Yes..there’s still a Part 3 to this extra. *F5’s* Oh well, I used the opportunity to work on my battle scenes. =D

Phoneme Series Extra #4 Holiday Special

Ryuu’s eyes widen, as the dragon charges its devastating attack. “Who the hell are you?!” he shouts in the air.

“A member of the Shalom Clan, and nothing more,” the figure answers in an icy tone. “Words are futile. I have no more that I wish to discuss with you folk. Be gone.”

All of a sudden, the ice dragon finishes charging its attack.

“Get out of the way!” Ryuu shouts to the others, as he darts straight into the frontlines, using his arms to shield his eyes from the bright light. “Joukai Guardian Seal!” He waves his sword in a circle overhead, and a thin, bluish shield forms in front of him.

The attack rams straight into the shield head on, shaking the very ground with the pressure of its strength. However, the shield does not give way, even as thin cracks begin to appear in it.

Finally it shatters, but not before the ice beam beats it. The beam dissipates into the air first, even as the shards of blue shield crash to the ground, shattered.

Ryuu remains standing behind it, panting heavily, the others cowering beneath him. “Hey, I asked you who you are. When I do that, I want something more specific, like your name.”

“Astounding,” the figure admits, applauding Ryuu’s effort sarcastically. “You managed to survive not one, but two attacks from my pet. Very well. I shall tell you my name. It is Anan, and I am the God of Ice.”

“You…you wouldn’t be that mage that they’ll all been looking for in Happyville, would you?” Ryuu gasps out loud.

Behind him, Gwen stiffens, staring blankly into the darkened features of the hooded figure above them. Anan finally sheds his hood, allowing his dark hair and narrow eyes to come into view of the feeble light from the sun.

“And if I am?” Anan questions coldly. “I have no need to discuss my doings with you. Perish!” He waves his hand, and sends a blistering arctic wave of condensed ice hurtling towards them like a whip.

Ryuu cuts the air with his sword, returning the favor with a fiery blast of lightning and fire himself. He two opposing forces meet in midair, clashing with each other for several seconds before erupting into an all-out explosion of shards of ice, fire, and lightning.

“Wait, hold on a moment,” Ryuu pants, worn out from the effort of parrying Anan’s powerful attacks. “What the hell is a guy like you doing with a Paradox? If I’m not mistaken…”

“That Paradox is a Triplicate-level dragon type, with the powers of ice,” Arai finishes for Ryuu.

“So it seems you know about my pet,” Anan replies frostily. “However that does not grant you freedom from its icy claws! My pet! Rid them from this earth!”

The Dragon Paradox suddenly begins charging up another attack, this time more powerful than the last. Ryuu’s eyes widen, as his body stiffens from weariness. “Geez! Not another one!”

With a frightful blast, the Dragon Paradox shoots the beam of ice, shattering the upper boughs of trees as the beam passes through the air.

This time, Arai leaps directly in front of Ryuu, parrying the attack with a mere Thunder Spear. Surprisingly, the attack cancels out, as Arai shatters the beam. It merely dissipates, fractured by Arai’s attack.

“That was a nice shot, Arai!” Ayame shouts, surprised.

However, Anan suddenly enters a casting mode. A bright blue magic circle appears below him as he casts, and as he finishes the spell, several enormous blocks of ice appear in the air, and fall down towards the group in a crescent.

“Ice Strike!”

Gwen stands frozen, rendered immobile by shock as she watches the icicles rain down on her. She gasps, as a particularly large block of ice heads her way.

“Thunderbolt!”

Several jolts of electricity fly through the air, blasting apart each ice block. The blocks of ice explode upon contact with the lightning, producing a weak hail effect.

“Arai!” Gwen gasps, her arms still raised from the imminent attack she had been expecting. “You saved me!”

“Of course,” Arai replies, a slight hint of mild surprise in his voice. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“But…but, after I arrested you, and thought you were the one respon—”

“Are you still worried about that?” Arai laughs. “It’s okay, it’s behind us all now. I consider you my friend, so I had to protect you.”

“Anyway,” Ryuu suddenly says aloud. He jabs a finger at Anan, standing high above them upon the pinnacle of a tower of ice. “What are you planning to do with Happyville?”

“Why do you assume I want anything to do with this filthy town?” Anan replies haughtily.

