Union, Chapter 1: "Revelation"
Foreword from Godeg
I originally posted on the Union IF thread because I was incredibly bored. I really didn't expect to get involved in the IF to the extent that I did. I thought that it was rather interesting seeing how the story unfolded. As more people posted, the IF became more interesting. That's what kept me posting. In fact, it was the first IF that I was actually active in.
What bothered me, though, was the fact that some posts were ignored totally. I guess that that's normal, so that wasn't much of a bother.
Anyhow, I want to know whether there is going to be a sequel of some sort to Union. I never did get to explain who those people were in my visions.
"Finally! I've found what's left of Giygas' body and mind!" Pokey cried triumphantly. "Now, I can assume my rightful place as Cosmic Destroyer!"
Flying through space in his Spider Mech, he neared what was left of Giygas. His mind was wracked by psychic messages from Giygas: 'Go back!', 'I won't let you take me over...', but he kept going, showing his resolve, and his anger for the universe, and all in it... planets, stars, satellites, nebulae.... flared.
Extending a claw arm, the Spider Mech drew the alien's remnants into itself. Heading back to Charon, the tiny moon of Pluto, Pokey pressed a button.
On Charon, the location of Pokey's base, the gravity regulator turned on, as did the atmosphere generator.
"It was wise to choose Charon as my base. No other humans will reach it before I destroy them, and their pitiful planet."
The Spider Mech slowed down to allow for the artificial gravity generated by Pokey's machinations.
Preparing the DNA recombinator, Pokey placed Giygas (as I will refer to him from now on...) in it.
Programming a Spinning Robo he salvaged from Peaceful Rest Valley, he stood in front of the recombinator. The Spinning Robo spun over to the recombinator, and flailing about, hit the button which activated it.
Pokey groaned in pain... then his eyes took on an odd red tint, his canines became fangs. The Spinning Robo beeped something.
"Foolish robot!" Pokey raised a hand, and destroyed the Spinning Robo.
He started to walk out, then stopped. "I no longer need this." And with that, he destroyed his Spider Mech. "Now, I can go."
Pokey flickered out, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
"Wait up, Picky! I'm getting tired!" Tracy cried.
"OK, I'll stop..."
"SHRIIIIIIIIIEK!"
"Tracy?"
"Look... behind you."
Picky turned around. "P, Pokey?"
"Right, stumpy." Pokey grabbed Picky, covering his mouth, and disappeared.
Tracy stood there, amazed, for a second. Then she ran home, screaming, "MOM!!!"
"Let's set the picnic blanket out over here, Ness," Paula said. She spread out a green and blue plaid blanket out in the Peaceful Rest Valley.
"This is going to be a great picnic!" Ness exclaimed. His receiver phone started ringing. He picked it up. His face immediately paled...
"Ness... what's wrong?"
"It's... Pokey. He's back. And he's kidnapped Picky..."
Paula's face turned as pale as Ness's. "This is not a good thing... Ness, we've got to get back!"
"Leave the picnic stuff, we gotta haul butt back home! C'mon!" Ness said, as Paula ran behind him, just in time for Teleport Beta.
They appeared just outside Ness's house, and ran in as fast as they could. They threw open the door, and stumbled in. "What happened!?" Ness asked, and Tracy hurriedly spilled out the details.
"Me an' Picky were running up the hill to see the place where the meteorite used to be, and Pokey just appeared, and grabbed Picky!! He just appeared, Ness!! Right in front of us!! And he looked really weird, too!"
"Calm down, Tracy.. we'll find him. But first I have to make two long-distance phone calls. I have a feeling we're going to be needing help." Ness said, and headed towards the old reliable phone. He wondered to himself what it would cost to do a three-way connection between Onett, Dalaam, and Winters. Maybe it would be cheaper to use PSI. He also wondered how Pokey had just "appeared", as Tracy described it. He couldn't have PSI... No, that was impossible, and he pushed the thought to the back of his mind, and picked up the phone to start dialling. You had better reception on phones than PSI anyways.
