Two Worlds/Tenkai Dragon Cube

It was getting to be a warm day in Benham City, pleasing to the skin and often bringing out the best in people, what with the happy weather. I hated it. I snorted to myself as I realized how normal that distaste was, what with my Northern blood. I always had a hatred of warm weather, and I was never really interested in being outside without any snow. I looked around in boredom, and rushed my way to the middle school that I was going to. I clenched my clipboard tightly to my chest when a young man looked at me, one that I hadn't seen before. He was watching me way to closely for my own comfort, and I accidentally stepped on the back of my sneakers, falling straight onto my face. My clipboard fell on the sidewalk and skittered a few feet away, and I sat up with a sigh.

"You okay? That looked like a pretty bad fall, dude." The boy asked, offering a hand.

I glanced at him, then murmured, "I'm fine. It's nothing unusual for me."

"Here, you dropped this." He handed my clipboard back to me, "By the way, I saw one of your sketches. You're pretty good."

I immediately snatched it back, "Th-thanks, goodbye!"

I got up and started running, disappearing down a nearby alleyway. I then waited until he passed and was almost a dot on the horizon to keep heading to school. I admit, I get nervous around people I have never met before, but I could kick butt if I wanted to. He just seemed nice, so I didn't think hurting him would be all that fun. I preferred to mess with bullies. I took a few thousand deep breaths as I headed to school. Once I was seated in Ms. Finwick's class in my solitary chair in the back lefthand corner. As far away from Ceylan Jones as I could be without going up a row. Nobody sat around me because they either saw how weird I really was, or they just knew that loneliness was my best skill in the world.

"Class, if I could have your attention?" Ms. Finwick asked.

I looked up front to see that kid from earlier who helped me when I fell down. He had red hair in the front and black hair in the back, which I honestly thought was kind of interesting. I pulled a blank piece of copy paper out of my clipboard's secret file inside, and began sketching him. After a long moment, he began talking about himself. I couldn't get his eyes just right, they were a little wider… And his nose was a hint softer… Done! Suddenly, everyone stopped when an airplane smacked into his forehead.

"Ceylan Jones!" Ms. Finwick scolded him, then coyly decided, "Since you seem to like Guren so much, you'll be his guide today around the school." Then she turned to me, "And Brett Brooks, I thought I said not to draw in class anymore."

I opened the file with a sheepish look, taking out some lined paper and putting away the drawing. I was just so bored with her class again, what with the lack of her teaching anything I hadn't already learned. They taught things so much better when I was in homeschool, but the credit didn't transfer, and I got stuck with these kids who were bumbling about like a bunch of idiots. I sat there as she began talking about the Romans, and instead of taking notes, began to write a chapter for the novel I was working on. I heard Guren start laughing, probably because of Ceylan again, and teacher then began scolding him. I ignored them and kept writing. I started snacking on a candy bar like I always did in every class.

"Brett Brooks, are you eating in class again?" She growled.

I sighed, releasing my chocolate bar. "Yes ma'am…"

I heard Guren whisper, "Who's that boy in the corner?"

"He's nobody. Don't worry about him." Ceylan replied in a quiet voice.

It stung in my chest a bit to hear him say that, but it was true. I was nobody. I always would be nobody.

"As soon as school let out, I went home. I already knew what was waiting for me there. I opened the door, looking at the kitchen, waiting to hear a sound. I closed my eyes sadly, knowing that nobody was home. It was usually like this. My dad was off in another country, and my mom was basically traveling the world at the moment since she divorced my dad, so I wasn't exactly sure what to do with myself. I grabbed by debit card off the counter, stuck it into my pocket, and left to spend my dad's paycheck on… something. Making my way around town, I bought a burger and some fries, chowing down on them without a second thought as I wandered around the mall. I never stopped moving if I was eating, mostly since I was bored of sitting, plus I had restless leg syndrome.

"I don't want to buy anymore clothing, I'm so over trying to buy girl clothes to mask a guy figure…" I muttered.

