Mage's oath... I mean.. I had no idea that White Magic was.. so capable."
"Oh?" Janus looked quickly at her, "Well, then you are going to get an earful that will change your grasps of White and Black magic today.."

So I lied about showing you what Fighter is capable of... to an extent. Black Mage said, himself, that Fighter is too naive and innocent to use Black Magic, and Janus' words about how Black Mages gain power are enough to tell us Fighter could never ever use Black Magic ever. So obviously, what Fighter is using is fire-elemented white magic.

Oh, and to explain the whole "it was supposed to be an air attack.." thing Janus and RM and BM went through... The candles each represented an individual Light Warrior. It's obvious now who owns each element.

RM.......Water
BM.......Wind
Fighter..Fire
Thief....Earth

He was told the person he was to help was supposed to have a dominantly Wind element soul, and possibly the be future holder of the Wind Orb. RM has water element, which is why RM was blasted with a water attack back in part 1. Janus pulled the element from RM (and later, BM) and used it against him. Hope that clears up any uncertainties that should be certain at this point in the story. I would predict there aren't many more chapters left, I'm running out of stuff to right about. >.>

[Karenaide]

CHAPTER ONE:
PRE-ADVENTURE PREPARATION
BLACK MAGE

I was in the duel arena with Magnum. He wasn't having too much trouble from his chest, though it was still a little stiff, and you could tell. He was still very agile, though.

"So, what type of mage are you?" I was moving fast, dodging everything from fireballs to spears.

"Blood Acolyte," he answers, back-flipping over a stream of fire. "I had to turn down the title of Priest and even Cleric for... well, that's kind of obvious," he smiles at himself while throwing a lance of lightening at me. I leaped aside, face turned towards the explosion...

And felt a strong hand clasp my right shoulder. I just froze up. I couldn't move at all, no matter how hard I tried. Magnum shoved my shoulder down, slamming me into the ground. I gasped for breath, the wind knocked out of me. I felt hot breath on my ear and heard Magnum's voice whisper in my ear:

"You are weak. You have so much raw power, but you cannot control it. In terms of raw energy, you are strong. But as for control, you are weak," A wave of realization hit me, and were I not pinned to the ground I would have been reeling in shock. All through my life, every spell, every stab, every Hadoken, I had known I hadn't reached my potential. He was right.

I was weak.

"Would you like to become strong?" His voice was soft, yet firm. I turned my head to look at him catching only a brief glimpse of his face. I didn't need to speak, and even if I tried, I wouldn't have been able to. He knew the answer. I felt my collar tighten around my neck as he lifted me to my feet.

"It is emotion that fuels magic. Anger is the easiest. Try an infuriating memory," Magnum was standing in front of me, about twenty feet away. "Just strike me. One strike will complete your first lesson," I was in disbelief. An infuriating memory? Too easy. I had plenty of those! I selected one and concentrated on it. I felt heat building up in my body, as if I was on fire. It was like the heat of the sun, without the burn. I opened my eyes... and I lunged.

Before I could blink I was leaning over, my knife had pierced straight through Magnum's gut. He smiled, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
"I will show you... true power," he whispered. I was thrown back, waves of magic slamming me into the sand. It lasted for a while, the wind howled and the light shone, but when it died down, I was frozen in awe. Before me stood a figure, robed in black, his left hand gloved by a black, steel claw, while his right was a gold and black wristband from his wrist to his elbow, a thin, golden chain connected to a long needle over his middle finger.

"Mag...num?" I asked, my throat dry from the whipping sands.

"I am not Magnum," Whoah, his voice was echo-ey and kind of... ominous? “I am not as weak as that fool of a Magi. I am Suzemushi, the Hornet, the demon within the man," With that he was gone, and I had a long, thin needle-like claw against my throat. He was fast. Drawing Magnum's sword, he leaped over me. Fifty feet in the air! Drawing back his arm, he recited:

"The prison of flesh, the cell of blood, the trap which is man, I am confined in. Break free, I will my brethren, and slay the men unworthy," His enormous, demonic grin grew to be just a little too wide, and an enormous curling spiral of black-and-red flew towards the ground.

Towards me.