Mira tilted her telescope toward the sky. If there was one thing she was really interested in, it was space. Well, that and Roman mythology, but those two actually tended to go hand in hand.
She cranked it up to its full power, and swivelled it around. Since she had such an interest in space, this telescope had the latest technology, allowing her to see further into space than many great astronomers.
Looking up into the sky, she noted that Jupiter's Galilean moons seemed very visible tonight. Ganymede, Callisto, Europa, And Io. As she peered through, she even noticed some of Neptune's moons, such as Triton and Proteus.
"I bet I could even see Charon tonight..." She whispered in awe as she rotated the lens. She kept looking, and finally Pluto's moon, Charon came into focus.
Mira stared in silence as her long black hair encircled her. "It's no wonder they named it after the dead river guardian.... what's that?"
She zoomed in to see a small fort on Charon's surface. "That's strange... I wonder if it has something to do with the clarity of the stars tonight..."
Ness and Paula picked up the phone, and attempted to dial Poo's Palace.
"How could a country in the far east have a BUSY PHONE LINE?" He screamed as the dial tone blared in his ear.
"Ness, why don't you just teleport there?"
"Err... uh.... good point..."
Ness sighed, and powered up a powerful teleport attack.
He swirled through the stream of existence, with Paula clutching his hand. However, something just... didn't seem right about the teleport zone.
When he finally landed, they found the broad palace doors to be shut and locked. "Drat!"
Ness suddenly slammed his shoulder into the door, and it swung open. He blushed as he realized he had just barged into a royal assembly of sorts. Poo looked up at him, confused. "Ness?"
Ness stood for a second, finally finding his voice. "...hi..." He said weakly, the group of people staring back at him. Suddenly everything came flooding out of him in a burst.
"Pokey's back, and he kidnapped Picky!" He shouted, as most of the assembly sat confused. Poo stood up, and left with Ness and Paula, without any explanation to the rest.
In Winters, Jeff had a similar experience and was about to call Ness. Suddenly, Ness appeared in front of Jeff, with Paula and Poo following behind.
"Ness!" Jeff yelled, "My computer has picked up a strange anomaly!"
"We know Jeff," Ness said, "Pokey has returned."
"Just Pokey?" Jeff asked nervously, "Because my readings said that Giygas is back too..."
Ness stared at Jeff for a minute, taken aback. "Jeff..." he said, looking for the right words "Jeff, we destroyed Giygas! He can't be back! I mean, it's hard enough for me to understand this mess as it is..."
"Ness, you want proof? It's all sitting on my comp-"
The lights went out.
"Ow, hey!! That's my foot" said a voice that belonged to Poo.
"Gahh, who did I trip over?" shouted Paula's voice.
"That was ME!" yelled Jeff.
"Quiet!" yelled Ness. He had produced a small ball of PSI in his hand, which was producing light. "Jeff, what happened?"
"A blackout, a total blackout... aughhh!!! The readings!"
"What's wrong, Jeff?"
"The.. the data.. I didn't back it up... I just got them when you came in..."
A silence fell for a moment. "Do you think that could have been planned?" whispered Paula.
The location: a small island a few hours' travel from Eagleland.
On this island, Anthadd, the Sugemo Adept, practised Stellar, a mix of PSI and Sugemo, which he had just discovered in the Tome of Sugemo.
He had learned that Stellar skills were best learned at night, in the starlight.
"I think I'm ready to try something..."
Anthadd looked at the sky. For some reason, the planets were brighter than usual.
"Oh, no matter." He closed his eyes, drew the power within him out, and yelled, "SCORPIUS BLADE!"
Opening his eyes, he saw a blade of pure energy curved like a scorpion's stinger fly towards a tree. But it faded out before reaching the tree. Anthadd slumped to his knees.
"That... Stellar Power took more out of me than I expected... I should take it easy for now... or strengthen my abilities of Stellar."
He headed back to his laboratory... only to find something surprising there. "What in the world? Something's being registered on Charon? That makes no sense... Charon's the moon of Pluto, farthest planet from the sun. Why would someone set up shop there?"
