Chapter 47

Destruction

Three hours after Dave received Savior's Power...

"Why the hell did you attack this place?" a female voice said in the background. Whoever she was asking, would not answer. "I already defeated the first nine of you quite easily. I could take you out right now and end this quickly. I really don't care either way." Even though smoke covered the area, a female figure could easily be seen, but not clearly. Just a silhouette could be seen, and she was holding a figure that look like a starman by its throat.

"Nev... ver..." said the starmen as the dust started to settle.

As the dust settled, what they looked like became clear. The girl had long blonde hair down to the end of her back, was wearing blue jeans, a pink shirt with the word "wicked" printed on it, and a black denim jacket with short sleeves and the bottom just above her hips. Finally, her face could not be seen. She had a mask on that consisted of the halves of the masks symbolizing drama and humor, drama on the right and humor on the left. The starman was of the Omega class with the other nine of them lying on the ground completely dismembered, and the tenth having its throat clenched by the mystery girl. "Fine then, kiss your life good... bye!" She quickly punched the Omega starman in the torso area as he was instantly dismembered into twenty pieces by her single punch. Only the head remained of the starman in her left hand, and she quickly squashed it with her bare hands like an egg in a hydraulic vice.

"Why did they attack Onett now?" she thought to herself as she looked around at the destruction around her. Not much had been caused, at least structural wise. Human lives had been taken because of those starmen. About two hundred to be exact, the proof that they had not gotten far is that her sneakers were in hot blood from the recently deceased bodies. Their deaths were not pretty. Most battlefields during World War II had not been this gruesome. Body parts were every where as well as piles of blood. Most people got away, but a few unlucky souls could not and then others try to avenge their fallen neighbors, and all met with the same fate. That was until she arrived. She managed to finish off all ten Omega starmen that had been terrorizing Onett in three minutes, and quite easily as well. She did not have a scratch on her body; not even her clothing was ripped.

A slight tear could be noticed coming through her mask. "GOD DAMMIT! If I had just stayed here none of this would have happened! Those innocent people should not have lost their lives like that. Their deaths were all pretty brutal from what I can see here" she thought to herself as she collapsed to her knees. She suddenly turned her head as she felt a great power coming in fast. "Shit! The Horsemen of Light are returning. I can't let them see me, not yet. They'll know someone was here, but its better they not know my name right now." In a burst of light and a thunder clap, she was gone from the scene.

As Ness, Paula, Jeff, Poo, Casie, Tom, and Dave all started to return to Onett, they were all shocked in different ways by the scene before them. "What the Hell happened here?!" Ness creamed as he could not believe the gruesome scene that laid before him. Body parts and blood were strewn about the streets of his home town. Paula, Tom, and Poo all headed for the nearest garbage cans after just getting a glimpse of the sight that laid before them. Ness collapsed to his hands and knees in shock. Jeff just stood there absolutely frozen. Dave fainted almost immediately after catching the first glimpse of the sight before him. Casie simply turned her head and closed her eyes since she could no longer bear the gruesome scene.

"How did this happen?" Ness started to say with an unsteady flow to his voice. "Why would anyone do this? Even when Giygas invaded here about seven months ago, not even he took any lives. What evil could have done this?" Tears started to pour from Ness' eyes as a hand clenched his shoulder in comfort. Ness turned around to see it was Frank Fly.

"I can tell you who did this. Those starmen there said a being named Godan sent them here to capture you Ness. They said anyone who stood in their path would be immediately terminated. They kept that promise to the latter and then some. Anyone who could not get out of their path was gruesomely killed. Limbs ripped off, etc. Those who tried to fight back met the same fate. Most of the town got away to the hospital, the hotel, my arcade, the police station, or the library for shelter. My sharks helped get most of them to safety and then got their butts out of the way as well. It looked like the town was done for until someone came down and obviously completely eradicated those starmen with the same ferocity that they were slaughtering those people with. I did not see anything, but whoever did that must have been more powerful than you Ness" Frank explained to Ness.

Jeff heard everything as well, since he was still right next to Ness frozen stiff. He could not believe that someone was capable of obliterating starmen of the class he thought him seeing away like that. "Ness..." Jeff started to say with a slight stutter in his voice. "Those are Omega starmen Ness. It looks like whoever beat them did it with ease, by looking how they're more dismembered than the people are." That instantly brought a shock to Ness's eyes. If everyone combined could hardly defeat three in the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse's former stronghold, then how could someone by their lonesome defeat ten with ease.

Ness then utter these eleven syllables under his breathe, "Psi Purification Omega." All the blood was instantly removed from the scene, and the parts of the Omega starmen where instantly vaporized. Also, what little damage was done to structures was now gone. But nothing else happened, much to Ness' dismay. "Damn it! It didn't work!" Ness soon felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked back to see it was Paula. She was pale as a ghost but her hand still felt warm and comforting as Ness put his over top of hers. "I tried to give them their lives back. Maybe I'm not just strong enough yet" Ness said as tears started to pour from his eyes.

