Dreams Come True 5: Living Legendz

by shadowlugia249

A Shiron TF. When a Legendz fan gets a strange new Soul Doll in the mail, weird things start to happen after a series of even stranger dreams. His entire being seems to change and there seems to be a strange dark figure watching over him...

Dreams Come True 5: Living Legendz

By shadowlugia249

Author's Note: For those of you who are unfamiliar with the title, "Legendz" is a Japanese anime that never made it to the United States. However, since the world of fan fiction is open to anyone, I will do my best to make it suitable for an American audience. I will assume that everyone who reads this understands Legendz. More information on this anime can be found at Enjoy!

From the highest room of the Dark Wiz Toy Company, a shadowy figure sat in a darkened room next to a short, bald man in a desk. The figure had an air of evil around him, but he also was a wonder of nature. At the moment, he was deep in thought while he held a small portable fan in front of him. He was a figure of the wind, but unfortunately during his self-seclusion, he could hardly get any decent wind and had to resort to a portable fan.

The figure sat deep in thought as he felt the miniscule breeze on his face. The bald man in the desk next to him nervously went about his business as best he could with the dark figure looming next to him.

"Soon... it will begin." The figure had a deep, dark voice that radiated his power and strength. "The pieces are in motion and soon... he will awaken. It won't be long before everything is set and my new apprentice will join my side."

The bald man nodded and spoke carefully. "Mr. (…), are you sure that the one you speak of will appear as you said?"

The dark figure glanced over at the bald man and scoffed. "Humph! I have never been wrong before and I am not likely to start now. Everything will go according to plan or I will see to it that this company is gutted personally.

The bald man shut up and went about his normal business.

"Also..." With an iron grip, he reduced the portable fan in his hand to scrap. "This one is broken."

This seemed to have happened before because the bald man suddenly started hyperventilating and panicked. "Yes, sir! I'll get you another right away!" He pressed the intercom button on his desk and started shouting hysterically. "I need Jeff from the Portable Fan Department. My superior needs another fan pronto! HURRY!!!"

Regardless of the man's tone and the lack of wind, the dark figure remained deep in thought. Everything had finally been set in motion and it would not be long before his new apprentice awakened.

Everything was perfect.

I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling for some time. That dream had been bothering me for days on end and it was really starting to get to me. For over a week, I visited that dark room in that tower and I have yet to see the face of that dark figure. He had a kind of evil air around him, but I wish I knew more about him. He seemed familiar somehow, but I could not place a name. Whenever that bald man had said that figure's name, I had had a dream surge and I had missed it.

It obviously meant something, but right now, I had other important things to worry about. Sliding out of bed, I grabbed my Talispod and my bag of Soul Dolls from my bedstand and went to get ready for the day.

I know you're probably thinking, "What the heck are "Talispods" and/or "Soul Dolls"?", right? Well, I'll get to that in a second. But first let me introduce myself. My name is Skyle Kelvin. I am a graduate fresh out of high school and I love the world of Legendz!

To elaborate, Legendz are the latest fad all around the country. It was started by a toy company called "Dark Wiz Company" and is somewhat like Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, but a lot more fun! To start with, each person interested in playing "Legendz Battle" must first acquire an item called a "Talispod" It's an electronic device that has a ring around its center and four spires around an electronic sensor.

This is where the term "Soul Dolls" come into play. A Soul Doll is a medium-sized plastic crystal that has the image of a great creature etched into it. This "crystal" contains the data of a monster called a "Legendz". Hence, the name.

To activate your Talispod and summon the creature in the Soul Doll, you must say the word, "Reborn" and then the name of the Legendz in the Soul Doll. This activates the Talispod and projects a super-detailed hologram of the Legendz into the air, where you can clash with another Legendz Battler and battle with your Legendz to declare a winner. And finally, to call back your Legendz, you must either twist the ring on your Talispod or use the more dramatic method of saying "come back".

Sounds like fun, eh? It's completely safe and fully interactive. And kids love it! Hurray for Dark Wiz Company!

Which brings me to my own Talispod and Soul Dolls. For some reason, when I won a contest that had been giving out exclusive Soul Dolls and Legendz merchandise, I had been given a white Talispod and six Legendz not in circulation with the normal stock. This was odd, because most Talispods were normally violet-colored. At first, I had thought it was defective, but it seemed to work just fine. (Legendz Fans: Sound's like Shu's situation when he got his Talispod, eh?)

When I had gotten the six exclusive Soul Dolls, I had also thought that I had been screwed, but they seemed to work just like the others. They were: a four-winged, creamy-yellow-furred beast called a "Flammie", a bird/fire dragon hybrid called a "Blaziken", a cute cat-like creature with tiny wings and a red pompom dangling in front of it called a "Moogle", a muscular, bipedal blue dragon with a silver horn and white wings called an "X-V", a female, humanoid, silver dragon called a "Sidian" and a blue water-type wolf-creature with a massive diamond-shaped horn called a "Suicune".

(Legendz Fans: I know that these are not official Legendz, but I used them for two reasons – One: because I do not know of many "official" Legendz. And Two: I figured that these creatures resembled Legendz the most, so I borrowed the characters for this story.)

(Other Fan Fiction Readers: Since anything is fair game in the world of fan fiction, I don't want to hear any complaining that I had used these characters inappropriately. I'll shut up now.)

These were six exclusive Legendz that had never been released into circulation, which made me take pride in them even more. And so far, they had served me well in the preliminaries for the annual Legendz Battle Tournament. So far, I was currently undefeated since going pro. I wouldn't trade these six Legendz for any amount or for any other Soul Dolls.

Speaking of the Legendz Battle Tournament, I was scheduled to take part in the first official match this afternoon at the local convention center. I had some serious training to do if I planned on winning the one-million-dollar grand prize. I know – big bucks, eh? All for playing games! It doesn't get much better than that!

Now that I'm done ranting, let me tell you about what happened that changed my outlook of Legendz forever...

That afternoon, I was waiting in line for my turn for my first match in this tournament. Since competitors were not allowed to watch the matches for concern of planning ahead, I had to wait in the back room with the other contestants for a good while before my number was called. I was number 56 out of 64, so I had some waiting to do. And since the first round involved six-on-six Legendz battles, the waiting was even longer. What was worse, no one was allowed to practice using active Talispods so no one would see others' strategies. The final trait to this ultimate boredom was that everyone was being watched very closely by super-sensitive security guards who were keeping an ear out for people discussing strategies with each other. All cell phones and anything audio or visual that could communicate strategies were also banned. Any of the people doing any of the above actions listed that were caught were immediately disqualified and asked to leave the premises. This is what one million dollars in cold hard cash meant to these people.

But the rules didn't restrict anyone from keeping a sharp ear out to the sounds of the cheering crowd and the announcer in the stadium and plan your strategy on paper or in your head. You see? There's almost always a loophole to be exploited. And although I didn't have a notebook with me this time, I made a careful note to bring one next time. All the while, I was making careful plans on what Legendz I was going to use to defeat my first opponent.

I had to wait over three hours watching whatever other people wanted to watch on the single widescreen TV in the waiting room before I heard my number called.

"Number 55 – Karen Byron – and number 56 – Skyle Kelvin – your match is about to start! Please enter the stadium at this time."

I gave a sigh of relief and gathered my Talispod and Soul Dolls and entered the stadium to the roar of a crowd that had already seen some spectacular battles. I took in their excitement and walked over to the podium that had been erected for the tournament.

Once I climbed the steps to the podium, I spotted a row of notches in the pad to put in my Soul Dolls to be confirmed. There was a larger notch for my Talispod and I figured that that was the place where the active Legendz would be placed.

I waited for the announcer to signal me to start as I watched Karen Byron climb the podium on the other end of the arena. She looked nervous as she got ready for her first official match of the tournament.

"Competitors, please submit your six chosen Soul Dolls and lock in your Talispods."

I didn't have to stall – I already knew the order I was using. I inserted my Talispod into the first notch and inserted my "Flammie" Soul Doll into it. And into the five other notches I inserted Suicune, Sidian, Blaziken, X-V and Moogle in that order. Once I had chosen my order, I pressed the red button in front of each notch marked, "Lock". There was a minute's pause as Karen selected her own Soul Dolls and locked them in.

Finally, six small LCD screens below my locked-in Soul Dolls lit up and showed for the first time the Legendz that Karen had chosen along with the element each one had. Now I knew her strategy and I could finally make some official plans to win. And I was sure that she was seeing my own strategy and trying to figure out how to combat these six unique Legendz.

"Contestants, "Reborn" in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1..."

I placed my hand on the pad in front of my Talispod and yelled, "REBORN, FLAMMIE!!!"

A projector installed somewhere in the podium I was on transferred the data in my Talispod to project my Flammie into the arena at a super-sized scale. Granted, it wasn't real, but it was enough for the crowd to go nuts as Karen yelled, "REBORN, STORM WORM!!!" A large, green-and-gold worm appeared in the arena and the match officially began.

Each contestant entered in the tournament got three chances to use what's called a "Shift Element" anytime during the tournament. A "Shift Element" is a move that changes the element on the arena floor to go in the favor of the monster they were using. They can really come in handy when you were facing a monster of an element stronger than you.

I opened up the match by telling my Flammie to take to the air. Since it was a Wind Element, I would benefit from being in the air. Since her Legendz was an Earth Element, she panicked and immediately used one of her three Shift Elements.