I was stunned. This was, like, superhuman! I covered my head with my hands, ready for the spiral to slice right through me. It never hit its target. I opened one eye, then another. I was in the stands! I looked at my hands, my arms, my legs. I felt my head, neck, chest... I was intact! But how had I gotten here?

“It is a simple technique,” It was Magnum, standing on the spire above my head. “You pull the particles in the air under your feet, pulling you away faster than a warp. However, warping mixes your particles with the air, then reassembles you wherever you wish. Warping is safer, because as air you cannot be harmed,”

Wow. He liked to talk.

Suddenly, I felt a burning sensation on the back of my hands. It crept up my arms, onto my chest, and down to my legs. The strange pink marks were growing, too.

“I-I’ve got to go,” I muttered hastily, running to my room. I tried out the Particle Feet technique, as it turned out to be called. I was pulled up to my balcony from the stands in the blink of an eye. Now I was fast.

I ran into my bedroom, pulling off my hat as I ran. I threw it onto my bed while pulling off the rest of my Mage garb. I saw angry-looking red marks like popping veins moving from five marks on my body, forming a web of intersecting lines. One mark on my forehead, one on each hand, one on my chest, and half a mark on each foot. the marks ran up my legs, arms and down my neck, reaching the largest one on my chest. all of them were pentagrams. Each glowed with a strange, red light and each one felt hot to the touch. I looked like a human spider web.

Hearing the lock click, I grabbed my clothes and threw them on hastily. Before I put on my hat, the final piece of my outfit, the door opened and White Mage walked in.

"Hey," she greeted me. "What's wrong?" Oh man. I was not about to tell her the truth.

"Uh, I just... got sweaty. Yeah, and I was wiping my forehead," I fingered my hat nervously, hoping the lines were gone from my face. She bought it, thank goodness. Walking forwards, she looked at me in a way that made me uncomfortable. It was like Magnum was staring at me. I looked down, my long brown hair hanging in front of my eyes. She was right in front of me now.

"Where were you earlier?" she asked, reaching out and running her fingers through my hair.

"I was training with Magnum," I answered looking up at her. I could see my reflection in her eyes she was so close. I was green, but yeah, I could see myself. And seeing my face, looking back at me made me wonder, and I came to the conclusion;

Something big was going to happen. I was sure of it.

What? You were expecting a Fighter/WM situation, like in Seran's BM Nightmare? You assume too much. Also, I think that last sentance has something wrong with it.

I had writers block, so this took a while. I did most of it this afternoon.

Jared, It's getting good! Don't stop!

[Jared Todd]

I can see my character narrative is addicting? o o'...
But I don't understand a lot of the story. >.>.. the characters are all derived of individualism so it's hard to spot individual characters and character growth.. (a lot of people who write have that problem, though), and there's a lot of things that just rush by my head a little too fast. It's probably just the way I read, but I can't really understand a lot of it. It's cool how you're giving BM wicked abilities though.

Anyways, this is the next part in the Janus' Curse saga. Wha-hah. It probably isn't as good as the last one, unless you don't picture the wind attack BM used as as cool as I had pictured it. But it'll explain more of the magic thing.

