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Disclaimer: Knightmare belongs to Broadsword Entertainment, The Old Kingdom belongs to Garth Nix, Star Trek belongs to CBS Paramount, Medusa of Greek Myth belongs to the Ancient Greeks, Men in Black belongs to Columbia Pictures and Lord of the Rings belongs to the estate of J.R.R. Tolkien.
The PPC belongs to Jay and Acacia, the concept of minis belongs to Miss Cam, and the Exonet was originally the idea of Huinesoron.
Many thanks to the Irish Samurai, Outhra and Star Albatross for beta-ing.
Chapter 8: Interlude - Blackouts, Beasties and Bored Canon Characters (in which Eagrus ends up on an unbidden quest through the DTE and beyond).
Please note: this is continued from part one, so please read that part first!
***
Eagrus knew he was in the air; he could feel the wind blowing under his helmet and gusting against his body. Either side of him, he could hear the steady beat of massive wings, and he began to dream that he was riding one of the giant eagles of his home continuum.
"Perhaps," suggested his mount, "now would be a good time to read that scroll you are carrying?"
Eagrus jumped. He had been so busy running away from various things - things that he was now certain had actually been there - that he had forgotten completely about the scroll.
"Smirkenorff is right," put in Treguard. "You are safe for the moment. See what the scroll contains, and then enjoy the ride. After all, it is not every day that one gets to ride a dragon."
Eagrus suddenly went rigid. "Dragon?" he repeated fearfully. "W-w-w-what dragon?"
"That would be me," explained Smirkenorff. "What did you think you were riding?"
"AAAAARGH! Let me down! Let me down!" cried Eagrus, hanging onto the saddle for dear life and generally panicking.
"Whatever is the matter?" asked Treguard, surprised. "Smirkenorff is a friendly dragon. There is nothing to fear."
"F-f-f-friendly? Dragon?" spluttered Eagrus, thoroughly unconvinced.
"Yes," agreed Smirkenorff. "I am not like those red dragons and snapdragons Lord Fear allies himself with. I mean no harm to dungeoneers such as yourself. Not all dragons are fearsome, fire-breathing monsters, you know."
"They're n-n-not?" stammered Eagrus.
"No, they are not," confirmed Treguard. "Meanwhile, you really should read that scroll. It might contain useful information, or even magic."
"Magic?" Eagrus pricked up his ears immediately, momentarily forgetting about his fear of dragons. He opened the scroll rapidly, to find a single word written on it: 'Levitate'.
"It is magic," observed Treguard. "A levitation spell. Tricky to cast, but very useful. Now you know it, you will not need to carry the scroll."
"Do you mean to say," quizzed Eagrus eagerly, "that I might actually be able to cast this?"
"Every dungeoneer gets to cast three different spells during their quest, and each spell can only be used once," explained Treguard. "Choose when to cast them wisely, but yes, you have the power."
Beneath his helmet, Eagrus was grinning broadly. He had magic! Not only that, he was going to be able to use it!
He gradually became aware that Smirkenorff was no longer flapping his wings; instead, he was gliding gently downwards. Eagrus braced himself as the dragon landed with a thump. It was a decent enough landing, but the dragon's sheer size made it awkward.
Treguard guided Eagrus down along Smirkenorff's back and tail, and Eagrus gingerly thanked the dragon for the ride.
"Before you lies the gate to Level Two," Smirkenorff informed him. "Your gratitude is welcome, but now I must leave. Fare thee well, dungeoneer."
Eagrus was buffeted by a colossal downbeat of air as the dragon took off, but nothing more.
A friendly dragon? Who would have thought it?
Under Treguard's guidance, he started across the lawn he could feel underfoot, heading towards the gates to the castle proper. The prospect of magic had him humming as he went.
***
FLASH!
Sigma groaned, wondering why the last minute of her memory was suddenly a blurry mess. Why was Lord Fear wearing her sunglasses?
"Urgh, what happened?" she moaned.
"So it does work!" concluded Lord Fear triumphantly. "Unless... Lissard! Come here!"
The reptilian came back into the room, from where he had been sparing his eyes on the other side of the door.
"Look into the pool and tell me what you see," Lord Fear commanded.
"I ssee a dungeoneer, entering Level Two, Lordnesss. He will ssoon be in Ariadne'ss lair!" answered Lissard.
FLASH!
"What did you just see in the pool?" questioned Lord Fear.
Lissard blinked. "Did I jusst look in the pool? What am I doing in here? I thought I wass just behind the door, Lordnesss..."
"It works..." smiled Lord Fear, his face forming into a scheming expression. "I know what to do next time I catch a dungeoneer spying on me. Perhaps I should try this on Treguard, too..." He rounded on Sigma. "As for you, I trust you have learned not to attempt anything against me?"
Sigma nodded in what she hoped was a convincing manner.
"If you try anything, I will give your friend to the goblins." Lord Fear gestured to the pool, which rippled back to displaying a very bored Cyba.
Sigma felt more sorry for the goblins if that were to happen, but was careful not to show it.
"Dispel: D-O-L-H!" chanted the sorcerer, and the magical hand holding Sigma finally disappeared.
"Thank you, my Lord," said Sigma, hiding the fact that she was plotting furiously.
***
"Wait, there is another letter here!" Treguard told Eagrus quickly.
Eagrus was standing in a courtyard, and the warm sun that had graced his flight to Level Two had been replaced by grey clouds. "Whereabouts?" he queried.
"Out of reach..." mused Treguard.
Beneath the Helmet of Justice, Eagrus grinned. "Any way up? Any way at all?" he pressed.
"No," stated Treguard, "but you will need that letter 'R' to complete your quest - it is the second part of the 'Free' spell."
"If I levitate, can you direct me to it?"
Treguard let out an amused laugh. "Ever the eager mage, I see," he commented. "Yes, in this instance, that would appear to be the only way. To cast a spell, you have to state 'spellcasting' to summon your magic, and then spell out the name of your spell."
It was Eagrus' turn to laugh. "Now that is my kind of magic." Preparing himself, he took a deep breath and chanted: "Spellcasting: L-E-V-I-T-A-T-E!"
A lightness crept over him; he opened his arms and pushed off the ground. Holding himself steady was no mean feat, but he managed to reach the letter 'R'. It vanished, having been acquired, yet left a new puzzle.
"Um... how do I get down?" asked Eagrus.
"You will need to dis-spell the levitation," Treguard told him. "State 'dis-spell', and spell out the spell's letters in the wrong order. Dis-spelling does not count toward your three-spell limit, either."
"Dispel: E-A-T-T-I-V-L-E!" commanded Eagrus, and promptly fell out of the air.
