In the mountain town of Troisemburg, in the country of Hawkland… In the Troisemburg branch of Orange Enterprises, Inc…

It is one day before the fateful events that took place in the first part of the prologue.

Very carefully, Guy put the finishing touches on his latest project. Once it was done, he leaned back in his chair with a sigh of satisfaction.
He looked at what he had made. The gun was small, about the size of a handgun, and most of its outer covering was plastic. It almost looked like a futuristic ray gun from one of those sci-fi shows from a long time ago.
Guy picked it up and held it in his hand. He had used a discarded glue gun for the outer covering, and he had put various parts inside, some of which he had designed himself. The gun was powered by two AA batteries that Guy had managed to fit into the gun's grip.
What he had basically made was a powerful beam handgun.
"I will call you 'The Equalizer,'" Guy decided. He put the gun in his pocket; now all he had to do was find a proper place to test it out... A place away from here. It wasn't likely that Guy would get a chance like that for a while.
He couldn't risk testing it in the vicinity of the Orange Enterprises base, because someone might tell his father. Samuel Maybee wouldn't, but there were many others that might, even if it was just in the hope that Guy's father would give them a better position within the corporation.
Guy got up from the desk and went for a walk.

Guy Orangere was the son of the owner of Orange Enterprises, Inc. As such, he had more money than he knew what to do with.
He had wavy orange hair that anyone who knew him recognized immediately, because it was such an unusual color. He had fair skin because he didn't go outside very often; he was a man of science, after all. The most surprising thing about his appearance was his eyes; the left one was dark blue, while the right eye was bright orange (a most unusual color for human beings). Over his eyes, he wore a pair of glasses; he couldn't see well at all without them. He liked to dress in black; it was his favorite color.
Guy's father was Orangeman Orangere. 30 years ago, this man had been a lowly inventor named Orange Kid, living in the town of Twoson, Eagleland. He was quite popular there, especially with the girls. Eventually, Guy's father had discovered how to change a boiled egg back into a raw egg, and he became rich virtually overnight. With all the money he earned from his successful invention, he started a company named Orange Enterprises, Inc.; as the years went by, the company grew to be a major international corporation.
At some point during that time, Orange Kid changed his name to Orangeman, and also adopted the surname Orangere. When Guy had been very young, he had asked his father why he had changed his name, and his father had replied, "Because my name was Orange Kid! I wasn't a kid anymore!" For some reason, Guy's father didn't like to talk about his old name, so Guy had learned to avoid that topic, on the few occasions when he actually got to see his father.
Now, in the present day of 202X, one of Orange Enterprises' most popular products was still the BREC (Boiled-to-Raw Egg-Changer) that Guy's father had invented 30 years ago. Guy had never been able to understand the point of such a machine. If someone wanted a raw egg instead of a boiled egg, wouldn't they just not boil the egg in the first place? he wondered. But people still bought the BREC, even 30 years later. Another popular product was the Suporma, which, as far as Guy knew, did absolutely nothing useful. Guy preferred to work on his hobby, building weapons, but his father had forbidden him to do so (because Guy's liking for "building useless things" was not being constructive with his time, his father had said). That was why Guy had to work on his weapons in private.
The last school that Guy had been sent to was Snow Wood, which he had been taken out of 2 years ago. Ever since then, his father had sent him on trips to the various headquarters of Orange Enterprises, all around the world. It was "to instruct him in the workings of the corporation," Guy's father had said. Guy had not been to his home town of Twoson ever since then; he had not seen his father since then, either.
Not that Guy minded not seeing his father. Orangeman Orangere was far too preoccupied with his corporation business and his money. Guy suspected that part of the reason he had been sent on all those trips was simply to keep him out of his father's hair. His father saw him not as his son, but merely as his heir, who would someday inherit the family fortune.
Guy didn't even want it. What he wanted was a family, a real family like everyone else had. Not a corporate multi-billionaire, but a real father who actually cared.
In Samuel Maybee, Guy had found that. Samuel had come to work at the Troisemburg branch of the corporation a few months ago, not long after Guy had been sent there. After meeting him, the two of them had become instant friends. Samuel was from the country of Falconland. He had a wife and three children who lived in his home town of Greyhamel, and he talked about them all the time, particularly his oldest daughter Sasha.
Samuel was almost a surrogate father to Guy. He did all kinds of things for Guy that a real father would do, but Guy's father had never done. And between the two of them, along with another friendly worker named Mark Wyrd, they often decimated the other team at the company Scrabble competition, which took place once a week. The only thing about Samuel was that Guy had never figured out exactly what his job was at Orange Enterprises; he knew that Samuel was one of the highest-ranking executives, but he didn't know anything else. No one else knew, either.