The ground in the arena started quaking and a thick fissure ripped through the arena floor. Even though it was a hologram, it seemed pretty real to me. From deep inside the arena, a cascade of sand erupted from it and filled the floor. Soon, it was thick enough for Karen's Storm Worm to burrow underneath it and disappear from view.

"Flammie! Look alive!"

My Flammie soared over the sandy arena in search of Karen's Storm Worm. It looked as if it had completely vanished, but then it fired a stream of filth from underground and it slammed into Flammie's back, reducing its Hit Points.

But now that I knew where it was, I instructed Flammie to started kicking up a sandstorm with its four wings. The wind parted the sand and revealed the Storm Worm's location.

"Flammie! Use Whirlwind!"

Each Legendz had its own unique finishing move along with an assortment of regular moves. The trick was to use your finishing move at the right time when your foe's HP was next to nothing. Otherwise, you would use most of its strength up in one shot and it would be rendered defenseless until it recovered.

Flammie started spinning at high speed until the sand was almost completely gone. I then ordered it to attack the Storm Worm directly. It dove at the exposed Storm Worm with its talons out and picked it up with its incredible strength.

"Flammie, finish it! Slam it into the ground!"

Flammie spread each of its four wings, rolled in mid-air and drove the Storm Worm into the ground with the force of a thunderous piledriver. Almost instantly, Karen's HP dropped down to zero and the Storm Worm exploded into a blast of white light. No finishing move necessary.

Along with the Storm Worm's defeat, the sandy arena vanished with it and Karen had to pick another Legendz. This time, however, she chose something a little more formidable. She picked a massive behemoth called a "Fire Giant". Since I had won the previous round, Karen got the first move. She chose to attack directly with...

"Flame Sword!"

This time, my Flammie didn't move fast enough and was hit hard by the attack. It was devastating, but not enough to knock it out of the fight. Since Fire Giant was too big to pick up, I had to wear it down.

"Flammie! Use Water Breath!"

This particular Legendz was officially labeled a "Wind" Element, but if there was an "Omni" Element, it would definitely be in it. My Flammie had a complete range of elemental breath attacks and was therefore the strongest Legendz in my collection.

A blast of high-pressure water flew from Flammie's maw and slammed into Fire Giant, punching out a good two-thirds of its HP in one shot. But the final move by Karen's Fire Giant knocked my Flammie out cold.

Now that my strongest monster was out of the running, I had to pick something that would work for the rest of her team. I didn't even get a chance to use "Flammie Breath" – Flammie's finishing move. Darn.

The announcer wasn't helping, either. "OOH!!! And Skyle's Flammie goes down in "Flammie" and glory! Now that his strongest monster is out of commission, what will he pick next?"

I had a wide variety of Legendz to choose from. Since most of Karen's team was fire- or earth-based, I decided to go with...

"REBORN, SUICUNE!!!"

The Water-type wolf was significantly smaller than the Fire Giant, but this one had a lot of spunk in it. Since Fire Giant was close to collapsing, I decided to cut to the chase.

"Suicune, Hydro Cannon!"

Suicune engulfed itself in a blue aura and looked up at the Fire Giant. Opening its muzzle, it charged up an orb of watery-blue energy and unloaded it all into its opponent. Fire Giant came crashing down hard when it connected.

But since Suicune's Hydro Cannon was considered a rare "suicide move", my Legendz exploded with it in a flash of blue light, causing both Karen and I to pick a different Legendz at the same time.

"Holy cow!" yelled the announcer. "Both Suicune and Fire Giant knocked each other out of the arena! This is almost unheard of in all the Legendz I've seen!"

Now I had Sidian, Blaziken, X-V and Moogle to work with. Since none of them could effectively combat Earth or Fire Elements that well, I decided to take a chance.

"REBORN, MOOGLE!!!"

A pint-sized pipsqueak of a Legendz appeared as Karen yelled, "REBORN, SALAMANDER!!!"

(Legendz Fans: I do not know what Salamander looks like at the moment, so you'll have to use your imagination on this one.)

A large orange lizard appeared complete with leathery wings. It looked absolutely massive compared to my little Moogle, but I wasn't about to let size hold me back. I still had an ace up my sleeve.

"Moogle, Magical Hats!"

The pint-sized Moogle leapt high into the air and spun around before it split in two and dropped back onto the arena floor and stood there. The two Moogles then disappeared under two of four magicians' hats with question marks on them. The hats then started spinning around rapidly before coming to rest in a line with no indication of where the Moogles had gone.

(Author's Note: Yu-Gi-Oh! fans should recognize this.)

The rule of Magical Hats is kind of like a game of chance. My Moogle only has enough Hit Points to take just one attack, but it has the ability to KO its opponent in one shot with Magical Hats. The two Moogles hide under two of the four hats while a trap hides under the other two. If my opponent picks one of the right hats, it's game over for me, but if they pick the wrong hat... well, that's for later.

"In all my times of calling Legendz Battles, I have never seen a move like this, folks! It's like playing Russian Roulette!"

Karen was at a loss for what to do. She had to pick one of the four hats had hope it contained one of the Moogles. But she must have panicked and said frantically, "Salamander, hit the second-left hat!"

Since I myself didn't know where my Moogles had gone, I had to cross my fingers. I watched at Salamander rushed the chosen hat.

When the smoke cleared, I smiled at the result. An orb of yellow energy had been revealed when the hat had exploded. Wrong choice. Before Salamander could react, it had exploded, surrounding the arena in yellow energy and erasing the Legendz from the playing field.

Winning at Magical Hats was a double-edged sword. On the plus side, I could call back Moogle and leave him in the back ranks. However, Magical Hats could only be used once per battle, so Moogle was now completely useless.

"Come back!" I called to my Moogle and it vanished in a flash of white light.

Now it was three-on-three even though I technically had four Legendz left. Now I had X-V, Sidian and Blaziken left. And judging from the three monsters that Karen was left with, I decided to pick...

"REBORN, HARPY!!!"

A large bird-like creature appeared on Karen's side of the field while I decided to play my own hand.

"REBORN, BLAZIKEN!!!"

The bird/fire dragon creature that I had mentioned earlier appeared on my side of the field. Now that it was a Fire-type against a Wind-Type, there shouldn't be much type conflict.

Just like last time, Karen went first due to my win in the previous round. She opened up by telling her Harpy to get airborne. Once Wind-type Legendz are in the air, they become much more dangerous. Unfortunately, this also takes a turn to pull of, so it left her wide open for attacks.

But even though Harpy was dangerous in the air, I still had a trick up my sleeve. All I had to do was press that magic button labeled...

"What's this?!" said the announcer. "It looks like Skyle is about to use a Shift Element!"

The instant I pressed that button, Blaziken leapt high into the air and let fly a column of fire at the center of the arena floor. And once it hit, a column of hot lava spewed out of the newly-created hole and flooded the arena in seconds. This did no damage to the surrounding area since it was only a hologram, but it would be devastating if Karen's Harpy hit the floor now.

Blaziken, on the other hand, had perched himself on an outcropping of rock that had been released with the lava. Since this was the end of my turn, I let Karen do her worst.

"Harpy, use Wing Attack!"

Harpy came soaring at Blaziken with its wings spread out to clip my Legendz a new chin. But unfortunately, the gust created by Harpy's wings caused the lava to surge up in front of Blaziken and create a temporary molten shield.

"Harpy! Watch out!"

But it was too late. Harpy hit the swell and it took a major chunk out of its HP. It didn't kill it, but it did cause it to get a Burn. Judging from the amount of HP it had left, it had only two turns to defeat my Blaziken or it would faint from the Burn damage.

Now that it was my turn, I decided to finish off the Harpy and spare its suffering.

"Blaziken, Blaze Kick!"

Blaziken jumped from atop its rock platform and gave a swift spin-kick to Harpy's chest with fire surrounding its leg and talons. Harpy became merely dust.

Since my monster was still on the field, I still had the benefit of my Shift Element. Unfortunately for Karen, she did not have any Fire-type Legendz left and was faced with a difficult decision. Should she try and brave my lava field with her weaker Legendz or should she give up? Each person was given a full 60 seconds to come up with a strategy between defeats or they lose a randomly-chosen Legendz from their remaining lineup and a different one was automatically chosen for them. So far, Karen had 20 seconds left.

Just when it looked like she was about to run out of time, a sound blared throughout the arena. I smiled as my Blaziken was called back and the lava field disappeared.

"That's all she wrote, folks! Newbie Karen Byron can't handle the pressure and she's thrown in the towel! The winner of this match is Skyle Kelvin!"

The crowd went nuts as my name and picture went up on the screen with the word "WINNER!!!" underneath it. I had won the first round, but I still had five rounds to go if I hoped to win that one million-dollar grand prize. What was more, the difficulty would be increased tomorrow because I would be fighting with one less Soul Doll than before. I went home to call it a day and prepare for my next round tomorrow afternoon.

That night, I was visited by a familiar yet strange dream.

(Author's Note: For you Pokémon fanatics, I'm pretty sure this battle went somewhat like a Pokémon battle, eh?)

The dark figure that had bullied the bald man the previous night had moved to an old wind duct somewhere in the Dark Wiz Company building. This was one of his favorite haunts because he could get a little natural wind. However, this feather-weight breeze wasn't enough to satisfy his longing for the wind and he still had to resort to a portable fan.

In one hand, he held a new portable fan and was blowing it on his face. In the other, however, he held a Soul Doll and was staring deeply at it.

