Apocalypse
"You wanna take this outside!" Joe screamed. He had gotten himself into another fight.
"Do ya!" He continued to yell. The kid he was yelling at just stood in awe.
"All I wanted to know was if you had a quarter..." The kid said. All of a sudden, a chill went through the air, and the hairs on everyone's necks stood on end. Someone was walking down the hallway, silent as wind. He had long, brown hair that came down to the sides of his neck, a black T-shirt, dark, ripped jeans, and black and white sneakers. He nudged his way through the crowd to Joe.
It was Nate, one of Joe's best friends. "Come on, let's go, this dude ain't worth it" he said, pulling out his and Joe's skateboards. They walked through the hall and out the front doors of the high school. The sunlight highlighted each of their figures. Joe was of a medium build, about 5'10" tall, a gold charm around his neck, with natural purple hair. Nate was a smaller build, about 5'9", a similar gold charm around his neck, and extremely milky pale skin. They jumped on their boards and started towards Nate's house.
The whole way there, they skated in silence, just enjoying the nice day. They reached Nate's house and they stopped in the street out front.
"What kind of mood is your mom in today?" Joe asked.
"She fell out of bed this morning" Nate replied, walking towards the house.
"Um, I'll wait out here" Joe said, taking a step back.
Nate ran inside, and a reign of screaming rung from the house and the sounds of random objects being thrown around. He emerged from the house, plates, glasses, and books being thrown out behind him, with a red bag in his hand jumped on his board.
"Let's go!" and they were off to Joe's house.
"So did you get it?" Joe asked, skating around a hole in the street.
"Yeah! It's so awesome!" Nate said, now rummaging through his bag. He pulled out an old, black tattered book with a red pentacle on the cover. Across the spine, in gold letters it read 'Basics of the Dark Arts of Magick'.
"I've only been able to test a few, simple spells with it, but otherwise it's great!" he said.
"Hey, my board's acting up, let's walk from here." Joe said, getting off his board and picking it up.
"Sure" Nate said, seeing as how they were at the end of Joe's street anyway. As they walked down the street, people stared and walked into their houses as Nate passed.
"I don't think your neighbors like me that much" Nate said as he watched people close their blinds.
"Well, I don' think they've come into contact with anyone that practices dark magick before." Joe explained.
"Oh, well that's true" Nate said. They finally reached Joe's house and walked up the little pathway to the front door. It was a medium sized house, white side paneling and a brown gutter. 2 stories, with one big window on the first floor, and 2 on the second. They opened the door and Nate flopped down on the soft brown couch. There wasn't much to the house, just a TV, 2 chairs, and the couch in the living room. The kitchen consisted of the fridge, the hardwood table with 5 chairs by it, a stove, and the sink.
Joe walked into the kitchen real quick and walked back into the living room and flopped down on the chair by the couch with a piece of paper in his hand.
"Looks like my mom and brother are out for the week or something" Joe said, still reading the note.
"Sweetness! You know what that means, PARTY!" Nate screamed, jumping on the couch.
"I don't know, it doesn't say they'll get back, and you know how my mom feels about social contact." Joe said apprehensively.
"Oh come on, dude. LIVEN UP!" Nate said, playfully smacking him across the face. "I'm gonna call everyone I know and invite them." Nate said, grabbing the phone.
Joe quickly dove forward, and, after a short wrestling match, grabbed the phone from Nate.
"Fine then, if I must." Nate said, pulling a cell phone out of his pocket.
"Fine then, we'll do it" Joe sighed, knowing he was gonna regret it.
"Great!" Nate said, as he started calling people. After about half an hour, he hung up the phone for the last time.
"There. All done. They'll be here in a while" Nate said, putting the phone in his pocket.
"Okay. But we need food and stuff." Joe said, flipping on the TV.
"Leave that to me" Nate said, pointing to himself, "I'll be back in a few" he finished, a wild grin on his face.
"Don't do anything stupid Nate, please?" Joe said, tearing his attention from the TV to look Nate straight in the eyes.
"Who, me? No..." Nate replied, and then was gone.
Joe sat and started thinking, about school, life, and his parents. His father had walked out on him when he was about 5, and they never saw or heard from him again. Nate never knew his father. Shortly after he was born, his dad was killed in a car accident. Joe always thought that it was because of that that made Nate so crazy and rebellious.
About half an hour later, Nate wretched the front door open and slammed it shut, 3 huge bags in his arms.
"Joe! Check out the window! Any cops?" he whispered.
"No, there's no one." Joe said, peering through a blind.
"Good then! Look what I found!" Nate said, dumping soda, chips, dip, games, movies, and other things on the kitchen table from the bags.
"Nate, did you steal this stuff?" Joe asked, staring at him menacingly.
"Mayyyybe." Nate said innocently, looking around the room.
"Nate! I said nothing stupid!" Joe said, putting the soda in the fridge.
"Oh, don't worry about it. Besides, I was out of cash anyway." Nate said, helping to load the fridge. One of the sodas fell out of the fridge and rolled by the stove, and Nate went to get it.
"Hey, what's this?" he asked, reaching behind the stove. He pulled out a long box and walked into the living room where Joe now sat, and dropped it on his lap. Joe winced with pain as it clanged down. He noticed a note on the box and read it.
'These will come in handy soon' it said. "I'm not sure, I don't remember it ever being there before" Joe said, opening the box. From the box, he pulled out 2 beautifully crafted swords, one was royal, sea blue and with a smooth blade, and the other was a deep, crimson red with a jagged blade.
"Whoa! I want the red one!" Nate said, grabbing it from Joe.
"Fine, just be careful with it." Joe said.
"Well, people should be arriving soon, and I've got some stuff to set up, so I'll talk to you again when the party starts." Nate said, taking his bag over into a corner of the room and starting to pull things out.
An hour later, people started to show up. They had more soda, and other things. Joe walked around the house, making sure people didn't destroy anything. He found Nate in a corner, with his magick book open. He had drawn a pentagram on the ground with red paint, and had a blood red candle on every point of the upside-down star.
"Alright, someone kill the music!" He screamed through the house. The music stopped suddenly, and he stood to make an announcement.
"Okay. In case some of you weren't aware of this yet, I started studying Black Magick a few months ago. So, now, for your entertainment, I will now summon, the flame demon, Ifrit." Nate said, as he sat back down.
With the book open in front of him, he began chanting an incantation under his breath. The pentagram began to glow a deep red color. Suddenly, a hole appeared in the space where the pentagram once was. Nate's eyes shot open, and the hole began to grow. People backed away from it as it grew more and more, until it was about 8 feet across.
All of a sudden, a deafening, blood curdling, demonic scream came from the inside of the hole. Then, a flaming claw grabbed onto the edge of the hole, and began pulling itself up.
"Shit" Nate exclaimed to himself. Ifrit, the flame demon, now stood before them. Joe immediately ran to the door and began evacuating people from the house.
"Grab the swords!" he yelled from the door. Nate ran to where the wall and the couch met, and pulled out the swords from where they had hidden them. By this time, Joe had gotten everyone out of the house. Nate threw him his sword, and he caught it like he had been handling swords all his life.
"Ready to kick some flaming ass?" Nate said, standing next to him. Ifrit let out a huge demonic scream, and threw a fireball at them, narrowly missing them as they dove away, and setting the wall behind them on fire.
Nate ran forward to take a swing at him, but the sword simply bounced off of its red, metallic skin.
"Damn, time for plan B" Nate said, just as Ifrit began to take in a giant breath.
"What's plan B?" Joe asked, readying himself for the worst.
"DUCK!" Nate screamed, hitting the floor.
Joe did the same, just as Ifrit released a giant ring of fire, destroying the house. He then dusted himself off, threw one last fireball, and jumped back into the hole. Joe pushed all of the broken plaster and wood boards off of him and stood up, Nate did the same.
"Well this is just lovely, the entire house is in ruin" Joe said, taking in his surroundings. Nate just stood at the brim of the hole, looking down into it.
"I wonder...if I accidentally made a portal to another dimension" he said, still staring down into the hole.
"Well, it's possible, just not very probable" Joe said, joining him.
"Well, I'm going, there's nothing left here for either of us, so if you wanna join me, be at this spot in 20 minutes" Nate said, making his way through the rubble towards the street.
"Wait, what are we going to do, and where are you going?" Joe said quickly, also starting to rummage through.
"Don't worry about it, just stay here, I'll be back." Nate said, and he was gone.
Joe spent the next 20 minutes digging through the remains of his house, looking for anything that may have survived the blast. He had just found the remains of the TV, when he heard sirens coming up the street. He turned and saw Nate, sprinting as fast as he could, with 3 police cars in full roar following him.
