(Shawn's Viewpoint)
It has been about a month since then. One month ago my friend Travis Edge, known as Masked Rider Wizard, and two unknown allies by the name of Casey Morrison and Ashley Morrison fought side by side to take down Travis's dark despair known as Dark Wizard. Prior to the fight Travis was abducted by his ex-girlfriend Amber Wild who we later came to know to be as Medusa, a Phantom that Travis fights. Travis was taken to an abandoned factory and was beaten to an inch of his life and then Dark Wizard dealt him the killing blow. Miraculously, Travis was just hanging on by a very thin thread and Casey was able to show up and bring him back to life. The fight against Dark Wizard was brutal as Travis didn't have enough in him to fight against his dark side.
During the fight a woman by the name of Rachel who helps run the Grounds for Thought coffee bookstore in town was pulled into the fight and was knocking on death's door before she had a chance to realize anything that was going on around her. She still is in the hospital to this day but is doing better. When my friend came home after the fight he as well as our new friends passed out and began to rest up. Travis was out cold for two whole days and then one night when we went to go check up on him in his room, he was gone. He left a note for us saying that he needed time from everything and it left us feeling empty. It wasn't just Travis that left either without a goodbye, Manuela had vanished as well but had told Karina that she still felt guilty for what she had done and left before the fight with Dark Wizard ended. The first couple of weeks were hard because nobody heard from Travis nor have seen him.
Casey and Ashley had tried to look for him but couldn't find him at all. Then the two new friends said something about leaving and going back to their home and in just a few short hours we learned that Casey came from a different timeline and knew that we probably would never see him again. He told us that we should give Travis space and time. He just somehow knew that he would return back to us. I had hoped that he would.
During the second week and shortly after Casey left, I started to pick up on making rings with DJ. I wanted to contribute to the fight against the Phantoms and when Travis returned, I wanted to give him new rings that would help fight against our enemies that threatened humanity. Robin started working a lot harder at her job and Karina would pray hoping that her bro would return safely. We all knew that Travis wasn't far because Karina still needed to be refilled with mana twice a week. DJ mentioned a time when he talked to Travis about coming back but that didn't seem to sway him. There would be times when Karina would just burst into tears as she worried about him wondering if he will ever be the same Travis that we all knew and loved.
Over the course of the five months we knew him, we had a photo album of us all having a good time and whenever we missed him, we would look at that album. We had this guy come over right at the end of the second week going on about how he wanted to see Travis but when we said we haven't seen him in two weeks he would look sad and leave. During the third week we were under a tornado alert and the winds began to pick up heavily and it caused some of the rocks to fly through the windows and break them. There was some damage to DJ's house and the next day after the storm, me and DJ began working on the repairs. The same guy who was looking for Travis came back around and helped us repair the house and was pretty good with his hands as he helped get a project that would takes days to finish in ten hours. We invited him into the house and he quickly became a friend of ours but wouldn't tell us his real name. He wanted us to call him Beast. He didn't reveal much about who he was but me and him got along very nicely because of our energetic and hyper personalities. Beast liked being a troll and everyone quickly warmed up to him. With him around, we were able to get ourselves out of the muck we were in missing Travis and looked forward to the day he would return.
-Present Time-
-August 9th, 2014-
I had gotten to DJ's early as I was trying to learn how to finish up on this new set of rings with DJ. I had walked through the front door and when I did I saw DJ with a glass of orange juice. He was wearing blue jeans and black boots, a white and red striped shirt with his light grey jacket on him. He had gotten his haircut that he had been wanting for a while so his tinted brown hair was extremely short it almost looked black due to the lighting. "Well good morning sir. You ready to finish up these two rings?" He asked me. I had a huge smile on my face.
"Yes I am boss! How are you doing this morning Karina?" I said to my friend at the counter. I looked over to my latina friend with short black hair. She was wearing a maroon long sleeve shirt and when she stood up and walked to hug me, had these blue jeans with some bling on the pockets. She had this happy expression on her face that she always had and then put a smile on her face.
