WarTraveller

Unpopular Opinion, huh? Does it have to be about Sonic or can it be gaming in general?

The changes made to archive this story are...irritating, and a lot less neat to me, but I will nevertheless persevere. Here's Chapter 4! Where We Last Left Off: Everything is starting to slot into place, and Team Lilac (plus one) is already gearing up to take action against Brevon and those who would steal the Kingdom Stone. Called in as a neutral party by Shang Tu, the group are sent to Shang Mu in order to take the Kingdom Stone from Mayor Zao, unaware of who stole what and who's coming to claim it. ==========-----========== Chapter 4: Casino Nights at Zao City The sun shone brightly through the windows of the Treehouse that day, a wonderful velvet-esque blanket of light cascading onto the nearby table. Everything was still, quiet and quaint; none of the treehouse's occupants were awake yet. Lilac had eventually walked back into bed and eventually managed to get some sleep, the nightmares and the Half-Zetis vanishing into the ether for the night. Carol and Milla too had fallen into deep and rewarding sleep, dreaming of their upcoming adventures across the world. Master was, at the moment, nowhere to be seen. There was a clanking sound as a gloved hand slammed onto the top board. It was Torque, who was climbing up the ladder to the Treehouse and was already dragging himself to the table that was set up near the kitchen. "Hello?" Torque called out, helping himself to his feet, "Anyone awake?" Torque sighed. Nothing. Guess the girls were heavy sleepers. Torque didn't want to just wake them, though. He knew he needed them as awake as possible to get through this adventure in one piece, and hopefully not one that was big and flat. His impulses had already doomed his captain and a good percentage of his friends to the endless void of death and he was...unwilling, to say the least, to lose anyone else. He turned to the doorway and quickly jumped in mild shock. Master was leaning against the doorframe, his eyes clasped shut and his arms crossed across his body. His snoring confirmed he was still asleep. "...Master?" Torque asked, giving Master a quick poke. Master responded by jumping and losing his balance, quick babbling sounds escaping his throat. He stopped and straightened himself up. "Oh, hey Torque..." Master yawned. "Sorry about that," Torque quickly said, "It's just that...well, you were sleeping standing up." "I do that sometimes," Master said, "Carol said I couldn't sleep on the sofa. Didn't want quills in the pillows, know what I'm saying?" "...And you agreed?" Torque asked, looking a bit miffed. "Well, let's put it this way..." Master said, a small grin visible below his scarf, "Quills in wooden planks? WAY harder to remove. Anyway, what're you doing up here?" "Just...waiting for Lilac and the others to wake up," Torque shrugged, "We've got a lot to do today." "Yeah..." Master sighed, scratching his head, "Gotta get the Kingdom Stone back from Mayor Zao and stop it from getting into Brevon's hands." "I don't know why you guys bother with that Brevon guy..." Blade said, somehow yawning also, "He's small time compared to what we've seen." "Oh! Actually, that's something I wanted to ask you two about," Torque said, "About last night. Where you asked about Brevon's blade. I heard you mumble a few things. Like this thing about...War Lilac, I think." Master's eye shrunk in shock, "Uh, what? No, uh, I have NO idea what you're talking about!" "Don't bother, kid," Blade sighed, "He heard us. He's curious. He wants to know." Master sighed too and arched his head up at Torque, "So. You really wanna know, huh?" "I do," Torque said, "You're not from this dimension. Hedgehogs like you are rarely seen on this planet and are often hated when they are. Which isn't helped by the fact that you look nothing like an Avalonian Hedgehog. And you do seem to go on about Chaos and Master Emeralds a lot. Strictly Mobian artefacts. You seem to know little about this adventure but a lot about everything else. So, why're you here?" "...Well, you've told me everything about yourself..." Master said, getting off the doorframe with an audible crunching sound, "Guess I have to do the same. I don't suppose you want some tea?" "What, Red Leaf Tea?" Torque asked. "Ah, Chaos no!" Master responded, visibly repulsed by the thought of it, "No, that stuff sucks. I mean Earl Grey. Normal stuff." "Huh...okay," Torque shrugged. Master walked off into the nearby kitchen and it did not take long for the sound of boiling water to fill the area. They soon ceased and, a good few minutes later, Master walked out of the kitchen with two mugs of pale tea. He gave one to Torque, who sipped it, "Thanks. Been a long time since I've had this kind of blend." "Yeah, every universe has their own preferred tea type," Blade said, slightly irritated, "Earl Grey, Darjeeling, Black, White, Green, Blue, Orange...you just get sick of it, you know? So we keep a bag of Earl Grey teabags on our person at all times. Strange custom, but we're happy about it. Well, he's happy about it." "I'm a United Islander," Master shrugged, "I kinda have to. Fills people with a sense of comfort to see someone of my...position drink tea instead of water. Anyway...you want to know what's gong on with us. And I'll tell you..." he stopped, placing his mug on the floor and digging a photo out of his pocket, "You're right, I'm not from this universe. I'm from Universe 112233C, an offshoot of the U123 line of parallel universes. The difference in question being...well, the fact that I exist within it. And did...things...well, I'm not from around here, no. All things said and done, I'm not even sure how I got here. I was relaxing in what they call the Boomiverse with a few friends and my girlfriend. We were studying this portal that had just opened in the middle of the village square. No-one was allowed in it, just in-case the area beyond it was uninhabitable. And it...kind of was. You know what a planet on the brink of dissolving into dust is like, don't you Torque?" "I...I do..." Torque said, his voice wavering as he stared deep into his half-empty mug of tea, "Brevon has laid waste to so many places across space and time...just seeing the faces of the downtrodden mashed into paste for to sake of a madman's lust for power he has no right to own...it's sickening." "Testify, comrade," Master sighed, "Large, blood red skies looking over hideous amounts of debris, blood and dust and Super Jam everywhere. All I remember was some hand reaching out of that portal and there I was in a hellish wasteland. I sought the nearest library to see what was going on. This group called the Red Scarves, far different to what we've seen in this timeline, had been keeping notes and trying to record history with faulty memories. They say that, in 2015, this Warrior turned up, pulling a meteor..." "Well, meteor-sized spaceship." "...Out of orbit and slammed it directly into the ground. Straight up obliterated one of the three major cities on this part of the planet and encased the others in a dust cloud. The Warrior went on a four year rampage, slaughtering all in her wake." "...And who was this Warrior?" Torque asked. Master said nothing, instead giving the photo to Torque, who went silent with the shock, "L-Lilac?" "War Lilac, specifically," Blade said, allowing Torque to absorb all the details, "Killer of her own kind, went on a massive killing spree just to see us again, called us imposters straight after doing so...our new best friend." "So..." Torque asked, getting things clear in his head, "You're here, because unless you do something about this, Lilac's gonna go insane and just start offing people without pause?" "Yes. I don't know how or why, but apparently I get involved with her descent into madness. And because of that, I now have to do something about it. I was trusted to do so by the future Carol herself." "So that's why you asked me about Brevon's own dagger," Torque said, things now quickly slotting into place, "Because Brevon's involved somehow." "War Lilac had Brevon's blade on her when she met us," Blade explained, "Pretty good skill with it, too. In fact, too good. Nicked Master in the stomach and even with my healing powers going full pelt the freakin' thing refuses to heal." "Brevon's blade eternally bleeds with the blood of the millions he's wronged," Torque said, his tone taking on the same informative tone as it had done the night before, "So much of it, in fact, that it's somehow given it new properties; never stops bleeding, can cleave through almost anything, hurts like hell and can inflict wounds that overpower even the strongest of medicines. Just so the victims stay alive longer." "Great..." Master sighed, "So, this will never heal?" "It will, in time," Torque said, his tone returning to normal, "But try not to do anything too extensive for the time being. If that wound opens up again, you're probably done for." "Well, it's going to now you've said it..." Blade snarked, "I know how this works." "Look, don't worry about me," Master said, finishing the last drop of his tea, "While my mission is important, it's nowhere near as important as yours. There's no point in saving Lilac if there's no world for her to change for the better." "Good point," Torque said, "We have to stop Brevon above all else. THEN we can turn attention to keeping Lilac sane. How were the others?" "Carol was the leader of the Red Scarves during that time period," Master said, "War Lilac probably killed Spade, so she took over. A wounded, jaded, empty person. No hope and no soul. As for Milla...huh. We didn't actually see Milla. I mean, there was a voice in Brevon's blade which sounded a little bit..." Master stopped, his face becoming twisted and pained, burying his head in his hands, "Oh, GOD no..." Both stopped and jumped at a sudden ringing sound. The phone just on the table near the window was active and ringing like crazy. Both stopped, frozen in their seats, until a "Coming!" sounded off from down the hall. It was Lilac, rushing headlong towards the room and zooming past Master and Torque both. She grabbed the phone and put it to her ear, "H-Hello?" "Hello. Uh, this is General Gong..." came a muffled voice from the other side of the phone, "We were looking over your skills from yesterday and thought, well, we might need your help." "Help?" Lilac asked, "What for?" "Just...we think we may have use for your...talents," General Gong stammered across, "Uh, meet us in the Lavender Fields just outside your valley. And come soon!" The phone beeped and clicked, endlessly whirring afterwards. Lilac put the phone down, "Strange...oh! Morning guys!" "Morning, Lilac," Master said, putting his mug away. "So, was that General Gong?" Torque asked. "Yeah," Lilac said, smiling as much as ever, "Said he wants to meet us in the Lavender Fields. Got a proposition for us." "I dunno..." Master said, sound sceptical, "Sounds like a trap." "Probably...but it's not like we can just wait around either. I'm gonna go wake the others up, you two get ready!" Lilac was beaming like the moon and was soon rushing back into the bedroom to wake up the still snoozing Carol. Torque paused, looking at the photo of War Lilac for a final time before giving it back to Master. "Those eyes...what could've happened to someone as innocent and pure as Lilac to make her that thing?" "Trust me, I've got a few ideas..." Master sighed, "Better get back to your tent and prepare. Oh, and Torque?" Torque stopped mid-turn, "Make sure Lilac doesn't know I'm here to save her sanity. I think she passed it off as a joke last time, and I have the horrible feeling this adventure is going to put a lot of pressure on her. The last thing she needs is the idea that she might turn into KillCrazy.exe. Got it?" "You have my word," Torque said in his usual stoic tone. "Thanks Torque. You're a good man," Master sighed, "Kinda wish there were more people like you across the multiverse..." Torque gave a final smile and soon vanished down the ladder. =============== 5 Minutes Later =============== "Huh. I was wondering when you'd be awake..." Torque said quietly. It was about one in the afternoon, and the four adventurers were standing in front of him in a line; the smiling Lilac, the yawning Carol, and adorable Milla and the silent Master. "You can blame Carol for that," Lilac said, "She sleeps for like, half the day sometimes." "Totally worth it!" Carol said, smiling through a yawn, "What's going on, anyway?" "We got a call from that General Gong fellow," Master explained, "He's going to help us in some manner." "When is he coming?" Torque asked, feigning some slight ignorance. "Actually, we have to go meet him," Lilac explained, "He'll be waiting for us north of here, in the Lavender Fields." "Perfect!" Torque said happily, "I fixed my radar last night, so we can use it to find the meeting point." "Great!" Lilac called out, "Ready, people?" "All set!" Carol called out. An excited Milla squealed out, "To adventure!" The group then turned tail and headed into the distance, going north to the Lavender Fields. ====================== In the Lavender Fields ====================== Well, Torque had to give them some credit; the Lavender Fields were...well, Lavender. Well, more a deep and soulful purple, but still. The rocks and rich vegetation of the lower parts of the Valley still permeated the area, however, and cherry blossom trees were almost everywhere. Some sharp bones were laid scattered across the plains, for reasons best left unexplained. Torque was in his Shellduck disguise as the moment, and while he knew it was needed to 'blend in' as it were, he hated it; heavy, bulky and somewhat ill-fitting, but it was the best he had with what little he could scavenge from his maiden ship before being forced to escape. The screams...oh the screams of his crewmates... He snapped out of it as a beeping sound met his ears. His radar was going off like mad, the screen a glowing green with circles and blips of light everywhere. He checked thoroughly. "According to the radar, we seem to be at the right location..." he mumbled, staring blankly at the screen, "Umm...I think it's a little off..." Carol sighed, looking straight at the ribs on the floor, "I think you might've used just a little too much percussive maintenance..." Milla paid no attention to these proceedings. She was looking around, smelling the air. Around them was a sweet scent that tickled the young hound's noise, causing it to wriggle as she laughed alongside it. Its silent laughter ceased, as another scent soon met her nose. Something darker, less sweet...wait, never mind, MORE sweet. Like some kind of chilli sauce. She looked up, back across where the group had just come; above them was a small cliff of some kind, and the scent was coming from there. "This way!" Milla cried out, looking up towards the cliff face. Lilac turned around to see it too. "Up there?" Lilac asked, "How're we gonna get up there?" "Easy!" Milla said sweetly. Before anyone could react, she jumped straight up into the air and did something most peculiar; she started flapping every available appendage at her disposal and, with every flap of an arm, leg and ear, she ascended. The little hound hovered up over the cliff face and was gone, briefly pausing to look at the four left below her, "Come on!" "...She can fly?" Carol asked incredulously. "Oh my Chaos, that was so cool!" Master belted out also, leading to a quick glance from the others. He quickly cleared his throat, "Ahem! I mean, uh...impressive." Lilac was the first to climb up there. An odd aura surrounded her and she quickly zipped upwards into the air, leaving only a shockwave of sound behind. Carol quickly explained to Master that it was a Dragon Boost, some kind of magic pseudo-spring move that Lilac had trained since she had first met her, before digging her claws into the wall and climbed up that way. Torque was next, using rockets in his shoes to ascend, two shining tongues of flame erupting out of his boots as he sailed over the cliff too. "Ptth. Showoffs..." Blade grumbled. Master ignored him and thrust Blade towards the cliff face. Once more, Blade split into multiple segments and extended, clasping the very edge of the cliff with the tip, before Master jumped and retracted the segments to pull himself up the cliff and over its edge. Grinning at this show of powers, he quickly joined the others at the meeting place. Alongside Lilac and Carol and the others, there was also General Gong and another blue bird guard opposite them. Two yellow planes were sat either side of the meeting place too, pristine but inactive. "Well, that hound of yours sure has a good nose..." General Gong said., bowing, "Allow me to introduce myself. I am General Gong of Shang Tu." "Yes, we know," Master growled, "We had the...pleasure of meeting you yesterday. Where's your royal quisling, Miss Neera-Li?" "She couldn't make it," General Gong explained, "Said she had some work to do back at the base. Anywho, the Royal Majister has a proposal. We'd like you to help us get the Stone back. It's in the greedy little hands of Mayor Zao, in our neighbour city of Shang Mu." "I'm guessing the next city is Shang Zu?" Blade snarked, "Or maybe Shang Tsung?" "Why do you need our help?" Carol asked, slightly annoyed, "Don't you have soldiers and spies and stuff?" "And tanks and robots and...VHS tapes..." the General sighed, "We wanna try and resolve this thing peacefully if we can. No good starting a war over something like this. So we're sending in a neutral party to negotiate. Given the, uh, current state of affairs in Shuigang, they're out of the picture." "Aww, I really wanted it to be Shang Tsung!" Blade moped. "I see," Torque said, nodding, "So you need us to fly to Shang Mu and convince Zao to give the Stone back." "Precisely!" General Gong nodded too, a boisterous nod at that. "Yeah, like that's gonna work!" Master called out sarcastically, "Let's just toodle on up to the madman who just stole the most powerful artefact in the known world and just ask him to return it. Pretty please?" His mocking tone did not amuse anyone, but Lilac stood forward anyway. "Let's give it a shot!" "Right then!" Torque called out, walking towards one of the planes with a good tone of uneasiness in his voice, "I assume we'll be taking one of these planes..." "Yeah..." General Gong said, "You DO know how to fly one, right?" "Of course I do, heh heh!" "Good..." the General said finally, "When you get there, head straight for the City Hall. We need to be on our way back to HQ, so we're relying on you to get this done fast." "You can count on us, General!" Lilac called out, "We'll get the Stone back before you can say 'Dinner for Three!"' "Quack!" said the duck. =============== Some Time Later =============== It took another five or so minutes, but soon everyone was in the plane. Torque was in front, wearing his goggles and manning the wheel. Carol was next, wielding goggles of her own. Lilac was after her, perfectly sandwiched in the middle, while Milla was stuck in the back, looking out the side like an excited little puppy. Master, on the other hand, had attached himself to the plane's tail wing. "Are you SURE you want to sit there?" Milla asked in concern, "I mean, you're not in the cockpit and you're kinda close to the exhaust!" "I'll be fine!" Master called out, "I used to do this all the time! An old friend of mine taught me how to do it! Right before he went mad...uh...Torque? Quick aside; you REALLY do know how to fly a plane, r-right? It's just that, I'm a bit...well, I'm not acrophobic, but I'm kinda...uh...I mean, come on, you can fly a spaceship!" "Flying a spaceship is easy," Torque quickly said, "Flying a more primitive plane is...less so. And landing the plane...uh..." Master gulped, a visible look terror spread across what was visible of his face. Blade sounded slightly amused; "Well, we're going to die..." ================= A Good Hour Later ================= Tyres squealing. Burning rubber. Brakes active. Coming to a stop. Thank Chaos. Torque's plane was finally coming to an abrupt and yet so welcome stop. Master breathed a sigh of relief, but he dared not let go of the plane. To him, there were no sights, no sounds, no wondrous views of above the see he had wanted to see since he was a little MasterSelf. Or, at least that's what he thought he wanted. To him, it was a black void the entire journey, with only the sounds of the plane's engine, the rushing air and the others voices for company. The voices spoke up again. "We're here!" came Torque's voice, a bit shaky but otherwise stable. "Man, that took a while..." Carol sighed, her voice wavering much more frequently, "Torque, how can you fly a spaceship but not a plane?" "As I said," Torque explained, "A plane is rather...primitive compared to a starship. No thrusters, no blasters, no gyros, just an engine and some clever exploitation of physics. As Blade said, your technology is strangely basic, even for Royal inventory." "I know that!" Lilac called out, her voice the exact same as it always was, "So...let's see...we've landed in Shang Mu, as planned. Best guess, we're in the public park. Just go over those hills there and we'll make it into the edges of the city centre. Then Mayor Zao's HQ will only be a short walk away." "Yay!" Milla called out, before quickly stopping, "Wait, why haven't we just landed right next to his HQ?" "Sorry kiddo, Zao isn't THAT dumb," Carol sighed, "Dude's got cannons everywhere, makes stealing from his vaults a royal pain. He's got more than enough weapons to blast us out the sky. A master of anti-air combat." "Speaking of..." Lilac said quickly. Master felt a quick poke on his nose, "Mr Master Guy? We're here! You can open your eyes now. You made it!" Master slowly opened his eyes, as instructed. The others were staring at him from the plane's cockpit. He cleared his throat and stopped gripping onto the plane, revealing the dent marks he had left during the ride, and climbed off the vehicle. His voice was slightly shaky and he himself was twitching quite a bit, but he talked anyway, "I-I knew that...I just, uh...was getting some sleep, you know?" "...Sure, Master Guy..." Lilac said, looking doubtful for a few seconds, "Hey, quick question. Have you got another name I could call you by? It's just that calling you Master'll get a little...awkward." "Well, some across the Multiverse have become accustomed to calling him 'Traveller'," Blade said, "Since, you know, that's what he does." "...Traveller..." Lilac mulled it over, before smiling, "Yeah, that's a better name!" "Better than Master, at least," Carol sighed, "Let's get going! That Kingdom Stone won't re-steal itself, you know!" "Carol's right," Torque said, adjusting his shell as he spoke, "Let's get moving!" Torque, Milla, Carol and Lilac soon ran off. Master quickly turned to Blade, a look of confusion spread across his eyes, "Traveller?" "What?" Blade retorted, "You like the name, too! It's not like you can trust your own. Master T. MasterSelf, what kind of cringe-worthy ham and cheese was that?!" "I'm sorry!" Master called out, "It was completely off the top of my head! Oh well. At least I know the story itself will still refer to me by Master. Helps keep things simple." "Please don't break the fourth wall yet, we're barely starting the third stage. Besides, that's my job. Look on the bright side, the further we get away from the Master label, the further away we get from-" "Traveller!" Carol called out, "Haul some butt, why don't you!" "...Why do people always talk over us when we discuss him?" Blade whined. "I dunno, but it's probably for the best that they DON'T know unless...he shows up. Got it?" Master said, to which Blade made a nodding motion, "Good. Let's go." Master ran off to where the others were. The four were running quite quickly, running past the jaded green grasses that made up the edge of the city, before finally scampering over the hill to see over the boundaries of the park. The rest of Shang Mu was now in full view, and it was impossibly beautiful; deep red buildings of a wondrous design sprouted just everywhere. Bright lights illuminated every square inch of the city, the massive stature it was, and the slabbed paving under their feet was well-cut and clean. No chewing gun or spilled bananas here. In the distance were cars and lanterns, a flame-licked orange haze that brought more life into the city. Granted, a lot of it was spoiled by the smell of burning fuel and the statues of this garishly garbed midget bloke everywhere. Still, this Mayor Zao may have been a strange and stupid fellow, but what a place to rule. "Damn, son..." Blade said soulfully as Master wiped a tear from his eye, "That's one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen." "I'm with you..." Torque too had an astonished look on his face, "The culture, the atmosphere, the lighting, just the look of it all..." "Good views, huh?" Lilac teased, looking and sounding almost proud, "This place is in all the travel books. Great food, entertainment, shopping..." "So of course it's just a deathtrap underneath just like anywhere else, right?" Master sighed. Lilac nodded, "Of course." "Well, a little help from yours truly helps speed progress along. Zao is a coward, after all, but he's rich one." "...I recognise that voice!" Carol growled, teeth bared. "Yes..." Master sniffed the air, "It sounds like a certain Red Scarf! Spade! Reveal yourself!" "Gladly..." came that old sneer again. The white wolf stepped down from the ceiling of a nearby decoration and landed right in front of the group, Three-Point, both feet and left hand. Very impressive. He leaned against the nearby lamppost and crossed his arms, "You just had to follow me here, didn't you?" "How did you know we were coming?" Carol asked. "You seemed pretty determined to get that Stone of yours back," Spade shrugged, "It's like I'm staring at a couple of books over here." "So you're the thief that Lilac was talking about!" Torque said, his voice angered and almost insulted. "I've been called worse..." another shrug and another smug grin from Spade. "Where is it?!" Lilac demanded, arching forward into a combat pose. "Don't bother. I've already finished the job. It's time for my brother to play his hand." "Brother?" Torque asked. "Prince Dail of Shuigang," Lilac quickly explained, "Same father for a king, but different mothers." "Really?!" Torque called out, sounding quite impressed. Master assumed a combat stance, digging out his handgun, "Royal Blood, eh? In that case, why are you leading a group of glorified murderers? Why not just rub your money into the faces of the masses like everyone else?" "Because I have no intentions to rule that little kingdom," Spade spat back, seemingly disgusted by the question, "I'd rather kill for my fellows than be just another crazy royal leader for some over-his-head vigilante like yourself to kill. For the greater good, as you say. I get the impression you've seen a lot of my brother's kind over the years. When he finds the man who murdered our father, there will be no mercy for the kingdom responsible." "We know who's responsible!" Lilac called out. Spade grumbled. "Nice try." "Will you just hold on for a minute and let us explain?!" Carol seethed, "Or are we gonna have to beat some sense into you?" "No thanks!" Spade growled, grabbing his exploding cards from before, "I won't be thrown off with your lies again! You made a grave mistake betraying my group the last time around." "Look, let's not go through this again!" Master called out, "For the final time, just calm down and let us explain ourselves. There's no need for this pointless shouting and fighting." "Perhaps..." Spade said, "But I have no time for you. You're a hanger-on, that's all you are. But... a hanger-on with the skills of a warrior. Perhaps when this is all done, you could join my Red Scarves. You've already got the initials down. The clothing and the murderous gleam in your eye..." "Shove it!!" Master growled, "I'm not some greedy killer! Not anymore!" "Wait...anymore?" Lilac quietly mumbled. Master's grip on his gun tightened and he raised it up to full height. Before he could get a shot off, however, some bright light came screaming out the sky towards the heroes. It struck the ground in front of them, baring through the pristine rock like one would put a knife through a meringue. Everyone jumped back, the heroes landing in a crumpled heap, while Spade lurched backwards and then dashed away, leaving only a faint green image of himself in his place. Torque was the first out of the pile and soon looked up at the laser's origin. It was a large, domed flying machine, held aloft by four rotating rockets revolving around a ring mounted in the middle of the machine. The laser was still emitting and slowly moving towards the group. "It's Serpentine!" Torque called out, "Looks like Brevon's found as after all! Everyone split up! We'll meet up by the mall, it's right next to Zao's HQ!" "Got it!" Lilac called out, "Carol, Milla, go around the left! Master, Torque, do the same with the right! I'll go straight on!" The others nodded and soon began to book it into the distance, to look over and race though the slowly shredded beauty of Shang Mu. =================== Three Minutes Later =================== Milla was scared, there was no denying that. But she knew she had to press on. For Lilac and Carol and certainly Torque. She was always one in the past for simply