"GO GO! Jump into the hole, stupid! GO!" Nate was screaming.
He was carrying some kind of bag in his hand, but Joe didn't have time to wonder what it was, because then the police started shooting at them. Joe immediately ran to the hole and dove, just as Nate did. Everything went dark, and they just fell.
"You brought your bag with you, right!" Joe yelled, trying to make himself heard through the rushing wind.
"Yeah, of course I did." Nate replied, lying on his back as he fell.
"You know, this is kinda cool." Joe said, doing a few flips.
"Yeah, but just wait, I bet it'll get boring after a while" Nate responded, still looking up.
And he was right; after about 2 hours of falling, they began to doze off in the air. They were started awake by a sudden fast blast of wind to their faces.
"How long has it been?" Nate asked, rubbing his eyes.
"About 3 and a half hours" Joe said, checking his watch. "Man, this was fun at first, but now it's just plain ridiculous" Nate complained, swiping at the air aimlessly.
Just as he finished, a faint light caught their eyes. They looked down and saw a minute dot of light below them.
"Um, Nate? How are going to slow down enough to survive when we hit the ground?" Joe asked, looking down, now wide-eyed.
"Good question" Nate replied, now pondering the same thing. The light was growing brighter now, and they could feel a warm breeze blowing up from it. A few seconds later, they passed through the light, which blinded them at first, and they hit something very hard and very solid, and slipped out of reality, into darkness.
Joe became aware of a small source of light some time later. His eyes then shot immediately open, which strained them due to the light. He sat up, and immediately put his hand to his head, where a nice lump was now growing. He looked around, and a little ways away to his right, lay Nate, still dead to the world, also with a big bump on the back of his head. Joe then took a look around at his environment, and gasped.
It looked exactly like their own world, yet warped somehow. They were on the end of what used to be Joe's street, but it was all different. Houses were partly torn down, some were on fire, and some were just empty lots. There were cracks in the ground all over the street, emitting red light and smoke. Trees were burnt and blackened, patches of ground were dead, and the sky, instead of a rich, nice blue, was a deep, burning crimson.
He heard Nate beginning to stir, and began attempting to raise himself from the ground. It was then that he realized that, not only did his head have an enormous bruise on it, but the other side of his head was also bleeding. He ripped some fabric off of the bottom of his shirt and tied it around his head, compressing the wound.
Nate was now sitting up and looking around.
"Wow, nice digs. I wonder how much an apartment would be." he said sarcastically. He stood up, making sure his bag was still slung over his shoulder, and that his sword was still hanging from his belt.
Joe then realized that his sword wasn't on him, but he found it a few moments later, laying a few feet from where he had landed. He sheathed it in his belt and stood up straight, stretching his neck.
"So, now what do we do?" Joe asked, taking another look around.
"You stand right where you are, and don't move." a voice announced from behind them. They turned slowly and saw a woman standing before them, with a sword held at the ready.
"Whoa! Whoa! We don't want no trouble miss." Nate said, holding his hands up.
"Who are you, and why are you here?" She asked, not lowering the sword an inch.
"My name is Joe, and this is Nate. We don't know how we ended up here, we just sorta, I know this is gonna sound crazy, but we fell out of the sky, really." Joe announced, looking up and seeing nothing there but red sky. The woman looked up also, seeing nothing but the sky. She looked back at the two strangers, staring at them mercilessly.
Then, incredulously, she lowered her sword. Nate let out a huge sigh of relief.
"God, I thought we were done for." he announced, patting Joe on the back.
"Follow me" the woman said, sheathing her weapon. They walked a few feet, to a large boulder, sitting in a lot where a house should have been. The woman brought out her sword again, and placed the end in a socket in the boulder. They heard a few beeps, and a door opened from the rock wall, revealing an elevator inside.
"Please step in" she said, sheathing her sword once more and motioning them in.
They walked into the elevator, closely followed by the woman. She pressed a button the wall, and the door closed. Joe then took a moment to study the woman. She was quite beautiful, but also quite peculiar. She looked to be a teenager, around 16 or 17 years old, a small build, about the same height as him, but with deep, forest green hair. Joe didn't really question it much, seeing as how he had purple hair and never understood why.
The elevator stopped with a soft dinging noise, and the door opened. They were now in a medium sized room, filled with computer equipment, monitors, wires, and a lot of beeping. About 5 or 6 other people filled the room, sitting in front of monitors. The woman led them into the room.
"Wait here" she said, and left to go speak with a man with crimson red hair. They spoke for quite a few moments.
"What do you think they'll do with us?" Joe asked Nate.
"I'm not sure, but if it involves working in this place, I really wouldn't mind it." he replied, taking a good look around.
The woman came back over to them, accompanied by the crimson haired man.
"Alright you two, this is Eliwood, Eli for short. He's our leader, and would like to speak with you for a few minutes" she announced, signaling to the man with her. Eli nodded to the woman and turned to Nate and Joe.
"Alright. Now I understand from Lyn here that you two fell out of the sky." he started, raising an eyebrow as he said it.
"Um, yeah, and it wasn't really a pleasant ride either." Joe said, pulling off the crude bandage he made out of the shirt fabric, indicating to the gash on his head.
"Ah, that looks pretty deep. Lyn, would you please tend to him for a second?" Eli asked Lyn. The green haired woman moved forward, pulling out a small spray bottle from the bag on her shoulder. She sprayed the wound and started dabbing it with a cottonball.
"Don't mind me, keep talking." she said as she continued working.
"Alright, so, as for my next question, where is it that you guys came from?" Eli asked, now becoming more comfortable with their guests.
"Well, this world, or rather, one just like this one, only, you know, better." Joe struggled to explain.
"Ah, well, where do you live, if you came from here?" Eli asked, now curious.
"The street we landed on, moron!" Nate said angrily, now losing his temper.
"I see. Well, the thing is, that street is completely abandoned." Eli said, now looking Joe square in the eye. "No one has inhabited that street for over 300 years." he finished. Joe looked like you could knock him over with a shoelace.
"B-but, how's that possible!" Joe said, knocking Lyn back a little as he stepped forward. "You mean to tell me that that portal sent us 300 years into the future?" Joe screamed.
"Well, it would seem so." Eli said, trying not to sound cross. Another man got up from in front of a computer and joined them. This man had white hair with a small tint of pink in it, but looked like a gladiator.
Nate was completely oblivious at this point, and took to staring at the big screen on the wall with moving dots on a map displayed on it.
"Listen, Joe is it? I don't understand how you got here, but I think I do understand why, and we're going to help you get back home." Eli said, trying to calm him down.
"I don't see how you can...wait, how did you know my name? I never told it to you." Joe said, now curious.
"Your names are stated in a prophecy, one that says an end to our suffering will come." Eli said, walking over to a drawer and pulling out a piece of parchment. "It states that the names of the two heroes will be Nathan and Joseph, but I'm guessing that you would just prefer Nate and Joe?" Eli guessed.
"Yes, that's fine" Joe said, now completely dumbstruck.
"Jesus, man, this is like some Final Fantasy crap right here." Nate said, tearing his attention away from the monitor finally. "We end up in some alternate dimension, a big prophecy surfaces that says we'll save the world, friends become enemies, enemies become friends, heroes die, and the world is saved. What's to say that this won't be any different?" he finished, now looking Eli in the eye.
"We only suffer, because the Master wants only one thing, and he is scouring this world, looking for it." the white haired man said.
"Oh yeah, and what would that be?" Nate said, getting offensive.
"You." Eli replied simply, walking back over to a monitor, and typing in some type of code onto the monitor.
"Wait wait wait wait. I just GOT here. What in the hell does this 'master' want with me?" Nate said, now approaching the monitor next to Eli.
"He wants you for you. All of the hatred and guilt you've felt in your life has made you a prime target for his dark purposes. He means to use you as his 'ultimate weapon' to destroy us all." the white haired man said, joining them. Lyn put the first aid supplies away and joined them, accompanied by Joe.
"Marcus is right. The Master's only goal at this point is to find you, and control you." Eli explained, still typing. Suddenly, and large tower appeared on the screen.
"The Master's domain." Lyn said.
"Okay, this is all becoming too much." Joe said, taking a step back, holding his head. "In one day, I've lost my family, my home, my world, and now you tell me that I've gone 300 years into the future into a world where some ultimate power wants my best friend, and wants me dead, and we're the only ones that can stop him?" Joe finished, almost in a full scream. By this time, the last of the people who were at computers had joined them, an average sized man with brown hair, a small built girl with light lavender hair, and another man of similar build with royal blue hair.