"Did you ever wonder why White Mages like you would always be so wholesome, and why Black Mages like your friend here are so despicable..?" he looked at Black Mage softly, and smiled, "Well.. was."
"No..!!" Black Mage tried to stand up, glaring at Janus, "N-No, there is no was...!! I'm still all-powerful, I can still be evil!! You don't know what you're talking about, I could.. I could kill you-- I will if you don't.."
Janus helped White Mage up, and walked toward Black Mage.
"This is wrong..."
He tried to help Black Mage up too as he approached, but Black Mage tore away from him, spinning off feebly, and collapsing to the ground against his stomach, cringing and crying out in agony.
"No....." he cried, just staring at the ground, "I don't.. I've vowed I'd never.... This is wrong..."
"Black Mage.." White Mage stared down at him, "This is good.. you deserve this. You deserve to be better, more healthy.."
"Uhh," Janus tunred slightly to her, but Black Mage interrupted him before he could go any further.
"No, no... no... no.. it's wrong..." he shook his head, "I don't deserve anything nice.. I've been a walking plague all my life... it's not going to stop now.."
I scratched my arm again, watching the scene, mostly not believing it.
".. so... how.. does this work? and.. why can Fighter all of a sudden use magic?"
Janus nodded softly.
"Like the four elements, the seven elements each represent a state of being.. Earth represents strength, water represents security, fire represents relationships, wind represents love," he looked to Black Mage, who rose a brow as far as I could tell, but stayed silent, "Combining the four elements, having each in syncronization, creates the fifth, light. The final elements represent connection to the spirit world, and connection to the mind. Having all seven in syncronization allows an incredible power to be weilded at any White Mage's fingertips.. Holy."
White Mage shook her head.
"So.. White Mage has incredible healing and defending power.." I thought, putting a hand on my chin, "But.. Black Magic has... much more offensive powers."
"But.." White Mage kept her eyes on Janus, "The White Mages only console within the powers of Holy and light.. Someone should tell the White Mages about this..! It would help them, all of us, protect others!"
He smiled slightly, "Learning the natural white elements would be against all foolish code that makes the White Mage acceptable in society today.
"and.. Red Mage. You are wrong again," he shook his head, "Black Magic is the opposite of the strengths and elements. When using, say, ice, instead of water.. the user must twist the security inside them, and suffer themselves insecurity. When using lightning instead of wind, Black Mage must despise love in order for his powers to stay strong. If all the four elements are out of balance, Black Mage can use an incredible and deep power that can disease whoever comes across it. If the final two elements are in balance, however, he is capable of ruling over the darkest powers known to man.. Chaos. But a Black Mage has to be incredibly unhealthy, disease their body with negative and overpowering thoughts, and Black Magic can only harm. White Magic can heal, White Magic can defend, and it can harm."
White Mage stood back, putting both hands to her face.
"... the Hadoken..?" she looked to Black Mage, "You... Black Mage... how could you..."
"Hmm?" I spun round to her, "White Mage, you've known Black Mage siphons love out of the world with each blast.."
"N-No!" she cried out, stepping further away from Black Mage, looking to me sadly, "You don't understand this at all, he has to hate love in order to use the Hadoken..! Th-Those were Janus' exact words..!!"
I thought for a second. It made perfect sense now.. He was weak when he tried to kill me with the hadoken blast back in the airship. His Hadoken was getting less and less useful as he grew more in love with White Mage.
"White Mage," he pleaded, leaning against Janus, "I.. I'm so sorry..."

"I don't think it's working," Fighter mumbled.
Thief continued to stare at his hands, focusing on it. A vein had already been almost popping out of his tan skin a few minutes ago.
"Come on, dammit... what's going wrong, why can't I do this..."
Fighter shook his head.
"No, no, no, you do it like.." Fighter tightened his fists and spread his legs, closing his eyes, the area around him and Thief blurring. It was obvious he had no idea what he was doing, but before he could draw his hands close together, the two vanished out of thin air.

GASP! Did I just kill off two characters? Whoops!
Anyways, I think it'd be lamer than what I was planning on if I wrote more of this. I could, but I think the story should just be a short one, not a huge adventure. If anyone wants to see more of this, you're welcome to plead? But I just don't think I should write more, it wouldn't be stylistic. v.v

[Karenaide]

CHAPTER TWO
I TOLD YOU SO
RED MAGE

Black Mage had gotten cool new powers, so why didn't I? I was going to go whine about it to Magnum, who I believed was in his room. When I got there, Rallis was in front of the door.

"Hey Rallis!" I smiled, and waved, but he just kept on standing there. "Can I go in?"

"Nope," Rallis said, not even looking at me. "Magnum is doing something important, and you can't interrupt him,"

"Okay. Well what if I told you that there was pudding in the kitchen?" I asked, looking away nonchalantly.

"PUDDING?!" he ran away from the door so fast that his foot hit it and left a dent in the heavy oak. He was like Fighter, in a way I couldn't quite put my finger on. I blame physics. But anyway, I walked through the door and found Magnum doing something quite odd.

