"Aiyaiyai!!! How big can your butt be?! You're taking all the space!!!" Futch droned into Miklotov's ears.

Miklotov grit his teeth, ignoring the boy. For two hours, the ex-Dragon Knight has been screaming. For two hours the Blue Knight has been gritting his teeth, ignoring him. For two hours Alexandra has been laughing at Miklotov for the constant torture he became victim to.

"*Giggle* That was pretty good!" Alex complimented Futch.

To Miklotov's suffering, Alex was encouraging the boy's non-stop quips, and has been enouraging the whole time. Recently, Futch has shown a liking towards Alex. Before they departed from Araya, Futch was given a choice for who he would prefer to ride with. Without hesitation, the ex-Dragon Knight chose Alexandra, seizing any opportunity to get close to her. Realizing that Futch was merely a teenager, most likely undergoing puberty, who would sit behind an extremely attractive woman, in very close physical contact, Miklotov withdrew this moment of freedom and insisted that the ex-Dragon Knight would sit with him. Angry, Futch made it his personal duty to drive Miklotov crazy, and thus has nearly succeeded.

"Come on, blubber butt! Share the saddle!" Futch taunted and shoved Miklotov forward.

Miklotov stopped the horse. A moment of silence ensued as the Blue Knight captain slowly turned around and locked eyes with Futch. Miklotov's face was completely emotionless; a technique Miklotov had mastered. It would be impossible to tell what he was thinking, and even more difficult to predict what he would do next. This made Futch rather anxious; he could feel small drops of sweat about to pour out from his forehead. Suddenly, Miklotov's lips moved.

"If you do not cease and desist, I'll be forced to stab you," he said, turned around, and moved the horse forward.

As time passed, Futch was silent. Surely the boy didn't want to be stabbed. He had no desire to die, especially when he hadn't even had his first kiss. The pain in Futch's rear end had long vanished to numbness, so the boy no longer had anything to complain about... except extreme boredism, but complaining about that was certainly not worth being stabbed over. Besides, riding a horse for this long wouldn't be fun for anyone; especially for the horse... he must be mad as hell having to haul two men to Rockaxe. Finding little to do, Futch used this precious time to think.

What a funny haircut..., he thought, observing Miklotov's hair from behind, He looks like he's wearing a bowl-shaped wig on his head. Actually, his whole head looks like a mushroom. I think I'll call him mushroom head from now on...

Bored with looking at the back of Miklotov's head, Futch cycled through recent events in his mind... A few days ago, the young lad discovered a cult self-entitled "the Dragon Knights" in Araya. Being the mischievous devil that he is, Futch decided to check it out, infiltrating their base. To his surprise, the "Dragon Knights" turned out to be dragon slayers, making a complete mockery of Futch's original association. Once a Toran Dragon Knight himself, the leader of the cult, Nerus, transformed nearby civilians into hatemongers... distinguishing dragons as a threat to mankind.

It makes me so angry!!! Futch struggled to scream right there and then. The thought of human beings no different from himself, being conned into such unnecessary prejudice so easily, sickened him. How can they be so stupid? With so many problems in this world, these Dragon Slayers decide to devote their time annhilating dragons. Dragons aren't the monsters people imagine they are... I would know! I've lived with one most of my life! It is the dragon slayers who are the monsters! Futch allowed curses aimed at the slayers to completely devour his mind. Realizing that this was going no where, the boy calmed down and took a deep breath. What am I thinking? These people are... people. They' are loving fathers, mothers, devoted husbands, wives, obedient sons and daughters... human beings. They're just ignorant. Humans can't be blamed for that, the same way a dog can't be blamed for having a bad master... but Nerus... he's spreading this hate! I can't forgive him for that dragon he killed... and who knows how many other dragons met the same fate? He shuddered at the thought.