Quickly recessing to get some milk and chocolate mayonnaise cake (it's not as yucky as it sounds), he sat down at a table to ponder his choices.
"My best bet to get to Charon would be either Apple Labo or Ando Labo... but it's the middle of the night. However, considering the distance between here and Twoson, and here and Winters... I should visit Apple Labo.."
After putting the lab's security mechanisms on, he exited, went Draco, and Anthdragn flew off, bearing in a direction towards Twoson.
Meanwhile...
"It's entirely possible this was planned, Paula," Jeff said. "In fact, I'm willing to bet this computer on it."
Ness quickly shook hands with Jeff.
"He wasn't SERIOUS," Paula muttered.
"Who says I wasn't?"
"..."
"Really, Paula..."
"..."
"Paula?" Poo asked.
Paula's eyes closed, and she slumped into Ness' arms.
She soon awoke.
"Paula?" It was Ness, very concerned.
"Ness! Wait until I tell you what I have to say! I just had a psychic message, and it said..."
But before Paula could tell them, she passed out again. She appeared before a dark background. She was quite afraid. Then a voice boomed in the background.
'Paula... Paula... where are you?' said the voice.
Paula heard the voice. "Who are you?" she cried out.
'I am the Apple of Enlightenment. I have come to you with this prediction... but I cannot put in words. Instead, I'll show you...' said the voice.
Paula was startled, she had never heard the AoE before. She had heard of it. But never communicated with it.
Then the background changed to something else.
'This is the year after 200X... the day, that Pokey won the eternal battle.' said the Apple of Enlightenment.
She looked all over the place. She was startled. It was a city. But which one was it? She saw a sign.
'Welcome to...'
She gasped out in fear. It was Twoson. She looked around her. The theatre was overrun with zombies. The Department Store was in ruins. The Hospital was vandalised and shut down. The Hotel was torn down and an adult video store took its place. The bike shop was also destroyed for the store. Apple Kid's house was on fire. One of the Healers was tied to a tree, being pelted with rotten fruits by various enemies that were known to give bad ailments to the Chosen Ones. But... where was her home?
"Apple of Enlightenment, where is my home?!" she cried out, in fear of what might await her.
'My child, do you really wish to see the truth?' asked the AoE, 'For the consquences are disastrous.'
She gasped, but she nodded, nonetheless.
Then she was warped to the Pre-school. It was unspeakable. What she saw on that day, made her filled with fury. The kids, that she knew, were grown up... to be rebellious teenagers. They were terrorising her poor father. Of course, some of the children were missing, but she immediately found some of them. One was in a garbage can rummaging for food and one... was lying in the gutter... presumably to be dead. As she took pity on her father, she suddenly realized something was missing. Her mother! Where was she?! Paula was frantic. She ran around the front yard. Then she went into the backyard. She saw a tombstone. She gasped in horror. No... it couldn't be!
She walked to the tombstone and was about to read it... until a cloaked figure appeared before her very eyes.
'Paula, don't be afraid. I am the Apple of Enlightenment.' said the cloaked figure.
She stared at him.
'In case if you are wondering, yes, this is your mother. Her death was tragic, indeed. When word passed that you were killed by the hand of Pokey himself, she went through a heart attack. The poor woman, her heart couldn't take it. Your father stood by her side. He lost his job by standing by his wife on her deathbed. It was sad seeing them. After her death, some of the children turned rotten. Your father became a hermit and lost all contact with the outside world. It was sad, indeed. I tried to talk sense into him.. but I failed.' said the AoE.
Then the background changed into a vast void of endless space and in the centre, was Earth.
'10 years later, everyone died. The planet disappeared, just like that. Pokey was getting bored of Earth and moved onto bigger things. But he couldn't risk having Earth to rebel against him. So he destroyed it. Just like that. With a snap of the finger.' said the AoE as he snapped his finger. Then a tremendous explosion was heard, the blue planet blew up.
Paula screamed in horror. She heard the cries of billions of people as the planet was destroyed. She screamed and screamed. It was horrible!