"Ness, no matter how strong you become, you can't become God, let alone play him. These people are probably in Heaven right now, enjoying their afterlife. No person should die like they did and then go to Hell. There's nothing we can do about the past Ness. We can do something now" Paula said as she came closer to Ness. "I know it will be painful, but let's try and help these people mourn for their loses. Help them cope with the living nightmare that they are going through."

Ness' grip tightened at that point. "I guess we can help whoever we can. Just for today though. I would also like to see if anyone saw who defeat those monsters. I would like to thank who saved my hometown. But first, I have to see if my family is okay" Ness said as he slowly got up and started to run home as fast as he could.

"I hope they're alright Ness" Paula said as she slowly put her hand to the ground. She cringed and held her gut as she took it off the ground. "A girl about Mike's height crushed all ten of those starmen like they were nothing. Each one went down in a single punch. That mask she wears hides her identity from me. I wish I could find her to thank her for saving so many and to know who she is" Paula thought to herself. "I've never seen anything so brutal before, and I hope I never have to again."

"Paula, you okay" Casie said.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" Paula replied back.

"Well, I saw holding your gut there. I thought you were going to go back to the garbage can."

"No, it was nothing" Paula said with a smile, hiding her true reasons.

A little ways from the main town of Onett...

"Mom, Dad, Tracy! Are you guys alright?!" Ness screamed frantically as he barged into his house.

"We're fine Ness. What's the matter" Ness' Dad replied.

"Well, don't you know what..." Ness started to question as quickly remembered. "They would have no knowledge of what just happened" he thought to himself as the incident just happened no more than thirty minutes ago. He quickly explained what happened.

"What?!" Ness's mom screamed as she was completely baffled by what her son just told him. "I can't believe they attacked so close to here. Do you know who stopped them?"

"Absolutely not. By the looks of it, someone or something extremely powerful came around and completely annihilated them as fast as they came. It was quite a brutal scene left behind" Ness replied as he sighed in relief that his family was okay. "I know Mike would kill me if I didn't check, so is his family okay."

"Yeah, I just met his mom about an hour ago. They didn't have plans of going anywhere" Ness' Dad replied as Ness sighed again in relief.

"I guess your little adventure went well" Tracy commented as she saw her older brother still in one piece.

"Of course, let me show you what I got out of it" Ness closed his eyes and concentrated on making a bat. Within seconds it was made, and the jaws of Ness' family hit the floor.

"Wow" Tracy commented.

"That was just a little weird" said Ness' Mom.

"Will it be enough Ness?" Ness' Dad asked.

"Maybe, I still think we'll need another miracle like last time” Ness said as he remember back to how he and the other Chosen Ones originally defeated Giygas. The power of Paula's prayer being heard across the world and the collective power of the human race defeating Giygas. He still remembered how one power stood out though, and it completely overwhelmed Giygas quite easily. That day was a complete miracle. If that one power did not emerge, Giygas might not have fallen, and would have done as he pleased with the earth.

Ness said goodbye to his family and started to turn around to leave. Tracy had one last question for Ness before he left, "What are you going to do now?"

"I truly do not know. I want to wait and see what to do when Mike, Nolan, and Ryan come back. I know one thing I can do right now. I have to see an old friend about a stone" Ness said as he walked out the door.

On the hill where the meteor that fell in Onett that started it all for the Chosen Four...

"I wish I could have made it in time." The girl who had single-handedly saved Onett from complete destruction sat on the knoll where the meteor originally fell. Her face was still covered by her mask. She just seemed to be relaxing in the sunshine of the non-fallitic weather with her head on a backpack of some sort.

"The Chosen Four should be grateful. This isn't the first time I've saved their asses" she mumbled to herself as she started to fumble through her pack. She felt what she was looking for. "This item was the only reason I did not arrive on time. I should have grabbed it another day, but that would have meant trying to relocate it. At times, I hate the life I have to live. I hope this letter I got will change all that" she thought to herself as she felt the letter right next to the item she was first searching for.

She soon heard footsteps coming up the hill leading to the meteor crash site. "Oh no, someone's coming up here! Have to hide have to hide" she thought to herself as she did not want anyone to know that she was even still around. Her usual way of escape caused too much noise and that flash of light. She saw the cliff on the other side of the meteor site that actually had land below it. She quickly ran jumped off of it knowing she could survive the fall.

"Well, old friend, I'm back" Ness said aloud as he looked at meteor as he ascended the final hill leading to the knoll at which it crashed about one year ago. Ness walked towards the meteor and sat right next to it. It no longer shone with the bright light it once did, but it still have much significance for Ness. That night when Pokey came knocking on Ness' door wanting help to find his little brother Picky. The night he met Buzz-Buzz, and the night where Buzz-Buzz defended Ness and gave him the Sound Stone.