"For countless years, I have been waiting for you," he said darkly, staring at the Soul Doll. "All this time, you've been staring back at me with those gentle eyes. And yet... you have been unable to return to the planet because of..." He sighed and turned it. "...unfortunate circumstances. First the War... then the Kaze no Saga dying... then the Wind Talispod vanishing from the world. You've been without a body for so long. Now that the Kaze no Saga and the Talispod have been revealed, you will be whole again. And only then... will the Windragons take back their rightful place."

After he had expressed his most haunting thoughts, he held the Soul Doll up to his eye level and continued to stare at it.

"It happened last time... it will not happen again. I lost you once... I will do everything in my power so it will not happen again. But just to make sure..."

He put a sharp nail on the front of the Soul Doll. They were supposed to be indestructible, but what happened next changed all that. The Soul Doll emitted a bright white light and a small crack spider-webbed from the point where he touched it. It didn't break, but it was clearly damaged.

The figure smiled and let out a dark chuckle. "Now this time, Fate will note take you away from me. The Kaze no Saga will not expect this whatsoever. A little wax and he will be none the wiser."

He then pressed a button to an intercom marked, "Exclusive Line to President". "Mr. President!"

The dream shifted from the figure's hideout to back to the bald man's room where he had been before. The President heard the figure's voice and started to sweat. He pressed a similar button marked, "Exclusive Line to Mr. (...)".

"Y-Yes, sir?" he stammered. He always felt uneasy when talking to him.

"I've got a task for you. When it arrives, I want you to send this Soul Doll to the Kaze no Saga posthaste! I want it to be there before the Legendz Battle Finals. As for how you do it, I don't care. Spruce it up; make an event out of it. Do whatever it takes so that he does not get suspicious, got it?"

The President gulped and gave his answer. "Yes, M-Mr. (...). I will see to it." He then pressed a button to a local intercom. "Miss Sergei? Mr. (...) has a package for you to deliver up here. Please go and fetch it... and bring him a new fan. He's probably disposed of the previous one by now."

"Yes, Mr. President," said the woman on the other end. "I'm on my way there right now."

The President cut the connection and let out a sigh as he leaned back in his chair. "She doesn't seem to be bothered by Mr. (...)'s presence. Why am I the one who always has to deal with him?!" He thought about his words for a second to make sure the line to him was cut. "Then again, he did tell us where to find that thing. I wouldn't be in business if it wasn't for him. And this Legendz fad – that's big money right there. Maybe I'm rushing things. But still..." He shuddered at the thought. "He still scares me."

The dream then shifted back to the figure, who had disposed of his current portable fan and was awaiting another. He rolled the Soul Doll in his hand and polished it with some wax that he had brought with. Soon, you couldn't even tell that he had cracked it.

"Soon, (…), we will be together again. The pieces are in motion as we speak and Fate will be on our side again."

He then turned his head so that I could see his face for the first time.

I nearly screamed when I saw him. It wasn't possible! They weren't real! This was all a dream! It couldn't be...!!!

(Author's Note: For those of you who don't speak Legendz, "Kaze no Saga" is Japanese for "Saga of Wind".)

"HOLY &$!!!"

I woke up and sat up screaming. The face of the figure that had haunted my dreams had finally shown himself! Like a great demon, he had looked at me with those evil eyes and had scared me out of my mind. It was like looking at the Devil Reincarnated and living!

But as I thought about what I had seen, the memory of the dream seemed to fade away, leaving a faded memory somewhere in the back of my head. It amounted to nothing more than a simple nightmare. It was as if a divine force was wiping it from my memory. I soon forgot the whole thing and went about my normal day to get ready for the next match.

The next three matches over the next three days were a bit more exciting each time I battled. Granted, I now had to choose from an ever-decreasing number of my Soul Dolls, and during the fourth match of the tournament, and I had used my second of three Shift Elements, but everything was coming much easier now.

Pretty soon, I was going for the Semi-Finals with just two Soul Dolls to use. My opponent was a heavy-duty Water Element fanatic and had brought out a Giant Crab and a Maze Octopus to battle my Flammie and X-V. However, he obviously knew what he was doing because my X-V went down hard in the first few rounds leaving me with a two-on-one situation. Granted, my Flammie finished off the Giant Crab with one good Flammie Breath, but I underestimated the Maze Octopus' HP and used my Flammie Breath too early, leaving me wide open for a brutal attack by my opponent's water Legendz.

Now I had used my finishing move and the Maze Octopus had over half its HP left while mine was in the red. I was a sitting duck.

"It looks like this match is all over, folks!" said the announcer, not helping the situation yet again. "Skyle Kelvin, whose shown tremendous determination for a first-timer, is about to be taken down by the 2-time champ Dominick Polkov!"

I had a choice to make. I could take out his Maze Octopus if I used my last Shift Element, but that would be a big waste on a single monster. I had really hoped to save it for the Finals, but it looked like I had no other options if I wanted to win.

I went for it. My Flammie was suddenly surrounded by a shield of multi-colored energy and the wind suddenly picked up in the arena. It was enough protection to eat up an attack by Dominick's Maze Octopus, giving me enough time to launch another Flammie Breath. I crossed my fingers that it would work and...

...YES!!! The hit was critical and doubled the damage dealt to my opponent! I had won the Semi-Finals!

That night, I was admiring yet a pre-prize ribbon for remaining undefeated through the Semi-Finals. It was silver, but that only encouraged me to keep fighting for the million-dollar grand prize.

Just then, I heard my doorbell ring. That was funny. I wasn't expecting anyone and my mail had already come. Walking to the door, I opened it, expecting to see someone important, but I was taken aback when I saw the UPS guy holding a small box in his hand with the Dark Wiz Company insignia on it. After signing for the package, I went inside to open it.

This was very odd. I hadn't ordered anything and no one had sent me anything recently. Regardless, I slit open the tape and looked at the contents.

Inside the box was a smaller, plastic display case with a single Soul Doll in the middle of it. Attached to the case was a note that had been typed by someone using a typewriter.

Dear Mr. Kelvin,

It has come to our attention that you are currently undefeated in the Legendz Battle Tournament. We have also discovered that you have been using our unique Wind Talispod to do battle. For this, we extend our congratulations. For your outstanding prowess, we have sent you this promotional Soul Doll to use in the Finals. However, that option is up to you. Whether or not you use this Soul Doll will not determine the prize should you win. But if you do use it and win, we will contact you further on an open position for testing new and improved prototypes of future Legendz. Of course, you will be generously paid for your services.

We are pleased to know that you will be using our unique Talispod during the Finals and look forward to see if you use this complimentary Soul Doll during that match. Until then, good day.

The President of Dark Wiz Company Toys

This was certainly odd as well. I was quite comfortable using my own Soul Dolls during the Tournament, but according to the letter, I was going to go up a step in society if I used this particular one. That offer was too good to pass up.

But just to make sure it was one that I needed, I took out the Soul Doll and examined it. It was one that I was unfamiliar with, but according to its stat card, it was one of the most powerful Wind Legendz out there. The crystal was unique as well. It didn't feel like regular plastic but felt like crystal glass. The image cut into the inside of the crystal was also unique.

It looked like a white dragon wearing a winged helm and other trinkets with a wind pattern etched in behind it. I had never seen this Legendz before and was skeptical on how to use it.

Looking back at its stat card, I learned that this particular Legendz was called "Shiron the Windragon". Its rarity rating showed that it had five stars – the rarest of rare. Huh.

Anxious to see what it really looked like, I took out my Talispod and inserted it in the base. Since this wasn't an arena, I would only get a look at its holographic form, but I was determined to see this one.

I held up the Talispod and said the magic words, "REBORN, WINDRAGON!!!"

A blast of white-and-blue light burst from the Soul Doll and filled the living room. Shiron emerged and I managed to get a good look at him.

It was hard to see from the color of the light, but I was pleased and shocked to see that this was a B.I.G. Legendz. It had to adjust to my closed quarters, but I was certain that it could have been 15 feet tall – tail included! It had a shocking-white body with a jagged blue mark all the way down its back to the tip of its thick tail. It had three sharp, blue talons on its feet and its hands had brown gloves on its three-taloned hands. Around its wrists was a pair of golden bracelets with a massive blue gem set into the top of them. Around its slightly serpentine neck was a golden band with several red rings in it and several wind symbols etched into it. It also had two golden rings set into the bones near the base of its feathery wings.

Its head amazed me the most. On top of its leather helm was a pair of ear flaps, rounded goggles and blue wing-shaped ears. Under that, however, was a mane of untidy yellow hair and a pair of piercing-blue eyes. Its muzzle was tipped with a blue mark that matched that on its back and it looked slightly draconic. Double huh. Out of all my current Legendz, Shiron had to give even Flammie a run for her money in terms of looks and astonishment.

Shiron the Windragon's hologram looked around in anticipation of a foe, but looked both disappointed and annoyed that it had been called out for nothing. It turned around and gave me a look that told volumes. I didn't let it bother me, though; all of my Legendz had given me this look when I brought them out of their Soul Dolls just to look at them.

Now thoroughly impressed, I said, "Come back!" and Shiron was pulled back into my Talispod. I then scanned his card for more information on it.

Like I had suspected, he was a Wind Element. His Hit Points and Attack levels were almost off the chart. His Speed was impressive, but his Defense was so-so. As for his Dexterity – his Critical Hit Ratio – I had never seen such a high rating in that category in all my life. Shiron also had an assortment of Wind-type moves combined with his Finishing Move – the almighty Wing Tornado. Anything hit by that move won't have a prayer.

