When we last left our hero, he had succeeded in claiming some, but not all, of the items required to craft his new armor.  After meeting with the Stranger, who the Blue Tango believed to be the traveler the Professor spoke of, a griffin appeared!  The Stranger poofed away like a cloud of smoke, but left a scroll and dagger behind for Tango to take, which he did.  The scroll ended up being a map that vaguely explained waypoints and fast travel and the dagger, to him, was just a fancy looking blade.  After hiding from the beast, he noticed that it appeared to be injured and collapsed under a tree.  He slowly approached the creature and it allowed him to get close enough to fix it up.  Tango did his best to heal the beast and even bonded with it a bit, but his efforts were in vain when a warrior, a vampire hunter named Simon Belmont, jumped out of the woods and attacked it!  Apparently, this warrior had been tracking the griffin for a while after already getting a couple good blows in on it.

The battle didn't last very long and the warrior looked as if he was going to get the final blow in on the beast.  Tango couldn't sit idly by and allow that to happen….  He drew an arrow and fired a shaky shot which stuck in Simon's knee allowing the griffin to flee.

Simon was obviously upset and confronted Tango about the incident.  The arrow to the knee didn't seem to bother him, but his prey getting away angered him.  Tango, to no success, explained the bond he had with the beast, but Simon simply laughed and explained that the griffin he so-called "bonded" with wanted nothing for than to gut him the nearest chance it had.  The vampire hunter went on to explain to our hero how the monster has been tormenting local communities by killing livestock and has been blamed for several missing persons cases.  Tango didn't want to believe it, but it was a griffin's nature to be pretty aggressive and what choice did he have?  The Simon-guy seemed like a nutcase, but he was an absolute badass when it came to fighting the mystical monster.  Tango showed Simon his log, which excited the hunter!  Quest Log, that is….  He pointed out that Tango still needed some griffin feathers, so they could help each other in their goals.  Tango wanted the feathers and Simon wanted the head.  Easy-peasy…  Even though the campsite/battleground they were standing on had griffin feathers scattered everywhere, after basically costing him the kill, Simon insisted and didn't appear like he was going to let Tango get away with leaving.  After pondering hard over it, thinking about the torment it  brought to  innocent animals and families, his heroism mindset kicked in and he agreed to help.

When he finally agreed, another quest appeared on his Quest Log along with another that he didn't see before.  The first one was the one he just reluctantly agreed to; assist Simon in tracking and killing the griffin.  But the second was to explore a dark tower that he noticed in the corner of his map while looking it over before all the drama went down.  Just acknowledging that it was there must've inadvertently activated the quest.  This place is so weird, he thought to himself.

As day became night, Tango was ready to hunker down and rest until morning.  Simon scoffed at the idea and told the hero that being out in the open world at night time was nothing like the day time.  Sure, the mystical beasts like the griffin or some dragons roam about…  but the true nightmare doesn't begin until the sun goes down.

And boy, he wasn't kidding…

Not a moment after the hunter mentioned this, the sun gave its last beam of light to the land of Narfinex before retreating beyond the mountainous horizon.  Like clockwork, the ground below them began to shift and the undead began to rise.

Simon gleefully fought them, with double-fisted weapons, taking them down 2 or 3 at a time with ease.  Tango, frazzled by disbelief and fear from the encounter, fled.  Using his map, he tried everything to activate the fast travel; from blowing on it, touching it, rubbing it, pressing it…..  but nothing.  It was then that he realized the dagger that was left behind was faintly glowing and vibrating like it had some kind of electrical charge hooked to it.  He removed it from its sheath and brought it towards the map which made it glow even more….  He went to touch the waypoint marked over the palace when he was bumped by one of the undead causing the blade to slip and touch elsewhere and him to vanish!

This is where our story picks back up.





"Nooo!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!"