Ness looked at the makeshift grave he made for Buzz-Buzz after his adventure was over. The one in Magicant had given him the idea. As Ness reminisced about earlier days, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small case containing the Sound Stone that Tom gave him earlier. "I guess it would make sense that the Sound Stone could make sense. I mean, Buzz-Buzz did come from the future to give this to me. So, maybe he did not have the stone until right before he came to tell me about Giygas" ness said to himself aloud trying to sort out the mysteries of the Sound Stone.

"The Sound Stone? How does that thing still exist?" the girl thought still not completely vanishing from the scene. She could still hear Ness, and she planned on listening. "This could prove interesting."

"It's broken though, so how did it manage to come to me whole. None of this is making sense!" Ness screamed as he could not figure out the stone's mystery. "Buzz-Buzz, if you can hear me and speak to me, please tell me how this is possible? Please, tell me..." Ness wanted answers, but Buzz-Buzz's grave and the meteorite still stood silent “Most importantly, what am I to do with this thing? I already absorbed the power of the eight 'My Sanctuaries'. Why did you even give this to me Tom? Why?"

Ness slowly stood up and started to leave the area. Knowing that he would not get his answer. Before he descend the hill leaving the knoll he though he heard something like this, "Combined, with that, he will fall." Ness could not be sure if he heard that, so he shrugged it off and went to go see Paula to help those who had been affected by the tragedy that just befell Onett.

"Ness, I hope you heard that because so did I.’Combined, with that, he will fall'. I have no clue what it means, but I think you can figure it out" the girl thought to herself as she quickly vanished to make sure Ness did not see her.

Chapter 48

Empathy from Beyond

“The voices…why won’t they stop crying out to me? I cannot help them. How could I possibly help them from this mortal realm? They have been crying since this all began.”

It was around noon, the day after Ness, Casie, and Dave had received their weapons. Also, the same day after the recent tragedy that befell Onett. A loud crackle could be heard in the empty streets of Onett that day when four bodies suddenly appeared.

“Thanks, Gabrielle, ever since I lost my teleportation power, Phoenix has been the only way for me to get around. That’s actually how we got to the island” Mike said.

“Must have been a long flight” Gabrielle said with her classic giggle.

Nolan slowly walked up to Gabrielle, “Umm… your wings” he whispered into her ear. Gabrielle, quickly realizing that she never hid her eight archangel wings, made them disappeared faster than she could make them appear.

“Thanks, Nolan, good luck, you know you’ll need it” Gabrielle said as she quickly teleported off.

As Mike let out a sigh of relief that he finally had his Eden Sword, he noticed that the town was dead quiet. There was not a person on the streets during the usual busy noon hour in Onett. It was the only thing that seemed out of place to him at that moment. He had not been in Onett long, but he knew that a city is usually busy during the lunch rush. “Hey guys, is it just me or do things seem…”

“Dead”, Ryan finished. “Yeah, I noticed that the second we got here. This is too quiet for a city. I would say an attack took place here but everything looks untouched. It does not look like Belle Vernon does.” Ryan had no idea that Ness was the one responsible for the restoration of anything damaged in the town. It seems that the gruesome scene that was there only a day ago was quickly cleaned up, as to not leave lingering nightmare about what happened a day ago.

“What happened then?” Nolan wondered as he slowly looked around the town to find nothing out of place. Everything seemed calm, as if nothing happened. “It’s like the day after the calm of the eye of a hurricane strikes. It’s sunny and peaceful everywhere, but mass destruction lies in that seemingly peaceful scene.” Nolan had no clue how correct his simile was.

Mike all of a sudden let out a series of slight twitches in a row that Nolan and Ryan quickly noticed. “Hey Mike, you okay?” Ryan asked.

“Yeah, it just happens when my muscles get too tense that’s all” he replied.

“You sure, Mike? That didn’t seem normal” Nolan replied.

“Yeah, I’m fine. It happens about once day to me. Just not usually in that magnitude” Mike said in a blunt lie, and he knew it. Correction, he really did not lie, but it was a half truth. Those slight twitches or ticks did happen to him at seemingly random patterns once a day, but no one usually noticed. They would happen for three reasons: in response to overly tight muscles, at complete random for no apparent reason, or if something was amidst.

“What’s with me? It’s like someone is trying to reach out to me. That feeling was not from a slight spasm like I said, but something very cold just passed through me. It touched my soul like if someone wanted me to feel that. That’s it. Something definitely happened here. I never feel like this mentally after doing that randomly or after a quick muscle loosening like that.”

Mike could not just place his finger on it, nor could Nolan or Ryan. “Hey guys, you think the others might be back by now? They might just be able to tell us something if they’re back.” Nolan asked.

“I’ll go see” Mike said as he quickly ran off.