lounging around and watching from a distance, playing with whatever was in the sewers of Shang Tu, keeping the monstrous creatures and robots at bay. Not anymore though. She had to take action against this...whatever it was. Granted, it's not like she was at that strange meeting all the way through, but she had a good idea of what was going on regardless; this madman called Lord Brevon was killing his way across the galaxy and the Kingdom Stone was to be kept out of his claws at every possible opportunity. Simple. Sort of. Milla took careful notice at the three at the meeting; Lilac was sitting on a red toolbox, sitting silently, taking in all the details with no change of facial expression. Carol was sat on an identical red toolbox next to her, looks of worry and content splashed at random across her face. And finally was Master, hunched over a table in the strangest possible position. He almost never looked Torque in the eye, just staring down at the floor in silent and haunted contemplation. Perhaps he thought this was nothing to him? If this Brevon was any worse than those old mean Shang Mu soldiers... Milla stopped, stifling a quick yelp as a sudden laser almost caught her jacket. It certainly LOOKED like Brevon was going to be worse than those Shang Tu people, as his robots were EVERYWHERE. Then again, Milla had heard from what little gossip she could catch from sewer workers that Mayor Zao was rich enough to employ smart engineers to design robots for him. And it wasn't like she couldn't disagree with them; she had seen the robotic claws attached to the base of the truck within the Temple yesterday. It's kind of why she followed it to Carol and that Master/Traveller guy anyway. The robot above her looked like some kind of traffic light, with three eyes that were even now firing lasers at Milla. She dodged to the left, skidding onto the grass as she did, before leaping up and grabbing the robot in question, throwing it head-first towards another enemy that was shaped like sort of fireworks dispenser rebuilt for combat. Both exploded in a fireball, flinging bright red fireworks into the air. They exploded soon, sending a crackling sound throughout the sky. The robots elsewhere in the city HAD to have seen that, which Milla took as a blessing and ran off towards the mall as planned. These robots were dangerous, no doubt about that, but luckily for Milla she had a secret up her sleeve. For as long as she could remember, she was able to interact with the invisible energies around her, manipulate them towards the creation of what could only be described as blocks of pure energy. As Milla ran, she could see more robots on the horizon, so it was time for another one of those blocks. Hands held above her head, Milla concentrated and felt the familiar and comforting sensation of the air above her changing, swirling, forming. Soon, a bright green cube materialised into her hands and she threw it with perfect accuracy. The heavy block sailed through the air with all the grace a block of energy can and smashed sidefirst into the the tank-like robot. The robot exploded, sending its singled-eye pilot flying off into the distance. Satisfied, Milla dashed forward and placed both hands before her. At the final moment, a green shield suddenly swooped into reality and slammed into another traffic light robot, causing its demise and the parts of it spilling onto the other robot, destroying that one too. Happy, Milla grinned and ran off, stumbling along on all four limbs and flying through the city as much as possible. Every now and again came a few sets of lanterns that bended upwards and connecting to the odd part of the city's decorational architecture, which Milla would follow up and around the arches until she finally hit street level. At street level, Milla soon came across some kind of small shopping area, lined with buildings and more of these pretty floating lanterns. Their dotted locations blared out a rich yellow light on the scenery and doubtlessly enriched the experience for late-night shoppers. Milla looked to the right and noticed Lilac just standing around, catching her breath. She was quite footsore and was mildly wounded, with more of those red leaves wrapped around her arms and legs as a sort of makeshift bandage. Milla had encountered little of those leaves in the past; in fact, the only time she ever came close to them was when some bigshot's attempt to synthesize the leaves' medical abilities into a drink form failed and his company dumped the entire lot into the sewers. Guess that explained that giant fish monster she had to fight before she even got to the temple. Milla quickly approached Lilac, calling out, "Lilac! I'm over here!" all the while. Lilac looked up and grinned, "Milla! How're you holding up?" "I'm fine..." Milla said, screeching to a halt just beside the dragon, "It's taken a while, but I'm here!" "Me too. Those bots Brevon and Zao are employing hit hard, don't they? Good thing I had enough of those red leaves to knock even General Gong out. Are you hurt?" "No." "Good..." Lilac sighed. She quickly looked around before turning back to Milla, "We have to keep moving, Milla. Zao's HQ is just across this mall. We can check it out later, but for now we have to move. Right? Okay, let's mo-" "Hold it right there, you sparkly twit!" Milla gasped quickly in response and spun around fast enough to catch even Lilac off guard. Behind them was a snake in power armour and a helmet, pointing some kind of laser pistol at them. Lilac studied the creature, and it was indeed Serpentine from before. His hands were wrapped in fresh bandages and his laser guns were new and bigger, baring bright blue glows within the barrels. Lilac looked shocked for a short while, but then something seemed to click within her and her mood worsened. "Wait...what did you just call me?!" "Mindless creatures..." Serpentine growled, holding his gaze as steady as his guns, "You think you can just walk into this conflict, don't you? Well, I have news for you; this isn't your fight!" Lilac quickly went on the offensive, "It was the moment you brought it to our homeworld!" "Y-Yeah!" Milla blurted out, looking quite scared, "What she said!" "So,..the duck man couldn't keep his mouth shut..." Serpentine growled. He advanced, both guns pointed forwards and a devilish grin across his face, "Well, I hope he realises that he just cost you your life! When I drag you before Lord Brevon, you will beg for your life before the end of the hour! Prepare for combat!" "Lilac..." Milla whimpered, "Maybe we should run..." "Relax..." Lilac said in a relaxed tone, "This Snake Man is a joke. Just gotta blast his hands and we should be fi-" She stopped, a laser bolt to the shin sending her crashing to the ground. She snapped out a pained yelp before getting up and looking at Serpentine. He had both guns drawn and was firing rapidly, pelting the area with a hailstorm of blue and purple lights that exploded on contact with the ground. Lilac shielded her eyes, awaiting the stinging pain of the blaster bolts, but a sudden warbling sound and sensation stopped her. Milla had jumped in front of her and, groaning with the strain, had formed a shield directly in front of the two upon which the lasers and bolts just bounced off. One of them even collided with Serpentine's tail and caused him to let his guard down in an attempt to fan out the opening flames. Lilac marvelled at this obscenely good fortune and charged forward, leaving Milla to catch her breath. The hound fell onto her backside and the shield ceased, causing a ripple to send a spike of green energy towards the snake. It struck him again in the chest and caused him to stumble, allowing Lilac to rush in and swipe her hand towards the creature's side. The attack hit and the young dragon followed up with an uppercut that lead into a shoulder grab, hoisting her above the snake. Then, in the air she delivered a swift kick that managed to hit Serpentine right in the chest, flooring both fighters. Serpentine was up first and slithered over to the floored Lilac, giving a quick smack with his guns that dragged her up and onto her feet. She threw more kicks into his general direction, which Serpentine managed to dodge or block with minimal effort, before wrapping his tail around Lilac's legs and tripping her up. He moved in to strike the girl while she was falling, but she quickly dodged out of the second tail swipe and quickly grabbed one of her two tendrils. With the long tendril in hand she swiped it diagonally across the snake, spinning the whipped snake around to be struck again with a kick to the back. The snake got back up and lunged forward with his guns. Lilac, in a fit of impressive reflexes, grabbed the snake's right gun and pushed it away, sending the incoming chuck of metal zooming past her head. The weapon fired, sending a light blue bolt of energy into nothing in particular, while Lilac's ear began to scream in agony just as much as she was. She staggered, half-deaf and head ringing like crazy, while Serpentine followed up with a whipping notion from his own tail that sent Lilac tumbling onto her back. Then, just as Serpentine went in for the kill, a block of green energy smacked into him, sending him off balance. Lilac looked up to see Milla running towards them, holding another block in her hands, "Lilac! Get him into the air!" Lilac complied and quickly grabbed the stumbled snake, sending a powerful kick right into his backside and propelling him into the air. Then, as he began his descent, Milla springboared off Lilac's head and thrust the cube in front of her. It narrowed, then moaned with a deafening noise, before letting loose what could only be described as a giant green laser. The snake, caught point blank in this devastating beam, was pushed screaming into the pavement, creating a crater as he laid to rest. The beam ceased and Milla landed with a panted and pained gasp next to Lilac. Serpentine, stuck in the crater, was unconscious. "...Darn, Milla..." Lilac panted, arched over in pain, "What WAS that?" "...I don't know..." Milla panted too, "I've been able to do that since I was a child. I've been practising it in the sewers for years." "Well..." Lilac grinned, tussling the hound's wild hair, "Look who's little miss badbutt, huh?" "Thank you!" Milla giggled, "But, shouldn't we get going?" "No need!" came another voice from high up in the air. It was Carol's voice, mixed in with some heavy wind sounds. Both girls looked up to see Torque's plane, its yellow paintjob scraped away a little, with Torque at the helm and Carol in the co-pilot's seat. Sitting behind her was Master, damaged and wounded but seemingly quite content. "Carol?" Lilac asked in astonishment, "Where did you come from?" "It's all Traveller's fault, as usual," Carol said in a bizarrely endearing way, "He ran back to the plane and managed to activate this kinda 'auto-pilot' to fly the plane with no troubles at all. Said he didn't want to fight his way through the mall and risk running into the snake again, so he picked us up on the way!" "What do you mean 'auto-pilot'?" Lilac asked. "Well..." Master looked a bit sheepish, "Let's just say there's a large, sort of Blade shaped hole in the dashboard now." "Seriously?" Lilac called out in fatigue, "That thing can fly planes, too?" "Not really!" came Blade's voice from some invisible part of the plane, "I'm less of an auto-pilot and more of a co-pilot for the Little Green Man here! I'll help him set this junker down to pick you guys up!" It shuddered wildly, but the plane eventually landed with a clang, The plane's passengers clambered out to get close to Lilac and Milla, with an unearthly shunting as Master dragged Blade out of the dashboard. "You two look kind of out of shape," Torque said, "What got you guys?" "That snake guy from the start of this adventure..." Lilac sighed, rubbing her stinging horn, "He got in our way, threatened to kill us, called me a sparkly twit. So we had to do battle and take him down. S'when I learnt that Milla here is a superdog." "Superdog?" Carol asked, "How so?" "Well, if I hold my hands above my head and concentrate REALLY hard..." Milla said, putting her hands above her head, "I can make these block thingies out of thin air. Watch!" she went silent and the air above her hummed with energy. Two small orbs formed and quickly spiralled around each other, before finally combining and expanding to form a giant green cube. "Wow..." Torque said, sounding quite impressed, "Never seen something like THAT before..." "I have..." Blade said, "Looks like Milla here is a Sira." "A Sira?" Carol asked. "Some kind of folklore creature," Lilac explained, "I've read about it at the Shang Tu Library. Every now and then, a being is born with extraordinary, incredibly destructive powers. There can only be about four of them alive at any one point, but a lot of them were abandoned at birth because their powerful abilities were seen as bad omens." "No wonder the poor kid spent her life in the sewers..." Blade tutted. "Wha?" Milla went white with shock, "How did you know that?" "Snatch a couple of records from that General Gong fellow and you can see just about anything from their security feed," Master shrugged. "There's more, too," Lilac said, "These powers are...well, powerful. So much so, in fact that they actually hamper the Sira's physical state. Not in any real noticeably visible way, but they tend to be more...fragile." "Well..." Milla admitted, "I do tend to lose my breath and get hurt easily." "Nothing a bit of proper training can't fix," Master said, "Just have to find the Mayor and take back the...Kingdom Stone." "Yeah, we sorta forgot about that," Carol looked sheepish, "Sorry, Torque." "It's fine," Torque sighed, "We're close. Just go through the mall and-" "Not so fast, Commander!" came a hissing scream. The group turned around to see Serpentine once again. He had dragged himself out of the crater and, a look of anger that would scare the devil himself spread across his face, was now aiming both lasers at the group. Master had instantly stood in front of the three girls as a sort of shield and Torque was inching towards his own blaster. The snake spoke again, "If you're searching for the stone, you might wanna look up!" The group indeed looked into the distance. To their horror, a bunch of green, wooden airships were screaming their way through the skies. Small black sphere were falling out of cannons and smashing into the city with terrifying accuracy and speed, leaving explosions and violent fires in its wake. The group looked over it in abject horror as Shang Mu erupted into flames, silent and unmoving. Master snapped out of his shocked state and dashed towards Serpentine, holding him in a choke hold with one hand and jabbed his gun against the snake's head with the other. "What did you just do?!" he bellowed, "How many lives have you just taken?!" "Quite a few..." Serpentine hissed, a smug grin across his face, "Say hello to the Sky Battalion! Biggest and most powerful air-army on the planet! The Kingdom Stone is now in the care of Lord Brevon, and unless you can somehow scrape enough firepower from these idiots to take on fifteen whole airships of power, you'll never get it back before we're all set to leave! Enjoy your victory!" Serpentine suddenly wrenched his hands away from Master's arm and punched him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him and sending him to a crumpled heap. There was a sudden, loud rumbling sound that filled the area; windows shattered and gusts of smoke bellowed into the air as one of the airships in question soon came down upon the heroes. It was huge, almost the size of the Temple from before, with green sails and cannons jutting out of every possible part of it. It's wooden construction betrayed its massive plasma jet engines and the wood itself was decorated with the image giant green flames screeching across the side of the ship. Serpentine guffawed for a final time and then took off, grabbing a rung installed onto the bottom of the ship and soon clambering up to the deck. The ship then lifted, zooming right over the heads of Lilac and Torque, and was soon blazing into the sky. An enraged Lilac briefly followed it through the sky, Dragon Boosting straight into it, but alas could only bounce off the fortified wood and crash back to the ground. Master himself got up and rapidly pumped all ten of his magnum rounds into the ships, a few hitting the engine but otherwise causing little damage. He screamed in rage and frustration before collapsing back to the ground, clutching his stomach. "No!" Torque called out, "We almost had him!" "I guess that's what Spade was referring to when he was talking about his brother..." Carol said, her voice wavering, "The Sky Battalion is the largest military instalment on Planet Avalice and in the strict ownership of the kingdom of Shuigang!" "Then I guess that's where Brevon's set up his base of operations..." Blade sighed, trying to force Master off of the floor, "Probably killed the king and taken his young boy to be his little puppy." "...What're we gonna do now?" Milla asked frightfully after a short and uneasy pause. "What else?" Carol rushed forward, "We've gotta go after them!" "Those airships would ghost us from a mile away..." Torque said, looking to the floor in defeat, "Remember what happened to me in the valley?" "There has to be another way..." Lilac said, quickly and hastily contemplating, "Look, we need something that's even a third of their power level...what about Mayor Zao?" "It's gone!" came another scream. Once more the group looked behind them, seeing some vehicle driving up towards them. It was the same truck from the Temple ambush, only now with makeshift repairs littering its body and with no real driver behind the wheel. It was also only the truck itself with no carriages to speak of, leaving only two guards and some short guy. Master soon came to the realisation he was the one he had mocked in statue form only seven minutes ago, and he looked no more impressive in real life; as stated before he was short, barely the height of Milla, and was clad in a red regal outfit with a huge domed hat jammed on his head. To the Avaloians, he may have looked decent, but to Master he just looked like some kid. Behind him was a large chuck of yellow metal, roughly in the shape of a panther, with Master knowing he had saw it before. The being screamed again, his voice wavering and blatantly immature, "My one chance for re-election is gone!" He stopped and sighed, rubbing his watering eyes. He began to look around to see if anyone had saw him, and it wasn't long before his eyes clasped onto the heroes. His expression shifted almost instantly, from weeping and furious, as the truck slowly reversed to the point that the others were standing. The small man then dragged himself to his feet and assumed a more powerful pose, "You! Over there!" "Mayor of Shang Mu!" Lilac quickly called out, throwing herself to the floor, "Salute!" Torque and Milla also knelt on hands and knees, heads arched low and respectfully, while Carol and Master were still standing upright. Master, his mood not softened by Serpentine's punch to his still open stomach wound, saluted in a different manner by throwing his left hand forward with only the index and middle fingers extended. "Up yours, home boy!" came his grumbled reply. "How DARE you?!" came the short man's response, his body flying into a barrage of kicks and punches in the air, "No man insults the Mayor and gets away with it!" "Mayor?" Master called out in disbelief, "How're you the Mayor? The one I've heard about is a large, bold leader with his hand in all the right bowls. All I'm seeing is some garishly garbed midget bloke!" "Uh, Slugger, quick word..." Blade said quickly and nervously, "Uh, I've been doing some background checks and it turns out that this garishly garbed midget bloke IS the Mayor of Shang Mu..." He took a second for the inevitable look of shock to appear on Master's face, a small mumbling stammer escaping his throat, as Blade resumed with a more gravelly and irritated tone, "You better bow, bozo!" "OH!" Master yelped in response and threw himself to the ground just as hard as the others, a slight mumble of, "Your-Your Excellency..." escaping. Carol bowed too, taking the time to subtly do some pushups while doing so. Nevertheless, Mayor Zao looked satisfied with the results and posed again, "Thank you. Now...RISE!" They did, all five standing up on their own accord, and Mayor Zao walked back to the chunk of yellow scrap, "Were you the ones who disposed of this wretched mechanical beast?" "...I dunno..." Lilac said uneasily, eyeing the scrap, "What even IS that thing?" "I think it's called a RoboPanther..." Master mused, "Think it might've belonged to Serpentine. It had his name scratched into the key, after all." "Wait, you destroyed this?" Milla asked, "When?" "Traveller insisted we take a few laps of the city to find you," Carol explained, "We got past the Mall and managed to stop. Someone had disabled the lasers in the Mayor's palace. And the thing was there and it obviously belonged to Brevon, so Traveller suggested we pre-emptively destroy it." "It took a while, too," Master grumbled, "That was a three person job and it STILL took us five minutes! But yeah, we destroyed it. 'S that bad?" "Bad?" Mayor Zao said incredulously, jumping into the air and spreading confetti everywhere, "IT's GLORIOUS!" There was a sudden loud jingle as some bright letters somehow materliased over his head. Master quickly shouted in shock, but quickly calmed down and read the words; '+5 GLORY'. Mayor Zao landed on the floor and continued, "As a token of my appreciation, I offer each of you free reign over Zao's Shopping Paradise!" "Sounds great!" Master said with an odd sort of glee, "I don't suppose you have a cake shop in there? Where they make, like, large red velvet cakes?" "I do indeed!" Mayor Zao gloated, "I think they're the size of your average truck tyre too!" "ROCK and ROLL!" Master shouted in a sort of odd victory, "I'll see you guys in the Spring!" "Wait!" Lilac called out, grabbing Master by his scarf and dragging him back to the group, "We can't get distracted. We're here for something of yours." "Are you?" Mayor Zao asked. There was a noticeable shift in his tone by this point, from all miserable and serious to jovial and genuinely friendly. It was still obvious a great deal of that was a ruse, but it still helped him be seen as more likeable among his people, "Well, we can talk about it over dinner. My treat, of course." "You mean...a ROYAL FEAST?!" Milla squealed with excitement. "Well, I am kinda hungry..." Carol mused. "Yeah, me too..." Torque said, thinking of all the kind of foods he could taste and he smiled accordingly. He suddenly stopped, almost as if a record had scratched to a halt in his head, "Wait! What about the Kingdom Stone!" "Hmm...I knew the item of question would be that..." Mayor Zao growled, his voice returning to the bitter tone it once was, "That scoundrel Prince took it from me! I won't even be able to chase him until my ships are repaired!" The group of heroes looked among themselves in silent conversation, talking using silent words, before Lilac bowed and said, "Well, Mayor Zao, we would be honoured to be your guests this evening." "Indeed..." Master said too, bowing alongside Lilac and putting on a posh voice, "It would be the greatest of positive contributions for this fine night of ours." Mayor Zao's grin returned, "Well then, please walk this way! I shall drown your sorrows in delicious chow mein!" =============================== A Good Five or So Minutes Later =============================== It took another five or so minutes to reach the Mayor's dining quarters, but at least it gave Lilac and Master time to heal their wounds and rest. They soon stopped outside the area, lead by the Mayor himself into his dining area. It, as expected of someone of his position, was huge and dangerously ornate. Almost every decoration was red; the banners were red, the tablecloth was red, even the plates and napkins were red. A giant brass dragon's head overlooked the group as they entered and took their seats; Lilac, Carol and Milla sitting at one end of the table with Torque, Master and Mayor Zao at the other end. A number of red robots scuttled their way across the floor, holding plates in their clamped hands. "Well, this is a bit of alright," Master mused, "A multiverse vigilante could get used to this!" "I trust this doesn't happen to you a lot, then..." Torque mused alongside him. Master sighed, "It's like visiting other countries, Torque. Each has their own little quirks, and a lot of the time they tend to screw you over, since you're out of the program and all. Some universes I've been granted a free meal, other times I've paid for them using credits, other times still I've had to steal food. There's a reason I've been named 'The Guy Who Keeps Passing Through'." "Hmm. I see." "Don't worry about taking turns!" came Mayor Zao's voice again, "I'm sure you must be hungry, so have at it!" The robots scooted along, depositing plates at everyone's positions. Almost everyone began to sport wild grins on their faces. On the plates now were globs of rice coated in all manner of fish-related foodstuffs. Sushi. The nectar of the finest Gods and Elder Masters. "SUSHI!" was the squeal of the hour, coming directly from Lilac, Carol and Milla. All three began to dig in non-stop into their sushi, devouring it as fast as the robots could replenish their supply. In the middle of this gluttonous frenzy came the voice of Milla, happily saying, "I love Sushi!" "Me too!" Carol called out. "Woah..." Lilac said, her shocked face causing some half-chewed sushi to come tumbling out of her mouth, "You BOTH like something?! Is this, like, the end of the world?" Master, sitting on the other side of the table, could only watch them laugh and resume eating, groaning in misery as he did so. He had not touched his own sushi yet, merely poking at it with a chopstick. "What's the matter, Mr....er..." Mayor Zao stopped, fumbling over his own words, "Sorry, but I didn't get your name." "The name's Ma-" Master began, but stopped, "Uh...ahem, Traveller." "Traveller, huh?" Mayor Zao looked a bit miffed, "What kind of parent names their kid Traveller?" Master sighed a painful sigh. "...Sorry. Uh, do you not like sushi?" "Wha?" Master babbled, "Oh no, I love the stuff. It's just, uh...my scarf." "Well, less the scarf and more what's under it," Blade said too. "Oh, don't be like those teetotalling People Against Cruelty to Fish Types! Come on, just remove it and dig in!" "...Fine..." Master sighed. He grabbed his scarf and removed it, resting it around his shoulders and neck. Both Torque and Mayor Zao looked on in mild horror, for on Master's muzzle was a rather heavy wound. His muzzle had, for lack of a better word, split from cheek to cheek. A large gash spread across his face, stopping at his mouth before starting again soon after, lined with haphazard stitching along the gash to keep it closed. It looked repulsive. Master sighed and spoke to the two bulge-eyed ghosts, his voice now clearer to boot, "Yes. At least you know why I keep my scarf on. Do you want me to move?" "No, no!" Mayor Zao blurted out hastily, "It's fine. Just...enjoy your food." Master nodded, tucking into the sushi and enjoying it just as much as everyone else. Torque looked a bit ill, seeing the stitches move as Master chewed, and spoke to Mayor Zao instead, "So, what's that giant head on the wall over there?" "That's the pride of my Collection!" Mayor Zao boasted, all too eager to strike up a conversation, "An ancient statue modelled after the Dragons of the Before Time!" "What's special about them?" Torque asked, quickly shifting his gaze to the still gorging Lilac, "Y'know, compared to someone like Lilac?" "What's special?!" Mayor Zao cried in disbelief, "Did you come from another planet or something?" "I kinda thought you did," Master said quietly. This still caught the attention of the Mayor, though, so he mumbled a half-hearted, "Sorry..." and resumed eating. Mayor Zao decided to take pity on the Shellduck and began to spin a tale, "Long ago, a majestic creature soared across Avalice in a great ball of flame. When it landed, our ancestors were so captivated by its power and beauty that they built three kingdoms in its honour; Shang Tu, Shang Mu and Shuigang." "Sheesh, that's one hell of a welcoming gift!" Blade snarked, "All we get at best is a bottle of champagne!" "When the cities were built," Mayor Zao continued, "The dragon transformed into the legendary Kingdom Stone we know and love today!" "Yes, a stone you loved so much," Master pointed accusingly, "You took it from its natural resting place. Why?" "...Look..." Mayor Zao began, looking a bit embarrassed, "Shang Mu is on the brink of an energy crisis. With the Stone in our hands, we could've solved it overnight!" "And it never occurred to you to use solar power?" Carol snarked, "What about water power? Your city is right next to an river, after all! Your own plan worked out SO well..." "I don't think this energy crisis of yours is really all that much of an accident," Torque spoke next, "I think it's deliberate, and I think we know who's responsible." Mayor Zao looked intrigued, leaning forward and looking Torque square in the eye; "Continue..." ==========-----========== DeviantART Link: http://fav.me/d966ogx