I seriously hated being a girl because I wasn't very feminine in my personality, and I had cut my hair short because of an accident involving bubbegum, a pair of scissors, and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I felt a bit of anger rush in at the sight of a pretty girl in a tight skirt with her curvy hips flirting with a boy, her long violet hair draping over her shoulders the same way mine used to before I had to cut it. I think I had a bit of a case of jealousy over any girl, since I was not exactly into being a girl myself. I had stringy, thin brown hair that was cut chin length and straight bangs that hid my whole forehead. My eyes were gray and blue, but they didn't look as pretty as a pure blue would. I tried to hide any semblance of femininity in my body by wearing long sleeve white shirts, a black vest, a pair of baggy jeans, and some black and white sneakers. As you might be able to tell, I wasn't into colors.

I looked around with disinterest, and then I found an old junk shop. "I wonder if it's still open. It's kind of late now.

"It truly is, Brittany." An older man said, opening the door.

I made a face that probably resembled a blown up pufferfish. "How did you know that?!"

"It has been quite some time, but I remember when you first moved here a year and a half ago. You still have that white scarf, I would think." He commented.

I then remembered. "Oh, yeah… Mr. White. I do."

"I have been hoping to see you again," Mr. White said, "I have a gift for you."

I walked inside with a nod, knowing why he knew my name. He remembered how I used to actually behave like I was female a while back, but now I was a wolf dressed in sheep's clothing. Look like a boy, act like a boy, be a girl. I sat down on the couch after we clomped up the stairs, and he poured some tea. He handed me a cup of it, and made one for himself.

"Thanks." I said.

Mr. White asked, "One lump or two?"

"I can't have sugar it my tea because I like it bitter." I explained, taking a sip, only to wrinkle my nose, "You really botched the tea, doll."

He frowned, "Did I? I'm sorry, I didn't realize that."

"Don't worry, I'll still drink it." I said, waving off the idea.

After a few minutes of lowly silence, I drained my cup and placed it on the table. I looked at the elderly man, wondering what he wanted to give to me. Mr. White placed the cup he was drinking from on the table as well, looking at me with piercing eyes. He then closed them

"So, what was it you needed, doll?" I asked.

He sighed and gave a reply, "I am aware you wished to have friends, but you don't have any."

"That's," I hesitated, "It's 'cause I'm weird.

"He held out a small black and white block, a smile on his face, "Perhaps this may help you. I know it won't make much sense now, but later on, it will."

"Uhhhh, it's a tiny brick… What do I do with it?!" I snapped, a glare in my eyes as I leaned forward.

Mr. White simply chuckled, "You'll find out soon enough. Enjoy your field trip tomorrow."

"Right," I mumbled, "I gotta get home…"

The next day was perfectly fine, at the museum. We were all just wandering around, looking at stuff. I was, as always, by myself as I wandered about the place. I looked at an old Egyptian ankh as I stood away from the others, only to accidentally brush up against that Guren kid again. It made me shiver, as if touching him set off that paranoid feeling I always got about thieves and killers. This kid was totally bad news.

No reason to stay away from him, I guess.

"Ah," Guren realized who he was pressed against, "Hey dude. I remember you. My name's Guren, what's-"

I took a huge step away from him, "Brett, and no contact please…"

"Sorry." He apologized, "You okay? After that wipeout the other day, I mean?"

I shrugged, "Yeah, man, I'm cool. Don't worry about it."

"Guren, why are you talking to the class freak?" Ceylan walked over, looking annoyed.

I snorted, "Take a look in the mirror, genius."

I watched him jerk his head back in disgust. Ceylan walked over to the boring looking tablet, and Guren and I just followed along like a pair of puppies with nothing better to do. I looked at it, remembering what had been said. The tablet was encrypted with a special language nobody had discovered. I got the feeling we should take a closer look at it, so I leaned in pretty deeply, thinking to myself that it was just a piece of junk with squares on it.

"Hmph, this isn't that special, you know…" I mumbled.

Ceylan asked while tapping the glass, "Why bother to look around? Everything is awkward here anyways, so why not pretend to think about this thing?"

"Well- why is it glowing?" I demanded, "What did you do, you troublemaker?"

Ceylan snapped, "Why is everything my fault?"

I looked down, only to see the tablet turning into something else, but it started transforming into some glowing key thing, which sent a shiver down my spine. I thought that this was going to be a boring trip to the boring museum, where I could be, you know, BORED. This was freaking me out on the spot! Guren looked at me, realizing that I had a brick glowing in my vest's pocket. He had one in his pants pocket, and so did Ceylan. I felt my chest start throbbing in sudden shock. This was freaking weird! What was happening?!