At Ness’ house…

“You think Nolan, Mike, and Ryan will ever come back?” Paula said as she sighed, getting tired from just waiting for those three to show up.

“Paula, do not even doubt them. Remember, they had to fly there in Mike’s Phoenix form just to get there. It probably took them a while just to find the place. Once there, I’m sure they made the archangel that was probably there look like nothing. Those three have powers that can beat almost any opponent into instant submission when combined” Casie replied as she started to walk towards the sink for a glass of water.

“It was probably better that they did not come back yesterday. If they would have seen what had happened, I could see Mike flattening Onett in his rage” Casie laughed slightly at Ness’ comment. “What’s so funny, Casie?”

“I’ve known Mike for too long I guess, he and his tantrums can be funny sometimes. I don’t think would flatten Onett. I think it would be a hilarious reaction without considering the reason why he would be like that” Casie replied flicking her black hair away from her face.

“One more thing, Mike has an odd little talent of finding his way out of any situation. No matter how bad something may look, he can always figure out a way out” Casie commented as she sat down.

“Then why didn’t he do that against Gorin and not get captured?” Paula quickly replied as that thought crossed her mind.

“I only said he can. He probably did not feel like revealing his trump cards to Gorin, or he was completely out foxed or overwhelmed. I’m guessing overwhelmed” Casie replied back.

Ness could definitely agree with that. Mike was in pretty bad shape when they found him over a week ago. As Ness started to try and strike up some conversation with Casie to try and get to know her a little, since she was a fellow horseman. His front door all of a sudden flew open.

“Well, well, well, welcome back Mike” Casie said as she immediately recognized Mike.

“So, you finally decide to return. Where are Ryan and Nolan?” said Ness.

“I ran up here pretty quickly, so they’ll be here in a bit” Mike replied. “Oh yeah, before we go any further, what happened in Onett?”

“Shit! He knows something happened!” Casie thought to herself panicking. “Umm… nothing happened Mike what are you talking about?”

“I guess she doesn’t want him to know” Paula thought to herself she and Ness exchanged glances. They just nodded at each other to agree not to interfere with those two. It could get interesting, and they wanted to watch.

“Casie, when I arrived in Onett, there was not a single thing stirring in that entire town. Not even the commonly friendly stray dog. That city is always busy, but now it’s dead quiet. I’m sorry for assuming so quickly, but I think I’m right in assuming, correct.” Mike knew something had happened, and he was unknowingly right. Casie wanted to keep what happened a secret. That scene was too gruesome for even her to see. She did not want to relive that ever again.

Casie was about to read Mike’s mind to try and clear any memory of what was not going on in Onett right now away. She then remembered his mental defenses and how they were nearly impenetrable. “That won’t work; I’ll just try to divert the subject. It’s usually easy to do with him.”

What was a good subject to change to? Casie knew just the one. “First off, did you get your weapon?”

“Yeah, I did” Mike said as he reached into his quiver and pulled out his weapon of light. “I call it the Eden sword. I really went through Hell and back to get this thing. What about you?”

“In the corner over there” Casie said as she pointed to the back left corner of Ness’ living room and Mike saw Casie’s weapon. “I see we’ve succeed at least. Now back to the original subject, what happened in Onett?”

“I told you nothing happened, Mike” Casie blatantly lied as she was definitely to keep Mike in the dark.

“Then why do you seem to be shaking a little and are rubbing your hands together in a nervous fashion” Mike commented.

“Busted” Paula thought to herself as she was starting to get amused by this little scene.

Casie sighed. He definitely knew now since she could not keep her cool. “Was I that obvious?” Casie asked Mike.

“Yeah, you were. You’re not a good liar” Mike replied.

“Fine, I’ll tell you everything we know” Casie then proceeded to tell Mike everything she knew, including the entire scene.

“What the Hell?! How did this happen? I should have left sooner or came back sooner and maybe I could have defended the town. I could have done something so all those people didn’t lose their lives! Darn them… … …” Mike started to ramble and pace frantically from the shock of finding out the brutal incident that happened while he was away. Mike kept this up for five minutes when it started to annoy Casie.

“Mike, stop. Hello, would you please calm down and stop pacing. Hello, are you even listening to me. Michael Olsen, hello, stop pacing!” Mike just would not stop rambling and pacing around Ness’ living room. “Oh well then, you asked for this” Casie said to herself as the next time Mike came around, she grabbed him and slapped him right across the face as hard as she could. “Now calm the fuck down!” Casie cursed at Mike.

“That hurt, and thank you!” Mike said a few seconds after Casie snapped him out of it.

“You’re welcome. Now sit!” Casie said as she pointed to the empty chair in Ness’ living room and ordered Mike to sit in it.

As Mike started to walk towards the chair, he hung his head down and looked like a dog with its tail in between its legs. Ness and Paula were all the while laughing at the entire scene. “What’s so funny?!” Mike screamed.