In his hands were two stones about three inches in diameter. The stones smelled like a zombie's used gym socks, and glowed brown, but he didn't seem to mind. Clasping them together between his hands, he recited something indistinctly, and a red circle of light sprang forth into the air in front of his face. Symbols were at the four 'corners' of the circle, were a diamond would have vertices. It looked like it was a compass of sorts. He spoke a name, which sounded something like 'Wormwood'. I didn't see diddly-squat, so I knocked tentatively on the door and stepped closer.

"There you are," Magnum whispered to no one, his eyes reflecting the circle hovering mere inches in front of his face. "Ataru," His head snapped up, the circle disappeared and I felt like the court jester, the center of attention.

In a bad way.

For a moment he just stared at me, and I thought he might blast me or something. But he sighed, stood up, and walked forward, his long black cloak trailing the ground, sending up dust from the stones. I opened my mouth and began to speak, but he interrupted.

"You feel left out because Black Mage got a new move and you want compensation XP or a cool move so you don't look like the only person who's still levelling up, am I right?"

Woah, he was good. I was about to ask him how he could possibly have known that when the answer, in his voice, just popped into my head. Cool! I could read minds! Magnum walked out of the room, leaving me to thank the air in front of me.

The slow, stupid court jester waiting backstage for his long-missed cue. I began to follow him, but decided to gloat about it to Black Mage first. As I walked, I pulled out my character sheet, a scroll of parchment tied into a tube with a red piece of leather, and looked in the 'Spells' column. Sure enough, it said 'Mind Reading, Level One'.

That was cool. If he could teach me to read minds by saying a sentence, what else could he do? As I pondered, I ran headlong into a chocolate-covered Rallis.

"The pudding was good," he said. I smiled and inched away, his breath was chocolatey and overpowering. I would have fainted if he hadn't walked back into the kitchen! But I had some gloating to do, and gloating does not wait! I ran towards the west wing of the citadel, taking in the thought of the people around me. Hidden knowledge, how this magic trick works, what this person did last night... UGH! THAT was disturbing! but anyhow, it wasn't long before I locked onto Black Mage's 'scent'. I ran into the magic-absorption room, where Magi trained in an environment that magic couldn't destroy.

Upon opening the door, I was thrown back, the wall crumbling as I was slammed into it. rocks fell, and the last thing I remembered before I blacked out was a figure in black, with a white skull on his head.

Jared. Write. More. Now.

[Jared Todd]

"I want to get out of here," White Mage refused to look at Black Mage, who was clutching Janus' robes to pull himself up.
I shook my head softly. There were so many more questions I wanted answered. Black Mage and White Mage could wait to have their fights, I honestly had never seen Black Mage and White Mage meet and not fight before. Knowledge was much more important.
"I think we should let him go on. About magic. There are two questions I have..
"One, why is it the white mages follow a set of rules that are completely senseless, and
"Two, why is it I have no idea what you're talking about, yet I'm the most potent magic caster on our team?"
"H-Hey..!!" Black Mage yelled, arms holding around Janus' shoulders to keep himself steady.
I could see the uncertainty in his orange eyes, so I shook his self-realisation off of me, and continued to look beside him, toward Janus, the epitome of the questions rattling my brain now.
"Fft. To answer your second question quickly, I have no idea. You have powerful gifts, without any reason I can manage to recognize. Yet I don't feel any real power in you at all, you just feel like an ordinary human who doesn't know a thing about magic," he narrowed his eyes, and put a hand on the back of Black Mage's before he could slip off his back, "Which is basically what you are."
I took a step forward. My hands immediately started pulsing with white magic, the white magic Janus knew, or at least thought was the same white magic Janus knew.
"You said you're the god of White and Black Magic! You don't have the power to tell me I don't know a thing about magic if you can't tell me what my power is!"
Slowly, Janus rose his other hand. Slowly, the armored Black Mage outfit began glowing white.
"Don't tell me what I know... I am a god of something you think you know, yourself. You have no idea what fear or true power means compared to me.."
As the white armor exploded in sparkles, his true, non-doppleganger clothes came into sight. He was dressed in a long coat that sipped up from his chin, to his waist, and then parted off over his baggy white pants. The sleeves of his coat were sky blue like the rest of it, and came to above his wrists, which were covered in white gloves. A saggy sky blue hat with a feather on it, also sleeved with white, was on his curly brown head, skin tanned. He had one head, but three identical faces facing three different directions. The sparkles continued to gleam slowly down toward the ground.
I was glad he shurked his copied form, but his spectacle wasn't about to make me feel any better. He and Black Mage had insulted my ways of magic too much, and went too far.
"Janus, please.." she looked at him, and obviously couldn't help but look at Black Mage, whose eyes were pleading with her now, "... I want to go. I don't have a place here, nor do I want to be here."
"I know very well you don't belong here, white mage.. This so-called red mage, as interesting as he is, doesn't either.. I am here to help Black Mage," he put his raised hand down to his heart, and started another white ball of energy.
Slowly, I took a few steps forward. No, as important as Black Mage thought he was, Janus was not going to get away that easily. I softly put a hand outward, walking faster toward him, creating my own white ball of energy in the other hand.
"No.. I'm not going anywhere until you apologize," I turned my head sideways a little as he shifted, "You have done nothing but insult me since we met.."
Janus only smirked. Yet again, he was mocking me.
"The only thing I've done is spoken the truth and proven your incorrect theories wrong.." Softly, he rose the hand toward me, and the ball in it swirled blacker.
I tightened my fist, cold steam pressing through my fingers, shaking my head, readying to attack him.
"Like I said..."
I lunged for him.