Crunch.
"Ow," moaned Eagrus.
"Oooh, that was almost quite nasty," commented Treguard. "You might want to use dis-spelling wisely as well; your life-force just went down from green to amber."
"I take it that's bad?" queried Eagrus, climbing back to his feet.
"It is better than red, and red is better than dead," said Treguard.
"OK, where next?" asked Eagrus.
'Next' turned out to be several more rooms, followed by another, more ruined, courtyard.
"Take care here," Treguard began. "There is a spyglass lying on a crumbled wall diagonally left from you, but there are webs strung everywhere."
"Webs?" questioned Eagrus sharply. "What kind of webs?"
"The webs of a spider," Treguard replied. "It seems Ariadne has a new lair."
"Is this Ariadne a giant spider?" pressed Eagrus. "Just because, if there are giant spiders lurking around here, I really would prefer to know about it."
"There is no sign of her at the moment," Treguard informed him. "However, I would be careful not to touch any of the webs, lest you catch her attention."
"You know I don't like goblins and dragons?" began Eagrus, as Treguard guided him towards the spyglass. "Well, I also dislike giant spiders, and orcs, and trolls, and wargs, and..."
"The spyglass is right in front of you," stated Treguard.
Eagrus paused, then bent and scooped up what looked like a magnifying glass. Unfortunately, Ariadne had been cunning, and had wrapped a single thread around the handle. Eagrus' action of picking it up tugged and broke the thread, alerting the spider to his presence.
"Was that attached?" asked Eagrus worriedly.
"Yes!" cried Treguard, who could see the spider creeping silently across an overhanging web toward Eagrus. "Run right! Duck! Run forward!"
"AAAAIIIEEE!" screamed Eagrus, doing an embarrassingly good impression of Cyba as he ran away.
Several rooms later, he petitioned Treguard: "When we find Cyba, please do not tell her any of this happened - particularly the parts involving me screaming like a girl."
"I promise not to," agreed Treguard, and watched as Eagrus entered the next room.
In said room, another man also watched Eagrus enter, from his spot seated behind a large, wooden desk. The desk was covered with books and papers, all of which were themselves covered with arcane symbols and strange pictograms. The man was wearing burgundy robes, and was reflected in a large mirror behind him.
"Hordriss," murmured Treguard, clearly surprised. "I thought he had gone!"
"I can hear you, Treguard," stated Hordriss. "I have studied enough magic to understand the workings of the enchantment on that helmet of yours." He looked Eagrus up and down. "I see the dungeoneers are back, after all this time leaving me in peace to study."
"Actually," Eagrus piped up cautiously, "I think I am probably the only one."
"Yes, yes," muttered Hordriss, then frowned. "Wait, what have we here? The dungeoneers always could cast spells, but only through the life-force enchantment provided to them here. You, young man, have your own potential. Not much, on the grand scale of things, but with practice you could use enough magic to get by."
"Mind, he is rather an eager one with the magic," Treguard pointed out.
"Who is to blame him?" Hordriss responded, before turning to Eagrus. "While I prefer not to be disturbed, it has been a long time since I saw anybody else with magical potential roaming these dungeons, and the least I can do is help you on your way. What is your name, dungeoneer?"
"Eagrus Khan," answered Eagrus, hanging on Hordriss' every word.
"Well, Eagrus Khan, I gift you with a spell to shroud yourself from the sight of the opposition: invisibility. You will be able to cast it once during your quest... but if you practice, you may be able to cast spells after you leave these dungeons, too, if less easily. What is the quest that brought you here, anyway?"
"I am here to rescue my agent partner, Cyba Zero," Eagrus replied.
Hordriss nodded, thoughtful. "Well, the best advice I can give you is that the final two parts of the 'Free' spell are on Level Three, as is, presumably, your 'Cyba Zero'. I have given you a spell to slip past a foe down there, and I also grant you leave to remain here safely until you are ready to move on."
"Thank you," responded Eagrus, earning a smile for his manners.
"Perhaps," suggested Treguard, "now would be a good time to use that spyglass."
"What does it do?" asked Eagrus.
"If you place it to the Eye-Shield, we can spy on the opposition for a time and possibly gather useful information," explained Treguard.
"That," agreed Eagrus, "sounds like a good idea." With that, he raised the spyglass, and put it in front of the painted eye on the enchanted shield.
***
Through the spyglass, there came a view of a stone chamber inhabited by a man in skeletal armour, and a green, humanoid reptilian. (Lord Fear and Lissard respectively, according to Treguard.) At the edge of the spyglass' vision, there was a shadowy third figure who was impossible to make out.
"So," spoke Lord Fear to the figure, "you can provide me with inventions to defeat Treguard?"
"Yes," said a voice, which was not picked up any better than its owner's appearance. "I can even act in your stead, if necessary. My hands are metaphorically tied, my Lord, by your cunning."
"You will be useful, I think," said Lord Fear, pleased, before rounding on the reptilian. "Lissard," he commanded. "Go and spy, and put a stop to that dungeoneer's quest. Ambush him somewhere beyond Hordriss' chamber, while I see further to our... guest."
"I will need to passs the Level Two Blocker," Lissard reminded him.
Lord Fear sighed. "The password is 'Nitwit', and I will portal you to the end of Level Two. Spellcasting: P-O-R-T-A-L! Now go!"
He watched as Lissard hurried into the black rectangle that had appeared, then swept over to face his 'guest' over the communications pool.
***
"Quick!" warned Treguard. "Put down the spyglass, before Lord Fear notices you spying on him!"
Eagrus lowered the spyglass and placed it on Hordriss' desk. "Perhaps you might have a better use for this now?" he offered.
"Why yes, thank you," agreed Hordriss. "However, I will offer you one last piece of assistance - of your choice, novice spellcaster."
"Lord Fear has sent some minion of his after me, to set up an ambush. Could you help me avoid him, please?" asked Eagrus.
"That would be Lissard, his sly, reptilian servant. Yes, I can help. I will portal you to the Level Two Blocker room once Lissard has had time to leave the area. I also gather you have the password, so beyond, you will find the Descender. To get to Level Three, go down a number of floors appropriate to the level's name. Fare thee well, dungeoneer. Spellcasting: P-O-R-T-A-L!"
A black rectangle similar to the one Lord Fear had created opened in front of Eagrus. The agent thanked Hordriss, waited an extra moment, then stepped through.
He came out in a long room with a single locked door and a pie lying suspiciously by the far wall. He tried the door, but it was locked.
"Now, be very careful," advised Treguard. "Blockers are nasty pieces of work, but with that password you should have little trouble getting through. Take the food and it will appear. Answer true and pass through."