“I’m sorry Mike, but that was too rich. You and Casie act like brother and sister more than friends you know that. That was just too good not watch” Paula said while laughing.

“We have known each other since, what Mike, the second grade” Casie said.

“Yeah, I guess we’ve started to act like brother and sister. Seems logical enough” Mike almost cracked a smile when his mind got back on track to what Casie told them. “Back to the issue, is that all you guys know?”

“Yeah, it…”

“No, it’s not. Sorry for not telling you guys earlier, but I scryed the ground and got a look at who save Onett, as well as what happened. In all of its gory detail” Paula said as she cut off Ness.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Casie glared at Paula.

“I wanted Mike to come back before I revealed any of this. I only want to say this once so wanted at least someone who did not get to see we did to know first hand the scene before I go into anymore detail. Mike, this will be very disturbing, so be ready for the worse. First, Mike, I will show you what we saw when we arrived, and then I will show everyone here what I was able to see by scrying” Paula said as she closed her eyes and started to send Mike the images of the brutal scene. “Hmmm… those two are nearby, I should probably send this to them as well” Paula thought to herself as she sensed two more figures coming near Ness’ home.

Mike was immediately shocked by the brutal scene Paula telepathically showed him. He immediately fell to his hands and knees and quickly had tears flowing from his eyes. “Those bastards!” this language shocked Casie because Mike had a thing about swearing, “how dare they! This is the most despicable result of anything I’ve ever seen!”

“What I’m about to show you three is the actual fight that took place. If anyone does not want to see this, object now” Paula spoke telepathically before relaying what she saw through scrying. As to make sure the other two figures near Ness’ house had a chance to object, they did not though.

Onett, about one day beforehand…

It was a bright sunny day. Birds chirping, people in the streets enjoying their usual day as they always would, friends being with friends, parents with their children, it was the literal perfect day. Everyone seemed to be completely ignorant of the current fall of major cities around the world from the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse. They had experienced invasion from Giygas before, so they were going to enjoy life until they no longer could. They were not even worried about that, since the hero of the Chosen Ones, Ness Rowen, lived right in their tiny little area. Who would have suspected the catastrophe that was about to envelope Onett?

“Mom, can I have that Tee-Ball Bat?” a boy asked his mother asked they were walking through the Onett drugstore.

“You already have one. Why do you need another?” she replied.

“So I can be like Ness” said the boy.

“Sure” said the boy’s Mom as she started to pull out her ATM card so she could buy the bat. She started to swipe the card. A very loud explosion was heard outside. Both of them ran outside to see what had happened. They saw ten chrome figures standing in the middle of the street with cars scattered about. Everyone in Onett recognized them as starmen, but they had never seen that class before. Some people started to run away in a panic instantly. Others stayed to fight, not ever wanting to be under someone’s whim like Giygas ever again.

“You starmen sure have guts coming here. With this being the hometown of Ness and all, I would not have thought any of you would ever show up here again” he said pointing a shotgun right at all ten starmen. “Get out or die” he said starting to pull the trigger.

“No, you die” the starmen who had the shotgun pointed right at him said as the shotgun was fired right at him. It had absolutely no effect.

“What the? What type of monster are you?” the man said as he fired his shotgun once more and once again to no avail.

The starmen pointed his whip-looking arm towards the man and created a beam cannon from it. He fired a beam from it instantly killing the man who shot him. The other nine proceeded to fire their beam cannons in all other directions.

“Come on, get inside and hide!” the boy’s mother said as she started to push her son inside the drugstore seeing the starmen fire their beams at everything around them.

“No! I’m gonna stay and fight!” the boy screamed as he started to resist.

“You can’t fight them! Their…” his mom could never finish her sentence. A beam from one of the starmen hit her going across her back.

“Mom, Mom… get up. Come, get up. Mommy!!!!!!!!!” the boy cried as he felt his mother’s face. It was cold, very cold. She had a blank stare in her face as looked at her. The boy now knew his mother was dead. This tore him up enough that he did not see the cars blowing up from being hit from the beams or the rubble crumbling down from the buildings and crashing to the ground. The people wee either hiding wherever they could, fighting back and getting obliterated, or being blown apart from just being in the way. The starmen took no mercy on anyone. The boy did not care though. He only cared about his mother lying there dead and the tears he was shedding for her.

“I have to do something for you mom, but what?” the boy said to his mother. He looked around and saw the Tee Ball bat he wanted his mom to buy. “They’re going to pay for this.”

“Get away!” someone in the frantic screamed as everyone was trying to clear out of the way. Blood, debris, and human bodies, injured or dead, laid the wake of the starmens’ path. About one hundred people were already dead with maybe three times that injured in a two minute span.