Now completely impressed, I put the Soul Doll away back in its case and put it onto of my TV in my room. I wanted it to serve as a reminder for my eventual victory tomorrow. Life was grand. And tomorrow, it would be 1000 times grander than ever before.

That night, I revisited the President of Dark Wiz Company's office. The dark figure had returned and was once again thinking deeply with a portable fan in his hand. Nearby, the President was trying not to show his anxiety. He had done everything the figure had told him to do, but that didn't stop him from being scared out of his shoes.

For a long time, the figure and the President said nothing. The figure continued to look out the window at the city down below him. And then, he sighed and spoke deeply.

"This is so annoying." He tossed the portable fan aside and continued to look out the window. The President started sweating again.

"I-I'll get you another one, Mr. (...) right away!"

"That won't be necessary this time."

The President looked like he had seen a ghost. "Wha... What?! Are you sure?"

The figure looked at the President, who looked away nervously. "I am quite sure. I will be feeling the true wind on my face soon enough."

The President gulped. "S-S-Sir...?"

For the first time, the figure spread its black wings despite the confined space and swung his arm in front of him, shattering the window with one swift swipe and leaving his arm completely unscathed. A sudden gust of wind filled the office and the President suddenly went nuts.

"We have doors, you know!"

But the figure simply ignored him and relished the feeling the true wind had on him. It had been a long time since he had felt true wind, but there was something... unsatisfying about this location.

He looked off into the night sky and sighed at the unsatisfying feeling the wind was giving him. "You have outlived your usefulness, "Mr. President". I will be leaving for the (...) tomorrow afternoon. As for your business, you are on your own."

The President gasped. "But... You are the backbone of the entire Legendz line! Without you, I'll go bankrupt!"

The figure looked at the President and sneered. "Tough. I have no further interest in this pathetic company. Good night to you!"

With a swift motion, he spread his wings and took a nose-dive off the tower summit before dropping several stories and pulling out of the dive and soaring off for a destination that only he knew where he was going.

As he faded into the night, the President had a medley of emotions going through his mind right now. He was glad that he would never have to deal with him again, but he was also worried that his company was going to go under without the founder of Legendz – his main business at the moment –to help him through this crisis.

He was also confused about what his superior had been talking about this whole time. Who was this "Kaze no Saga" and what did it have to do with the "Wind Talispod"? And what was so special about that particular Soul Doll? It seemed just like a normal Soul Doll despite that it was made out of real crystal instead of plastic crystal. It didn't make much sense, but it was out of his hands now.

And why was he going to the (...) in (...)? He had never gone to any of the previous (...) before – why did he suddenly show interest in this one? It made absolutely no sense, but the President had his own problems to deal with now.

Once again, the dream short-circuited and I found myself waking up once again.

Okay, now things were getting stranger. My dreams seemed to be telling me about a series of events involving someone called the "Kaze no Saga" and a "Wind Talispod". I found it odd that my Talispod was differently-colored than everybody else's, but it's never been defective or special in any way.

And the lack of details in the figure's name and the event he was going to was starting to get to me. Not once did I ever get that figure's name and yet the man in my dream feared him like the devil. It just didn't make any sense.

But once again, I put it aside as if a second force was working with me. I soon forgot about it and got ready for the Legendz Battle Tournament Finals. I also made sure to pack my special Shiron Soul Doll. One million dollars, here I come.

Later that day, I was walking through the arena's hallways to get ready for the Finals when I overheard some young teenage girls talking up a storm to each other.

"I hear the creator of Legendz is here today."

"Ooh, really?! I hear he's really handsome!"

"I dunno; I've always heard that he's a kind of Gothic person."

"Get real! You don't think a man of that importance ever goes Goth?"

"Maybe. Look at Ozzie. He's Goth and he's a big music star!"

"Do you at least know his name?"

"I heard it's Ran... Something. It's on the tip of my tongue, but I can't quite put a face to his name."

"Come to think of it... no one's ever seen this guy, have they?"

"The guys at Dark Wiz Company see him all the time."

"Oh, gawd! Get real, Kristal! I was talking about everyone else, wasn't I?"

"Yeah, girlfriend – None of us "Regular Janes" have ever seen this guy... but I hear he's really hot."

"Here we go again..." I said to myself, walking by them. They obviously knew something about the Head of Legendz being here. But since no one's ever seen him, I doubted their sources were accurate. Regardless, I moved ahead to the waiting room for the Finals. But before I made it there, I was confronted by my opponent –

3-time Legendz Champion Roderick Dune. I had listened to his matches while waiting for my own, and I knew that this guy had one of the rarest Fire-Type Legendz on the market: Greedo the Blaze Dragon. Guess what his strategy is? Come on, guess.

Anyway, this guy had won enough times to develop a kind of attitude.

"Well, look at the hometown favorite!" he said, sneering at me. "Everyone's gathered here to watch me win for a fourth time and see their hero go down in flames!"

I tried not to let my anger show. "Go on, laugh, Dune. You won't be so cocky when I break your undefeated streak and rub your face in it!"

Dune had seen better and I knew it. "Is that all you got, Kelvin? I've fought people who were better at Legendz than at words and I still wiped their faces in my dust!"

My hair started to blow in the breeze being created by the air vent nearby. It was unnatural, but I didn't notice in my rage. "Go on, Dune – blow smoke. That's all you've ever done with that Blaze Dragon of yours. I got a monster that will snuff out your flame and light my own!"

Dune smirked and went a step further. "Did you hear? The founder of Legendz is here. When I wipe the floor with your defeat, he'll ask me to be his number one sponsor."

This was the last straw. As far as I knew, I was the only one who had received that offer. "YOU WON'T STAND A CHANCE, DUNE!!!" Before I could launch myself at him, a sudden gust of wind from absolutely nowhere flew from behind me and sent Roderick flying.

In that one instant, I knew I had gone too far. I couldn't explain that blast of wind, but I realized that I now faced disqualification if anyone saw that. But despite getting caught off-guard, Roderick got to his feet with a new expression on his face – annoyance.

"You just made this personal, Kelvin. Get ready to lose everything you've worked for. You forget – you don't have any Shift Elements left – I do.

Oh... (explicit)! I had completely forgotten that Dune had only used two Shift Elements during his matches and he obviously had one left for the Finals. And since it was a one-on-one match this time, there was no escaping from it.

Roderick saw my expression and smiled evilly. "You're going down in the first round, Kelvin. You don't have a single Legendz that can beat my Greedo."

I had to admit this, but I wasn't going to tell him this. I was still uncertain that my Windragon was up to scratch, but I felt a surge of confidence that it would beat his Blaze Dragon hands down. Even he didn't have stats as high as mine did.

"We'll see about that, Dune."

Dune walked off in a huff and I had a sudden panic attack that he was going to report me. But then I saw him head for his own waiting room and knew that he wanted to settle this the only way he could humiliate me publicly – with a Legendz Battle.

I scoffed at him and went to get ready for my side of the battle.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!!!" blared the announcer. "Welcome to the 12th Annual Legendz Battle Tournament Finals!" The crowd went nuts as the announcer took a break. "Tonight, we have a special guest with us tonight: the founder of Legendz Battle, Mr. Ranshiin himself!"

The crowd went nuts even though they couldn't see behind the black glass at the man standing there watching the match. Mr. Ranshiin didn't even wave, but he seemed to have something in his hand and was waving it around his face from the image the Jumbotron was displaying.

Mr. Ranshiin appeared to be pressing a button behind the glass and his voice was suddenly projected into the arena.

"Presenting... the 3-time undefeated Legendz Champion... Roderick Dune!"

I smiled a little when I heard the crowd boo Dune as he entered his end of the arena. He looked annoyed that he was getting such a sour reception. Despite that, he climbed the podium that had been set for him and waved to the crowd, much to their dismay and jeers.

Mr. Ranshiin then signaled for me to enter.

"And... the local hero, from Minneapolis, Minnesota..." He paused as the crowd went ballistic for their hometown.

"...a first-time battler... Mr. Skyle Kelvin!"

There was something about Mr. Ranshiin's voice that sounded somewhat familiar despite me having never heard him before, but it must have been the anxiety I was feeling. Regardless, I walked forward and waved to the crowd, who were going absolutely mad for their hometown hero. (A little bit of my ego flared at this thought.) I then climbed the steps to the podium on my side of the arena, my Talispod and my chosen Soul Doll in my pouch at my side.

Roderick and I glared at each other from across the arena. This was it; it was put up or shut up for the both of us.

"Gentlemen..." said Mr. Ranshiin. "Insert your Talispods at this time."

We did so and our profiles were displayed up on each side of the Jumbotron. From the looks of it, Roderick had been pro for more than ten years – just two years less than the total time Legendz had been around. He was currently undefeated in the Minor League at 30-0 and was undefeated in the Legendz Battle Tournament for three years at 23-0. Well, we'll soon fix that!

My profile, however, was less than spectacular. I had been pro for less than a year and this was my first time in the Legendz Battle Tournament. I was undefeated at 5-0, but by some quirk of Fate, I had bypassed the Minor League and gone straight to the professionals.