The Blue Tango closes his eyes tight and lets out a blood curdling scream as the undead monster comes within a few inches of biting a chunk out of his shoulder.  When there was nothing, no biting or scratching, he slowly peaked through his eyelids to see he's no longer in the hollow surrounded by monsters…  There's no sign of Simon or his loud grunts of pleasure as he hacked and whipped away at the foes.  He found himself standing at a crossroads up on a hilltop where the different roads all branch off in different directions.  At the place they all met was a single, worn out, wooden post with a sign for each direction.

This spot made him once again recall his last adventure with his War Games crew, when he finally exited the cave for the first time.  He could see in all directions for miles, along with the different landmarks that, some he is familiar with and others he is not.  He was not in the same place as before, but it just provided a similar view from the peak of the hill he stood on.

In the distance, he sees the bright lights from the city of Narfinex and Mt. Final Boss looming in the background what looks to be so close,  but he knows for a fact, is not.  He sees the path and road sign that goes with each location then pulls out his map.  He is standing nearly half way between the city and the lost woods, just a few miles from the straight path he took into the Lost Woods earlier.  He finds the sign and road for it, then makes several marks on his map to record his location and findings.  The sign was very difficult for Tango to read, only using the moonlight and stars to see.

One thing that somehow slipped his mind after being vaporized for the second time in one day was it was still night time.  And with the night, came the evil.  And with the evil came the monsters.  As he scribbled away on his scroll making little notes, without him seeing, a reanimated skeleton crawled out from the dirt and rose to its feet.  Tango continued to write, stopping to ponder on his notes and look over the sign and landscape again, when he heard the chattering of bones behind him!  As he turned to see what it was, his inner-warrior instincts, something he also forgot that he had, told him to duck and roll!  The skeleton swings a long blade single-handed across, just missing Tango as he evades and forward rolls out of the way.  The boney baddie doesn't stop with just one swing, however…  He comes equipped with an unexpected 2-hit combo!!  Immediately after missing Tango with his horizontal swing, it goes immediately into an overhead, downward swing and follows Tango through the roll!

GASP?!  Tango thinks to himself.  IT CAN REPOSITION MID-COMBO?!  Luckily, Tango sees this coming and forward rolls a second time avoiding the attack!  He was still crazy clumsy with his bow, so he didn't want to waste time trying to shoot the thing.  What's an arrow going to do to a ghouly skeleton anyway?

It chomps down with his jaw and pulls the sword up, resetting its stance.  Tango rolls to his feet and gives himself and his enemy a little distance.  It struggled to walk at all; the bones looked very brittle and could just break at any time.  Tango looks around him and sees a bunch of grapefruit-sized rocks lying on the path.  He grabs one and throws it, hitting the skeleton right in the skull knocking it off its shoulders and onto the ground!  It drops its sword and turns right around after it.  Tango watches for a moment, amused at it chasing down its little head, but then realizes he has an opportunity to get the heck out of there! 

But instead, he does something that supposedly before now, I guess…  Peter Vaughn would never do.

Stay and fight.

Tango runs and slides on his knees grabbing the heavy longsword on his way by.  He can barely handle the thing and nearly breaks his wrist trying to handle it.  He doesn't succeed to pick it up, but uses both hands and upward swings to the body of the skeleton, blowing it to pieces.  The skull still hops around, chomping its jaws and trying to bite the Blue Tango, so it gets kicked down the hill into the meadow.  The rest of the monster that was scattered about the path and the grass started to rattle and eventually all came together to form the body of a skeleton again.  Tango squatted down and was ready to swing the big sword again, but the skeleton body paid no attention to him and just started down the hill after its head.

"That dude's going to go find some head."*SNICKER*

Tango laughs to himself then is reminded of the dangers out here by the howl of a wolf in the distance.  He's taken from his comedy and walks back up to the sign at the crossroads.  He squints to read all the writing in the dark when a tiny flame lights up directly beside his face.

"OWW!!  WOAH!!!"

He turns swiftly to see the Stranger standing behind him, in his hood, holding his thumb up with the flame on the tip like a candle.