“They’re going to pay for what they did to my mom!” the boy said as he started to run towards the starmen with everything he had with bat in hand. “This is for my mother!” he howled as he swung the bat as hard as he could and made contact. A bright flash and debris started to fly right by him, just then. He covered his eyes from the light and debris. When he opened them, he saw the starmen blown apart into about a dozen pieces. “Did I do that?” the boy said astonished at his ‘feat’.

“No, I did” said a girl’s voice. The boy looked up and saw a girl with blue jeans and a black denim jacket with a pink shirt that said wicked on it. He could her long blonde hair but not see her face because of the mask she wore. It was a weird one, but it covered her face nicely. She had her fist sticking outward as if she just punched something. “Go home or hide kid, this is no place for you to play hero.”

“But… but… but” the boy started to say.

She knelt down and put her hand on his shoulder. “Look, I do not want anyone else to get hurt. Go to the hospital and try to help out there, I’ll take care of things here, okay” she said in a sweet voice to try and get the boy out of the area.

“Will you be okay?” the boy said.

“Trust me, I’ll be fine” she said as the boy ran off. “Good, now time to destroy these things. They look like the ones that killed my parents. Fortunately, I’m much stronger than my parents and these starmen!” she screamed as a starman charged forward. She quickly turned around delivered a front kick straight to the starman’s head, blowing it right apart.

“Enough Paula, enough!” Mike screamed as he broke Paula’s concentration.

“You okay, Mike” Casie said as she opened her eyes to see Mike against the wall crying.

“No, that should not have happened! If only we went after the weapons right away one of us would have been around to do something about this! If only I had not gone insane after we defeated Godan. If I did not goof around with this thinking I still had time to plan this all out, those people would have lived! They would not have to suffer like everyone else around the world. They could still be enjoying themselves on the street. This is my fault!” Mike screamed as he could hardly bare the scene he just saw.

“Mike, look, this isn’t your fault. There was nothing you could have done to prevent the series of events that has led up to what just happened yesterday. It’s been happening around the world” Paula said to Mike trying to comfort him.

“Yes it is! What kind of leader am I to let people get massacre all around the world?!” Paula stood in silence as she could not answer Mike’s question. “I’m going for a walk. I need sometime to think” Mike said as he quickly walked out the door and right pass Nolan and Ryan.

“Mike, you ok…”

“No!” Mike screamed right back at Nolan as he walked away.

“I think he just saw what we did” Ryan said to Nolan.

“Agreed” Nolan said as he and Ryan walked into Ness’ house.

“Did you two try and stop Mike?” said Ness.

“No, not when he’s like that, he just needs to cool off. I think I know what’s he’s angry about. I’ve known him for too long. He’s probably blaming himself for what happened” Nolan said.

“How’d you know?” Paula asked Nolan.

“He’s always been like that” Nolan replied.

“Shouldn’t we go talk to him then?” Ness asked.

“When he’s like that, no use. He just needs to be with himself right now. He needs to calm down and he’ll be back” Casie said.

“When will he be back?” Ness asked with some concern in his eyes.

“In a few hours, he just needs to think. We’ll be able to move forward once he comes back. Until then, we need to take a break, for real this time” Nolan said as he kicked back and started to relax.

Paula started to slowly creep towards the front door as to try and get away unnoticed. “Hey Paula, where are you going?” Ryan said.

“I’m going home right now. Granted, Twoson is pretty close to a ghost town with the Apple kid and the people who were away left right now but, I need a change of clothes right now. I’ve been in this pink dress for a nearly two and a half weeks now. I need to change into something a little more comfortable and clean” Paula glared at Ryan.

“Okay, just asking” he replied in an apologetic manner.

Paula quickly walked outside and shut the front door. “I hope Mike will be okay. That was not a hissy fit he just threw in pure frustration there. Something else is also troubling him” Paula suddenly thought about what could be troubling him, thinking about the spirit she saw go by her. “I can see spirits of people recently passed and those who choose to walk the earth. I’m used to it. It’s what I call second sight. It is also extended so I can speak with spirits and the Heavens. It’s how I use prayer. Another power I have is I that I have what Poo calls spiritual empathy. Psychic abilities that allow me to sense emotion in any being capable of feeling them, including spirits. I can hear and feel the cries of and sorrows of the people who have been killed recently. I’ve always been able to feel this since I was a toddler. I can feel all range of emotions. Poo says I’m fortunately that the ability has not changed me psychologically. It drives most to the brink of insanity.

“I wonder. Could Mike have powers similar to my own? Could he be able to sense emotions in people and that are hidden deep within people as well? Can he feel the cries and joy of the spirits around him as well as feel, and maybe see them? Finally, what Poo told me is really powerful, is physical empathy. The power to feel the physical pain of others when they are struck, and when they touch someone, they can know what they are feeling and thinking. Could he be troubled by all the cries and pain of the people in Onett and those who have passed away? No wonder he would be saying this like he did. He knows the pain they are going through, and wants no one to ever feel it again. That’s what he is thinking, knowing that self-righteous attitude of his. He has to realize he cannot do everything and protect everyone. He can do his part though, and end one of the major causes of all of this. Once he realizes this, I feel he can actually feel better about himself and move on.