“Tch, it’s obvious, isn’t it?” Ryuu retorts, folding his arms knowingly. “Why would you have set off that blizzard years ago if you didn’t have a grudge against this place? Why would you kidnap and murder townspeople now if you didn’t have a grudge against this place? I see through your lying eyes. Now tell us the truth!”

“Very well,” Anan snarls, “you want to know why I loathe this Happyville? Hundreds of years ago, my clan, known as the Shalom, owned all the vast, snowy land in this region. We were an empire, and we were powerful. However, then came these men one day, powerful warriors, who slaughtered my clansmen, and burned our villages. They took almost all our land, leaving us with a mere morsel on which to live on.

“They erected a village named Happyville, which to this day symbolizes the hatred my clan has against those warriors. Even now, in these days in which peace reigns supreme in this region, we want our land back. And just as my clan had lived peacefully before those renegade warriors tore our land apart, we will forcefully raise war in order to take back what is rightfully ours.”

“What…?” Gwen murmurs. “That can’t be true! I’ve studied the history of Happyville and the land surrounding us…there’s no record at all about this ‘Shalom’ Clan! There’s no record at all of warriors even taking this land! As far as I know, this land was originally ours in the first place!”

“You are wrong, girl!” Anan howls angrily. He turns to her, firing an electrifying blast of lightning at her. Ryuu dashes in front of Gwen at the last minute, deflecting the blow with his own blast of snarling fire.

“Is that why you’re so eager to raise hell in Happyville?” Ryuu growls. “Because you’re doing all this in the name of your clan? Why not bring all your clansmen and come to attempt to make peace instead?”

“Because, fool,” Anan replies bitterly, “we are only one. My clan is dead.”

“You mean to say you’re the only Shalom left?” Ayame wonders.

“I have no more that I wish to discuss with you mere folk,” Anan suddenly cuts the conversation short. In both his hands, he holds a whirling beam of ice, fully charged. “Disappear from my eyes!”

All of a sudden, the entire clearing becomes engulfed in a chilling, biting blizzard. Gwen and Ayame are swept off their feet as the frosty blast of ice blows by like a hurricane. Ryuu and Arai grab at their ankles, holding on to them desperately.

Finally, as the blizzard clears, Anan is nowhere to be found, as with his Paradox. Ryuu remains the only one standing, his knees bent and his breath short. Resting upon his shoulders are several inches of snow. He shakes it off, and looks down, where Arai, Ayame, and Gwen lay sprawled on the floor.

“You guys all right?” Ryuu asks.

“Y-Yeah,” Gwen stutters, gingerly rising from the ground. She holds a hand to the side of her head, as she glances about. “It looks like he’s gone.”

“Where do you think he went?” Ayame asks.

“Happyville, if anything,” Arai replies.

“Well then, let’s high tail it outta here,” Ryuu mutters. “We can’t afford to crawl around like snails right now. Happyville’s in trouble if we don’t hurry.”

“Speaking of which,” Ayame says aloud, “what happened to Otis?”

“Huh?” Ryuu mumbles, his eyes widening. He pulls his arm inside his coat and gropes around for a few minutes, searching for the tiny snail. “He’s gone.”

“I wonder what happened to him,” Arai wonders.

“He’ll be okay,” Ayame mutters exasperatedly. “He may be annoying, but he always somehow manages to make it safe out of troublesome situations.”

“I wonder where he is, though?” Arai asks.

“Perhaps he was accidentally hung up by mistake as a Christmas tree ornament,” Gwen suggests. “I remember that just before you guys arrived that some of the kids were hanging up snail shells on the trees.”

“Hm,” Ryuu chirps, “well then, we don’t have anything to worry about then. All we have to do is blast all the green ornaments off the trees and whichever one screams the loudest, that’ll be Otis.”

“And just what do you plan to blast the trees with?” Arai pokes inquisitively.

“C’mon, we gotta get back to town!” Ryuu howls, waving for the others to follow him.

Mounds of dirt fly out of a hole in the ground, as the incessant noise of two shovels scurries through the empty field covered in snow. Shuriken and Zack stand next to each other several feet in an open hole underground, progressively digging into the ground with their shovels.

Shuriken pauses momentarily, wiping his brow with his forearm. “You’re sure that the buried treasure is down here, right?! We’re not just digging meaningless holes?!”

“Yup! One hundred percent positive!” Zack replies, panting slightly.

“That’s what you said with the last five holes!”

“Those were practice holes.”

“There’s no such thing!”