Need a light, friend?

"Dude!  You scared the Jesus pajamas out of me!"

The what?

"Nothing.  I'm flustered.  What are you doing here?"

What do you mean?  I've been here.

"Whatever…  Where were you when I was fighting that skeleton?"

The Stranger points away.

Over there.  Watching you fight the skeleton.

Tango rolls his eyes and sighs.  Then realizes the thing was still kicking, searching for its head, and would probably be back.

"So, uh, yeah.  About that?  I don't think it's dead, so…"

The Stranger scoffs.

What do you mean?  Of course, it's dead!

"I know it's DEAD, bruh.  I just mean, I don't think I killed it.  To make it, I dunno, dead dead?"

Lighting up a cigar, the Stranger simply waves off Tango and uses the cherry of the cigar to light up all the signs above.

So, where is it you're heading now, Tango?

"Away from you, dude…  How could you bail on me like that?  You totally Peter Vaughn'd me!"

I "Peter-Vaughned" you?  Come again?

"You SAID you knew about a griffin and I thought you were gonna like…  ya know…  UGH!  You bailed, bruh.  When I needed you most."

Needed me, huh?  You seem to be alright…  Any deaths?

"Well, no, I didn't die, thank GAWD.  But I could've!  According to the creepy, crazy, weirdo-guy that showed up later.  WHO DID SAVE ME.  I think."

The Stranger peaks his face out through the hood.

Who are you referring to?

"His name's Trevor Belmont…  of the Belmont Family…  like DUH?  Vampire hunter he said.  He showed up and tried killing that griffin, but I, uh…  Anyway.  The griffin got away, he got miffed at me for screwing it up, and then we were attacked by zombies."

Zombies, huh?  How many did you kill?!  Those are one of the easiest…

"Well…  None.  I….  Uh…  Awe, dang…."

None?  What happened?  Did your new friend kill them all?

*SHRUG* "The guy was completely nuts…  I'm sure he did.  But…  I…..  I……  I freakin' bailed."

You "Peter-Vaughned" him?

"I freakin' Peter Vaughned him.  Dude….  What have I done?"

Like you said, surely he's fine.

"That's not the point, dude!  And what if he isn't?!  What if freaking out and fast traveling to some random place on the map that I don't know sentenced him to death?!"

The Stranger shrugs too and takes a giant puff from his cigar.  He blows out yet another long plume of smoke revealing a picture within.  It shows Simon Belmont walking down a path and getting mauled by several undead monsters.  They take him down and begin taking bites out of his body.  He screams in pain and agony, bleeding from the mouth, and cursing to the sky.

"Damn you Blue Tango!!!  Damn you to hell!  You killed me!  And I'm going to haunt you for the rest of your life…  AND YOUR AFTER LIFE!!!!  BLAAAAAHHHHHHHh!"

And then he died.  The smoke drifts away and Tango is left in pieces and tears.

"Is—  Is?  Is…  Is that ruh-ruh-ruh-real?"

The Stranger shoves Tango aside a little bit and shoots a fireball from his cigar at the returning skeleton ready to grab ahold of the hero from behind.  The bones explode leaving nothing but dust behind.  Tango bounced back and checked to see if he had eyebrows afterward.

Of course, not.  I made it up.

"GEEEZ, BRUH!!  EASY ON THE FIREWORKS!  THAT HURT!"

I barely singed a hair from your head.

Tango sniffs and scowls at the Stranger.

"You know, I'm about sick of you.  I had no idea you could even do that!  Why don't you just frick off somewhere, bruh."

Would you just decide what you're supposed to do next?  Where's your Quest Log?

Our hero sighs again and squints to see all of the different signs piled up together.  There were so many and Tango figured every location around was listed here.  He pulls out his Quest Log and looks it over.





*SNIFF*  "You're a real jerk, you know that?"  *SNIFF*  "I need to mine some ore and get scales off a dragon."

