Deep Impact

New Hope Village didn't have an insanitarium.

It did have a makeshift prison, though not one that was used particularly often. The end of the world had the effect of shattering people's minds, but those who survived the apocalypse, and the mind-breaking and bone-breaking that followed weren't likely to crack now. And sure, every so often there'd be a fist fight – who got what, who stole what, old hatreds from Laurentia and Zephyria popping up, that sort of thing. But most of the time it was empty. There just weren't enough people left in the world for the survivors to not stick together.

Which didn't make Ed aggravated at all. He had a pistol at his belt, and over the years, he'd had to use it. But never on his own people. Never within the confines of the village or the fields outside it. And hopefully, despite what Lin had told him, it wouldn't come to that. After all, the prisoner was on the other side of the bars. Supposedly.

He walked into the building – a one story sandstone structure that was bereft of any ornamentation.

"Ed."

Lin was there. Lin wasn't ornamentation. Lin served as the village's mayor and de facto commander in the event of armed conflict with raider groups. Lin, like him, still had a pistol at her belt.

"Lin."

Even now, the formality between them existed. He'd dare to call Lin a friend. But he couldn't dare imagine that even with the village living up to its namesake, and even with the sun finally shining through the clouds again, that conflict wouldn't continue to spring up. There was a strong chance that he, Lin, or anyone else that had fought alongside each other all those years ago would die on the battlefield. In that world, there were some people you just couldn't get too close to. Ed knew many people. Only a handful of them could he call friends. And only one of them was a person he loved.

"Glad you came," she said. She nodded down the hallway that led to the cells. "You coming?"

Ed nodded and followed her. It was cold here. Dark. He shivered in the gloom.

"You really need me here?" he asked.

Tried to make conversation.

"No," she said, not looking around. "But the prisoner asked for you specifically."

"He did?"

"Well, not by name, but…" She sighed. "Might be easier if he tells you himself."

Ed didn't know if that was easier. But it didn't matter at this point. They'd arrived at the cell block, and more importantly, the prisoner.

"Huh," Ed said.

The prisoner was male – not that that was unusual, the same could be said for about 50% of the population. But what was unusual was his uniform. Pure black, with an even darker black logo on his shoulder that Ed didn't recognize – like something out of a sci-fi movie. He looked at Lin.

"You recognize anything?"

"No. Isn't Laurentian, Zephyrian, isn't even IDS."

"Black Hole!" the prisoner screamed. "Black Hole!"

"Yeah, he keeps yelling about black holes," Lin said, smirking. She thumped her fist on the bars. "Shut up or I'll shove something up your own hole!"

"Black Hole! Orange Star! Blue Moon!"

"Um…" Ed looked at Lin as the prisoner started yelling about yellow comets and green earths. "This mean anything to you?"

"Cosmo Land! Marco Land!"

"Nup. Nothing. But he wanted you, but hey, have fun."

"But what makes you think he wants me? He hasn't-"

The prisoner sprung up and charged the bars like a bull seeing red. Unlike the bull, hitting his head on the bars only caused him to fall down.

"That," Lin said.

"How'd you know he was charging me?"

"The warrior! The commander! The protagonist! The one who defeated the mad doctor!"

"Oh. Right."

"See? Told you."

Ed frowned, even more so as he saw Lin unlock the door.

"Have fun," she said, nodding towards the prisoner, who was muttering some unintelligible.

"Er…."

"Oh don't worry," she said. She tapped her pistol. "If he gets out of hand, we can just shoot him."

"That's not very-"

"Hey, pull your weight or get out of town," Lin said. "Law of the land."

Ed said nothing. He didn't agree with all of Lin's laws, but…well, there was a land surrounding them that was pretty lawless. One had to take what they could get. So on that note, he walked in.

"Um, hello," he said.

The prisoner stopped muttering and looked up at him, eyes wide.

"Andy?" he whispered. "Jake?"

"Um, no. It's Ed, actually." The young man, once a boy, tapped his upper chest where a name tag had once been. "Ed. Not sure for anything mind you, just Ed."

