The TSD Kids:

The Adventurer’s Agency

Lv. 13

Gate Guardian of the

Diamond District

We’ve made it into Cornet Village, which was fenced off by the lethal Phanto-Barrier. Before we could get into the Inner City where the Officials reside, we found ourselves faced with an impossible-to-scale wall! Now a giant man, who doesn’t seem to take too kindly to tourists, confronts us! What do we do now??

Tracy: “Who or what is that thing?!”

He looked like a big ape of a man, but he towered over us to a height that even Totem Formation couldn’t match!

Sergueï: “I’m the Diamond Gate’s Guardian, Sergueï! That’s me!”

Cotton the Bunny: “(Diamond Gate?)”

Sergueï: “Yes! There’s four gates in all!”

T: “Is this true, Gale?”

Gale: “Yes. Let me see your device, T.”

We looked at the screen.

Gale: “There are four gates in all, Diamond, Spade, Club, and Heart. These were named after the four districts of this large village.”

Sofia: “Oh…”

Gale: “Here we are, in front of the Diamond Gate.”

Several small markers indicated our current party, and one big marker pointed out the large Sergueï, who was standing before us.

Kyle: “And of course, Nadia’s inside, right?”

Kyle pointed to Nadia’s marker, which was in the center of the Inner City.

Gale: “Right. You can have your device back now, T. Um… T?”

Rick: “Where’d he go?”

Cotton: “(He’s right in front of that big guy!)”

I stood before Sergueï.

T: “Hey, big guy! We wanna go in; how do we do that?”

Sergueï: “Heh, heh, heh, you’re not too bright are you? You gotta fight me to gain access inside! But you’ll just be my 1000th opponent to fail. That’s why the Officials had me do this! I’m unbeatable!”

T: “Unbeatable, huh? I’ve been up against greater odds… Bring it!”

I drew my hammer.

Sergueï: “Heh, heh, heh, you’ll just lose…”

He drew a short (well, compared to his size, I guess…) hammer, very much unlike mine.

Sergueï: “Take this!”

Sergueï swung down and I sidestepped, having him leave a crater where I stood!

Cutter: “With that guy’s size, T’s clearly outmatched!”

T-na: “Then we gotta help him!”

Everyone ran forward to try and help me, but Sergueï dropped the other end of the hammer down, which turned out to be an axe! They all stopped short of it!

Sergueï: “Don’t you people know the rules?”

Sofia: “W-what rules?”

Sergueï: “One: Guarding against repeated attacks results in a Guard Break, Two: What they don’t know won’t hurt em’, and Three: Only two people to a duel!”

He then slammed the hammer side down in front of them, catapulting them all several feet away!

T: “Whoa!”

I felt the ground shift, and I slid down, closer to Sergueï.

T: “Oof! Guys, you okay?”

Gale: “We’re fine!”

T: “I can’t see you from here!”

Ellis: “That big guy tilted the ground!”

T-na: “No fair, no fair! We can’t see him!”

Cutter: “I’m… working on it!”

Cutter started trying to climb the newly created wall.

T: “Hey, you could’ve really hurt them!”

Sergueï: “Rules are rules! They must be followed!”

Sergueï tried another vertical swing, which I sidestepped, and then he followed up with a swing from the side. I blocked it, but I had struggled to do so!

Sergueï: “Hur, hur… see how strong Sergueï is?”

T: “Ugh! Maybe…”

I pulled my hammer away, then after I spun it like a baton; I knocked his hammer back!

T: “…But I can be just as strong too!”

Sergueï: “Oh, is that so?”

He then picked up the second boulder and tossed it up!

T: “Now that’s strong!”

Tracy: “Hey, did that guy just toss that rock?!”

Gale: “He’s just as strong as ever…”

Sergueï then struck the rock, shattering it into pieces!

Sergueï: “This is my first special, Rock Rainfall!”

T: “Whoa!”

If I didn’t do something, those flying rocks would bury me!

T: “What was that defensive skill I acquired back then…? Oh yeah! Turtle Shield!”

A green aura resembling a turtle’s shell surrounded me, and then I crouched as all the rocks fell around me.

