Sage Frontier Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale of two Fakes! ❯ Doesn't this remind you of Parasite Eve? ( Chapter 3 )

DISCLAIMER: I don't own SaGa Frontier. SquareSoft does!

 

“So tell me again...” Rouge panted, as he lifted his arm out of the water to propel himself through it, “Whose dumb idea was this!?” Blue, who had managed to get ahead, stopped swimming and shook the water out of his hair. He blinked for a minute and turned back to Rouge, who was now struggling in the current.

 

“It was your idea, Rouge,” Blue replied bluntly, brushing his wet, sticky bangs out of his face. Rouge also pushed his hair out of his eyes and frowned.

 

“Well, why didn't you stop me!?” Rouge asked accusingly, catching up and swimming next to Blue, “You should've known this was a disaster!” Blue glanced at his brother and rolled his eyes.

 

“I'll be sure to knock you on the head with a vase next time you think of an idea, then,” Blue replied sarcastically. After that, nothing was said as the two kept swimming along the murky, purple depths of the water, hoping to see some form of life soon, or at least a shoreline. Once or twice, they saw a huge pointed rock, but nothing they could climb onto. Finally, Rouge couldn't take it.

 

“UGH! Where the hell are we!?” he asked, stopping and flailing his arms, “We should've hit something by now!” Blue managed to stay afloat and took out his continental map. He looked at it carefully, and then looked up around where they were. There was a rock sticking out of the water to their left, and a patch of water grass to the north, and thankfully the spot was marked on the map. They were just outside of the Manhattan Bluffs, and according to the map, a grotto leading to the sewage system into the city was close by. Blue smiled.

 

“Rouge, this way!” Blue ushered, and put the map away. Rouge stopped thrashing and turned around.

 

“What? Why?” Rouge asked, just in time to see Blue dive into the water, “Blue!? Where are you going!? ...WAIT FOR ME!” Rouge rushed into the water and swam after Blue, who had already opened the grotto and was diving in. Rouge followed and was pulled up quickly by none other than Blue himself. Or at least he thought it was Blue. He couldn't see well, it was incredibly dark. The only light came from a few poorly placed torches, which had nearly gone out from the moisture in the cave.

 

“Are you ready for a bit of a hike?” Blue asked, taking one of the torches near him out of its holder and holding it up for Rouge to see. Rouge shut his eyes to adjust to the sudden light shining on him, and then looked at Blue with one open eye.

 

“No, I'm not! We swam for Goddess-knows how long, and now you want me to start hiking? Why don't you just cut my feet off now!” Rouge exclaimed, but got off of the wet sand he'd been sitting on, “Oh, whatever... it's not like arguing is gonna help now. Where do we go from here?” Blue looked down the tunnel he'd been standing in front of. Although towards the back was pitch black, he could see the rocks in front were of a reddish color. He took out the map and looked at it again.

 

“According to our map, this grotto should dump out into the sewers if we go down here,” Blue explained, and Rouge moaned miserably, “From there, Manhattan's a stone's throw away.” Blue moved so Rouge could look down the tunnel. It was even darker down there, and he could see the water shining off of the walls from where Blue was standing, and hear the water drip off the rocks and onto the ground.

 

“Wow, and I thought we had fun BEFORE we became cops... boy was I wrong...” Rouge mumbled, as Blue led them both down the tunnel, “No, now we get to climb through sewage and catch psychotic murderers. Oh what joy. And later, when we have to throw someone in jail, that'll be a blast!” Blue rolled his eyes as Rouge continued to rant and rave about their new job. 'Well, at least he won't notice that we're traveling through the sewage right now...' Blue thought, as he climbed up a ladder and onto a metal platform. Rouge followed, continuing his argument with himself and completely ignoring the squishing sound his shoes made as they traveled through sludge that was thankfully hidden from the darkness.

 

“And later, when someone dies, we'll have so much fun, jumping into the scene of the crime... OW!” Rouge had smacked right into Blue as he talked, and saw that Blue had stopped walking for some reason, “Blue, what gives!?” Blue didn't answer right away. Instead, he kept looking straight ahead into the darkness. Rouge called him a second time, and this time Blue responded, if harshly.

 

“Rouge, hush!” Blue hissed, “Just stop and listen... don't you find it odd how there's no running water now?” Rouge raised a suspicious eyebrow and decided to humor his twin. He listened carefully, but couldn't see what Blue was trying to listen for.

 

“I don't get it,” Rouge said quietly after a minute or two, “I think maybe the sewer's backed up. Nothing we should worry about.” He went to walk ahead, but Blue stopped him.

