Red, Black, and Silver

Chapter One

Endings, Beginnings, and Blood

Place: The Realm Zone

Earth Time: 11:01 am

"Good work, Empress. Your task in Silver Millennium has been completed. You have acquired the power of Princess Serenity, and also have made friends with the Sailor Soldiers. They will prove to be powerful allies in the battle that is to come. Now, there is-KZZZZ-SHXXXXXX-KZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

"Legacy? Legacy?! LEGACY!!!!" Storm cried out helplessly into her communicator. Only a moment ago the screen had held the face of Legacy, the Realm Guardian. Legacy was a small purple and green dragon, a very intelligent female, who was serving as one of Storm's mentors, but was also one of her greatest friends and played more of a motherly/big sisterly role to the Dragon Empress. Storm looked worriedly at the gray fuzziness of her communicator, but the look suddenly changed from one of worry and sorrow to one of pure rage and hatred, as a pair of glowing orange eyes appeared within the gray screen.

"Hello half-breed. Miss me?" The owner of the orange eyes laughed cruelly at her despair.

"What have you done with Legacy?!" Storm was in no mood for his games, and would gladly tear his smug face apart.

"I have not done a thing with Lady Legacy, simply cut off her communication with you. You see, my master has shown me how to work the Realm portals, and I have found one where you will be helpless to resist me. Goodbye, half-breed. See you in Hell." With a harsh cackle, the eyes faded from Storm's view, and the colors around her began to spin.

"NO!" Storm tried to fight it, but the warp was too strong. Frantically, she sent out a distress signal to her guardians, Starlight and Starbri, sister Star Dragons. 'S.O.S. Malfunctioning Realm Portal. Area Blue.....Sss-.' "Argh!" Storm cried out as she was pulled into the warp, and sent swirling down. Black lightning flashed around her, an obvious clue that dark forces were involved. She cried out in agony as she was struck in the shoulder by a bolt, both electrifying her and cutting deep into her flesh. She attempted to dodge it, but got another blast across her chest. Snarling in pain, she unleashed a blaze of silver fire, her last resort. But it was in vain, as she neared the end of the dark warp. A flash of white light, and then she was falling, falling through the air. "Damn.....it......" Storm growled lowly. The Half-Breed snarled fiercely in pain as she felt changes happening throughout her entire body. "I freaking HATE Realm travel!!!!" was the last thing Storm thought before she passed out.

Place: Whoville Forest

Earth Time: 11:11 am

Whoville Time: 7:21 am

Dawn rose high over a winter forest, speckled with freshly fallen snow. The trees were bare and skeletal, but not at all dark and unfriendly looking. They sparkled with icicles that hung from their outstretched branches, and the snow that heaped up against their trunks. Beneath one particularly large tree, a young female Who lay unconscious, her chest and left arm/shoulder torn open and her fur matted with blood. She breathed softly, and every minute or so, her furred fists would clench together.

Above the woods, at the top of the hill, was a large observatory. The Star-Study Tower, as it was called back in the day, was now home to a large amount of musical machinery. A small figure could be seen heading down out of the observatory. The small Who had gray and black striped fur, dark brown eyes, and black shoulder-length hair. He was the eldest and only son of the Mayor of Whoville, Ned Mcdodd. He was none other, than JoJo Mcdodd. JoJo had spent another full night in the observatory, working on his inventions. After the Horton incident, Ned had completely stopped talking about JoJo taking over as mayor, and allowed JoJo to go to the observatory whenever he wished.

As JoJo walked the familiar path back to his home, he noticed there was something odd in the pattern of the rhythm around him. There was the normal whistle of the wind, call of insects and animals in the darkness, and the bubbling of the stream. But, there was a new sound, which sounded like small wind gusts to his sensitive ears. A high pitched wind, then a low pitched one. JoJo turned his head towards the sound, and set off in it's direction.

As he got closer, he noted that the sound did not sound like the wind now, but almost like......breathing? JoJo stopped for a spilt second, and began to run. Ducking under a particularly low branch, he came out into a clearing. He would've stopped just to enjoy the beauty of it, if it weren't for the girl. She seemed around his age, with red and black striped fur and long silver hair. Moving quickly to her side, he gently prodded her shoulder. Almost immediately, the who moaned softly, clenching both her teeth and fists together. JoJo placed one hand on her shoulder, the other on her waist, and carefully turned her over onto her back.