I never told you about this, did I? It's a long story, but to sum it up in a paragraph, I was about to partake in the Minor League for my first match when a particular phone call came in saying that my paperwork had been mixed up and I was actually supposed to take part in the actual Battle Tournament. Granted, I had been disappointed to learn that I had had to go through the preliminaries again, but it was all worth it to be battling for one million dollars in cold hard cash and the opportunity to get a specialist's job for Dark Wiz Company. Otherwise, I would have had to fight at least three years in the Minors before I could be here. Aren't I just lucky or what?

Other non-important data such as my height, weight and age were also displayed on the Jumbotron along with Dune's, but that wasn't what the crowd was looking at.

"Gentlemen..." said Mr. Ranshiin once our profiles were up and displayed. "Please choose your single Soul Doll to use in this match."

It was no guess what Legendz Roderick was going to use, but there were several murmurs through the crowd when I placed my Shiron Soul Doll in my Talispod and locked it in. No one had ever seen me or anyone else use this Soul Doll before and were quit startled to see its incredible stats. I even got a worried look from Roderick when he saw what he was up against.

"Gentlemen..." said Mr. Ranshiin once again. ""Reborn" in 3... 2... 1..."

"REBORN, BLAZE DRAGON!!!"

"REBORN, WINDRAGON!!!

A massive fiery dragon appeared on Dune's side of the arena, causing the crowd to gasp in awe. But what happened in my end was rather odd.

Nothing whatsoever had happened. Despite the Talispod being activated, my Legendz was still a Soul Doll. I looked at it in confusion. That was odd. It had worked before.

"Mr. Kelvin," said Mr. Ranshiin. "Please Reborn at this time."

"I did!" I shouted, despite the fact that he couldn't hear me. "Something's wrong!"

For the first time, I noticed a spider-web crack in the crystal of the Soul Doll. I thought this as absurd since nothing could damage them. Also, there was a faint white light emitting from the crack.

"Mr. Kelvin... Reborn or you will be disqualified."

I didn't know what to do. I had already locked in my Soul Doll and there was no way to turn back. If it didn't work, I was done for.

Suddenly, a bright white light surrounded the Soul Doll and I was certain that it was finally going to work. But what happened next changed everything.

The white light grew so bright that I had to squint to see anything. And then...

BOOOOM!!!

Both my Soul Doll and my Talispod exploded in their sockets, sending fragments of crystal and plastic flying at me. The force was enough to send me flying backwards 15 feet off the podium before I hit the ground hard on my back.

The pain I was in and the shock of the event were didn't have the immediate effect I was hoping. Despite the fact that I was now bleeding profusely and had molten fragments in me, I looked up at the podium and my mouth fell open. The podium was severely damaged, but that's not what startled me.

In the radius of the explosion were numerous white feathers that had appeared out of nowhere and were fluttering through the air. It looked like a snow owl had just exploded, but there were no birds in the arena as far as anyone knew. The feathers were a mystery as was the cause of the explosion.

Now my body was starting to realize what had happened to it and both the pain and the shock hit me like a ton of bricks. I blacked out before I knew what had happened.

In my dreams, there was no room or any figures to speak of. The dark figure and the President were missing in action. In fact, all there was was an endless, black void with me in the exact center of it. I was all alone here and completely vulnerable.

But then I felt him. I felt his presence as if he was right behind me. It was a strange presence, but at the same time it was a welcoming force. I felt... safe... with him around and he was here to protect me. I can't explain it, but I felt confident that he would never let anything happen to me.

But despite my best efforts, I couldn't turn myself around to get a look at him. I was restrained and completely at the mercy of this force. But what happened next seemed to change my entire perspective on this presence.

I felt a leathery hand touch the back of my neck, causing the hairs on it to stand up from the chill running through my veins. I could tell that the figure was wearing – not gloves – but thick gauntlets. I soon confirmed this when I felt the "gauntleted" hand place its full palm on my back. For the first time, I realized that I wasn't wearing any clothes. I was extremely vulnerable here.

But the presence didn't seem to want to harm me. In fact, I felt the gauntleted hand run slowly up and down my sides. It was soon joined by a second hand than began to caress my front as well. The force seemed to be taking in all of my fine details, but hang on... one... two... three? This figure only had three digits on each hand. That told me that this was not a human force that was examining me. This was a strange force that I had absolutely no information on.

Once the paws – yes, I suppose I can call them paws now –had examined every last detail about me, down to the minute details of my face, I suddenly felt the paws wrap themselves around my front and pull me close to its chest.

(Legendz Fans: Have you guessed who it is yet? Yes? No? Well, keep reading!)

The figure's chest was rather warm and bare, and there was a slight furry feeling about it. It was so inviting... and yet so strange. I couldn't hear or feel a heartbeat, though. It was just an empty shell that was somehow able to think for itself.

I still couldn't move, but I felt I didn't need to. This figure wasn't going to harm me and we both knew it. But that still didn't prepare me for what I heard next.

"How do you feel, Skyle?"

It spoke! A deep, powerful, male voice had echoed all around me and it seemed to be coming from the figure behind me. But despite my uncertainty, I responded in a normal tone.

"I feel... safe... somehow... I feel that I can trust you."

The figure let out an empty chuckle. It was missing the emotion and feeling that normal people express when they laugh.

"You seem to be jumping to conclusions. You just met me and you already trust me."

"Is that a bad thing?"

The figure seemed to be a little defensive. "No... no... It's just that you've never seen me before and you already feel safe with me."

I tried to shrug but found that I still couldn't move.

"What's wrong with me? I can't budge an inch!"

The figure leaned over my shoulder and spoke in my ear. I still couldn't get a good look at him. Damn!

"Your body went into shock after the explosion and you had to be restrained."

"What? What about the match?"

He sighed and shook his head. "I'm afraid you lost by default."

This should have made me furious. I should have been absolutely irate for having been cheated out of a fair chance for the money. But the figure put his paw on my shoulder and I instantly felt my anger vanish like nothing.

"You should be thankful. I saved you from being killed today and much more."

""More"? What do you mean?"

"When that Soul Doll exploded, you became infused with my spirit. Now you and I will become one and your entire life will change."

Just then, I felt my body free up and I found I could move again. I spun around, expecting to confront the presence that was doing this to me, but he had moved away fast enough that I had failed to see him.

"I didn't ask for you to change me! I didn't ask to be changed at all! You just sent my life into the drain and I'll never be the same again!"

The figure was once again behind me, but before I could turn again, he had grabbed me in his paws and held me rock-solid still.

"This is not my fault, Skyle. This has been in motion for longer than you have been alive. I can guarantee that the sooner you accept this, the less damaging this will be on you in the long run."

I scoffed at him and tried to wriggle out of his grasp, but it felt like he had petrified my body and nerves again.

"I should have never trusted you! I may not be able to see you, but I know you're that dark figure that's been haunting my dreams for the past two weeks!"

I must have infuriated the figure because the next thing I knew, he had spun me around to look at him face-to face for the first time. He held me in place as he berated me.

"You seem to have your priorities wrong, Mr. Kelvin. I may have served that figure in the past, but I am definitely not him. I am a Windragon, but I do not have such black wings! I am a figure of the wind, but I do not use it for such dark purposes! I may be a Legendz, but I am not a creature who would ever dream of using his or her powers for evil deeds such as his!"

"Then who are you?!" I snapped at him. "I still can't see you, and yet you're telling me who you're not!"

All I could make out from the figure now that we were facing each other were two clear-blue eyes that seemed strangely familiar. It annoyed me that I was looking straight at him but I still couldn't "see" him.

The Windragon in question stared at me and said nothing for the longest time. I found that I couldn't look away even if I had wanted to. Finally, he released me and folded his arms in front of him.

"I'm sorry I snapped, Skyle, but the evil wind that has been blowing recently has had me on edge. My memories aren't what they used to be after he damaged my Soul Doll." He turned around and sighed deeply. "I can't even remember who I am anymore. All I can remember is that I was locked away by that evil Legendz many years ago and have been waiting all this time for the Kaze no Saga to return. I thought..." He paused, thinking. "I thought it would have been you."

The term "Kaze no Saga" rang yet another bell somewhere in my mind. I had heard this term used before, but it sounded so strange and distant that it felt slightly alien to me.

"Hey... I'm sorry I yelled, too. It's just been a roller coaster ride to nowhere ever since I met you. You don't seem like such a bad person compared to that other guy."

The Legendz looked back at me so that I could see his eyes again. "I'm also ashamed that this is happening to you, but I cannot change Fate. It has been on the wind's breath that you and I would become one ever since I was locked away. I just wish I could remember who I was so that it would be beneficial for the both of us."

I sighed and felt I had no other choice. "If it will help you out, I'll do it. I suppose I can take a chance as a Legendz. Like you said, it's probably for the better."

The Legendz turned around and smiled. "Thanks, Skyle. This means a lot to me." He held his gauntleted paw forward.

I smiled as well and took it. It was much larger than my own hand, but we shook nonetheless. I also felt for the first time an actual pulse underneath the tough leather. This was the bond that would fuse us together forever.

The Legendz pulled me gently towards him and I seemed to pass straight through his chest where we entered each other. I immediately felt a great power fill my dream. He and I had finally become one and our spiritual journey had begun.

I was so satisfied with this dream that I didn't realize that I had my eyes open and I was awake. My body hurt in several places and I was unfamiliar with my surroundings. Soon enough, the Real World came back into focus and I got the sense to look around.

I was lying in a hospital bed with bandages all over my body. I had obviously been brought in here after the catastrophe at the Legendz Tournament Finals. I was hooked up to an IV and several other vital sign machines.