Honestly? I'd just like A Mario and Sonic game. A platformer where you have to use the skills of both to properly proceed, where the two must put aside all differences and fight the combined forces of Eggman and Bowser in the ultimate showdown. Hell, make the true villain really meta by him knowing of the war between the two and being sour over the "winner", wanting to perpetuate the war forever! I'd rather have ANYTHING over those poorly made, pointless, cash-cowing, shovelware Olympics games. When I think of Mario and Sonic, I shouldn't think of playing ping pong with King Boo and Zavok. I should think of Mario and Sonic! ...Though failing that, a game version of Super Mario Brothers Z would be pretty cool.

I dunno. Wouldn't that make it really long and make it hard to load? ...Meh. I can make it work. I personally would've created a new sub-folder to hold each threat...but I understand that can't be the case for EVERY story...

Another other day, another chapter ported over to this site. As always; Strong Language Blood and Gore (though not much) A few disturbing scenes Quite a bit of Violence And Original Characters Where We Last Left Off: The Kingdom Stone has been stolen, and the trio has met another new friend in adorable puppy dog Milla Basset. Nothing left to do but return to Lilac's treehouse to recover and plan their next move. There the four get to know each other more, Torque reveals his true intentions and an unusual creature brings bad news for Lilac. Unfortunately for them, a figure shrouded in darkness has entered this upcoming battle, making it clear they are playing for more than some crystals... ==========-----========== Chapter 3: Team Lilac ======================= The Royal Chambers, Shang Tu ======================= "Majister! The Kingdom Stone has been taken!" The Majister, great ruler of Shang Tu, did not want to hear this news today. It had been months since someone had last attempted to steal the Kingdom Stone from its legendary resting place, and even then it was a pack of roving thieves who really thought they were clever. Little did they know that such a magical artefact would be fiercely protected. Or at least, that's what he had thought. For as even though those previous thieves were still locked away in his jail cells deep within the palace walls, the thought that someone had finally managed to make off with the Kingdom Stone was...troubling, to say the least. The Majister looked around, beyond his Royal Chambers to see who was scurrying along towards him. Surprise, it was General Gong clattering his way across the blue-tinged marble floor towards him. The speed of his running caused to the blue banners to tussle in the breeze as the sunset's light shone through the blue-tinged windows. The Majister himself had been firmly sat in his blue throne until the news had reached him, and he gracefully stood up and approached General Gong. General Gong almost skidded to a stop before The Majister, trying not to leave marks from his sandals on the floor, before saluting, "Your Excellency!" "Stolen?" The Majister asked, "By who?!" "Mayor Zao!" General Gong barked, a hint of bitterness in his voice, "His pilgrimage to the Temple was a cover-up! Rushed us with a massive truck and took it by force!" The Majister remained silent. One of his best strengths was the ability to hide his emotions, after all. It had made him a trusted leader over the years, seen by many as a good man with a will stronger than obsidian and the intelligence to match. Any physical challenge was better handled by Gong and newcomer Neera, but he still ruled well over his little kingdom. Well, better than Prince Dail or Mayor Zao, at any rate. At least he didn't stick statues of himself everywhere. The Majister looked at General Gong, his face hidden by the massive helmet of his that covered everything but his piercing purple eyes in shadow, before looking out of the huge window over the horizon, "This is troubling...Zao may be a buffoon, but I never believed he was capable of this." "A trio of youngsters warned us about the attack," Gong explained, looking a bit embarrassed, "I...refused to listen." Gong had fallen to his knees and The Majister knew that he was about to apologise about this and that he had failed him and so on. The Majister knew that Gong was rather humble, which made him a great ally. That, and his pretty good fighting skills. Still, he turned to look at Gong, stopping him before he spoke. "Don't be hard on yourself for it, general. I would have been just as sceptical. Tell me...who was it that issued you this warning?" "Sash Lilac, Dragon, age 16. Carol Tea, Wildcat, age 15," came Neera-Li's voice. She too had entered the Majister's chambers, at a remarkably slower pace than Gong. The Majister took less of a shining to her, her need to get things done in one specific way getting in the way in every case she was put on. Still, she was a very good fighter, even surpassing General Gong in some areas, and her Staff of Ice made it easier to detain any criminal element that roamed Shang Mu. She spoke again, "And one unidentified creature." "...Unidentified?" The Majister asked. "Yeah," Gong said, standing up and joining Neera-Li by the throne, "A tag-along, from the looks of it. He looked kinda like a hedgehog under all that ridiculous winter get-up. Seriously, who wears a scarf THAT long in Spring? Anyway, he calls himself 'Master' or something like that." "...Seriously?" The Majister asked, his eyes half-open in scepticism. "He's real, I swear!" Gong shouted, "We saw him with all four eyes." "It is clear that this...urgh, 'Master' has a high opinion of himself," Neera-Li said, "Claiming he was a multiverse vigilante, trying to start a fight with me, said he was here to save the world...hated the guy the second he opened his mouth." "As did he with you, from what I saw," Gong said, "At best, I'd say he's...uh...Master, Hedgehog...around 17." "He sounds like a comic book villain," The Majister huffed in dismissal, "Nevertheless, I shall get my best men to...research him. A hedgehog is a rare sight in this world. Perhaps he may be of some use to us." "I hope not..." Neera grumbled under her breath. It was soon after that that The Majister dismissed them both for the night. The two complied, saluted, and began to walk down the halls to the doors. As The Majister saw them leave, he could catch faint snippets of one of their conversation; "Told you he'd react like that when we told him his name." "Shut it Gong. Thank the Great Dragon we didn't reel out his full name..." As the two made it down the various hallways, Neera couldn't shake the feeling that something was...off about Lilac and Carol. Not that Master guy, he was clearly some random doofus out for attention, but Lilac and Carol she knew all too well. Thieves. Ex-members of the Red Scarves, robbing trucks and temples, shops and boutiques, anywhere they could find crystals. They had abandoned the group over their ideology, at least that's what THEY said, but Neera was still as sceptical as ever. Two ex-thieves, showing up at the Temple moments before an ambush which resulted in the theft of the Kingdom Stone...there was no way in her mind that this was a coincidence. "Something doesn't smell right..." Neera said, walking down the halls. "Well sorrrry!" General Gong said after her, sounding a bizarre kind of offended. "YOU never smell right," Neera-Li said bluntly, stopping and turning to Gong, "I'm referring to those kids. They know something about this. We have to find them." "They're just kids, Neera," Gong sighed. "Kids who are reported thieves," Neera retorted, "We can't just trust them. They were at that blasted Temple, mere SECONDS before Zao struck. There's more to this." "I'm more concerned with that egomaniac hedgehog...thing," Gong stuttered, "What's his deal?" "Ahh, yes, the average hedgehog. Quite rare on Avalice, and hated wherever they're seen. So much for the Planet of Freedom." Neera-Li stopped, "Was that you?" "No..." Gong shrugged. He turned to the two guards in the hallway; one was a dog, the other was a duck of some kind. He turned to the duck, "Was that you?" The duck quacked his response. "Oh..." Gong said, looking annoyed, "Thanks for the info." They and the two guards paused as a small beacon approached them, flying across the hallways to zoom in on their position. It was a small, round device, almost like some sort of camera, that hovered in place before the four and began to emit a bright blue light of some kind. It eventually refocused into some sort of hologram, and within that was a man. He was seemingly young, about Lilac's height, shrouded in a dark cloak that hid his body and face. The only things that could be seen were two hedgehog ears poking out of the top of the hood and two red, pinprick dot eyes that stood out from the shadow that should have been a face. Neera-Li, despite her initial shock, remained physically undeterred, "Not another one...who are you?" "My name...is not important," came the voice again. It was indeed the one from before, hindered by static and low quality audio. It was clear the cloaked man was using a voice modulator, "I was just...flying my drone to the local store and I couldn't help but listen you'd found a hedgehog." "What's it to you?" Gong asked, "He your brother?" "He's related to me, yes..." came the voice once more, "I have been tracking him down for some time. And if he's shackled up with that Lilac girl...well, I'll be happy to get them to you as fast as possible." "You want to help us?" Neera-Li asked, "We don't just trust random strangers." "Trust me, Miss Li." the figure put a hand, hidden within the long sleeves of his cloak, on his chest, "I am a man of my word. You want to get rid of Lilac. I want to get rid of this...Master fellow. We are at an impasse. We HAVE to work together." "...Fine," Neera-Li grumbled soon after, "We'll trust you. You get me to Lilac, I'll give you that pathetic creature. But if you try to betray us..." The figure was not intimidated by Neera-Li at all and laughed, the faint glow of a row of razor sharp teeth visible in the cloak, "Trust me." ================================ Dragon Valley, Lilac's Treehouse ================================ "Wow..." Milla cried out, "It's so beautiful!" Lilac smiled. The group had finally made it back to her treehouse and it was slowly getting dark. Even now, the sun was setting in the distance and casting a dark blueish hue across the landscape. Milla was bouncing around the entrance to the treehouse, barking happily and wagging her tail, while Carol was nearby with a tired expression on her face. Behind her was Master, as silent as he had been throughout the entire walk home. Lilac ignored the three and walked off. Near the base of the tree was a giant green tent, made out of a sturdy fabric that rippled in the slight wind. She couldn't see in the tent, but a strong yellowish light was flooding through the partially open flaps that made up the 'door'. as it were. Torque stumbled out of the tent, readjusting his shell as he went. "Hey, Lilac!" Torque called out. "Hey Torque," Lilac said, smiling, "I see you found your stuff." "Most of it," Torque sighed, "Hey, how did your visit to the Temple go? Did you stop the Kingdom Stone from being stolen?" "Oh no..." Lilac's joy stopped cold, "I forgot about that! Mayor Zao took off with the Kingdom Stone." "Oh..." Torque sighed again, before stepping forward and petting the moping Lilac's shoulder, "It's fine, it's okay, we can work with that. As long as it's in the hands of JUST Mayor Zao." "Trust us," Carol said, pointing to her and Lilac in a proud manner, "The most he'll do with it is turn it into a disco ball or something." "So, are you going to join us in our treehouse for the night?" Lilac asked, "Get some rest, be ready to get it back as soon as possible?" "Sadly, no," Torque said, "I've got most of my stuff, but almost all of it's offline. It'll take me a while to get it all working again." "Sounds like complicated stuff," Carol said, "Think any one of us could help?" "Thanks for asking," Torque said, looking back into his tent, "But it IS incredibly complicated stuff. I kinda want to get it running myself. And while I'm at it, I better have Master's gun, if he doesn't mind." "You can have it," Master said, taking the totally empty gun from its holster and giving it to Torque, "I don't really want to have that thing around Milla." "Seems like some sort of antique," Torque mused, looking over the weapon with amusement, "Well, at least in my culture it is." "A .50 Action Express Desert Eagle? Antique?" Blade asked, slightly dumbfounded, "Damn, son, this universe is very schizophrenic, technology-wise. Standard TVs, spears and swords in the army, motorbikes, and yet lasers, robots and spaceships too." "Hmm..." Lilac mused, "We'll make sense of this tomorrow. I still need to patch you two up, after all. Things should be pretty wild tonight, especially with that new girl." "Yeah!" Carol shouted, punching the air, "This is gonna be a fun night!" =========== 5 Minutes Later =========== 'Fun', Lilac thought. Maybe she was exaggerating a bit. Or rather, a lot. It had only been about 5 minutes since leaving Torque to fiddle with his machinery. The group, exhausted from the fighting at the temple, had collapsed around the various parts of the Treehouse's living room. It was a spacious, wooden interior, with bamboo shoots lining the walls and giving off an intense cultural atmosphere. Well, Carol said it did, anyway. Beyond the sheet doors was a dresser of sorts, hiding in front on a blue-tinged window with a phone sitting on top of it. Next to that was a bookcase with sparse contents, with only an apple, a model of a star and some coloured cases to call its own. At the corner of the room were a sofa and a chair, both wood-framed and lined with comfy red velvet cushions. Completing the look was a lamp and a television set, which was situated near the chairs. Lilac was sprawled out on the sofas, stomach-down, and twirling legs in the air. Milla was crouched down by the chair, looking wondrously at the TV, while Carol was on the floor beside her, a shapeless and bandage-covered green lump in the dim light of the cheap lamp. Master was sat in the chair, having fallen asleep, his snoring otherwise permeating the mere ticking sound of the nearby clock. But apart from that was mere silence. "I'm booooooored..." Carol whined. Lilac didn't want to admit it, but she was too. She had refrained from turning the TV on, since her dish had been disabled sometime before, and she was resting off the damages she had sustained during the Kingdom Stone lair collapsing. Still, her TV still functioned, and she finally relented; "How about a movie?" "Sure!" Milla barked happily, getting up. "Mhm, why not?" Carol asked, still lying on the floor. "What kind of movies do you like, Milla?" Lilac asked, sitting up on the sofa now. "I like being surprised!" Milla chirped. "Alright..." Lilac said, pausing, "...Hey, what about that Master guy? Shouldn't he get a say?" "What kind of parent names their kid 'Master'?" Carol grumbled, "Milla, could you..." Milla nodded happily and suddenly jumped up onto Master's lap. He awoke with a start, gibbering and thrashing at the heavy object that had jumped onto his lap. Milla quickly jumped off again. "Wh-wha?" Master asked, "What's going on?" "Sorry to wake you," Lilac said, "But we were going to watch a movie. Just wondered if you wanted to pick for us. They're in that bookcase over there." "...Sure," Master shrugged, getting up out of the chair and walking towards the bookcase, squatting down at the shelf of coloured cases. He looked around for a while, before turning to Lilac again, "Uh...where're your DVD's?" "DV...D's?" Lilac asked, "Never heard of 'em." "...You've never heard of DVD's?" Master asked, to which Lilac responded to by shaking her head, "...CD's?" Another shake, "Well what DO you use, then?" He grabbed the nearest case, and flipped it open. A black, plastic brick met his gaze, which quickly mutated into a look of pure dumbfoundedness. "...VHS tapes?" Blade asked incredulously, "...Laser guns, spaceships, robots...VHS TAPES?!" "Most common media form on Planet Avalice, thanks very much," Carol sighed, "Convenient and easy to store. Well, apart from them being bulky. Got a problem with that?" "Honey, VHS tapes are VHS paperweights in our time!" Blade said, "People nowadays only use them for nostalgia. Well that, and sticking pretty stupid B-Movies onto them." Master ignored him and studied the range of VHS tapes before him. Alongside the one he had picked out, there were about seven titles in all; the other six were 'Year of the Dragon', 'Taken Away to the Fairytale Castle', 'Taken Away to the Fairytale Castle 2', 'Mad Speedz', 'Land of the Lizard People' and 'The Red Scarves'. "'The Red Scarves?'" Master asked. "A doccumentry on them," Lilac sighed, "Kinda how we got into the whole thing in the first place." "Ain't showing that one to Milla, then..." Master said, "I just can't see any we'd all like. What's the one in my ha...oh." Master had flipped the case in his hand over and stopped. There, staring at him from the cover, was an animatronic bear he knew all too well, its top hat doing nothing to hide the smug grin on its face. At the top, in bold letters, was 'Five Nights at Freddy's: The Movie'. "...Okay..." Blade said quietly, "I'm pretty sure these guys are just fucking with us now." ========= An hour later ========= "Damn..." Blade sighed, "Even for video game movies, this is bad." "Shut up, Blade," Master grumbled, "It's actually pretty good." The four had been sitting around the living room, watching the movie with oft-blank stares. Every now and again, there would be a scary moment that would cause three of the four to shriek and jump in response. Each tried to react differently; Carol remained the strongest, acting like it had no effect on her, while Lilac was lying on her stomach hugging a pillow. Milla, on the other hand, had jumped straight into Master's lap, who in turn had begun to stroke her wild orange hair to soothe her. "I...get the feeling this was a poor choice of viewing material..." Master sighed. "Well, it's actually pretty good..." Lilac said. "It's just...scary!" Milla whimpered. "Yeah, good idea to show this to a ten year old," Blade snarked, "Even Torque would probably stay silent towards this crap!" "Speaking of..." Carol said, munching on a handful of popcorn, "Why d'ya think Torque doesn't want to hang out with us?" "He said he had some work to do," Lilac said, lying on her back now with her head on the floor. "Maybe he's just afraid he'll get cooties!" Carol teased, causing the three girls to break out in raucous laughter. "Cooties..." Milla giggled. "Shouldn't someone go check on him?" Lilac asked, "See if he needs anything? Water, some food, perhaps a break?" "I'll do it," Master said, getting up and placing Milla on the floor, "It'll shut Blade up for a bit." Master walked out of the room shortly after, stumbling past the TV and out the door within seconds. There was a sudden yelp and a crunching sound, which Lilac quickly went to investigate. "Ah..." Master groaned as he lay on the dirt below, "I forgot there was a ladder here..." "Jeez, are you okay?!" Lilac called down, crying out in shock. "I'm fine..." Master grumbled his response, "Only thing broken is my dignity...no, wait, wait. Nope, I've shattered my left kneecap, too. But other than that, I'm fine!" Lilac sighed and walked back into the living room, sitting down on the couch again, "You know what, Carol? I see your point now. He's such a handful. Like everything has to be about him." "Exactly," Carol said, pausing the movie, "Why do we even have him around?" "I'm guessing the same reason Torque set up shop here, too," Lilac shrugged, "There's something bigger going on with the Kingdom Stone than just Mayor Zao wanting more power. Torque seems to know why, and Master seems to know how. And he could be of massive help to us." "That good or bad?" Carol asked. Lilac had no answer to that, so she looked down at herself. "I dunno..." Milla asked, jumping onto the couch, "He looks nice enough..." "Master..." Carol grumbled bitterly, "Why does he call himself that? Why not Overlord? Or SuperGuy? Or just Perfect Chaos or some overblown name like that? Jeez, and I thought Mayor Zao had an ego!" "Urgh...this is confusing," Lilac sighed, pressing a hand to her aching temple, "All we were going to do today was rob Mayor Zao's truck. I didn't want to at first, but I probably would have had I known he was going to steal the Kingdom Stone. Then Torque comes crashing in, gets in a fight with that snake guy, then the other guy comes in and next thing we know we're in a temple dodging pickaxes and attacking robots!" "Sounds exciting!" Milla barked happily. "...Yeah..." Lilac smiled, looking up, "I guess it was. Kinda...kinda fun, even." "So, are we going to get involved?" Carol asked. "I don't know..." Lilac said next, getting up and turning the TV off, "It depends on how severe the whole thing is. I say we sleep on it and see what tomorrow brings. And get rid of this movie, too." "It's strange, I'll give it that," Carol mused, "Lots of interesting plot threads and characters, but a lot of it seems to go nowhere. Funny thing is, I don't even remember buying that tape." "...Neither do I..." Lilac said, staring at the tape case, "That bear creeps me out, though. Urgh, I'm going to bed." "Me too..." Carol yawned, "Milla, you better come to bed, too." "Where do I sleep?" Milla asked. "I've got a extra bed in the bedroom," Lilac smiled, playing with Milla's hair, "I use it if my other bed is...unavailable..." she quickly cast a glare at Carol, who simply smiled nervously, "You can use it. It's really comfortable." "Oh, thank you, Lilac!" Milla said, giving Lilac a big hug. "You're welcome, kiddo." =========== Later that night =========== "Not like a couple of traitors like yourselves would care..." Oh great, this again. Lilac always hated these kind of dreams. One where your own mind takes parts of the day previous and tries to make something of it. Your own brain guilt tripping you. Lilac gingerly got to her feet, each step responding with a resounding clanging noise. All around her was a black, empty void that stretched on for distances immeasurable, only the sound of otherworldly wails and muffled breathing meeting her ears. There were odd feelings on her body, like she was in bed tossing and turning. "The heck?" Lilac asked, her voice echoing alongside the wails, "Am I dreaming?" "I dunno..." came the voice again. Lilac turned around to see Spade again, his left leg up and resting on the stolen Kingdom Stone, "Though I guess that's why I'm even here." "Spade?" Lilac asked, "What ARE you doing here, anyway?" "Just here..." Spade said, crossing his arms, "I suppose I'm just looking after this here trinket for Mayor Zao." "...Wait, the Kingdom Stone!" Lilac called out, pointing to the item in question, "Give it back!" "Why should I?" Spade asked, "What use would this magic disco ball be to you over me? I need it to find my father's killer. For all I know, you're probably travelling around with him." "Not now," Lilac grumbled, "I still need time to figure out who he even IS! But trust me, Mayor Zao won't know who your father's killer. He barely understands the concept of modesty!" "I know," Spade sighed, "But he's the closest I have to a lead. Why do you even care? What do YOU want with the Kingdom Stone?" "I need it!" Lilac called out, "Torque said it might fall into the wrong hands! Danger might befall us!" "And?" Spade asked, "Did he say WHO those wrong hands belonged to? And WHY would it be dangerous? Do you even know?" Lilac stayed silent. "Exactly. Why do you just TRUST this Torque fellow? How do you not know he's leading you towards that guy's dangerous hands. If they're even dangerous. And even if YOU had the Kingdom Stone, you'd probably sell it..." he smiled deviously, "Carol's bike looks like it needs new treads, after all." "I'm not part of your little group anymore!" Lilac seethed, "I won't kill for some stupid crystals!" "...Yet..." Spade laughed silently. There was a sudden crack as Spade's face suddenly went numb and he fell to the floor. His still-breathing but limp body was kicked aside and some...creature took his place. He was of a medium length, about Lilac's own height, and was some sort of male demon-like creature. He wore no clothes and his body was a pure black, a shadow from head to toe with three deep scars across his chest. His hands had no fingers, instead ending in dark blue claws that also sprouted from his bare feet. His skin, only seen around his muzzle, was a deep purple that clashed rather oddly with his red eyes containing sunken black pupils. Completing the look was a small snout of a nose, wild hair, a thin spike of a tail and some kind of striped blue/black horn that sprouted from his forehead. His face was currently twisted into a sneer, holding his hand as if it was aching. "Jackass..." The creature growled, his voice gravely and eccentric, "And this is the guy who'll eventually become a Battletoad? Lame." "Wha,..wha..." Lilac asked, grabbing her head in confusion, "Who the heck are you?" "They call me...evil black Zeti creature!" The creature grinned, showing off his sharp teeth, "But most call me Frank Freakly. Franky, for short." "Why're you here?" Lilac asked, " I don't know you! I...oh wait. Does Master happen to know you?" "I'm a friend of his..." Franky said, "Well, I WAS. Haven't really been talking to him since he dropped the crust of a dying Earth on my homeland and killed all my brethren." "...Wait, what?!" "Trust me, he'll mention it sooner or later..." Franky shrugged, quickly dashing around Lilac until he reached her right side, "For now, I saw you were a bit...restless, so I thought I'd just quickly pop into your own head. Got a few warnings to give out." "And how would you know?" Lilac asked, leaning against nothing, "I'm dreaming. You logically know all I know, nothing else." "Well, I'm a bit beyond your dream..." Franky shrugged, "I mean, I AM a figment of your imagination, but I'm...Third-Party. I tend to appear everywhere Master does. I'm his...subconscious, if you will." "Explains his grouchy streak, I guess..." Lilac sighed, "So...you're here 'cause he's here? You're his influence. And because of that, you also know everything HE does." "Almost..." Franky shuffled across the floor, "I know almost everything. I just can't say it straight. All I can say is that Master isn't the only guy you can't trust." "What, is Torque secretly evil too?" Lilac snarked, "Did HE do something to your people?" "No, not at all," Franky said, "I think he's an upstanding man, But if you think he has a passing interest in this..." he knelt down towards the Kingdom Stone, "Sparkly Master Emerald wannabe, think again. He doesn't NEED it. But he IS trying to make sure someone else who wants it doesn't.. And we can say this guy knows Master...personally." "Wait, what do you mean by that?" Lilac asked. Franky opened his mouth and started to speak, but he stopped. There was