 

“Rouge, stop... something's coming this way!” Blue said, and suddenly pulled Rouge down a different tunnel, “RUN!” Rouge didn't need an explanation as something huge crashed into the wall and roared a minute later, making the ground below the two shake violently as the walls echoed its booming voice. Then it lunged as it heard Rouge turn the corner, and cut the two off ahead. Blue stopped dead in his tracks, which was hard to do from the sludgy ground, and Rouge yelped as he slid into Blue again.

 

“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING!?” Rouge screamed, but unfortunately, Blue was too terrified to answer. The monster roared again, and used its long tongue as a whip to hit Blue. Luckily, Rouge pushed him out of the way and they both ducked onto the ground as the whip missed. “Blue, are you all right!?” Rouge asked frantically. Blue nodded and sat up, a bit dazed.

 

“I'm fine... but that thing...” Blue replied quietly, and Rouge cut him off.

 

“I know, it's like some kind of slimy sewer spawn!” Rouge cried, “Did you SEE what it did with its tongue!? Talk about gross!” Blue looked at Rouge with annoyance.

 

“Would you let me speak? I know what that thing is,” Blue said calmly, “It's a Giga Toad. But I wonder how one got here. Usually they're in the Yorkland swamps.”

 

“Maybe it got lost. Look, who CARES why it's here! Let's just kill it already!” Rouge exclaimed determinedly, and focused his mind on the creature, “IMPLOSION!” Instantly, a great blast of energy hit the large toad-like creature, but when the smoke cleared, it didn't appear to have done much of anything except make the toad much angrier.

 

“It... it didn't work! Oh, this toad must be much stronger than we thought...” Blue said worriedly, poised to run back towards the intersection. Rouge, however, didn't seem as concerned for the moment.

 

“Either that or the fumes from all the crap down here created an invisible barrier around it,” Rouge added, and when the monster croaked, he yelled, “RUN AWAY!” Hoping to outrun the monster, or at least find a way to hide from it, the two twins dashed towards the dark intersection and ran down the path Blue had indicated to go before, or at least they hoped they'd run down it. They could hear the giant toad stomp towards them, but neither could look back and see for fear it'd slow them down. And without thinking, Blue rushed down the ladder into a smaller tunnel, and as soon as Rouge jumped down, they heard the monster crash into the wall above them, unable to get to them. Rouge caught his breath and cheered.

 

“YEAH! Take that, bubble butt!” Rouge yelled, as a giant sweatdrop rolled down Blue's head.

 

“...okay... well, Rouge, are we going to stand here and insult the toad or should we hurry to the airport before Nomad strikes again?” Blue asked. Rouge stopped dancing around and looked glum for a minute.

 

“Yeah... I guess you're right... let's go,” Rouge said, and then realized a problem, “Wait... Blue, are we going the right way?” Blue stopped walking and took a greater look around. His torch had gone out from running so quickly, but luckily there was a little light coming through somewhere. He noticed that the ground wasn't covered with sludge anymore, but that piles of garbage now dotted the floor here and there, which caused the sewers to smell even worse than they did beforehand. The rocky walls were replaced with metal ones, and every so ofter, Blue could see a small pipe going into them. He looked at the map a third time, but unfortunately, it didn't show the layout of the sewers.

 

“I don't know... the map doesn't say where exactly we are,” Blue replied nervously, “But if there's garbage, we should be close to the city, right? Let's follow the path, maybe we'll end up outside.” As Blue walked past Rouge, Rouge stuffed his hands in his pocket and looked down the passage.

 

“I won't argue with that logic,” Rouge mumbled, and followed Blue. It was silent as they walked down the path, save for their footsteps and the occasional rustle as a rat ran through a pile of debris. But nothing interesting happened for a while. Rouge began to wonder if they were actually getting anywhere. For the next 20 minutes, he saw nothing but garbage and pipes, and he intended to let Blue know this.

 

“Ugh... Blue, I think you got us lost!” Rouge finally exclaimed, his voice echoing off the walls. Blue slowed down and turned back towards Rouge, who had a sour look on his face.

 

“What makes you say that?” Blue asked, “Besides, it's not like you've been leading the way.” Rouge crossed his arms and gestured towards a pile of garbage.

 

“We've seen probably 70 piles of crap, and yet there haven't been any turns or detours through this tunnel! I'm starting to think this tunnel doesn't end!” Rouge snapped. Blue ignored the tone in Rouge's voice and continued walking instead of answering Rouge. That made Rouge very angry, and he picked up a rock and threw it at Blue.

 

“ANSWER ME!” Rouge yelled, and realized that was another huge mistake. Blue stopped, and slowly turned around. His eyes burned with rage, and Rouge sensed a darkness he never felt in Blue.