“There are way too many Yeti and Pepes now!” Kunai shouts, darting about to avoid the various earthquakes shooting across the ground in shockwaves.

He jumps into the air, shooting Steelys in every single direction. Many of the Steelys pierce the thick hides of the Yetis, but do little more than provoke them even more.

“Crap!” Kunai mutters, as he draws five Yeti and Pepes around himself. “All right! Time to go all-out!” Popping a Summoning Rock out of his pocket, Kunai casts a spell into it, allowing it to glow a bright white light.

Next second, a second shadow form of Kunai appears next to him, armed with a set of Steelys. “Back-to-back is the best method of fighting when you’re surrounded!” Kunai shouts, as he takes a round glance, noting the five Yeti and Pepes surrounding him in a circle.

“Let’s go!” Kunai shouts, creating an Avenger in his hand. Kunai’s clone does the same, as they dart off in opposite directions, slicing into the thick, burly arms of the Yetis.

With a roar, the Yetis collapse onto the ground, their legs taken out from under them. The Pepes, bucked off, scuttle angrily across the ground, in an attempt to escape.

However, Kunai darts in front of them, Avenger armed in hand. “You’re not getting away after all the trouble that you guys caused!” Using the already bloodied Avenger in his hand, Kunai slices clean through each Pepe, batting it fiercely into the air and finishing each one off with a Steely in between the eyes.

As all the enemies fall around Kunai, his clone disappears with a quick puff of smoke. “Tch,” Kunai murmurs.

Meanwhile, Ivy, Lily, and Sasha stand grouped around each other, as they too are surrounded by a crowd of Yeti and Pepes.

Creating a glowing, white bow and arrow in her hand, Ivy shoots it into the air towards the nearest Yeti and Pepe. The arrow shoots into the Yeti’s furred flesh, but merely dissipates upon contact.

“Too shallow!” Ivy cries.

“Hang on, Ivy!” Sasha shouts back in return. “Lily and I’ll weaken ‘em with our physical attacks, then you can go in and finish them with Holy Arrow!”

“Right!” Ivy replies.

“Let’s go, Lily!” Sasha orders, darting towards the first Yeti and Pepe. She swings her Berzerker in a wide arc, cutting deep into the exposed flesh of the Yeti. The Yeti sways, causing the Pepe on top to cry out angrily.

“You’re not getting away!” Sasha cries, as the Pepe imperiously tries to steer the Yeti away from the line of fire. Sasha grabs the hilt of her Berzerker in both hands, and rams it deep into the chest of the Yeti. “Buster!”

The Yeti collapses, and the Pepe pops off its lofty perch, and Sasha finishes both off at once with a rapid horizontal strike.

Lily swings her Helios as well, planting many deep cuts into the arms of the Yeti. Crimson red blood pours from the Yeti’s wounds, as Lily hacks mercilessly at the creature’s arms. The Pepe quacks in fear, leaping off of the Yeti in fear for its own life.

However, Lily makes an agile leap and lands on top of the Yeti’s head, grabbing the Pepe around the shoulder. “Perish!” Lily shouts, slaying the Pepe with one swing of her axe.

With the Pepe gone, Lily plants her dripping axe deep into the flesh of the Yeti from above, slashing at its weak point in the neck.

As the Yeti collapses, Lily hops off, panting slightly. “There are still too many of them.”

Ivy suddenly screams, drawing Lily’s attention. She darts in front of Ivy, parrying the powerful arm of a Yeti just as it is about to strike Ivy.

“Thanks, Lily,” Ivy mutters hoarsely.

“No problem,” Lily mutters in reply. She takes a vigorous swing at the Yeti, as it howls in pain and confusion. Suddenly, Ivy releases her Holy Arrow, nailing the Yeti right between the eyes.

The Yeti collapses to the ground, finished. Sasha joins Lily and Ivy, as she finishes downing another Yeti and Pepe. “You guys all right?” Sasha asks.

On the other side of the battlefield, Silver and Tide stand side by side, armed and brandishing their weapons, as yet another crowd of Yeti and Pepes advance towards them.

“Phew! Do these guys ever quit?” Tide whistles, lowering his Zard recklessly.

“What’re you doing?!” Silver shouts angrily to him. “Don’t lower your weapon like that!”

Tide shrugs. “I was just wondering that since I saved you, would you do the same for me, and save Princess Tide if he runs into some trouble?”

“Prin…cess?” Silver blinks.