"Whoa, what is that thing?" Ceylan asked, eyes gigantic.

I screamed, "I don't know, but what happened to the museum?!"

We were surrounded by stars, a lack of a floor, and certainly a lack of people. There was a gigantic dragon-like creature flying toward us. It roared right into our faces and flew through us, and we all screamed our lungs out. The second we got thrown back into the museum, I stumbled back a few feet, still looking horrified. I stared at the two boys like it was their faults.

"You have a core brick?" Guren asked, bewildered.

I nodded, "Yes, if that's what you call this block thing, but the tablet, it's a key now!"

Ceylan immediately yelled, "I didn't do it!"

"For once, Ceylan actually didn't do it!" I agreed loudly.

"'For once'? That was a bit rude." Ceylan snorted.

I rolled my eyes, "Forgive me, your lordship. Now, start talking."

"I thought you were supposed to be shy," The blue haired boy commented, eyes half lidded and frowning.

I said, "I am. I've just been around you enough that I don't really get nervous anymore. Since Ms. Finwick decided nobody but me could learn with you around, that is…"

"And Guren?"

"He's nice enough."

Guren interjected, "Hello, right here, you guys… Look, I'll explain."

"Sorry, Guren." My eyes flickered to him before I punched Ceylan's shoulder, and he punched mine.

Guren sighed and explained, "Mr. White has this portal thing, and we use it to cross over to a world called Quarton. There, we're the legendary Tenkai Knights, so then we fight these goons trying to destroy these robot people called the Corekai."

"Lemme guess… We're the only ones for the job?" I sighed, holding my eyes on his to keep him from lying.

Guren lowered his head but maintained eye contact, "Yeah, sorry… We could really use your help."

"I already told him he was crazy. I'm not going back." Ceylan said, rolling his eyes.

I said, "You will eventually. It's destiny."

"Seriously," He snapped, "I won't go back. What about you?"

I frowned, "Since I've never been, it couldn't hurt too much. I think I need some time to decide."

"Well, we should all go to Mr. White's shop and ask him what the deal is with that whole vision of the Tenkai Dragon." Guren said.

I demanded, "Tenkai Dragon?"

"Yeah, it was split into five cubes. I guess our job is to get them before the bad guys do." Guren explained.

I gave him a dull look, "Let's go to the shop before I beat you with a rake."

We began traipsing through the area to hit up Mr. White's freakish shop. When we passed by, I bumped into a green haired boy wearing a black bandana with yellow lightning on it. He muttered a few insults about goblin roaches, but continued on his way with a very familiar face beside him: Chooki Mason, also known as Perfect Mason. I felt my anger toward them spike, but Ceylan started dragging me along. We finally made it to the shop, and I saw Mr. White waiting expectantly.

"Ah, hello again, Guren, Ceylan, Bri- I mean, Brett." Mr. White said, stumbling over my real name to use my alias.

I held up my tiny block, chucking it at him, "What's this about robots?!"

"I should have seen that coming," He muttered, then said, "I suppose you want to know. First, boys, what happened?"

Ceylan burst out, "Our core bricks responded to the museum tablet and turned it into a key, and now we find out that the school freak has one too?!"

"I'm not a freak, I'm just different." I insisted, stuffing my hands into my pockets, only to find my core brick there.

Guren said, "We wanna know why they were glowing."

"Well, perhaps that is their way of summoning you to Quarton." Mr. White suggested.

I said, "I've never been, I'm not the right dude, and-"

"It may not have bonded to your energy yet, but it knows that you are the one true master of Brillius." He replied easily, "There is no one else to take your place."

I muttered, "Awesome. I'm bad at everything in general except for writing and drawing, which I'm not even good at, and yet I'm a superhero. I mean, go universe…"

Suddenly, I felt a slight surge of energy flow through me, and I saw my core begin to give of a gray glow from my vest pocket. I unzipped the pocket- yes, the pockets have zippers- and took it out. I looked at Ceylan and Guren. Ceylan was repeatedly trying to give back his core brick, while Guren looked at me with pleading eyes and a hopeful smile, his glistening red core brick in hand. He was thinking I would be crazy and come with him on this…?