an infernal ringing sign blaring out throughout the void. Lilac felt some off shift in her body and the voice above her was starting to murmur and yell. And if that wasn't enough, the sound of crackling electricity was slowly filling the air as well. "Darn it!" Franky called out amongst the inferno, "I've been cut short!" "What's going on up there?!" Lilac called out, the crackling being louder with every passing second, "Am I waking up?" "Yeah!" Franky called out too, "Looks like you're getting an early start! So sorry about this, Lilac old girl!" Lilac started to talk about, but stopped shortly after in a gasp. The crackling was loud now, and had a point of origin; four giant electrical cables were slowly ravelling out from the darkness, light blue lights skipping across their prongs. Lilac, weak at the knees, started peddling backwards before breaking out into a full sprint, but the cables snagged her leg and wrapped tightly around it, before wrapping around her torso and other limbs. The crackling was even louder and the feeling of the electricity was making Lilac's fur stand on end. "You don't have to do this!" Lilac called out, "Getting electrocuted is one of my worst fears!" "Sorry, Lilac..." Franky sighed, "This has to be done. Your mind won't let me do it any other way. The average walnut is a funny old thing. I'm sure you'll realise that. In time." "Well, at least I'm waking up soon..." Lilac winced, "I just hope things'll go more smoothly in the real world!" "Abandon that hope!" Franky said, now sporting a devious grin, "A new evil is coming to Planet Avalice and his red eyes spell doom for your kind! Only one of your many companions will lead you to the safety of this wretched planet, so pick a side and be on your guard!" Franky's grin vanished, as did the rest of him, and after a good five seconds he was gone. Lilac tried to call out for a final time, but the cables had become impatient. The electricity was now surging through her with hideous speed, and nothing but pure and puerile agony shot through every crack of her being. There was nothing left for Lilac to do but scream and pray, to pray that the night would soon be over. Time slowed to a crawl, second by petrifying second, until finally it all went black. === ??? === "Lilac! Wake up!" Carol was taken aback as Lilac screeched like a banshee and leapt out of the top bunk, tumbling to the floor in a crumpled heap. Carol quickly looked towards Milla in the corner, all snuggled up in the green-quilt bed. Or at least she was, until Lilac's screaming woke her from her slumber. Lilac, eyes red with tears of shock, jumped to her feet and grabbed Carol by the shoulders. "...What?" "Torque turned into an alien or something!! You gotta believe me!" Carol cried out, quickly jumping around. Lilac sighed, forcing the dream of getting electrocuted into the back of her mind, "Look...you probably had a bad dream, or something..." "I'M SERIOUS!" Carol squealed, "Trust me!" "Nrrrgh, fine!" Lilac sighed, patting the side of her head, "Let me just get my shoes on!" "What's going on, Lilac?" Milla whimpered, half-buried in her sheets. "Nothing, Kiddo..." Lilac grumbled, "Get some sleep, I'll be back soon." Carol quickly left the room and waited for Lilac to get properly changed. Odd old Lilac, always sleeping in her normal clothes, JUST in case they had to book it for one reason or another. Just another of her little...quirks, she guessed. Still, Carol had other, seemingly more distressing stuff to focus on at the moment. The funny thing was how she even came across it. She was just getting back from the bathroom when she heard some clattering and nattering from Torque's tent. She decided to take a quick peek and slowly fumbled down the wooden ladder to see. Inside was Master and Torque, merrily chatting the night away with tales of their own technology. Both seemed to be above their level at a quick glance; Master talked of cars that ran on this force called Chaos Energy as well as standard fuel, as well as large mechanical machines of war, far bigger than anything even the tech geeks Mayor Zao employed could've ever dreamed up. He also talked about these items called 'firearms'; weapons that, as opposed to firing lasers from an energy source, used an explosive force that propelled a small chunk of metal towards targets with questionable accuracy. Primitive even for Planet Avalice's standards, but the main thing that caught her ear was the fact that soldiers worldwide used them as opposed to just robots. Odd. Torque's own words painted a similar picture, but much more advanced; spaceships, black-hole engines and blaster pistols available to the common man aplenty. Carol was stunned. All this stuff sounded...interstellar. Was Torque an alien or something. Well...yes, obviously. It seemed to happen so quickly, too. One of Torque's machines had seemed to have malfunctioned, and as such was sending random bits of scrap metal around the room. The metal in question had hit Torque hard enough to knock the wind out him...and knock HIM out of his shell. He had skidded across the ground, losing his beak in the process, and stopped short of a box of crystal shards. With the shell gone, Torque looked a lot different. He looked slim, more normal, but more...alien. He WAS an alien! As soon as Torque got to his feet, he looked at Master, who's concealed face showed an odd type of shock. Both yelped in shock, pulling pistols on each other, and that was when Carol rushed out of the tent and scrambled up the ladder to get Lilac. As almost on cue, Lilac appeared in full clothing, gloves and all. The two sprinted through the house and down the ladder, barely pausing for anything, and dashed into the green tent. Carol was kind of surprised; having been unable to take in the scenery before, she never noticed it was so...large. The ceiling was a good foot above the tips of her ears and was mere metal poles arranged into a tent shape and covered with some hard, flexible green fabric. The grass was still under her boots as opposed to a carpet, and all around lay boxes and bits of machinery. In the middle of the tent, suspended over the floor, was a ringed device of some sort, holding many yellow orbs and a few more of many colours surrounding it. Torque and Master were still under that device, guns pointed at each other; Torque was obscured by Lilac's view but he had a blaster pistol gripped firmly in both hands, while Master had his "deagle" or whatever in his left, supported by a bent right arm that held the Blade of Hysteria in a backwards grip. "This is dumb..." Blade grumbled. "He's right," Torque said, "We've talked this over. Why're we still pointing guns at each other!?" "It's my fault..." Master sighed, "A side effect of a MasterSelf returning from insanity. Sometimes you get micro-relapses, I'm kinda not in control at the moment. Give me a second..." he grunted with effort, and both arms quickly fell to his sides, the Blade and gun tumbling out of his hands and landing with a soft thump on the grass, "There. Sorry about that, I just...sorry." "Torque?!" Lilac called out in shock. With Master moving to the side, Torque was in clearer view. He no longer looked like a shellduck, but more like some sort of alien. He lacked a nose, bar two slits set into the area above his mouth, and still wore his goggles. His hair was wild and unkempt, and he was wearing some kind of black and orange jumpsuit with bulky boots and gloves. He was quickly stretching his arms towards Carol and Lilac, panicked and shocked, "Wait! I-It's not what it looks like." Carol approached, angry and baring her claws, "What are you?! Give me answers, buddy!" "Okay, okay, I'll tell you!" Torque blurted out, backing up slightly, "But you have to promise to keep it to yourselves!" "We...we promise," Lilac said, recovering from her shock and strutting up to Carol, "Right, Carol?" "Right..." Carol said, calming down, "Pinky swear." "Got it, cap'n!" Blade called out, to which Master rolled his eyes. "Right, thank you..." Torque sighed in relief, before pointing to a couple of nearby toolboxes, "Please, take a seat." Lilac and Carol both sat on the red toolboxes, Lilac's legs crossing for comfort, while Master just sat on a nearby table, hunched over and legs crossed in such as a way as to look like a ball to the average person. Still, he looked up at Torque as well, who was grabbing some small round device from a nearby table and walking back towards the three. Torque started, his voice stable and with a tone of reason, "I'm from another world. Actually, I'm part of an alliance between many different worlds. We're called Chasers. I suppose...one of you have probably heard of it." Blade spoke up, almost on cue, "Well, not really. The closest we come to answering to any Space Police is the No-Zone's Zone Cops. A bunch of stuck-up jackasses and nothing else. But Chasers? Nope, sorry." "That's probably for the better, then," Torque said, taking in the information. "So, you're an alien?" Lilac asked. "I...guess," Torque shrugged. Carol suddenly started snickering and turned to Lilac quickly; "Space Cooties!" The two girls began giggling to themselves, but soon stopped when Lilac caught a glimpse of Torque's annoyed face, giving Carol a quick nudge to stop her. "...You don't believe me, do you?" Torque asked. "Actually, I do," Lilac said. "...Really?" Lilac's own tone shifted, seeing that it was her turn to inform, "They say that a long time ago, dragons came to Avalice and mixed with our ancestors." "Yeah, and not just ones like Lilac!" Carol said, spreading her arms, "HUGE dragons too, like in the movies." "Well, I guess that explains that rather...stunted physique," Master said, chuckling to himself. An annoyed Carol grabbed a nearby wrench and threw it in response, colliding with Master and knocking him off the table with a pained yelp. "So I guess it's not much of a stress for other things to be out there too..." Lilac said, shrugging, "Besides, old Perfect Chaos over there is from another timeline, so that kinda helps too." "You're welcome..." came Master's dazed reply, still sprawled out on the floor in a heap. "Answer me this, though," Carol asked, "What do aliens want with OUR planet?" "The man who wants your Kingdom Stone isn't really from around here either," Torque sighed, some weariness in his voice, "He calls himself Lord Brevon. And let me tell you, he didn't get that name selling cookies. He's dangerous with a capital D." Torque threw the device in his hand to the ground, which erupted into a flurry of light. It slowly formed a hologram, showing some cloaked monstrous creature within it. It looked almost like some sort of insect creature, his skin green and disgustingly filth-laden with two antennae growing out of his head that looked like a moustache. Completing the look was two red ears, piercing ones at that, that stared the group straight in the eye. Lilac shivered slightly; the dream Franky had told her that a pair of red eyes would bring doom to her world. Was this those red eyes? "Heh, he kinda looks like an upside down Eggman!" Blade called out. Torque ignored the weapon and continued, "Brevon is the most powerful enemy we've ever faced. Hundreds of worlds destroyed, thousands of heroes killed or corrupted, enormous amounts of energy stolen! And that's just the tip of the iceberg..." The hologram shifted again to the inside of some facility. Inside it were thousands of robots of every shape and size; some flying black blobs with guns, others with humanoid bodies composed of steel with a single tanked eye and laser rifles. "According to our scans," Torque continued again, "The Kingdom Stone has enough energy to double the size of his army. If he gets it, he'll be...unstoppable." The hologram ceased, leaving the three watching to process the information. Lilac and Carol looked intrigued, while Master had clambered back onto the table and was staring emptily at the floor, wrestling with his thoughts; such a man was powerful, dangerous, lethal, yes. But compared to what Master had seen, he was small fry. He had seen men who could burn an entire universe to a crisp, kill entire worlds to revive his dead sister...and still leave time for some guts on his weapon and a bloodied smile at the end of it all. This was nothing to him. "I'll try to convince your leaders of his existence," Torque said once more, "But if I can't get them to help me, if Brevon gets his hands on the Kingdom Stone...then I'm have no choice. I'll have to destroy it." This sent both Lilac and Carol into shock, Lilac blurting out a, "DESTROY IT?! Are you serious?!" "I'll only destroy it it if I have no other choice!" Torque quickly went on the offensive, "I swore to my Captain on his dying breath that I would not let Brevon get that Stone!" "I'm sorry about your Captain, but you can't destroy the Stone!" Lilac called out angrily, then stopped. A sudden thought came to her mind; the valley, the mechanical snake, the temple and the caves. Going around and destroying all those evil robots wasn't half-bad an experience. Kinda...kinda fun, even. Such an life, fighting evil, it was...wonderful. She spoke again, "In fact, you won't even have to think about it, because I'm going to help you get it back!" "...Are you sure about that?" Master asked. "I don't care how dangerous it is!" Lilac called out, posing heroically, "It's gonna take a lot more than robots and aliens to slow a Dragon down!" "If she's gonna go for it, than I am too!" Carol said next, standing up and looking confident, "If we can defeat the Great Dragon knows how many robots together, who knows what else we can do?" There was a sudden breaking sound and the group looked behind them in shock, Master and Torque both keeping gun hands towards their holsters. Thankfully, it was just Milla, having accidently broken some boxes on the way in, looking quite sheepish, "Um...I wanna come too!" "And you, Master?" Lilac asked. "Count me in, Dragon Girl!" Master said, getting off the table, "I'm here on a mission just as much as you are, and nothing ever gets in my way!" "At least not in a single piece," Blade chuckled. "Great!" Lilac said, looking a bit sneaky, "We could use the two...uh, three of you, maybe to save Carol's life a few more times." "Hey!" came Carol's quick response. "Say no more!" Master called out proudly, "We've got your back!" "And we've got the rest of you!" Blade said proudly too. Everyone simply turned to it with looks of confusion, "...What? I'm a weapon of war, not a comedian. Give me some space!" "I'd be lying if I said I was comfortable with this..." Torque sighed, looking weary, "But I honestly could use your help. Fact of the matter is, you all know this world better than I." "So it's all official, right?" Master asked. "Pretty much," Torque said, looking slightly happier, "Welcome aboard, comrades! One more thing though, just something really important...don't talk about our mission unless I say so, got it?" "Got it," Master said, "Last thing the world needs to think is that we're all loonies. Especially me." There was a brief pause, before Carol yawned and stretched, "I dunno about you guys, but I'm exhausted..." "Yeah, we better get some shut-eye..." Lilac yawned too, "We've got a big day ahead of us. OH, Master! I never got you a bed, did I?" "I'd like to lend you one," Torque shrugged, "But I don't have the room for it." "Don't worry, we'll find a place," Master sighed, "After a life jumping across the multiverse, you get...creative with where you snooze. Can't remember the last place I called home..." The four said no more, instead just walking out the door of the tent to get back to the treehouse. Master was first out, then Milla, then Carol and finally Lilac. A quick shout from Torque kept Lilac halfway though the door, though. "One more thing Lilac..." Torque said, his voice quiet and soft, "...Thank you." Lilac simply nodded her approval and with that, she was gone. Torque sighed and began working on his machines again. The sooner he got this stuff on-line, the sooner he'd be able to clear a space to lay down for the night. Bit of a shame half of his pillows and sheets had burned up in the crash, but whatever. "Oi, Torque!" came Master's voice. He was now half in the doorway himself, "Just wanted to ask a question about this Brevon bloke." "Go ahead." "Good, uh..." Master started, "This Brevon bloke. Does he wield a particular blade? Like, one that's large and curved and eternally bleeding with a strange alien liquid?" "Yes, why ask?" Torque said innocently. Master looked saddened or shocked, or perhaps resigned, "No reason...just wanted to know, that's all." He quickly left. As he was making his way up the ladder, Torque could hear some conversation between him and his weapon. Master was the first to speak; "Well, sh*t." "Conclusive evidence alright..." Blade sighed, "War Lilac had Brevon's blade that day. So I guess he IS involved in some matter." "But how?" Master asked, his frustrated voice slowly carrying off into the distance before becoming totally quiet, "If we knew WHEN he played his part, I could kill him before it and that might stop Lilac's descent into insanity. If only..." The voice stopped. ==================== Meanwhile, at Shuigang Palace ==================== "GOOD EVENING, SIR." Syntax's mechanical voice was always one that Lord Arktivus Brevon enjoyed. Not because it was a good voice, but more because it often meant the AI had found someone else to kill. Brevon turned to his main AI, the being known as Syntax. She, or rather it was a large orb of a robot, its main body a black metal with a mechanical eye attached directly to the centre of the orb. Above it was a bright green glass dome, contents shrouded by inside fogs and liquids, while below the orb sat two green whip-like arms ending in pincers. The robot shifted its position again, "IT MAY INTERESTING YOU TO KNOW THAT THE LOCATION OF THE ARTEFACT HAS SHIFTED." Brevon put down the glass of mysterious liquid he had been sipping from and glared at Syntax, his voice deep, dark and like a blender of gravel, "Where?" Syntax floated backwards somewhat upon this growl of an order and released a hologram from its eye. It showed a map of the region, three main locations marked. These were the three cities of the county, and the middle one was highlighted. Syntax's artificial voice spoke again, "IT IS MOVING TOWARD A DENSELY POPULATED REGION TO THE EAST." Brevon smirked with a devilish grin. For years he had heard of this magical Kingdom Stone and now, when he was searching for it the hardest, he had found it. Sort of. Still, the Stone was just out of reach, but he had a solution. He crossed his arms and barked out, "This could work to our advantage...get me the King's son." "RIGHT AWAY, SIR BREVON-" Syntax beeped a final time and flew off to fetch the Prince. Brevon waited, his smirk ever widening. Ever since being shot down and stuck on this poxy little wasteland of a planet, Prince Dail of Shuigang had been his best ally. He remembered his...acquisition of him like it was yesterday. His smirk stopped briefly. Oh wait, it WAS only yesterday. Still, it was not hard to forget. It had only been a few hours after crash landing, after all. Brevon hated that. A lord of the universe, killing everything in sight. And yet it was those infernal, ghastly, goody-goody Chasers that had managed to puncture his Dreadnought's energy supplies. One emergency landing later and the batteries had run dry. Brevon knew had he to regroup, re-arm and re-energise as soon as possible. And the Shuigang Palace was right across the river. Gathering what troops he had left, Brevon had burst straight into the Palace to take control and establish a base. Even in this weakened state, Brevon's army was a unified machine of war; nothing could stand before them, lasers firing out in a macabre chorus of death and destruction, cleaving through every last minuscule line of defence imaginable. The king was exasperated, crying out that their walls were impenetrable. Brevon's own answer was to simply tell him, well, the floor wasn't. Even now, Brevon chuckled to himself at that little joke. Soon after that little...pleasantry, Brevon had drawn his blade and cut deep into the King's neck. The weapon, forever stained with the blood of a thousand innocents, cleaved through the old codger's neck like warm butter. Bloodied feathers flew out of the neck stump as the body and its missing head fell to the ground in a heap. Brevon would forever savour that moment; to him, killing was an art form, a method that needed precise timing and execution (pun intended). Granted, you could just SHOOT someone, but where was the fun in that? No, to Brevon that idea of fun was torture. Painful, cold-blooded, brutal, anything that made a man scream for mercy, to beg for the hideous shadows of death itself. And that's what he had done to the king's precious Prince, for a good week without pause. It did not take long for the young panda to submit and view Brevon as nothing above or below. A god amongst all people, himself included. The grey panda Prince in question was now hobbling towards Lord Brevon, his bloodied green robes swaying proudly behind him. His eyes, once a brilliant blue, were now a dulled fiery red due to the brainwashing, and he had his hair tied up into a stupid little knot. Brevon grumbled, hoping to eventually find more...suitable clothing for a Prince of war. Perhaps a cloaked set of armour like himself? Still, the Prince had stopped and he was now standing stock still in front of Brevon. The Prince spoke up, his voice a quiet and timid murmur, "...Master Brevon." "Where do your duties lie, Prince?" Lord Brevon asked, his face a cold sneer. "It is my duty to protect my father's kingdom." Brevon, satisfied, walked past the Prince. His boots made an unearthly clanging sound as he strode past the panda and stopped again, "You would sacrifice your very life for the good of this...kingdom, wouldn't you?" "Yes." Brevon took a few more steps to the left, his voice now taking a commanding tone, "And you would crush all those who threaten its safety!" "We must protect it at all costs." "Excellent..." Brevon muttered with glee. The young boy's mental programming had long taken effect. He knew, deep inside the boy that the old mind was still in there, weeping and trying to escape this torturous hell. But hell indeed, that just made it that much more...fun, "The one you call Zao has taken something very precious. Something that could put your kingdom at risk. You're not going to let him keep it...are you?" "ERROR! ERROR! EXTERNAL HACKING PROGRAM IN PROCESS!" came a screech from Syntax. The two looked at the machine, the creature flailing around in some sort of virtual agony. Finally, it stopped and it went limp. The green colours in its body changed to a deep red and a hologram was released from it eyes. Only now, instead of a man, there was a cloaked being with piercing red eyes. Lord Brevon saw a slight twitch in the Prince's eye; perhaps he had seen this fellow before? Nevertheless, the brainwashing made it so he'd never get the answer now. "Greetings, Lord of Genocide," the being said, his voice warped beyond proper identification, "So nice to finally make your...acquaintance." Lord Brevon drew his blade, "Who are you, cretin? State your name and purpose!" "My name is of no concern to you," the figure spoke again, "And I'm here to tell you that your little braindead busyboy won't be enough to get the Kingdom Stone. You'll need much more than him if you wish to pry it from Zao's cold, dead hands." "...What are you implying?" Came Brevon's sceptical response, "Are you proposing an alliance? Let it be known I do not team up with random strangers I do not know." "Shame, because I know you," the figure said, rattling off a list of facts, "Born on the planet Fearax, dead mother with father in the military. Forced to kill in self-defence at the age of 15 and never stopped afterwards. Travelled the universe, making as much of it your female dog as possible. Crash landed on Planet Avalice, now wants to escape to nuke it from afar and enslave its best warriors. And to do that, you need the Kingdom Stone." "...How do you know all that?" "I know things," the figure said, "We are at an impasse, Lord Brevon. You want to get your hands on the Kingdom Stone, AND the meddling Chaser who managed to shoot you down. I want...an old accomplice of mine, a guy who is travelling with the latter to get at the former. And I want him DEAD." "So you're saying that you will help me find this...battery..." Brevon said, "And in return, I must find you a certain cretin and bring him to you. Sounds like a fair trade." "Are you sure, Master Brevon?" The Prince spoke up, his voice angry and laced with defiance, "How can we trust this stranger? He could double cross us at any time." "No, that's your own master's work..." the creature growled, his mangled voice putting on a barely noticeable tone of bitterness, "The man who probably has a tape of your torture sessions with a box of tissues nearby. And besides, if you're a good boy and do your part...I may just find you your father's killer..." The Prince went silent, "...We accept this offer." "Just DON'T think of turning on us at the last second," Brevon threatened, "Many have fallen to an agonising death from such foolishness." "Trust me, Arktivus Brevon. I am a man of my own word. But are you one of yours? We shall speak again soon. Just know that you will have a new enemy soon enough. Her name is Lilac. Sash Lilac the Water Dragon. And she shall be the end of you unless you do something." And with that, the hologram was gone, Syntax's body flopping to the floor to begin a lengthy reboot sequence. Lord Brevon pondered. This...creature, whatever and whoever he was, was clearly someone way in over his head with this deal. Still, Brevon was perhaps one of the strongest men in the galaxy. If he could fight off waves of idealistic do-gooders who wanted to play hero, he could handle some random cloaked creature. And if this person kept their promise....well, a dagger to the spine helped cut away at loose ends. "Prince Dail, mobilize the Sky Batallion!" Brevon barked towards the Prince, "We carry on as planned. Advance towards Zao's domain and take back the Kingdom Stone by any possible means!" "Yes, Master Brevon!" Prince Dail barked in response, turning and running off towards the castle's throne room. Brevon looked out over the lands before him. Oh how soon it would until those disgustingly pleasant blue waters were chocked a raw green with sewage and corpses. How such a wonderful castle would be rubble. And how Brevon would be overjoyed to see the lights in the eyes of this Lilac girl fade by his hands. He chuckled to himself, and slowly plodded his way out of the room. He had a lot to do. Syntax's body, still sparking, suddenly lit up again. This flash of red was more brief that before, carrying the remnants of the cloaked figures thoughts. "So now the three forces are at it. Good vs Evil vs Lilac and Master. Good...very, very good. I guess now it's time for me to play the Trump Card..." ==========-----========== DeviantART Link: http://fav.me/d957yv2

