Rising Waters
~Snowfire

On Dryad's Day of the third week in the year 1007 of the Ajorian calendar, Gobi decided to become a villain.

A word of explanation. The humble Gobi is far from villainous by nature. No, he was willing to troop out with Ryu's band for the cause of Visiting Random Places and Righting Wrongs. Nobody forced him to do this; he could have stayed at home in Prima and run his shop. Gobi just wanted to do his part in the general Quest for Goodness, even if doing so meant Karn devouring his soul half the time.

But there are limits. Lines that should not be crossed.

Gobi never expected to conquer the Dueling League. He would just play his bit part. Maybe get to the finals of a Light Championship, then lose a close match dramatically but with honor. Sell some memorabilia to the inevitable underdog fans. But no. Gobi was denied even this. He was a winless laughingstock. Taloon and Ramus - far from fearsome duelists themselves - had even kicked him out of the Capitalist Clubbing Club for dragging their record down.

Only one conclusion could be drawn from this.

The world - nay, the whole DL - must be submerged beneath the watery depths. Then, and only then, would Light tremble in fear of the might of EbbX! And be forced to take matches with Gobi at least somewhat seriously!

Gobi's first stab at this villainous plan ended in failure. See, he thought perhaps he could force that dancing Moogle to perform the Water Rondo constantly and sink the dueling arena into endless blue. So Gobi approached Emperor Geshtal about buying a Slave Crown, and perhaps some Imperial troopers to hunt that Returner Mog down. Geshtal agreed to do the deal in exchange for some discounted MagiTech armor... which Gobi soon discovered he had no way of acquiring, even on the black market. Technology was just too backward on his home world. After letting Guardians toy with Gobi, Geshtal Mertoned him to ashes and tossed the charred remains into the Serpent Trench.

While undergoing his painful recuperation, Gobi had a long time to read up on the topic. Surely there has to have been somebody who had tried such a plan before, and gotten it to work. Hmm... a bit obscure, but perhaps this Xagor fellow from Final Fantasy Legend III? He had apparently been defeated by some young time travelers (as usual), but before that, he did set up monster-filled water to pour from the Pure Land on the unsuspecting people below. Now that he was gone, perhaps some person could steal the now abandoned Pure Land water gate... or some fish... or some person-fish... and become the MASTER OF EVENTUAL HYDROLOGICAL DOOM.

Gobi set to work.

------------

"Princess Ashe? The book on magical irrigation arrived from the interplanar library."

At least there were some benefits to this recent contact, Ashe thought. The desert parts of Dalmasca could certainly use more water. She'd been in negotiations with some extraplanar organization called "The Dueling League" about possibly renting out some of her mightiest warriors to win gil and honor. The problem was, she and her friends were either pathetic Lights or nigh-unstoppable Godlikes, and discussions as to which it'd be were still ongoing.

But as for the book... what on earth? It was scribbled on all over! With notes in margins. "Soon, I shall have ultimate power!" "Then, they'll pay." "The beginning of my reign shall be celebrated with rain!" Aside from the mad rantings, there were detailed cross-references with an archeology textbook to a world she'd never heard of, and plans for reverse-engineering infinite water from the techniques in the book. Somebody had way too much time on their hands, almost as if they'd had nothing to do but obsess over books for months.

Well, clearly Ashe had to act. Not only had he returned the book to the library with ranting intact, the would-be villain had left a circled location on the map with a note saying "perfect location for a hidden lair!" There's pretty much only one thing for a heroic princess to do in these situations: charge in alone and solve things once and for all. Ashe strapped on her Longsword and Estucheon, and left a message explaining she'd be back shortly.

  • It is Gobi. Even if he hides in an aquarium, Ashe slices up some fresh sushi with embarrassing ease.
  • As per tradition, the princess is captured. Also as per tradition, a mob of lustful heroes makes short work of the would-be AquaLord.
  • BWAHAHAHAHA EBBX ECOX EBBX


Djinn
What could possibly go wrong with a plan like Gobi's? He had thought through every POSSIBLE contingency!

Well... not really, but blind luck saved the day. The Duelling League was now submerged and all Gobi's naysayers had only EbbX-style punishment to look forward to.

Beware Light, the day of reckoning is coming...

(To Snowfire: Awesome bonus!)


Ashe: 19
Heroes: 10
Gobi: 24