Tracy: “Those rocks are falling our way!”

T: “Shoot! They’ll get hit!”

I couldn’t really see, but by the sound of their voices, it seemed like they got out of it okay.

Sean: “Your Holy Shield saved us again, T-na!”

T-na: “No problem!”

T: “Phew… Hey you! You could’ve hurt my friends just now!”

Sergueï: “Hey, I can’t worry about that! I have to do my job of keeping you out!”

Sergueï started to swing down again, but this time I didn’t move!

T: “You chose the wrong person to mess with! Turtle Stomp!”

The shockwave I produced countered the hammer he held and sent his arm back!

Sergueï: “Whoa!!”

T: “If your fight’s with me, then don’t hit my friends!! ARGH!”

I was so mad; I started stomping the ground repeatedly! Even the others could hear and feel the tremors!

Sofia: “What’s going on over there??”

Ellis: “Oh, I hope that big guy isn’t pounding him flat!”

Cutter: “No, no! It’s T!”

Cutter, who was still climbing through the entire ruckus, managed to look over the top of the barricade!

Sean: “What?”

Cutter: “He’s the one treating the ground around him like a drum! He’s just stomping the floor with his foot!”

Rick: “You mean the Turtle Stomp?”

Tracy: “I remember when he used that on us! I guess this time he ain’t holding back!”

Cutter: “And how… Oof!”

Suddenly a flying rock hit Cutter!

Cutter: “Aah!”

He fell back down!

Tracy: “Maybe you should stick to climbing trees, dude.”

Cutter: “Shut up.”

Sergueï: “Whoa… Whoa! WHOA!!”

All my shaking the ground started to make Sergueï lose his balance! He fell over!

T: “(Cools down) Phew… did I get him?”

Sergueï: “Wow!”

Sergueï then sat up, rubbing his head! I guess I didn’t get him!

Sergueï: “You really shook the place there; almost gave a shock!”

T: “Hm.”

Sergueï: “Well then… since you’re not as weak as I thought… I guess I shouldn’t hold back then!”

He pulled out a second hammer/axe!

T: “You got two?!”

Sergueï: “Oh yes! When I use both, I can defeat all my opponents in ten seconds flat! Ha, ha!”

Sofia: “Does he really think he can best T in ten seconds?”

Sean: “I dunno.”

Sergueï: “Watch as I count! You won’t win!”

Then Sergueï started slamming the ground around me, trying to flatten me!

Sergueï: “ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR! FIVE!”

He was in the middle of counting, but then…

Sergueï: “SIX! FIVE! THREE! Uh… One! Eight? Duh…”

Cutter: “I can’t believe that big galoot can’t even count to ten!”

Sofia: “Then I wonder how he was able to record the 1000 opponents he defeated?”

Sergueï: “Um… uh… forget it! TEN!!”

With one final swing, he brought the hammer down!

Sergueï: “See? I guess I went too fast!”

He thought he had pummeled me into the ground, but I had actually stopped it by drawing my sword at the right moment! Too bad he failed to notice!

T: “Seriously dude, you’re stopping us from saving our friend’s life. These big things have gotta go! Turtle Shell-Buster!”

Slamming the flat side of the sword onto the edge of the axes, I sent the blade forward by punching it! Then…

Crack… SMASH!!

Sergueï: “Whoa!”

Sergueï was bowled over again!

Gale: “Goodness, what just broke just now?”

Tracy: “It sounded like metal breaking!”

Rick: “Funny, the only thing that’s metal over there is that giant’s weapon…”

Sergueï: “Oh! Oh, wow!”

Sergueï sat up yet again, seemingly unfazed!

T: “Wow, there’s no putting this guy down!”

Sergueï: “That’s the second time you floored me! You’re really strong! But I know my hammers will… Uh?”

He held up his weapons. Only the handles remained!! All the pieces of them lay at our feet!

Sergueï: “My…”

T: “Wow. I never did use that skill much, yet it’s supposed to counter and break any guard!”

Sergueï: “(Sad) M-my hammers!! AAAAAHHH!!”