"Please, Treguard, you're making this sound like the gates of Moria, now," grumbled Eagrus. "Except the password's 'nitwit'." He swiped the pie off the floor and into his satchel.
There came a loud grinding of stone-on-stone, and a voice demanded: "PASSWORD."
"Nitwit," responded Eagrus, glad he could not see what he was facing.
"YOU MAY PASS."
"There is door ahead of you and to the left," Treguard guided him forward.
The next room was the Descender, and Eagrus sensibly decided to go down three floors, then took his first steps into the world of Level Three.
Umpteen puzzles, traps, and monsters later, he was making good progress. The first of the letter 'E's he claimed with some nifty dodging and good directions from Treguard. The second was a trickier affair, being guarded by a Fright Knight (a creature described by Treguard as a magically-animated suit of armour). After some rapid deliberation, Eagrus chose to use the invisibility spell to get past, then grabbed the letter and got out of there.
***
"So," proposed Lord Fear at long last. "I think you will make a useful ally. Seeing as you seem to be fairly amenable after all, I have an offer for you."
"What is this... offer?" Sigma feigned interest.
"I would very much appreciate having rid of Treguard," said Lord Fear. "I believe I have finally breached the wards around his antechamber, and I could portal you directly to him."
"I'll do it," agreed Sigma. She would have to deal with Lord Fear later, once her RA came back online.
"Oh, and do not even think about turning on me," added Lord Fear. "I assure you I would fireball you before you got the chance."
Sigma remained silent, and Lord Fear eyed her for a long moment. Satisfied, he called upon his magic: "Spellcasting: P-O-R-T-A-L!"
A black rectangle appeared in the air, and Sigma stepped through, straight into Treguard's antechamber. The portal closed behind her; quite sensibly, Lord Fear was not taking any chances.
Sigma got a momentary view of Treguard bent over his viewing pool, before the Dungeon Master noticed her and stood up, drawing his sword. He was no fool, and used to Lord Fear's schemes.
"What are you?" he demanded. "Another of Lord Fear's creations? Half Fright-Knight?" he guessed.
Sigma, who had absolutely no intention of helping Lord Fear remove Treguard, very nearly changed her mind at that accusation. "Half Fright-Knight! You make me sound like some kind of Mary Sue!"
"Cyba?" came Eagrus' voice from the pool, as he heard everything through his helmet. "You're not telling me you're with Treguard, now?"
That made Treguard pause. "Your advisor is a creature of techno-sorcery?" he asked Eagrus.
"I usually call her an undead tech-monster, but your description sounds about right," Eagrus responded.
Treguard lowered his sword slightly.
"I am NOT an UNDEAD TECH-MONSTER!" yelled Sigma at the pool. "And I think you'll find I am SIGMA, not Cyba, and rapidly approaching a SCREAMING MOOD!"
Treguard raised his sword again.
"Oh. Sigma." Eagrus sighed. "Is Phi with you? Perhaps you would like to help me find Cyba?"
"You know this one as well?" Treguard asked Eagrus.
"Unfortunately, yes," said Eagrus, resignedly.
Sigma screamed loudly.
"I would very much appreciate it if you were not to do that again," stated Treguard.
"OW!" yelled Eagrus, clamping his hands to his helmet. "Sigma! Please spare my ears!"
"Sorry, Treguard," apologised Sigma, completely ignoring Eagrus. "He was asking for it."
"Alright, alright, Sigma. I'm sorry, but you know undead tech-monster tends to go down better with agents than Borg," Eagrus defended himself carefully.
"Borg?" inquired Treguard.
"Agents?" spluttered Sigma. "Wait... do you think Treguard's an agent?"
"Well, yes," said Eagrus.
"BAHAHAHA!" Sigma burst out laughing, earning a confused glance from Treguard.
"What?" asked Eagrus suspiciously.
"Here's the situation, Eagrus Khan," explained Sigma. "Due to the power outage, HQ's shields went down and the corridors reverted to their natural forms given the continua they were built in. Creatures and characters from those continua have been able to enter HQ freely... and we have fallen out of HQ into one such continuum proper. You are in the Knightmare continuum, being guided through an exceedingly dangerous dungeon by a very knowledgeable canon character."
"Oh," said Eagrus. "Treguard, I am very sorry."
"It gets better," grumbled Sigma. "By that, I mean worse, of course. Knightmare was a game-show that got cancelled nearly two decades ago."
"Why are you saying this in front of a canon character?" wondered Eagrus aloud.
"Treguard can canonically see through the fourth wall, and is well aware of World One. Where it gets worse is that the villain, Lord Fear, also knows about World One, and has been very bored for the last twenty years. He used magic to jack in on World One television, and he's been sitting in his tower getting dangerously genre savvy."
"He has still been plotting to get rid of me," pointed out Treguard.
"I know," muttered Sigma. "He has a portal spell to enter this antechamber, and he sent me after you. Luckily, I'm not in the mood."
"It seems I need to improve my chamber's defences, then," concluded Treguard.
"Anything else?" questioned Eagrus.
"Yes," said Sigma. "He has Cyba trapped in a magical barrier at the end of Level Three. He also stole my equipment. He has a broken DORKS and a not-so-broken neuralyzer. So, our quest is thus: rescue Cyba, get into the Tower of Goth, get my stuff back and then we use it to fix this mess."
"Eagrus is about halfway through Level Three," Treguard informed them. "In fact, we should hurry, before his life-force gets too low."
"Forward, forward, run!" instructed Sigma, right as the room in which Eagrus was standing started to fall apart. Eagrus only just made it.
Through a door and up a corridor, they came upon a great chasm spanned only by a series of numbered stone hexagons, presumably suspended by magic. On the far wall, a banner read: The table for five is your salvation.
"Oooh, causeway!" exclaimed Sigma excitedly.
"The table for five is your salvation," Treguard read the banner, for Eagrus' benefit.
"What does a table have to do with a causeway?" asked Eagrus. "Is there a table on this causeway, or...?"
"No, it's covered in numbers..." Sigma paused, watching the life-force meter worriedly. "Oh, silly me: it's the five times table! Take five steps left and one forward!"
Eagrus did so, ending up on a tile marked with the number five. The other tiles in that row immediately fell away into the abyss below, causing Sigma to squeak nervously. Eagrus' tile intersected with three others in front, which were labelled nine, ten and eleven respectively.
"OK, now we want ten," said Sigma, recovering. "Step straight forward."
So it went on, until Eagrus was safely across and through the door at the far side. Likewise, the next few rooms posed little difficulty with both Sigma and Treguard helping.