 

“You want me to say something?” Blue asked, dangerously calm, “Fine. Then I'll say shut up, Rouge. If you don't like my leading, then leave me alone. This is your fault. You're the one who landed us in IRPO. You're the one who dragged me into this. If you don't like the way things are going, then tough shit for you. We have no choice except to go and swim in the ocean for who cares how long. Do you really want that?” Blue's voice had steadily risen as he told Rouge all of this. Obviously, he'd wanted to say this for hours now, and Rouge shook with every word. He was speechless for a few minutes.

 

“I... I don't know...” Rouge said, trying to recover from the shock of his brother's words. He knew what Blue said was true. It WAS all his fault. He WAS the one who went looking for trouble in IRPO, not Blue. Yet here Blue was, doing most to all of the work. “I'm sorry...” Rouge said, after a moment of thought. Blue's expression softened and all of the rage seemed to fade.

 

“It's okay. But right now, we ARE lost. But how can we tell if we're near the city?” Blue asked. Rouge closed his eyes to try and concentrate. When he was by himself, studying magic, he had to perfect being able to tell how close he was to a city. And although Blue probably had to learn the same thing, his ability was obviously dulled. Thankfully, Blue quieted down as Rouge focused his mind. He could hear something above, but couldn't make it out too well. He focused harder, and finally could interpret that what he heard was people. People and the sounds of machines running, most probably cars or some sort of transport. Concentrating even more, he could actually hear conversations being held.

 

“So, did you hear about Donny Rocker?” someone was saying to her friend in the streets.

 

“Dude, this prank is going to ROCK!” a boy said, farther into town.

 

“Flight 342 to Facinaturu is delayed until 6 P.M. tonight. I repeat, flight 342 is delayed.” Rouge opened his eyes as he heard this, and realized it was coming from very close by. Blue tilted his head, worried that maybe something bad happened to Rouge, but was relieved when Rouge explained.

 

“We're close to the airport!” Rouge exclaimed happily, “Very close, actually. In fact... it almost sounds like we're right below it.” Blue was taken aback by this, but was still skeptical despite Rouge's confidence.

 

“Are you sure?” Blue asked, and Rouge replied with a vigorous nod.

 

“Yeah! Close your eyes and listen!” Rouge answered. Blue decided to try it, and shut his eyes. At first, all he could hear was the wind moving around in the tunnels, but then as he focused his mind, he began to hear what was going on above the sewers too.

 

“The flight's canceled!? You're kidding me! I'm a COP! This is official IRPO business! You have to let me on!” Blue opened his eyes suddenly as the voice had sounded familiar. And as Blue thought about it, he realized that who he heard was their boss, Fuse.

 

“Rouge, Fuse is in Manhattan!” Blue cried. At first, Rouge seemed a bit surprised to hear that, and then he laughed.

 

“So, the careless boss is here, huh?” Rouge said, amused, “I wonder how he managed to get here before we did. I doubt he swam.” Blue looked around, hoping to find a way to get into the airport, or to at least get out of the sewers, and his well-adjusted eyes spotted a ladder behind a fallen pillar. He ran over and examined the ladder. It was in very good service, despite being in a sewer, and it looked like it was brand new, too. He put one of his hands on the rung that was level with his head.

 

“We can ask him later. Right now, I found a way out, I think,” Blue replied, and pulled himself up, “So come on, before the monster from earlier happens to show up again.” He climbed up and saw Rouge grab a rung before he pushed open a trap door and stuck his head out. He looked around and saw that the ladder led to a storage room somewhere. Heaving himself out of the opening, he dusted himself off and took a better look around. Boxes and metal crates lined most of the walls, and most had the word “Fragile” on them. The storage area itself was pretty large, able to fit four small planes in it and leaving enough room to practically dance around. There were lights hanging from the ceiling, which let Blue see the door on the northern wall, which was far away. Squinting his eyes to see a bit more, he saw that above the door was a raised platform with a huge window overlooking the area. Behind him, Rouge managed to climb out.

 

“So, where are we now?” Rouge asked, dusting himself off. Blue looked at one of the planes before answering.

 

“I think we're in the airport's storage room,” Blue replied, “Let's go before a guard sees us.” As quietly as they could, the twins ran over to the door, making sure to avoid the crates for fear they'd set off an alarm. But nothing happened. When they reached the door, Blue went to turn the knob, and cursed.

 

“What's wrong?” Rouge asked, as Blue pounded the door.