"I'm going. I don't like sitting around doing nothing when there are bad guys to mess with!" I declared, a wicked grin on my lips. Of course I was crazy!

Guren smiled and said, "We're going with or without you, Ceylan!"

"Then buzz off. I'm not going." Ceylan replied.

I said, "Enjoy. If we fail, everyone here is over."

"Wha- wait, where are you guys going?! Guren!" He demanded.

As Guren and I walked toward the portal, the red-and-black haired boy said, "To help on Quarton. Later, Ceylan."

We were enraptured in some sort of freaky light that made me think of a discotheque, which caused me to curl my hands into fists and drew my shoulders back, looking halfway between heroic and offended. Like I said earlier, I hate colors. When my eyes opened, I was standing beside a white and red robot with a round crest, and I was feeling kind of bubbly in my chest. My body felt numb where it should be, inside the armor, but it was almost like there were nerve endings in the metal, because the red robot placed a hand on my shoulder and shook me. More importantly, I actually felt it. I looked around, seeing sand sweep under my feet, as well as hints that I was black and white with a fox chest plate. A rainbow robot ran up to us spouting gleeful garbage about his being heroes.

"At last, you have finally returned! With Brillius, too! You shall lead us to victory against our foes, and we shall beat back the Corrupted forces! But, ah, where is Tributon?" The robot exclaimed in an overly stereotypical medieval knight voice.

I snapped, "If I know who you mean, he's being a pain in the-"

"He had homework." The red robot interrupted, and I identified his voice as Guren's.

I asked, "Could you fill me in or something? What's happening?"

"These are the Corekai, and this is their commander, Beag. We're fighting bad guys to help the Corekai achieve victory. You're Brillus, I'm Bravenwolf, and Tributon… you already guessed." Guren said.

I groaned, "Alright, I said I would help, but I'm having sound thoughts now!"

"Brillius, you can't just back out." He sounded like he was begging.

I frowned on the inside and shook my head, "Alright, but if I die, my dad'll make you sorry."

"No guarantees." He said.

Beag asked, "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," I said, "I just needed to get my nerve back, you know?"

We began running toward a ledge, but slowed down about three fourths of the way there, and I could tell this was an element of surprise type thing.I crouched at the ledge, knowing I was a bit less obvious to spot, what with the white clouds around here. Beag sat down beside me, along with Guren- I mean, Bravenwolf. I looked over at the approaching battalion.

"We have been waiting here to ambush the Corrupted, as this small battalion has a Dragon Cube. With you here, we have a fighting chance." Beag proudly proclaimed, though his voice was lowered.

I heard Bravenwolf's anxious voice, "Just a fighting chance? That's all?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so. You and Brillius are the only ones who can help us right now." Beag admitted.

I saw a pair of Corekai across the canyon, one green and one yellow, but I didn't say anything about it. "I guess we have to, Bravenwolf."

"They really are depending on us…" The red knight whispered.

"Uh… Hey..."

I whipped around, recognizing that voice. I felt surprise edge through me, the blue robot hiding behind a bunch of rocks. Wasn't that the voice of Ceylan- Tributon, I guess- just now? I edged forward very slightly, seeing a bit more of him. He had an eagle chest plate, and he didn't have the crest Bravenwolf had.

"Show yourself, intruder! The Corekai have you surrounded!" Beag declared.

The blue mech stepped out from behind the rocks. Bravenwolf and I both spoke in sync. "Ceyla- I mean, Tributon!"

"We thought you weren't coming, dude." I said.

Tributon rubbed the back of his neck and admitted, "I dunno why I'm here."

"You may not, but I do," Bravenwolf said, sounding all mushy and soft, "You're watching our backs, and we're watching yours, 'cause that's what friends do."

I choked, "Who said we were friends?"

"Look, enough with the gross mushy junk- when can I blow some stuff up?" Tributon demanded, bouncing around violently, knocking a large stone loose.

I said, "Uh, give it a second, These guys don't seem too sharp, but they might notice a giant falling rock."

Everyone just went silent for a moment as it hit the ground, and the many Corrupted bad guys looked up at our hiding place. I looked at Tributon and smacked him on the back of the head. That green Corekai and that yellow Corekai across the way reminded me of two people, people I didn't like, but I couldn't figure out who. I immediately forgot about them when the ledge we were standing on broke, and we started rushing down the hill. I stumbled and started rolling.