I see you took my advice, Doodles. Thanks. Regardless, still a great story you've got there. Tells a good story, the characters are in character, and it shows a weaker, more "human" side to Lilac from that...scene that I for one greatly appreciate. It's, uh...it's good. ...Should've made Brevon's head explode, though.

Apologies for not being active on the site for a while. I...ran into something that needed my greater attention. To put it lightly. But that's over and now I'm ready to continue putting these chapters onto the site, probably one every other day. Starting with Chapter 2. As always; Strong Language Blood and Gore (though not much) A few disturbing scenes Quite a bit of Violence And Original Characters When We Last Left Off: With Master and Blade now by their side, Lilac and Carol escort Torque to the relative safety of their treehouse. There, Torque warns them of the plans to steal the Kingdom Stone directly from its resting place at the ancient temple. Lilac, Carol and Master head over there to stop the ambush from Mayor Zao, but it soon becomes clear that Master's influence is already starting to cause problems. ==========-----========== Chapter 2: Temple Ambush =============== 5 Minutes Later =============== "Lilac's Treehouse. Main Base of Operation of Sash Lilac and Carol Tea, formerly of the Red Scarves..." Blade said, "Damn, what a place." Master couldn't help but agree with him. It had only taken them about 5 minutes to get here, with Blade all the while trying to keep the mood lightened by telling stories and tall tales. It hadn't worked, to the point that Carol threatened to throw the obnoxious weapon into the canyon, though Master managed to talk her out of it ("Trust me," he had said, "It wouldn't end well...). Master managed to keep him quiet after that, promising to himself it would be the last time he would let Blade tell anyone about that time with the punch bowl and the rubber chicken. It was soon after such a conversation that they had arrived at Lilac's treehouse. It wasn't far from the Valley, maybe a mere mile from where they had found Torque, and it was a wide open space with low shrubbery, so the Valley itself could be seen quite clearly in the distance. A very large tree was nearby. Attached to it with a combination of rope, nails and bolts was a large wooden house, Master guessing at least a three-room sort of establishment, with a blue tiled roof and multiple eastern lanterns lining the ladder. It was almost luxury for such a place, and Master couldn't help but be impressed by it. "You built this yourself?" Master asked, astonished. "Well, Carol did...MOST of the work," Lilac said, a single bead of sweat travelling down the side of her head, "I'm not really all THAT strong." "Oh, don't be like that!" Blade called out, "You handled that purple snake bot with a large amount of finesse!" "That thing?" Lilac asked, "How'd you even know about that?" Master pulled on the middle layer of his scarf, like another man would pull at the collar of his shirt, "We...kinda followed you. We saw you jump out of the hole. Alongside what was left of that robot." "Well, guess that explains the sense of uneasiness," Lilac huffed, "It wasn't really that hard a fight. I just punched off his body parts and he exploded. For some reason." "Well, nice to know THAT hasn't changed from our universe," Blade said, "But still, who do you think sent that bot after you? And why you?" "It was the possession of that snake guy you fought off," Torque said, "Guess he put him up as guard duty." Lilac walked over to Torque, "That reminds me, what are you even doing out here? The skies haven't been safe for days." "Clearly," Master said, looking up at the skies. Even now were more of those dark green helicopters flying off into the distance. Torque looked a bit forlorn, "Someone is about to steal the Kingdom Stone, and I have to stop them." Master seemed to be surprised at this remark, but Lilac seemed to pass it off as a joke, "The Kingdom Stone? That's impossible!" "Yeah, only I could steal it!" Carol said, flexing her left arm. "Pfff, you wish!" Lilac said playfully, giving Carol a slight nudge for her troubles. "I probably could..." Master shrugged, "Get to the shrine in disguise, steal the gem and...do...something with it." "It's already happening," Torque said, "Mayor Zao is sending troops in disguise to the Ancient Temple! I have to warn them!" "Well, me and Carol are pretty fast," Lilac boasted, "We could check for you." "Really?" "Yep!" Carol boasted too, "I've got a motorcycle! And she's a dragon! They're like, super fast!" "What about your friend there?" Torque asked, leaning a bit to look at Master. "Me? Yeah, I guess I'm pretty fast," Master said, "Though I normally use portals to get around. But, uh, that's kinda out of the picture at the moment." "Why?" Carol asked, "We could get to the Temple in seconds, then!" "Well..." Master sighed, quickly showing the three his stomach bandage, now slowly bloodied, "A slightly open stomach puncture kinda knocks the wind out of you." "A stomach puncture? Why didn't you tell us before?" Lilac asked, "We can heal it!" "Don't worry 'bout it," Blade said, "I can heal it. Given time." "Natural healing factor, huh?" Torque asked, "Impressive." "Does it warp reality, too?" Carol asked, her tone quite sarcastic. "Ladies, please, we don't have time for this," Master said quickly. "He's right," Torque said, bowing his head, "Even without his portals, it's worth a shot. Hurry over to the temple, before it's too late!" "What about you?" Carol asked, "Shouldn't you come too?" "I'll catch up with you," Torque explained, "As soon as I find all my stuff. It was scattered everywhere during the crash, so I may be a while." "Right, come on Carol!" Lilac said, turning tail and running off further into the forest. Carol began running too, soon followed by Master. Torque sighed, readjusted his beak and headed back off into the Valley. ============== Sometime Later ============== "Thank the Great Dragon the Temple isn't that far away!" Carol said, huffing and panting, as the three ran headlong across the beaten path, the sound of their shoes pounding the dirt track contrasting the otherwise serene feel of the forest. Even now the Valley was nowhere to be seen, and the Temple itself was slowly closing up in the distance, the ancient rocky box it was. "You know, now we have time to talk more about that Blade of yours," Lilac said, "Just to get some facts straight." "You sure you wanna do this now?" Blade asked, "Can't it wait for another time? Like, the next chapter?" "Might as well," Lilac said, "It's just that you fascinate me. A bladed weapon that talks, extends, can open portals and so on. Never seen anything like it before in my life." "Yeah, is it possessed by a demon or something?" Carol asked. "How dare you!" Blade yelled, the green glow of the blade once again turning red, "I am not a demon!" "Yeah, forgot to mention that," Master said, "He doesn't like being called a demon. He's actually a God." "The Hellblood God of War, thank you very much!" Blade grumbled. "So, what're you doing in a bladed weapon, then?" Lilac asked. "It all began in time uncharted," Blade began, "Back in our native universe. I was a god to the Hellbloods, a tribal set of vampires that were in the middle of a feud with fellow tribe the Echidnas. The Hellbloods were friendly enough people, not above the odd sacrifice but otherwise decent folk. The Echnidnas, on the other hand...ooh, they were nasty. The Echidnas believed in this one great god, named Chaos. Probably heard us call him out by name. Just kinda what happens when you have to listen to preachers in a world where only one religion is allowed to be taught every day. Despite the fact that, you know, Chaos almost wiped most of the United Federation clean off the map." "And in our universe, did," Master sighed. Anyway..." Blade continued, "The Hellbloods were starting to get rather wary of the Echnidas. The Hellbloods were just trying to exist, to be able to see the sun another day. But the Echidnas wanted more then mere...spirituality. Well, their leader did, anyway. Think he was named after a raincoat or something, think it was Pachacamac. It certainly didn't help that he was being run ragged by a sort of offshoot of his tribe known as the Nocturnal. They vanished into another dimension and old Paccy turned his full attention on MY followers. So they decided the best thing to do was gather four blades from across the world and feed them with the souls of the gods. The Blade of Order, The Blade of Control, The Blade of Hope and the Blade of Hysteria...that's me. No idea how they did it, but next thing you know I'm stuck in an ancient blade, being swung by some random Hellblood and getting lodged in an Echidna's neck. Almost every week after that, I was being used to fend off Echidnean raids, one after the other. It was actually kinda fun, for a while." "So how'd you get into Master's possession?" Carol asked. "Pafekuto Kaosu..." Blade muttered in a low, haunted breath, "Pachacamac and his followers were at their wits end when they couldn't fight back against me or my contemporaries. They only wanted more power, and they had it; legendary gems called the Chaos Emeralds, said to contain unlimited amounts of powers, each graded by the strength of it's energy. And then there was the granddaddy of them all, the Master Emerald. The Master Emerald, you see, is guarded by a certain chosen one, assigned to look over the it and these cute little blobby things called Chao. Bit of shame the guardian at the time was Pachacamac's own daughter, Tikal. Old Paccy, in his greed, struck his daughter down and shattered the Master Emerald. He released Chaos, his watery blood boiling at the sight of so many dead Chao things. In his rage, he absorbed the power of the Chaos Emeralds, transforming into a massive beast. Hellblood and Echnidna alike were wiped out by this...terrifying monstrosity. I was laid to rest in their sacred temple, where Master found me several millennia later." "So..." Lilac said, "Everyone died because of a power struggle." "Not EVERYONE," Master clarified, "Just the Hellbloods. They were revived later through manipulation of dead genes. As for the Echidnas, a handful survived and bred on. By the present day, there was only one left...and then I did him in...and they were lost to time." "Geez, that's pretty dark," Lilac huffed, "The closest we have to a god is the Great Dragon, protector of the Kingdom Stone." "Guy better be ready to work overtime, then," Blade snarked, "...Hey, who're those pandas over there?" "Pandas?" Carol looked forwards and her ears dropped, "Oh no..." The group finally stopped to catch their breath. Just before them was the temple, now in full sight, and what a sight it was. The temple, screaming high into the sky, was made of old and crusty stone that even now flaked off into chips and spilled on the grass. The sky, now a bright orange sunset, only seeked to enrich the atmosphere. Blade shivered slightly, the thought of a temple like this being oh so similar to the temple he had been left to rot in for time unaccountable. The mere thought of his time there, unable to move and barely able to talk, for thousands of years without company... "Do we really have to go in there?" Blade asked. "Oh, is the demon scared of a little ancient rock?" Carol teased. "What, ever been on your own for several millennia without anyone? No friends, no TV, no ability to move, or talk, or even sleep?" Blade said, "Have you any idea what that's like?!" "Alright, I'm sorry, geez..." Carol sighed. Lilac was already ignoring the two and running towards the entrance to the temple. Outside the entrance, just milling around on the grass outside, were two pandas. One was a large male panda, perhaps in his mid 30's, with a heavy build and faux-gold/brass armour. His gloves were metallic and he had a ponytail jutting out of the top of his head, alongside a large (and probably ceremonial) shield strapped to his back. The seemed to be a smaller female, but otherwise was in the shadows and hard to identify. The large male panda was leaning next to a pillar, his back to the heroes. Lilac had already stopped, "General Gong!" This General Gong fellow was sort of startled, before turning around. Just Lilac and Carol. Oh, and friend. He walked up towards the three, taking impressive and boisterous strides, "You two clowns again?" "AND friend," Master called out, "And friend." "Nice to see you too," Carol grumbled. Master could tell from her tone of voice that she, and probably Lilac too, had met General Gong before on pretty bad terms. "We have to talk to you," Lilac said, looking up at the portly General, "The Kingdom Stone is in danger!" "Haha, don't be ridiculous!" General Gong said, in the same sort of boisterous way that enriched his own movement, "Nothing gets past MY nose." "Apart from a large order of deep-fried squid rings," Blade snarked, "WITH fries on the side. And probably a diet coke. Helps that, uh...physical state." "Uh, wha?" General Gong looked around, "Who was that?" "No-one, sir!" Master cried out, giving Blade a quick bash to shut him up. "Oh yeah," Lilac said, "Forgot to introduce our friend here." "Master T. MasterSelf, esquire," Master said with faux-pride, causing a groaning Carol to facepalm in the distance, "And it would probably be within your...great interests to listen to us, even for a minute. Trust me, a minute can mean a lot." It didn't take long for the second panda to jump out of the shadows. She was indeed small and female, not to mention quite pale in both skin and fur tone, with a great wad of slick black hair that stopped around her shoulders. She was clad in purple battle armour, with belts and protectors everywhere, alongside a pair of black boots that had steel-caped soles. In her hands was some sort of spear, its spearhead a bright blue and giving off freezing mist coming from a small gem inserted in the staff itself. Her voice was quick, deep and held a certain air of authority; "What is the meaning of this?" "Miss Neera!" Lilac said, looking surprised. Even Carol looked a little shocked about her appearance and promptly bowed. Lilac did so too, "We mean no disrespect. We're just trying to-" "You heard what the General said," Neera said, her voice never raising an octave, "There is nothing to worry about." "But-" "DON'T..." Neera growled, her voice leaving an impact not unlike a sledgehammer to the chest, "Make me repeat myself." "And, uh..." Master called out, jumping onto the stones until he was close to Neera, "Who in all likelihood are YOU, huh?" No response, "Well come on, I wanna know. Who are you of all people to order people like us about?" "If you must know..." Neera sighed, keeping her spear pointed at Master, "I am Neera-Li. Royal Priestess of Shuigang. At least until Prince Dail got a little too...obsessed with finding his parents' killers and I went off to join the so-called good side in this war." "There's no good side in war, sister," Master growled, "Believe me." "And who are YOU, in return, to say such claptrap?" General Gong asked too, readying his weapon. "I am Master," Master growled, a sort of whitish light slowly covering his limbs, "I am a multiverse vigilante who has had to kill for the greater good. I've seen stuff that would make your eyes boil into little milky white puddles - hell, I've SEEN eyes boil into little milky white puddles - and I will not let some spoiled panda with a +5 Staff of Frozen Horseshit stop me from protecting this world from something that'll turn it into the Mojave Wasteland in four years!" "MASTER!" Lilac cried out, grabbing him by one of the ends of his scarf and throwing him to the ground, "Sorry, miss Neera. He's a bit new around here. Not the biggest on authority." "Clearly," Neera-Li said, "Now get going before I lock this ridiculous looking parasite away." Lilac sighed and dragged a dazed Master away, with Carol walking off soon after. She looked back at the two pandas walking off into the temple and began to seethe with rage. This Master guy! He had only been with her and Lilac for a good hour and even now was getting on her wick. She wanted nothing more than to dump such useless load into the nearest ditch and move on without him. Nothing personal, well mostly, but he was just slowing them down too much. Eventually they managed to get to a clearing and laid Master down, Blade nearby. "He looks out of it..." Lilac said, inspecting the body, "Did I pull on his scarf too hard or something?" "No, he's just a little concussed, that's all," Blade said, "Hit his head pretty badly from the fall. Nothing major, nothing a little magic won't heal...wait, what?" "What's wrong?" Lilac asked. "My healing powers aren't working. In fact, none of them are. Maybe it's that Kingdom Stone, cancelling out my otherworldly powers. Great. His stomach wound is still open, too. Don't really want him to keep going like this and reopen the thing. He's powerful, at least with me around, but he sure ain't immortal." "That's fine," Lilac said, digging something out of her pocket, "Nothing a little Red Leaves won't fix. Still need to wake him up, though." "Allow me..." Carol growled. She breathed in sharply, and swiped her hand clear across Master's face with an almighty smacking sound. The force was enough to send Master keeling over, but at least he was awake, "Ooh, this guy! Why're we still carting him around? He's only slowing us down." She sighed, "Look, those two sound like they know what they're doin'. Why don't we just charge up, get rid of the excess weight and go home. Whaddya say?" "I don't know..." Lilac said, tiling her head in a puzzled manner, "I feel like they're hiding something from us. And, as much damage as he's caused, we might need Master. He seems to know a lot, maybe he knows what's going on." "But with Neera!" Carol said, "He could've got us killed!" "I'll admit," Blade said, "I did sense a spark of rage in him when he saw Neera. Don't know why, and I doubt he does either. Don't be too hard on the kid. After Chaos knows how long with carting the God of War around, of course he's going to be a little...jumpy. Got a lot of carnage under his belt." "That panda..." Master said, coming to, "I don't know why, but there's something I don't like about her. Call it a hunch." "It's okay, Mr Master Guy," Lilac said, "Neera is okay. It's just that...well, she plays things a bit by the book." "Yeah, enough for her to eat the sodding thing, I reckon," Master sighed, getting up, "Wait...do you sense that?" "A rumbling..." Lilac whispered, the ground softly vibrating beneath her feet, "It sounds like-" A massive horn thundered its way through the air and a massive red streak whooshed past the trio. Lilac had just enough time to make out its shape; it was a truck, a huge one that was being manned by two guards, clad in ancient armour that was the same shade as the truck. To Master, those guards looked...familiar. Like they were the soldiers that War Lilac was ordering around, only a different colour. The truck, the wheeler stuffed with springs and robots, crashed headlong into the temple opening, spreading stones and shards everywhere. General Gong and Neera-Li were both swept away by the massive forces of this truck, and it was soon sailing off into the distance. "What the?!" Blade called out, "That was one hell of an ambush!" "Follow me!" Lilac said, stuffing some red leaves into Master's hands, "Look, I don't have the time to administer these properly, but just secure them against your stomach. The wound should heal quicker. Come on!" Master had no time to argue before Lilac took off, Carol also rushing ahead after her. Master mumbled to Blade, "Okay, I know we won't have time for pause, but try to analyse these leaves. Need to know what's so good about 'em!" With that, he slipped the leaves between his stomach bandages to press them against his skin and rushed off too. Master had to admit; this place was huge. Impressively huge. A bunch of winding paths spread far into the area, lined with rock and trees and crystals of every type. Master simply thought that these crystals were like rings back in his world, except even more common. He pondered on their supposed use as currency for a few seconds, winced at the thought and rushed on ahead. Nearby was a set of odd winches, each attached to some sort of rail built into the temple and made heavier with weights. Master quickly jumped onto the first and the winch set off, gaining tremendous speed and flinging him high into the air afterwards. He crashed back down onto soft ground and continued onwards. He didn't stop for anything, keeping a fast pace throughout his trek, taking out most of the enemies in his way with Blade. Every now and again he swiftly slipped his Deagle out and fired off a few shots towards some robot that could only be described as an orb on a spring. Then, with the gun locked back, he quickly swapped magazines and hit the slide catch, putting the gun back into its holster and moving on. Eventually, he skidded to a stop outside of the main room. He could sense the great power of the Kingdom Stone even now. Or at least it seemed to be it. The feel of this energy was unlike any he had experienced before. He brushed his doubts aside for the moment and walked in. Nothing. Not even a rare crystal. Even now, the power signal Master had felt was now steadily decreasing in strength. The main room itself was in a disastrous state, with large chunks of the walls and floor gone and what could only be described as a massive, deep crevasse that lead down to some barely visible rails. In the distance were a few trucks, rushing off into the distance with cargo hastily secured with leather straps. Behind the truck, inching ever closer to the back of it, was Carol on her ruby-red motorbike with Lilac hanging onto the back of it. The two soon hit a ramp and were flung through the air, crashing into the back of the truck and soon went to town on the robots defending the cargo. All things considered, they looked like they were having the time of their lives. "Well, shibbles..." Master sighed, "We've lost them. Was that even the Kingdom Stone we sensed?" "Nope," Blade mused, "The energy signals were pretty similar, but it wasn't giving anywhere near enough power compared to that light blue gunk. Best guess, it was probably a dud, like those fake Chaos Emeralds. Still, at least Carol was right; Dragons ARE super-fast. Going through all those robots, disabling walls, battling closed spaces, and now fighting for their treasure. All in about 5 minutes. These girls could give that blue hedgehog a run for his money." "Oh, which one?" Master snarked, "The impulsive one who got hospitalised due to his mental breakdown, the bandaged one who can only jog at a snail's pace or our version? Who had his leg tendons perforated?" "...Yeah, probably should've thought that