At last, he came to the room in which Cyba was imprisoned. From behind the magical barrier, his agent partner looked him up and down, recognising his armour.
"Eagrus?" she asked in surprise, her voice slightly muffled.
"Cyba!" he exclaimed.
"You went on a quest to save me?" She laughed in amazement. "And you made it this far! Wow, Eagrus!"
"What do I do?" asked Eagrus. "How do I get her out?"
"Free spell!" cried Sigma and Cyba simultaneously, totally independent of one another.
Eagrus almost kicked himself for being so thick. "Of course, sorry," he apologised. "Spellcasting: F-R-E-E!"
The barrier dissipated, and Cyba launched herself at Eagrus and flung her arms around him. Eagrus promptly fell over.
"Thank-you-thank-you-thank-you-thank-you!" squeaked Cyba, momentarily drowning out Eagrus' muffled protests.
"I'm glad you're grateful," Eagrus managed to get out, "but could you kindly please not glomp me? That's scary enough without you being - what you are..."
Cyba carried on hugging him.
"Cyba, you're probably scratching my armour, too, you know," Eagrus mentioned.
"Oh, sorry," said Cyba quickly, pulling back and helping Eagrus up.
"Life force," warned Treguard.
"Blast," muttered Eagrus, followed by: "Cyba, let's get out of here..."
He was cut off by an evil laugh.
"Well, well, well," stated Lord Fear, sauntering into the room from a side-door. "I presume by your success that my plan to remove Treguard failed? However, your success is not yet total. You have yet to escape..."
"I thought you never left your tower..." pointed out Cyba.
"Dangerously genre savvy..." muttered Sigma in response.
"A lot can change in twenty years," Lord Fear shrugged off the comment.
"Eagrus, have you got any more spells?" inquired Cyba quietly.
"No, I just used my last," Eagrus admitted.
Lord Fear smiled, drawing out the stolen neuralyzer and Sigma's sunglasses from some compartment hidden in his armour. "It seems you have nothing to prevent me from nullifying all the experience you gained on your quest," he said triumphantly.
"Collective help us, he's been reading up on role playing games," groaned Sigma, then caught herself. "Uh... I didn't just say that..."
"I heard that, Sigma!" called Eagrus.
Lord Fear pointed to the Helmet of Justice still on Eagrus' head. "Spellcasting: V-A-N-" he began.
"Neuralyzer!" warned Cyba, burying her face in her mechanical arm.
"Life force critical!" called Treguard.
"DISPEL DISPEL DISPEL!" Sigma screeched at Eagrus.
"-I-S-H!" finished Lord Fear, victorious.
Well, he thought he was victorious; there was a reason Eagrus had chosen not to dispel the vanish spell.
The Helmet of Justice vanished... leaving Eagrus' hair plain for all to see. Not even sunglasses were enough to block that out.
"AAARGH!" yelled Lord Fear, clutching his eyes. Cyba, Sigma and Treguard reacted similarly.
Eagrus, unaffected, took the opportunity to knock the neuralyzer out of Lord Fear's hand, and the sunglasses off his head. The sorcerer recovered enough to open his eyes, only to be blinded again by said device.
"Right," said Eagrus. "We were never in this castle. There hasn't been a dungeoneer in twenty years, or any mysterious portals to our HQ, and definitely nothing from any programmes you might have been watching." Then, with the villain still stunned, he took the liberty of reclaiming Sigma's backpack as well.
"Spellcasting: R-E-T-U-R-N!" chanted Treguard, and Eagrus and Cyba were teleported back to the antechamber, the quest complete. The Helmet of Justice appeared too, summoned back from wherever it had vanished to, but Eagrus ignored it, going for his own helmet instead.
"I don't believe it," gasped Sigma weakly, leaning on the stone basin beside her for support. "You actually did it, Eagrus. OK, you had the Dungeon Master advising you, but..."
"Do you realise, Eagrus Khan, that very few ever succeeded in their quest in the history of Knightmare? You are officially amazing!" Cyba lauded him.
"Except your hair," added Sigma. "You have wilver hair. Wilver. Hair. Have you ever considered shaving it off?"
Eagrus looked thoughtful. "Actually... I hadn't," he admitted. "I guess I've been too intent trying to hide it and fixing other misspellings, but that's a really a good idea."
Treguard, who had once again been blanking out their confusing talk, chose this moment to speak up. "Congratulations, your quest is complete! That means only one more thing remains. Remember: serving justice is its own reward. Your true prize lies in the memory of your victory. Spellcasting: H-E-R-O-E-S!"
With that, the antechamber disintegrated around them, to be replaced by Cyba and Eagrus' RC.
"Look!" cried Cyba. "The power's back!"
Eagrus, busy scrambling around for his sword, did not register this.
There came a bang as Cyba closed the trapdoor. "Everything's back to normal. The corridor's back to being Generic Surface."
There came a bip from the console.
"Oh, not quite," said Sigma, investigating the message. "We might want to camp out here for a bit. Apparently there are monsters on the loose."
Eagrus and Cyba just looked relieved that it was not a mission. Eagrus, having discovered his sword lying safely in its place on the rack, had now also noticed an addition to his armour. "Hold on a moment... I have..."
"Silver spurs!" gasped Cyba. "The Silver Spurs of Squiredom! Literally! And Sigma: you too! Your implants! Look!"
Sure enough, Sigma had a pair of silver spurs sprouting from the metal on her ankles.
"What are they for?" asked Eagrus.
"Er... looking pretty?" replied Cyba and Sigma in unison.
"They also signify your successful completion of a quest!" added Cyba.
"Awesome!" Sigma grinned.
***
A couple of hours later, Eagrus was alone in the RC. Cyba and Sigma had, with the RA now working, disguised themselves and gone back into the Knightmare continuum to neuralyze Treguard and several monsters, as well as to reclaim Cyba's lost bit of cabling.
Hearing a suspicious portal-sound from his room, Eagrus wandered in and discovered a newly-bound book lying on his bed. Opening it, he read the first page:
Dear Eagrus,
Sigma found one of Lord Fear's spellbooks while she was in the Tower of Goth. We took the liberty of getting it copied before returning it.
Thank you ever so much for rescuing me,
Cyba Zero
Eagrus fingered through the pages, a grin slowly broadening from ear to ear. Well... the mage, Hordriss, had mentioned he had a little magical potential...
***
"Sigma, the spurs are still there," observed Cyba, "and the Exonet."
"I asked around DoSAT," replied Sigma. "Agents can gain additions to their natural forms without them reverting upon use of a disguise. That's why certain afflictions can be also acquired - that agents then have to live with. Natural forms can change forward, just not backward in most cases. I made sure to check before using any disguises after getting the Exonet."