"See how they rush into battle? That's why they're legendary!" Beag said.

One of them asked, "And Brillius?"

"Obviously she is attempting to knock the enemy down with her momentum. She is the clever Brillius for a reason, Senjo." He explained.

I wanted to punch both of them, but I slammed into an ugly Corrupted guy with a toaster for a face and kitchen knives on his hands, who stared directly at me. I felt my fear increase my levels I never realized I had. He was freaking ugly and freakishly scary!

"Brillius and Tributon. We meet again." He said.

I mumbled, "Who are you…?"

"Slyger, your worst enemy! How could you forget?" The toaster yelled, stamping his foot.

I coughed, "You have a toaster on your face, dude. I guess I should remember…"

He ragingly threw himself at me, trying to use his claws to shred me when a katana appeared in my hand, along with a shield strapped to me. I blocked him with both, then swung, only to trip over my own two feet. I groaned, hating my typical clumsiness. Tributon shook his head, but suddenly started dodging lighting. I got up and barely avoided a shock myself. We were dancing around like fairies, which was completely embarrassing. We were being attacked by a cat with a toaster for a face.

I shouted, "You're the worst shot ever!"

Slyger or whatever was was called replied, "You won't think that for so long!"

"Missed me, missed me, now- wait, you're ugly, don't kiss me!" I began the taunted as I dodged, then realized where it was headed.

The toaster faced freak kept shooting lightning at us while Bravenwolf was busy fighting the other ugly rhino, who had yelled that his name was Granox. I felt annoyed by the fact both villains were so unattractive. I dodged another round of lightning from Slyger's kitchen knives, only to knock into Granox by mistake. I leapt forward, only to get totaly electrified, along with Tributon. We were both incapable of movement, screaming and writhing as my body seared with hot light. It felt excruciating.

"Tributon! Brillius!" Bravenwolf yelled.

Granox suggested, "I would worry about myself if I were you…"

"Uh…" Bravenwolf went back to blocking, only to get thrown across the area.

Just then, a duo appeared. The green one took Granox off Bravenwolf's hands, and the yellow one knocked Slyger around like he was nothing. The duo barely had to try, but they drove the Corrupted away. It made me think about who the yellow one had to be:

Perfect Mason.

I gritted my teeth, watching that smug saunter over to help me up. He said, "Need some help? You look pretty roughed up."

"No," I growled, recognizing that obnoxious voice, "I don't need your help or anyone else's. I'm fine."

I got up as he said, "Just trying to be helpful."

"Like I said, Perfect," I snapped, "I don't need help."

"Perfect...?"

I walked over to the other one, who seemed to be talking with Bravenwolf just fine, but Tributon was balling his fists up so quick I knew he was angry. Perfect Mason went to stand beside him.

"I'm Valorn, and this is Lydendor." The green one said.

Bravenwolf replied, "I'm Bravenwolf, this is Tributon, and-"

"I'm Brillius," I interrupted him, "Who is not part of team Bravuton or whatever their team is."

Bravenwolf sounded shocked, "I thought you wanted to have a team on your side…"

"No way. I agreed to help the Corekai, not be part of your little friendship circle that you wanna form." I said, then snorted, "The B-man is out. Later."

I heard Lydendor mumble, "She reminds me of somebody, Valorn…"

"I dunno what you're talking about."

"She called me 'Perfect', and I don't remember who branded that tag as my name, but…" I immediately took off and went back to Earth before I could hear the rest of it- the "they were really dumb" or "they were awful at everything" that everyone always said."

"So, how was it?" Mr. White asked.

"Terrible! I'll come back my myself, but not with a team." I snapped, then whispered "Not anywhere with Perfect Mason."

"Perfect Mason? You couldn't mean-" He started.

I snarled, "I'm not going anywhere with Chooki Mason, Lydendor, whatever I'm supposed to call Perfect!"

"You assume he is Lydendor?" He asked quietly.

I nodded, "He is. I know he is."

I then stalked out without a word to anyone, heading back to my empty, lonely household. I walked upstairs without even eating, and buried my face in a pillow. This was it. I would finally have to accept that nobody could be my friend, not even Ceylan Jones or Guren Nash. Not that green haired kid, not Valorn…

And never Perfect Mason.