And apparently kill a griffin and explore a castle!  Sounds glorious!

"Screw that crap, man.  I just wanna get my stuff and get outta here.  I can't take much more of this stuff, dude."

Oh!  Nonsense!  I think you're just getting the hang of it!

"I DID think about sticking around for awhile, seeing what rent was like compared to Hollywood….  It couldn't possibly be worse than that?  But, after all this?  I just don't know.  Between having to defend yourself at all times and what it takes to get the stuff you need to do so?  It's too much, man."

I truly think Peter Vaughn may be rubbing off on you a bit, Tango…

"What?!  No way, bruh!  I'm nothing like that guy, man….  How so?"

You admitted yourself to Peter Vaughn'ing that fellow earlier…  Which, you shouldn't take to heart…  And now…  You CONSIDERED living here until you realized you might not be able to cut it?

"I just don't think I could deal with the stress of this place, is all….  Oh man…  You're right.  Peter came out and said that he actually considered us once…  Until he beat me last time, which yeah…  OK.  I still 'beat' him at War Games and I'm still, whether he wants to admit it or not, a thorn in his side.  This guy is so topsy turvy with stuff, this week has been like a rollercoaster ride of emotions, ya know?"

"This back and forth has been so weak that I feel like I'm listening to a broken record, bruh…  I spent weeks leading up to War Games praising the dude.  We all know the story by now where… yeah..  He bailed on me because I was unworthy of him being in my corner or even being on the same street.  But I praised him after that, as well.  I didn't really understand, but he apparently thought that the big bosses were trying to screw with him by placing the new champ in a meaningless match with your's truly.  The true spirit of a champion, right?  I forgave him for the mistake and told him that I was going to win the numero uno contender's match and face him for the title!  I would earn his respect somehow, right?!  He beats me.  I think, okay.  Now he's seen what can really happen in the ring…  But no.  Since he beat me…  He's WAY more superior now and can't be bothered with it.  It took weeks, man.  WEEKS or even a MONTH for me to finally realize what garbage this guy is.  He's driving me crazy with his drivel though…  I don't get it."

"It wasn't JUST me that gave this guy praise when he came to the XWF.  EVERYONE put up their guard and did what they had to do to protect the place from invaders, cuz that's what we do, bruh.    The place he had the World Title at the time was burning down, but he was STILL a world champ.  That doesn't make him world renowned?  Of course no one is going to say how great you are when you're trying to invade their home, would they?  And maybe everyone else just picked up on it a little quicker than I did.  It doesn't take away from the fact that he was a big deal coming in.  Why else would he have been given the Uni Title shot against Caedus?  And he has the nerve to say I went to the dudes upstairs to get another shot at him??  HIS appeared out of thin air! And EVERYONE, and I mean, EVERYONE knew he was going to win the thing, but virtually anyone was going to at that point.  They also knew that he wasn't going to make it past Alias, but no one has, so big deal.  Then, yeah, he wins a tournament and picks up the vacated SC Title…  Okay, now here comes the corkscrew.  According to Vaughn, 8 months ago he was a nobody, whatever, but wasn't until 8 months later that I wanted to tag with him?  Shame on me for buying into all the hype.  Woe is me for thinking someone like Peter would see MY potential and wanna grow with it.  For a guy that cried a life story about climbing to the top from the very bottom, about getting bullied, about not being good enough…  He's not giving much thought into someone else doing and going through the same thing.  Where's my underdog story?  Guess what?  I don't need one.  I'm not afraid to stick around and fight.  I've never been afraid to.  I've fought bigger, stronger, crazier, dirtier guys than this guy and I've managed to get past some and not afraid to admit that I failed other times.  I don't hold it against myself so it dang sure doesn't matter if someone else does.  I don't have a plan going into this match with Peter, but I know exactly what I'm going to do."