"Almost, there's just one thing. It's not both of you that will save the world, just you" Eli said, pointing to Joe. "Nate is mentioned as another big part of the story." Joe took this in silence.
"Oh, and this is Sain, Flora, and Hector" Lyn said, indicating to the e other people.
"Alright, so, now you're going to tell us that this is going to take more than one person, and that we all have to work together to accomplish it or all is lost and all that good stuff?" Nate said, leaning against a wall, with his arms crossed and eyes closed.
"Well, yes, that's about the size of it." Lyn said, taking a step back from the crowd. They all stood in silence for a few moments.
"Well, I think you two should step outside for a little while, we all need to prepare for our journey, and I think you guys should take a few minutes to let all this sink in." Sain said, patting Joe on the shoulder.
"Alright" Joe replied no life in his voice at all.
He and Nate approached the elevator, and Joe pushed the same button Lyn had pushed to get them inside. In a few moments, they were outside in the fresh air again. They both put their backs to the rock and slid to the ground, thinking as they sat there.
"You alright there?" Nate asked, making sure all of his stuff was still there. "Yeah, I'll be fine" Joe said, resting his head against the rock. "So, what is it that you got that made the police chase us in the first place?" Joe asked turning his head slightly so that Nate was in his view.
"Oh, you're gonna love these." Nate replied, rummaging through the red bag now. He pulled out a white plastic shopping bag and zipped up the red bag. From the white bag, he pulled out two beautifully crafted silver handguns and 2 black leather holsters.
"Dude, those are awesome!" Joe said, taking hold of one of them, still not lifting his head.
"Yeah, I figured, what the hell, we're either gonna die, or be placed somewhere completely different anyway, why not take a chance?" Nate said, studying his own pistol. He then handed Joe a holster, and placed his gun on his side. Joe did the same as he stood up.
"Well, I guess this is the beginning of the end for us" Joe said, now leaning on the rock. The door opened as he said this, and all 6 of the people emerged, now fully clad in armor and weapons, and accompanied by a beautiful white horse with wings.
"HOLY CRAP IT'S GOD'S DOG!" Nate yelled, hiding behind Joe.
"Don't be stupid, it's a Pegasus. Flora here is a Pegasus knight" Lyn said, patting Flora on the shoulder.
"Oh, of course! That was my second guess." Nate said reassuringly.
"These are for you two" Lyn said, handing them each a jacket of armor; a blue one for Joe, and a red for Nate.
"Awesome! Now we look like gangsters!" Nate said putting his on.
"Now, you do magick, correct?" Eli asked Nate.
"Yeah, a little bit, why?" Nate responded, looking curiously at Eli.
"Well, the Master knows all here, I'm sure you've heard that saying before. So if you cast a spell, he'll know it. Now I'm sure that small spells won't make much of a difference, but anything big will alert him to our location, and he'll send his Guards to us." Eli explained.
"What's this big-bad master's name?" Nate asked. Lyn walked over to him and whispered something in his ear.
"Apocalypse?" Nate said confused. He was immediately hushed by everyone except Joe.
"Whoa, why?" Nate asked, still dumbfounded.
"Saying the name will draw the Guards to us" Eli said, looking around carefully.
"Ah, so if I were to go, APOCALYPSE!" Nate screamed at the top of his lungs. Sain tackled him to the ground, covered his mouth, and indicated for him to listen.
In the distance, they could hear a soft thudding noise, faintly, but growing slight louder every second. Suddenly, a great boom sounded, and they were suddenly teleported to a great field, green grass, but the sky still red. Behind them, they could see the city smoking off in the distance.
"This is a strange world you guys live in" Nate said, getting up. Then, on the horizon, great hulking, shadowy figures began to appear, one after the other, all around them. They began to advance towards them, a great booming thud thundering with every one of their steps. As they came closer, their features became visible. They were all a towering 6 feet tall, built like tree trunks, and coated in black metal armor. The only hint of life visible from the outside of their armor was the red, glowing eyes that protruded from the shadows of their helmets. Their swords and shields glinted in the red sunlight, as they advanced closer and closer, like a living earthquake.
"What are we going to do?" Lyn asked frantically.
"Look, a break in their defenses, to the east." Eli indicated, pointing to a bare spot in the circle of Guards.
"Well, apparently we have 2 options. Either we stay here to fight it out, or we run." Sain stated obviously. As he finished, one of the guards let out a bellowing roar, and the rest of them began to run, charging straight towards them, spears extended.
"Hm, let's see, what's that word I'm thinking of...Gosh, so hard to remember when the adrenaline is pumping..." Nate said smartly.
"Run?" Joe said, preparing to sprint.
"That's the one! RUN FOR IT!" Nate screamed.
They all made a mad dash for the opening before it closed. As they got closer, the Guards began to close the gap, hoping to box them in. They reach the gap and made it through, but just barely. As they passed through, one of the Guards took a swipe with its spear, and made a small gash on Nate's arm as he ran by.
They ran away, and didn't stop once they made it out of sight, they continued east, and didn't stop until the sun had almost set. Their journey had begun.
By nightfall, they had covered a fair bit of ground, making it out of the city, and into the mountainous region. They decided to set up camp under a huge rock face for the night, and built a fire. They all sat around the fire in silence, everyone simply looking into the flames, except Flora, who was grooming her Pegasus.
"So, how's this going to work? Do I just simply show up in front of Apoc-... I mean, 'the Master', and he just lies down and grovels at my feet and all is saved and I get to go home?" Joe asked, looking at Eli as he spoke.
"I'm not completely sure yet, but I think you will have to kill him. That seems like the most obvious scenario." Eli replied, staring into the flickering light of the fire. Unlike the night sky back home, here the sky was a deep rich purple during the night, which gave a very eerie glow to the surrounding nature below the cliffs.
"That sounds reassuring..." Nate said sarcastically, "Hey! Anyone want dinner?" he said, pulling out a TV dinner from his bag.
"Nate, we don't have a microwave." Joe said, staring blankly at the sky.
"That's alright, microwaves are overrated anyway" he said, and stuck his hand into the fire.
"NO! What are you doing!" Lyn yelled, and pulled his arm back out of the flames. She examined his hand, but there were no marks on it at all.
"I told you I'm not normal. Somehow, my body absorbs heat, like a really big heat vacuum." Nate said, putting his hand in again. The flames and smoke merely danced around his arm and absorbed into his flesh. He pulled out the now sizzling box of food and tore the rest of the burnt cardboard off of it.
"Brisket, anyone?" he asked, offering it to everyone. They just simply stared at him like he was some sort of cyclops.
"Fine then, more for me. I'm gonna take my food and hit the hay. Apparently it'll be a long day tomorrow, am I correct? Goodnight." he said, not waiting for an answer, and strolled over to a flat rock, and laid down on top of it.
"He is quite an extraordinary person, isn't he?" Marcus asked, looking at Joe. "Yeah, ever since we were little. I never really quite understood it, though." Joe explained, still staring at the sky. "So, tell me more about this prophecy. What's the general idea behind it?" Joe asked, tearing his gaze away from the sky to look at Eli.
"Well, in a nutshell, it states that you'll come in our hour of need, a darkness greater than any light will then descend on the world, and 2 powers will emerge from the darkness, one extreme evil, and one of extreme light." Eli explained.
"Okay, well, apparently I'm the extreme light, but then, who would be the extreme evil?" Joe asked, raising an eyebrow.
"We're still not sure," Sain said, breaking in, "It could be any of us, it could even be Nate over there" he said, indicating towards the now snoring Nate.
"I just hope it's not Nate, I have a feeling he has a power that none of us are aware of, not even himself" Lyn said, glancing over at Nate. The rest of the night was quite peaceful. Once the fire had died down to a pile of smoldering embers, they all lied down in different places and fell quickly asleep.
Nate was the first to waken at the coming of the dawn, rolling to his side and nearly falling off the rock. He got up, rubbed his eyes, and then closely examined everything around him. Everyone was still asleep, out like lightbulbs.
He smirked to himself, and sneaked over to his bag. Carefully and quietly, he unzipped the bag, and began searching through it until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a megaphone from his bag, turned it on, and set the volume on high. He held it over his head, and put his finger by the siren button.
"WAKE UP CALL!" he screamed, then pushed the button for the siren. The scream cut through the morning peace like a shovel in dirt. Everyone immediately shot awake and stood up, unsheathing their weapons. Nate fell to the ground laughing, clutching his stomach in pain.
"What the HELL do you think you're doing!" Joe screamed, sheathing his weapon once more.
"Well, I was the first awake, so I took the liberty of waking you all up." Nate said, standing up and wiping a tear from his eye. He walked over to his bag and put the megaphone back.