Somehow Miklotov's quest entwined with Futch's. Back in Rockaxe, Gorudo had suspicions that knights were vacating their duties. He ordered Miklotov to investigate their wearabouts. The Blue Knight captain's investigation eventually led him to the "Dragon's Den", the headquarters of the dragon slayers, a little late because Humphrey and Futch had already emptied the place out. Afterwards, Miklotov and Alexandra ran into a man named Mashah, a highly annoying, stuttering nervous man, who was really an act played by Nerus in order to get to safety. The two took Mashah to an inn in Araya where they crossed paths with Futch and Humphrey, who had immediately recognized Mashah as Nerus. Where two were protecting Mashah/Nerus and two were trying to kill him, a misunderstanding developed and exploded. One would think that two men such as Miklotov and Humphrey, two who have seen the tragedies and consequences of war countless times, would actually try to talk things out before rumbling--- nope, they skipped the chat and went straight to the rumble... or at least Futch did, greeting Nerus with a less than friendly thrust of his spear. After a brief tussle resulting in several bruises and a lot of broken furniture, Mashah revealed his evil self as Nerus and escaped. Following an exchange of apologies and stories, Miklotov felt the situation should be brought to the attention of Gorudo. Then Humphrey asked the Blue Knight captain to have Futch accompany him and departed.

Humphrey, Humphrey, Humphrey..., Futch chanted in his head, What were you thinking having me go with this jerk? I'm better off on my own.

Rockaxe...

"Wake up, sleepy-head!"

Futch could feel his shoulder shaking.

"Wake up wake up! We're here!"

Futch opened his eyes and saw Alex with her hand on his shoulder, calling him. Futch smiled at the thought of Alex touching him. He liked it.

"Heehee! You two look so cute together!" Alex giggled.

What is she talking about? Futch wondered.

Then he noticed his head was sideways, his right cheek relaxing on something hard. He can feel an unusual wetness on the side of his mouth. It was drool. Suddenly, Futch's face went real read.

"You can get your head off of my shoulder now, boy!" Miklotov ordered.

Right away, Futch lifted his head and jumped off the horse. For a moment, Futch was lost, not knowing where he was or what he was doing. After several blinks, a look of disgust formed on Futch's face. He'd been napping on Miklotov's shoulder! The Blue Knight didn't look too happy himself, examining his shoulder. He was poking his finger into a strange puddle that formed on his cape.

"GaH! What's this?! DROOL?! You've been DROOLING on me the past few hours?!" Miklotov hollared, outraged.

Alex bursted out laughing. Whether she was laughing at Futch or Miklotov was indistinguishable.

"Take it like a man, you big baby!" She teased, nudging Miklotov in the arm.

The three walked together through the streets of Rockaxe. Although Futch loathed the idea of being escorted by Miklotov, he had to admit he was a little bit eager to see Rockaxe. For one, Futch has never been to Rockaxe. Futch has hardly been anywhere outside of the Dragon Knight Fort. Then Humphrey came along and showed him the world. In the past three years, the boy has seen sights he has never imagined, eaten delicacies he has never tasted, and observed more pretty girls than he could count. He has grown a love of traveling. Futch couldn't wait to see the castle. Famed for its red and blue Matildan knights, Futch wanted to do a little comparison between them and his hometown Dragon Knights. Who would beat who in a rumble to the death? Questions like these spawned sporatically in Futch's brain.

If all the Matildan knights are like lame-o Miklotov, then the Dragon Knights would have no problem kicking their butt..., Futch snickered to himself.

The little teenager was mighty disappointed. The streets were completely vacant; not a person in sight. Some of the houses had lights on, but Futch couldn't see anyone inside through the windows. Doors were left wide open. The village looked liked it had just been robbed clean... of people that is. Futch looked at Miklotov for an explanation, but the blue knight was baffled himself.

"Where... where is everyone?" Miklotov asked, to know one in particular.

Several voices could be heard in the distance. Curious, the three followed the voices. With every step, Futch could head more and more people speaking. Finally, Futch noticed a huge crowd ahead of him, standing in front of what appears to be a house with a broken window. What's so great about that? he wondered. Losing his patience, Futch ran ahead of the others and plunged deep into the mob.