So anyways, I just felt I owed it to this thread to make a fight between Red Mage's ego, and Janus, so that's coming next post.

For those that can't figure it out, Red Mage's power isn't a part of the plot, it's only a nuissance. The plot circles around the entire group coming to terms with their abilities (BM with the blessing/curse of white magic, WM with her oath, Fighter with his fire magic, and Thief with learning how to use magic). Red Mage isn't a part of this circle of knowledge and coming-to-terms, he gains power through his character sheet, so all the magic and knowledge he has is solely on the activation of his said magic; knowledge to make things from his character sheet surface to the physical plane. In this sense, Red Mage is far stronger than pretty much all the Light Warriors and even might be a little stronger than a God, but I just want to make it very clear that RM doesn't have some kind of power that's going to be revealed later, it's just his character sheet.

I'm going to switch to BM soon (narrator)... I'm not looking forward to having all the "BOOO!!"s from not doing BM good enough... x x

[Karenaide]

CHAPTER THREE
A STARTLING MOVE
BLACK MAGE

"...It is the base of all magic power," Magnum and I were sitting in a Magic-Absorption Room, and he was answering my questions.

"The mark on your forehead," He placed the tip of his index finger to the center of the star, and instantly warmth flowed down the pink marks into my arms, legs, feet and chest. It didn't hurt, but I could feel heat. he removed his hand, and I felt the marks cool down again.

"It is a Pentagram, ancient symbol of God's power, like the Crucifix," he held up the silver cross around his neck, the dim light making it glimmer and sparkle.

"But when turned on it's head," he let the crucifix swing back into place under his cloak. "The Pentagram becomes the symbol of Dark Magic, which are the works of the Serpent," he spoke about this as calmly as if we were discussing the weather over a cup of tea.

"But, why did these marks appear when you made the Pentagram?" I asked. Magnum answered by taking off his cloak and unfastening his jacket.

"Just as a farmer brands his cattle, a master brands his apprentice," he answered, letting the jacket fall to the purple-black ground. I stared in awe at what he had revealed. For crisscrossing across his body were two consistent sets of marks.

The first set was similar to mine, but more ornate, with sigillum rings around the stars and I noticed that several marks were used over and over again.

The second set was like nothing I had ever seen before. Rings of thorns and pouring blood, it looked like he had taken rose stems and tied them to his skin until he was mangled and torn. And didn't stop. There were rings and blood marked on his shoulders, wrists, neck, forearms and I bet they were on his ankles and thighs, too. Finally, as he lifted up his shoulder-length black hair, I saw symbols circling his forehead like a sigillum had magic numerals.

Combating, Empowering, Chastising, Red, Thursday, Ruby, Iron, Furie.

The symbols formed a long, thin crown around his head and forked up into a crown that reminded my of Fighter's.

"Each thorn," he spoke softly, as though it was painful to say. Maybe it was for the sake of drama, but I didn't care, I wanted to know more.

