Kicking Dust/Episode 10

Kicking Dust Episode 10 - Rock Bottom
Everything comes to a head.
==Scene==
Fractus flies into her town, only to hear people booing her.
:Fractus: (Are those people believing that clown…?)
She sighs, and arrives at the palace’s balcony, finding Gilderoyde with her arms crossed.
:Gilderoyde: Fractus, we need to talk.
:Fractus: Gilderoyde… I apologize for being missing. My daughter has gone missing, and… and I have no idea where she is now. My search was unsuccessful. I apologize greatly for my failure…
Gilderoyde looks surprised.
:Gilderoyde: Nimbus has gone missing?!
:Fractus: Yes. I hope you can understand why I am worried for her.
:Gilderoyde: Of course I can understand why you are worried for her… unfortunately, I’m afraid that’s not what I wanted to talk about.
Fractus raises an eyebrow.
:Gilderoyde: I have… always thought it was bad that we have to unite Flydevin society with all of the violence you use…
:Fractus: ... Gilderoyde… there is no other way. It’s just the way of life.
Gilderoyde shakes her head.
:Gilderoyde: The community would like to disagree. I have asked them if they believe it would be possible to achieve unity through diplomacy, and all of them agreed.
Fractus stays silent for a bit, before lowering her head and chuckling.
:Fractus: Gilderoyde… the populace are fools. They don’t know anything. Why are you trusting them?
:Gilderoyde: … my mother said that if the populace are fools, that is on me. And I… I do not serve myself, I serve the population.
:Fractus: That did not lead your mother much far, did it?
Gilderoyde looks stunned for a bit, her expression soon turning furious upon hearing Fractus flagantry not only disrespect her mother, but also her former leader.
:Gilderoyde: Do… do you have no loyalty?!
:Fractus: Now, calm down, Gilderoyde. I’m just warning you. Attempting to solve things through “peace” and “diplomacy” won’t lead you anywhere.
She straightens up her posture.
:Fractus: You say that you serve the population? I am sad to hear that. It makes you, and by extension, us, look weak and subservient. You cannot rule a population like that. You need strength. Power.
:Gilderoyde: … what good does strength and power give me? Yes, it is good to be able to defend myself, but I have guards for that. You can’t improve the life conditions of the population by merely being strong.
:Fractus: See, that is your problem, Gilderoyde. You show too much care, too much restrain. You obsess yourself with perfection - no wonder you’re obsessed with gold! You can’t be a perfect ruler, so you have to make sacrifices. And if you ask my advice, what you should prioritise is power, so that your subjects will listen to you.
:Gilderoyde: I… what are you talking about? I… I’m not perfect, I know that. But I care about my people. You seem to care more about war, and about that…
A close-up shot of Fractus’s helmet is shown, her face being seen from under the helmet. She frowns. It then switches to Gilderoyde’s face, she also frowning.
:Gilderoyde: The population has asked to end the wars, and stop the bloodshed. Since I follow the population’s wishes, that means I shall put an effective end to the wars right now. And yet… you seem to only care about power and violence. That, combined with the lack of purpose to the role… means I, the Gilded Flydevin, am stripping you of your title.
The camera zooms out, showing Gilderoyde looking smaller than Fractus, who steps back… before soon laughing.
:Fractus: Gilderoyde… you can’t strip me of my title.
Gilderoyde raise an eyebrow.
:Gilderoyde: And why is that…? As the Monarch, I can strip you of your title at will.
:Fractus: In theory, yes. But in practice… what can you do to stop me?
:Gilderoyde: … I can cut support for you. Arrest you, even.
:Fractus: Well, well, well… that wouldn’t be great for me, wouldn’t it? Unfortunately, it seems you’ve failed to heed my warnings about power…
She creates a cloud of smoke from her hand, before sending it in a jet towards Gilderoyde, who flies back with a burst of wind that has the effect of pushing away the smoke at the same time.
:Gilderoyde: You’re… you’re assaulting your monarch?! I thought one of your values was loyalty…!
:Fractus: I am certainly not loyal to the Morludas, naive Gilderoyde. Have you not noticed? The black mist that appears when I am near…?
