Fantasy's End: Ruin of Souls (FotM Winner!) (Chapter 6 added 6/25/08!)

[X_Hero]

     What is it that happens when someone passes? No one could ever be quite sure of that answer. But then again, what is it that happens when they come back? Many things could be guessed. If ever possible, one of those guesses could be true. Souls are delicate, and yet strong at the same time. They can shatter the strongest obstacles, yet they themselves can shatter so easily. Like the living body, souls are made and wiped away each day. Each is made pure, and is purified once they pass from the realm of living.

     One though. There is one single soul that has never purified after the passing. Because of this, it cannot be allowed to return to the realm of souls, deep within the reaches of the universe. Kijutkrae Mitshilor. In the language of the First Universe, this comes to mean "Spiritual Core". The soul of darkness can never be allowed to enter Kijutkrae Mitshilor. If it were to ever to succeed, it could enslave all souls, and eventually bring Kijutkrae Mitshilor to an end. This soul is the power of the Black Phoenix, a beast slain millions of eons ago by a legendary warrior.

     The only way that the soul of the Black Phoenix could be successfully kept out of Kijutkrae Mitshilor was to use the force of Kentmoris Purgatory, an ancient soul technique that, unfortunately, not only keeps back the soul, but destroys the physical universe that is present. This act has destroyed the universe. And it has done so a total of twelve times.

     The living inhabitants of the First Universe wrote a prophecy. It is written that there would be another blackened soul born, and the great warrior that had slain the Black Phoenix will be reborn to defeat the two souls. He will be young and in love when he comes to his destiny. Through dark forces, however, he will be changed into a multi-tailed beast, and only in the final battle will he return to his true form.

    It is now the time of the Thirteenth Universe. The legend of the Kijutkrae Mitshilor has been forgotten for ages, only known by those few brave ones with enough heart to seek the knowledge about it. The second black soul has been born, and nobody has a clue to who it rests within. The warrior has also been born, and the same goes for him. When will it be that the two meet? Or has it been that they have already met?

[X_Hero]

News/Updates

Currently no new news/updates...

[X_Hero]

Character Bios

Xacherai Hiro- After waking up in an abandoned lab, transformed into an hominid fox with amnesia, he starts traveling just to survive. When things begin to occur after his arrival at Epsiliette, his priority becomes to find out what is happening.

Holden Jericho- A thirteen year old tech mage raised on Epsiliette, he discovers Xacherai and helps the both of them escape from the creatures that arrive. His skills with technology are extremely notable.

Luigi Mario- Having escaped from the creatures after they had arrived at Epsiliette, he is rescued by Xacherai and joins with the group in order to save his brother, Mario. Luigi is very jumpy.

Bios coming for more characters later.

[X_Hero]

Chapter Directory

Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6

[X_Hero]

Art (for when I can post some...)

[Nils_13]

I like the looks of this. The intro was good. ^_^

[X_Hero]

All right, just to get things started, I'll now post the prologue. Enjoy. :)

Prologue: A Life in Mystery

     Nothing. If it were ever possible to feel it, this would be what nothing would feel like. You can't feel anything around you or even your own body. This is what he felt as his mind became conscious after what felt like an eternity. His eyes, which felt as if they hadn't ever been used, slowly began to open. At first, it didn't help, but soon they began to take in a deep green light. Everything beyond the green was heavily distorted.

     Somehow, his mind wouldn't remember anything. Nothing that let him know what had happened before now rested in his mind. But he could think normally, as if he had been born with the knowledge. He knew what it was that afflicted him, but even so, his name even failed to return to him. What was going on?

     Red was flashing somewhere in the corner of his eye. He couldn't move his head towards it, but his eyes could flick around just fine. It looked like a flashing light of some sort, kind of like an alarm. It was extremely dim, so it must have been going off for quite a while. Not even the sound of the siren was able to be heard anymore.

     Without even the slightest of warnings, his body began to sear with pain as small needles that were stuck into him began to rip out, tinting the green view with the slight red color of his blood. The pain faded, and he once again felt nothing. A mechanical sound, faint, but audible, started up, and his eyes went up. He found that he was suspended in the center of some sort of liquid, encased in a very large, cylindrical tank. Around his waste was a large strap, which was all that was holding him up. It released as the last of the liquid drained out, and he hit the ground with a painful slam.

     He lay there motionless for several minutes, still completely without feeling in his entire body. Soon, he slowly moved his arm. His eyes were still sore and blurry as he painfully got up to his legs. Breathing heavily, he staggered over to several lines of computers and leaned against it as he regained his sense of feel. He stared at the screen that was below his arms.