"In most cases?" pried Cyba.
The two exchanged glances.
"There might be a way to de-Borg ourselves," murmured Sigma, "involving magic."
The PPC belongs to Jay and Acacia, the concept of minis belongs to Miss Cam, and the Exonet was originally the idea of Huinesoron.
Many thanks to the Irish Samurai, Outhra and Star Albatross for beta-ing.
Chapter 8: Interlude - Blackouts, Beasties and Bored Canon Characters (in which Eagrus ends up on an unbidden quest through the DTE and beyond).
Please note: this is continued from part one, so please read that part first!
***
Eagrus knew he was in the air; he could feel the wind blowing under his helmet and gusting against his body. Either side of him, he could hear the steady beat of massive wings, and he began to dream that he was riding one of the giant eagles of his home continuum.
"Perhaps," suggested his mount, "now would be a good time to read that scroll you are carrying?"
Eagrus jumped. He had been so busy running away from various things - things that he was now certain had actually been there - that he had forgotten completely about the scroll.
"Smirkenorff is right," put in Treguard. "You are safe for the moment. See what the scroll contains, and then enjoy the ride. After all, it is not every day that one gets to ride a dragon."
Eagrus suddenly went rigid. "Dragon?" he repeated fearfully. "W-w-w-what dragon?"
"That would be me," explained Smirkenorff. "What did you think you were riding?"
"AAAAARGH! Let me down! Let me down!" cried Eagrus, hanging onto the saddle for dear life and generally panicking.
"Whatever is the matter?" asked Treguard, surprised. "Smirkenorff is a friendly dragon. There is nothing to fear."
"F-f-f-friendly? Dragon?" spluttered Eagrus, thoroughly unconvinced.
"Yes," agreed Smirkenorff. "I am not like those red dragons and snapdragons Lord Fear allies himself with. I mean no harm to dungeoneers such as yourself. Not all dragons are fearsome, fire-breathing monsters, you know."
"They're n-n-not?" stammered Eagrus.
"No, they are not," confirmed Treguard. "Meanwhile, you really should read that scroll. It might contain useful information, or even magic."
"Magic?" Eagrus pricked up his ears immediately, momentarily forgetting about his fear of dragons. He opened the scroll rapidly, to find a single word written on it: 'Levitate'.
"It is magic," observed Treguard. "A levitation spell. Tricky to cast, but very useful. Now you know it, you will not need to carry the scroll."
"Do you mean to say," quizzed Eagrus eagerly, "that I might actually be able to cast this?"
"Every dungeoneer gets to cast three different spells during their quest, and each spell can only be used once," explained Treguard. "Choose when to cast them wisely, but yes, you have the power."
Beneath his helmet, Eagrus was grinning broadly. He had magic! Not only that, he was going to be able to use it!
He gradually became aware that Smirkenorff was no longer flapping his wings; instead, he was gliding gently downwards. Eagrus braced himself as the dragon landed with a thump. It was a decent enough landing, but the dragon's sheer size made it awkward.
Treguard guided Eagrus down along Smirkenorff's back and tail, and Eagrus gingerly thanked the dragon for the ride.
"Before you lies the gate to Level Two," Smirkenorff informed him. "Your gratitude is welcome, but now I must leave. Fare thee well, dungeoneer."
Eagrus was buffeted by a colossal downbeat of air as the dragon took off, but nothing more.
A friendly dragon? Who would have thought it?
Under Treguard's guidance, he started across the lawn he could feel underfoot, heading towards the gates to the castle proper. The prospect of magic had him humming as he went.
***
FLASH!
Sigma groaned, wondering why the last minute of her memory was suddenly a blurry mess. Why was Lord Fear wearing her sunglasses?
"Urgh, what happened?" she moaned.
"So it does work!" concluded Lord Fear triumphantly. "Unless... Lissard! Come here!"
The reptilian came back into the room, from where he had been sparing his eyes on the other side of the door.
"Look into the pool and tell me what you see," Lord Fear commanded.
"I ssee a dungeoneer, entering Level Two, Lordnesss. He will ssoon be in Ariadne'ss lair!" answered Lissard.
FLASH!
"What did you just see in the pool?" questioned Lord Fear.
Lissard blinked. "Did I jusst look in the pool? What am I doing in here? I thought I wass just behind the door, Lordnesss..."
"It works..." smiled Lord Fear, his face forming into a scheming expression. "I know what to do next time I catch a dungeoneer spying on me. Perhaps I should try this on Treguard, too..." He rounded on Sigma. "As for you, I trust you have learned not to attempt anything against me?"
Sigma nodded in what she hoped was a convincing manner.
"If you try anything, I will give your friend to the goblins." Lord Fear gestured to the pool, which rippled back to displaying a very bored Cyba.
Sigma felt more sorry for the goblins if that were to happen, but was careful not to show it.
"Dispel: D-O-L-H!" chanted the sorcerer, and the magical hand holding Sigma finally disappeared.
"Thank you, my Lord," said Sigma, hiding the fact that she was plotting furiously.
***
"Wait, there is another letter here!" Treguard told Eagrus quickly.
Eagrus was standing in a courtyard, and the warm sun that had graced his flight to Level Two had been replaced by grey clouds. "Whereabouts?" he queried.
"Out of reach..." mused Treguard.
Beneath the Helmet of Justice, Eagrus grinned. "Any way up? Any way at all?" he pressed.
"No," stated Treguard, "but you will need that letter 'R' to complete your quest - it is the second part of the 'Free' spell."
"If I levitate, can you direct me to it?"
Treguard let out an amused laugh. "Ever the eager mage, I see," he commented. "Yes, in this instance, that would appear to be the only way. To cast a spell, you have to state 'spellcasting' to summon your magic, and then spell out the name of your spell."
It was Eagrus' turn to laugh. "Now that is my kind of magic." Preparing himself, he took a deep breath and chanted: "Spellcasting: L-E-V-I-T-A-T-E!"
A lightness crept over him; he opened his arms and pushed off the ground. Holding himself steady was no mean feat, but he managed to reach the letter 'R'. It vanished, having been acquired, yet left a new puzzle.
"Um... how do I get down?" asked Eagrus.
"You will need to dis-spell the levitation," Treguard told him. "State 'dis-spell', and spell out the spell's letters in the wrong order. Dis-spelling does not count toward your three-spell limit, either."
"Dispel: E-A-T-T-I-V-L-E!" commanded Eagrus, and promptly fell out of the air.
Crunch.
"Ow," moaned Eagrus.
"Oooh, that was almost quite nasty," commented Treguard. "You might want to use dis-spelling wisely as well; your life-force just went down from green to amber."