Leaning over to my left, I saw that I had been bought flowers and trinkets from all of my supporters in the Finals on a table nearby. Judging from the "Get Well" balloons, they weren't holding any grudges for me going out in flames like that.

There was also an envelope with a Dark Wiz Company logo on it marked, "Skyle Kelvin – 2nd Place winnings: $50,000". That was only a fraction of a fraction of what I had hoped to win, but $50,000 for playing Legendz Battle wasn't half-bad. It would certainly keep me going for a while.

There was also a letter from the Head of Legendz himself. Summoning my strength, I sat up and took the letter and opened it. It read as thus:

Dear Mr. Kelvin,

It is my most unfortunate job to inform you that due to your Soul Doll malfunctioning at the Legendz Battle Tournament Finals, you had automatically forfeited your match with Mr. Dune. I extend my deepest regret.

But what is most important to me is that you suffered no life-threatening injuries, but your life-altering ones are still questionable. Sadly, I cannot allow you to become Dark Wiz Company's spokesperson because of the incident, but I will be contacting you on a later date for another opening that will not be discussed here.

Your injuries were not serious, but I have been told by doctors that the fragments of the Soul Doll that had detonated were lost inside your body while the Talispod fragments were extracted without complication. I do not understand their report, but I can assure you that you are in no serious danger. In fact, I look forward to seeing you after a few "changes" have been made in your physique. Again, I will not tell you what that means, but it is nothing that you need to lose your head over.

I hope to see you in a few days alive and in good spirits. I will contact you further after certain changes are made on both our ends.

Until then,

Mr. Ranshiin

Head of Legendz Battle

This note was sending waves of confusion through my head. What the hell was he talking about?! He sounded like he was expecting something to happen to me between now and the time I next spoke with him! Not only that, but the doctor's report was impossible! How could the crystal fragments of that Soul Doll have disappeared inside me while the Talispod ones were extracted? I thought these were professional doctors here! I could end up with lead poisoning if the crystals contained any lead in them!

I tried to make heads or tails of this as I got gingerly out of bed. Amazingly, I was able to walk around without much trouble. After perusing the letter again, I stopped in front of a mirror and looked up at it.

WHAT THE (explicit)?!?! Was that... ME?!?!

I rubbed my eyes and looked back at the mirror again. For some reason, the reflection in the mirror looked completely normal this time. I could have sworn that I was seeing... nah! I'm seeing things.

Wait... I take that back. I wasn't seeing things! There was something there that was different. I was slightly caught off-guard when I saw it and almost didn't want to believe it.

My hair, which had once been short, neat and brown, was now long, messy and... yellow?! I had a shoulder-length crop of untidy pale-yellow hair that had never been there before!

This was strange in the advanced sense of the word. My hair had never been like this, and it was unlikely that it had grown, thickened and been dyed all while I was asleep. I just didn't get it.

I decided I would deal with it when I got home. In the meantime, I had some serious thinking to do.

That dream with that Legendz was starting to make more sense now. He had said that his spirit had been contained in that Soul Doll. And when it had exploded, parts of his spirit had lodged themselves inside me and the crystal fragments must have dissolved somehow. But that didn't explain the mysterious white feathers that had appeared when the Soul Doll had shattered. As far as I knew, Soul Dolls were solid, and there couldn't have been enough room in the Soul Doll for that many feathers even if it was hollow.

The crack in the crystal made more sense, though. The Legendz had said that his memory had been damaged when the dark figure in my other dreams had cracked it. I found this hard to understand because Soul Dolls were supposed to be indestructible. How could he have cracked it and damaged the Legendz's memory.

I then thought of a possible theory: only true Legendz could damage or destroy a Soul Doll. That was probably why no one could so much as scratch the ones that were already out there.

Another problem I was facing was the timing. The Windragon Soul Doll had worked just fine in my Talispod earlier that day, but when I was about to battle, it had malfunctioned. Not only that, but my Talispod had exploded as well. It was like it had chosen the perfect time to break. It just didn't make any sense.

I thought about these events the entire day before I went home at six. This was entirely out of my hands and was now in the hands of Fate. If Fate was to choose my path for me, was I really able to make my own decisions? I just didn't understand.

(Author's Note: I've been going on about "Fate" for these past few stories, but I've never given it a form. I plan to involve Fate in the next "Dreams Come True Anthology" story. Stay tuned!)

I tried not to think about it any further as I went straight to my room to get ready for bed. It was still early, but I felt exhausted. However, I had enough strength left to go to my bathroom and examine my new "head fur" in closer detail.

Try as I might, I couldn't get even one of these golden hairs to lay flat. I attacked it over and over with a wet comb and brush, but it seemed to have a life all its own. I always had a rooster-tail in my front while the rest stood up like I was static-charged. I finally gave it up and went straight to bed. Within minutes, I was once again another visitor to the Dream World.

He was back. I could see him off in the distance, but I still couldn't see his entire body. On the plus side, however, I could now see his face and... huh. He had the same untidy golden hair that I did. But that's not what amazed me.

For the first time, I could make out the details of his face. It was mostly white with a blue mark on his forehead. His muzzle looked slightly draconic except that his nostrils were partially buried at the tip of his muzzle. His mouth was like a jagged line that ran all around said muzzle – under which were two rows of pointed white canines. There was no doubt about it – I knew who this was.

"...Shiron?"

"Shiron" smiled and motioned for me to come closer with his gauntleted paw. I did so and he embraced me like a long-forgotten brother.

"I'm glad you're here for me," I said to him, leaning on his chest.

"We are to become one," said Shiron as he stroked my matching hair. "It's kind of hard for us to separate now."

"Yeah, about that..." I looked up at his face and tried to touch it. But my hand passed straight through it and fell on empty air. "Why can't I touch you?"

Shiron didn't appear to feel my touch as he held me close to him. "I am not whole yet. There is still some human blood in you."

"What does that mean?"

"During your conversion, your body will be purged of all human traits until all that's left is what makes you... you. Until then, you are unable to touch me."

"But why can you touch me? I can feel you just fine."

Shiron shook his head. "I cannot remember. My memory was damaged when my Soul Doll cracked, remember?"

"Oh... yeah." Getting back to my question. "Why do you have the same hair that I do?"

"Oh, this?" Shiron ran a paw through his own hair. "This is the first step in our conversion. By tomorrow, you will be one step closer to becoming me."

"How's that?"

Shiron sighed sadly. "I'm sorry, but you must be awake for this."

He released me and I felt myself floating away from him. I started to panic and tried to run back to him. "Shiron, wait! What's going on?!"

All I heard was: "I'll be here for you..."

I was awake within seconds. I thought I had slept through the night, but I soon realized that it was still pitch-black out. Checking the clock, I confirmed this when I saw that it was only 11:55. I tried to fall back to sleep, but I was wide awake now and nothing could get me to close my eyes long enough.

I lied in bed for a minute, trying to think about falling asleep, but there was something in my mind that wouldn't let me do it. I tried to think about the dream I had had with Shiron, but it was a little foggy right now. It just didn't make any sense.

Out of boredom, I turned on my lamp so that I could see anything that might be coming to visit me. I highly doubted that Shiron would have an actual physical form, but I wanted to be sure. You never know, do you?

But at 12:00 on the nose, I suddenly felt my body go rigid. This was it! I was about to be "converted"! This is what Shiron and I agreed to when we fused with each other's spirits. But that didn't prepare me any better for it.

The first thing to change was my torso and chest area. A tickling sensation rippled over my chest followed by a warm feeling. I couldn't move from my nervous system being thrown out of whack, but I knew I was growing something that hadn't been there before. When the tickling-and-warming sensation reached my belly, however, I saw for the first time what was happening to me.

"Wow..." I said, completely at a loss for words. "Fur."

It was true. Under my shirt, I was growing a coat of thin, smooth, white fur that I knew belonged to Shiron. It confused me why I was getting it, but I soon figured that I was going to actually become Shiron in body and mind.

I giggled slightly when the soft fur reached my navel and consumed it, but I was less enticed when I suddenly felt my chest give out. Several snaps sounding like gunshots in the dark room had just echoed from my chest, signaling that all my ribs had just broken. But against all odds, I did not feel any pain. It seemed that the spirit of Shiron was preventing me from feeling any pain. Still, I found it hard to breathe when my organs had started shifting and growing with a squelch-like noise. I felt like I had just gotten punched in the gut as some organs disappeared while others grew in their place. Not only that, but my torso was starting to fill out. I was gaining girth and muscle and it was soon too much for my shirt and it was reduced to tatters with a sick rrrip!!! My navel filled out and became smooth while the skin under my new fur thickened slightly and became slightly leather-like. Also, I seemed to gain some height as my spine lengthened to about seven feet and reassembled itself. I couldn't see it, but a jagged-blue mark had appeared on my back. But that wasn't the worst of it. I let out a high-pitched squeal as I felt my manhood become consumed by the increasing mass. I knew that Shiron was male, but there was obviously another way of telling. I now looked like I had been inflated with an air pump.

This was easily remedied when my legs started to change. The bones in my shins and thighs snapped cleanly in half and began pushing on my feet to take on slightly longer appearance. While this was going on, the bones in my feet had disappeared as if they had never been there, leaving them completely limp. While my bones were gone, my toenails cracked in several places before they simply fell off in bits. After this, I felt a thick, numbing sensation as my toes were practically sucked into my feet, leaving them round and white. (I forgot to tell you, but the white fur on my chest had just progressed down my legs).