Subject: Xacherai Hiro

Selective Memory Erase: Complete
DNA Replacement Procedure: Complete
Complete Intellect Deterioratio-a966jY_? iafh

Error #692: All procedures could not be completed due to damage of hardware

     "So my name... Is Xacherai Hiro?"? He asked himself silently while still looking at the flickering screen. Xacherai's eyes kept going back to the line about the DNA replacement procedure. What was that all about? As he thought this, his feeling had now completely returned, but somehow, Xacherai found that he felt more than he should. As if there were more parts than there was supposed to be.

     Xacherai then suddenly noticed his hand, and to his shock, it wasn't a hand at all. In its place was a gray-furred paw, followed by strange symbols going all the way up his arm. He looked at his other arm quickly to find the exact same thing. Looking around hesitantly, Xacherai looked for some sort of reflective surface. Seeing a large plate of glass several feet away, he began to run over towards it, only to find that the entire ground was littered with small shards of broken glass. He had to be careful not to get any of them stuck in the pads of his rear paws.

     Xacherai looked around to see that there wasn't only broken glass, but there were several sections of computers that were completely annihilated. There was a giant hole in the middle of the crumbling ceiling, letting a large ray of light hit the plate of glass that he was going towards. After carefully maneuvering through the span of glass, Xacherai made it to the large piece.

     Almost all gray fur, save for his white underside, covered his entire body. The markings that were on his arms spanned farther than he thought they did as he followed them all round his body and down his legs. Xacherai turned and found there were even more of the mysterious markings sprawled out on his back. Not only that, but there were three very large tails gently brushing back and forth, each at their own pace. He finally looked at his face, which had of course, changed along with the rest of him. Long, yet manageable ears came off of the top of his head, which was covered with long, unruly brown hair.

     "Wh... What the!?"? Xacherai said as he continued to look at his reflection in the glass below him. Over and over through his mind ran the thought that none of it could be possible. Soon, Xacherai came to the decision of trying to get out of there.

     Looking around hesitantly, he spied a pair of pants and a shirt that seemed like they would fit him. Xacherai ran over, careful not to step on the glass, and grabbed them. After he put on the pants, he skimmed the room for a door, only to find that all of them were closed. Xacherai put the shirt on and rushed over to the closest one.

     "Please let this work."? He said silently to himself as he raised one of his legs. With a thrusting kick, Xacherai obliterated the slide open door, leaving a gaping hole in it. "... Whoa."? Deciding not to worry about it for the time being, he went out the hole, and rushed down the long hall, where he saw a normal looking door just sitting there rather than another slide open like the others. Xacherai opened it and ran through to find something he would have hardly expected.

     A gigantic, lush green forest filled with many different types of trees sprawled out past a large cliff, where he was standing a few feet away from the edge of. He looked back to see that the large building was half covered in ferns and ivies. Only more forest spanned out behind the lab. The yellow colored sky was scattered with red tinted clouds, and two moons were visible above along with the sun.

     There was a somewhat futuristic ship that was docked in a small and somewhat run down hanger next to the fern-covered lab. Xacherai thought that it was the only way out of this seemingly endless rainforest. He ran over and closed the small hatch door behind him. Even though the ship seemed somewhat small, it was very spacious, and it had a couple of sleeping quarters towards the back, along with the hold. He went towards the bridge of the small ship and found two spherical orbs suspended by rods coming down from the ceiling.

     "Let's just hope this thing works..."? Xacherai muttered to himself as he looked for some sort of switch or button that would activate the engine. After several moments of looking around, he sat down and finally spotted a large red button that was printed with "Initiate Engine".

     "Well, duh..."? He quickly pressed the red button, and the engine roared to life, which filled Xacherai with relief. He thrust his paws into the orbs, which were now glowing on their interior, and the ship moved a bit. The thrusters started to propel the ship forward, as the smaller thrusters lifted the ship up and off of the ground. Xacherai shoved his paws forward, and the ship accelerated quickly, flying out of the hanger and sailing into the sky.

     "... I need to find out my past."? Xacherai said to himself as the ship rose higher and higher, the color of yellow slowly fading into a black as he left the planet's atmosphere. He swung the ship around and looked at the yellow planet below. The sight was breathtaking, but Xacherai was thinking elsewhere as he stared. "... Who am I?"

[Triforce_Luigi]

Interesting. Grammar and spelling seem to be used well. THe story seems intriguing. I will continue to read this.

[X_Hero]

Okay, chapter 1 is here, but it has to be in two posts because it's so long... XD

Chapter 1: Rifts

     "... Xacherai!"

     Xacherai woke up with a start. It was that voice again, a girl's voice. Somehow, he thought that he was supposed to recognize it, but since none of his memory had returned, he couldn't even try to place who it might be. Xacherai decided not to think about it any more as he sat up in his bed. He took off a strap that held him down, and he began to float towards the door.