'I'm sorry for putting you through that. But I had no choice. But, there is a way of changing the future. Yes, this wasn't a prediction. It all happened for real. You all lost the battle because you underestimated him. So heed my warning, my child. Save the inhabitants of Earth and Earth itself. For Pokey is getting stronger by the moment. After I finished, you will wake up and everything will be restored. Don't forget what I told you... Farewell, for the future of Earth is upon your shoulders!' said the AoE as he waved goodbye to Paula.
Then Paula woke up.
Anthdragn landed, and reverted to his humanoid form just outside the Two-Three Tunnel. Luckily, the sun was just rising, and no one was nearby. However, he heard the whirring of a car's engine about to turn the corner, so he hurriedly ran into the forest.
A bus from the Easy Hand Bus company drove by.
"That was close... It would be hard explaining how I appeared out of nowhere..."
As if on cue, a cold wind blew around him.
"What was that?"
"Wo! Wo! Go back!"
"W, what... I've heard of these things... they're called Zombie Processors..."
He backed off... turned around... and another one appeared right in front of him...
"Great... can you say 'Cornered'? Because that's what I am... in spades."
Elsewhere, with Pokey...
"Pokey! LET ME GO NOW!" Picky cried!
"No, no, no, little brother. You know magic... somehow. And I'm going to draw that power from you!"
"Magic?.. What are you talking about?"
"Way back when... when that idiot Buzz Buzz came back in time... remember? The meteorite? Starman Junior? I distinctly remember you chanting something."
He showed Pokey a book. On the front cover were written obscure runes.
"Over the passage of the years--"
"You've only been gone a year or two!"
"Quiet, idiot." Pokey raised a hand, bombarding Picky with burning sparks. Picky screamed in pain.
Pokey grinned, showing his fangs.
He continued. "As I was saying, over the passage of the years, in some sort of chronological limbo... no time passed... no time at all!... I was able to translate it! It tells of a great power that the people of yesteryear controlled! It tells of PSI! And it tells of Magic!!!"
"W, what?"
"Pay attention, my unworthy little brother... this little tome... this Tome of Sugemo... tells of odd powers. Powers only people of certain descent can manipulate. I see the Mark of Ae Ahl on you."
"Mark of I'll?"
"Ae Ahl, you idiot." And Picky was bombarded with stronger flames now. His face was now highly scarred.
Picky started crying. Pokey slapped him in the face.
"Ae Ahl was the old term for light... I found it in this Tome. Diu Ero was darkness, evil."
"Jello?"
Pokey, finally having had enough, kneed Picky in the stomach. Picky groaned, and fell unconscious.
After spotting the fort on Charon, Mira went to look at some of the other spots in the system.
"Mars is bright.." She commented as she looked at Phobos and Deimos. "Very bright... I wonder if there is a war coming..."
She took a move to head inside, but instinctively looked up at Charon one last time.
Suddenly a flash of pain ran up and down her body. "AA! Not again!"
Whenever strange things happened in the system, Mira seemed to react accordingly. It was her cross to bear, but she was tired of having the disturbances ruin her life. She was going to get to the bottom of this.
Rockwell was in his training room in Dalaam, practising the art of sword skills. His teacher? The Master.
"Good, good Rockwell. But remember, you must greet your sword handle as if it was your friend's hand." said Poo's Master.
Rockwell dropped his sword. Then he looked at Master.
"Master Aziz... I have to confessed. I... never had a friend. I don't know how to treat my sword properly." said Rockwell as he stared at Aziz with sad eyes.
Aziz nodded.
"I understand what you meant. When you first came to my temple, I saw your eyes first. Because they are what make a person. In your eyes, I saw loneliness. You looked like you lost someone dear to you. Would you like to talk about it?" Aziz asked.
Rockwell looked at his shadow.
"No... Aziz, maybe... I should take a break." Rockwell said as he picked up his sword.
"Yes, of course. Please do so. I must tend to other engagements." said Aziz as he left the room.