As he walked throughout the complex, Guy encountered Samuel Maybee. "Good morning to you, Mr. Maybee," he said, glad to see him.
Samuel smiled. "Good morning, Guy. Sorry, but I can't talk to you now. I have to go somewhere today."
"Oh?" said Guy. "Where are you going?" Guy's manner of speaking came from all of his top-notch schooling; at his preschool he had been forced to speak proper English all the time. He had found that he could not change it, and so he had accepted it as part of his identity.
"I have to pick up my daughter at the airport," Samuel replied. "She's coming to visit me."
"Is it Sasha?" Guy asked; of his family members, Sasha was the one that Samuel talked about the most.
Samuel nodded. "It's kind of a belated birthday present for her. Her birthday was two months ago, and I wasn't there."
He straightened out his black trenchcoat. "Anyway, I have to go and meet her there. I'll see you later, Guy."
"Goodbye, Mr. Maybee," Guy replied. "I will see you later. Have a safe trip to the airport." Samuel nodded and walked away.

As Guy continued his walk, starting to feel bored, his mind wandered. He suddenly found himself thinking of his time at Snow Wood Boarding School, in Winters.
That time had been a good one for him. He had actually had some friends there, which was a novelty; he had never had friends at any of his other schools.
One of his best friends there had been Kyla Quinn, a rather quiet, soft-spoken girl with bright red hair and leaf-green eyes. Kyla had been smarter than Guy; she had probably been the smartest student at Snow Wood. Where Guy was good with building weapons, Kyla could build anything. The two of them had been best friends, and they had often studied together for exams. Together they had accomplished almost anything.
Guy sighed, feeling down. He missed Kyla. He missed all of the other friends he'd had at Snow Wood. Those had been good times. He had written letters to Kyla and to his other friends, but he had never received any replies. Guy knew that they would never ignore his mail, so either his father was involved somehow, or the postal service in Winters was extremely poor; Guy suspected that it was the former.
One day, he promised to himself, I'm going to go back there and visit them. I don't know when or how, but I will. I don't care what my father says about it.

After a while, Guy eventually ended up back at his room. He frowned in displeasure as he realized that he had gotten absolutely nothing done that day, other than finishing one of his weapon projects. I'm not being very productive today, he thought.
Suddenly he heard a voice calling to him. "Hey, Guy!"
Guy turned to face him. The man was balding and he had a beer belly, and he wore a work uniform. It was none other than Mark Wyrd, another of Guy's acquaintances. He wasn't as friendly as Samuel Maybee, but he was a nice person nonetheless. At the weekly company Scrabble competition, Mark joined Guy and Samuel's team, and they would crush the opposing team. Mark was his friend, but Guy wasn't too sure he could trust him.
"Hello, Mr. Wyrd," Guy answered. "How are you today?"
"I can't complain," Mark answered. "I was looking for you and Mr. Maybee. We have to come up with a strategy for the Scrabble competition tomorrow."
Guy stared at him in puzzlement. "Mr. Wyrd, we do not 'come up with strategies' beforehand in Scrabble. The letters we receive are purely random. We cannot make a strategy until we get the letters."
Mark scratched his head. "Hmmm... Yeah, you're right, Guy. I should have thought of that."
Guy mentally rolled his eyes. Mark was also a football fan, and he kept trying to implement his football lore into places where it didn't belong. Scrabble was one of those places.
Mark shrugged. "Well, still, have you seen Mr. Maybee? Work's done for today, and me and some other guys wanted him to come to the bar with us."
"I am afraid that you will have to go without him," Guy replied. "He has gone to the airport today, to meet his daughter."
"Crap," said Mark. "I was hoping he'd come with us, so that maybe we'd finally find out what his job is."
"No such luck, I am afraid," Guy replied with a laugh. Samuel Maybee's job was an enigma to all; however, people went to him whenever there was a problem, and he would fix it.
With a sigh, Mark shrugged and turned to go. "Well, see you tomorrow, Guy. Oh, I almost forgot."
He turned back to Guy and dug around in his pocket, coming up with a small device. "I got that part you wanted."
Guy smiled; he had been wanting this part for a while. "Thank you, Mr. Wyrd," he said, taking the part from Mark.
"Why do you need it, anyway?" Mark asked, curious.
"It is for an experiment of mine," Guy answered. It was an ambiguous truth; the part was for one of the weapons Guy was developing, which WAS an "experiment" of his...
"Oh," said Mark. "Well, just be careful, whatever it is. We don't want the complex to be blown up, after all."
"Of course not," Guy agreed. "I will see you tomorrow, Mr. Wyrd."
"Yeah, see you tomorrow," said Mark. He turned and walked away.
After he was gone, Guy went into his room. Sitting down at the desk, he pulled out one of his weapon projects. It was a large bazooka-like gun that Guy had made almost entirely out of used parts from the various machines in the complex. With a smile of triumph, he fitted the part that he had just acquired into its place inside the gun's outer covering. Now he only had to get three more parts before this gun would be completed.
Sighing in satisfaction, Guy put the gun away for now. He hadn't named it yet; he only named his weapons after he finished building them.
He picked up another one to work on, but he suddenly realized how tired he was, even though it wasn't that late yet. Guy put the gun down and rubbed his eyes. If I can't stay awake, I'd better not work anymore, he thought. I'll make a mistake if I do. Guy took off his glasses and set them on the desk, and then got into his bed. Before he knew it he was asleep.