:Gilderoyde: You don’t mean…?!
:Fractus: I knew you would be an obstacle to me. So I was actively weakening you, every meeting.
She sends her Mineral Winds towards Gilderoyde, who flies away from them, though Fractus begins to spread them.
:Gilderoyde: You…! What would the great Halcyate say if she saw you like this?!
:Fractus: Oh, she already saw me like this…
She chuckles.
:Fractus: How do you think she really died?
Gilderoyde’s pupils contract, furious upon realizing what Fractus is implying. She then creates a golden sword, screaming as she charges towards Fractus before hurling the sword at Fractus with great strength. Fractus simply knocks it out of the way with an arm chop, the sword noticeably denting her armor but not enough to get to her skin.
Fractus proceeds to charge towards Gilderoyde herself, throwing a powerful punch towards Gilderoyde, who attempts to catch it, managing to slow Fractus down… which leaves her vulnerable to an uppercut from Fractus’s other hand. Fractus laughs again, swinging her arm down to knock her to the ground before stomping on Gilderoyde.
:Gilderoyde: AGH!
Gilderoyde, however, counter-attacks by creating golden shards and sending them in Fractus’s direction. Fractus jumps back at first, allowing Gilderoyde to get up, before Gilderoyde sends larger golden shards in Fractus’s direction. However, this time, Fractus just sends them, the golden shard only making scratches on Fractus’s armor, to Gilderoyde’s horror.
:Gilderoyde: A-aaah…
Fractus then charges at Gilderoyde, who panics and attempts to dodge to the side, but Fractus uses her wind to launch her right towards her, Fractus grabbing her by the head. Gilderoyde struggles out, before creating a sword and trying to stab Fractus with all of her might. It actually creates a chink through her armor, and the tip pierces through, Fractus soon bleeding from it.
:Fractus: … heheheh… is that all you can do?
Gilderoyde attempts to push the sword further into Fractus’s body, but Fractus then grabs Gilderoyde’s arm and proceeds to crush it violently, bone cracking noises being heard and the arm visibly beginning to bleed.
:Gilderoyde: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!
Fractus keeps holding onto the arm, using her other arm to begin choking Gilderoyde, before walking towards the balcony.
:Fractus: FLYDEVINS!
The surrounding Flydevins look, gasping upon seeing Fractus holding and injuring Gilderoyde in such fashion.
:Fractus: I’m afraid my authority was challenged… let it be known this is what happens when one betrays me.
She then begins to slowly squeeze Gilderoyde’s neck as more horrified Flydevins observe.
However, Fractus and the other Flydevins then hear a loud nearby noise - or rather, a sonic boom. Fractus looks to the side, and fails to react in time to an incoming Duster charging at her with her arm coated in rocks. Fractus is knocked back, dropping Gilderoyde and having a significant chunk of her head armor knocked off, one of her horns having cushioned most of the blow.
:Fractus: Gaaah… Duster, Duster, Duster. Of course you’d meddle with this…
Gilderoyde takes the occasion to jump off the balcony, into the crowd, slowing her fall with difficulty.
:Duster: You were about to kill Monarch Gilderoyde… do you have no shame?!
:Fractus: No shame…? You’re the one accusing me of having no shame, when you took away Nimbus from me?
:Duster: I did her a favor, mom. Because we hate you, now. Me and her.
She crosses her arms.
:Duster: Go on, Fractus. P-punch me. Kick me. Tear me up. But…
She looks back, looking at a watching Nimbus on the walls surrounding the city.
:Duster: She’s watching. And every hit you give to me, is a hit to her beloved sister.
Fractus grits her teeth, glaring at Duster.
:Fractus: Then I will simply have to fight you where she cannot see this.
:Duster: What-
Fractus charges at Duster, and grabs her by the mouth, charging into the palace. The camera then cuts to a terrified Nimbus, who holds her hand out.
:Nimbus: DUSTIE!
Gampa, who was peeking from behind the wall, climbs up.
:Gampa: Ah dear, this ain’t great…
They glare towards the palace.
:Gampa: You stay here, Cloudie. As for me… it’s high time to get revenge for my father.