"What else do you have in there?" Lyn asked curiously as she gathered up her things.
"Everything except a toilet and the kitchen sink!" Nate replied sarcastically, swinging it over his shoulder once more. After a few minutes and a few choice words, they were off again.
Eli double checked their direction to make sure they were headed east, and after that they were off. They marched all morning, encountering nothing worse than a few hungry wolverines here and there.
"So, you guys are basically a resistance, against mister big baddie guy, right?" Nate asked, staring up at the crimson sky.
"Um, well, yes, basically," Lyn replied, walking next to him, "And I guess we could consider you two our newest members".
"That's awesome." Joe said unenthusiastically. He was walking with his head tilted down, deep in thought, apparently still trying to accept everything that was happening.
The rest of the journey was silent, until they came to a giant clearing, with lush green grass, and a most peculiar sight in the sky. In the center of the field, the red sky met a deep blue sky, and in the middle where they meshed, was a deep ring of purple that ran all along the field and out of sight under each horizon.
"That's beautiful" Flora said, staring at it.
"I'm getting a bad feeling about this place." Lyn said, shivering, "Something bad is going to happen..."
"Don't worry, the Master isn't for miles of here, we have nothing to fear" Hector said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Oh sheesh, you guys are pathetic. Look if this Master is so 'big and bad', why doesn't he just come out and GET ME!" Nate screamed as he finished.
This time Eli tackled him to the ground, and put his hand over his mouth. Just as all of them dreaded, they heard the familiar thudding from the distance, getting louder and louder, but this time it was more rapid and frequent.
The field they stood before was enormous, but in the distance, they could see shadows coming up from the horizon. This time, however, there were more of them, and some were mounted on white horses, which explained the more frequent booms.
"There's no running this time." Marcus said, pulling out his spear.
"You're right, this time we have to fight, and hope for the best" Eli said, unsheathing his sword, just as everyone else was.
"We must protect Nate at all costs, got that?" Lyn announced to everyone. They all nodded in unison. Eli turned to Nate.
"Try to take care of yourself out there. If you feel over powered, call for help, someone will come." he said, looking him straight in the eye.
"Alright." Nate said, and for the first time since he had arrived, everyone knew he was serious.
The Guards continued their advance, slowly across the field, determined to take their target. Then, over the horizon, another figure appeared, a tall, thin figure on a black horse, the Captain, seeing his troops into battle.
"Just a little further" Eli said, watching the Guards. Everyone got ready to charge, holding their weapons at the ready, taking mark. "A little more..." he said again. The thudding broke into a full onslaught of crashes, as the army before them charged.
"NOW!" Eli yelled. They all charged, full force, into unknowing doom. Marcus was the first to reach them, impaling a Guard through his jet black armor, lifting him over his head, and tossing his away, then moved on to the next one. The rest of them approached and began slashing at their foes. Joe's sword was a blue blur against a black shadow, hewing armor apart, parting heads from shoulders, and shattering spears with deafening cracks.
Nate was taking care just fine, taking out Guards three at a time, impaling one, then dragging his sword through the rest of the surrounding enemies. Lyn's combat was most fluent to watch, though. She combined martial combat with her sword, kicking enemies back, parrying blows from spear swipes from behind, impaling the facing opponent, then whipping him around on the sword into the rear opponent, kicking them both off, and then impaling them both with their own spear.
Joe took a quick glance over at Nate, who was so busy with a stubborn opponent from the front, that he didn't notice another one approach from behind.
"Nate! Look out behind you!" he screamed over the clanging of metal on metal and the agonizing screams of pain. Nate turned to look into the face of his opponent just as a spear came through and impaled the Guard through his head. Marcus ran up and grabbed his spear.
"Be more careful!" he scolded as he ran past. Nate saluted him and ran to the next opponent.
When the Guards were dead, they all huddled together, blood-stained and panting.
"That was the easy part; here comes the rest of their infantry." Eli announced.
"The EASY part? How will this be any different from the last wave?" Nate yelled incredulously.
"This time they have archers." Eli said simply, now fully caught up on breath. The thudding began again as another wave of Guards approached from the hillside. The Captain simply looked on, waiting for the opportune moment to make his own advance.
This battle went much like the last one, with most of the Guards focusing on Nate over everyone else. Only this time, Nate had to worry about oncoming arrows this time as well as the opponents slashing at him.
"Lyn! We've got a problem!" Eli yelled, as he took out another Guard.
"What?" she yelled back, also killing a Guard. Eli pointed to an archer aiming up into the sky. Lyn looked up and gasped. Flora was shooting at Guards with her bow and didn't notice the archer aiming for her.
"Flora! Flora! You've got to get out of the sky!" Lyn frantically screamed, trying to get her attention, but it was too late.
She watched in horror as the arrow was released, and was sent straight through the wing of the Pegasus, staining its white fur red. Flora screamed as the Pegasus descended quickly from the sky, and there was a sickening crack as she hit the ground, full force.
Lyn beheaded another Guard and ran towards her, slashing at more Guards as she ran.
"Don't worry about them, they'll be fine" Eli yelled to Joe, noticing his concern. A guard was just about to take Hector's head off, when suddenly, out of nowhere, a fireball flew past, and took the Guard out, sending him smoldering to the ground. He looked over to see a short man clad in red robes with his arm extended, accompanied by a taller, stockier man clad in green armor with a long spear.
"Thanks, I thought I was a goner" Hector said.
"No problem. I'm Erk, and this is Mike, we heard a big commotion and decided to investigate, mind if we join you?" Erk asked.
"Of course! We can use all of the help we can get!" Eli said, impaling another Guard. Just then, the Captain's horse let out an ear shattering neigh, and started racing down the hill.
"Be on your guard!" Marcus yelled, indicating to the Captain, but he was too late. The Captain came down the hill towards Nate, scooped him up, smashed him over the head with the hilt of his sword, and rode off into the distance, and over the horizon.
"No! Get back here! Bring him back!" Joe yelled, racing towards the hill. Eli caught him halfway up.
"Joe, stop. It's over. He's gone." he said, slowing him down. Joe stopped and just simply stared into the distance blankly, hoping beyond hope for a sign, but saw nothing.
The battle ended in the late afternoon, and they piled all of the Guards together in one giant heap. The green grass had been stained red with a huge amount of blood, which reflected the setting sunlight. Lyn was tending to Flora, who suffered nothing more than a broken arm.
"The first thing they teach us is how to land" she said, trying to lift her own spirits up as much as everyone else's.
"Well, even so, I don't think that arm will be of much use to us now. Do you want to go back to the base?" Lyn asked, trying to sound as comforting as possible.
"Yes, I think that would be for the best. The Pegasus heals fast; I should be able to fly there now." Flora said, standing up and petting the Pegasus on the head. She then mounted onto its back, gave one final goodbye, and flew off into the west, back to the base.
Then there were only 8 of them; Joe, Lyn, Eli, Marcus, Sain, Hector, Erk, and Mike. The sun began to set, and they made a fire, deciding to set up camp in the field for the night. Joe sat, staring blankly into the flames, not noticing that Mike was studying him intently.
"Joe? Crazy skater wanna-pick-a-fight Joe?" Mike asked, sounding dumbstruck. Joe looked up at him, looking like he was seeing him for the first time.
"Mike? Is that actually you?" he asked, standing up.
"Yeah, it's good to see you man." he said, also standing up and giving Joe a high-five.
"How did you get here?" Joe asked curiously.
"Same way you did, but I fell in when that big fiery thing came out of the hole." he said.
"Oh, you must have landed somewhere else then. We came out by these guys." Joe said, indicating to the rest of the people.
"He ended up by my village, and I just figured he was another drunk that had lost his way, so I decided to help him" Erk explained, putting his hand on Mike's shoulder.
"Well, this is all good and well, but what are we supposed to do about Nate? Doesn't this mean that the world is basically doomed?" Joe asked, looking around at everyone for a glimmer of hope.
"Not necessarily. The Master will need time to do whatever it is that he wants to do to him. That's why we make haste to his tower." Hector said, staring off into the east. The sun went down over the horizon, and the night sky was split between a purple and black canvas, each dotted with white stars.
The pile of Guards had begun to dissipate, sending little orbs of pink and white light floating to the sky.
"What are those things, Lyn?" Joe asked, lying next to her watching the little light display.
"The essence of their souls, departing to the afterlife." she explained, also taking an interest.
"Is that what happens to everyone?" Joe asked, turning to face her.
"Most of the time, yes. But if something happens to the person's soul, it wanders in nature forever." she said, looking back to the sky. Joe looked up to the sky also, starting to feel drowsy. He turned over onto his side and closed his eyes.