"Was any of that fake news, IVaughnka?  Fake news?  He calls my praise for the guy.  Me looking up to the dude.  The guy ripped me a new one for thinking that he was GOOOOOOOD.  Just.  Wow.  You know what's fake news?  Him saying he's taking this Supercontinental Title to new heights.  That's a straight up lie.  I told him over War Games that he's no Corey Smith and I'll be long dead in the ground before I let him get bored like he was.  Tell you what, the only thing Peter is going to do to take this title to new heights is hand it over to whatever sap is going 30 or so feet in the air to hang this thing.  Besides an airplane that's probably the highest it's ever been, huh?  Well, unless he carried into it a tall building, I guess.  Heck, nevermind.  The point is, Peter's only had one title defense in the entire time he's had it and is already making big plans to, ya know, do better with it.  He's walking on wet floors right now and he knows it because if he loses it on his second defense against a guy he won't give the time of day, and already defended against, man…  But he's a survivor, right?  Heh.  Yeah.  Geez Louise…  He survived all of this time because he ran.  He came back because he hid.  He lived to fight another day because…  He didn't fight.  I know, I know.  He's a new man now.  But, let's not forget this new revelation only happened a couple of weeks ago, so let's not get too excited.  He's proven one time that he's got the balls to walk into danger, we'll see if he can stick to his guns…" 

"Here she comes though...  Our FINAL ROUND!  Our Grande FINALE!  Especially if he's done with me and I'm done with him, huh?  Regardless of what that outcome may be, he can no longer stand to be around this dancing fool!  I'm cool with that.  NO matter what he says I did to be in this position, I never asked for it.  Never once from the start.  I never asked for a chance.  I never asked for an opportunity.  And I never asked for a rematch.  Things just happened this way, bruh, and that's fate for ya.  So, here I am and I'm about to ruin someone's day, dude.  He can go ahead and keep thinking that for some reason I had some strings to pull and I wanted to replay this level for some reason, but that's just another line of excuses he's going to have to throw out when this is all said and done."

"You could say that I, too, found new life in recent weeks.  A little has to do with him, yeah.  A little has to do with teaming with a few great competitors and sweeping the floor with him.  Either way, win or lose, I've had a blast these last couple of weeks.  And I guess now, it all comes down to that little "R" word, doesn't it?  There was a few weeks there that I wanted his respect.  I thrived for it and I begged to earn it.  He made it pretty clear that was never going to happen though.  Sure, he came out of the closet recently and told the world that he DID consider it all, but his stupid words mean nothing these days dude…  He HAS indeed lost my respect but he's the only reason why.  Why was he going on about renewed respect then?  What was wrong with my original respect?  If he recalled me praising him for his accomplishments week in and week out, that didn't expire until a couple of weeks ago until he revealed his absolute true colors to everyone.  Freakin' yellow, man.  Then he spent several, heck more than several, minutes convincing me that my praise went way too far and he's not NEARLY as good as I say he is.  Okay, you suck?  Is that what he was trying to convince me of?  Cuz I'm finally starting to agree with him.    He spent a lot of time trying to twist all of this around like I'm in the wrong, and he's convinced me that he's probably right.  Peter Vaughn is a hot freakin' mess, dude." 

Are you alright?

"Yeah, sorry. I know I can go off sometimes."

The sun is rising…

"Ah!  Good.  Night time here sucks."

So, your dragon?

"Uhhh..  Yeah…  Uh…  Simon said that you could just be walking along and one could pop up anywhere…  So…  Should we just… Walk?"

The Stranger shrugs again and throws down his cigar.

It's your story, my friend!  Let's walk!

Tango looks at his map and the signs at the crossroads and the two men journey down a path that's actually away from anywhere else he's been before.  Away from the Lost Woods, which meant away from Simon Belmont, and away from the dark tower that Tango has been quested to explore.  He has no time for that this adventure, he just wants to get his gear and go home at this point.

The two walk for miles until they come to a cave that goes deep within a hillside.

"You think a dragon lives in there?"