analogy through a bit more," Blade sighed, "My bad. Point is we'll never catch up to them now. Not without a shortcut." "Cue rails..." Master mused. He was now staring down the hole that was just in front of him. There were indeed metallic rails leading off further down the shaft and into some underground section. Even now came the sounds of some cart squeaking its way across the rails and into some underground system, "It appears there's more to this temple than just this. If that gem was a dud, than I bet the ACTUAL Kingdom Stone will be underground, hidden from any nosey thieves. So I bet that's where those two'll be going too. Just have to follow the rail system to where the underground caves begin." "Which would be actually possible if the cart was still there," Blade said, "It kind of isn't." "Well, we're Mobians...I think," Master said, grinning under his scarf, "We'll just go the old fashioned way." "What do you mean?" Blade barely had time to ask before Master leapt head first into the hole. Blade's own surprised yelp was drowned out by the rushing wind and a slight metallic whoosh as they passed the rail. Then, at the last second, Master threw Blade out and the weapon extended once more, wrapping the segments around the rail. Soon, they reached the end of the sharp rope and began to swing forward. This movement caused the wrapped part to jump forward, dragging Master along the rail as they travelled along the system. Every now and again the rails would stop due to breakages, from which Master would detach and grab where the rail went on using Blade, sliding once more through the caverns. Every now and again, robots were on the rails, seemingly guarding this way in, to which Master responded by digging a large wrench out of his jacket and smacking the robots in question, holding the backup weapon in his free right hand. The robots, oil and shard of shrapnel raining off of them, were sent careening into the watery ravine below, met with either a slash or an explosion. Eventually, the rocks began to turn a dusky blue and Master disembarked from the rail for the final time, rolling through the air and into the opening, stopped only by the stopping post for the cart that was already there. "Damn, son!" Blade called out after stopping, "When you said Mobian, I didn't know you meant Columbian! Why not just grind on them?" "Haven't got the hang of grinding..." Master laughed, a grin spread across his stitched lips, "And hell, that was way more fun!" He soon got up, straightened out his back and walked off into the caverns below. The place was astoundingly pretty for a set of hastily-excavated caves; a delicate and deep mix of blues and violets stained the colour of the rocks surrounding the two, even now with untapped reservoirs of small and sparkly gems embedded in the rockface. Master assumed these small gems were mostly worthless to the general public if they really did use those large light-blue crystals...but he pried a few off the walls, just in case. Worst case scenario, at least he could make a nice necklace out of them for his girlfriend. Well, should he live long enough. Even now the stomach wound was aching slightly, the pain still overpowering even the magic leaves, and it was enough to hamper his effectiveness slightly; every now and again while fighting the underground creatures that doubtless protected the Kingdom Stone, the wound would be agitated and cause Master to pause in mild distress, allowing the creature in question to get a hit, often slashing directly across his face. Luckily, his thick scarf was enough to absorb most of the attack and Master would retaliate in short order. He would bring Blade high above his head and bring it down, bisecting the creature with a mechanical scream and a few clanks as the pieces fell to the floor. Master growled with the stress, narrowly dodging one of the numerous giant swinging pickaxes and grabbing onto a nearby switch. There was a heavy click and the circular door opened up in front of him, which he hastily ran through. A few hallways later and he was soon in what could only be described as a regal sports dome made out of rock. There was a single bridge made out of polished blue marble which snaked its way across the entire room, above it majestic purple pillars and below it a shadowy abyss. In the centre of this room, hovering over a pedestal within a beam of light, was a light blue orb with an odd sparkling set of waves crossing its surface. A slight light-blue aura was shining around the orb itself and the power it was giving off...oh, the power. It was at levels Master was nearly unable to comprehend. This was it, he knew it; it was the Kingdom Stone. An artefact even more powerful than the Master Emerald, strong enough to reduce an entire world to ash and blood and dust...and here it was. Master rushed forward, spotting two familiar faces in the caverns, "Lilac! Carol! Wait for me!" Lilac turned around, "Master! You made it! Sorry we kinda...ran off without you, but if what Torque said is true..." "It probably isn't," Carol grumbled, "Maybe he was just joshing us." "No, his levels of guilt and adrenaline were stable," Blade said, "He wasn't lying. So this is the main chamber, eh? Pretty impressive? Did your people dig it out, or..." "I dunno..." Lilac said, "Local history books say we just came across it, pre-dug and in this state. We all saw the power it contained, the event of '06...wiped one of our major cities clean off the map." "Why does every horrible event seem to happen in 2006?" Blade asked, to which Master replied with a shrug. "So the world leaders agreed to keep it hidden and protected, using ruses and traps in this very cave. Hence the, uh...giant pickaxes. And it stayed hidden, too." "Until Spade got word of it," Carol sighed, "He's the leader of the Red Scarves, this thief group you were trying so hard to be a part of..." her expression suddenly flipped into one with a cheeky tone, "And Lilac has a crush on him..." "I do not!" Lilac cried out, "I just...admire him, that's all..." "Spade..." Master mused, tilting slightly, "Does he happen to be the somewhat handsome fellow who's stealing the Kingdom Stone right now?" Lilac, in a panic, jumped around to look at the Kingdom Stone. Some kind of wolf-like creature with white fur was standing near the Kingdom Stone, attaching some sort of clawed winch to it. He seemed to be in his teens, around the height of Master, and was clad in a black shirt with brown pants, ending in black boots and white gloves with red cuffs. A pair of red sunglasses were stacked on his face, resting around his forehead, and he seemed to pay no attention to them as he continued to secure the Stone to the winch. "HEY!" Lilac cried out, rushing forward towards the Kingdom Stone. Spade continued work on the winch until it was fully secure before turning back to Lilac. She spoke again, "What do you think you're doing?! That's the Kingdom Stone!" "So? I need it to find my father's killer," Spade replied, his voice thick and hazy, "Not like a couple of traitors like yourselves would care..." "I'd rather be called a traitor than a murderer!" Carol shouted back, assuming a fighting stance that made her claws glisten in the Stone-light. Lilac chipped in too, "The Scarves left us no choice!" "And you've left me no choice!" Spade growled, catching even Master by surprise, "I need this, and I WILL avenge my father!" "That's enough, buddy!" Master called out, digging out his Deagle and aiming it at Spade, "Look, I don't know who your father is...hell, I don't even know who YOU are! But I'm sure this can all be resolved if you stop this. Work with us. We can help you!" Master couldn't get another word out after that, his body already flying back via the force of about five explosive cards. Lilac dashed forward, deflecting the other three remaining through a spin attack. The cards sailed down into the abyss below and exploded soon after. Spade looked at Lilac, impressed, "Still training, I see? Impressive. Just say that I'll always be stronger to your friend there. After he wakes up, of course." "You wanna fight?" Carol growled, "Come and get it!" Spade chuckled slightly, "Well, I'd love to stay and dance with you two chumps. But Mayor Zao has a tight schedule. Which means so do I. Besides, if something else is guarding this thing, I'd hate to be around when it wakes up. Farewell." With a final smirk, Spade jumped up onto the Kingdom Stone and shook the wire. There was an almighty humming sound as the Stone was pulled out of its base and yanked off into the ceiling and through the hastily cut hole in the top of it. Master, having managed to recover from Spade's attack, yelled out a haste, "Bastard!" and screamed down the bridge, taking potshots at Spade with his Deagle, missing every time. Lilac grabbed Master and got him to stop, the risk of shattering the stone far too great. Soon, only a light pillar remained in place on the stand; Spade and the Kingdom Stone were gone. "Darrgh!" Blade called out in anger, "We had him!" "He'll never make it out..." Carol said hopefully, staring at the ceiling. "But we should..." Lilac said, "Come on!" Carol and Lilac, after picking Master up off the floor, began to run across the bridge, looking for an exit. However, they didn't get very far before an unearthly shaking sensation sent the three tumbling to the ground. Lilac was the first up and she looked up at the ceiling above them, and what she saw made her skin crawl. It was some sort of monstrous mechanical creature, in the shape of a preying mantis, crawling along the ceiling. Its steel body was huge, about the size of a double decker bus, and it had two huge appendages with sharp scythe blades attached to them. The rest was shrouded in darkness, but what could be seen was in poor condition; any semblance of green paint it may of once had was now almost totally chipped away, with the odd speck of dark green paint still clinging to its body like a bad smell. Its arms were quite damaged and looked ready to fall off at any time, the blades chipped and cracked across the rims. Finally was its head, clearly once home to antennas and two yellowish eyes, now replaced with broken stems and two shattered red eyes that "weeped" electricity. "What...IS that thing?!" Lilac called out. "Looks like the pre-assumed 'other guardian'..." Blade growled, Master getting into a battle stance, "Get ready to fight!" The mantis robot crawled its way to the bottom of the room, grasping onto the bridge with its claws. It eyed the three below, the remnants of its eyes boiling red with fury. It reared its head to the sky and screeched out a mechanical roar of terrifying proportions and geared up to slice at the three with its blades. Lilac, noticing Master's own combat pose, whipped her long hair strands as a sort of taunt, while Carol dug out her claws and got ready to pounce. None of them needed to have bothered in retrospect, as the metal monster was already past due. Electricity coursed through its being before a final screech bought about its demise. There was a ear-splitting boom as the head of the mantis bot exploded violently, spreading mechanical shreds everywhere and causing what remained of the body to heave around and keel over, losing its grip on the bridge and falling into the darkness below it. The trio, after shielding themselves from the debris, only looked on dumbfounded at this rather unexpected turn of events. "...Or not..." "Well, that was anti-climatic..." Lilac said, "I really thought we were gonna fight that thing." "I'm starting to wonder if our involvement in this story is changing things other than what we were expecting," Master said, scratching his head. "At least it was a change for the positive this time," Carol said, looking content, "Now, we better get out of here before-" Carol was cut off as the three were once again thrown to the ground. Rocks, boulders and other forms of stone clutter were raining down from the ceiling and cracks were quickly running up the walls. "Yeah...something like that happens." "The explosion's weakened the foundations of the caves!" Blade called out amongst the chaos, "It'll set off a chain reaction and bury this place in minutes! We've gotta move!" The three bolted soon after, running for their lives amongst such a devastating chain reaction. Every now and again one of them would slow down to swat away a rock that had gotten too close for comfort, but otherwise they ran as fast as their already tired legs could carry them. Carol in particular was running headlong, faster than Lilac in fact, with Master very close behind her and gaining fast. Carol was only thinking about one thing; ESCAPE. No way was she going to die in a glorified sparkly cave, not like this. The two ran into what seemed to be a sturdy passage and instantly regretted it; a nearby portion of the wall suddenly dislodged and slammed into the ground, sealing off the entrance. Both stopped and ran back to the wall, one of them crying out in anguish. "Carol!" came Lilac's muffled voice, "Where are you?!" Carol drew upon all her strength and clawed at the wall furiously. Predictably, she was not able to break it, crying out, "I can't break it!" "Don't worry!" Lilac's voice cried back, "Just keep going! DO IT!" There was a rush of wind and Lilac was gone. Carol quickly assumed it was one of her Dragon Boosts and ran off down the passage, dragging Master alongside her. The chain effect was now in full effect, with almost endless amounts of rock battering down from the sky, some almost the size of shipping crates. The two soon came up to another wall, the same as the first. "No! Carol screamed, "How're we gonna get out of here?!" "Don't worry!" Master said, Blade glowing even more than usual, "I can cut through this with Blade, just give me time!" "I can vibrate at just the right frequency to dissemble the molecules in the rock and cleave through it with ease!" Blade said, "If I can cut open the fabric of reality, I can deal with some measly rock!" "Anything else that thing can do?" Carol asked, "Maybe give free candy to every child it comes acro-" "CAROL NOT NOW!!!" Master screamed out, the white tinge to his limbs returning. Sadly, he never got time to cut into the rock, as a chunk of it the size of a standard wooden crate screamed out of the ceiling and smashed right into the duo, knocking them out almost instantly. Among the inferno, slowly losing what was left of her conscience, Carol could barely hear the sound of an energy cube forming. And then blackness. === ??? === "Carol!" came a familiar voice, "CAROL! WHERE ARE YOU?" Master was the first to awaken, as ever, staring at the sky. The sky itself was the same blend of fiery oranges and reds that they had been before his descent into the caves below and trees stretched off into the distance, interacting with shrubbery for miles ahead. And, oh, the sweetness of the air. Master looked to his side to see Carol, still unconscious, but otherwise alive. She got up too, aching and obviously injured in some manner. "Wha..." she started, "How did I...how did we..." "Blade..." Master asked, "What happened?" "Beats me," Blade said, "I blacked out too...somehow." "CAROOOL!" came Lilac again. "We better go see Lilac..." Carol said, straining under the effort. She got to her feet and walked a few paces before collapsing to her knees again. Master, himself still hurt from the falling rocks, walked over to her and hoisted her to her feet. Then, wrapping his arm around her shoulders to support her, walked off in the direction of Lilac's voice. She too was unharmed and in a far better state than either of the two. Nevertheless, Carol was happy to see Lilac, panting out, "You made it out..." in-between gasps of air. "Are you two okay?" Lilac asked, worried. "Kinda...think it's more than a scratch..." Master groaned. "More like internal bleeding and a few shattered ribs," Blade said, "But you're otherwise fine. The Kingdom Stone isn't interfering with my own powers anymore, so I should be able to heal you two right up." "But let me guess..." Carol interjected, catching on quick, "You got damaged in the chain attack and now you can't heal us to full health." "...Kinda..." Blade admitted, sounding quite sheepish. "Well, we better find Torque and get home so I can patch you two up..." Lilac said, "At least more than your super blade can." "Bite me, dragon girl," Blade grumbled, "I'm doing everything I can!" The three hobbled off back home, Carol and Master still resting on each other for support. Eventually, Carol regained enough strength to walk on her own and did so, leaving Master to continue his shaky steps behind the two. He was starting to get annoyed; a multiverse vigilante, fighting Chaos knows how many demonic entities over the years...and yet a stomach gash was doing him in. "Well this stinks..." Carol sighed, "How're we gonna get more money?" "We'll think of something..." Lilac started. "Money? What about it?" Master asked, "I managed to pick up about four hundred of those shiny b*ggers back there. They're EVERYWHERE!" "They didn't use to be..." Carol sighed, "If anything, this is a literal miracle. Times are tough enough as it is. Hence why we both turned to the Red Scarves..." "...Regret it?" Master asked. Carol looked away, saying nothing. "What I really want to know is why Spade is working for Mayor Zao..." Lilac mused, "...Buttloads of cash, maybe? Perhaps Zao might know about the assassination..." "Never got 'round to telling me about that, by the way," Master spoke up, but was ignored, "And, come to think of it, it doesn't explain what he needs the stone for either." "I have a bad feeling about all this..." Lilac sighed, looking off into the sunset. She looked over to Carol, no longer by Master's side, instead looking back into the path they had taken and looking curious, "What?" "Someone's following us..." Carol said in a curious manner. "What do you mean?" Lilac asked in an equally curious manner. Carol pointed to a nearby bush, a large one at that, from which a waft of cream fur was waving in the breeze. "Hmm..." Master said, digging out his Deagle, "Allow me to flush her out." "Are you crazy?!" Carol yelled, grabbing the Deagle from Master, "You wanna give it a heart attack? Let me handle this..." Carol threw the gun to Lilac, who caught it nimbly and awkwardly. Master almost instantly took it off her, too; this was clearly a world where conventional firearms did not exist, having long since been replaced by lasers, and the less accidental gunshot wounds the better. Master knew first-hand that bullet wounds were not as easily fixed as laser or plasma wounds. And hell, they weren't all that easy to heal either, come to think of it. He enabled the safety and unloaded the weapon, racking the slide to eject the loaded bullet and catching it in midair, before slipping the gun back into its holster and watching Carol. She was already near the bush, creeping on all fours, before she savagely pounced onto the bush in question. Something squealed in response and flew out of the bush, landing nearby. This allowed the three to get a good look at her; she was a dog, a hound at that, with cream coloured fur and wild orange hair. She was young, about ten or so years old, and wore fairly modest (if bizarre) clothing; it could only be described as a dark green striped leotard being covered by cream-coloured rags. She wore no shoes, letting her black-capped paws wiggle in the cool summer breeze, and wore bracelets and anklets that were mixes of green and orange. There were also green markings on her large floppy ears and green eyes to match. Master always had a soft spot for dogs, not that he'd ever admit that to anyone, and was secretly squeeing on the inside. Blade, who could always read his emotions, got a swift chuckle out of this. "Wait..." Carol said, as the three looked over the hound, who had quickly run off into another bush, "I saw someone with a shield pull us out before I blacked out. Perhaps it was her!" "Yeah..." Master said, maintaining his outwardly composure, "I'm sure I saw something green before I conked out, too." "Hello?" Carol called out to the hound, "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to scare you..." Lilac walked closer to the bush and kneeled down beside it, "It's okay. We won't hurt you. Well...two of us won't hurt you." The hound stopped shivering for a second and slowly crawled out from under the bush, "Are...are you a dragon?" Lilac giggled. The hound's voice was light and soft, almost music to her ears, "Yeah." "Can..." the dog whimpered, "...Can I touch your hair?" "...Wha..." Lilac started, eyes slanted in confusion. "Oh, okay..." the hound sighed, pawing at the ground, "Never mind..." "Wait, no!" Lilac said, snapping back, "I was just...surprised, is all. Go ahead." Lilac shifted herself so that she was sitting with her back to the hound, her two hair-like tendrils within easy reach of her. The hound grabbed one of the tendrils and tussled it in her hands, giggling all the while. "It's like a rope!" the hound cried out happily. Carol merely stared at Master and mocked a gag at the whole thing. Master in return, looked slightly amused. "What's wrong, Carol?" Master asked, "Jealous?" "Wha...NO!" Carol called out, "That's not it at all! It's just that...I...just think it's a bit sappy." "Too cute for you, got it," Master said smugly, getting a growl out of Carol. "Maybe we can be friends!" the hound said, standing up, "I'm Milla! Milla Basset! What's your name?" "Lilac," Lilac bowed in response, "Sash Lilac." "Lilac!" Milla said, giggling, "That's a pretty name!" "Thanks!" Lilac giggled back, "This is my friend, Carol Tea! And my, uh...uh...'hanger-on', Master." "Hi..." Milla said, hiding her mouth with her hands and staring at the two, Master glowering at Lilac. "So...thanks for saving us, back there..." Carol said, smiling, "But, what're you doing all the way out here?" Milla skipped past both of them, fidigitng around in the area behind the two, "Well, I was playing over here, and then those people came. They're not very nice..." "Trust us, we don't think highly of them, either..." Master sighed, "Shouldn't we get back to Torque? Tell him we dun goofed?" "Well we can't just leave little miss Milla here," Lilac said, tussling the hound's hair, "Perhaps you can come stay with us in our secret treehouse!" "R-REALLY?!" Milla cried, excited and barely able to stand still. "Yeah!" Lilac said, "Nobody knows where it is except us." "That sounds like fun!" Milla said, grabbing Lilac and giving her a big hug. Lilac started walking back to the treehouse with Carol and Milla tailing behind her. Master stayed behind, playfully tussling Milla's hair like Lilac before him. "Wait, what if she's a plug by Zao or something?" "Shut up, Blade," Master said peacefully, playing with Milla all the way back to the treehouse. ==========-----========== DeviantART Link: http://fav.me/d945pfx