"I'm doing great Shawn. Hey want to do another round at King's Buffet again? Or have you learned that I got a dark hole in my stomach and you can't beat me?" She said laughing. I knew this girl so well I thought she could eat an entire elephant and still go on about how she is hungry. What's weird is it never showed on her body. Probably because her metabolism was really high. I declined her offer as I put my hand over my stomach.
"I don't think I can, I'm still feeling it since last Friday." I said joking. I then walked past her and up to the little secluded room in the right side corner of DJ's living room. Once I went in there was two rings that were shaped into a circular pattern. DJ handed me a ring case and guided me through the process of putting the ring in. I then took some sandpaper and started scraping the magical stone down until it was flat and then I grabbed a ring face plate and snapped it into place on the ring. The blue ring had a picture of a dragon with its head raised up and lines coming out of its mouth as if it was speaking.
The next ring I made was made out of an orange material and when I finally put it all together I saw a dragon wearing a tie. "This one is kind of funny to look at." I said chuckling. Suddenly a knock was made on the door and then I watched as Beast came inside. "Oh hey Beast how are you doing today?" I said as I walked out to greet him. We ran up to each other and bear hugged the other.
Beast was wearing this red vest today and a shirt with an abstract picture of a lion. He was also wearing blue jeans and had this giant blue bag on his back that he walks everywhere with. He had white skin and blue eyes, also had freckles around his eyes. He stood about 5'11 so right up there with Travis, and his blonde hair was spiked a bit towards the back. His hairstyle was weird and we have openly asked about having to spike his hair up instead of sideways so it would look better. But he was against it saying this is the hairstyle he was more comfortable with but it really made him stand out. "I'm doing okay. How's the house holding up with the repairs?" He asked. I told him it was coming along fine and then Karina left the room to go grab something. When she came back down she had a small grocery bag in her hands and handed it to Beast.
"This is a thank you for helping us over the past week. All of us chipped in to buy it." Karina said holding out the bag. Beast reached out to grab the bag and then slowly pulled out what was inside. Inside was a silver bracelet that had the symbol that you can see when Travis's cast his spells. The symbol was colored bright red, "If you flip over the bracelet there is your name written in black." Karina said. Beast had this look on his face that was surprised and he started putting the bracelet on his left wrist.
"I...I don't know what to say. No one has ever given me something like this before. I guess I say thank you. Thank you so much guys." Beast said with a tender smile on his face. For the rest of the day Beast hung out with us and even spent the night, but instead of staying inside the house he set up his tent and other stuff that he carried on his back in the yard. We tried to persuade him to come inside but he would always tell us this, "I want to be outside where nature thrives. I feel calm and relaxed being outside than I do inside." We all stopped persuading him after that. He did mention at one point how he lost his parents when he was a child to the very things Travis fights against.
Beast mentioned how he met a guy who travels and became a good friend of his as the guy looked after him over the years. He taught Beast everything he needed to know on living with nature. He even mentioned before he parted ways with his friend that he gave him his camping gear that he has now. He even mentioned how the guy taught him how to fight against wild animals in case he ever needed to protect himself.
That night went by like any other it was quiet and there had not been any Phantom sightings or Ghoul sightings in a while. I know that night Beast was complaining about how he was really hungry even though he smashed through five hot dogs. We all wondered when Travis would come back home as we flipped through the albums of the time we all spent together. I remember I stayed up late that night while everyone went to sleep. I would watch anime in the living room and was watching this thing called JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. It was really good and watching the JoJo's fight to keep evil at bay was something I whole heartedly looked up to. "I wonder if I keep making these rings will I be able to be just like them." Suddenly I heard some noise at the front door, it sounded like growling.
I began to feel fear grow inside me but I knew that I would have to stay strong for everyone. I slowly walked over to the Wizard Chest that held Travis's rings and grabbed the Defend Ring. I took my Engage Ring Travis gave me off and slid the Defend one on. I then grabbed one of the box cutter knives from DJ's office where we make rings and then slowly walked up to the front door and extended the blade out.