When this was done, I felt something hard form in three parts of my rounded feet. I couldn't see over my round torso, but I felt three sharp blue claws poke out of both of my feet. They grew to about four to five inches apiece. Once I had my new claws, I felt the bones in my new footpaws return completely calibrated in their proper places. The gaps in my leg bones were also filled in as they grew longer and thickened out to give my new legs some muscle.

Since I was on my side, I was in perfect position for the next part of my transformation. I felt my already-lengthened spine grow longer and push out where my tailbone was located, setting the foundation for – what else – a tail! It seemed to freeze for a minute as it devoured my backside before it just erupted out of my backside and grew out to an impressive thickness and length. The same jagged-blue mark that was on my back colored the back of my new tail, adding to my beauty. I tried to move it, but my nervous system was not responding due to my transformation. I would just have to wait until everything recalibrated.

Next thing to change were my arms. Like my legs, the bones in them snapped and elongated while I gained a combination of white fur and new muscle. But what changed next was completely unexpected.

While Shiron wore gauntlets over his paws, I did not have that luxury. My hands started to thicken and the fingernails on them, like my toenails, cracked and fell to pieces. But unlike my toes, after the bones disappeared, four of my five fingers started to fuse with each other. My pointer-and-middle fingers and my ring-and-pinky ones seemed to melt with each other so that I had only three digits. After this, my new digits thickened slightly and a sharp, pointed, blue talon grew from where my fingernails used to be. The talons weren't very long – only about one-to-two inches apiece – but once I got my gauntlets, I wouldn't need to worry about them. The bones soon returned completely calibrated, but I still couldn't feel them since my nerves were still decalibrated.

Finally, my neck started to elongate and become slightly serpentine, complete with fur. I then felt my skull be reduced to shards, somehow keeping from hitting my brain in the process. Just then, my nose started to wiggle slightly before it gave a sick crunch and broke. My upper lip and jaw then pushed out and fused together to form my new draconic muzzle. My lower jaw was not far behind. Not only that, but my teeth spread out and became pointed canines and fangs. Another nice touch was when my ears shifted from the side of my head to the top of it where they elongated and morphed into blue wing-shaped ears. Neat! To finish it off, my eyes seemed to fluctuate and I knew that they had become narrower and their shade had changed from deep-brown to clear-blue. Finally, my skull fragments reformed to fit my new draconic form.

Then everything froze.

I still couldn't move a muscle, but the transformation didn't seem to be progressing any further. Something didn't seem right. I was missing something that I knew I should have, but I couldn't identify what it was. Let's see... I had a new torso, new, muscular, clawed arms and legs, a tail (Joy!), and a new draconic head complete with untidy golden hair. From what I knew of Shiron, I seemed to be complete. But the transformation didn't seem completely... what's the word... "whole". I couldn't think of what I was missing.

I lied there for a while before I suddenly felt something in my shoulders give way and break. Of course! How could I forget! I was missing wings! They were Shiron's specialty!

My shoulders were making a grinding noise like a lawn mower running over a dry branch before I felt something starting to poke out of them. If I could turn my head now, I would have seen two thin, white bones growing out of them and extending to a point where they formed the frame for my new wings. It looked rather odd to see bones outside my body, but that was quickly remedied. New flesh and new feathers started to fill out the bony frames from out of nowhere. Soon, I had beautiful, full, white-feathered wings that would make even the most devoted angel jealous.

Once this was all complete, I suddenly lost my hearing, sight and feeling in my entire body. I could still think, but I couldn't do much more than that. All the while, I began to be filled with a great power that I knew came with my new form. I could sense that I now had control over the wind and I could now use it to accomplish amazing things. A cache of strange memories and thoughts filled my head as well. I could remember things from over 1000 years ago that I didn't even know had happened to me.

But most of these memories were fragmented. Because Shiron's... MY Soul Doll had been damaged, I couldn't remember much about my past, who I was or where I came from. I felt slightly robbed that I had been given the body and powers of a Legendz but couldn't remember my own past.

Also, a new existence filled my new form. All of my meager human accomplishments – the Legendz Tournament, my obsession with Legendz, all of my personal goals and feats – now amounted to nothing. I was now immortal and I had a much higher purpose now. There was no point in continuing to pursue my meaningless human goals. The $50,000 that I had won in the tournament meant absolutely nothing to me now. I was above such pathetic goals. In fact, the only thing that remained of my human life was what made me... me. Skyle Kelvin was no more in this world. In his place, Shiron the Windragon now ruled.

Finally, my nervous system started to recalibrate itself. I felt a wave of needles flow through my body followed by a very hot feeling as my draconic blood was activated. When my body had grown used to my new blood, it cooled off and I was able to withstand its temperature again.

My conversion was complete.

I started to move, but I suddenly blacked out as if I had been knocked upside the head.

Back in the Dream World, I was once again standing in the black void. But this time, I was in my new Windragon form and was awaiting someone special. There was a gentle breeze blowing through this area that felt rather pleasant against my face. I could now sense the wind much better than I could as a human and I had a new appreciation for it.

Just then, I saw a small figure materialize in front of me. Due to my size, I had to look down at him. But this time, I could make out his details clearly as if I was completely awake. However, that didn't stop me from being amazed at what I saw.

I was looking at... me! However, this form was completely human and looked exactly what I used to look like. A distant memory recognized this form as Skyle Kelvin the Human. I would have said this, but something told me that I was Shiron the Windragon now.

"You seemed to have turned out all right," said "Skyle", looking me up and down. He matched my former voice and tone exactly. "I wasn't sure if the transformation would be a success."

I smiled and put my paw on his head to ruffle up his hair. "It's all right. I lived through it, didn't I?"

Skyle chuckled and tried to make his hair lie flat. "I suppose that this is the last time we'll see each other like this, isn't it?"

"I guess so... but I have one more question about this."

Skyle looked up at me and smiled. "I guess I can answer one more question about what happened to us." This human only knew this because he contained the former essence of Shiron.

"What about my... uh...?" I tried not to point out that I wasn't wearing my helm, gauntlets or neck band.

"Oh, those?" Skyle chuckled again. "I don't have them with me, but you should have them by the end of tonight. It's the last gift I have for you before I move on."

"Thanks," I said, holding my paw forward. Skyle shook it and asked a question of his own.

"Shiron... I have one last request before I leave."

I smiled and ruffled his hair again. "You've done so much for me – I don't see why I can't return the favor."

"Could you... take me on... one last flight? I want to pass on in glory. Let me move on in one final flight."

I sighed and took the back of Skyle's shirt in my maw. Transferring him to my back, I nuzzled him lightly and spread my wings. "It is no problem for me. I will let you pass on with flying colors."

"Thanks... Shiron." He leaned on my neck and stroked my neck. Just then, I felt several things materialize on my body. A cold, gold-metal ring appeared around my neck, two golden rings pierced the flesh near the bases of my wings, my three-clawed paws were covered by a pair of thick leather gauntlets with a golden band and a large circular sapphire on each one and a leather helm covered my head, ears and hair with a pair of goggles on the top. I was now officially Shiron the Windragon.

I felt the wind blowing through my hair for a moment before I started flapping my wings and took to the air. The black void around me changed to a cloudy expanse high above the earth. Up here, I was right at home, and I showed it by soaring over the clouds with Skyle lying on my back, enjoying his last ride.

I flew for a long time, enjoying the feeling of the wind on my fur and feathers. Since I was asleep, I could not take in the real joy that was flying, but all I cared about now was making Skyle's last moments the most amazing he's ever had. High above us, the stars glittered brightly and the black sky went on for ages.

While I flew, I felt Skyle's heartbeat start to slow. He was dying, but I knew I had done Good by giving him his last ride. Soon, Skyle closed his eyes and his last breath escaped his lungs. I didn't watch, but I could sense his body had lifted from my back as it dissolved into wisps of white light that drifted off into the heavens.

I smiled and closed my own eyes as the dream started to lift. I knew I had done my former self a good deed by granting his last wish. Now that I was fully transformed, I would have to deal with all of the responsibilities of being the Kaze no Saga. The only drawback was what to do first.

I opened my eyes and was immediately greeted by a nice breeze. I knew that I was outside, but I had no idea how I had gotten out here. Regardless, I got up and stretched out for the first time. Once my muscles were fully stretched, I took a few moments to walk over to my old car to examine myself in the side mirror.

I did indeed look like a dragon. My face was muzzled and draconic with a jagged maw and two rows of pointed fangs. My eyes were a solid clear-blue and a tuft of my golden-yellow hair stuck out of the front of my helm and the rest grew out the back of my head. Atop my helm were my two large, blue, wing-shaped ears and on the helm itself were a pair of circular goggles. Two ear flaps dropped on the sides of my head that moved in the wind.

Around the base of my neck was a large golden band that had several wind symbols and four red rings in front of it. And along the back of my neck, down my spine and to the tip of my thick, white tail was a blue stripe that was jagged on each side.

Moving away from the mirror, I ran a gauntleted paw over the other. My arms were thick and muscular with thick, brown, three-clawed gauntlets on each of my paws. There was also a golden band around my wrists that kept the gauntlets in place with a large, smooth, circular-shaped sapphire grafted into the bands.

To test the base of my new strength, I put my paws under the base of my car and started to lift. For a second, I struggled and groaned, but with one fluid motion, I lifted the car clear over my head and held it triumphantly above me. This massive weight wasn't that hard to lift – I was barely trying – but I knew better than to push it, so I gently set the car back down on the driveway and dusted off my gauntlets. The grease from the car looked as if they were going to stain them, but with a few good licks, they were as good as new.