His mind began to race with images of his friend, who he had known before he could even say 'friend'. Soon he was fast asleep, knowing that the nightmares that were soon to come would be much much worse.
They all awoke peacefully the next morning, no megaphone wake up calls or anything like that. They awoke in silence, packed their things and continued walking. It was only when they were far away from the battlefield that Joe became curious.
"What comes after we leave here?" he asked Lyn.
"Well, first we were in the mountain region, this would be the savanna region, so next I believe is a small patch of forest, then the volcanic region, which is where we need to be for our current mission, then the desert region, then another small strip of forest, then we come to the coastal region." she explained.
"Alright. But what do we need to accomplish in the volcanic region?" Joe asked, reaching the top of the hill they were scaling.
"Your training." she said simply. Joe kept walking, but was suddenly in awe.
"Training? I don't remember anything about training!" Joe protested.
"What, you thought we would just simply throw you in front of the Master and tell you to have a good time?" Sain asked.
"Well, no, but- I don't wanna train!" Joe complained childishly.
"Well, I'm sorry, but it must be done." Eli said, ending the matter. They marched in silence from there, coming to a point in the grasslands where it met lush forest and foliage.
"This would be the forest region I'm assuming?" Joe asked obviously.
"Yes, it's only a good mile long." Hector answered, hacking through some of the foliage with his sword. They trudged along in the nature for a little while, until they saw something that made them stop.
There was a rope bridge, over a giant hole in the ground, a good 200 feet long, and on either side of the hole, there was a big ravine, running all the way down the side as far as their eyes could see, stopping them from going around.
"Someone plainly wants us to cross this bridge" Marcus said, "Apparently it's a trap".
"Not necessarily, Marcus, don't be so quick to react." Eli said, taking a step onto the bridge. The wooden planks creaked from age, but the bridge held it's own.
"I think it's alright." Eli said, taking another step. Taking his word for it, the rest of them joined him carefully. Lyn was the last onto the bridge, walking behind Joe. He got halfway across the bridge with no problems.
"You doing okay?" he asked Lyn, looking for an excuse to speak.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I've always enjoyed being up high, made me feel, I don't know, powerful somehow." she replied.
"Oh, that's good." Joe said, obviously uncomfortable with the situation.
"Are you alright?" she asked. He turned slightly to look at her while he walked.
"Not really. I'm getting a really weird feeling, like, something bad is gonna happen." he answered, looking around suspiciously. Just as he finished, there was a deep rumbling noise, and a small tremor started, shaking the earth lightly.
"Not MORE of them?" Mike said, putting a hand on his spear.
"No..." Joe said, breathlessly, "It's coming from below." he finished, looking down.
There was a small red dot at the bottom of the hole...and it was growing.
"It's erupting! Run! NOW!" Joe screamed. They were only halfway across the bridge at that point, meaning another 100 feet to go. They all ran frantically, going as fast as they could without upsetting the bridge and sending them all hurdling into the abyss.
They were about three-quarters of the way there, when the bridge began to slacken, becoming harder and harder to run on. Joe looked back and yelled. A dark figure was standing by the end of the bridge with a knife. One of the ropes was already cut, which explained why the bridge was so slack.
"Hurry! Someone's cutting down the bridge!" Joe screamed. The front of the line reached the end just as the dark figure cut the last rope. Joe watched in horror as the bridge began to fall forward. He got to the end, but Lyn was still on the bridge as it was collapsing. She leapt and made it to the edge, but only by her hands.
She was hanging over the pit, the magma rising further every second. The tremors had become a full earthquake, and they could plainly see the lava flowing upwards now.
Joe grabbed Lyn by the arm and hoisted her out of the hole. Just as her feet came up, the magma erupted like a geyser, shooting up 300 feet into the air.
"Come on! Let's go!" Erk said, hoisting them both to their feet.
They ran as fast as they could, followed by the smoke and crackling of the burning forest behind them. They reached a dry riverbed which marked the border between the forest and the volcanic region. They climbed the side of the riverbed as fast as they could. They turned when they reached the top and watched the magma spill into the bed and flow either way, filling it up.
"Well, I guess that means no turning back..." Hector said. Lyn buried her face in Joe's shoulder.
"I'm sorry, I thought I could make it, I'm so sorry." she said, hugging him. He hugged her, trying to comfort her.
"It's alright, I would have done the same thing." he said. She pulled away and wiped her eyes.
"Okay, now, we need only cross that wall over there and we're in the volcanic region." Eli said, stepping over to the wall. It was about 75 feet tall, with many small footholes and crevices in it, apparently for climbing. He turned to Mike.
"Mike. You look like a fast climber, are you not?" he asked, looking him square in the eye.
"Yeah, actually, I don't like to brag, but I am." he said, rubbing the back of his head nervously.
"Okay then. Joe, the first task in your training, beat Mike to the top of the wall." Eli said simply, looking at Joe.
"Okay, but, how will that-" he started, but Eli interrupted.
"The challenge has already begun, and Mike is about a quarter of the way up now. You'd better start." Eli said, looking up at the wall. Sure enough, Mike was a well ways up already.
"Shoot!" Joe yelled, and jumped onto the wall, beginning to climb. Mike was almost halfway up and he had just started.
He began a steady, quick pace, searching with all his will to find a foothole where he needed it, hoisting himself up, again and again. He was beginning to catch up, the bottom of Mike's shoes were visible now. They were about three quarters of the way up, when Joe fully caught up with Mike. He passed him with only a few feet to go, and hoisted himself up at the top.
"Yes! Aha, I won." Joe said, extremely proud of himself.
"Nice work, now your real training can begin." Eli said, patting him on the back.
"Wait, how did you guys get up here already?" Joe asked, extremely shocked.
"There's a staircase over there. That's your first lesson; always take in every bit of your surroundings before you act." Eli explained, indicating towards a stone staircase Joe hadn't seen when they first arrived. He hit himself in the face and shook his head shamefully.
"Now I feel dumb." he said, walking into the heart of the volcanic region.
When they said 'volcanic', they definitely meant it. There were hundreds of volcanoes everywhere, all billowing smoke and ash, but none seemed to be dangerous.
"And now, young grasshopper, your training begins." Lyn said, approaching him.
For the next week, he was trained in sword combat, hand-to-hand combat, mental endurance, elemental endurance, and spiritual prowess. The main training ground was a circle of land, surrounded by molten lava, and a stone pole in the middle of the lava river, about 25 feet high, just standing there.
Joe was locked in a battle with Marcus, the most battle-hardened warrior in their pack. Every shot Joe delivered with his sword, Marcus deflected with his spear, seemingly effortlessly.
"Don't concentrate on hitting, concentrate on deflecting." Lyn said from the sideline.
"I know! I'm trying!" Joe said, brow furrowed and sweat drenched. He made a hasty swipe to Marcus's head and took off a few hairs.
"Good, keep going." Lyn said, delighted. Marcus made a quick swipe with the back of the spear to Joe's sword, knocking it out of his hands, and then smacked him to the ground, holding the tip of the spear to his throat.
"Almost, you're getting better though." Marcus said, helping him up.
"But not good enough," Eli broke in, stepping forward, "Your form is excellent, and your power is remarkable. It's merely your concentration and defense that we have to work on now".
"I know, I know." Joe said, getting aggravated.
"If you concentrate more on lowering your opponents guard, rather than just simply trying to hit them, you'll be more likely to-" Eli started.
"I KNOW!" Joe screamed. Suddenly, a small ball of light fell from Joe's hand, hit the ground, and disintegrated into nothing, leaving a scorch mark on the grey ground. They all looked at him in awe.
"Joe, I want you to try that again." Lyn said, stepping forward. Eli and Marcus took a few steps back. Joe held out his hand, palm up, closed his eyes, and began to concentrate.
He thought of the frustration he had just experienced, the ferocity he felt fighting the Guards, and how angry he was when Nate was taken. He opened his eyes, and a small ball of white light was sitting in the palm of his hand, about the size of a Ping-Pong ball.
"Now, try to expand it." she said, watching intently. Joe concentrated on nothing but the ball in his hand, telling himself 'make it bigger, grow, expand'. The ball began to slowly enlarge, until it became the size of an over-inflated basketball.
"Now, throw it at that post over there." she finished, indicating to the stone pole. Joe took aim, wheeled back, and threw it as hard as he could.
It whirled out of his hand, and collided with the pole, sending pebbles and dust everywhere. When the ash cleared, the pole was nothing but a few inches of rock protruding from the river of lava.
"Excellent! With that power, you should be able to defeat anyone we encounter!" Eli said cheerfully.
"Why not test that theory on me..." a cold voice announced from behind them. Joe turned and a chill ran down his spine.