     It was about two months after Xacherai had woken up inside the lab. Through that entire time, he had been traveling throughout the different systems, always trying to keep himself as least noticeable as possible. So far, there hasn't been a single person that has ever been able to see what he truly was. If anyone had, it would cause a panic and send the entire High Council XCIX Guard after him.

     "Approaching Epsiliette." The computer said in its usual generated voice as he pulled himself into the seat at the controls. The voice sounded like a man around his twenties. Xacherai had probably heard this voice the most in his two months of trekking through the system, and quite frankly, he was getting kind of sick of it. At least he had found another planet.

     Soon, the site of the planet came into view. Epsilette's swirling clouds of deep violet and blue surrounded the whole view, making it impossible to see the surface. There were literally hundreds of docking stations set up in orbit around the noxious gas filled planet, all connected by a series of large steel bridges. The lights of the large station made it look like the planet was draped in spider webs.

     "Space vehicle #52-THO8, you're scan registration has been cleared." A voice came out of his radio. As usual. They had to scan his space vehicle's registration code, which was embedded somewhere in the hardwiring of the ship, to make sure it didn't match any marked codes. "We are initiating our tractor beam to pull you in. Your dock number will be 950412-AK. Welcome to Epsiliette."

     Xacherai clicked off the engine as he felt the small vibration of the tractor beam catch the ship and start pulling him in. He'd rather not waste any fuel cells, since he only docks on small occasion. However, Xacherai sometimes wished he didn't have to, but the way he looked gave him no choice. The beam pulled the ship into one of the larger of the stations, and the doors of the dock closed behind him.

     "All right... Time to pick up some supplies." Xacherai said as he got up from his seat in the bridge. He walked over to the door to the rest of the ship and took a very baggy sweatshirt with an extra large hood. Xacherai put it on, and then slid his back paws into a pair of boots that concealed the paws along with his pants rolled over them. "Here's the uncomfortable part..." He took his large tails and tucked two of them down into each of his pant legs, the third going behind him up his sweatshirt.

     "Kay, mate, you're clear to exit the ship." A voice came over the small intercom next to the ship hatch as Xacherai approached. The voice sounded as if it had a bit of Australian accent with it. He pressed a button next to the hatch, and it slowly opened to reveal the interior of the docking bay. As soon as Xacherai stepped down out of the ship, a somewhat short man came walking over to him. Apparently, this was the voice over the intercom.

     "All right, now ya just docking or need an upgrade for ya ship there?" The man asked Xacherai. He thought a moment. The controls for the ship could be upgraded so that they were complete holograms.

     "I need the controls upgraded to the hologram models." Xacherai replied after a short moment.

     "Then that'll be nine-fifty celinor, mate." The man told him. Xacherai went into his pocket and pulled out the money amount that the man had said. He then dropped it into the open hand of the dock keeper. "Thank ya, mate." The man walked back to the large booth to punch in the order. He peered out as Xacherai was about to leave. "Oh, any color preference, mate?"

     "Neon green." Xacherai replied without even having to turn his head. He had always liked that color.

_____________________________

     It was a bit later, maybe about an hour after Xacherai had arrived at Epsiliette. He had walked into several shops already, and so far, they were all for weapons. By now, Xacherai was wondering whether they even had a supplies shop or not.

     He sat down on a railing that spanned across one of the pathways that conjoined two of the stations. For a while, Xacherai just gazed out through the two-foot-thick glass that separated him from the void of space. The sight of seeing all of the station stretched out for miles upon miles on top of the swirling dark clouds of the planet was simply amazing.

     Deciding that he should ask someone about supply shops, he looked around until he found a boy, around 13, who was carrying about three bags. In one of them, you could see the top of a few bottles. He had gotten supplies somewhere. Xacherai got up and walked over to him.

     "Excuse me..." He started. The boy stopped to turn to him, but as he saw Xacherai, he just froze.

     "Um... Yes?" The boy said as he tried to figure out what was with Xacherai's raised hood. He brushed his black hair out of the view of his deep blue eyes.

     "Would you know where to get supplies around here?" Xacherai asked him. He could tell that the boy wasn't too sure whether Xacherai was safe or not.

     "Oh, um..." The boy began as he thought a moment. "I just came from there. It should be on the next station about two blocks after you get off of this bridge."

     "All right, then thanks." Xacherai replied as he turned in the direction the boy pointed out. The boy just stood thee a minute before going on his way again.

___________________________

     Xacherai had now gotten the supplies he needed, and was walking out of the shop. He paused a moment to look up at the high up dome, with the stars of space glittering above. Xacherai always looked up at the sky or scenery for some reason. Maybe it was a trait of his from before he had woken up in that lab. He turned his attention back to making a path right to his ship.