Yes. Turns out this game was doing that gauche trite before Shattered Crystal.

For the record, I've kind of had a bad day, so this might be a bit...well, a lot more bitter than it probably would be otherwise. Steam is perhaps the worst kind of thing it could possibly be; a necessary, but hateful thing. It's the most convenient, fastest and easiest way (though not always the cheapest) way to buy, download and play PC games, as long as you have a good internet connection; finding physical PC games is almost impossible, and even then you still have to run them through their service unless its an EA or Ubisoft game. And Valve, frankly, has abused that with their infuriating "Not our Problem" attitude. It has lead to every single horrible piece of crap that Steam is known for; the hopeless Steam Greenlight, the disgusting Steam Early Access, the Paid Mods mess, the avaricious obsession with hats and a ton of games that, frankly, are completely overrated apart from TF2. CS: GO, in particular, I despise. An hopeless game at its core, what with its skill-gates and frankly obnoxious playerbase with their AWPs and their AKs, with the very worst aspect being those almost worthless, garish "skins" for weapons. And the mess with the skins and the gambling sites, in the words of a certain British video game pundit, is nothing short of skincrawling. A lot of people "meme" Valve into something more positive. These cheeky little scamps ran by "Gaben" who cannot count to 3. But I'd like to see them in a more...realistic sense. Gabe Newell in particular, is far from the memetic "funny fat guy", but rather lazy, tactless, incompetent and as greedy as they come.

Now that my mini-SD card has arrived, I'm ready to do some emulation of GBA games! After struggling with that f*ck-awful invention we call the Virtual D-Pad, I noticed something with one of the games I was doing better at; Sonic Pinball Party was...a thing, I guess? I mean it's no surprise no-one talks about it anymore because, well, it's a freaking pinball game on the GBA with a "story", sort of. Though I do wonder, did anyone else play this game at the time? Or was it THAT forgettable?

Alright. That's a very nice, very fair review, and I thank you for it. I'll admit in hindsight that the memes ARE a bit out of place and Blade's comedic purpose could've been better written. I'm trying to model it after the Terror Mask from Splatterhouse 2010, which to be fair swung between seriousness and comedy at random too. Probably a bad idea. As for Master/Traveller, I wanted to keep him a mystery until the later chapters, so people got the impression of wanting to know who/what he is, and perhaps try to work it out on their own. But yeah, I probably should've described him in the story. He gets that in the next chapter (which IS up on this site now), but in hindsight I REALLY should've put that in the first chapter. And, for the record, the Blade "smelling" thing was supposed to be a joke. Didn't work, it seems. And the rest of the story is already written, so...hmm. Regardless, thanks for the review.

I've been waiting for this review of the Prologue to this story for a few weeks now, and it still hasn't arrived. I said I'd wait until that review got posted to me before considering on porting over the next one, but I've lost my patience and I'll just do it now instead. As ever, the story (though not really this chapter) will contain; Strong Language Blood and Gore (though not much) A few disturbing scenes Quite a bit of Violence And Original Characters With all in order, let us begin with the first chapter. When We Last Left Off: Master, having come across a world he apparently destroyed through the corruption of a being known as Lilac, has been sent into the past in order to remove the event that caused this rift in the timeline...but not without first finding out what exactly that event was. Arriving in Dragon Valley, he sets out to find the uncorrupted Sash Lilac, not knowing that she's just about to embark on an adventure of her own. ==========-----========== Chapter 1: The East Valley The sky was bright that day. The sun was shining, in the only real way the sun would know how to, and the rays bared down into the great rocky valley below. The area was almost a desert, with sand spread far and wide across the area, and bright orange rocks making up the few steps to an unforgiving fall to the bottom of the valley below. Dusty winds swept across the valley as well, both on the surface and in the valley, kicking particles of anything that would float across the stone-heavy expanse. Here and there was the odd bulbous plant pod, leaves still growing strong in the spring air, while creatures of every shape and size roamed the area looking for their next meal, hopefully something alive. Nearby, impossibly, was some sort of forest, its trees extending way into the air and almost blocking the sunlight completely. And inbetween those two expanses, a wonderful combination of the best of both, lay an oasis; a deep and crystal clear pool of water that housed fish and frogs that swam with content across and within the water. Nearby was a waterfall, falling in from deep in the forest and cascading over the more purple-y rocks that lined the area. The calm stillness and the rushing of the water was temporarily disturbed by a hissing noise. In place of the hissing came a roaring, from which a portal appeared. From that portal emerged a brown hedgehog-like creature, who charged through the portal and landed face first on the sandy shore of the oasis. He groaned slightly and got up. Wiping some of the sand out of his face, he walked over to the water to wash the rest off. He did, the cold water and the still winds being a pleasant relief after the harsh and stormy terrain of the future, and managed to get a glimpse of himself in the water's reflection. As said before, he was a brown hedgehog, with spiky quills and a tall stature. In-fact, he was a lot taller than most of his peers back in his old universe, no doubt because of his heritage, and just looked all the more dishevelled because of it. He was one of the rare people back in his original 'verse to wear clothes; specifically a black t-shirt and matching black trousers with a dark blue jacket over that. The jacket had a single dark strap going down the zipper's mounting with another strap connecting to his stomach and around his back to another place on his stomach where the other end of the strap had been haphazardly stitched on. The strap had been secured with a medallion the size of a teacup saucer with two F's scratched across it, given to Master in the past by a freedom fighter. His trousers were ripped and hastily repaired with duct tape and bandages, not counting the one still wrapped around his arm and his stomach, the latter of which still stung quite badly and would not go away. But perhaps the most notable thing about his clothing was his large, dark red wool scarf that clung to his neck like a bad thought, covering his muzzle and a good portion of his shoulders. To complete the look was some black fingerless gloves, black sneakers with red inserts and a mostly cosmetic set of sunglasses perched on his nose, which poked out of the scarf somewhat. "Well, nice to know we're still in one piece," Blade said. "Why?" Master asked, "We just went through a portal." "Yeah, well you know portals are kinda...unreliable," Blade retorted, "Remember what happened to Lola that one time?" Master sat down, "Yeah, I still remember that. Shocking mess. It's only NOW that she's been able to stitch herself back together. Poor girl." He stopped for a bit, saying nothing and merely looking out over the waters. The fresh air, the rushing water, the quiet sounds. It all spoke to him, reminding him of happier times. Endless months of bloodshed, travelling through hellholes, being the hero the people needed, but never wanted...after so much violence and insanity on the part of him and so many others, he just wanted to stop. He looked at the waterfall, and then at Blade, "Look at that view, Blade. Makes a change, doesn't it." "Heh, yeah..." Blade said, "I remember when all I saw was battlefields with blood red skies and all I said was 'kill, kill' kill'! Heh...I'd like to think I'm better than that now." "Me too..." Master sighed, "Think we'll ever find peace?" "If we're lucky," Blade said, "If we do this right, stop this Lilac from going crazy, then we can run off with your little raccoon girlfriend and find somewhere...secluded." "But until then, we have work to do," Master said. He stood up again, looking into the distance. He looked up after that, where something caught his senses, "Hey, do you sense what I'm sensing?" "Yeah, a falling spaceship..." Blade said, making a sniffing sound, "Smells like it'll land in that forest over there. Better check it out, might find Lilac alongside it." Master said nothing else, instead starting to walk off into the rocky crevasse before him. He checked his holsters again, picking out his Desert Eagle. It will still locked empty from the events before. He replaced the magazine and flicked the slide lock, throwing the slide back into place and loading a bullet, before setting the safety and placing it back into the holster. Blade was stuffed into the second and, with a final glance at the peaceful scene before him, Master set off into the valley. ================================================= MEANWHILE, on the other side of the Dragon Valley ================================================= "Lilac. Lilac! Wake up!" Sash Lilac awoke with a start. She was lying on one of the many dust-encrusted rocks that littered the area, taking in the quiet air of the area. So much so, in fact, that she seemingly fell asleep. She sat up, a groan escaping her lips, and started to brush off the dust that had accumulated on her back. In the near distance, standing maybe only a few feet away from her, was Carol, Lilac's friend. She was a green wildcat, a deep green at that with even deeper green accents and eyes. Her large ears even now flickered around like restless insects and her tail whipped around in a similar fashion. As ever, she wore a black sleeveless shirt that cut off at her midsection, leaving a gap exposing her stomach that stopped at her waist, from which shorts of an even darker green hung. To complete the look was some fingerless gloves with yellow ribbons tied around the wrists, some heavy-duty shoes and a red handkerchief that was wrapped around her neck. Lilac never figured out why Carol held on to that; it was a mere reminder of her and Lilac's own past with the Red Scarves, a group of thieves that stole for the sake of it. Well, apart from Lilac and Carol. They stole Crystals just to put food on the table. Nothing more, nothing less. Well, a LOT less as of late, but Lilac was determined to make sure that little fact didn't let her down. "Morning, Carol..." Lilac said, winking cheerfully, "It IS morning, right?" "About 1 in the afternoon, Lilac," Carol sighed in her ever-deep and yet still air-light voice, "It's almost....well, almost time." Lilac smiled. Carol always looked and sounded like she was one step away from letting a 'nyan' slip past her at any time, what with her trying so hard to be butch. She found it cute. Nevertheless, it was indeed almost time. For what, however, Lilac could not remember. She got to her feet, wiping off even more accumulated dust, and asked, "Wait, what're we doing today?" "Robbing Mayor Zao's truck, remember?" Carol said, wielding a 'duh' expression on her face like a weapon, "For the final time, I promise!" "And how many more times will our next robbery be 'the final time'?" Lilac asked, leaning on a nearby rock, "I thought we agreed to cut all ties with the Red Scarves." "Well yeah, but..." Carol sighed, "We need the money, Lilac. It's not like crystals are just gonna drop from the sky and scatter all over the valley." "Yeah, if only it was that simple..." Lilac sighed, "Hey, where's your motorbike?" "Just down the path," Carol said, twirling the keys around her finger, "Never know when I might need it..." Carol sighed in an amusing way and leaned against the same rock as Lilac, making sure to Lilac's shoulder with her own as a fun little gesture and looked into the sky, "Ahh, what a lovely day..." Lilac was ready to respond also, looking into the sky, but stopped. In the vertical distance, in the great light blue void and beyond, there was a shadow. A small shadow, which slowly grew in size, and eventually took a more solid shape, specifically of a spaceship. It was of a medium size, with bright red panelling and wings like an old-fashioned plane. Multiple holes lined its body and the placement of multiple fires small and large alike set off clear signs that the ship was heavily damaged and coming down. Fast. Lilac barely had time to waste before she flopped to the floor once again, grabbing Carol and dragging her down too. The ship flew past them, a mere distance above them, and continued screaming into the distance. Following it was another kind of spaceship, this one a sickly green and grey combo that was still in perfect condition, which flew after the original with quite a few dark green helicopters. "What the..." Carol started to ask, "The heck was that? That looked like Prince Dail's men!" "I don't know," Lilac huffed, getting to her feet quickly, "But it looks like someone's in trouble. Come on! We better check it out!" "But, what about the truck?" Carol asked, making the panicked stumble to her blood red motorbike. "That'll have to wait!" Lilac said, "We have to see what's up!" And with that, Lilac tapped the toe of her left boot into the ground and then began running off into the distance. But even running was not fast enough right now for Lilac; someone could be in danger and there was no time for paltry running. Luckily, Lilac knew exactly what to do here; the old Dragon Boost. She began to concentrate really hard and time seemed to slow down for a small smidgen of time, the air around her becoming warmer with the rising energy that crackled and hissed until it became a shield of almost transparent power around her. And then, with a sudden moment with an impact that could shake the hills to dust, Lilac kicked forward and almost vanished altogether, screaming headfirst through the air like a purple comet of pure energy for a good half-mile. Rocks cracked, plants were pulled up by roots and an almost endless amount of dust was kicked into the air in the wake of this powerful outburst of speed, Lilac herself a mere after-image behind the comet. Eventually, she began to slow down and the wind that had accumulated around her was no longer deafening. Lilac relaxed slightly and stretched out, her boots catching the ground and began running once more, only now at a much faster pace. Lilac managed to keep this pace going for a large part of the journey through the canyon. Every now and again she would stop, the energies around her drained, to jump over some small gaps in the earth or to push a giant square rock onto a switch. She had already stopped to do so, and even now was grunting and straining with the effort to push the rock off of the cliffside where it lay. It eventually relented, tumbling down the face of the cliff until landing on the rocky platform below with a thunderous thud. Lilac herself hopped down and resumed her straining to push the rock onto a nearby circular button sticking out of the earth. It clicked in satisfaction and a nearby door opened up, within which sat a spider on a purple pole shooting projectiles. Lilac took a split second to process just what she was looking at, as well as why it was even there to begin with, and began to attack it. A few swift kicks were enough to destroy the being and Lilac was able to proceed. Up ahead was an entry way into the lush forests nearby and Lilac slowed down to a leisurely stroll through the beautiful forests of Avalice. One thing that Lilac had noticed a bit through this adventurous exodus was that there was a larger amount of robots in the area than normal. Every now and again there would be a mere robotic drone roaming the area, often taken out by the natural wildlife, but they never came this strong or in this many numbers. They were, at least to Lilac, EVERYWHERE. Something was quite clearly up, but what? Lilac had no idea. But she would. She knew she would. A lifetime sitting on the fringes of society taking everything not nailed down helps to build one's skill and intuition. And, in this short time since the crash landing of that ship, Lilac knew she would have to use all of those skills to figure out what mess would be about to unfold before her. Eventually, she stopped in a rocky expanse, her heels skidding on the dusty rocks and almost throwing her to the ground. The crashed ship was just above her, the smoke plume already thick and extending into the sky. The fires surrounding it were not all that visible, with a large amount of them softened or extinguished by the waterfalls lining the area. At least, as far as she could see. "Almost there, Lilac..." Lilac huffed to herself, "Just gotta scale this wall...thank the Great Dragon that doing so is easy..." She quickly turned around to see if Carol had managed to catch up with her. Nope. Carol was fast, but she often went off trail to find extra gems that travellers in the valley may have dropped in the past, or just to fight off any robots in the area. Old Carol loved a good fight. Regardless, Lilac knew she had to get to the crash site with or without her. Lilac already knew how to get up there; one of the other abilities her Dragon Boost gave her was the ability to bounce off of even the hardest of surfaces multiple times. Once again the energy surrounded Lilac and she Dragon Boosted up to the small and narrow alcove above her. However, she didn't get far before some sort of object smacked into her, sending her to the ground again. Lilac got up again, bruised but otherwise okay, and focused on what had attacked her. Her jaw dropped in response. For in front of her was a giant segmented monster, a mechanical nightmare in the deepest shades of grey and purple, with two piercing red eyes looking over her with somehow-salivating razor sharp fangs. Lilac only had time to mutter, "What the..." before the monster roared and began to strike. =================== A small while later =================== "Are we there yet?" "No." "Are we there yet?" "Almost!" "...Are we ther-" "BLADE!" Master shouted, visibly annoyed, "Not right now!" "Sorry..." Blade said, "Just thought I'd pass the time." "It's only been a 5 minute walk," Master shrugged, "Well, jog. Well, run...well, sprint. Look, the point is that we're here." Master looked out over the expanse once more. It was around here that the desert and forest merged somewhat, leaving a dusty and rocky area that still had bushes and fresh water springs dotting the area. Below him was some rocky pit with the sound of rushing water catching his ears, while above him was the spaceship that he sensed would crash at that location. It was red, with an odd style to it, and it was now almost completely on fire with a thick smoke plume rising steadily above it. "Nice ride," Blade smarmed, sounding impressed, "Shame it's...you know...trashed. Poor thing's more ruined than a 90's mascot." "I just hope anyone on board the thing survived," Master said, leaning against a tree, "Might be able to lead us to this Lilac, then." "Well, what did Carol Tea say?" Blade asked in a slightly annoyed tone, "Oh yeah..." he put on a mocking impersonation of the older Carol's voice, "Ooh, just go into the Dragon Valley and find us. Don't bother with trying to figure out WHERE in the valley we'll be, we'll just pop up!" and then returned to his normal annoyed voice, "Fat lot of help that Chao droppings was!" "...Wait, Chao don't-" "Look, the point is we're kinda in the dark here!" Blade retorted, "We only went and found this ship because Chaos knows we have no other leads. What, will some sign just come bursting out of the ground to show us we're in the right place?" Suddenly, the ground began crunching and vibrating, as if something was crashing thorough the rocky floor below. And as if by some sort of natural disaster, a large hole in the rock exploded into existence, spreading chunks of itself everywhere. Following the rock was some odd mechanical segments, each flying out of the hole and landing in a small pile near Master and Blade. Its head came last, housing a goofy expression that seemed to indicate that it did NOT see whatever beat it coming. "...Well..." Master said, visibly unaffected by this turn of events, "That a good enough sign?" "Yeah..." Blade said, audibly surprised, "Good enough." However, both noticed that one last item had burst from the hole in the rock, but it was not another piece of the robot. But rather, a creature. More specifically, a dragon. She was purple, much lighter in shade than the last one Master noticed, and had a much cleaner appearance. In fact, she was clearly the Lilac that Carol had tasked Master with finding, right down to how she looked. Compared to War Lilac, Lilac herself was nowhere near as demented, looking quite sane and collected, with an intact set of light blue shirt and shorts complete with boots and actual gloves as opposed to mere scraps hanging around her wrist. Her teeth were normal and her eyes were not red dots swimming around a black expanse, but instead a large and purple pupil in a standard set of white eyes. But perhaps most noticeable was her tendrils extending out of the back of her head, hiding within her mostly nicely combed hair; there were two of them and neither looked synthetic or dirty, instead waving around slightly in the breeze. This was it, Master knew. THIS was Lilac. The dragon stretched slightly, groaning with satisfaction as she did so, and then began to run off to where the ship had crashed, slowly becoming a mere dot in the process. "Well, that was her, alright," Blade said, "...Well, what're you doing standing around gawking? You're already engaged, slugger! After her!" "Oh! Right!" Master yelped, before picking up his pace and screaming after Lilac. He clambered up the rocky wall, stabbing Blade into the wall multiple times to ascend, before stopping by the ship. Nearby was two people, some of the strangest looking adversaries Master had ever seen. One was some strange sort of snake creature, this one much smaller and more organic that the last one, clad in a helmet and body armour and holding some sort of laser pistol to the other. He was sprawled out across the floor and could only be understood as some sort of...duck tortoise creature, with a duck's bill and a body-encompassing shell. He also wore strange padded gloves and boots, and wore goggles that at the moment rested across his forehead. Master was, understandably, quite confused, "Uh...Blade? Have I gone crazy again?" "Nope, I'm seeing it too," Blade said, "Armoured snake about to shoot a...shellduck. And I thought those wisp hybrids were bad..." Master got closer to the two, tiptoeing ever so slightly until he climbed a tree to get a better look. The snake was still pointing his gun at the Shell-duck, who was seemingly wounded but not about to let himself get captured. "How many Chasers are left?" the snake asked in a threatening and predictably hissing voice, "Tell me!" The Shell-duck's response was one that was light and odd, almost in a mocking tone if not for the fact he spoke in it almost all the time, "You didn't say please!" "Don't play games with me, duckling!" the snake shouted, looking angrier by the second, "Tell me!" "...Fine, be that way." The Shell-duck's response to this was to retreat into his shell, leaving only a round brown ball with goggles poking out of the top of it. The snake became visibly irritated, letting out a "Gaah! Where's that blasted snake mount?!" "Snake Mount..." Master said, confused. It didn't take long for a lightbulb to pop over his head, "Oh yeah, that robot." "Nothing now but a mass of glorified balls," Blade sniggered, "Heh heh. Balls..." This was made apparent to the snake too, as the head of this demolished mount suddenly came bounding over the edge of the wall Master had climbed earlier and then landed close to the armoured snake. His reaction did not change, instead just turning back to his target, "Fine! I'll guess we'll have to do this the hard way!" The snake then opened fire with his pistol and a large bright blue bolt of energy came roaring out of the barrel, colliding with the Shell-duck's shell with great force. He bounced back, seemingly not damaged, but the snake had already given chase. He grabbed the shell and threw it into the trees and then, after grabbing another blaster from his belt, laid waste to the leaves above him, sending purple shots through the sky. The Shell-duck collapsed nearby, uncurled out of his shell and seemingly weakened by the assault. The snake only guffawed in a way Master knew all to well, "I could do this all day!" "We better get going!" Master whispered, "Or he's gonna get creamed!" "Wait!" Blade whispered, "Something else is coming! It's that dragon girl!" Blade was right. Cascading through the trees even now was Lilac, the purple dragon from before. She landed with a sense of grace that threw the snake back somewhat. He himself looked quite shocked, barely blurting out, "What is THIS hideous creature?" Lilac was quick to her feet, standing behind the Shell-duck with arms outstretched. Even her voice was similar to War Lilac, albeit one that was nowhere near as deranged or rage-filled, "Stay back!" "Ooohh, no!" The snake said, "The duck man comes with me!" Lilac only became more defiant at this remark, "I'm not gonna let you eat him!" "...What?" It didn't take long for some strange item to strike from the darkness and just miss the snake creature, who narrowly dodged it with a shriek. It was a segment of a blade of some sort, attached to another segment with some metallic rope, which in turn was attached to another and another still. The blade retracted and some monster jumped out of the shadows of a nearby tree. He was brown, around the snake's own height, and wore a dark red scarf that wrapped around his face and chest. He wielded the weapon from before in his left hand, a majestic weapon with a curved blade that had cracks which seemed to emit a green light. "Creature of the deepest pits of damnation!" the creature barked in some odd British accent, "Step away from the Dragon and the...Shell...Duck..." "And who are you supposed to be?" the snake hissed, stifling an evil laugh, "Some sort of winter mummy?" "Well that's just mean," came another voice, this one deeper and decidedly more demonic, "I suggest you keep your trap shut, snakeboy! We've already cleaved our way through targets like Lyric, we'll have no problem fighting his cousin twice-removed!" "Hahaha..." the snake laughed, "Got quite the mouth on ya, haven't you? Two of 'em, in fact! But can you back it up? Get ready to draw!" "Okay, bub..." the voice said again, as the creature switched his weapon to his off hand and dug out another one, "Want some graphite-related puns, too? Well then, here comes the 2B!" The creature reared back and thrust his blade forward. The blade itself split into multiple roped segments as with before and travelled across the space between the creature and the snake, catching the snake's left hand and forcing him to drop his laser pistol. "And here comes the eraser!" the creature called out, raising his other weapon. There was a loud crack in the sky and the weapon, the chrome and parkerised creation that it was, recoiled back like a large jump. Some small and invisible object then hit the snake in his other hand, dropping his other pistol too. The snake groaned in pain, holding both of his wounded and almost useless hands and looked at the creature with a sneer. "Arrgh! You shouldn't have done that!" the snake yelled, turning to make an exit, "You haven't seen the last of Serpentine!" The snake turned and fled, leading only the two weapons behind; both of which had been damaged by the creature's weapons and thus were rendered useless. He turned back to Lilac and the Shell-duck, both of which had been watching the spectacle with confused eyes. "What, uh..." Lilac began, "What just happened?" "I think I've just saved your life," the creature said, scratching his ear, "Not too sure." "Whatever just happened, it was a close one..." the Shell-duck sighed, "Thank you both for helping me. Especially you. Miss...uh..." "Lilac," Lilac said, "Sash Lilac." "Miss Lilac!" the Shell-duck said gleefully, before turning to the creature and asking, "And, uh, you are?" "They call me Master." the creature said, shrugging slightly, "I don't know why, they just do." "Nice voice manipulation back there, by the way," the Shell-duck said, "Voice Modulation Device hidden in your scarf, I presume?" "Nope," came the other voice again, "The voice is a bit more...handsome. And deadly. But mostly handsome." "Who?" Lilac asked. "Down here." All three people in the area looked at the blade in Master's hand, to which Lilac mumbled, "That...that thing's talking?" "Yeah..." Master said, digging his other weapon into one of his holsters leaving only the blade in his hand, "This is the Blade of Hysteria, though I just call him 'Blade'." "Oh..." Lilac said, clearly trying to take this in, "Well, hello...Blade." There was a sudden roaring noise and all three turned their heads to see what it was. It was a red motorbike, with some sort of animal riding on it. She was green, with green ears, green markings and a large tail that swished behind her as she walked. Master could clearly see this was Carol, at the least the younger one, that the elder one had tasked him to find. Compared to the Carol from the future timeline, she was obviously younger and less battle scarred, having both eyes and both hands. She wore much simpler clothing than her elder form, with only a black shirt with no sleeves, some dark green shorts, gloves, boots and a red rag tied around her neck to her own. Carol stopped the bike and quickly jumped off of it, running towards the trio with open eyes from shock, "Are you okay? I saw a huge explosion back there!" "Have you been following us this whole time?" Lilac asked. "Duh," Carol said, with a sort of sneery expression. "I take it you know this guy?" the Shell-duck asked. "Girl..." Carol growled in response. "This...girl?" Lilac broke away from the group to stand in front of Carol and pose, "Are you kidding? She's like my tail! Always right by my side." Carol herself then walked forward to introduce herself, and conforming Master's suspicions in the process, "Carol the Wildcat, at your service!" she quickly pointed her thumb towards Lilac, "AaaandthisisLilac." The Shell-duck reached out to shake her hand, "Well I'm Torque. I'm a, uh, shell-duck." "Shell-duck?" "It's more of a nickname," Torque said, looking a bit nervous, "I'm not exactly from around here." "You don't say," Master snarked. "Well, you don't look like you're from around here either, bub!" Carol pointed accusingly at Master, "Who are you, anyway?" "He's called...Master, I think," Lilac tried to explain. Carol's expression became quite miffed. "...Not a word of a lie, I promise," Master said, "Look, it's a long story. Perhaps we should reach safer ground." "Well, there's my treehouse," Lilac said, "No-one knows where it is other than me. We'll be safe there. You coming, Master?" "Does he have to?" Carol asked, inspecting Master all over, "I don't trust him. I don't trust ANYONE with a getup THAT ridiculous..." "I kinda have to, because...uh..." Master quickly looked down at the scarf that covered his face, thankful it hid his nervous frown, "Oh bother, I didn't think this far...ooh!" and then turned back to Carol, "I'm the newest member of your...Red Scarves. Came here for...training, that's it." "Training?" Torque asked, "With moves like that?" "Also, what's with the dead sheep wrapped around your head?" Carol asked, her voice clearly irritated, "You're taking the whole 'Red Scarves' thing a bit too seriously, aren't you?" "Well, I didn't get the memo..." Master said, laughing nervously. "Ahh, jeez, give it up, Master!" Blade called out, "It's not working. Look, here's the score; I'm a talking blade of war, we're both from the future and we're here to make sure both you remain sane in about three days. Got it?" "...Did..." Carol began after a pause, "...Did his glowing dagger talk?" "Yeah..." Lilac said. Master frowned under his scarf. He was supposed to make sure both stayed sane and already, by doing almost nothing, he had forced the two to accept that his cursed demonic dagger was talking to them. Probably took a hit to their sanity already. "Good start, Master," he sighed to himself as the group started off towards the treehouse, "Good start." ==========-----========== DeviantART Link: http://fav.me/d935ad6