"Represents a master," he turned to face me, and I saw something I will never forget.

Under his piercing blue eyes were black marks, turning into lines and moving straight down his face.

"Each band represents a lifetime. And the tears," Wind howled and light shone, Magnum was replaced with a man in white with golden hair and a staff of diamonds.

"Represents all that has happened to me, in these eleven lifetimes," Magnum faded back into existence, the man in white was gone. Suddenly, his face broke into a grin, the dark, sad Magnum was gone and in his place was a normal man.

"Enough with the gloom! Training starts now!" He drew back his arm and released a torrent of flames. I barely had time to warp. And even after the warp, he had moved behind me. One hand on my shoulder, the other grasping his knife, which was soon embedded in my right arm. But even before I could scream in pain he had wrenched it out and thrown me to the wall.

"Focus!" Magnum was like a kid in an amusement park. Happy. "Your power is like a piece of coal, raw, unfocused, but strong, in a way. And if you press hard enough, you might find a diamond," I turned, my arm burning, to see Magnum raise his hand and begin something extraordinary.

From every nook and cranny of the room streamed blue. It was tangible magic energy! It flowed to his raised hand and hardened, becoming an enamel white. Soon, two swords took shape and patterns began to etch themselves into the surface. When he removed his hand I got a clear look at them:

Skulls for cross guards, rough leather for a hilt, misshapen blades that had become a dark silvery colour, and the chains. Chains were wrapped around his forearms, up to almost his elbows, and it looked like they went inside his arms. The three teeth on the skulls were sharp and brownish-white, while the blades gleamed in the dim light,

"The weapons of a Spartan Berserker," Magnum rose to his full height, his robes had gone crimson and he had a collar that went up to his nose. "Grave Blades", and with that, he whipped on at me, letting go of the handle and letting the blade and chains do the follow-through. I leapt to the left and rolled, stopping by the door. The blade had dug a three-foot gash in the nigh-indestructible wall! I shuddered to think what would happen if I hadn't dodged. But I grasped my knife and leapt forwards, attacking as he recoiled.

He was ready for me. as I leapt through the air, he brought his right hand, still clutching the blade, around. it dug into my left thigh, and as he tore it out the serrated edge tore my flesh to shreds. I didn't even have the strength to scream, but I could feel something warm trickling down my leg at an alarming rate. Blood. The cut was very deep, and I could actually see the bone. But try as I might, my legs buckled and I fell to my knees. Magnum raised his blades above his head, I closed my eyes as he swing down...

Nothing happened. As I opened my eyes, I saw Magnum, a bloodthirsty, psychotic smile on his face, and behind him... What was that behind him? It was as if the shadows had come to life, and taken the shape of a human. out of the shadows, dressed in pitch black, was...

Me.

[Karenaide]

It doesn't count! It's been too long to count as a double post! One week is, like, a-week-in-between-post.

CHAPTER FOUR:
SOULLESS
BLACK MAGE

One second I'm looking death in the face, the next second I'm looking myself in the face. How messed up is that? I... HE was wearing a cape that was pitch black, and had boots that looked really hard and thick. His hat was black and instead of a crescent he had a silver skull tied to it. His eyes were a dark, crimson red and his teeth gleamed white. Teeth? I meant fangs. Glittering, white fangs. It was like my Doppelganger, back at the Castle of Ordeals. But this guy was, like, super-evil.

"You are just pathetic," He snarled, and for the first time since he appeared, I realized where I was. On a rooftop, about a hundred feet squared, several hundred stories above ground. Just thinking about it made me sick. The sky was blue, the clouds white, and a creepy dude was behind me. I looked back to my Doppelganger, who was standing in the middle of the rooftop. He didn't seem to be hostile, but even so, I kept one hand on my knife. My not-sliced up, not bloody hand. Wait, my what?! This was getting a little too bizarre. I looked to my Doppelganger and spoke:

"What the heck is going on here?" I was kind of pissed, kind of scared, but I tried not to show it.

