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| AXEMS: THE TOLARIAN CHRONICLES |
| Episode Seven |
| TEN MINUTES AGO: An underling steps out of the building. Midnight Blue glares at him, pointing to the pile of KO�d underlings. UNDERLING: Gulp� MIDNIGHT BLUE: What do you have to say? UNDERLING: Er� the sign-ups� are delayed� MIDNIGHT BLUE: I thought so. Midnight Blue grabs the underling and throws him into the Coliseum wall. The underling falls onto the pile. Elsewhere in the crowd, Axem Strife hears this. STRIFE (thinking): Just great; who knows how long this tournament will be delayed? I might as well walk around the city. Two hours can�t hurt. Axem Image also hears the underling�s announcement. IMAGE (thinking): This bores me. I�ll come back if two hours. Both Image and Strife leave the crowd, heading in opposite directions. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Axem Image decides to walk south. As she walks, she notices that the buildings are slowly becoming rustier and rustier, as if she were literally walking towards the past. As she walks by, she notices a man in a blue shirt and glasses walking by with a briefcase in his hand. IMAGE: I wonder where this is. Image continues to walk. Soon, she comes across another person. He looks like the man Image saw earlier, but younger and instead wearing a backpack. IMAGE: ? Image, though, disregards this. She continues to walk by, paying no notice to the small boy in a blue shirt and glasses. She breaks into a run, flying past the rows of houses. However, in her haste, she does not look at the houses. They are all the same. Image finally stops running when she finds an ocean. However, this ocean is different from all other oceans. It is completely filled with liquid metal. IMAGE: Okay, this is officially weird. Image slowly reaches down, as if she were going to touch the ocean. At that moment, a huge wave sweeps by the coast and hits Image, covering her in liquid steel. Image hits the ground, covered by the already-solidifying metal. It is not hot, but in fact cold as if it had just been unfrozen. The temperature, however, does not change the fact that Image is slowly being encased in an inescapable prison. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Strife walks north, back the way he came in. He passes back through the downtown area, where the eerily silent pedestrian traffic continues to rush by. This time through, though, Strife stops to see a few shops. He first enters a weapons store. SHOPKEEPER: Welcome, welcome! Come look at our weapons! What do you need? STRIFE: Um� nothing, really� SHOPKEEPER: Nonsense! Come look here! STRIFE: Nevermind� Strife quickly exits the store. He continues to pass by shops, looking in a few, but there is nothing good. Finally, he stops. STRIFE: Maybe I should go back to the Coliseum. ???: No, you should not� Strife turns around. The voice came from a short hooded figure standing in front of a tent. STRIFE: Who are you? ???: I am the Great Mageta! STRIFE: I really should be going. MAGETA: No! Wait! I haven�t even told you what I do! STRIFE: I�m not really interested. MAGETA: Nonsense! Come here! Strife ignores him and starts walking away. He hasn�t moved more than five feet when an invisible force knocks him backwards. STRIFE: Whoa! Strife turns back around to see Mageta holding a cloaked arm out. STRIFE: Did you do that? MAGETA: Yes. STRIFE: In that case, I�ll listen to you. MAGETA: Good. You see, I run a fortune-teller�s shop. STRIFE: I don�t have any money. MAGETA: I don�t need any. Just step inside my tent. STRIFE: I really- An invisible force knocks him into the tent. Inside, Mageta stands behind a table with a crystal ball on it. MAGETA: Now, what would you like me to predict? STRIFE: I should get back to the Coliseum. MAGETA: The Coliseum? Sure. It�s not like I control what it predicts, anyway. The crystal ball glows, illuminating the entire inside of the tent. MAGETA: Oh� not good� STRIFE: I�ll leave then. MAGETA: No! I just meant that you wouldn�t like this. I see a dark blue creature� he�s standing on top of a large tower, holding a yellow creature by the neck� there you are� right behind him� STRIFE: I�ll leave now, thank you. Strife exits the tent before Mageta finishes. As he runs off, Mageta yells out to him. MAGETA: Go south! Hurry! Before it�s too late! STRIFE (thinking): Whatever. MAGETA: Image is in trouble! Strife stops at this message. STRIFE (thinking): Uh-oh� Image in trouble? She might not be the friendliest, but she�s an Axem! I must help her! Strife rushes south. END OF EPISODE SEVEN |