It was Nate, but he was different. His hair was jet black and came down to his shoulders, his eyes were no longer cheerful and light, but dark and gloomy, and they glowed with the ferocity of a forest fire. He wore a black T-shirt under a leather trench coat, with black jeans, and big black boots. His skin was milky white, no trace of color or tanning at all.
"Nate...What happened to you?" Joe asked, almost breathlessly.
"I've woken up. Apocalypse showed me power, REAL power, not like anything these puny maggots could give you." he said coldly, waving an arm at everyone surrounding the area.
"Why have you come here?" Joe asked, putting his hand on the hilt of his sword.
"Why else would I seek you out? To kill you, of course." he answered simply, sneering slightly at the words. Joe unsheathed his sword fully.
"Fine then, come and get it." he said, brandishing the sword forward. Nate kneeled down, and everyone gasped.
Two black feathered wings sprouted from his back, and he took flight, soaring into the air like a giant hawk.
"What's the matter? A little too out of your reach?" Nate taunted. He held a hand face up, charged a ball of red energy, and threw it towards Joe, full force.
Joe jumped sideways, doing an air cartwheel, and dodged it completely. He then pulled out his pistol, took aim, and sent a shot straight through both of Nate's wings.
Nate let out a blood curdling scream of pain, nothing that sounded human-like at all, and began falling to the ground. He did a quick little flip to upright himself, and landed with a huge boom on the ground, leaving a small crater where he was standing.
His wings folded back into his jacket, and he stood upright. His hands started to charge red, and Joe sprinted towards him, sword held over his head. Nate jumped back and did a roundhouse kick, his foot colliding with the side of Joe's head, sending him back a few feet.
"Haven't even broken a sweat yet." Nate said, wiping his hand over his dry forehead. His fingernails were black, shaped like claws.
Joe got up and steadied himself, a small streak of blood running down from his hairline.
"Let's make this interesting..." Nate said evilly. He wheeled back and punched the ground, his fist sinking in like a pillow.
Cracks began to ensue everywhere, quickly filling with lava from the river. Soon, he and Joe were on their own little islands of lava, and everyone else was helpless, except to watch and pray for the best.
"You're not a person anymore, you're a monster" Joe said simply, wiping the blood from his eye.
"And you're a pathetic human bastard" Nate taunted. Joe charged forward, jumped and flipped over the crack of magma separating them, and took a swipe at Nate.
Nate grabbed the sword in mid-air, sent a few punches to Joe's face, and then chucked him away by the sword. Joe landed with a sickening crack on the other little magma island.
'Focus, Joe, focus...' he thought to himself, trying to steady himself again. Nate's hands began to glow red again.
"Let's play a little game I like to call, Dodgeball." he said tauntingly. He started throwing his hands forward, sending out little red charges, hurdling towards Joe.
He began deflecting them with his sword, and dodging the other that he couldn't deflect. He started out doing well, but a stray ball flew past and struck him in the shin, send him to the ground in utter pain. Blood began to flow from the new wound.
"Haha, I knew you were no match for me." Nate said, advancing forward. He picked Joe up by his neck, and began punching him all over; blows into his stomach, his face, and his legs. He then took hold of Joe's injured leg, and gave a quick tug down. That was followed by a sickening crack, which echoed all over.
"Stop it! Just stop it!" Lyn screamed from the side. Nate stopped punching him abruptly.
"Yes, I think I will stop. I'll save some for next time." He said. He then threw Joe into a rock, his head smashing into it, knocking him out. Nate flew into the air, his wings fully healed again.
"Let this be a warning to you, Apocalypse WILL come. You all WILL die." he announced, looking at them all. He then flew over to a volcano, and plunged into it, splashing magma around. The earth began to shake, then suddenly, the volcano and all the other one around it began to erupt. Nate flew out from the volcano, magma dripping off of him.
"Ta ta." he said, and flew off.
"Come on! We have to get Joe and get out of here!" Eli said, beginning to gather their things.
"Someone get Nate's bag!" Lyn said as she ran to Joe. They had brought it with them from the battlefield, hoping it might come in handy. Lyn jumped over a crack and knelt down next to Joe. He was bleeding profusely from his head, leg, and abs. She hoisted him up, but he was quite heavy, and she staggered a little.
"Sain! Come help me!" she yelled over the crackling flames and erupting volcanoes. Sain ran over and hoisted up Joe from the other side. They dragged him along through the region, avoiding falling molten ash and rocks.
They came to a bronze gate that led away from the volcanic area, and ran through it. They emerged in a rocky pathway, leading uphill, so they knew that the magma couldn't flow up behind them. They ran for a while, not looking back, until the sun began to set, and they stopped and set up a camp next to a rock wall. They turned back and looked at the billowing smoke. All of a sudden, the entire region exploded, sending ash, rock, magma, and earth everywhere.
Even from a mile away, they could feel the tremor and feel ash and rock falling down on top of them.
"If he can do that to a section of land, imagine what he could do to a human being!" Hector said in awe.
"I don't think I want to find out." Lyn said, sitting down next to the lifeless form of Joe. She was treating his wounds, with him lying down in front of her.
She had bandaged and splinted his leg so it wouldn't move, bandaged his head, and treated all of the minor cuts and burns everywhere else. She then covered him with a blanket, kissed him on the forehead, and lied down to go to sleep.
Straying from their own advice, they chose to sleep in the next morning, awaking at about midday. Mike was the first to awaken, and took the liberty of starting a fire. A bit later, others began to awaken, until only Joe remained asleep. Soon, though, he began to stir, moving his head from side to side slightly as he slipped back into reality.
Slowly, his eyes slid open, and he sat up, immediately putting a hand to the side of his head and one to his leg.
"Ugh…I feel like I was hit by a truck" he exclaimed.
"Close enough" Hector said, kneeling down next to him, "You okay, dude?"
"Yeah, I'm alright, except for my leg" Joe said, taking his hand off his head, but keeping firm pressure on his leg.
"Hey, I've got an idea" Lyn said, running over to Nate's bag. She pulled out the black magick book and began ruffling through pages.
"Aha!" she said, pointing to a spot on a page labeled "Healing for Dummies".
"Here, give me a few minutes and I'll have you good as new" she said, kneeling down. Everyone else flocked over to the fire again, and waited, occasionally taking a look over to see the progress.
"There, all done" she said, standing up. Joe attempted to stand, which resulted in him falling backwards. Lyn held out a hand to help him up, and pulled him to his feet.
Joe tested his leg by stomping his foot into the ground a few times; no pain. He made a small energy ball in his hand, and pressed it to the top of the bandages, burning a piece off at the top. He then ripped the rest off the rest of the way.
He ran towards a large boulder, ran up the side of the rock, and did a quick little backflip, landing perfectly. He smelled a strange scent of ash in the air, turned towards it, and gasped.
Where the volcanic region had been the previous day, there was only a crater filled with lava, forming a gigantic magma lake.
"Who…what …how, did I…where…" he stammered, trying to form words.
"Nate. After he knocked you out cold, we ran you out of there, and he blew the place to smithereens." Erk explained, not taking his gaze away from the campfire. Joe simply stood, staring in shock and thinking.
'If he can do this to an entire region, what could he do to me?' he thought. Everyone stayed in silence, letting him take it all in.
"Let's go" he demanded sternly. He walked over to his stuff, picked it up, and began up the trail.
"Wait for us!" Eli yelled to him, dousing the fire. They caught up with him a minute later, not 200 feet from the camp.
They all walked in silence, marching forward continuously. Soon, they came to a bronze gate embedded into the arch of a tunnel entrance, indicating the end of the volcanic region.
"Okay, we don't know what's going to be in here, so everyone be on your toes" Eli said. They all nodded in agreement, and proceeded into the tunnel.
Even from the entrance, they could see the off-white light of the exit, a good 300 yards away. They all walked cautiously, not knowing what would happen while inside the tunnel. Suddenly, there was a loud scream, and a soft thud.
"You alright, Lyn?" Joe asked, helping Lyn back to her feet.
"Yeah, just tripped over something is all" she said, handing him a stone slab, about the size of a piece of paper, and as thick as his thumb. On the surface of it, there were strange carvings on it that he could feel with his hands, but he couldn't see them in the dark. He bagged it and they marched on.
As soon as they reached the end of the tunnel, they were whipped with warm wind and sand.
"Let's keep going guys, this desert isn't that long" Eli yelled over the winds. They trekked through the desert, having to speed up their pace a bit to make up for the slowing that the sand caused. The desert was simply yellow sand, a few cacti, and deep blue sky, which faded into greyish-black clouds the further out they looked.