JoJo stepped back, his eyes wide. Someone, or something, had slashed her chest open. A long, deep cut, stretching from her shoulder blade to the middle of her waist. He knelt down, and inspected her wounds, and found another shock. There was another cut, this one through her shoulder. No wonder she had responded to his touch! Carefully, he placed his hand on the wound on her chest, and nearly jumped out of his skin as her hand came up and grabbed his. His reddish-brown eyes found themselves in the gaze of a pair of icy blue eyes. A chill ran down his spine, and he had the odd feeling he was being looked right through.

Storm awoke to find herself in the presence of another. She could feel soft hands gently touch her chest, and reacted instinctively. She opened her eyes, immediately finding the pair belonging to the other person. These eyes....they seem familiar....why? Storm tilted her head slightly, and allowed her eyes to adjust with the rising sun. She noticed immediately that this was no human. Nor Mobian, Ghost, Moon Person, or Demon. It was a Who. Her eyes widened with realization to the identity of the mystery Who, and easily floored her. Aw man aw man aw man aw...shit!!! How the hell did I wind up here?! Ow.........holy freaking crap my head hurts like hell! I swear to GOD I'm gonna kill StarDark for this! But first.......

Storm carefully and slowly attempted to sit up, but ended up causing herself more pain. JoJo hurriedly grabbed her arms to stop her from falling back down. Storms' eyes flashed up to meet his again, and she gave him a grateful smile. He smiled back and carefully pulled her up into a sitting position. Storm looked around, and took in her surroundings. Wow....it's so...peaceful here. Almost like a dreamland... Shaking her head slightly, her hand sank into the snow, touching a cold object. Slightly puzzled, she tried to pull it out, and only succeeded with JoJos' help. The object was a tall, (in their perspective), black staff. Two white rings encircled the top, and a lightning bolt was carved into the top. Storm grinned, shaking her head in wonder. How on Draconia Legacy had managed to send this with her, she had no clue.

Storm flicked her eyes back to JoJo, who had moved to the other side of the tree. He returned carrying a black backpack, looking puzzled. There was a silver lightning bolt on the pack as well. Legacy....... Storm thought with a smile. She looked at the pack, then glanced at JoJo again. JoJo nodded, and held it out to her. Nodding her own head in thanks, she opened the pack, to find a small paper taped to the top. Gently, she pulled it off, and read the single word printed upon it. After.Ah. This makes it easier. Storm smiled, Legacy, will you ever cease to amaze me? She folded the paper, and placed it in the backpack's back pocket. Then she closed it, and turned back to JoJo. Time to talk, JoJo McDodd.

Storm decided to take a different route with this world than she had done with the others: Tell the truth from the get go.

"JoJo?" His eyes widened at the use of his name, plus the fact that she knew it. Then he mentally slapped himself for being stupid. Obviously, she lived in Whoville. And, obviously, she had been there when their world was nearly destroyed, thus also leading to her hearing his voice, and thus (again) knowing who he was. Storm could easily see what was going on in his mind, and sighed, not really wanting to burst his bubble. "JoJo," she said again. "I think I owe you an explanation."

JoJo nodded, and turned to face her again, until.....

"Get down!" Storm pushed him down roughly into the snow, despite her injuries. A dark shadow flew right over them, missing them by mere inches. "Dammit....," Storm growled angrily. "How'd that get here?"

How'd what get here? JoJo thought to himself. Raising his head from the very cold snow, he was unable to stifle the gasp that escaped from his mouth. Picking itself of the ground, was a dark, grayish-black creature. It stood on two long legs, which were bent in a froglike position. It's body was skeletal, and it had not two, but three arms; two, chronologically where they were supposed to be, the third protruding from its back. The hands were nothing but black claws, with dark red stains peppering each one. The head, however, was the most horrible part of it.

The muzzle was long and tube-like, stretching out a full three feet from the monsters head. Inside the mouth, was a never-ending chain of razor sharp teeth. Huge, orange eyes decorated the top of its head, separated by a high gray frill, that gleamed in the morning light. A third, smaller eye was in the place of where a normal nose would be.

I hate you Stardark, I really do. Storm thought darkly. "Stay down, I mean it," she growled to JoJo, who looked nothing short of terrified. Snarling, she stood to her full height, which wasn't really that tall unfortunately. However, she had no worries about size difference at the moment, she was more worried about JoJo and her own wounds. She was sure that each move would be pure agony, plus there was always the possibility that the creature would choose to attack JoJo instead of her.

JoJo was surprised when the girl stood up, unsupported. She knelt down, and retrieved the black staff. Still glaring at the creature, she span the top ring several times, and pulled it down to connect with the bottom ring. The bare top of the staff glowed an intense white, and reshaped itself. When JoJo opened his eyes again, there was a curved blade upon the top of the staff.