Then we all heard him make a sound that none of us would expect him to make…

Sergueï: “WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!”

T: “Whoa!”

He started bawling at an immense volume!

Sergueï: “NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”

Kyle: “Holy crap! My ears!”

Sergueï: “MWEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!”

Sean: “What is that, a siren?!”

Ellis: “Even Mic Kirby would sound better right now!!”

T: “Hey, you guys are lucky; at least you ain’t standing right next to him!!”

But still, even with him crying, we still wouldn’t get anywhere!

T: “Wow… uh, maybe I didn’t have to break your weapons… I guess I can… uh… apologize… You’ll be okay, right?”

Sergueï: “You’re worried about Sergueï? But… you’re my enemy!”

T: “Don’t think I really had anything against you pal. I just wanted to get inside the gate.”

He then came face to face to me.

Sergueï: “You’re… you’re so… so…”

T: “Uh… what am I?”

Sergueï: “FORGIVING!!”

He resumed bawling as he ensnared me in a massive bear hug!

Sergueï: “To forgive someone like m-me… You are the nicest person Sergueï ever met!!”

T: “Can’t breathe! Can’t breathe!! Guys, help me!!”

Sergueï: “Oh! Your friends!”

Sergueï then set the raised ground back in with one stomp!

Sergueï: “If you’re nice, then you all must be nice people!”

Then not only did he get me, but everyone else in the bone-crushing embrace!

All: “Can’t breathe! Can’t breathe!!”

So after that, we all stood before the gate.

Sergueï: “Well, you beat me, so you can enter the Inner City, little green boy.”

T: “Thanks, and uh, I’m T.”

Sergueï: “Okay, T.”

Ellis: “What about us?”

Kyle: “Do we have to fight you too so we can go in?”

Sergueï: “No, no, your team leader beat Sergueï, so you all can go.”

Tracy: “Sweet!”

Gale: “Very well then; now for the gate.”

Sergueï: “Okay. Stand back, little people.”

Clutching the bottom edge of the gate, Sergueï put all his might into the process.

Sergueï: “Grr… RRAAH!!”

With a mighty heave, he lifted the gate off the ground! He started sliding it upward.

T-na: “That gate’s so much taller and heavier than him!”

Kyle: “This guy is strong!”

Sergueï: “Grr… Almost… there!”

But as he was lifting it up…

“Oh my, I’m afraid that’s a no-no…”

As the gate slowly rose, we could see someone’s legs standing there!

Cotton: “(Who’s that?)”

Soon, Sergueï lifted it up enough for us to see the whole person. He, of course, was wearing a robe, meaning he was…

Ellis: “An Official!”

Tracy: “Damn, I didn’t think we’d have to come across one so soon!”

He had an odd smile on his face.

“Tsk, tsk, what are you doing, Sergueï? I thought you were supposed to guard the gate, not open it for commoners.”

By now, Sergueï had opened it up just about all the way.

Sergueï: “I was defeated by them, so they earned entry in.”

“We didn’t know. Only Officials can authorize entry. They don’t look like Officials, do they?”

Sergueï: “Um, no…”

“Hm, in fact…”

He looked at us.

“Why is one of them wearing our robe? Green, as it may be, its still one of ours…”

Gale: “I gave it to him. Is that a problem to you?”

“Well, if it isn’t Gale! The traitor returns…”

Gale: “I didn’t really expect a warm welcome anyway, Otto.”

Otto: “Of course; you left us so suddenly… I’m sure Les will be surprised… but enough about that… as for you, my gargantuan friend, you need to be taught a lesson…”

The man disappeared, as if he wasn’t there at all! Suddenly out of nowhere, something hit Sergueï’s arms at the forearms, and they started to bleed!

Sergueï: “…AAH!!”

Tracy: “What just hit him??”

Gale: “It was him.”

Then the man reappeared, holding a short sword.

Otto: “You’ve been warned. Next time I’ll really cut them off. Now let go of the gate like a good boy…”

Sergueï: “N-no! I can’t…! It’s my job to guard the gate, and let those to defeat me pass!”