Gampa then flies towards the palace, Nimbus staying behind, worried.
The camera then moves down, to Beruli and Trida, who look concerned.
:Beruli: W-we can’t stay here, right…? I don’t think Duster can do this on her own...
Trida looks around, seeing the nearby crowd merely being stunned.
:Trida: … seems like we can’t. Let’s go.
Beruli and Trida run into the palace itself.
The camera then cuts back to Fractus and Duster, the latter being launched towards a wall, but managing to kick the wall from behind before she landed, flipping back into standing position. Fractus then creates a rock mace, swinging it at Duster sideways, but Duster ducks.
:Fractus: Short little bitch…
She then swings it downward, but this time Duster dodges to the side. Gampa then arrives at the palace, and observes Fractus, who tries to strike a few more times at Duster, getting increasingly faster as she gets more frustrated. Gampa notices broken metal devices in Fractus’s horn.
:Gampa: (Hold up… those are electricity absorbers!)
They take a deep breath, before shouting:
:Gampa: DUSTER! AIM FOR HER HORN!
Duster nods, before getting hit by a sideways mace swing and getting launched at a wall.
:Duster: GAH!
Fractus then charges at Duster, mace pointed towards her, in order to crush her head between the mace’s tip and the wall. Duster’s pupils contract, before she narrowly dodges to the side. She then proceeds to send a jet of smoke towards Fractus’s face. Fractus simply uses her winds to push the smoke away, making a short laugh that is quickly interrupted once she notices the smoke was merely a distraction to let Duster deliver a powerful kick to her undamaged horn, breaking it off.
:Gampa: Good job!
Gampa then points a finger gun at Fractus, before releasing a continuous stream of electricity at her.
:Fractus: GHHHH…!
Fractus, while pained from the electricity, suddenly grabs Duster by the hand and swings her in the way of the electric beam.
:Duster: AAAAARGH!
Gampa, as a result, is forced to stop sending electricity in Fractus’s way. Fractus then visibly smiles as she grabs Duster’s shoulder, and then begins pulling down on Duster’s arm, trying to tear it off.
:Duster: GAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH…!
Gampa visibly panics. Duster then tries to grab Fractus’s face to counter attack, but she creates a protective rock shield in front of it. Bones in Duster’s arm begins to break, but Fractus is then struck from behind by an overhead swing of a large rock spear. She looks back, and notices Beruli. Fractus then instinctively throws Duster at Beruli, letting go of her in the process.
:Duster: Tch… Beruli?!
Beruli gives her a thumbs-up as she recovers from the throw.
:Beruli: We’ll be taking care of this for now.
:Duster: We…?
Trida then jumps from another room with a flurry of rocks, which she sends towards Fractus, who tanks some of them while punching the others at her foes, who dodge or punch it back themselves. Gampa takes the occasion to shoot another beam of lightning at Fractus.
:Fractus: TCHZ… YOU PESTS!
Fractus charges at Gampa, who attempt to dodge, but is not quick enough to do so. Fractus then proceeds to brutally slam them repeatedly against the rock shards.
:Gampa: GAH! GAAAH! AAAAARGH!
… but this leaves her open to a spear thrust from Beruli towards her exposed jaw.
:Fractus: RRRR…!
She proceeds to grab Beruli’s spear.
:Beruli: Uh oh.
Beruli proceeds to break the spear in half, but Fractus uses her remaining half to bludgeon Beruli several times.
:Beruli: EEEAGH!
She eventually creates a rock shield to protect herself from these blows, so Fractus tosses the spear aside and proceeds to use Gampa to break through the rock.
:Gampa: GAAAAARGH!
Fractus proceeds to grab Beruli, and then flies towards Trida, who tries to dodge, but is soon hit from both sides by violent dual swings from Beruli and Gampa’s bodies. The three all scream, with Fractus continuing this until they all stop screaming, knocked out, after which Fractus tosses them towards the floor.
She then creates a rock mace, preparing to swing it down on them to kill them, but it’s blocked mid-swing by Duster.
:Duster: You… are not harming my friends any longer.