At last, they came to a big hill of sand that stretched as far as their eyes could see, and was about 35 feet high. Eli was the first to begin climbing the hill; everyone else followed. As reached the top, he teetered for a moment, almost falling back down.
"Guards!" he yelled, unsheathing his sword.
"More of them?" Sain asked, also unsheathing his sword. But as they reached the top of the hill, they could plainly see the army standing before them, and army of about 400.
"Don't they know when to give up?" Hector asked.
"Apparently not. Alright guys, this battle shouldn't take long. We need to get to the beach today. This ends TONIGHT!" he screamed over the winds and the crashing of the approaching army.
They charged down the hill, and right into battle. The fight took little over an hour with Joe's new power. The last guard fell as the sun began to set.
"Just leave the bodies, we need to move" Eli announced, sheathing his sword. They continued on, sweat dripping from their foreheads. Soon, the oasis-like forest came into view, and they were greeted by the shade of the trees.
Eli brought out his sword and began hacking away at the foliage in their way. Joe looked as if he'd eaten a hundred rotten fish.
"What's the matter?" Lyn asked, falling back a little to walk next to him.
"Something is going to happen. I don't know what it is, but, I can sense death in the air" he said, pale-faced and still sweating. She took him by the hand, which was icy cold, and continued forward with him.
The grass of the forest slowly began to turn into the sand of a beach, and the trees began to thin as they emerged on a beautiful beach. White sand stretched north and south as far as the eye could see, and waves rolled up and down the coast as the tide ebbed. The only thing peculiar was the sky, which was grey with clouds, and off in the distance, they could see a hurricane-like cloud formation in the sky; a circle of clouds swarming around one spot, with the middle of the swirl glowing an orangish-yellow color.
"It's a nice sight, isn't it? Too bad you won't be here long enough to enjoy it" a familiar voice announced. They turned to see Nate standing there, leaning on the hilt of his sword, the blade of which was stuck in the ground.
"You're really beginning to grind my gears" Marcus said, readying his spear and advancing.
"Not so hasty, Marcus" Eli said, holding out an arm to restrain him.
"Always the mighty warrior, aren't we, Marcus?" Nate taunted, pulling out his sword, flipping it in his hand and sheathing it. Joe's face began to lighten again as he realized what was happening.
"Now, are we to do this the easy or hard way? Because I'm alright with both" Nate announced, looking at them. No one answered, but they all unsheathed their swords in an alternate response.
"I see. Then I guess the hard way" Nate said, unsheathing his own. At this point, Marcus broke from Eli's grip and ran towards Nate, spear extended.
"Marcus, no!" Joe yelled, but it was too late. Marcus and Nate locked in battle, metal spear shaft to sword blade. They exchanged overpowering blows, knocking each other back with every blow.
"VERY nicely done, sir. I must admit I did not think that you'd be able to affect my fighting" Nate said, bowing slightly.
"Wish I could say the same for you, you devil" Marcus said, making another stroke towards Nate with the head of his spear. Nate deflected it easily.
"Oh come now, that's no way to treat an opponent. I complimented you, now you return the favor" Nate said, making a blow towards Marcus, who also deflected it.
"Burn in Hell" Marcus said coldly.
"Close enough" Nate said.
Marcus made another swipe, foolishly aiming low this time, letting his guard be breached. It was just the mistake Nate was waiting for. He took his sword, and impaled it straight into Marcus' chest, penetrating his armor and sinking straight in. They all stood in shock, seemingly forever, as Marcus fell further and further. He hit the sand with a small thud, and then all was quite, except for the rolling of the waves on the shore.
"He died a warrior's death. Do not be shamed for him" Nate said, taking his sword out of Marcus' now lifeless body. Joe was trembling with anger.
"You're not a person anymore, you're a complete monster" he said, staring him straight in the eyes.
"Why thank you. Too bad I can't say the same for you, you pathetic human" Nate said, bowing slightly again. Joe took a few steps forward, sword extended.
"Ah! So we have another competitor! Well, step forward and prepare for your beating" Nate said, also holding out his sword.
Joe burst forward, clanging his sword into Nate's repeatedly and swiftly, unrelentingly and unforgivingly; blinded with rage. Nate was forced to take many steps back to ensure that his head wasn't taken off.
"I'm impressed. It looks as if you've improved since our last encounter" Nate said, standing at the ready again, "But nothing that you can do will prepare you for me".
Nate began his own advance, making slower slashes, but overpoweringly strong ones, making Joe's arm buckle a few times under the weight. Joe did a few backflips to make some distance, then starting throwing energy at Nate, rapidly, hoping that even one would hit him.
Nate simply walked forward, holding out his sword to deflect each shot that was sent at him. Nate jumped forward and swiped, narrowly missing Joe's head, parting a few hairs. Joe made more swipes, ringing out with metal on metal. He then quickly made a low swipe, blocked by Nate, but charged a ball the size of a soccer ball, and collided it with Nate's chest.
Nate rang out with a demonic cry of pain, his chest smoking with burnt clothing and flesh. Joe slashed again, now that Nate was helpless to defend, and parted Nate's arm from his body, sending his sword flying a few feet away. Even more shrieks of pain followed, as black liquid flowed from the new wound. Joe then made the final blow, impaling Nate's chest in a similar fashion as Nate had done to Marcus.
Nate slumped forward onto his knees, coughing up black blood.
"You…you mortals have no idea what you're getting yourselves into. You can't kill me. You'll all die, maybe not by my hand, but Apocalypse will finish you" Nate sputtered.
Joe removed his sword from Nate's chest.
"I intend to finish him, just as I will you. Goodbye, Nate" Joe said, and swiped one final time.
Nate's head rolled away, and his body slumped to the ground, staining the sand around it black. Black and red light began to emit from his body, and float away into the sky as the body dissipated into nothing.
They all approached Marcus' body, sheathing their weapons. They laid his body next to a rock nearby, in a sitting position, and laid his spear across his lap.
"The spirits will take his body, we need only now to leave him to rest" Eli said. They turned and left the area in silence, respecting the death of their fallen comrade.
About a quarter mile up the beach, they found a canoe perched on shore. Soon, they had placed it into the water, still not speaking. Eli had volunteered to row, and they were on their way. Joe became curious once again.
"So…we're going straight into the Master's island now?" he asked, trying to make small talk.
"Yes, his island is just ahead, underneath all of those creepy looking clouds up there. Just under the opening is the top of his tower" Lyn explained, staring off into the distance.
Just then, something hit Joe; Nate was gone, forever. His best friend, the only person he had known all of his life, the only person he had ever trusted to say anything to, was dead. Silent tears began to roll down his face, chilled by the ocean air. Lyn noticed this, and hugged him from behind, not letting go. He laid his head back on her shoulder, and fell quickly asleep, lulled by the sounds of the waves against the side of the boat.
He was awoken by a loud clap of thunder that echoed for miles in all directions, like a bullet into a stone wall. The first thing he noticed was a giant tower in front of them, looming hundreds of feet tall. He then noticed Lyn had switched spots in the boat, and was now fast asleep on his lap.
A little while later, they landed on the island, which was simply the tower surrounded by beach, under a swirl of grey and red clouds. They all got out of the boat and stretched out their limbs. According to Eli, they had been in the boat for a few hours.
They approached the tower, which was a black stone tower with no windows, and a giant wooden door. They opened the door and walked into the front lobby, or at least that's what it looked like.
It was an enormous room with no roof or windows, lighted presumably with magic. It had marble floors, black stone walls, and black metal staircase spiraling up the tower, and a wooden desk in the middle of the room, with a lady with bright red hair sitting behind it, poring over some papers on the desk. They approached the desk cautiously, not know what would happen to them here or who could appear.
"Excuse me, we're here to see the Master" Joe said, trying to sound polite but demanding at the same time. The lady looked up and they all gasped.
She had milky white skin and yellow glowing eyes, with two fangs protruding from her mouth.
"Do you have an appointment?" she asked in a cold, airy voice.
"No, but we have some unfinished business to take care of" Joe replied smartly.
"I'm sorry, no one gets in to see Apocalypse without an appointment" she replied, turning her attention back to the papers. Extremely frustrated, he reached out and grabbed the vampire by the throat, lifting her into the air.
"Oh look, I think a slot just opened up" he said, unsheathing his sword, and took her head off, letting her body fall back to the ground. Blue blood dripped onto the desk and began slowly seeping onto the clean white floor. They then made their way to the stairs and looked up.
The stairs went up as far as they could see, and then went into darkness as the light faded. They began the long trek up the stairs, not slowing or stopping for anything. They climbed for a good thirty minutes, and then the top of the stairs came into few, 10 or 20 feet ahead. They could hear the roaring of flames, but thought nothing of it, thinking it was just some torches lit on the wall; but they were wrong.