Rockwell put his sword against the wall nearest to him. He looked around the room.
"Oh... Mika. When are you coming back?" Rockwell thought to himself.
Then the room changed. He saw a figure. It was a female, indeed. Rockwell looked closer. It was... Mika? No, it couldn't be...
"Oh Rockwell..." said the figure.
Rockwell stared at her with bewildered eyes. Was it really her? No, he had to be imagining this.
"Rockwell... look at me." said the girl.
"No... I can't bear the pain. The pain of losing you. I'm glad you're here, but how do I know if you're real... if you're not, then it will hurt me all over again..." Rockwell said to the girl.
"How would you know, if you don't try?" said the girl.
Rockwell looked up. Then he looked where the girl was. But noticed that she wasn't there anymore. In her spot was a wall with Mika written in blood. Rockwell gasped in horror.
"No... no..."
The wall got closer and closer. Rockwell backed up. Then he bumped into something. He turned around. It was the murderers that killed Mika. He stepped back. Then he heard them spoke.
"Ha ha... that'll teach Rockwell to steal our boss' prized possession." laughed one of the murderers.
The other guy laughed out a harsh laughter. Rockwell was filled with fury. He wanted to kill them. He grabbed his sword and then charged toward them and slashed them in mid-air. But the blade went through and didn't affect them at all! Rockwell groaned. He dropped his sword. Then everything went black.
'It's time.' said a mysterious voice.
Rockwell was startled. He looked around the room. He was confused.
'It's time.' said the mysterious voice.
Rockwell swung around. But no one was there. Then Rockwell built up his courage and then spoke.
"Time for what?!" Rockwell screamed.
'You'll see...' said the mysterious voice as he laughed.
Then everything went back to normal. His master, Aziz, was standing there at the door looking at him.
"It's time, isn't it?" said Aziz.
Rockwell was sweating from his brows. Then he looked at Aziz and nodded.
"Yes, I think so. But... time for what?" Rockwell asked.
"My child, you must go on your journey and find the answer to your question. But first, I want you to meet Mira. She may have some information to help you. You must ask her of 'Charon.'" said Aziz as he bowed to Rockwell.
Rockwell frowned. But he faked a smile and bowed back in respect.
"Yes... master." said Rockwell.
"Please, Rockwell. Call me... Aziz." said his master.
"But, I couldn't. That's just rude!" said Rockwell.
"My child, you have so much to learn about friendship." said Aziz as he held out his hand.
Rockwell looked at him. Slowly, he put his hands out and then shook hands. Aziz gave a wily smile.
"That's how you hold your sword." said Aziz.
Rockwell looked up and gave a small smile. Then they parted ways. Rockwell ran out of the temple and went to the edge of Dalaam. He looked down. It was rather high from up here. A girl came out of one of the huts and ran over to Rockwell.
"Hey mister, what are you doing?" the girl asked.
"I'm off... to my journey... I don't know my directions yet. But, all I need... is my sword." said Rockwell.
The girl looked at him. Rockwell looked at the girl, she looked like if she was 8 or something. Then she took out a flower and held it out in front of him.
"Mister, maybe this will help you!" said the girl happily.
Rockwell smiled. He accepted the gift.
"I'll guard this with my life." said Rockwell.
The girl giggled and then ran back into the hut. Rockwell looked away. He put the flower in his pocket of his black leather jacket. Then he looked around the place.
"The wind... it's changing directions... that's good." said Rockwell.
Then he got into a diving stance and jumped off the edge headfirst. He went at incredible speed. Rockwell started having second thoughts.
"Wait! What if I died?! Is that what the voice meant?!" Rockwell screamed in his head.
He got closer and closer to Earth. Then he saw water. He smiled and then dived toward the water. He startled a bird on the way down. He looked up and said, "Sorry!" Then he looked down. He braced himself for the impact and then hit the water.
5 minutes later...
Rockwell was out of the water, drying his clothes in front of the fire. He took a handful of dust and then raised it above the ground. Then slowly, one by one, he let the dust loose. Then he watched the direction it went.