Fractus sneers, and gives another stomp on them, before kicking in Duster’s direction… except she pulls herself up with the rock mace, above the kick, and proceeds to deliver a kick herself to Fractus’s head, flipping back.
:Fractus: I felt that… you’re getting stronger. A shame it’s only now…
:Duster: … why is all you care about strength?!
:Fractus: I care about more than strength. Have you forgotten Nimbus?
:Duster: Nimbus is terrified of you, now! Because of your obsession with power! You see me as merely an object of strength, but Nimbus sees me as her sister! You’re too blind with power to see that, though! You’ve always been!
Duster then kicks a rock at Fractus, who simply grabs it.
:Fractus: Always been… have you forgotten about my love for Diamond? Your father? It was a great period...
:Duster: But you threw it away because of power.
:Fractus: I threw it away?! It was the Flydevins who killed him!
Duster then glares at Fractus.
:Duster: Because of a war you were commanding.
Fractus takes a step back.
:Fractus: N-no… SHUT UP!
Fractus proceeds to bare her teeth and slam the rock Duster sent at her onto her. But the latter punches it… causing the rock to break into smoke, which she then pushes with a wind burst into Fractus’s system.
:Fractus: SHHHAAAAAH! YOU BITCH!
Fractus then tries to push the smoke out of her, but it appears that these are not regular smoke winds… but smoke winds that have been infused with rock shards, causing her to bleed from inside.
:Fractus: AAAAAAAAAAHHH! GAAAAAH!
Fractus steps back, clutching her face, while Duster grabs her friends and proceeds to bolt away.
:Fractus: NO! GHH… COME BACK!
She charges towards Duster, but is greatly weakened from that surprise attack, allowing Duster to get away by hopping off the balcony and using her winds to slow down her fall. Fractus collapses on the balcony, but then attempts to get up. She notices, however, someone else has landed on the balcony… Nimbus.
:Nimbus: … why, mom? W-why are you doing this?
:Fractus: Ghhargh… for... your... sake, Nimbus.
:Nimbus: B-but… t-this is not w-what I want. Y-you’re causing p-pain to… no, you h-have been causing pain to a-all Flydevins…
Duster notices Nimbus, and quickly lets go of her friends as she flies up towards the balcony.
:Nimbus: A-all of it… just b-because y-you want… power.
She kicks Fractus’s head. Fractus lays there, to Duster’s surprise, as she quietly lands near.
:Fractus: … no… I… wanted to avenge… Diamond… 
:Nimbus: Uhm… your time with Diamond… it was… a period of great joy for you… wasn’t it? That’s… why you care about me. I… I-I remind you of him. He… lives through me, in his own words.
Fractus weakly nods.
:Nimbus: B-but… I noticed, uhm, y-you seemed never happy, when you were without me. I-if I had to guess, uhm… y-you think the rush of j-joy, y-you, uhm, seem to get when you fight… it makes up for it. A-and you used it to fill the v-void in your heart... B-but… it’s so tragic, it’s all temporary… and… here you are, now. And I-I, I’m… leaving now, mom.
She steps away, into the palace. Fractus reaches for her, but is unable to.
:Fractus: Don’t… go…
Duster looks down.
:Duster: It… all ends now, Fractus.
She tries to grab her. Fractus is unable to show resistance, being too weak to do so, and Duster lifts her up.
:Fractus: You… would… kill… your… own mother…?
:Duster: You have no right to say that, when you tried to kill me countless times…
She looks away.
:Duster: But no, I am not going to kill you, Fractus. It would be too quick. What I will do, through, is make sure you rot away in jail, left to contemplate your mistakes for the rest of your life.
:Fractus: …
Duster proceeds to jump off the balcony again, this time her fall being cushioned by the nearby Flydevins. Duster then looks for a hospital, and heads inside as the screen fades to black.
==Epilogue 1==
Gampa wakes up in a hospital.
:Gampa: Gnnnnh… huh…?
They look around, and see their father near.
:Gampa: Drizzley! You’re… okay?
The Drizzler nods.
:Drizzley: Yeah, it took a while, but I’m out of that coma now. I’m very glad to see you’ve recovered just fine!
