At first, I was confused. Sure, I've been in a few scuffles, but, this was different. Both these monsters were advancing, with malicious intent. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Zan, looking as if he grew there for all the motion he displayed. I could hear Angel and Sarah retreat and hide behind collapsed section of wall. Some thing else was on my mind, gently but insistently prodding my thoughts.

'Let me fight! Defend your self, your friends, your honor, and the book!' The sword, the voice from the gem, was whispering in my ear. 'Hold me forth and fear NOTHING!'

The two monsters were half way to us when I drew the sword. Reaching back with my 'new' left hand, the great sword came free from my shoulder. As instructed, I held it out before me. The cold, solid grip of Durahan echoed in his parting gift. I was ready.

To do what? Until this moment, I'd never used anything like this, let alone in a fight. I froze.

The ice golem, Elebus, brought a hand up over its head, and swung it down. I did nothing as it descended, still frozen in a moment of confusion. It was Zan who saved me. Moving so fast, it seemed as if a second statue replaced the first, only now, Zan stood in front of me, both of the long blade tipped 'arms' crossed above its head, stopping the descending arm. The second blow came from the Joker, the cruel looking scythe swinging towards Zan's back. This time, I was there, my left hand swinging the sword to clash against the shaft of the Joker's weapon.

Zan's eyes flickered in my direction, mine to his, and we started to fight back.

It is a curious feeling. My left arm seemed to move without my will. On strings the sword itself seemed to command. The rest of my body was forced to keep up, the great sword had tremendous momentum, the Joker's swings not helping either. It was everything I could do just to keep my balance. Behind me, I could hear the Elebus bellowing and swinging at Zan, yet the only sounds of damage were what sounded like a person chipping away at a stone statue. With me just holding my ground, and I guessed Zan actually winning, I was actually starting to enjoy myself.

'Joker, Elebus, burn them to ash!' The callous voice of the 'warlord' called out from just down the hall. Then laughter as the Joker took one last swing at me, and floated out of range, retreating. I turned to see the Elebus leap away from Zan, missing many chips out of its icy hide. Zan himself, didn't even seem winded. He simply stood there, again as if he had grown there.

The Joker floated behind the Elebus, and started to spin the scythe in one hand, a ball of black energy forming in the other. I dove to the side almost slamming myself against the wall as the Joker released the energy, into the back of the Elebus, who's crystal-like body nearly doubled the size of the blast. The heat was very close to painful as the blast passed by me, just missing the rock Angel and Sarah were behind and sailing down the hall.

Zan had disappeared it seemed. The place he had been standing was a streak of black floor. Well behind me, the blast hit a wall, the hall echoing with the sound of collapsing stone. I thought to myself, that this must have been how they had broken into the temple.

The man laughed again as I staggered away from the wall slowly. 'Alas, your black monster seems to have been obliterated. Pity, it looked... Unique.' The man stepped forward a little, the smile on his face reminding me of my father's betrayer. 'Joker! Finish the boy.'

As I stood in the hall, a slight gust of wind from outside caused the banner on my left arm to flutter, stirring up the dust in the hall. Zan, the long blade tipped arms driven into the wall, let go, and fell onto the back of the Joker. Seeing my chance, I ran forward. As Durahan had done to the Dean, I braced the sword against my shoulder, point forward.

The world went very very bright as the Joker released the energy into the back of the Elebus. I screamed and clamped my eyes shut as I felt the blade bite into some thing. I heard the sound of shredding fabric and shattering stone, and the painfully familiar feeling of being flung through the air. Landing on my left shoulder with a horrible metallic rasping noise as I slid across the floor, I opened my eyes to see Zan facing the Joker. The man in blue was advancing on me now, looking very angry.

'I will kill you for destroying my Elebus.' I was just getting to one knee, feeling burned and cold at the same time. The man drew his sword with a sneer, just in time to catch a well timed rock to the side of the head.

'Back off you jerk!' Sarah called as the man fell to one knee, holding his bloody cheek with his free hand. 'We don't know who you are, but you better run now!'

The man stood just in time to hear the Joker die. Zan's long 'arms' neatly shredding the Joker's cape just under the mask. 'What? How can that be?!?!' The man in blue cried out, the Joker's mask hitting the floor, and shimmering into a lost disk.

I didn't know what to do. It's not every day you find yourself staring down a person who just tried to kill you, and almost succeeding too, and then having him pretty much at your mercy. Sarah filled in the blank for me.

'Give up, or Miki will sic Zan on you.' She stepped out from behind the fallen bit of wall, holding another fist sized rock.

I looked at Zan, who took a single step toward the man. 'You haven't seen the last of me! You'll regret this!' And with a final seeming motion, he slammed his sword back into its sheath. 'Echo once, place to place, my echo crosses, infinite space!

Before we could do anything, he started to fade away. Sarah's rock passed through air as the man finished his chant, leaving behind a small cracked crystal on the floor.

***

After checking ourselves over, I came out worst of all. Most of my body felt sunburned. Sarah told me that the Joker had actually hit the floor behind the Elebus, as Zan struck it. The Elebus shattered and my sword and the energy from the blast hit it both at once. Sarah and Angel were fine, and Zan... Well Zan looked almost exactly as he had before the battle. As we shifted the rubble of the small room around, he simply stood there, unmoving, save for the occasional turning of its head to watch me, keep me in view.