"If I have learned anything from being Travis's sidekick it's the fact that you look at danger straight in the face and not run away from it. While Travis is gone I will protect everyone's hope." I said under my breath as I slowly opened the front door and when I did I didn't see anyone there. I then slowly walked outside and kept the box cutter up at my chest getting ready to stab it at anything that would jump out at me. "Who's out here?! I heard you and I know you are out here somewhere! Show yourself!" I said as I slowly stepped out in the darkness. I was looking all over the place but couldn't find the source of the growling. Then I heard a familiar voice.
"Uuhh Shawn is that you? Shawn help me, I'm injured!" The voice sounded like Travis and he sounded like he was in a lot of pain. I knew that the voice was a few feet away from the house and I quickly ran to see my friend and once I got to where the voice was coming from I called out for my friend.
"TRAVIS! I'm here! Where are you?! Travis!" I said as I looked around to see no one around me on the road.
"Shawn…Help me…" I heard Travis say. I turned around to see the cornfield and I quickly ran up to it and pulled back the cornfield but to my horror I didn't find Travis, I found a dead body ripped in half and I quickly felt a huge chill run down my spine. I heard a growl coming up behind me and I slowly turned around to see a skeleton like face with fur around the neck and blood dripping down from its mouth. It had these antler's sticking out of it forehead which looked like deer antlers. I then looked down to see that it had white fur all over it's body. It had these rusty yellow claws, it's entire upper body was pretty much gone as you can see what looked like it's bones, and it's entire legs were covered in a thick white fur with small rusty yellow nails sticking out like knives. I knew it was a Phantom but something about it looked a bit different than the normal ones we have a fought.
The creature then opened its mouth, "Shawn….Help me…Please!" The thing said using Travis's voice. After hearing this I screamed at the top of my lungs as I dropped the box cutter and the Phantom smacked me to the side as I went flying out of the cornfield and rolled on the ground until I was next to the road. I quickly began running away and thought that I needed to warn Beast. I quickly ran as fast as I could toward his tent and when I got there and began unzipping it, the Phantom grabbed me and threw me across the yard until my back hit up against a tree. I fell to the ground having a hard time getting up and then the Phantom came over, he grabbed me and pinned me to the tree. I then heard him speak in his normal voice which was a cracky sound and when it did, some blood was starting to flow out of its mouth.
"Where is the Ring Bearing Magician? He harmed my mistress and I will see to it that he dies by my claws." He said with that rotten breath. I told him that no one has seen him in about a month but that only got me to get the Phantom to stab me with his claws in my shoulder.
"GYAAAAHHHHH!" I screamed in pain.
"Anyone who can't tell me where to find the Ring Bearing Magician will be devoured regardless if you are a Gate or not. I'm not your normal Phantom, I am one of the strongest Phantoms and a few have been slained by the Ring Bearing Magician. Arachne, Cait Sith, and Hellhound were killed by him and I will end his life. Until that happens maybe if I kill a few people I might be able to draw him out into the open. If you value your life you will tell me where. HE. IS!" The Phantom said to me. I told him that I didn't know and I watched as he raised his right arm back, "Then you will be my next meal." He said but right when he raised his arm back he then dropped his arm and I saw something white covering his entire face. Me and the Phantom looked up into the tree to see Beast spraying mayonnaise from a bottle on the creature's face.
Beast then dropped down from the tree and slammed his entire body weight onto the creature causing it to fall on its back. Beast then took out a plastic knife and started rubbing it all over the mayo that was on the monster's face. "Got to make sure I prep you correctly. Oh boy this is going to taste so fricking good!" He said with a smile on his face like he was having the time of his life. The Phantom raised his claws to swipe at him but Beast just lifted his arms up in the air and grabbed the wrists, "Now now I don't want to have to fight for my food. Just stay here as I prepare this midnight snack like a good Phantom." He said keeping his happy expression.