Indeed.

Though to be fair, the Sonic series as a whole suffered that quite badly for a while (well, Adventure did anyway). It's not an excuse, of course, but it's...amusing, to say the least.

Not really. Just another story in Traveller's exodus across the multiverse.

//////////Clove couldn't believe this creature, this brutish being that stood a good foot taller than her, one clothed in a dark blue jacket and a ridiculous looking red scarf wrapped around his face and chest. How his eyes squinted in a form of tranquil fury towards the pronghorn with his webbed blade clutched in his left hand. He had not spoken to the girl, having only just cleaned the blood of the Chinchilla off of both himself and his weapon, approaching Clove in a shambling manner. Clove cleared her throat, "What are YOU doing here? State your business, cretin!" The creature stopped, standing upright and stock still, staring at Clove directly in the eye. He spoke, his voice deep and bridled with an unusual accent, "My name is Traveller. Is that enough for you?" "No," Clove grimaced, "STATE. YOUR. BUSINESS. Or I will bring down the wrath of the-" "The Egg Bosses?" Traveller growled, "Oh yes, that worked out so well for your little chinchilla friend there, didn't it?" Clove looked over Traveller's shoulder to see the chinchilla, Thunderbolt, or at least what remained of her perforated and slowly burning carcass. Clearly, this Traveller being did not screw around. Not that it affected Clove. She never liked Thunderbolt anyway. She stood her ground, "So? She was just a training phase! The rest could take you down, easy!" "...Heh, cute," Traveller grumbled, a small smile poking up from the top of his scarf, "Alright, Chives, you want to know why I'm here? I'm here to find my, uh...alternative. Oh yes, it's a big multiverse out there. A million copies of me and you scattered across it. Funny, really. You're not supposed to exist." "What?" Clove was confused, her mind racing to find the meaning behind this creature's words, "What are you saying?" "I am...not of this world," Traveller explained, "Not even part of this sector. I travel the multiverse, righting wrongs and fighting evil-doers. As well as, well, keeping my past selves out of trouble. It is complicated. Now if you could just let me pass..." "Certainly not..." Clove growled, spreading her limbs to cover the hallway, "This is the restricted location of our great leader Eggman. You are NOT allowed here!" She had hoped her boastful barking kept this creature at bay, but he advanced regardless, "Disgusting creature! Don't you know who I am?!" "...Clove," Traveller sighed, causing Clove to jump in quiet shock, "Clove Pronghorn. Sister to Cassia, who contracted a fatal disease at the age of eight. You were desperate to find a way to keep your sister, any and every way to let her live was attempted." "So what of it?!" Clove got on the defensive, "I love her. Cassia was and IS all I have left! I would do ANYTHING to make her happy and keep her safe!" "So you turned to Eggman..." Traveller said, his tone displeased, "The god-mode manchild of the multiverse." "He was all I had!" Clove screamed, tears in her eyes, "Who else could I turn to? Those Freedom Fighter scumbags couldn't help me! They were too busy with that princess bitch and her 'relationships'!" "That is true," Traveller said, "They are indeed scum. But turning to the one faction that is worse? The fact Eggman has such a leash around your neck only seals your fate. I am fairly sure you know what will happen if Eggman becomes displeased or bored with you or Cassia. ESPECIALLY Cassia." "I know..." Clove sighed wearily, "But, I owe him the life of my sister." "You owe him NOTHING," Traveller's voice turned demonic for a split second, "Because whatever you give him, he will squeeze dry and throw on the pile in the pursuit of power. And that WILL include your sister. He knows how much she means to you. What if he wants you to suffer, huh? With that bomb inside her head?" "You lie! Eggman doesn't do that!" Clove continued her accusations, "Have you ever heard of the concept of Cyberization before, buddy?" "What you call Cyberization, I call Legionization," Traveller growled again, "And I say to Hell with it!" "You're not getting past me!" Clove yelled, "And you're not killing my sister!" "I never planned to," Traveller sighed, "Only if Eggman was planning his little magic trick. The magical vanishing head...you can only do it once. Now get out of my way and I won't hurt you..." Clove wouldn't budge, to which Traveller sighed towards, advancing and simply pushing Clove out of the way with his arm. She was knocked aside and crumpled to the floor, getting up on her damaged leg and screaming at the slowly vanishing Traveller, "SCREW YOU, YOU WASTE OF GOOD OXYGEN! You don't know what it's like! I bet you never had a family to call your own! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO FEAR FOR THE LIFE OF YOUR SISTER!" Her teary-eyed outburst seemed to have some sort of effect, as Traveller stopped dead in his tracks. She seemed pleased, if only for a short time, before she noticed his off-hand curling up into a shaking fist. Suddenly, without warning bar a flash of white light, Traveller had turned and dashed almost instantaneously towards the pronghorn, grabbing her tightly by the neck and lifting her up, slamming her into the wall with tremendous force. His face screamed of fury, with his eyes now two black dots swimming within a black void alongside an almost mechanical breathing escaping his throat. "You think so, do you?" Traveller growled, his voice almost demonic in nature, "On the contrary. YOU would not know. You do not know what it is like to LOSE a sister! To see her drowned for some warlord's sick and twisted pleasure! You have never had to see the lights in her eyes slowly dim to the joyous squeals of a lunatic! What else created the murderous being slowly choking the life out of your pathetic muggle body?!" "P-Please..." Clove responded weakly, her own vision fading, "I...I'm sorry! Let me...let me go!" Another switch flicked in Traveller's eyes and he complied, dropping the pronghorn to the floor. She landed in a crumpled heap, gasping for air and too weak to stand but very much still alive, looking at this monstrous being as he slowly calmed and reverted to normal. He looked apologetic, perhaps feeling a sting of regret, but kept his original calm tone. "Perhaps...perhaps you are right in some manner. Perhaps I don't know what it's like to know a sister the way you do. You fought to save your sister. You had a choice. Mine was...taken away from me," he looked sadly down at the gasping pronghorn, taking pity on her and digging an odd business card out of his jacket, "Look, I shall be on my way, and maybe when this is over, I'll come back. Open up the throat of that manchild Eggman and perhaps..." he edged closer, to the point they were face-to-face, laying the card on her chest, "I will help you to live a better life." He got up and left. The weakened Clove could only gasp for air as this being faded from the hallway, before she finally went limp and all went black.///////// Another story from DeviantART, for the archives. Also a test of implementing pictures into a topic. Not sure if it has worked (I'm actually sort of new to this "forum" stuff. Yes, I know). Regardless, have a story with one of the few post-reboot characters (and an Egg Army character at that) I don't hate; Clove the Pronghorn. Mainly because of her design, her backstory and her personality. Even if the backstory is completely fulla holes since she decided to go after Eggman for help rather than...well, ANYONE else. And now her sister is not only a toaster with a Swiss Roll for a hairdo, but also has a bomb in her noggin that Eggman (and, in a meta sense, Ian Flynn) can detonate at any time for cheap torture (or cheap drama, in Flynn's case. And he WILL do it, I'm sure of it). And if you're wondering who Traveller is, well; remember that Freedom Dies With Me Prologue with a being called "Master" in it? That's him. I decided halfway through the story that Master was an awful name for what was supposed to be a somewhat balanced OC, so I changed it to something badass but more humble and fitting. He is, after all, a traveller. One does hope you enjoy. DeviantART Link: http://masterperrymartin.deviantart.com/art/Pain-and-Fear-595259792

It's a bit like the Movie Movies; as long as they keep selling thanks to people who have never heard of the concept before, they'll keep making them regardless of quality.

It'll probably be so, but not like the first game. The only reason Sonic had the limelight in the movie as he did was because of the deal between SEGA and...Disney, I think, which is also why Ralph was in Racing Transformed. Unless that's happening again, Sonic's probably going to have a MUCH smaller role, along the lines of Eggman. Or, if Mario is going to in it this time, they might just dump him entirely. And the other SEGA characters probably won't appear because, you know, SEGA. I AM glad they're making a sequel, though. 'Cause the setting opens the world up to a sh*tton of possibilities (Endless Possibilities, you could say). A lot of potentially funny moments. Like, seeing the Doom 1-2 Doomguy and the Doom 2016 Doomguy having a polite conversation with tiny cups of tea. Now THAT would be funny.

Alright. That makes sense.

Sounds like a good place to ask a question. Alright, how exactly will the gallery work? Will it need to go through moderators, will there be specific folders for specific types of art, or what?

Argh, this show. I'm always caught between admiring it and hating its very guts.

Alright. Mine is Doom 2016. Synopsis: In a time of a massive energy crisis on Earth, the Union Aerospace Corporation (UAC) stumbles across a new form of energy on Mars; Argent Energy, a limitless and clean source of energy that has only one drawback; it comes from Hell itself. In their attempts to colonise the realm for its energy like the oil fields of Texas, they come across a temple that holds a stone coffin containing a being the demons know only as the Doom Slayer; the survivor of a doomed realm who ripped and tore through Hell in a burning rampage before being captured. When higher-up Olivia Pierce starts to collaborate with the demons for endless power, head scientist Samuel Hayden and fellow AI VEGA release you, the Doom Slayer, to stop the invasion. Not that it matters to you; you're fueled by rage, and all you want to do is kill every single demon who dares get in your way. So get going. Like: Gameplay is excellent. Smooth as silk, easy to learn, hard to master and immensely satisfying every single step of the way. Each weapon is fun to use and never either overpowered or useless. Each has their own use, but any can be used in any fight. Good range of enemies and bosses to fight. Huge levels that beg for exploration, with a of bonuses and secrets to find if you do. The game looks beautiful, even IF it is generally very dark and very red. Very, very, VERY red. Music is fitting, badass and perfectly placed in every level. The story. It's actually a decent story, one that has some interest in it but never gets in the way of what the player wants to do; kill demons. The Doom Marine himself. Through nothing but two arms and a camera, the game conveys his personality and actions perfectly. He doesn't give a single shingles and just wants to destroy everything in his path. Nothing more, nothing less. This game is METAL incarnate. It's WOW Factor never slows down, and it only gets more and more intense as the game goes on. Oh, and a campaign that isn't a measly four hours long. That bit's nice. Dislike: Some of the fights CAN get a bit hard, partly because the game spams high-end demons against you. Some secrets CAN be a bit too well-hidden for their own good. Multiplayer is...well, multiplayer is alright. But it needs a few adjustments to truly have some staying power. Mainly balancing changes so that people stop using the Electric Rifle all the bloody time. You get that feeling in the back of your mind that old-style shooters will probably never get as good as this. Would I Recommend? Definitely. Unlike so many other "old-school" retro shooters, which seem contempt to be 100% like the old games and bash the modern Military Shooters in an attempt to cater exclusively to bitter 20-something year olds who complain about things like iron sights becase e;g afdhag rwhaerhbaw...unlike those games, Doom '16 actually bothers to integrate some new conventions with the old stuff, and it works really well. It feels like a true evolution of the classic shooter genre, rather than wallowing in the nostalgia of the original. Much like Shovel Knight, it is more than mere nostalgia-bait, it is a proper old-school game in and of itself, perhaps way ahead of its time. It's brutal, it's metal, it's hardcore and it's insane. And I loved every second of it.

So the 25th Anniversary of this franchise isn't getting that big game we all thought it would get. No Generations 2, no Adventure 3/4, not even a sequel to Colours. Instead, we've got a game from a dead sub-franchise and a spin-off game nobody in their right mind wants anymore. Celebrating a quarter-century of existence, of surviving the worst of the franchise, with nothing. If that, to me at least, doesn't highlight SEGA's utter incompetence, I don't know what does.

There ya go, then. I've been meaning to put some stuff on Freedom Dies with Me on TVtropes, incidentally. Never got around to it, though.

Well from one to another, welcome to the site!