"I take it that's bad?" queried Eagrus, climbing back to his feet.
"It is better than red, and red is better than dead," said Treguard.
"OK, where next?" asked Eagrus.
'Next' turned out to be several more rooms, followed by another, more ruined, courtyard.
"Take care here," Treguard began. "There is a spyglass lying on a crumbled wall diagonally left from you, but there are webs strung everywhere."
"Webs?" questioned Eagrus sharply. "What kind of webs?"
"The webs of a spider," Treguard replied. "It seems Ariadne has a new lair."
"Is this Ariadne a giant spider?" pressed Eagrus. "Just because, if there are giant spiders lurking around here, I really would prefer to know about it."
"There is no sign of her at the moment," Treguard informed him. "However, I would be careful not to touch any of the webs, lest you catch her attention."
"You know I don't like goblins and dragons?" began Eagrus, as Treguard guided him towards the spyglass. "Well, I also dislike giant spiders, and orcs, and trolls, and wargs, and..."
"The spyglass is right in front of you," stated Treguard.
Eagrus paused, then bent and scooped up what looked like a magnifying glass. Unfortunately, Ariadne had been cunning, and had wrapped a single thread around the handle. Eagrus' action of picking it up tugged and broke the thread, alerting the spider to his presence.
"Was that attached?" asked Eagrus worriedly.
"Yes!" cried Treguard, who could see the spider creeping silently across an overhanging web toward Eagrus. "Run right! Duck! Run forward!"
"AAAAIIIEEE!" screamed Eagrus, doing an embarrassingly good impression of Cyba as he ran away.
Several rooms later, he petitioned Treguard: "When we find Cyba, please do not tell her any of this happened - particularly the parts involving me screaming like a girl."
"I promise not to," agreed Treguard, and watched as Eagrus entered the next room.
In said room, another man also watched Eagrus enter, from his spot seated behind a large, wooden desk. The desk was covered with books and papers, all of which were themselves covered with arcane symbols and strange pictograms. The man was wearing burgundy robes, and was reflected in a large mirror behind him.
"Hordriss," murmured Treguard, clearly surprised. "I thought he had gone!"
"I can hear you, Treguard," stated Hordriss. "I have studied enough magic to understand the workings of the enchantment on that helmet of yours." He looked Eagrus up and down. "I see the dungeoneers are back, after all this time leaving me in peace to study."
"Actually," Eagrus piped up cautiously, "I think I am probably the only one."
"Yes, yes," muttered Hordriss, then frowned. "Wait, what have we here? The dungeoneers always could cast spells, but only through the life-force enchantment provided to them here. You, young man, have your own potential. Not much, on the grand scale of things, but with practice you could use enough magic to get by."
"Mind, he is rather an eager one with the magic," Treguard pointed out.
"Who is to blame him?" Hordriss responded, before turning to Eagrus. "While I prefer not to be disturbed, it has been a long time since I saw anybody else with magical potential roaming these dungeons, and the least I can do is help you on your way. What is your name, dungeoneer?"
"Eagrus Khan," answered Eagrus, hanging on Hordriss' every word.
"Well, Eagrus Khan, I gift you with a spell to shroud yourself from the sight of the opposition: invisibility. You will be able to cast it once during your quest... but if you practice, you may be able to cast spells after you leave these dungeons, too, if less easily. What is the quest that brought you here, anyway?"
"I am here to rescue my agent partner, Cyba Zero," Eagrus replied.
Hordriss nodded, thoughtful. "Well, the best advice I can give you is that the final two parts of the 'Free' spell are on Level Three, as is, presumably, your 'Cyba Zero'. I have given you a spell to slip past a foe down there, and I also grant you leave to remain here safely until you are ready to move on."
"Thank you," responded Eagrus, earning a smile for his manners.
"Perhaps," suggested Treguard, "now would be a good time to use that spyglass."
"What does it do?" asked Eagrus.
"If you place it to the Eye-Shield, we can spy on the opposition for a time and possibly gather useful information," explained Treguard.
"That," agreed Eagrus, "sounds like a good idea." With that, he raised the spyglass, and put it in front of the painted eye on the enchanted shield.
***
Through the spyglass, there came a view of a stone chamber inhabited by a man in skeletal armour, and a green, humanoid reptilian. (Lord Fear and Lissard respectively, according to Treguard.) At the edge of the spyglass' vision, there was a shadowy third figure who was impossible to make out.
"So," spoke Lord Fear to the figure, "you can provide me with inventions to defeat Treguard?"
"Yes," said a voice, which was not picked up any better than its owner's appearance. "I can even act in your stead, if necessary. My hands are metaphorically tied, my Lord, by your cunning."
"You will be useful, I think," said Lord Fear, pleased, before rounding on the reptilian. "Lissard," he commanded. "Go and spy, and put a stop to that dungeoneer's quest. Ambush him somewhere beyond Hordriss' chamber, while I see further to our... guest."
"I will need to passs the Level Two Blocker," Lissard reminded him.
Lord Fear sighed. "The password is 'Nitwit', and I will portal you to the end of Level Two. Spellcasting: P-O-R-T-A-L! Now go!"
He watched as Lissard hurried into the black rectangle that had appeared, then swept over to face his 'guest' over the communications pool.
***
"Quick!" warned Treguard. "Put down the spyglass, before Lord Fear notices you spying on him!"
Eagrus lowered the spyglass and placed it on Hordriss' desk. "Perhaps you might have a better use for this now?" he offered.
"Why yes, thank you," agreed Hordriss. "However, I will offer you one last piece of assistance - of your choice, novice spellcaster."
"Lord Fear has sent some minion of his after me, to set up an ambush. Could you help me avoid him, please?" asked Eagrus.
"That would be Lissard, his sly, reptilian servant. Yes, I can help. I will portal you to the Level Two Blocker room once Lissard has had time to leave the area. I also gather you have the password, so beyond, you will find the Descender. To get to Level Three, go down a number of floors appropriate to the level's name. Fare thee well, dungeoneer. Spellcasting: P-O-R-T-A-L!"
A black rectangle similar to the one Lord Fear had created opened in front of Eagrus. The agent thanked Hordriss, waited an extra moment, then stepped through.
He came out in a long room with a single locked door and a pie lying suspiciously by the far wall. He tried the door, but it was locked.
"Now, be very careful," advised Treguard. "Blockers are nasty pieces of work, but with that password you should have little trouble getting through. Take the food and it will appear. Answer true and pass through."
"Please, Treguard, you're making this sound like the gates of Moria, now," grumbled Eagrus. "Except the password's 'nitwit'." He swiped the pie off the floor and into his satchel.