 

“The door's locked!” Blue huffed, throwing his hands up when he couldn't break the door down, “We're stuck in here.” Rouge picked up a metal pole on the floor and grinned.

 

“We're not stuck,” he said, and pushed Blue out of the way, “Watch.” With that, Rouge jammed the pole into the crack between the door and the frame and pried the two apart. Blue heard a sharp crack to indicate that at the very least, Rouge damaged the wood. He heard a soft clink in the next room and the door swung open to reveal a nice, but unoccupied office.

 

“See? Works like a charm!” Rouge said proudly, throwing the metal pole into the storage room and walking through the newly-opened doorway. Blue looked oddly at the storage area, then at the door, then at the pole, and finally at Rouge.

 

“How did you do that!?” Blue asked, and then added, “On second thought, I probably don't want to know.” Rouge snorted as Blue stepped through the door and tried to close it as quietly as he could.

 

“You're right. You probably don't,” Rouge agreed, and together, they walked out of the office, careful not to walk into one of the many chairs scattered around. Neither of them wanted to turn on the light, thinking that it might attract attention if no one was supposed to be in there. When Rouge opened the door into the hall, they were greeted with a blinding light. Blue had to shield his eyes to readjust them, and Rouge choked back the urge to scream about going blind. Since Blue was smart enough to shield his eyes, he recovered first, and looked down the hall. It was a plain beige color, with doorways to offices in neat, even rows. No one else was in the hall, nor did it feel like anyone was in any of the offices.

 

“It's awfully quiet here, don't you think?” Rouge whispered, glancing as Blue looked left and right, “Do you think there's something going on out front?” Blue took another glance to the left before answering. It did feel awkward that no one was around, even though the lights were all on, and the airport was in activity.

 

“I don't know. If Fuse is out there, something might be up. The only way to know is to get out there, though. Should we?” Blue asked, and Rouge looked at the door dead ahead of them. Out there was where the action was. Out there, anything could be going on, and Rouge knew it. He looked at Blue seriously.

 

“Let's do it!” he exclaimed, and kicked down the door. Before Blue could even respond to his brother's outbursts, Rouge rushed through the door to the front and pulled out his gun.

 

“EVERYBODY FREEZE!” Blue heard Rouge yell, “Nobody moves... and nobody dies, okay?” Blue put his palm to his forehead, unable to believe what just happened. He stepped shyly out of the hallway and saw everyone except Rouge had dropped onto the ground, fearing for their lives. A few had curled up into balls or hid under tables, but Blue couldn't find Fuse among them. He looked at Rouge after trying hard to find his boss.

 

“What the hell do you think you're doing!?” Blue hissed, trying to keep his voice down so he didn't scare any of the innocent people. Rouge lowered his gun and looked back at Blue innocently.

 

“You said that something might be going on outside! I'm just seeing if there's a robbery going on,” Rouge replied. Someone stirred slightly and Rouge re-aimed his gun defensively. The person got up, and dusted his coat off.

 

“A robbery? There wasn't anything going on here,” the brave soul said, not realizing what a big mistake it was to speak up to Rouge. Rouge glared at the young boy, who shivered.

 

“Shut up! I'm asking the questions around here!” Rouge yelled, and the boy instantly sat down again, “So, where were you all last night?” As he asked this question, Rouge walked cautiously to towards the large group of people, all of whom inched away, trying to avoid him. Blue raised his eyebrow and shook his head.

 

“Rouge, there's over 100 people here. How are you possibly going to keep track of their answers? Are you going to make them fill out a form or something?” Blue asked, in a rather sarcastic tone. Rouge's ears perked up, however, and Blue saw him grin, which scared him.

 

“That's an awesome idea, Blue! Why didn't I think of that!?” Rouge exclaimed, grabbing some paper off of the printer near one of the desks. Then, he began passing them out to the few people who managed to gain the courage to look up. “Here, fill these out and make it snappy! This is an official investigation.” He said, which made Blue's cheeks flush with... well, blue.

 

“Rouge, are you insane!? We don't have time for this!” Blue snapped, snatching the paper away from the townspeople that were beginning to fill them out, “I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen. My brother has a bit of a mental problem and doesn't know the difference between his imagination and reality.” Obviously, by this time, the townspeople were getting very confused. They looked at Rouge, and then at Blue.

 

“So... what are we supposed to do now?” the boy from before asked. Rouge was about to yell again, but Blue pushed him over and smiled warmly, reassuring everyone involved that he was there to help, not hinder.

 

“You all may go. We're simply looking for an officer named Fuse,” Blue explained calmly, “We heard he might be here. Is he around?” One of the workers hidden behind a desk popped her head out. She pointed to one of the gateways.