"But the protagonist, the hero. Always the same. Always the strapping young man."

"Er, yeah, sure." He squatted down. "Where you from anyway?"

"Black Hole," the prisoner whispered.

"Um, yeah, that's not a place, it's-"

"Black Hole!" he yelled, grabbing Ed's shoulders. "Black Hole! To the north!"

"Um…" Ed looked at Lin. She shrugged.

"Nations…the Allied Nations…"

"Mate, there's only two nations in this part of the world, and they don't even exist anymore," Ed said.

"Two?" the prisoner whispered. "Not four?"

"No. Only two."

"Oh. I…" He put a hand under his chin. "No. Too soon. Came too soon."

"What you-"

He grabbed Ed's shoulders. "Meteors! Meteors!"

"Get off me."

"Were there meteors?"

"Um, yes?" He shoved the prisoner off. "Meteors. About five years ago. Decimated the planet."

"Many…yes, he summoned many. He remade your world, so it will become a world of war. The colour will return, and red will flow. The star shall be orange, not red, even as it remains opposed to blue, before all colours unite to take the black."

Hell, you really are crazy.

"He did it, you see?" the prisoner whispered. "Sturm. He summoned the asteroids. He bombarded their world. He's planned this, you see?"

"Wait," Ed said. "You saying that someone drew the meteors in?"

"Yes!" the prisoner exclaimed. "His power, as a CO…it's limitless. He'll form his army, and conquer the world, and you have to stop him before it's too late. In battle, meteor after meteor, decimating the ranks of those who dare stand against him."

"Yeah, sure," Ed said. He got to his feet. "Listen, pal, it's okay. We all get a touch of the crazies at some point or another. But I've spent my time fighting actual monsters, and they didn't need meteors to destroy the world."

"No," the prisoner whispered. "Sturm doesn't need meteors. They help, but Black Hole, his power…" He grabbed Ed's ankle. "I risked so much to warn you…Sturm will come! Centuries from now, he will come! You must prepare! You must alert the countries of orange, yellow, blue and green, lest the darkness takes them."

"Huh." Ed tapped the prisoner's shoulder. "And, what, you're former Black Hole?"

"Yes!"

Ed sighed. "Right. We'll get onto that." He turned around at Lin, making a crazy sign next to his head. Silently, she opened the gate.

"Like that huh?" she asked.

"Like that. What, you weren't watching?"

"Well, yeah, but…" She shrugged. "Maybe you could see into his soul or something. Make a connection."

"I'm flattered."

"Yeah, well, you and Catleia are still together, so maybe the whole connection at first sight thing works for you."

Ed didn't say anything. Lin was fine with Catleia. Even now though, a few people weren't. And considering what was due to happen in a few months from now…

New Hope. Always need some of it I guess.

"Still," Lin said, looking back at the prisoner, who was now whispering about birds, lashes and snakes, "we could always consider the possibility that he's telling the truth."

"What, that some guy named Sturm destroyed the world through meteors?"

"Why not? It's the type of thing Stolos would have done."

"Maybe." Ed looked at the prisoner, now rambling about kindling coal, and something about bolts. "Or maybe he's just insane. Occam's Razor and all that."

"I guess. So what do we do with him?"

"You asking me?"

"I'm considering more palatable options before dealing with…less palatable ones."

"Then deal with them," Ed said. "And leave the less palatable ones for last."

Lin said nothing. Ed said nothing. The prisoner continued to ramble.

And Ed headed out into the sunlight.

A/N

While watching Advance Wars videos on YouTube, I came across a comment about Sturm being so powerful that his CO power (calling down a meteor) was what destroyed the setting of Days of Ruin). Couldn't help but smirk at that. Ended up drabbling this as a result.

What's less smirk-inducing is the knowledge that it's now ten years since we've had an Advance Wars game. Which sucks. So, um, belated "tenth anniversary fic for a dead series" or something. :(

Update (11/01/19): Corrected "Se" to "She."