The next day, Guy woke up feeling more refreshed. I must have needed more sleep, he thought.
He got out of bed and tinkered with his weapons for a few hours. During that time, Guy discovered that he would have to ask Mark Wyrd for some more parts.
Finally he decided to go and see if Samuel Maybee was around, if he had come to work today. Guy got up from his desk and left the room.

After searching for a while, Guy found him. Samuel was walking through the complex, talking to a young girl about Guy's age. That must be Samuel's daughter, Guy thought, noticing that both of them had the same brown hair and sky-blue eyes. It's easy to see the family resemblance.
He walked up to them. "Good morning, Mr. Maybee," he said. Both Samuel and the girl turned to look at him. The girl looked somewhat surprised. She's probably surprised at my eyes, Guy guessed.
"Good morning, Guy," Samuel replied. "How have you been?"
"Well enough," Guy answered. He looked at the girl. "Who have you brought with you today?" he asked, although he probably already knew the answer.
"This is my daughter Sasha," said Samuel, introducing her. "She came to visit me in Hawkland, until I finish my work here."
Guy nodded and turned to her. He was glad to finally meet Samuel Maybee's daughter; from what her father had said about her, she sounded like a nice person. "So this is the famous Sasha," he said amiably. "Your father never stops talking about you, and he says nothing but the best about you."
Sasha blushed shyly, not speaking. Guy could identify with that; he was rather shy himself around people his own age, since living in an corporate complex didn't give him many chances to make friends. But then, he had been shy all his life, even during his time in Snow Wood.
He proffered his hand to her. ""My name is Guy Orangere. I am the son of Orangeman Orangere, who is the owner of this corporation. Your father is a good friend of mine."
Sasha smiled and shook his hand. "Pleased to meet you, Guy," she replied in a soft, melodic voice.
"Likewise," Guy replied. Samuel's daughter was just as friendly as Samuel himself was.
Then he suddenly remembered that he had to ask Mark Wyrd to find those parts for his weapons. At the same time, he also remembered that the company Scrabble competition was later today. He had things that he needed to do.
He turned to Samuel. "Well, Mr. Maybee, I have things to do, so I will see you later, probably at the company Scrabble competition later today?"
"Of course," Samuel replied. "Between the two of us and Mark Wyrd, we'll blow the competition away." Guy smiled; it looked as if it would be another typical week in that respect.
He turned to Sasha. "Miss Sasha, it was a pleasure to meet you," he said truthfully. "Surely I will see you again in the future."
Sasha smiled at him in response. Guy returned the smile and took his leave of them.
As he walked onward, Guy smiled. Samuel's daughter had been very friendly; he hoped he saw her again.

A few minutes after he left Samuel, Guy still hadn't found Mark Wyrd yet. I wonder where he is today? he thought.
Suddenly a frenzied worker ran through the hall from the direction Guy had come from, shouting, "Area F is under attack! Area F is under attack!"
The effect was chaotic. Some of the workers ran for their lives. Others flexed their muscles and went to deal with the threat. Others screamed like sissies and fainted.
Guy stood in disbelief. Who would attack a corporate complex? Especially one owned by Orange Enterprises? Orange Enterprises didn't even have any rival corporations; Guy's father had bought the rivals out many years ago.
He looked back down the hall, where the panicked worker had come from. In any case, he thought, standing in disbelief isn't going to do anything about the situation. I have weapons; I can help with this.
With that mindset, he turned and ran back where he had come from.