:Gampa: Well that’s great news… agh… uhh… how long have I lost consciousness? I’m betting, like, a week or something.
:Drizzley: A year.
Gampa’s eyes widen in stunned silence.
:Drizzley: I’m kidding. It’s only been a day, approximately.
He pats Gampa, who sighs in relief.
:Gampa: Phew… you really had me worried for a second! Speaking of worry, uh… what happened to the others? Y’know, Duster and her friends.
:Drizzley: I’m fairly sure they’re recovering too.
:Gampa: Glad to hear! And, uh, what about… F-Fractus?
:Drizzley: She’s in jail.
:Gampa: Woohoo!
The camera then moves to a separate room, which contains Trida, Erifa and Duster, the former being unconscious still and the latter being bandaged.
:Erifa: I guess I should thank you for taking down Fractus…
Duster nods, though she seems more worried about the unconscious Trida.
:Erifa: Here’s hoping she recovers quickly… anyways, I guess you’re gonna end up a bit like her now, seeing as, uhh… Fractus’s arrested, so you’re the one who takes care of Nimbus now, I suppose.
:Duster: Yeah… I don’t mind all that much, though. I still don’t know what I want to do, since following Fractus’s footsteps is way out of question.
:Erifa: That’s a bit like me, actually. I’ve mastered Solar Winds, but I don’t quite know what to do with them. I’ve been considering metalworking, though.
:Duster: Neat… anyways, I’m gonna check up on Beruli now.
:Erifa: Seeya, Potato.
Duster gets flustered.
:Duster: D-don’t call me that. O-only Beruli and Trida are allowed to call me that.
Erifa giggles, and Duster sighs, shaking her head. She then walks into Beruli’s room. Her parents, Coarbel and Teliru, are there as well.
:Coarbel: Ah! Hi, Duster…
:Beruli: H-heyo…
Beruli still seems weak and exhausted.
:Teliru: Hi…
:Duster: Hey…
She quickly walks over to Beruli, though she’s not sure what to say.
:Beruli: Frac’s… in jail now. It’s over.
Duster nods.
:Teliru: It’s a bit of a tragedy… I actually knew Fractus, back when she was younger. And your father, too.
:Duster: Oh…?
:Teliru: Fractus struggled to find a purpose… but she enjoyed fighting. So when the previous monarch - the one before Gilderoyde, Halcyate - began to start wars with some rivaling Flydevin tribes, she clung on to that, even if it meant fighting against and killing other Flydevins…
:Duster: Huh… that explains some things, I guess.
:Teliru: Diamond, your father, however, thought there was still redemption left for Fractus. They fought, but they only fought what they had to fight, rather than picking on innocent unrelated tribes. He… didn’t count on the fact he could die.
:Duster: That’s… that’s pretty tragic.
Teliru nods, followed by Coarbel and Beruli.
:Coarbel: Tried to heal him, but it was too late and too fatal a wound. I’m… sorry I couldn’t save your father. And by extension, your mother.
:Duster: It’s… fine. You said it was too late and too fatal…
Coarbel nods.
:Teliru: Fractus’s too far gone now, I’m afraid. She’ll be spending the rest of her days in jail…
Duster nods slowly.
==Epilogue 2==
A timeskip occurs. A crowd of Flydevins has gathered around the balcony of the castle, the camera showing just about every Flydevin seen in the series, from Duster and Nimbus to Ravitie and Bruno. Gilderoyde is present on the balcony, a solemn expression on her face and a cast on the arm Fractus crushed.
:Gilderoyde: Ahem… greeting, Flydevins. Today, I-I would like to announce that Fractus has been jailed for her numerous crimes and the sheer damage she has done to us Flydevins.
She takes a deep breath.
:Gilderoyde: I would also like to apologize for my incompetence in not detecting her true nature until it was far too late. She has made unfixable damage to countless families and settlements…
She takes another deep breath.
:Gilderoyde: For that reason, I am changing the nature of my rule henceforth. Rather than trying to forcibly assimilate every Flydevin into a single big city, I will work on returning Flydevins to their family and repairing the damage.
Cheering is heard from the crowd below. Gilderoyde smiles.