There came a loud grinding of stone-on-stone, and a voice demanded: "PASSWORD."
"Nitwit," responded Eagrus, glad he could not see what he was facing.
"YOU MAY PASS."
"There is door ahead of you and to the left," Treguard guided him forward.
The next room was the Descender, and Eagrus sensibly decided to go down three floors, then took his first steps into the world of Level Three.
Umpteen puzzles, traps, and monsters later, he was making good progress. The first of the letter 'E's he claimed with some nifty dodging and good directions from Treguard. The second was a trickier affair, being guarded by a Fright Knight (a creature described by Treguard as a magically-animated suit of armour). After some rapid deliberation, Eagrus chose to use the invisibility spell to get past, then grabbed the letter and got out of there.
***
"So," proposed Lord Fear at long last. "I think you will make a useful ally. Seeing as you seem to be fairly amenable after all, I have an offer for you."
"What is this... offer?" Sigma feigned interest.
"I would very much appreciate having rid of Treguard," said Lord Fear. "I believe I have finally breached the wards around his antechamber, and I could portal you directly to him."
"I'll do it," agreed Sigma. She would have to deal with Lord Fear later, once her RA came back online.
"Oh, and do not even think about turning on me," added Lord Fear. "I assure you I would fireball you before you got the chance."
Sigma remained silent, and Lord Fear eyed her for a long moment. Satisfied, he called upon his magic: "Spellcasting: P-O-R-T-A-L!"
A black rectangle appeared in the air, and Sigma stepped through, straight into Treguard's antechamber. The portal closed behind her; quite sensibly, Lord Fear was not taking any chances.
Sigma got a momentary view of Treguard bent over his viewing pool, before the Dungeon Master noticed her and stood up, drawing his sword. He was no fool, and used to Lord Fear's schemes.
"What are you?" he demanded. "Another of Lord Fear's creations? Half Fright-Knight?" he guessed.
Sigma, who had absolutely no intention of helping Lord Fear remove Treguard, very nearly changed her mind at that accusation. "Half Fright-Knight! You make me sound like some kind of Mary Sue!"
"Cyba?" came Eagrus' voice from the pool, as he heard everything through his helmet. "You're not telling me you're with Treguard, now?"
That made Treguard pause. "Your advisor is a creature of techno-sorcery?" he asked Eagrus.
"I usually call her an undead tech-monster, but your description sounds about right," Eagrus responded.
Treguard lowered his sword slightly.
"I am NOT an UNDEAD TECH-MONSTER!" yelled Sigma at the pool. "And I think you'll find I am SIGMA, not Cyba, and rapidly approaching a SCREAMING MOOD!"
Treguard raised his sword again.
"Oh. Sigma." Eagrus sighed. "Is Phi with you? Perhaps you would like to help me find Cyba?"
"You know this one as well?" Treguard asked Eagrus.
"Unfortunately, yes," said Eagrus, resignedly.
Sigma screamed loudly.
"I would very much appreciate it if you were not to do that again," stated Treguard.
"OW!" yelled Eagrus, clamping his hands to his helmet. "Sigma! Please spare my ears!"
"Sorry, Treguard," apologised Sigma, completely ignoring Eagrus. "He was asking for it."
"Alright, alright, Sigma. I'm sorry, but you know undead tech-monster tends to go down better with agents than Borg," Eagrus defended himself carefully.
"Borg?" inquired Treguard.
"Agents?" spluttered Sigma. "Wait... do you think Treguard's an agent?"
"Well, yes," said Eagrus.
"BAHAHAHA!" Sigma burst out laughing, earning a confused glance from Treguard.
"What?" asked Eagrus suspiciously.
"Here's the situation, Eagrus Khan," explained Sigma. "Due to the power outage, HQ's shields went down and the corridors reverted to their natural forms given the continua they were built in. Creatures and characters from those continua have been able to enter HQ freely... and we have fallen out of HQ into one such continuum proper. You are in the Knightmare continuum, being guided through an exceedingly dangerous dungeon by a very knowledgeable canon character."
"Oh," said Eagrus. "Treguard, I am very sorry."
"It gets better," grumbled Sigma. "By that, I mean worse, of course. Knightmare was a game-show that got cancelled nearly two decades ago."
"Why are you saying this in front of a canon character?" wondered Eagrus aloud.
"Treguard can canonically see through the fourth wall, and is well aware of World One. Where it gets worse is that the villain, Lord Fear, also knows about World One, and has been very bored for the last twenty years. He used magic to jack in on World One television, and he's been sitting in his tower getting dangerously genre savvy."
"He has still been plotting to get rid of me," pointed out Treguard.
"I know," muttered Sigma. "He has a portal spell to enter this antechamber, and he sent me after you. Luckily, I'm not in the mood."
"It seems I need to improve my chamber's defences, then," concluded Treguard.
"Anything else?" questioned Eagrus.
"Yes," said Sigma. "He has Cyba trapped in a magical barrier at the end of Level Three. He also stole my equipment. He has a broken DORKS and a not-so-broken neuralyzer. So, our quest is thus: rescue Cyba, get into the Tower of Goth, get my stuff back and then we use it to fix this mess."
"Eagrus is about halfway through Level Three," Treguard informed them. "In fact, we should hurry, before his life-force gets too low."
"Forward, forward, run!" instructed Sigma, right as the room in which Eagrus was standing started to fall apart. Eagrus only just made it.
Through a door and up a corridor, they came upon a great chasm spanned only by a series of numbered stone hexagons, presumably suspended by magic. On the far wall, a banner read: The table for five is your salvation.
"Oooh, causeway!" exclaimed Sigma excitedly.
"The table for five is your salvation," Treguard read the banner, for Eagrus' benefit.
"What does a table have to do with a causeway?" asked Eagrus. "Is there a table on this causeway, or...?"
"No, it's covered in numbers..." Sigma paused, watching the life-force meter worriedly. "Oh, silly me: it's the five times table! Take five steps left and one forward!"
Eagrus did so, ending up on a tile marked with the number five. The other tiles in that row immediately fell away into the abyss below, causing Sigma to squeak nervously. Eagrus' tile intersected with three others in front, which were labelled nine, ten and eleven respectively.
"OK, now we want ten," said Sigma, recovering. "Step straight forward."
So it went on, until Eagrus was safely across and through the door at the far side. Likewise, the next few rooms posed little difficulty with both Sigma and Treguard helping.
At last, he came to the room in which Cyba was imprisoned. From behind the magical barrier, his agent partner looked him up and down, recognising his armour.
"Eagrus?" she asked in surprise, her voice slightly muffled.
"Cyba!" he exclaimed.