Otto: “Too bad… Don’t you know that if you can’t fulfill your job… your life is forfeit!”

He was about to strike Sergueï once more, but…

CLANG!

I stepped in to block him!

T: “You’re not a nice person, are you? I want you to wipe that cheeky smile off your face. It’s misleading.”

Otto: “Oh you… I see. Warren told me about you. You’re that green kid; the one that just won’t die. And you’re trying to save a criminal!”

T: “That’s my friend you’re talking about! You guys won’t win!”

Otto: “Your anger clouds your judgement!”

Still smiling, he pushed me back, in front of Sergueï, who was struggling from holding up the gate with his severely injured arms.

Otto: “I’m afraid you have to leave. Now sing! Banshee!”

Holding his sword forward, a strange wave of wind energy flew my way!

T: “Crap!”

I defended, but the force was strong enough to knock Sergueï and me away from the gate!

T: “AAH!”

We landed a few feet away, next to the others!

Sofia: “T!”

The gate closed down slowly, and after I tried so hard too!

Otto: “Bye-bye, kiddies…”

SLAM!

Tracy: “Great. Now we can’t get in at all!”

T: “Ow!”

As I was standing on Sergueï’s large belly, I stood up and stretched my back.

T: “Wow, whatta hit! Did that fool scratch my sword?”

Sofia: “Shouldn’t you be more worried about yourself? He could’ve gotten you good!”

T: “Nah, I’m fine. We should be more concerned about poor Sergueï here…”

I hopped down. He was breathing heavily.

Gale: “He has passed out. Too much blood loss, I assume.”

T-na: “But of course! All of it’s over there!”

The ground around the gate was crimson red.

Cutter: “Man! Do you see these slashes?! That’s sharp, and I know sharp!”

Tracy: “He needs medical help.”

Sean: “Hang on guys, I think we’re not alone…”

A crowd started to form behind us. An elderly man stepped forward.

Rick: “So here’s the people of this town! What’s going on here?”

“We could ask you the same thing. Are you all with them?”

T-na: “Them… who?”

“Are you with the Officials or not? One of you seems to be wearing one of their robes…”

T: “What? Oh no, no way!”

Ellis: “We’re trying to give those creeps the boot!”

Gale: “If you must know, I gave it to him.”

“Gale! You have returned…”

Gale: “Yes, I have unfinished business to take care of.”

“Everyone, no need to be wary. If these children are in her company, then we’re among friends.”

Tracy: “That’s good! So is there anything you can do about this big fella here?”

Sean: “We know he was guarding the gate for the Officials, but…”

“Oh… Sergueï, I can’t believe they did this to you…”

Cotton: “(You’ll help him?)”

“Yes, we must! Come on men, help us get him out of the plaza!”

The villagers (It took a lot, by the way) carted Sergueï to the front of the old man’s house.

“Who did this to him?”

“He looks terrible…”

Old Man: “What happened to him?”

Cutter: “Some smiling jerk named Otto went and nearly lopped his arms off!”

Little Boy: “How will we fix him?”

T-na: “I think I can come up with something…”

Old Man: “You?”

Cutter: “Why not? She may not look it, but she’s quite the healer!”

T-na: “Hee, hee…”

Old Man: “Well, if you can do it…”

In a matter of moments, the people had cleaned up the wounds on Sergueï’s arms.

T-na: “Okay, let’s do this.”

T-na started chanting in Latin. She said it was a powerful healing spell that she read about. She needed concentration, so we left her to it.

Old Man: “(Sigh) Not only this, but they’ve even done needless damage to some of the homes in the Spade District…

Sean: “That so? Doesn’t sound good… I can probably help with that. I’ll go.”

Kyle: “You probably shouldn’t go alone; aren’t those Officials dangerous?”

Cutter: “Yeah, I’m coming too.”

Old Man: “One of the men will show you three the way. Thank you.”

After they headed off, the rest of us sat in the old man’s house to talk with him.

Rick: “So why are you eager to help him?”

Old Man: “Deep down, Sergueï is really a kind soul. He’d never harm the villagers, and the little children even bring him food. The Officials just forced him to be their doorman.”