What is that?? JoJo wondered, I've never seen anything....so...dangerous.... He nearly jumped out of his skin (for the second time today, mind you) as the creature let out a howl of anger. Snarling in guttural rage, the monstrosity charged. Storm answered it with an equal roar, and pelted toward it. Kicking off of the ground, Storm soared over the thing, flipped twice, and landed heavily on her feet. Without giving the creature time to react, she whirled around, and slashed the blade across the demon's back. The creature screeched in pain, and to Storm's surprise, flung itself backwards towards her. She darted forward, narrowly missing getting crushed.

"Missed!" she taunted. "Didn't Stardark build you better than that?" The creature pulled itself out of the snowdrift it had buried itself in. Growling, it slid into a crouched position, and to her amazement, it spoke.

"Build? I was already...here. Star...dark? He must...have been....the....one who gave..me more..power...," it growled darkly. "He prom..ised..me life....in re..turn...for your...death..." The beast drew itself up higher, glaring down at her. "I am....Black..claw..and I will...be the last...thing you....ev..er...see.." With that, he flung himself towards her, claws at the ready. Storm wasn't prepared for it, and took the full brunt of his attack. She cried out as he struck her with his foreclaws, flying back to strike a tree. Dizzly, she got to her feet, and narrowly avoided his second attack. Skidding on the snow, she grabbed a dead sapling to stop her, and whirled to face the charging beast.

"Wait! You can stop this! You have sentience, you have a mind," she pleaded, "why waste it following Stardark's orders? You could do better than this!" Her cries were in vain, as he raced towards her. Snarling in frustration, she ducked underneath him to avoid his third attack. Blackclaw crashed into the snowdrift, and revealed JoJos' hiding place.

"Ah! A little..whelp! So this is...why you did..n't run aw..ay!" The beast barked triumphantly, "I shall dev..our...him as well!" He jerked his head forward, jaws wide, and all JoJo could do was watch in fear.

"NO!" Storm cried out, and with a blast of blue speed, she shoved JoJo out of the way, and got snapped up herself. "Rrrgh! Let go, you idiotic beast! Let go!" She wriggled helplessly, only succeeding in driving his teeth in further. "Damn...wait. Where's-" she glanced down. "JoJo, the scythe! Throw it to me!" The dark-furred Who looked at her questionally, but understood that 'scythe' meant her staff-blade. Hurrying to where it lay, he grabbed it and flung it as hard as he could to her. Deftly catching it with one hand, Storm jammed it into the beasts' jaws, where it hung like a demonic parody of a candy cane. Gripping the staff, she pulled it down with all of her strength, and sliced Blackclaws' bottom jaw off.

"RAAARRGGGHHHH!!!!!!" The frightful beast screeched in pain, as Storm dropped to the ground. Retrieving her scythe, she grabbed JoJos' hand and pulled him to safety. Panting heavily, her fingers clutched at her newest wounds. JoJos' eyes widened in fear, and shakily placed his own hand over the cuts.

"Y-You're hurt even w-worse now. You c-can't fight anym-more," he stammered, trying to stop his hands from shaking. "We have t-to get out of here, n-now!" Storm shook her head, glaring out of the trees' shadow.

"Nothing doing. Gotta finish the job," she replied, wincing in pain. Lifting the blood-stained scythe from the ground, she took off out of the shelter of the trees, pelting towards the staggering creature. Tightening her grip on the blade, she uttered the spellwords to create the pure energy, and the steel scythe glowed with golden sparks. Her eyes flared from blue to amber, as she ran faster towards her enemy. Blackclaw spared her a glance, but he was too late. One split second, and he stood stock still in the clearing, and Storm was behind him, blood dripping from her scythe. An empty wind rolled through, and Blackclaws' top half separated from his body, and thudded to the ground. The back half wasn't that far behind, and neither was Storm. She dropped to her knees, her breath more ragged, and clawed at the red snow in agony.

"H-Hey! D-don't leave me! C'mon, y-you can pull th-through this," JoJo was at her side in a moment, backpack slung over his shoulders. "C-come on, I'll take you t-to my place. My M-mom and Dad can help you...." Storm managed a sickly grin, and with his help made it back to her feet. The ground swayed dangerously, but he pulled her arm around his shoulders, and began to help her walk home.

'Figures. I end up in a place where I'm as weak as a damn mouse. And to top it off, I have to be helped "home", to be healed! Bandages and casts and; feh! It's almost like I'm a kid again...well, except for the SoulBeasts, anyway. I know one thing.....I hate Realm travel....' Storm half-closed her eyes, feeling drowsy from blood loss. 'I'll..I'll....get...Stardark....for this......'

Neither of them noticed Blackclaws' body disentegrating into starry-white dust, blending perfectly into the snow...