"This is you mind. At the moment, it is falling apart, because you are dying, and confused," Sure enough, I saw that windows were boarded up, the stone was grey and crumbling, and weeds had overgrown the ground. The place looked like an old, Hadokened city. Kind of reminded me of Lefein, to tell you the truth. I was having a serious case of Deja Visite, too.

Turning back to my Doppelganger, I realised he wasn't alone. So, I guess that should be Doppelgangers. Plural. With an 'S'. The second was like me, but... black lips, black teeth, snow white hair, skin and robes. And his eyes. Glowing, menacing yellow eyes.

"You must gain control again," The first one said. "Defeat yourself, and regain control," The second guy had my knife, I had a cheap little bread-knife that you could buy at a Dollar Store.

"Your blade pulsates with energy, with power! And yet, you cannot realise me..." The first one looked down, stepped back and nodded. Immediately, he second one leapt forwards, his black teeth glittering, and his eyes wide. The knife just missed me. I tried to stab him back, but he twisted in the air and landed a blow on my shoulder.

"Wow! What an amazing weapon!" He crowed. "And you CAN'T REALIZE IT'S POWER?!" The blade instantly changed, morphed, like Magnum's had done. Into...

ENOUGH! A voice in my head rang out. I lunged forwards, slicing the still-forming weapon in two. The first guy was looking at me, and said:

"Remember my name. It is... Furie,"

***
The blades were moving down at me, to cut me in two. Clink! I caught them in my bare hand. Shirahadori. I stood, the blood pouring from my leg was in the past, now. I had to beat Magnum, I knew that for sure. Holding out the knife, I called out the name I knew could help me:

"FURIE!" My knife glowed and seemed to melt into a white liquid, curling up my right arm, around my neck, and down my left. Some of it grasped my face, hardening into a helmet. When I next opened my eyes, I myself was shocked. I was wearing snow-white robes, the same style as Magnum's black ones: Like a suit from the neck to the waist, but then it split into a skirt-like contraption, revealing the front of my legs. I was wearing white pants, and I could see myself in a mirror behind Magnum.

A glittering, white skull with two large fangs and a case of under bite encased my head, heavy rings of appropriate bones (arm bones around my arms, leg bones around my legs, a ribcage around my chest...) acted like a suit of armour. My knife was a large blade, bigger than a wakizashi, katana, even a long sword could only tie in length, and the cross guard was made of a human skull. from the elbow to the phalanges, a human arm made up the handle and pommel. Looking at my reflection in the sword, I saw that my hat was gone...

And my eyes belonged to my inverted Doppelganger, the one I fought on the rooftop.

Yeah, who can't gues where I ripped this off from? Huh? Anyone, take a guess. I can almost guarantee Quickman will know it.

EDIT: Huh. It looked so much longer when I was typing it...

[Quickman X]

Originally Posted by Bludd Streaks

Yeah, who can't gues where I ripped this off from? Huh? Anyone, take a guess. I can almost guarantee Quickman will know it.

EDIT: Huh. It looked so much longer when I was typing it...

Quick says... Bleach, but she's not sure. Damn uncertainty. ><

[Karenaide]

Quick says the right answer.

[SykoJul]

I read this whole thread, [pretty much] in one day. O.o THAT can't be good for me... Anywho...I'll move on to crituque my favorite stories. ^^

Seran: I like Black Mage and Red Mage's nightmares a lot. Their nifty. I think sometimes your sentences get a little confusing, but other then that, their both veyr good. If I were Red Mage, I would be more worried about getting rid of said cursed orb then sidequests. Pssh.

Jared: Your story looks fun. It was really funny reading about BM, WM, RM, and Janus having their super serious conversation while blipping to Theif going: GAH! WHY WON'T IT WORK; and Fighter going: No no no, like THIS! [makes neato little fire ball] Black Mage has the power of love huh?

...That sentence just sounds funny, doesn't it. I think it will turn out really well, but don't write if you think it'll be bad. [although I'll probably still think it will be great]

It's really late, just wanted to finish the thread and comment on you two. Everyone else is doing really well too, just so you know. [makes me want to start one of my own...[evil cackle]] [in other words, Bludd, yours is good too, but if I don't go to bed now I shall fall over. Meep.]

So anywho, hope someone posts soon; I'll be looking forward to everyones stories! ^^