Ellis: “How mean…”

Tracy: “Speaking of his guarding the door, they’re probably gonna beef up security at that gate!”

Sofia: “That’s not good. We need to get in.”

Cotton: “(Our friend Nadia has been taken by them. If we don’t do something, she’ll be killed!)”

“Nadia… wait, you must mean… her…”

T: “I’m sure you remember her…”

“The people never understood her.”

T: “I can’t say I’m happy about them ridiculing her.”

“It was when the people saw her being carted off that they felt differently. They now felt bad for her. She’s just a young girl, why would they…?”

Sofia: “We’ll be the ones to save her, no doubt!”

“Good, I’ll be praying for your success. In the meantime, you should all stay here for the night. According to their latest alert, she is to be executed tomorrow or the day after.”

Sofia: “No! So soon?”

Rick: “We’ll need all the rest we can get.”

T: “That’s right. We can…”

“Whoa!!”

Rick: “Who was that?”

“Whoa there, buddy! Aah!”

Suddenly, some guy came flying through the wall and landed right behind us!

Sofia: “What the hell?!”

Surprisingly, he just stood up and shook it off!

“You tossed me again, didn’t ya, Barry!”

Then a large, bird-like thing ran up to the front door and let out a giant…

“HONK, HONK!”

“We gotta work on those stops! Ha, ha!”

Tracy: “Hey, buddy, they invented something for a situation like this. It’s a door; use it!!”

Old Man: “Dan, what are you doing? This has been the third house you’ve crashed into!”

Dan: “Ah, don’t sweat it, old timer, I’m just on the lookout for those Officials!”

Old Man: “I told you not to confront those Officials! Do you know what they’ll do to you?”

Dan: “Please! They wish they were as good as me, those good-for-nothing, sword swinging freaks!”

He then turned around.

Dan: “And one more thing… hey!”

He then saw our entire group, but looked more so at me.

Dan: “What’re Officials doing in here?!”

Ellis: “We’re not…”

Old Man: “They’re not…”

Dan: “Come on! Of course they’re Officials! Look at one of them; he’s wearing a robe, so he has to be an Official! …A scrawny one at that…”

T: “Uh…”

Tracy: “He can’t possibly be talking about T, is he?”

Rick: “He should choose his words more carefully…”

The guy then approached me to get a closer look.

Dan: “What kind of…”

He pulled on part of my hair…

Dan: “…Stupid-looking Official…”

He then started poking my forehead.

Dan: “…Are you?”

Then he pulled on my nose!

Dan: “Yo, four-eyes, I asked you a question!”

Then he had the gall to try and take my glasses off! That’s when…

PUNCH!

CRASH!

All: “Holy crap!”

I punched him with so much force; he made another hole in the wall!

Dan: “Damn it! What’d you do that for?!”

T: “Cause’ you invaded my space, eggplant-head! No one touches the glasses!!”

Ellis: “Whoa! Did you see the power in that one?”

Rick: “And usually, it’s hard to get T that mad, unless if you call him a…”

Tracy: “Don’t say it! Unless you want a repeat of our first day of training…”

Dan: “You’re cruisin’ for a bruisin’, pal!”

He pulled out a club, and ran in to attack. After a swing here, and counter here, we tried to push the other away, then suddenly he jumped back!

T: “Huh? What’d you jump away for?”

Sofia: “What’s that in your hand?”

T: “Huh?”

An odd round thing was in my hands, bearing a lit fuse!

T: “Aah!”

I tossed it before it exploded inches away from me!

Dan: “How’d you like my Surprise Ball?”

T: “When did you put that thing in my hands?!”

Dan: “Hah! I’m too good! You must be the lamest Official ever!”

Pointing at him, in a heroic-like way, I started to say,

T: “I’m not an Official, you…!”

T-na: “He’s not an Official!!”

Dan: “Huh?”

T-na wasn’t looking very happy to see this guy. She was actually rather steamed.

T-na: “Hey, you’re messing with my concentration! I’m kinda working here, and your loud mouth is really bugging me!”