"East... I have to go east. That's where I'll find Mira." said Rockwell.
After his clothes were dried, he packed up and headed east, unaware of the danger that awaited him.
"And that's the whole story." Paula said to the group.
"What? Pokey destroyed Earth?" Ness said.
"If... we lost to him because we were weak, then we have to get stronger..." Poo said.
"Actually, we have to remember not to underestimate him." Jeff said.
"No! Nothing of the sort. Remember how we defeated Giygas? We have to do the same way. With the hope and support of people backing us. We were only a small factor in the defeat of Giygas." Paula said.
"Oh... them," Ness said smugly.
Mira stared out her window in her kitchen, and looked into the night's lonely fog. As she breathed, tiny icicles formed on the glass.
She noted that it was unusually cold for October, but thought nothing of it. Suddenly, she saw a form come at her house from the fog, and it looked extremely tired.
Mira ran to the door and threw it open. She ushered the mysterious figure in, and closed the door, but not before a cloud of cold air wafted in.
"It's so... cold...."
"I know. Sorry it's not much warmer in here, but I don't really have enough money to keep the place heated."
The figure looked around the tiny house. No pictures of family, no lavish accessories.
"Where are your parents?"
She blushed. "I'm an orphan."
The person combed back his hair, and made a note to steer away from the subject of family. He desperately wanted to change the subject, so he looked outside. There he saw her telescope.
"WOW! That thing is NICE, man!"
She smiled. "With the little money I have, I decided to put it toward my hobby of watching the stars... By the way, just who are you?" she said as she eyed his sword.
"Oh. I'm Rockwell."
"And why are you here exactly?"
"I've been told you are the one with the knowledge of the stars, and Clearly you are. Can you tell me about the disturbance on Charon?"
Mira raised her eyebrows until you could see almost all of her pink iris. "Come with me."
Meanwhile...
"OoOoOoOh... preeeetty..." Luna mumbled to herself, looking at Saturn's rings with some amazement. Luna attended Snow Wood girl's boarding school, the girl's branch of the Snow Wood boarding school, across the lake from the boys. The school had just bought a huge new telescope, and the sky was unusually clear of obstructions. "Not a cloud in the sky... what a sight!" she sighed to herself, zooming in on Neptune. "Bet I could even see Plu... what the heck!?" Luna boggled at what she was seeing through the telescope. A spiral streak... a RED spiral streak!? She glanced at the computer hooked up to the telescope, shoved a diskette into the A:/ drive, and hit the 'save' button on the computer. This had to be a major discovery! Dr. Andonuts, the new astronomy teacher would be thrilled!
"Well, whatever it was, I've got it aaaaaaaall on this lil' disk!" Luna grinned to herself, and looked at the computer, which had started to make funny noises, and spraying sparks.
"AAAAH!!! No, bad computer!! Don't blow up, nononononooooo!!!" she screamed at the computer, which now had sparks flying out of the monitor "Please don't blow... oh cruuuuud!!!" Luna grabbed her backpack, and the disk, and ran out of the lab at top speed, slamming the door behind her.
**BOOOOOM**
"...it..it.. BLEW UP!!!" Luna gasped, staring into the now-destroyed lab with complete disbelief. "Whatever's on this disk must be important! I gotta call Dr. Andonuts!"
It didn't take Luna long enough to find Dr. Andonuts. In fact, Dr. Andonuts found her outside the computer lab. The explosion made Dr. Andonuts worried that his latest 'fusion' invention was a bit out of control.
"Luna? What in the world happened? Did my scam... um... did the computer lab exploded because of the fusion... um... Okay, what happened?" Dr. Andonuts stuttered as he tried not to reveal his 'scam'.
Luna stared at the professor with big 'bambi-like' eyes. Dr. Andonuts saw them and forgot about his question.
"Dr. Andonuts, I have this disk in which I saved from the dangerous explosion. I found something in outer space. Could you identify it for me?" Luna asked.