 

“Just barely. He said something about official IRPO business, and we were forced to let him on the closest plane to Facinaturu. He seemed kind of frantic,” she replied, and tilted her head, “But why are you looking for him?” Blue walked up to the desk and dumped a few Credits out.

 

“Yes, he's our boss. Listen, this IS an urgent matter. We've received reports of Nomad in Facinaturu. How much will it cost to fly there?” Blue asked politely. However, the girl told him money wasn't needed.

 

“Really!? How... well, we've heard rumors, but I didn't think they were true...” she said distantly, and then snapped back to attention, “But if it's official business, I'll gladly let you on board. Hurry, before the plane takes off.” Blue smiled and nodded.

 

“Thank you, miss! You should be proud to know that you might very well be the reason we catch her!” Blue said encouragingly, which made the girl blush, “Come on, Rouge.” Blue rushed out through the gate as Rouge simply strutted slowly to it. Before walking through it and possibly never seeing anyone in that airport ever again, Rouge turned back to them one last time.

 

“I suppose you think this means you all are safe from Nomad,” he said mischievously, “Well, you aren't. We still don't know if she's in Facinaturu. So don't get comfy. If you know anything, I will come back here!” Whatever reaction Rouge was hoping to get just didn't happen. Everyone looked up at him like he was a retarded fish-monkey. Blue poked his head back in, wondering what was keeping Rouge after he hadn't come out for a minute. Then, his eyes narrowed.

 

“Will you come on already!?” Blue snapped, dragging Rouge out of the lobby and through the gate into the outside. It felt good to have fresh air finally hit them after being in the sewers for a few hours. The wind blew gently, and the sky was a deep azure. The clouds looked like little mashed potato piles, and the sun beat down on a large, silver plane that had the words “Urgency Flights” painted on them. Blue looked around, and after seeing that there were no other planes to board, he was pretty sure that was theirs now. He walked up the short steps, still dragging a struggling Rouge with him, and opened the doors inside the plane. The plane was beautiful! Solid wood molding and a soft peach wallpaper greeted them, along with beautifully upholstered seats and a snack cart filled to the brim with food.

 

“Whoa! Nice plane!” Rouge exclaimed, throwing himself into one of the cushioned seats, “Man, no wonder plane fares are so expensive! Just look at this! I get my own TV too!” Rouge pushed a button, and surely enough, a small TV popped out of a little compartment and flicked on. Blue, of course, rolled his eyes. Right now, the plane could have an indoor pool and he wouldn't care. He just wanted to find Fuse.

 

“Rouge, we have a job to do!” Blue hissed, and then sighed when he realized Rouge wasn't paying any attention, “Oh, fine. Watch your stupid TV. I'm going to go find Fuse.” Blue threw his hands up tiredly and walked away. Rouge, who had taken a bucket of popcorn, turned around lazily.

 

“Okay, have fun,” Rouge replied, not really having heard what Blue actually said. Blue snorted with disdain after he exited the room and Rouge was out of earshot. He looked around the new car of the plane. It was completely empty, though the door into the pilot's room was wide opened. Curious, Blue walked over and peeked inside. Fuse was sitting in the captain's seat, looking like he was psyching himself up for something. Blue, unable to keep his concern for the plane in, burst into the room.

 

“Fuse!?” Blue asked, grabbing onto another seat, “What are you doing!? We're not allowed in here, even if we ARE cops!” Fuse, who'd been wearing a set of headphones, took them off and looked back at the worried boy.

 

“Yeah, well, we have a criminal mastermind to catch and I'm not waiting forty years for the captain to get back. So shut up and help me because I'm going to fly this plane,” Fuse ordered, patting the seat next to him. Blue's eyes would've bugged out of his head if he knew any worse, but he didn't. He also knew it wasn't smart to disobey Fuse, so he reluctantly sat in the chair and grabbed a control.

 

“Do you even know how to fly this thing?” Blue asked. Fuse blinked, and then shook his head.

 

“No, but I believe that if I'm meant to do good, some god somewhere will keep me alive! Now, push the button!” Fuse exclaimed proudly. Blue, who looked much less excited, pushed the button near his control and started the plane up. The engine rumbled, and slowly, the plane lifted off. Blue gulped, knowing that now was when he'd either die from a plane crash or become a hero for once in his life. He turned to Fuse.

 

“If we crash, I personally blame you.”

 

------------------------------(Where is Rouge when this happened?)

 

Oh boy... looks like Blue gets his first flight lesson! But will it end in a fiery despair? Or will Blue manage to fly safely to Facinaturu with or without Fuse's help? Are they too late to catch Nomad? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!