     As Xacherai was about in the center of the bridge that he had crossed earlier, he heard something that didn’t seem right. No-one but him could hear it, most likely because he wasn't exactly human. It had the sound of something that was ripping, mixed with a bit of digital sounds as well. Xacherai turned towards the station he had just now left, and somewhere behind it, he spied a large black area in the empty area.

     From out of nowhere, the sound of an explosion came from the blackened space, and several large ships, of which probably no-one had ever seen before, came surging right out of it. Xacherai's eyes widened as he watched these unknown craft begin to rush around the several stations that was around his location.

     "What the?!" Xacherai shouted as he looked around at the ships frantically. Only thinking for a short moment, he decided to get back to his ship as fast as possible and get away from there.

     Xacherai started running as fast as he could, and that was actually pretty fast. A few blocks down on the station where his ship was, one of the crafts suddenly began to fire large blasts of seemingly dark energy on the large dome that kept the air in. It only made a large crack, but with enough blasts, it would soon break.

     "Aw, man! Where's that entrance?!" A voice shouted from a block down. Xacherai turned his attention down in the direction where he heard it, and he saw that it was the boy from earlier. What was he talking about? Xacherai ran after him, and when he caught up with him, he skidded to a shop in front of the boy.

     "What's this entrance you're talking about?" Xacherai asked hurriedly. Without flinching, the boy pulled out two very large guns, which shocked Xacherai.

     "Look, I don't know who you are, but back off!" The boy shouted at him. Xacherai backed up a bit.

     "Hey, look, I don't want to hurt you." Xacherai said, trying to calm the boy down so he didn't get shot.

     "Sure, whatever! You're just-" The boy had started, but he was cut off as the ship blasted at the dome again, and it shattered, sending bits of glass everywhere, before the vacuum of space sucked it all out. The ship leaned right against the opening, and it blocked anything else from getting out.

     "Oh, crap, what now?" Xacherai muttered angrily as he watched the entire thing. Soon, a hatch opened on the ship, and to both their horror, strange creatures began to jump out. They were dark in color, and they had a very deep red aura. Very long ears came out the top of their heads, and spiked tails came out behind them.

     "... You're not with them, are you?" The boy asked, still keeping his guns aimed right at Xacherai.

     Without warning, one of the creatures came running up behind Xacherai. Fortunately, Xacherai had his ears. He immediately turned and round-house kicked the creature in the face, sending it hurtling into the side of a building at an explosive force. The boy just looked at him in shock.

     "Hardly..." Xacherai said as he turned to the boy, his leg still in the air. There was a silence as they just looked at each other. The silence was broken as the boy turned his attention to Xacherai's leg. Part of the pant leg had slid down to reveal his paw.

     "Wh... What are...?" The boy began as he lowered his guns and backed away.

     "Well, if you haven't noticed, this entire place is under attack." Xacherai said as he lowered his leg. He took off his hood to reveal his face, seeing that the boy had already found out. "So if you don't mind, if there's somewhere we can go, would you care to help me out?"

    "S-sure..." The boy said. He was quite noticeably nervous now, but he was starting to get used to the fact that Xacherai wasn't exactly like him. "Come on."

[X_Hero]

Ch. 1, Part 2

     The boy started running, and Xacherai kept following after him. Soon, the boy stopped, and he looked around quickly for a moment. He then spotted something, and he sprinted over to what looked like some sort of manhole cover.

     "Say... You never mentioned your name." Xacherai said as the boy began to lift up the hole.

     "Neither did you." The boy replied as he got the cover off of the entrance to whatever he was going to.

     "Xacherai Hiro. You?" He said as he walked over to the hole. The boy turned to find another one of the creatures. He held out his hand, and a numerous amount of parts came out of nowhere and assembled into gun right there. Without waiting another moment, he blasted a giant hole in the creature. It just dissolved into thin air.

     "Holden. Holden Jericho. I'm a tech mage. Now come on." He said as he began to get into the hole.

     "H-help-a me!!" A shout came from another few blocks away. Xacherai turned his head quickly to see someone running away from a group of the creatures. He was wearing a green shirt, green cap, and blue overalls.

     "We can't let him get away! The master needs him for the process!" One of them shouted as they continued to chase after him. Before Holden could say anything, Xacherai had already gone after them.

     "Xacherai, wait!" Holden shouted, but with no luck.

     The man had now collapsed on the ground in utter fear. The creatures began to encircle around him so that he couldn't get away. The man held his cap and was shaking furiously. Just as one of the creatures was reaching for him, Xacherai came out of nowhere and punched the creature into one of the windows nearby. It flew in at such a speed, hardly any of the glass remained in the pane.

     "What the?!" One of the other creatures said as they all backed up. Xacherai didn't stop there.