Dr. Andonuts chuckled, "Why, my dear, whatever could it be? A lint on the telescope?" Luna was offended from that remark.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I was just joking, you know? Of course, I'll look at your disk and identify it. Come along with me to my office." said Dr. Andonuts and he straightened his lab jacket.
So they went to the office and Dr. Andonuts politely took the disk from Luna and inserted it into the computer. Dr. Andonuts was shocked at the image that he found.
"Remarkable! Remarkable indeed!" Dr. Andonuts exclaimed.
"What is it?" Luna asked with utmost curiosity.
"It's... it's... I have no idea. But this is an incredible discovery! Where did you ever find it?" Dr. Andonuts asked.
"Um... I was looking for Pluto and I found that." Luna answered.
"Well, this is beyond my knowledge of stars in outer space. And many other things. Let's see if I can magnify it." Dr. Andonuts said as he pressed the magnifying button.
The picture zoomed in and it seems that the unidentifiable object was moving.
"What the?" Dr. Andonuts said with surprise.
"What?" said Luna.
"This... object is moving toward us... I have to tell Jeff about this!" Dr. Andonuts shrieked.
"Jeff who?" Luna asked.
"My son, and one of the chosen ones!" said Dr. Andonuts as he ran for the phone and dialled Jeff Andonuts.
Meanwhile...
"Wonderful..."
"Wo! Go back, go back!" the Processors intoned.
"No!" Anthadd drew his driver from the golf bag on his back, and started attacking them.
But it went straight through them!
"Wo! Fool, fool!"
"Scorpius Blade!" Anthadd groaned in pain. The energy blade just went through the ghosts.
The ghosts started circling Anthadd, as if taunting him, abusing his weakness.
The sky, for some reason, had darkened once more, as if the forest staved off the light.
"Could it be the powers of... Diu Ero, the Darkness?"
"Wo! The Diu Ero will consume you, fool!"
For some reason, some techno battle music started playing in the background.
"No! I won't let the darkness defeat me!"
The area around the human, and his phantom oppressors... burst into flames!
For some reason, Anthadd was unaffected. His eyes turned the colour of burning flames... the runes representing "Ae Ahl", the light, appeared on his forehead.
"You will not defeat me! I will not be felled by the darkness!"
More Zombie Processors appeared, but some barrier separated them from the young scientist.
"CENTAURUS FLARE!" The constellation of Centaurus appeared on Anthadd's body, disappeared, then he erupted into flames! The Zombie Processors faded away, but the fire still raged...
Near exhaustion... he pulled himself out of the forest, and onto the sidewalk, all the while screaming in his head... then fainted.
It was refreshing for Paul, the young boy found outside Polestar Pre-school, to ride his bike to and from Threed. Normally, nothing much would happen. But this wasn't normal, he knew that for sure.
"A forest fire?" His mouth was gaping wide open. His eye wandered... someone was unconscious, collapsed on the sidewalk!
He hurried back to the Preschool to get help...
Mike was humming to himself as he walking along a stretch of road near a quaint little town. "Hmm, looks like I'm lost. But no matter, it's so great here." He continued walking for a little bit, only to be hit by a kid on a bike.
"WTF, kid. Can't you see I'm walking here?!" Mike asked, kinda annoyed that his walk had been interrupted by a bike.
"Sorry mister, but I'm Paul. How's it going? Anyway, I was riding my bike like usual, when I saw some fire and stuff, and there was this guy, right, and he was just... lying there! you gotta do something!" Paul exclaimed, pretty much in one breath.
"The heck? lead the way, kid!"
A couple minutes later, Mike and Paul returned to the site where the body lay. "hmm... this doesn't look good. But I know just what to do, because I watched TV. AND I happen to have water!" Mike stated. He took out a flask of water, and poured it all over the person.
"Hmm... nothing... oh wait... no, that was a cricket." About a minute passed and the person started to show signs of life.
"*COUGH* Oh man... that was just not good... feels like I was playing with some fire there... hmm? Who are you, what are you doing here, and did you save me?" the person asked.