"Futch!" Alex shouted. The boy was no where in sight.

"Damn!" Miklotov cursed, "This would be a bad time to lose the brat!"

Hand in hand, Mikotav and Alexandra jumped into the crowd in search of the Dragon Knight. Alex jumped up and down calling his name, while Miklotov made silent curses, shoving by civilians left and right. Finally, the two found Futch, near the doorway of the house. Immediately, Alex noticed Futch's right boot was covered with a crimson liquid. His body was shaking, his mouth gaped opened, and his eyes widened in disbelief.

"Futch? Futch? What happened?!" Alex cried in concern.

"I... I... stepped... in... a... puddle..." Futch stuttered.

Alex looked down at Futch's feet, and like he had said, his foot was stuck in a puddle. Oddly enough, the puddle had several little "rivers" branching from one direction. She followed the branches with her eyes, searching for the puddle's source, leading to the center of the crowd. There it was... a body, face flat on the pavement, crimson blood spreading all over the streets and down its gutters. This is the sight that had put shocked Futch. Alex put her arm around Futch to comfort him. She noticed Miklotov was next to her, studying the body.

"Anyone you know?" she asked.

"Yeah... I think that's Versais Gromel... It's hard to tell because his face is nearly beyond recognition."

Futch blinked as the shock began to wear off. His body was unusually warm. Then he realized why... Alexandra was holding him! A large smile slowly developed on his face.

"Gromel?! Didn't he and Gorudo have some sort of rivalry?" Alex asked.

"Yes they did," Miklotov answered.

"Um... isn't Gorudo the guy we're about to visit right now?" Futch asked.

Seeing that Futch was back to his senses, Alex let go of him. Futch showed a frown of disappointment. Perhaps he shouldn't have said anything just so he could be in Alex's arms for a moment longer...

"Hey kiddo," Miklotov greeted the boy, unsually friendly. "You gave us quite a scare back there. You okay?"

What's this? Miklotov actually seemed to have been concerned, even after absorbing hours of Futch's antics. Could it be that Miklotov isn't the fool that Futch imagined him to be? Is he worthy of Futch's kindness and friendship?

Nah... he's still a dork, Futch thought, "Just answer the question, mushroom head!"

"Yes he is," Miklotov answered, ignoring the insult.

"Um... isn't Gorudo suppose to be a good guy?"

Miklotov ignored the question, "I don't think Gorudo would do this... especially right in the streets of Rockaxe for everyone to see."

"Well, someone pushed him out of the window! He couldn't have just fallen out!" Alex said.

"We'll ask him about it as soon as we...," Miklotov's voice lowered to an inaudible whisper as his eyes turned to something else.

Futch walked over to Miklotov to see what he was looking at. His eyes were in the direction of the body. Approaching the body was a Blue Knight commander wearing the exact same outfit as Miklotov!

"What in blazes?!" Miklotov cursed.

"Mik? Are you okay?" Alex shook his shoulder.

"That man is wearing my outfit!"

Futch chuckled. For a moment, Miklotov sounded almost feminine.

"Who is he?" Alex asked.

"Zirane..." Miklotov muttered.

"Shouldn't we talk to him? Maybe he knows what's going on," Alex suggested.

"Something's not right... he shouldn't be wearing a commander's outfit! I've got a bad feeling about this..." Miklotov grabbed Alex and Futch and dragged them away from the crowd, "Hurry before he sees us!"

"Where are we going?" Futch asked. He didn't like the idea of Miklotov touching him.

"We're going to the inn!"

"Uhhh... don't we want to see Gorudo?!"

"The audience with Gorudo can wait tommorow!" Miklotov scolded.

What' went up HIS pants? Futch pondered.

Gorudo... you have a lot to explain! Miklotov thought.

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"Futch" and "Suikoden 2" are (C) Konami. This chapter was posted on September 6