I actually KNOW a dragon lives there.  Let's go knock and see if anyone's home!

"Uhhh…  You sure that's a good idea?  Maybe we could sneak in and see if it's sleeping or something?  If it is i could cut some scales off and we could be on our way."

You don't think cutting off part of the beast wouldn't wake it?

"I dunno.  I just don't feel that equipped to take one down….  It took a lot of hard work last time…  AND Game Girl….  To get past the last one."

You worry too much, my friend.

The Stranger whips up a fireball with his hands and throws it towards the opening of the cave.  It explodes and there's a loud roar from inside.

"DUDE NO!!  WHAT'D YOU DO?!"

The loud roar fades as the ground shakes below them.  In just moments a giant, red dragon crawls out from the cave!

"O.  M.  G.!!!"

The beast roars and blasts a burst of flame from its mouth that scorches the land leading to our hero and the Stranger.  A red aura surrounds the two of them protecting them from the attack but Tango still shrieks loudly at the blazing fire that shoots all around them.  He's been incinerated before and it would be of no surprise if a little PTSD didn't kick in there.  The aura fades away and the dragon roars again as the Stranger whirls his hands around and creates another fireball.

"Dude…  Isn't that a fire dragon?  Wouldn't it be immune to fire?!"

The Stranger keeps whirling the fireball around and looks back to Tango.

Naah..  They're only less susceptible to it…  Unless you're me.

The Stranger pushes Tango back with an invisible force and holds his arms high into the air!  The sun, now high in the sky, shares its rays with the sorcerer, growing his fireball even larger than the dragon!  It shoots more flames from its throat, but only for it to be absorbed and part of the Stranger's product!





Pulling his arms down, the giant fireball moves slowly towards the beast, burning it to a crisp and even makes the cave opening quite a lot bigger.  The Stranger pats his hands together for a job well done and looks back to Tango who has eyes as wide as the fireball he just threw.

Are you gonna loot those scales or….  What?


Back at the laboratory….


"Tango!  You're back!"

Our hero shuffles into the room and the Professor gladly meets him and praises his arrival.

"Welcome back!  Did you get the items you needed?"

"Yeah, totally."

Tango looks tired and a lot more dirty than when we last left him.  He tosses down his sack of inventory items and grabs the nearest stool and nearly falls on it.


QUEST COMPLETE - "TANGO'S NEW GROOVE!"


"What happened?  You look like you got beat up by a truck!"

Tango stretches and winces at some pain in his back.

"Nah, I uh…  Just got done mining for…  like… ten hours.  You know how much 15 iron ore is?!"

"You sure look like you need some rest!  Why don't you spend the rest of the day at the local inn while we craft your item?  It's on the house!"

"Couldn't I just wait until it's done?  I'd really like to go home."

"Oh…  Home?  Um…"

"What?"

"Well, it's not that easy, Tango….  Unfortunately…"

"What are you talking about."

"Oh…  These items here…  They'll get your armor crafted and all….  But…"

"Spit it out, DOC!  WHAT AREN'T YOU TELLIN' ME?!"

"You can't just take this armor with you, Tango.  Why do you think your last armor piece was lost when you left?"

"I don't know."

"It takes a special… magic to be able to take things from this world."

"I'm not getting you.  Why can't I take my stuff home?  I was under the impression that if I went and did this crap that you were going to make my stuff and I could leave."

"Yes, that's all true, only you need one more item in order for you to have the ABILITY to take it with you."

"WHAT?!"

"The Rubigaff."

"The who?!"

"The Rubigaff is a priceless gem that has the power you need, Tango…  And it's hidden away in the Dark Tower….  Far north from here past the Dreadful Plains and the Ruby Mines.  So, if you want to leave sooner than later…  You'd best get moving now.  We should have your armor finished by the time you get back."


QUEST ACCEPTED - "THE RUBIGAFF"


"FRIIIIIIIIIICK!!!!"