     He grabbed one of them with one of his paws and flung it into another one, making the both of them dissolve from the force. Xacherai then slid underneath one of them and kicked it in the chin, sending it spiraling into the air. Pushing off the ground, he then flew into the last one, leaving the only ones there to be Xacherai and the man.

     "Hey, are you all right?" Xacherai asked to the man.

     "Huh... wha... You... Uhg..." The man babbled. And with that, he passed out.

     "Ah, jeez..." Xacherai said, seeing as if the man couldn't walk on his own now. He picked up the man and ran back over to the hole where Holden was beckoning him to hurry up. Xacherai got in and began to climb down while still holding the man. Holden also began to climb down, and he pulled the cover back over.

     "Is this place safe?" Xacherai asked as he looked back at the cover.

     "Don't worry... No-one can find this place." Holden started. "Heck, sometimes, even I can't find it." He laughed a bit as they continued down.

     Soon, they had reached the bottom, but Xacherai was a bit confused. Below him, he felt that he was stepping on solid ground.

     "I built an area on the surface on the planet." Holden started. "The reason is that while I was doing an independent scan, I found something, and whatever it was, it wasn't naturally formed." Holden walked over to a wall, and he hit a button. Several searchlights slowly turned on, and they were now shining on one area.

     "... Is that ...?" Xacherai started as he walked over to the area where the lights were on.

     "Yeah..." Holden answered. "It's a really big sword."

     Xacherai was now standing in front of it. It was very large indeed, probably almost as big as him. It was stuck part way into the ground, but the blade itself is what he was focusing on. There were many crevasses, which showed that a section of it could probably come out. The handle was made of a material that somewhat seemed like leather, and a yellow gem was inlaid on the end of it. The area where the blade and hilt met was connected by two razor wings with a spiked star in the middle. Xacherai saw that there was a chain next to the gem, and at the end of it was an "X" designed piece of metal dangling there.

     "I'm not even sure who could use something that large..." Holden started again. "It's way too heavy for any of my machines to lift. And the symbols on it... It kinda looks like Japanese, but it's way too different."

     Xacherai averted his attention to what he was talking about. There were areas where there were symbols lightly etched into the blade. He then suddenly recognized the symbols. Making sure that he left his undershirt on, Xacherai slipped off his sweatshirt, leaving the markings on his arms in complete view.

      "... I wonder..." Xacherai muttered to himself as he got a though. He slowly reached out and grasped the handle. To his surprise, it actually felt light. Very light. Without any effort, Xacherai lifted the sword out of where it rested. Holden just looked at him in shock.

     "Jeez... You're just full of surprises, aren't you?" Holden said after a while.

     "I guess so..." Xacherai replied after him. He then looked back at the man. "I think we should try to get off of this planet..."

     "That's a good point, but I can't leave my parents here." Holden explained to Xacherai. Xacherai's ears perked up.

     "... I hear something over the station com." Xacherai started as he used his sweatshirt to tie the sword to his back. "It sounds like they're evacuating the stations. I think they'll be safe." Holden just stood there a moment.

     "All right, fine." Holden finally agreed. He held out his hand, and parts began to appear. Soon, a small hovercraft that could fit one person was sitting there. "We need to get this guy on here so we can move faster."

     "Right..." Xacherai said as he was already putting the man on the small machine. "Now let's go."

____________________________________

     They had made it back to the surface, and they were running back to the ship, with the machine holding the man flying behind them. Xacherai heard that the man was beginning to wake up.

     "Ugh... Wha...?? He said as his eyes slowly opened. His vision came back into focus, and one look at Xacherai made him freak out. "Oww-a!!"

     "Whoa, hey, calm down!" Holden tried to keep the man from getting too frightened. "We're here to help."

     "Wah... Oh... Th-thank-a you..." The man replied. He still seemed a bit frightened.

     "Now, what's you're name?" Holden asked. He actually seemed a bit curious.

     "L-luigi Mario..." He replied. Holden smiled at him.

     "Well, nice to meet you..." Holden answered back. "I'm Holden, and this is... Uh..." He turned to Xacherai. "Can I call you Zach or something?"

     "Just call me X." Xacherai replied. There was a long pause for a moment. "We're here."

     They had arrived at the dock where Xacherai's ship was. The dock keeper was long gone, so now there wasn't a problem with being spotted by anybody else. Xacherai quickly punched in the code, and the hatch opened. Taking Luigi out of the hovercraft, Xacherai and Holden got onto the ship, and the hatch closed behind them.

     "Get into the back." Xacherai quickly told the two of them. They went and got into a couple of seats as Xacherai went into the cockpit. He started the engine, and the new hologram controls glowed right in front of Xacherai. He put his paws into them, and pressed a small button inside of then to signal the dock hatch to open.

     "Man, what's going on?" Holden asked himself. "This is just... Not right."

