HEY GUYS. 8D

Okay, so this is a really short little nibble of fluff that wouldn't leave me alone until it got finished! I'm probably gonna kick myself later for even thinking of it, but it's quarter to 1am, and I have work in the morning, and dagnabbit, I wanna POST SOMETHING. So I beg of you, allow me this little indulgence, and be gentle with reviews! This is hardly my best work - whipped up in a few hours' time with little patience for editing.

So with that mouthful done..

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CONFLICT

A Wild ARMs: ACF fanfiction

by Ryuko DragonHalf

(loosely based on TRUE IN-GAME EVENTS)

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A blast of howling wind tore through the innocent doll's face, and its' remains scattered to dust.

Jack returned his sword to its' sheath. His breath came heavily and sweat dotted his brow. "This isn't good guys. Can't you tell what's wrong with it yet?"

Behind him, Rudy shrugged and frowned at his ARMs. Ever since they'd ventured deeper into the Giant's Cradle, the weapon had been jamming with every other encounter. It was fortunate that their enemies couldn't match their strength, but when they attacked in numbers, it became a challenge. Emma had tried to analyze the ARMs herself; however, even her technical expertise couldn't find any faults.

"I'm no ARMs meister," she had explained, "but this is a fabulous opportunity for me to study such anomalies! Let me make a few notes..."

That had been about seven battles ago. Now, the entire party was beginning to show some wear. Jack sighed again and braced himself against the wall, looking determined but exhausted. "This is ridiculous! Has this ever happened before, Rudy? I mean, sure, it doesn't always work, but this is--"

"Jack, please, let's just rest a bit," said Cecilia, casting a healing spell on everyone in the group. She was growing tired herself, and even a little frustrated, but saw no use in escalating things further. They had faced less-than-favorable conditions before; this was just another stumbling step in their journey. "It's quiet now," the princess observed. "We'll have some time to gather our strength... all of us."

She directed her last statement to Rudy with a knowing smirk. Sure enough, he was still fussing and worrying over his weapon. As soon as he noticed her pointed look, he returned it with a small, sheepish grin of his own and sat down.

A few seconds passed silently. Then, Emma uttered a surprised gasp. "Well! I should have seen that much sooner!"

The group turned to her as one. She looked up from her notes with a triumphant grin. "According to my findings, we have a picky ARMs," she announced.

"Picky?" Hanpan chirped. From his spot on the floor, Rudy seemed to flinch.

The mechanical genius adjusted her glasses. "It seems that we have run into three variations of monster here: the Nybba, the Raidbuster, and one nasty Mimic." She allowed Jack to snort in contempt - that had been a persistent one. "But for the cases where the ARMs refuses to work, it occurs every single time we face a Raidbuster."

Jack's eyes narrowed. "You're sure?"

"Of course! This battle just proved my theory. The issue is not an upgrade to the weapon, nor is it the presence of our Golem friend. The problem lies with the cute little dolls of doom. Somehow, the ARMs refuses to fire at them."

All eyes fell on Rudy then. He met their unbelieving gazes with another helpless shrug, his face pulled in frustration. But Cecilia noticed a sort of dim cloud in his eyes. "Rudy..?"

When he turned her way, she suddenly understood. "You don't want to attack them," she blurted.

A long, stunned, awkward silence followed. They waited for the young wanderer to either confirm or deny it. He glanced between his friends... then bowed his blue-topped head in shame.

"You're serious!" Jack exclaimed, his jaw still hanging in shock.

"ARMs only work properly when they synchronize with their users, right?" Cecilia continued. "So if there's conflict when you try to fire at something... it will lock up!" It made absolute sense to her - Rudy was one of the kindest boys she'd ever met. Shooting at such an innocent-looking thing can't be easy for him at all! By this point, Rudy holstered the weapon in question and turned his back on them, fists clenched tight.

Emma rose to her feet, applauding. "That was a brilliant deduction, Your Majesty!"

"Raidbusters do have a very innocent appearance," the wind mouse reasoned. "For someone who doesn't know any better, attacking them is hardly justified. It seems monstrous."

"But we know better," Jack argued, and strode to Rudy's side. He placed a firm hand on the boy's shoulder. "Listen to me, Rudy, and listen good. Looks aren't everything. Those puppets are using that to their advantage! They can do serious damage if you let your guard down. We need you to stay focused, all right?"

Rudy looked up at the experienced traveller. Now the inner conflict was made apparent in his eyes. He struggled to take Jack's words to heart, knowing what he said was true. A final pat on the shoulder, and he nodded, silently promising to do his best.

Jack gave a cocky smirk. "Good. I'm glad we had this little talk."

The girls couldn't help rolling their eyes.

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Rudy still had trouble shooting at Raidbusters, so the others took it upon themselves to take them out first. Cecilia's magic was very effective in this, but she needed to spare some for healing and protection. Tough as it was, the party's success remained in sight.

They came to a puzzle involving a deep pit and a switch. Activating the switch would open the door, but would also block the only path leading back to it. They mulled over what to do, until Emma pointed out the white gem across the pit. "Your Majesty, you could activate the switch and use that swapping staff on the gem to come back across!"

So with that plan in mind, Cecilia set to her task while the others waited by the door, prepared for whatever creatures waited on the other side. It opened after a minute or so without incident. "Nicely done!" Jack called to the princess below them.

She smiled and waved back, then teleported to the white gem and started up the stairs to meet them.

Three Raidbusters leaped from the shadows and attacked her without warning!

"Cecilia!" Jack cried and drew his weapon.

The princess was being pummelled from all sides, completely unprepared. The sinister dolls opened fire, shooting bullets and beams of energy. Cecilia tripped when attempting to cast a Barrier spell. The Raidbusters closed in!

Then...

KRACK-KRACK-KRACK!

One Raidbuster was completely blown away by Rudy's attack. It disintegrated in seconds, and was closely followed by another as Jack cut one to pieces. The last lunged for Cecilia from behind, but another KRACK later, it was gone.

Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. "Thank you," the young girl panted, her heart still pounding in fear.

"Are you okay?" Emma asked, descending upon her to help, but was soon waved off.

"I'm fine, nothing a spell won't heal..." Then she motioned to Rudy with a bright grin. "And thank you, Rudy!"

"Yeah, that was amazing!" Jack crowed. "A critical shot from that distance! Guess you're not unsure about those things anymore, huh?" He laughed and swung his arm around the boy's shoulders, who looked both embarrassed and pleased with himself.

The group continued on. Cecilia briefly pulled Rudy aside and asked quietly, "So tell me.. what resolved your conflict? What made you decide?"

His jaw worked like a fish out of water, and for a moment, she was certain he was going to tell her outright. Instead, he gave a little chuckle and very quickly put one arm around her. She froze at this, staring into his bright face. But the scene passed quickly. He soon released her and strode ahead, scratching the back of his neck.

For the rest of their journey into the Cradle, the young wanderers had a difficult time looking at one another.

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In-game story: going through the Giant's Cradle, Rudy's ARM honestly refused to work at all whenever fighting those blasted Raidbusters! I thought it was the upgrade I'd had... but then, Cecilia is ambushed by three of them at once. And when the others leap in to help, Rudy blows them away! And for the rest of the Cradle, he only locks up once or twice!

Glitch? Upgrade fault? Or a little sign of affection? The shipper in me already knows the answer.. you decide for yourself! Let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading this hastily written scrap! Keep writing!