“The Horsemen of Light need a leader right now, and Mike might doubt his ability as a leader as well” Paula said to herself as she started to reach the Onett-Twoson border. “He is the leader. I have no doubt about that. The way he has acted to save others regardless of his own well-being has amazed me. When the chips are down, he’s the person we need to go to. Not for wisdom, not for courage, not even for power, but for his steadfastness and inability to quit. He’ll fight to the end, but not without a plan. Even if he gets put into a nearly impossible situation to get out of, he seems to be able to adapt to any situation once he has analyzed it. He’s stubborn in many ways, for that matter, but his usage of his stubbornness is what makes him a good leader.

“Unlike Mike, Ness is very different. He’s calm and social. He has a warm touch and glow about him that makes anyone feel comfortable around him. He’s never been intimidated by anyone or anything. He does not go head on like Mike does, but steps forward to show that even though he maybe afraid, he will not back down from a challenge. If he fails, he just gets right back up and does not whine or complain. He just knows that even if he fails, as long as it does not cost him his life, he will think about what happened, and make himself better because of it. Whether if it’s in life, school, or on the battlefield, he will just never back down. He’s a great person to have faith in because he always has it. This is why he is not the leader. Mike might be the leader, but because he is in that position he might put too much pressure on himself and not think things through straightly, and when he fails, will wallow in sorrow for a while before he gets back up on his feet again. Ness is there to make sure that does not happen. That if something goes wrong, Mike can look to someone for help.

“Mike’s the leader because he can think on his feet and cares for others more than even himself. Ness is not because he has faith in himself and those around him, and will never show his fear in the most dire situations. He brings the confidence to move on no matter what happens. The two combined might just be the perfect person to have by anyone’s side. They make up one greater person using what’s great about themselves and not letting their own weaknesses get in they way. This is how I know Mike will be fine because he has someone to look to emotionally, even if that person is not present, that he can keep going and he can only do what he can. Once Mike can become himself again and get out of his temporary depression, he and the other Horsemen of Light can become an unstoppable force that can beat the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse. I’m sure of it because I have faith they can. Also because they are not alone, will are fighting as well, and will do whatever we can to make sure those four accomplish what they need to accomplish” Paula ended her thoughts as she walked up to her house. It was to quiet for that time of day. She missed the sounds of the children playing and the noise from the crowds at Burling Park. She knew that she could enjoy that again one day because she had faith that they could succeed, no matter what anyone said.

Back at Ness’ house…

“That had to be the most brutal thing I’ve ever seen. Those starmen were only there for a massacre, not on a hunt for us like in Belle Vernon” Ness said as he was still bothered by the images Paula showed him and the others.

“My question is: who was that girl who seems to have single-handedly stopped them? Those were definitely stronger than the class I beat in my hometown. I’ve seen everything including final starmen, and one stronger, but nothing like that” Casie said to herself as she knew she had never seen starmen that strong before.

Ness felt the need to quickly answer that one, “I have encountered them before. They are Omega starmen.”

“When did you encounter them?!” Ryan asked.

“When we were rescuing Mike, we were about to leave when they attacked us. Granted, we were slightly worn out, but we still should not have had the problems with them that we did, especially since there were only three of them. They were literally running circles around us. Jeff managed to get a long enough look at one to figure out its weakness to fire, but it still did us no good. None of us with fire based techniques, which only consisted of Paula’s Fire and Dave’s magic, were even able to come close to touching them. All seem lost until Paula bumped into Mike and Mike put his hand on her back and showed her how to do Flare” Ness replied.

“Holy shit! He showed her how to do Flare!” Casie was slightly taken aback by this for reasons unknown to Ness.

“Yeah, what’s the problem with that?” Ness asked back to Casie.

“It’s just that… that…”

“It’s the point that Flare cannot be learned so quickly” Nolan said to stop Casie’s stuttering. “It’s one of Shadow’s dragon attacks that he showed Mike, since Mike was the first known dragon Psi user to appear in fifty years. Dragon attacks are nearly impossible to control or master, even by those who could naturally use them. Question, how did it take for those starmen to fall after Paula learned the attack?”

“Only a few seconds, the attack incinerated them in almost and instant” Ness replied.

“So you’re saying, those starmen are that strong. As it took something like Flare to beat them all” Ryan said calmly as he walked towards Ness stopping just short of the couch he was sitting on. “Meaning that blonde haired girl we saw in that vision, it was not some ordinary person. She did not even need fire based attacks, but one punch to stop them right in their tracks.”

“Yeah, and considering Tom’s attacks did nothing to them, I guess we can say we have a good ally in the shadows” Ness said aloud.