They all emerged at the top of the staircase only to stand face-to-face with Ifrit once again.
"Not you again!" Joe said, unsheathing his sword. Ifrit let out a bellowing shriek that rattled their heads.
Joe ran forward, striking at the beast, only to have his sword deflect off of its crimson, metallic skin. It let out another shriek and started launching fireballs at them.
"Malchies lyktus ennui intonaous!" Joe screamed. A fire-hose powered jet of water launched from the end of his sword, dousing Ifrit's flames.
The demon began to stumble towards the end of the balcony, writhing in pain. Joe ran forward, his sword glowing with energy, and impaled the beast, making it fall the rest of the way down. His sword was stained with bright yellow blood that seemed to radiate heat. He walked over to the wall and wiped it off on a corner, then sheathed it again.
"Let's go" he said, walking towards another giant wooden door.
They opened it and emerged in a giant domed room, completely composed of black stone and marble. At the far end of the room was an obsidian throne, beautifully crafted with runes and jewels embedded into it, and upon the throne, sat Apocalypse.
As he stood, they could see he was quite a few inches taller than Joe, who was the tallest of them all. He stood about 6'5", a slim build with mild muscle here and there, garbed in royal blue robes. His deep blue eyes seemed to pierce them right to the bone. His purple hair was tinted with grey, showing age and wisdom that surpassed them all. They walked forward, all on their guard, knowing that this was the most dangerous being in the entire world.
"Ah, so good of you all to finally reach me" Apocalypse announced, his voice aged, but still strong and demanding.
"Hello, father" Joe announced. They all stared at him in utter disbelief, silent and shocked.
"This…this is your father?" Sain asked, stuttering a little.
"Yes. He walked out on me when I was little. I had no idea this is where I'd find him; master of an entire world, murderer, and demon" Joe said, not taking his eyes off of his father.
"I knew you would figure it out eventually, Joe. You were always a sharp boy. Always a step ahead, but that's because it runs in our bloodline. All of those feelings of death you experienced, the new power you've obtained; they're all apart of something bigger than you could ever imagine, and it's all thanks to your ancestors, my ancestors, the Gods" Apocalypse announced, also not taking his eyes off of Joe.
"I'm nothing like you you bastard. You've killed so many innocent people and I can see in your eyes that you have no remorse for any of their deaths. I'm here to put a stop to you. Your reign ends today" Joe announced. Apocalypse merely chuckled slightly, taking a few steps forward.
"You don't know what kind of power rests in that little head of yours do you? All of that training you've done, the fights you've won, everything you've done is mere child's play compared what you could do, what you could experience. Come with me, Joe, join me, and feel the true power of the Gods and Goddesses" Apocalypse said, holding out a hand.
Joe stood, staring at him in disbelief. He could feel the eyes of everyone in the room on him, judging him, hoping of him. He locked his vision back to Apocalypse, decision in mind.
"No" he replied simply, unsheathing his sword.
"You have no idea of the mistake you're making, foolish boy" Apocalypse said, taking a few more steps forward.
His body began to glow blue, then he started to change. Two more legs grew from his sides, pure white spider-like claws, his other legs turned in the same way, and his fingers elongated and turned black, red claws sprouting from them. His eyes began to glow brightly; a deep shade of blue. Black wings sprouted from his back, and he took flight slightly, hovering a few feet off the ground.
"You see now, Joe? Do you see the power that you could have? Now, you will die" Apocalypse said, his voice now cold and demonic. Suddenly, the doors behind them burst open, and someone walked in, their sword perched on their shoulder.
"Sorry I'm late all, I missed the 10 o'clock bus" Nate said as he walked into the room. He wasn't evil anymore, he was clad in his red armor and all; the same way he was when he had been captured.
Everyone stared in awe as he walked forward and stopped next to Joe.
"Hey dude, miss me?" he asked.
"Yeah, you bet I did" Joe replied, smiling slightly. They exchanged handshakes and prepared for battle.
"There's one thing you have to know, though, Joe" Nate said nervously "The fate of Apocalypse is tied directly to this world; the time and space and all the good stuff. If he dies, so does this world."
"But then…How do we kill him?" Joe asked angrily.
"That's the thing. My life is tied to him, that's my part in the prophecy. I die, he dies. That's your part in the prophecy. You have to kill me." Nate explained.
"No…no, I won't do it! You just came back! I'm not going to kill you! I can't! There has to be another way!" Joe yelled, and he ran towards Apocalypse, sword raised high over his head, ready to strike.
He brought his blade down, and it bounced of an invisible barrier enveloping Apocalypse, making physical attacks useless.
"Joe, just stop. He'll kill you, and then we'll all die." Nate screamed at him, trying to get it into his head.
"NO!" Joe screamed. He sheathed his sword and began charging two big energy balls in his hands. He threw them as hard as he could and Apocalypse and immediately began charging more.
Apocalypse deflected them, sending them up into the ceiling over the rest of the group, causing rubble to fall towards them. They ran out of the way to avoid the falling stone.
"Joe, just end this now!" Nate screamed again.
"NO! NOW HELP ME!" Joe said, and turned to look Nate in the eyes. Nate had never seen that kind of frightened determination in his face before.
"Enough of this. Die!" Apocalypse hissed at Joe, and advanced forward. He sent a blow to Joe's face and to his stomach, causing him to double over in pain. He then kicked Joe, sending him flying into a wall.
Nate jumped forward to join the fray, sending fireballs hurdling at Apocalypse. He was then forced back by a ring of bright blue light sent out by Apocalypse, causing him to also fly into a wall.
Apocalypse then began glowing purple, and the room began to shake. Suddenly, the roof of the domed room lifted off the tower, and flew into the air, straight into the eye of the swirling clouds, and disappeared.
Joe got up, mouth bleeding, hair billowing in the strong winds. Rubble had fallen everywhere, and Nate was laying a few feet away, trying to clear his head. He tried to charge some energy, but Apocalypse sent a wave of air at him that knocked him towards the edge of the tower.
"Joe!" Lyn yelled. Joe caught himself on the edge of the tower, and pulled himself back up. Nate was up again and dusting himself off.
"Joe…it's the only way. He'll kill us all if you don't" Nate said, looking desperately into Joe's face.
Joe had changed since they had gotten there; he had matured, and all of the death he'd experienced, the loss, it had all been almost too much. Any more and he wouldn't have made it here. Nate was impressed, but knew what he had to do.
"Joe, do it." he said, holding his arms out to his sides. Joe stood for a moment, as Apocalypse began to advance towards them.
"You'll hold a place for me in Hell, won't you?" Joe said, smirking slightly.
"Only the best for you, my friend." Nate responded, also grinning.
"Goodbye, my good friend." Joe said. He then took out his sword, and, hesitating a second, shoved it into the chest of his friend.
As he did, a red light began to emit from Apocalypse's chest, and he screamed in agony, holding his chest. Nate fell to the ground, and Joe removed his sword. Apocalypse continued to cry in pain, blood leaking from the new glowing wound on his chest. Joe walked forward, lifted his sword up, and plunged it into Apocalypse's back. Apocalypse fell to the ground, and then all was silent, except for the roaring of the winds.
The world began to shake, and all around the globe, grounds began to crack, buildings fell, meteors fell to the earth, and volcanoes erupted, filling the earth with magma. Lava began to engulf the tower, climbing higher and higher, towards the top of the tower.
Joe walked over to Nate's body, and saw, as far as he could see with his naked eyes, magma engulfing the earth, rising higher.
It was over, he had won.
A blue light began to emit from Apocalypse's dead corpse, and it rose into the air. A portal stood open, glowing blue, the center rippling like a water window. Lyn ran over to Joe and took him by the hand.
"Joe, come on! We have to get through the portal before it's too late!" she said, tugging on his arm. He wouldn't budge; he simply stared off into the distance.
The magma was three quarters of the way up the tower now, and they could feel the excruciating heat emitted from below.
"Come on Joe!" she yelled. She gave one final tug, and he began to walk slowly towards the portal. He got about halfway there, and the magma began to breach the top of the tower. He walked into the portal just as the rest of the tower was engulfed.
He was swirling in a blue vortex, and didn't know which way was up or which was down.
He was done, he was going home.
The swirling began to make him sick, so he closed his eyes, wishing for it to stop. He landed on something soft, but dared not open his eyes, not knowing what he would find.
"Joe! Open your eyes, look!" he heard Lyn say somewhere behind him.
Readying himself, he opened his eyes, and gasped.
To Be Continued…