As he ran through the halls and rooms, passing crazed and frightened workers,, Guy encountered Samuel, who was running in the same direction. "Mr. Maybee!" he called. "Are you going to Area F?"
Samuel turned to him. "Yes," he replied; there was an edge to his voice that hadn't been there when Guy had talked to him earlier.
Guy nodded. "Where is your daughter?" he asked. "Is she safe?"
"She's safe, for now," Samuel answered, the edge in his voice growing sharper. "Guy, you should go back to your room until this incident is over."
"I am going to help you," Guy said.
Samuel shook his head. "This situation is dangerous. If something happens to you, your father will kill me."
"I will not go back," Guy said with finality. "I am going to help you. You can either let me come along, or I will follow you. Either way, I will not go back."
Samuel sighed. "All right," he said. "You can back me up. But if the situation gets really bad, then stay out of the way, okay?"
"That I will agree to," Guy agreed. He wondered exactly what Samuel had in mind for the situation.

They reached Area F, one of the industrial areas. And Guy saw what was causing the chaos. The few workers that were left there were fleeing the area, running for their lives; no one had the courage to stand up to the intruder.
It was a sleek robot-like creature shaped somewhat like a star, with a bold red X on its chest. It saw them coming and made an eerie mechanical laughing sound. "Greetings, foolish humans," it said. "I am Starman Junior X, Number 1462. I have been sent by my master to claim someone."
"Who?" Guy asked. Samuel glared at the enemy.
"I have been sent to claim a girl named Sasha," the Starman Junior X answered. Guy started in surprise, and Samuel's eyes narrowed. "My master has claimed her as his own. It is my duty to take her, and I will destroy this place and everyone in it until you give her to me."
"What makes you think she's here?" Samuel demanded angrily.
The Starman Junior X laughed again. "Foolish human, you cannot comprehend the power of my master," it said. Then, for no apparent reason, it explained. "The girl possesses a power that enables her to see certain future events."
Guy's eyes widened in surprise. He had no idea such a thing existed. Sasha can see the future?
"She has seen my master in her dreams," the Starman Junior X continued. "Naturally, this alerted him to her existence. He is intrigued by her, and has claimed her as a trophy of his upcoming conquest. He knows where she is because of her power, and so I have been sent here."
It raised an arm, which began to glow ominously. "Now give me this Sasha, or I will send you on the way to destruction along with this pathetic, ugly place!"
Guy winced. What cheesy dialogue, he thought.
Samuel actually smiled through his anger. "She's not here," he said. "I sent her away."
"Impossible," the Starman Junior X retorted. "My master would have seen such a thing."
Samuel laughed. "You're out of luck... Whatever you are. I placed a pseal on her Premonition. You won't be able to track her anymore."
"You WHAT?" shouted the Starman Junior X. "How dare you do that! For interfering with the master, the penalty is death!"
Guy had had enough of this. He had only met Sasha once, but she had been a very nice person. Guy was not going to let this strange robot-thing hurt her. He pulled the Equalizer gun out of his pocket; it looked like he would get to test it after all.
He pointed the gun at the Starman Junior X and pulled the trigger. A powerful beam burst from the gun and hit the Starman Junior X in the chest; it was knocked backwards by the force of the blow.
When it got up again, Guy saw that his gun had made a sizable dent in its chest; its red X was now distorted. "Your primitive weapon must be quite potent if it affected me like this," said the Starman Junior X. "But you will pay for your insolence! PSI Fire Omega!"
Suddenly a huge firestorm appeared, heading straight for Guy. In desperation, Guy threw himself to the side. The main force of the attack missed him, but the edge of the fire caught him.
Guy hit the floor; his clothes were on fire. He rolled around, trying to put the fire out, and somehow managed to succeed. He staggered to his feet through the pain; the fire had burned him.
Samuel Maybee acted next. "PSI Shield Omega!"
Suddenly Guy felt something envelop him; it felt warm and protective. What's going on? he wondered; he didn't understand what was happening.
Surprised, the Starman Junior X turned to Samuel. "You can use PSI?" it stated in disbelief. "You must be killed, then! My master will not allow such people to live!"
Rather than using PSI, it raised its arm and fired a beam. Caught off guard, Samuel was hit in the shoulder. "Aaagh!"
The Starman Junior X raised its other arm. Its arms started glowing, preparing to fire more beams. "Tell me where the girl is," it demanded, "and I will make your death quick."
Samuel let go of his shoulder and stretched his hand at the enemy. "I will NEVER let you or your 'master' have my daughter! PSI Freeze Omega!"
Guy stared in disbelief as a colossal blast of ice coalesced around the Starman Junior X. "Impossible--" it started.
Samuel pointed at the frozen Starman Junior X. "Guy," he said, breathing heavily, "shoot it now, before it recovers."
Guy didn't know how Samuel had been able to freeze the enemy like that, but he understood the emergency and obeyed. Raising his gun, he aimed at the frozen Starman Junior X and fired.
The Starman Junior X shattered into hundreds of pieces.
Guy looked over at Samuel. "We did it, Mr. Maybee," he said.
Samuel nodded, wincing from his shoulder wound. "We did, Guy," he agreed. "But only for a while. I'm sure that this isn't the last one that will be trying to find Sasha."
"But why are they after your daughter, Mr. Maybee?" asked Guy, confused. "What could they possibly want with her?"
"I don't know, Guy," said Samuel. "All I know is that they are after her, and sooner or later they will find her."
Then he looked at Guy. "Guy, can I trust you to do something for me?"
"Of course, Mr. Maybee," Guy replied without hesitation. "What do you want me to do?"
"When I heard that the intruder was after Sasha, I sent her as far away from here as I could think of, so that she would be safe. Guy, I want you to go to Primera, where I sent her, and protect her from anything else that comes after her."
Guy's eyes widened. "You mean... You want me to leave the complex?"
Samuel nodded. "I have to stay here, in case that thing's master decides to send others to this place," he explained. "But this incident has convinced me that Sasha is in danger. I'll cover for you, of course, so your father won't get suspicious of your absence." His gaze became pleading. "Please, Guy; I can't trust anyone else with this."
Guy nodded back, touched that Samuel trusted him so much. "I will do it, Mr. Maybee," he promised. "You can count on me."
"Thank you, Guy," said Samuel gratefully. "Like I said, she went to Primera. Please follow her and stay with her when you find her."
"I will," Guy assured him.