The Phantom then power struggled his way out of Beast's grasp and flung him to the side. I watched as Beast rolled over on the ground and then got back up. When he did I watched him pull out a ring from his red vest. "I guess it's time to do this huh?" He said as he slid what looked like a ring with an grey door on his right hand. He then put the ring over a belt that had the same grey door.
"Driver On!"
The voice from his belt sounded a lot clearer and determination than Travis's belt. I then watched Beast take out a ring that was square with a weird look on the ring that just screamed the face of a lion. He slid that on his left hand and then shot his hand up in the air, "I'll make this fight as quick as possible. Travis isn't the only Ring Bearing Magician around here." Beast said with a smile on his face. He then took his left hand and brought it around in a circle until his left hand was in front of his stomach and his right hand did a parallel version of what his left was doing. He then took both of his hands and stretched them out to right side, "TRANSFORM!" He said as he then quickly stood up straight and put the lion face ring into the weird handle.
"SET! OPEN! L-I-O-N! LION!"
I watched as Beast pelvic thrust and out shot a yellow spell circle from his belt and it slowly made its way through his body. From head to toe Beast had this lion like mask, his under armor was black. His right shoulder had a black plate on it with a gold sheet under it, his chest had this gold plate armor on it with a lion's face mantle on his left shoulder. He had arm braces that extended from his wrists to his elbows, white gloves with his rings on them, his waist had his belt that was opened with the inside of the doors having animal pictures engraved on them with a face of a lion in the middle of the belt. Beast had two gold lines running down his legs that attached to more armor for his legs.
"I'm looking forward to eating you!" Beast said as he put his hand over his belt and a sword handle popped out and he pulled out some saber with a dice above the hilt. He ran towards the Phantom and began slashing it all over the place and caused the monster to step back on every slash. He then threw the blade up in the air as he landed some quick jabs at the monster and then grabbed the sword and made a slash from one side of his body to the other. He then lifted his foot and kicked the monster away from him. The monster fell backwards and then got back up.
"You think that you can beat me? The Wendigo Phantom? I will admit that you got some lucky strikes in but that won't stop me! Let's see how well you can handle my speed Animal Mage!" Wendigo said as he got up and then quickly vanished. Beast came over to me and took out a ring from his ring holder. It looked like a green chameleon and he slid it on his left finger and then put it into his belt.
"GO! Chameleo! C-C-C-Chameleo!"
Beast quickly released his ring as a green spell circle appeared over his right side and he stuck his hand out as the spell circle moved onto his arm and showed a face of a bright green chameleon with its tongue sticking out. It wasn't just that, there was a small cape hanging off his right shoulder and I watched as the tongue started moving around. "I want you to get on the ground Shawn. I don't want to hit you." He commanded. I quickly got on the ground on my knees as the tongue started moving around in a giant circle and then it wrapped itself around the Wendigo Phantom.
"What the hell is this?! I can't move my arms or legs!" He said pissed. Wendigo was standing right behind me and Beast then turned around.
"I knew you would try and kill Shawn to make me distracted at my friend's death, but I'm not your common prey. I actually have more intelligence than you monsters." Beast said. He then pulled Wendigo towards him and slashed at his chest as he untied him. Then I watched as Beast raised both his hands up and then put them both into the handles of his belt.
"Chameleo Mix! C-C-C-Chameleo!
"It's time to feast!" Beast said. I watched as his sword began glowing bright green and when he ran towards Wendigo who was just getting up, Beast vanished causing Wendigo to look around for his opponent. But in a quick second I saw Beast appear behind him with his growing green blade and slashed right through him and then Beast grabbed me and got me out of the danger zone as Wendigo fell to the ground screaming in pain and then exploded. A gold spell circle appeared over the explosion and moved its way toward Beast where it went inside his belt which made a gulping sound. Beast then closed the gates on his belt and reverted back to his human form. He had this big smile on his face as he rubbed his stomach. "That's right Shawn, Travis isn't the only Mage in this town." He said with a bright smile on his face.