//------------------------------// // Grey and Greyer // Story: Mother X: Father // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// It didn't take the group long to make it back to the tower in the center of Thunderton, Apple of Winter in hand. No one stood in their way to get there, or as they climbed up to the top. Once there, they pushed the door open and entered Greyface's office. Greyface was waiting for them. "So I see you brought back the Apple," he stated calmly. "I'm proud of you." He then chuckled softly. "And this is about the time you bluster and threaten under some vain belief that you can actually defeat me here and somehow change history...because you're just that much of an idiot. You didn't really think those disguises fooled me for a minute, did you?" Alinivar snarled under his breath. "You seem to forget you're human...and don't have PSI!" He began to gather his mental energy. Slipping a hand into his pocket, Greyface pressed a switch on something. A strong, high pitched sound began echoing through the room, forcing Alinivar and Moondancer to clutch at their ears as they lost the ability to concentrate. "I don't need PSI. I know how it works, what it takes to use it...and how to circumvent it. My technology, enhanced by Geeg tech, will trump your pitiful PSI any day. You can't possibly win against me...ever." "Win?" Zarbol snarled, his UFO body filtering out the sound so he could still function. "Do you think this is some sort of game?" Greyface laughed boisterously. "Of course it's a game! It's always been a game! And I'm the big bad villain who's twisting everything around to get what I want, and only the 'heroes' can stop me, if they're strong enough, brave enough, and smart enough to not stick to the rules! But you lot? You're not the heroes." He put his hands on his hips as he leaned forward, glaring at them disdainfully. "You're just a bunch of NPCs with delusions of importance. It doesn't matter what you try to do...you will never succeed. And I will enjoy watching your futile struggles until they end. Guards! Seize them!" Zarbol spun around, ready to do whatever it took to protect his friends from the guards...only for the sound to stop. "Guards! What's taking you?" Greyface demanded angrily. "They're a little tied up at the moment," Niiue observed calmly as the doors burst open. "What?" Greyface demanded in shock. "That's impossible! The sound should have been disabling even to a Geeg fragment like you!" "Then it's a good *bzzzt* thing he didn't come alone, *click*" Larice declared as he slid into place beside Niiue, his body now the black and Crimson of a Ghost class Starman. "Larice!" Moondancer called out in relief. "No need for disguises anymore," Niiue pointed out, using his PSI to teleport the group's disguises off them. "Finally, Boing!" Col. Saturn gasped in relief as he wriggled around without the large body weighing him down. Greyface, however, staggered back in shock. "Oh my pork...but you're..." "Dead, right?" Larice asked as his voice box whirred. "My old body *click* is no more, but I am more than my body. This one is much more my power. Besides, *click*..." His optics turned towards Moondancer. "Starmen always follow orders..." Greyface glared daggers towards Moondancer. "You...again and again you twist things, make things happen...you shouldn't even be! I looked into the face of time, and you aren't part of this game!" Spinning, he lunged into the spider-like mecha that sat next to the couch. "Well I'll fix you! I'll delete you from this game, and then things will be like they're supposed to be!" As the group braced for battle, Moondancer swallowed nervously. "What...what is that thing?" she demanded as the mech lashed out at them, deflecting PSI and weaponry launched its way. "It looks like Geeg tech...but it's not!" Greyface cackled madly. "You're right, it isn't. Geeg tech is built by sane minds. It was Lord Giygas who crafted this for me, so I could ride the timestream and ensure he became Lord Giygas! I am the reason time is trapped, and nothing you do will have meaning! There is no hope for any of you, and I will see you burn!" "Giygas..." Niiue whispered in fear as Moondancer shivered. All sorts of weaponry extended from the spider mech. "That's right! If you think Giegue is strong now, just wait and see! Giygas' power is beyond comprehension! Then again, you won't see...because I'm going to kill you right here and NOW!" "NO!" Moondancer screamed out, her horn hurting as she focused all the PSI she could gather. She wouldn't die here...she wouldn't lose her friends! PSI energy leapt out of her horn straight up, drawing similar energy out of Alinivar, Col. Saturn, Larice, Zarbol, and Niiue. The coruscating sphere of PSI lashed out in a rainbow of colors, pushing the mech back and disabling many of its weapons even if the armor was undamaged. Greyface swore sulfurously under his breath. "So that's what it is...that's where it comes from...I wondered how a PSI could exist that Master Giygas didn't know, and didn't obey the rules of PSI...a PSI to combine powers...it comes from you! Well, it doesn't matter if you beat me now. This mech...it's a time machine! I'll just disappear to another time and space, and next time I'll be ready!" "That will not be necessary," Giegue suddenly stated from the door as he floated in. "Ah, the cavalry has arrived," Greyface chuckled darkly. Niiue quickly moved to stand between Giegue and the others. "Giegue, you know you can't fight me." Giegue stared Niiue down. "And how certain of that are you?" he asked, calm fury in his mental voice. "Sure enough to risk all?" Niiue tensed up. "You four! Take Moondancer into the Phase Distorter and get out of here, now!" He gestured to the Mr. Saturn shaped vehicle at the other end of the couch without looking. "But Niiue!" Moondancer called out, only to stagger as Alinivar grabbed her. The four piled into the machine with Moondancer. "No you don't-" Greyface started to call out, only for his mech to be batted aside by Niiue's PSI. "You should step out of the way," Niiue stated firmly. "Your pitiful human mind couldn't hope to comprehend what's really going on here..." That was the last thing Moondancer and the others heard before Alinivar threw the switch, and the world went white.