He went back to his room and gathered his things. He took apart all of his half-finished guns and stuffed the parts into an old backpack he had used from school. Maybe I'll be able to finish them on this trip, he hoped.
Guy stuffed a few more things into his bag, and then he was ready. "It is time to go," he said to himself. He put the Equalizer gun back into his pocket.

No one asked Guy anything as he left; everything was still too disorganized from the attack. So Guy made it out of the complex unhindered.
As he walked into Troisemburg to get to the bus stop, Guy marveled at the town and everything around him. He hadn't left the complex for quite some time, and getting out was an unusual experience for him. But then, considering the enemy that he had just fought, unusual experiences were about to become commonplace.
Something else gnawed at him as he walked: Why was he doing this? He didn't even know Sasha. He had only met her once. She had seemed like a very nice person, but still, considering what that Starman Junior X had said about her having some kind of power, Guy didn't know much about her at all. Why was he rushing off to protect someone he barely knew? He was doing it for her father, who was his friend, but still...
Then he remembered something from his schooling, during a history class. The teacher had started talking about the war against Giygas that took place 30 years ago.
Back then, the hero Ness had arrived in Guy's home town of Twoson, when he was suddenly contacted by a psychic plea for help. It had been a girl that Ness had never even met before, named Paula, who had been kidnapped by the old Happy-Happyist cult; she called to Ness with her telepathic powers and begged for his help. Most people would have ignored such a thing, but not Ness; he rushed off to the Happy-Happy village and brought down the cult, and freed her. Then there was the time where Ness and Paula were trapped by the zombies in Threed, and Paula had called to another person named Jeff Andonuts, far off in Winters, in the Snow Wood Boarding School that Guy had gone to at one time. Jeff had never met either of them before, but he left Snow Wood and traveled many miles to come to their aid.
After the war was over, a reporter had asked Ness why he had gone to help someone he didn't even know. Ness had answered, "It didn't matter that I didn't know her. When someone is in danger, it doesn't matter if you don't know them or not. What matters is that they need your help. When someone needs your help, you have to do everything in your power to help them, knowing in your heart that it's right."
Guy realized the wisdom in those words. I may not know Sasha, he thought, but she needs my help. That's all that matters. I know in my heart that this is the right thing to do.
With new resolve, he reached the bus stop and waited for the bus. It came, and Guy was soon on the way to Primera. He looked out the bus window; it was a bright sunny day outside.

Little did Guy know that although he was going to Sasha's aid, he was also going towards destiny...

And so begins Guy Orangere's part in the story...