Dan: “You and the green kid look kind similar… but you’re still kinda cute…”

T-na: “Huh??”

Dan: “Hey, wanna go on a date?”

T-na: “Get lost!!”

She whacked him with her hammer sending him flying over the rooftops! The duck-thing he was riding squawked and quacked loudly as it ran to tend to his master. As everyone was left speechless, T-na went back to using her healing spell, and I was still in the same pose, pointing forward, surprised by the strangeness of it all… All I could do was finish my sentence…

T: “You… jerk.”

Then tumbleweed rolled by…

Later on, that night…

T-na: “(Chanting in Latin…)”

T: “Hey, T-na?”

T-na: “Ah! Oh, you startled me…”

T: “Sorry. It's getting kinda cool out, you okay?”

T-na: “I’ll be fine! I’m just almost done. This is a pretty big guy, with a big injury, so…”

T: “I understand. What about the rest of you girls; are you cold?”

The other girls were standing around Sergueï.

Ellis: “Yeah, a little…”

Sofia: “We were just putting bandages on his arms.”

Tracy: “These should be okay, I guess. Not too loose, not too tight…”

I noticed that they tied the knots with a bow.

T: “I see! Nice job!”

T-na: “There! I’m done! Phew…”

T: “Good. He should be fine, better than fine! Come on in, it’s cold.”

As we all headed in, some of the young men from the village watched us.

“Dude, that is one lucky guy… he gets to hang out with those girls all the time!”

“Think we could ask one of them out?”

“Maybe… but I wouldn’t want what the pink one did to Dan done to me!”

“Right… and if she could do that… imagine what the other three could do!”

“Still, it is a thought…”

Gale: “How is your patient, T-na?”

T-na: “He’ll be a-okay! I did the best I can, even with that one minor interruption!”

Cotton: “(Aside from that, how will we see about going into the Inner City now?)”

Sofia: “What about the other gates?”

Cotton: “(What’s that?)”

Sofia: “There are other gates, right? Sure Diamond’s off-limits to us now, but what about Spade, Heart, or Club?”

T: “I bet that Les guy would be expecting us, more so, me, to try and come.”

Tracy: “If they’re smart, they’d make all routes in there inaccessible!”

Ellis: “But then it’d be impossible to get in! The only other way would be…”

Rick: “…Over?”

T-na: “Go over the gate? But it’s so high!”

Old Man: “Such a thought would be foolhardy.”

Gale: “Maybe, maybe not… tell me, do you know of someone named Reina?”

“You mean…?”

Gale: “Yes.”

T: “Uh, who’s Reina?”

“I believe that person may just help you get over that accursed gate.”

Ellis: “Really? That’d be cool!”

“I can tell you where to find Reina…”

Gale: “But for now, let’s rest. I hope Sean, Kyle, and Cutter are getting a good night’s rest elsewhere in town.”

T: “Same here.”

“If they get here, and you’re not here, I’ll fill them in on your location; good night.”

So we turned in for the night. Our rescue mission commences tomorrow!

Meanwhile…

Warren: “Ah, what a night, what a night…”

Warren, one of the Inner City Officials, in case you forgot, was walking through the prison compound. Seeing as there weren’t any ‘offenders’ lately, the cells were bare. All but one that is…

Warren: “Wakey, wakey, little lady, have I got some news to tell you…”

“…”

Warren: “Seems like the other Officials are in a stir, because someone managed to get through the Phanto-Barrier and survive… I wonder, who could it be??”

“…You tell me. I’m confined here, remember?”

Warren: “Right… And if you look out the window there, that… will be the instrument of your execution…”

Whatever Warren referred to had an odd design about it. But somehow it seemed… foreboding.

Warren: “Hey, I feel for you; wouldn’t want to go through that myself… But hey, here’s something that might interest you…”

“…”

Warren: “You didn’t hear it from me, but surveillance says one of the guys that got through the barrier… he’s wearing glasses and has a green sword…”

“(Gasp!)”

Warren: “Thought you might like to know; later!”

“(Thinking) Is it…? It can’t be…”