     The dock hatch slowly opened, and the space vacuum hurtled the ship out. Xacherai turned on the thrusters, and the ship began to speed away from Epsiliette. Out one of the small windows, they saw that the entire planet was now under attack.

     "Those-a things kidnapped-a my brother..." Luigi said out of nowhere. Holden just looked at him. "I have-a to find a way to save-a him..."

     "Don't worry you two..." Xacherai said as he kept the ship going away from the planet. "We'll find out what's going on... And we'll save your brother Luigi..."

     What was going on?

[X_Hero]

Finally, after a few weeks, I finished chapter 2, and I'm almost done with chapter 3. Here ya go. :P And Chapter 2 will also be in 2 parts, so wait for both. ;)

Chapter 2: Meeting in a City

     ?Approaching unknown planet.? The voice of the computer sounded throughout the small ship. Xacherai?s eyes opened as he was just lying back in his bed for a moment. It had been about several hours since they had escaped from Epsiliette, and he was just thinking about anything that might explain it. So far, nothing came to him.

     ?X-xacherai!? Luigi?s voice shouted in a mix of shock and relief. Xacherai immediately pushed himself from the bed and floated out the door to the cockpit. Luigi and Holden were already there, staring at the planet the computer had mentioned.

     ?What? What is it, Luigi?? Xacherai asked him as he came up between them.

     ?That?s it? That?s where I-a come-a from.? Luigi said as he pointed straight at the planet before their ship.

     Many of the continents and islands were very strangely shaped, with the largest of them being in the form of a cartoon-like mushroom. It looked like it was a happy place, but now, it seemed as if some of the life had been drained from it, as the green lands had small spots of brown here and there. The oceans were a tint grayer than other oceans from separate planets.

     ?What is this place?? Holden said in amazement as he stared at the strange sphere hanging there in space. ?I?ve scanned this particular area before, and there shouldn?t be anything here??

     ?This is-a my home?? Luigi started again. ?? The Mushroom Kingdom.?

     They just stared at the planet. There was absolutely no way that this could be real. Never.

     ?Well, do you think we should head down there?? Holden asked the two of them. Luigi didn?t respond.

     ?Sounds good to me. We might find out what the heck is going on.? Xacherai said as he swung himself around the seat in the cockpit and set himself down in it. ?Let?s go.?

     Xacherai put his paws into the center of the two hologram orbs and once again began to control the ship towards the planet. What they would find was a mystery to Xacherai and Holden, but with the look on Luigi?s face, most would think that he had an idea.


     The sky was tinted with a small bit of red over what was normally blue, dried out patches of grass everywhere, and there were some houses that were partially blown to bits. They were strange houses, which resembled cartoon-like mushrooms, like there was with the shape of the continent. The ship blew dust everywhere as it came down to a landing position. A few moments passed, and the hatch on the ship opened, letting Xacherai, Holden, and Luigi view the scene.

     ?This is-a not-a good?? Luigi said as he looked around with a somewhat devastated look on his face.

     ?Jeez?? Holden started. ?This place looks deserted??

     ?And by the way that the houses are grouped together so closely?? Xacherai began to mention. ?It looks like this was actually quite a busy place, right??

     ?Yes?? Luigi answered.? This place was-a very active? Especially in-a the middle of-a the city??

     Xacherai?s ears perked up again. Holden saw this and looked at him.

     ?What? Do you hear something, Xacherai?? Holden asked as Xacherai tried to focus on whatever it was that he was hearing.

     ?It? Sounds like?? Xacherai started, but before he could say anything else, one of the creatures from Epsiliette came out of nowhere and lunged at Xacherai. As the creature was in mid air, a sudden bolt of blue lightning flew past Xacherai?s head and pierced the creature onto oblivion.

     ?Hey, you might want to watch out around here!? A voice shouted from behind him. Just as Xacherai turned to see who it was, a boy with white and gray wings flew overhead.

     This boy had light, spiky blond hair, and was wearing a light gray vest over an extremely long-sleeved blue shirt, along with black pants with red sewing, and dark green boots. He was holding was appeared to be a dual edged sword in the shape of a bow.

     ?Whoa, it?s an Angekiran?? Holden said in amazement as he saw the boy rocketing towards the center of the city. Several more creatures appeared out of nowhere, and the boy brushed his left hand against the handle and several large lightning arrows appeared. He released them, and they ran right through each of the creatures.

     ?Kaumori! Aw, man, he never waits!? Another shout came from behind them. The three of them turned and saw two others running up behind them, one another boy, and the other a girl, which was the one that shouted.

     The boy was rather tall, and had a mask over most of his face, paired with a set of very dark goggles. His hair was a somewhat long dark brown, and his eyes couldn?t really be seen. He was wearing a deep red jacket that went down to about his upper thigh, a pair of denim jeans, and black boots. There was a rather large spear strapped to his back, and was ended with a very big blade embedded with fair sized blue gems.