“Don’t look at me like that!” Tide shouts angrily.

“Whatever,” Silver mutters, brushing Tide off.

“Whoa!” Tide cries suddenly.

Silver turns irritably. “What n—Tide!” Silver runs to Tide’s side, as he is thrown into the air from a heavy blow by a Yeti. Silver drags Tide away from the battlefield as he lies dizzily on the ground. “Ugh, useless trash bag of idiocy.”

Silver turns menacingly to the four Yetis in front of her. “I’m your only opponent now!” she shouts contemptuously. She draws her bow, loading it with two poisoned arrows.

With a flick of the wrist, Silver fires the arrows. They skid across the air, piercing the chest of the Yeti standing directly in front of her. The Yeti screams, as the poison enters its bloodstream. The Yeti slowly grows a sickly green, as it sways and finally collapses onto the ground, helpless.

Silver reaches for the quiver behind her back, but not before a harsh blow knocks her into the ground and roughly sliding back several yards. Silver scrambles back to her feet, as stars and little Tide heads appear in her eyes. She shakes it off, but not before the advancing Yeti throws back its arm to punch her again.

Silver winces and braces for the finishing blow, but before that happens, a clash of metal and a sizzling ball of red-hot fire announces Ryuu’s arrival.

Silver gasps, as Ryuu throws back the Yeti’s arm with only the hilt of his sword. “Stupid Yetis,” Ryuu growls, thrusting his sword forward into the Yeti’s chest. The Yeti’s eyes widen in pain, as Ryuu mercilessly pushes the blade of his sword deeper and deeper into the creature’s widening wound.

As Ryuu draws his sword out, the Yeti collapses dead onto the ground. Arai, Ayame, and Gwen show up in a hurry as well, finishing off the rest of the Yetis.

“Go get Tide out of harm’s way,” Arai mutters to Silver, appearing next to her out of the blue.

Silver flinches in surprise, not having noticed Arai. However, she mutters a quick, “Okay,” at an encouraging nod from Arai.

Silver rushes over to Tide, who is moaning on the ground in his corner. “You’re really pathetic,” Silver mutters, grabbing him by the shoulders in order to drag him away from the scene.

Back in a quieted lodge near the very edge of Happyville, the group has gathered around a large, wooden table. Stacks of books and ancient-looking parchments lay on top of the table, while hundreds more are packed into the mahogany shelves lining the walls of the lodge nearby.

“These are all the documents the Happyville Records Hall has kept regarding the founding of the town,” Gwen states, gesturing towards the books and parchments on the table. “Through my training as a Happyville Ranger, I’ve studied quite thoroughly each one and there has never been a mention of this Shalom Clan.”

“Maybe the founders of Happyville wanted to cover up the Shalom case,” Arai suggests.

“Why would they want to do that?” Gwen asks aggressively, rounding on Arai. “If it’s part of the history of Happyville, then shouldn’t they—?”

“Well you have to consider the fact that it was a particularly gory piece of history. A stain of blood on the otherwise peaceful origins of Happyville,” Ayame replies.

“Right,” Silver chips in. “There are numerous cases throughout history, not just in this world, but in the Rift World as well, in which cover-ups have been made in order to mask the illogical and often bloody pasts of many events throughout history.”

“Oi!” Tide cries, popping up over Silver’s shoulder. “Silver knows all about this kinda stuff! She’s right in her element right here!”

“You’re too noisy!” Silver shouts irritably, not even bothering to glance at Tide as she slams a fist into his face.

“Oww.”

Ryuu sighs deeply, folding his arms impatiently. “It doesn’t matter if we find out more about this guy’s shady past. It’s all the same, because we’re just going to end up crushing him in the end. Research wouldn’t matter.”

“But we might be able to earn an advantage if we find out more about why he’s got a grudge against Happyville,” Gwen replies, slightly surprised by Ryuu’s demeanor. “I mean, aren’t you interested?”

“Not particularly,” Ryuu replies indifferently. “Guys like these, you don’t need a reason to go fight ‘em. They trick themselves into thinking they’re fighting for a good cause when really all they’re doing is just causing trouble for everyone. People like that, you just have to beat them until maybe if you’re lucky you get some sense beat into them.”

The door suddenly crashes open, as a young male Happyville Ranger dashes into the room, out of breath. He turns to Gwen, a panicky tone in his voice. “Gwen! Bad news! Santa has been kidnapped!”