Our things were still here. And for the most part, intact too. We couldn't say the same for the temple though. Even now, we could hear it slowly falling apart, settling after the Joker's relentless efforts to get in.

'We have to leave.' Sarah said after another crash of falling stone sounded in the distance. 'This place is falling apart, still. And that man might bring back more monsters.'

I nodded. She was right. This was not the best place to be. 'Angel? Do you remember where the worm attacked us? We need our winter clothes.'

Angel looked thoughtful, then nodded slowly. I knew she would get us back to where we left our things. But it would be much slower than our mad dash here. My stomach rumbled suddenly. 'Lets eat outside.' I declared.

Zan's first meal was interesting. He would not sit down to eat. He also didn't seem to care what he ate. Though we had little, we offered it dried mango. Some dried meat. Some granola. And even a sprig of vine grass. It ate a little of everything we offered, and, well... Didn't seem to care. It was unnerving. Neither Sarah or myself had ever seen such a thing. All the monsters we had ever met, liked or disliked the foods you fed it. This one just, ate what ever you fed it. No noise, complaint, or even signs of appreciation.

Water was a problem. And our lack of it forced us to leave the temple, at almost night fall, to look for it. Though in this odd place, we didn't have to look long. We found a spring fed pond just as the sun vanished over the horizon, and decided to make camp there.

This was probably the most important conversation I had during the trip so far.

'Miki.' Sarah had started. 'Now that you have found out what this... Secret, is. What will we do now?'

This one question made me think. I had honestly not though past this part. But after a moment, thinking, looking back to Zan, then Angel, then to Sarah. 'We stop running now.'

Sarah blinked, 'What do you mean?'

'Zan. With him, we can go back, and I can settle the score with that traitor...' I looked into the small fire we had made. I know Zan was a weapon. The vision I had, the book, and Zan's abilities in combat, all told me he was made for fighting. 'We stop running. And start fighting.'

***


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Okay... Again I'm not really pleased with my output. But, its somthing. Progress is as progress does... Sorta.

Anyhow. As always, comments valued. ^_^

i am really pleased with your output.

Me too. That was great, keep it coming! =)

i have re-read your last installment. i find it exceedingly well crafted. it is a turning point which flows naturally from the logic of the story as has already been established. it foreshadows so much, yet is vague enough to allow for flexible development.

you, as the artist, as the creative force, owe it to yourself to examine why you are not really pleased with such a jewel of an installment. i have noticed you tend to be more satisfied with "quieter" episodes focusing on character development, than in your "action" sequences. so maybe that's it. [btw, to an outside observer, this is one of the best fight scenes i've read since those contained in black razor or chb's epics so long ago.]

or perhaps you are saddened by the inherent arc of your own story, which necessarily will now be more focused on resolution of storylines, rather than their complication. david foster wallace, in an essay about david lynch and twin peaks, puts his finger on this. wallace said that lynch's strengths showed, [making the first season of twin peaks a surprise hit], in his genius for launching the plot, and creating complications that were simultaneously logical, yet far-fetched. the second season, panned by critics and increasingly deserted by the audience, revealed his weakness - namely, his inability to take the arc of the story through the point where the tale began to be resolved. [personally, i still liked it, btw]

if this second thing is what is causing your "not really pleased-ness", that is a natural part of the creative process. certainly to be compared to lynch in any way is not a bad thing. but in the smaller context of a mr fanfic, you must deal with the expectations of your audience, that the story will reach a point of resolution, even if that point may itself be open-ended and ambiguous to a degree.

anyway, your little gem of a chapter got me thinking all these thoughts about your story, and your obvious abilities, and how they contrast with your stated self-doubt. take my comments for whatever they are worth, and know that, for this day at least, you have pleased your small audience.

What really pleases me, is that I actually HAVE an audience.

Yes, my ego is a sad little monster. that makes sad little squeak noises. ^_^

Anyhow. I'm not sure why I dont like my output... Maybe it's the fact that I can do so much more... yet... I dont. :/ I'd post a sailor moon fanfic, but thats OLD stuff. x.x (and not monster rancher)

yay!
finally!
btw i have been going through all the fiction in mrm and half of the old sequels appear to be incomplete. Umm...anypne know why...

WOW!!! BRAVO!!!!BRAVO!!!!

urag, most people gave up on them. very few people actually completed an epic, episodic fanfic. we leave them up hoping that someday, the writers will return and wrap them up.

I read one dated 2 years ago.
I guess they really did give up.
Thanx.
Nice fanfics though.

I will finish this. It may take a while. but it WILL get done.

And then I'll clean it up a little... and post it all in the 'compleated epic' section. ^_^

So states Daeore. And so it is written.

i know i was not talking about your ongoing epic, and i don't think urag was either. there are a number of incomplete episodic epics in the library section where more than a year has gone by since the last installment...

...hehehe...
...story good...

I have like two going and one completed (The completed one doesn't get better until mid way)

My line of work has been really demanding lately, though. I don't have time to raise my Kato for Fen's tourneys even. I'll do my best to work on them, I promise.

FYI awesome installment. I also understand you can lose interest in a story line if you don't put some into it, but having a fanbase helps.

and I like action scenes!

Wait, is this a completed epic? I hope not....it's REALLY good.