"I'm Mike. How's it goin? I was just walking along when... some kid hit me with his bike... speaking of which, where is that little... oh yeah, and I did try to save you. So, what's your name and what was going on there?"
"I'm Anthadd, and I was fighting some ghosts. That battle... took a lot out of me, I guess you could say. Anyway, I guess I should be on my way..."
"Sure, see ya around... I guess" Mike was left alone at that. "Hmm, I guess since I'm here, I'm going to lie down and look at the sky... the heck? what's that in the sky? Hmm... this doesn't look good. Oh yeah, and why is the forest on fire? Too bad Anthadd already left, but I bet we'll meet again... Anyway, I should sleep to think about it." Mike then promptly fell asleep.
** Sleeping **
Mike - Hmm, neat, I'm all disconnected from my body and stuff. Hmm... looks like what just happened... except, before I arrived. WTF! Anthadd was wailing on some ghosts... but who is that next to Anthadd?
Guy that was next to Anthadd - Hey Mike. You know that this wasn't all just a coincidence, correct?
Mike - Uhh... who are you? And it wasn't a coincidence, eh? Figures. Never fails.
Guy that was next to Anthadd - You don't need to know who I am... yet. Anyway, you should go find Anthadd again... Maybe he could tell you something... your presence MAY have a strange effect on him.
Mike - ... k. I'll do that. Thanks... dude... yeah...
** wakes up **
"HEY ANTH!!! WAIT UP!" Mike yelled, and started to run off in the direction that Anth left in.
Mira led Rockwell to her telescope. She took the telescope and pointed it directly at Charon. Then she motioned Rockwell to come forward.
"Look through this and look at it very closely." said Mira as she backed away from the telescope, "Oh, please be careful."
Rockwell walked over to the telescope and looked through it.
"What the...? Why is there a castle on that planet?" Rockwell said in surprise.
She giggled and then said, "Charon is a moon. Not a planet and what do you mean castle? There's a fort."
"Well, it doesn't look like a fort to me right now..." said Rockwell.
She moved Rockwell out of the way and looked through the telescope curiously. Rockwell appeared to be correct. But how did it get set up so fast? Then a jolt of pain, unaware of by Rockwell, went through Mira. She screamed in pain and then passed out. Rockwell caught her and looked at her. He carried Mira into her room and laid her across the bed. He walked toward the door. Then he stopped. He got a flashback.
'I know. Sorry it's not much warmer in here, but I don't really have enough money to keep the place heated.'
Then another flashback appeared.
'With the little money I have, I decided to put it toward my hobby of watching the stars...'
After the two flashbacks, Rockwell suddenly got the urge to help her out. He pulled out his pouch and took out one of his prized, yet priceless, possession and put it on a counter for her to find.
"Maybe this will help invest in your hobby and... get a heater," Rockwell said with a smile.
He never felt like this before. He walked to the door and then left. He walked through the snow to west. Back to where he started his journey at to find out what his next destination is.
Jeff picked up the ringing phone. It was Dr. Andonuts.
"Jeff! You must come here! I found something so remarkable! It's so unidentifable that even I can't identify it!" Dr. Andonuts shouted on the phone with excitement.
"Whoa Dad, calm down. You want me to come over and check it out?" said Jeff.
There was a long silence.
"Dad?"
"Would you like a donut?"
"DAD! This is no time for famous quotes!" Jeff groaned.
"Yes, come over, please!" Dr. Andonut said as he hung up the phone.
Jeff told the gang that he had to go and then he went to take the Skyrunner.
Rockwell was back at the start. He got on the ground and began meditating. 20 minutes pasted, then all of sudden. Rockwell started to get an image. It was moving so fast that Rockwell could barely make sense of it. Then he caught one word... Polestar. He stopped his meditation and then stood up.
"Polestar... it has to be southwest of here." said Rockwell.
He took a part of a bread and then put it in his mouth. Before swallowing it, he drank a small amount of his water bottle and waited until the bread soaked into the liquid. Then he swallowed the bread to get a full feeling. Then he headed southwest toward his desitination.