     The girl was a bit taller than Holden, and had short red hair. She wore a deep blue short sleeved jacket with a very large spiked collar, along with bandages on her arms covered by armbands. Heavily decorated shorts hung down from her waist to about above her knees, and tall sandals went about a fourth the way up her calves, which also had bandages.

     The two ran past them, but about two seconds afterward, the girl stopped dead in her tracks. Turning around, she looked right at Xacherai. The boy turned to see what she was looking at, and he stopped as well.

     ?? Well, there?s something you don?t see everyday.? The girl said as she began to walk over to the three. They boy followed suit and went with her. Xacherai stepped back, seeing that he didn?t know if they were going to be okay with his appearance or not.

     ?Who are you guys?? Holden asked a bit wearily. He reached for one of the guns he had made back on Epsiliette.

     ?Whoa, hey, we aren?t going to hurt you guys.? The girl said as she stopped. ?We just want to know what the heck?s up with him.? She pointed at Xacherai, who still felt a bit uneasy.

     ?Well, I?m not entirely sure either, but I?m sure he?ll explain?? Holden replied back. ?But for now, how about you explain why you?re here??

     ?All right?? The girl started. ?I?m Irene Edwards, this here?? She motioned towards the masked boy. ?Is Ray Dodson, and angel boy up there is Kaumori Atsumini. We were just traveling by, and we found this planet. Then when we landed, we were attacked by these creatures.?

     ?Yeah, they made a complete raid on Epsiliette several hours ago.? Xacherai said, now a bit less nervous than before.

     ?Are you kidding me?! Epsiliette?!? Irene said in shock. ?That place is supposed to have lots of defense!?

     ?It looks like they had warped past the screening field and straight into the area around the stations.? Holden mentioned. Irene was just shocked.

     ?So it seems that we all have a need to find out what?s going on here?? Ray finally mentioned. He had hardly said a word before, and he was finally speaking.

     ?Looks like it?? Xacherai answered.

     ?Are we-a going to head-a to the center of-a the city?? Luigi asked as he stepped forward a bit.

     ?Well, it looks like your Angekiran friend up there is doing just that, so I think we should, too.? Holden mentioned. Xacherai went back into his ship, and several seconds later, he came out carrying the giant sword from earlier.

     ?Dang? That thing?s huge?? Irene said as she just stared at it.

     ?Well, I?ll need something to fight with if more of those things pop up.? Xacherai said as he walked up past the group.

[X_Hero]

Ch. 2, Part 2

     Another lightning arrow shot straight through one more creature as Kaumori was now on the ground, running down the streets of the center of the city, letting blocks of tall glass and steel buildings fly back behind him.

     ?Man, how many of these thing are there?? Kaumori said as he pulled another arrow ready, aiming at yet one more creature that had come out from a corner. Before he could shoot the arrow off, a blast came and went right through the creature?s head. Kaumori slid to a stop and looked around to see all of the others running up behind him.

     ?Hey, save some for us, will ya?? Irene shouted up to him as they caught up. Xacherai kept running past, and Kaumori saw his large sword.

     ?Whoa, that?s a big sword?? Kaumori said to himself out loud.

     ?I know, now come on!? Irene replied back as they began to run again. Several of the creatures jumped out all at once, and they were heading right for Xacherai. Like he knew what he was doing, he grabbed the smaller handle in the blade and pulled. A section of the center came out, now producing two separate swords.

     ?Let?s see what this thing can do?? Xacherai muttered to himself as he continued to run at the creatures. As he was underneath them, he quickly bent his knees, and gave a thrust from the ground. He went right through the group of creatures, and he landed several feet away from where the creatures landed, slashed up from near invisible movement of Xacherai?s swords.

     ?Nice moves?? Ray said as he ran past him out of nowhere. ?But there somewhat flawed??

     ?Well, can you do any better?? Xacherai said as he got up and began running right behind him.

     Before there was any response, more of the creatures appeared several blocks ahead. Without a word, Ray took the spear that was strapped to his back and slashed it in front of him. For a fraction of a second, a large blue rift appeared, and he disappeared inside of it. Right where the creatures were, he appeared again and slashed right through them with hardly any effort.

     ?Heh? Trans-dimensional travel, eh?? Xacherai said to himself as Ray had appeared back next to him through another rift.

     ?Good observation?? Ray replied.

     ?Hishou-Taka Okaeshi!? A shout came from behind them as Irene flew above them. Her leg was extended out in front of her, and there seemed to be strong wind going around it. They turned to where she was going, and saw a creature coming right up in front of them that they hadn?t noticed. Her foot landed right into the creature?s face, and it went spiraling away with the force of the wind that had transferred from her leg.