:Gilderoyde: In addition, I’ve hired new advisors to help me with these tasks, advisors I feel are much more reliable than Fractus. Markrose and Drizzley, come forth!
Markrose and Drizzley walk onto the balcony. The crowd erupts into more cheering.
:Drizzley: Unity was a good goal, but forced unity is short-sighted. Right, Markrose?
Markrose nods.
:Markrose: We can cooperate without being stuffed into a single city.
Gilderoyde nods.
:Gilderoyde: Also… it’s high time to confirm that yes, Smoke Winds do in fact exist. Unfortunately, we have yet to discover a non-combat usage of it, which is why it was not exposed to the public.
:Markrose: I see… what about Gilded Winds?
:Gilderoyde: Yeah, uhhh…
She takes a deep breath.
:Gilderoyde: About those. As much as it pains me to admit it, anyone can use those.
The crowd has a variety of reactions - cheering, booing, laughing, and a lot of “I called it” and similar sentences.
:Gilderoyde: And unlike Smoke Winds, I don’t have the excuse of them being dangerous. I will be sure to expose how harnesses them soon.
:Drizzley: I see. Now, it’s time for one last announcement… come forth, my child Gampa!
Gampa walks up to the balcony.
:Gampa: Heya, fellow Flydevins! With Fractus gone, we are about to reach a new chapter of Flydevin history. Why don’t we celebrate that with some good ol’ partying?
The crowd erupts into more cheers, and then a timeskip occurs as various festivities are shown.
Firstly, Duster is shown taking a pose as Nimbus sculpts her in said pose, with multiple onlookers watching. Ravitie is then shown chilling in the sun, watching a match between Beruli and Bruno. Beruli seems to have the upper hand, to Bruno’s frustration. Teliru is shown apologizing to Markrose and other Flydevins from her tribe, with Markrose forgiving Teliru.
Then, the music stops as Erifa is shown walking towards Nimbus. Trida and Duster, who are in the background, look afraid.
:Erifa: Hey, cloud.
:Nimbus: H-huh? Oh, hi! Aren’t you, uhm, Trida’s brother?
:Erifa: Eeyup. With Fractus out of the picture, me and you are in a… similar situation. So like. If you need support outside of Duster, y’can talk to me.
:Nimbus: A-ah… I see!
Duster and Trida sigh in relief. Erifa looks toward them.
:Erifa: … what?
:Duster: N-nothing.
Erifa shakes his head.
Teliru is then shown hitting rock balls with her hammer, trying to hit targets. Duster is then shown doing the same, but with her kicks.
Gampa is then shown talking to a crowd of Flydevins.
:Gampa: … and that’s how I got my ass kicked by Fractus! Don’t ask me what happened afterwards, I was unconscious.
The camera then zooms out, as the camera fades to white and displays the credits.
==Post-Credits Scene==
It is night, and a fire is shown in the middle of the desert, coming from a scrap machine. The camera then zooms out to display three familiar people sitting around it - the raider from Episode 9, as well as the Shoquana and Corrust from Episode 6.
:Raider: … so, we’re all in agreement those Flydevins are totally crazy?
The two Kotomo nod, and the screen then fades to black.
The End.
==Trivia==
*Originally, Fractus was going to outright tear off Gilderoyde's arm, but this was judged too violent for the series and was replaced with arm crushing instead.
*The episode started off rather differently originally, with the Flydevins still protesting but Fractus coming to dispel the protests. Gilderoyde would then have a talk with Fractus, but Fractus would not immediately attack Gilderoyde. Gampa, however, was going to arrive early, and was going to call Fractus out on her true nature, after which Gilderoyde fired Fractus from her position. After that, the episode would continue in a way similar to the final product.
*Also different was the finishing blow on Fractus, which originally would've had Nimbus freezing Fractus and then Duster coating Fractus in Smoke Winds, causing Fractus to poison herself after breaking out. This was changed because it wouldn't make much sense for Nimbus to be an active participant in the fight.
*Fractus, rather than being jailed, was originally exiled, but it felt rather obvious someone like Fractus should not be let out in the wild, not to mention there would be nothing stopping Fractus from just coming back by force, so her fate was changed.
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