“Where is Tom anyway? Now that I think about it” Ryan said out of curiosity.

“Oh, he said he had some important business to attend to” Ness said as he started to lie down on the couch, slowly dropping his cap over his eyes.

“And the other three?” Nolan said.

“I can answer that. Poo and Jeff said they were going home. Dave said he had to see someone important. They all said they would be back in three days” Casie replied.

“You mean the time we have remaining” Nolan said.

“Yeah, it makes sense considering what just happened. I think we would know the result if anyone were to try anything against them right now” Casie sighed as she started to rest against a wall.

That night…

“The voices…why won’t they stop crying out to me? I cannot help them. How could I possibly help them from this mortal realm? They have been crying since this all began.” A voice in the distant said to himself as he looked out from the western shores of Onett. The peaceful wind blew gently on that silent night where those words were said. Not a cloud in the sky, so the stars could gently twinkle without being obscured by them. It was so far away from the lights of the main city, that it was even more beautiful. On top of that, the moon was new on that night. The stars could shine with their full potential, making for the most beautiful night anyone could ever hope for. It was an astronomer’s paradise. But that night, only one person was looking up at the night sky at that point, trying to appreciate its beauty, but he could not. All he heard were cries from beyond.

“All of this, I can’t stand it anymore. How could I ever allow these people to suffer such pain? Have I failed all those people? Is this the reason this has been the only time I’ve ever been able hear these cries? Because they could easily blame me for their sorrow when I first started out with just a hockey stick in hand, it was for I am now responsible for their lives. Well, in this case, was responsible until they were taken from them. I cannot even see their faces. I wish I could. Then and only then, could I truly apologize for not being there and trying my best to prevent their deaths. I can promise them one thing though. They will get justice for the despicable crimes committed against them” he sighed to himself.

“The worst part is that I can feel their pain sometimes. When it’s on a large enough scale since it’s so far away. God, why do I have this skill to feel pain and hear their cries? What can I do to correct them?” The boy sighed to himself as it suddenly went pitch dark.

“You know, Mike, you should not pity yourself so much. It’s not good for your health” said a female voice.

“Yeah, and it’s also not healthy to stay up past midnight” Mike said back.

“Oooo, same to you” said the voice.

“Paula, what in the heck are you doing here, and could you get your hands off my eyes?” Mike said as the beautiful night became visible again.

“I’m trying to cheer you up that’s all. I can’t stand it when people feel sad, especially those like you” she replied.

“Why? Because you can pity me from miles away since you and I seem to share some abilities, I just need sometime to myself that’s all” Mike slightly scolded back.

“You’ve known all long haven’t you” Paula said to Mike curious to know if he was talking about what she thought he was.

“About you and I having empathetic powers as far back as we both can remember, then yes” Mike quickly replied.

“When we got back, Casie told Ness and I that you had no psychic abilities before your journey” Paula said remembering talking to Casie about it only a few hours ago.

“She does not know I have such abilities, nor do Ryan, Nolan, and Tom. I’ve always been able to know when someone has felt happy or sad even when they hid it. Until recently, I did not even know what those feelings inside meant because I did know how to read them like I do now. When something horrible enough happens, my body goes berserk in some ways. I twitch slightly, my body heats up, and I just get an odd feeling I can’t describe. It’s somewhat like having needles stabbed into me at thousands of different places at once” Mike said.

“Any good trade offs of that power?” Paula questioned.

“Sure, I can help people cope with their problems because I understand their pain. I have the ability that once I touch someone’s face when fighting, I can predict their moves for a short time. It has given me a great sense of morality as well” Mike said.

“Can I ask you one last thing?”

“Sure.”

“Can you see the spirits that cry out to you? I’m only asking because you were talking pretty loudly to yourself there for a moment and heard that you could hear their cries.”

“No, I can’t see them. I just wish I could to apologize. Then, I at least could know that they know I grieve for each one of them everyday, and I wish that I could have helped them. So that they know, we are only human, and we cannot save everyone. But, we are giving everything we got not for ourselves, but for them” Mike said as tears started to flow from their eyes.

“I can see them, Mike. I’ll make sure to tell them that when I can” Paula replied to comfort Mike.

“Thank you, Paula. I’m gonna go home now, knowing that I can sleep better since I could at least apologize in some way. Tell everyone that they won’t see me tomorrow morning though, I’m gonna leave early and do something private” Mike said as he disappeared in his classic fashion, showing that he was running home as fast as possible.

“Sure thing Mike” Paula said to herself as she started to walk back to Ness’ house to spend the night their in Tracy’s room. “I’m glad I could help. Maybe now he can relax and enjoy these next few days like the rest of us. They maybe our last days, and I want them to count for everyone.”

Paula stopped right before Ness’ house and looked up at the stars. “Mike says he’s sorry. We are all sorry. Please, forgive us, and allow us to grant you justice.”