     ?Taijutsu?? Xacherai asked as she landed in front of them.

     ?Got that right!? Irene answered enthusiastically as she was now in between them.

     Back a bit, where Holden and Luigi were trying to keep up, Luigi came to a sliding halt as he looked down one of the other streets. Staring a moment, he couldn?t believe what he saw.

     ?H-hey!!? Luigi shouted as he looked at the others and pointed while he seemed a bit frightened. They all stopped and looked back to see what was the matter. Luigi?s frantic movements tipped them off that he had found something, and they were now running back to where he was.

     ?What is it?? Holden asked as the others made it over.

     ?L-look at-a that!? Luigi replied as he continued to point. Xacherai turned, and saw that up about a dozen blocks, there was an area where the buildings just stopped, and replacing them was the standing black silhouette of a large, dark building that seemed to give the feeling that there was something inside that they didn?t want to see. Many chimneys jutted out, and were letting out a dark brown or red smoke.

     ?What the heck is that?? Irene asked as she also stared at the seemingly evil structure.

     ?I dunno? But- Hey, who?s that?? Xacherai began, but changed the subject as he spotted a figure near what looked like the entrance to the building.

     The figure was large. Very large. And also bulky. A large, green spiked shell rested on his back, and horns came out the side of his somewhat reptilian head, which also had vibrant red hair. His limbs seemed short and thick, which gave the assumption that he was slow.

     ?W-what?s-a Bowser doing with-a those-a creatures?!? Luigi said in shock.

     ?Bowser?? Irene asked in curiosity. ?Who?s that??

     ?Bowser is-a the king of-a the koopas?? Luigi began. ?He?s-a always kidnapping Princess Peach. Mario was-a always there to stop him, and I-a sometimes helped him out-a. He must-a be behind this??

     ?Well, then let?s go ask him a few questions, eh?? Xacherai said as he stepped forward, swinging his sword out in front of him. Luigi instantly grabbed his arm.

     ?N-no! That?s-a not a good idea!? Luigi shouted in fear. Xacherai got out of his grip.

     ?What? You think that something with big limbs and a giant shell can do anything to-?? Xacherai started before Kaumori suddenly looked shocked.

     ?Wh-what the heck?!? Irene said while still looking in the direction of the strange factory. Everyone looked back, and saw that Bowser was now glowing. His size grew larger and larger, his horns and spikes gaining more length. The green of his shell became more vibrant, and his arms and legs also grew. Soon, they were staring at something completely different.

     ?OWW-AA!!!? Luigi shouted in utter terror before falling backwards. He quickly backed away while still on the ground. The new Bowser pointed in a direction that they couldn?t see, and the creatures that he was ordering ran off, Bowser soon following after.

     ?Wow?? Xacherai said, hardly affected by what happened. ?So he got bigger and uglier, so what??

     ?You-a don?t-a get it, do-a you?!? Luigi shouted as he slowly got up, his legs still shaking violently. ?He just-a went into his-a Giga Bowser form! When-a that happens, he?s-a near invincible!?

     ?To what? Unused space vehicles?? Kaumori said with a bit of a laugh. Xacherai also laughed a bit at this. Luigi just slapped his hand on his own face.

     ?Oi?? Luigi muttered under his breath.

     Xacherai?s ears perked up. He had heard something from one of the creatures. One word.

     ?? Hyrule?? Xacherai repeated from what he had heard. ?What?s a ?Hyrule???

     ?Wait? That sounds familiar?? Holden said as he began to shuffle through the bag he had with him. Before he could find what he was looking for, the sound of large engines roared through the blocks of the city. Strong wind blasted past the buildings, unexpectedly making the windows shatter. Everyone shielded their eyes from the glass that was now raining down. Xacherai looked up. What he saw was a strange ship, similar in design with the factory. It lifted up a ways, and then it shot forward into a black rift.

     ?My guess?? Ray said as he waked forward a bit. ?This ?Hyrule? that they mentioned is a place??

     ?I was starting to think that, too?? Xacherai commented as he rested the end of his sword?s blade down on the ground. ?And I think that they might be going there.?

     ?Well, then let?s do the same! Come on!? Kaumori shouted as he lifted off the ground and began to fly back the way they had come.

     ?Kaumori, wait!? Irene shouted as she tried to run after him. Everyone else had decided to follow and ran past her, Luigi trailing behind them. For a moment, she just stood there. ?? Ugh?? She then began to give chase.

[Triforce_Luigi]

Ooh, Hyrule! Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf's Hyrule?

Oh. Good job! Very suspenseful.

[X_Hero]

Hmm... This needs more readers... :-\

[Triforce_Luigi]

Hmm... This needs more readers... :-\

It's a dead board, as unfortunate as that may be. :(