"You went on a quest to save me?" She laughed in amazement. "And you made it this far! Wow, Eagrus!"
"What do I do?" asked Eagrus. "How do I get her out?"
"Free spell!" cried Sigma and Cyba simultaneously, totally independent of one another.
Eagrus almost kicked himself for being so thick. "Of course, sorry," he apologised. "Spellcasting: F-R-E-E!"
The barrier dissipated, and Cyba launched herself at Eagrus and flung her arms around him. Eagrus promptly fell over.
"Thank-you-thank-you-thank-you-thank-you!" squeaked Cyba, momentarily drowning out Eagrus' muffled protests.
"I'm glad you're grateful," Eagrus managed to get out, "but could you kindly please not glomp me? That's scary enough without you being - what you are..."
Cyba carried on hugging him.
"Cyba, you're probably scratching my armour, too, you know," Eagrus mentioned.
"Oh, sorry," said Cyba quickly, pulling back and helping Eagrus up.
"Life force," warned Treguard.
"Blast," muttered Eagrus, followed by: "Cyba, let's get out of here..."
He was cut off by an evil laugh.
"Well, well, well," stated Lord Fear, sauntering into the room from a side-door. "I presume by your success that my plan to remove Treguard failed? However, your success is not yet total. You have yet to escape..."
"I thought you never left your tower..." pointed out Cyba.
"Dangerously genre savvy..." muttered Sigma in response.
"A lot can change in twenty years," Lord Fear shrugged off the comment.
"Eagrus, have you got any more spells?" inquired Cyba quietly.
"No, I just used my last," Eagrus admitted.
Lord Fear smiled, drawing out the stolen neuralyzer and Sigma's sunglasses from some compartment hidden in his armour. "It seems you have nothing to prevent me from nullifying all the experience you gained on your quest," he said triumphantly.
"Collective help us, he's been reading up on role playing games," groaned Sigma, then caught herself. "Uh... I didn't just say that..."
"I heard that, Sigma!" called Eagrus.
Lord Fear pointed to the Helmet of Justice still on Eagrus' head. "Spellcasting: V-A-N-" he began.
"Neuralyzer!" warned Cyba, burying her face in her mechanical arm.
"Life force critical!" called Treguard.
"DISPEL DISPEL DISPEL!" Sigma screeched at Eagrus.
"-I-S-H!" finished Lord Fear, victorious.
Well, he thought he was victorious; there was a reason Eagrus had chosen not to dispel the vanish spell.
The Helmet of Justice vanished... leaving Eagrus' hair plain for all to see. Not even sunglasses were enough to block that out.
"AAARGH!" yelled Lord Fear, clutching his eyes. Cyba, Sigma and Treguard reacted similarly.
Eagrus, unaffected, took the opportunity to knock the neuralyzer out of Lord Fear's hand, and the sunglasses off his head. The sorcerer recovered enough to open his eyes, only to be blinded again by said device.
"Right," said Eagrus. "We were never in this castle. There hasn't been a dungeoneer in twenty years, or any mysterious portals to our HQ, and definitely nothing from any programmes you might have been watching." Then, with the villain still stunned, he took the liberty of reclaiming Sigma's backpack as well.
"Spellcasting: R-E-T-U-R-N!" chanted Treguard, and Eagrus and Cyba were teleported back to the antechamber, the quest complete. The Helmet of Justice appeared too, summoned back from wherever it had vanished to, but Eagrus ignored it, going for his own helmet instead.
"I don't believe it," gasped Sigma weakly, leaning on the stone basin beside her for support. "You actually did it, Eagrus. OK, you had the Dungeon Master advising you, but..."
"Do you realise, Eagrus Khan, that very few ever succeeded in their quest in the history of Knightmare? You are officially amazing!" Cyba lauded him.
"Except your hair," added Sigma. "You have wilver hair. Wilver. Hair. Have you ever considered shaving it off?"
Eagrus looked thoughtful. "Actually... I hadn't," he admitted. "I guess I've been too intent trying to hide it and fixing other misspellings, but that's a really a good idea."
Treguard, who had once again been blanking out their confusing talk, chose this moment to speak up. "Congratulations, your quest is complete! That means only one more thing remains. Remember: serving justice is its own reward. Your true prize lies in the memory of your victory. Spellcasting: H-E-R-O-E-S!"
With that, the antechamber disintegrated around them, to be replaced by Cyba and Eagrus' RC.
"Look!" cried Cyba. "The power's back!"
Eagrus, busy scrambling around for his sword, did not register this.
There came a bang as Cyba closed the trapdoor. "Everything's back to normal. The corridor's back to being Generic Surface."
There came a bip from the console.
"Oh, not quite," said Sigma, investigating the message. "We might want to camp out here for a bit. Apparently there are monsters on the loose."
Eagrus and Cyba just looked relieved that it was not a mission. Eagrus, having discovered his sword lying safely in its place on the rack, had now also noticed an addition to his armour. "Hold on a moment... I have..."
"Silver spurs!" gasped Cyba. "The Silver Spurs of Squiredom! Literally! And Sigma: you too! Your implants! Look!"
Sure enough, Sigma had a pair of silver spurs sprouting from the metal on her ankles.
"What are they for?" asked Eagrus.
"Er... looking pretty?" replied Cyba and Sigma in unison.
"They also signify your successful completion of a quest!" added Cyba.
"Awesome!" Sigma grinned.
***
A couple of hours later, Eagrus was alone in the RC. Cyba and Sigma had, with the RA now working, disguised themselves and gone back into the Knightmare continuum to neuralyze Treguard and several monsters, as well as to reclaim Cyba's lost bit of cabling.
Hearing a suspicious portal-sound from his room, Eagrus wandered in and discovered a newly-bound book lying on his bed. Opening it, he read the first page:
Dear Eagrus,
Sigma found one of Lord Fear's spellbooks while she was in the Tower of Goth. We took the liberty of getting it copied before returning it.
Thank you ever so much for rescuing me,
Cyba Zero
Eagrus fingered through the pages, a grin slowly broadening from ear to ear. Well... the mage, Hordriss, had mentioned he had a little magical potential...
***
"Sigma, the spurs are still there," observed Cyba, "and the Exonet."
"I asked around DoSAT," replied Sigma. "Agents can gain additions to their natural forms without them reverting upon use of a disguise. That's why certain afflictions can be also acquired - that agents then have to live with. Natural forms can change forward, just not backward in most cases. I made sure to check before using any disguises after getting the Exonet."
"In most cases?" pried Cyba.
The two exchanged glances.
"There might be a way to de-Borg ourselves," murmured Sigma, "involving magic."