Now trying to get the taste of grease out of my mouth, I looked down at my legs. They were definitely thicker and stronger and those three pointed blue talons on each one looked like they could pierce steel. But I was slightly spooked when I flexed my tail experimentally and ended up knocking the car on its side with a deep, fresh dent in the side.

"Whoops."

That had been a mistake, but I realized I could care less now. Material possessions meant almost nothing to me now. I also liked the power in my new voice. It was deeper, stronger and more confident, but I still recognized it as my own.

I now spread my wings on each side of me and examined them with relish. For the first time, I noticed that there were two gold-and-sapphire bands punched into the leathery membrane that my feathers rested on on both wings like a quartet of body piercings below the rings already pierced into the wing bones.

My wings, though, were impressive even without the body jewelry. At maximum spread, I judged the distance from the tip of one feather on one wing to the same feather on the other to be about 35-40 feet! This was impressive since I only stood about 15 feet tall; 20 if you went from my head to tip of my tail.

I was certainly the spitting image of the Windragon that I had watched emerge from the cracked Soul Doll. There was no doubt about it now. All who laid their eyes on me would feel a sense of pride, power and light.

Suddenly, I felt the feeling of the wind change. It wasn't evil, but there was an air of foreboding in it. There was something about this wind that sent chills down my spine. But something in my mind recognized the feeling. I tried to remember, but I couldn't place a name to the feeling. It was as if I knew that feeling, but my damaged memory couldn't find it.

"Well... you've turned out better than I ever expected. You've certainly done better since your last conversion."

A dark yet strangely familiar voice was speaking to me from somewhere nearby. I looked around where I was standing to locate the voice but I couldn't find out where it was.

"Up here, Shiron."

I looked up at the roof of my house and I could have sworn that I was looking at myself! A similar but different Windragon was sitting on the roof with its arms and legs crossed and appeared to be watching me.

But there were noticeable differences between this Windragon and myself. Where I was blue – my ears, my back stripe and the talons on my footpaws – he was jet-black. Instead of sapphires on his wings and wristbands, he had blood-red rubies. He also didn't have a helm, but his hair was slightly neater and was even in a neat golden ponytail in the back. And instead of a golden band around his neck, this Windragon wore a black-leather vest complete with metal clasps and trailing black-leather "tails" like you see on butler suits. Finally, I wore nothing on my legs, but this Windragon had several criss-crossing black-leather straps around his thighs. It seemed that black leather was a fashion statement with this guy.

But what startled me the most were his wings. The feathers were a midnight-black color that radiated a dark yet impressive power.

"Who are you?" I said politely. Something told me that this Windragon deserved a lot of respect.

The black Windragon bowed his head, closed his eyes and sighed. "You don't recognize me? I thought you'd know my name by now."

I shook my head and sighed. "I'm sorry, sir; I don't."

The black Windragon sighed as well and spread his black wings wide. "That crack must have done more damage than I thought if you can't even remember your own brother."

(Legendz Fans: WARNING!!! I do not know if this is true, but I don't want to hear any feedback that I was wrong about this! This is fan fiction, after all.)

"My... brother?" I was confused. I sighed as I tried to remember. "I'm sorry, but I can't remember."

The black Windragon turned his head to one side and seemed to be muttering to himself. "He can't remember anything? Huh. This might work to my advantage after all." I didn't hear this, unfortunately. He then turned back to me and smiled.

"You may not remember this, but my name is Ranshiin. I am your brother from the Twilight Realm and known as the "Black Windragon"."

(Author's Note: Zelda fans, freeze and read this!!! Because this is fan fiction, absolutely anything can be used in the story. I don't plan on incorporating Zelda: Twilight Princess into this, but there will be more detail on Ranshiin and the Twilight Realm later on.)

"Twilight Realm... Black Windragon..." I rolled these names around my mind but came up empty. "Sorry."

Ranshiin shook his head and muttered to himself. "I don't know my own strength. This might be a little more difficult than I had thought." This, too, was unheard by me.

Ranshiin got up and slid down the roof, where he landed on the ground with a thump. He then walked over to me and put a wing around my shoulder.

"Why don't we go for a little flight and I'll explain everything?"

Brother or not, I couldn't shake the dark feeling I was getting off of Ranshiin. But he obviously knew more about my past than I currently did, so I had to trust him for now.

"Alright, Ranshiin. I'll go with you."

Ranshiin nodded and took off for the sky, leaving me behind. A few dozen yards into the air, he stopped and turned around.

"Coming?"

I was knocked out my stupor and said, "Sure. Just hold on."

Flying in the Dream World was one thing, but it was something else to do it in real life. Here, you had to take into effect gravity and the wind resistance. But I was a Legendz of the wind, so getting airborne in the real world shouldn't be that difficult.

Spreading my impressive wings, I looked up in the air to get the feel of the wind. I then started flapping them and within seconds, I was level with Ranshiin and we were looking at each other at eye level.

"Not bad, Shiron," said Ranshiin impressively. "You seem to know what you're doing."

"Yeah, I guess I do."

Ranshiin nodded and turned to fly off. "Follow me. I'll take you to our home."

I shrugged and flew off after him. I wasn't sure where he was taking me, but I was confident that my "brother" would take care of me...

...but that's not the end of my story. Not even close! several hours later, we were flying over a night-covered Washington D.C. in search of something special. Unfortunately, Ranshiin wouldn't tell me what we were looking for.

"I'm not even sure it's here anymore. We may be screwed if it isn't."

I had to go along with him for now, despite his and my uncertainty. Whatever he was looking for, it was obviously of great value to him.

For a while, we flew over the dark capital in search of the mystery object. We said nothing while we listened to the voices on the wind. If I knew what I was looking for, I would have listened more intently, but only Ranshiin seemed to know and he wasn't talking.

Just as we flew over the National Archives, Ranshiin held out a wing to stop me.

"Yes! It's still here! Follow my lead."

Ranshiin and I flew down to the front steps where we landed neatly in front of the door. Ranshiin then looked at me and smiled before he suddenly went into a spin of Whirlwind and disappeared from view.

When the wind died, I could have sworn I was seeing things. What was once a great and mighty Black Windragon was now a pint-sized pipsqueak... mouse?!?! A small, hamster-like creature that sported a miniature black vest, black wing-ears, black stripe and brown paws stood where the great Ranshiin had once stood. He looked absolutely cute, but his tough black pupils showed a great power behind them.

(Legendz Fans: I am not sure if Ranshiin can achieve this "lesser form", but let's just assume he can since he's the polar opposite of Shiron, who can achieve this form.)

"R... Ranshiin? Brother?"

"Ga? Gagaga, Ga-Ga-Ga. Ga!" This appeared to be all he could say, but I seemed to understand what he said. He said: "What? This is my more portable form, just like yours. Try it!"

I shrugged and figured it wouldn't be that bad. I would certainly be at a size advantage to sneak inside. After all, who would suspect a couple of wing-eared mice?

I remained still as I summoned my powers of the wind to surround me and transform me into a smaller form. It came rather quickly and I was soon engulfed by a Whirlwind. The wind was so fast and strong that I felt my body disintegrate and turn into an orb of white light. The light that was my body and spirit whirled around un the wind before condensing into a pint-sized version of what I used to be.

Before I knew it, I was a four-inch-tall white hamster with a blue stripe down its back instead of black, and I wore nothing but a miniature version of my leather helm. My paws, though, were brown to signal where my gauntlets were in my true form and I had long, blue pads for feet instead of taloned footpaws.

(Legendz Fans: I decided to be nice to Shiron's lesser form and call him a "hamster" instead of a "white rat" as he's called in the series.)

My eyes were a little staticy from the transformation and I was a good ten feet in the air when I acquired this form. But a gentle breeze lowered me down to Ranshiin's level and I was soon able to focus.

"Having fun?" said Ranshiin, translated, crossing his paws and looking annoyed.

"I'm done now," I said, translated from my "Ga's".

"Good. Let's get inside for now."

He scampered up the railings on the steps to a window that was obviously locked with me following right behind him. The security on this place was pretty tight, but I was sure that we would be able to get in with our size advantage.

The window was locked, but Ranshiin seemed to be looking for some other way to get in. He said nothing but instead jumped down from the window to a dirt patch in the gardens. He then started walking around, tapping the wall for something in particular.

"What are you doing?" I asked, still on the window ledge.

"I'm checking for the old route that I used to get in here last time." He looked up at me, annoyed. "You want to help me out here?"

I nodded and jumped down to help him.

I won't go into details, but let's just say that Ranshiin and I made use of the Archives' ventilation system to get inside. Once we were inside, though, it was smooth sailing. We were too small to set off any motion sensors and we were too short to reach any of the laser tripwires. Still, we needed to keep our voices down if we planned on staying undetected by the audio sensors.

Ranshiin and I scampered across the Archive lobby to one of the many bookcases around the circumference of the room. I hoped that what we were looking for was on the first floor because it would be rather difficult to reach the second floor as we were.

"Ranshiin?" I had to ask. "What exactly are we looking for?"

Ranshiin continued to look up at the bookcases around the lobby. "When I find it, you'll know." That was all he would say.

I went along with him until he stopped at a bookcase at the north end of the lobby. "Up there. See it? It's the white one."

There were many colored books, but there was only one white one on this particular case. "I see it."

"Climb up there and pull it out."

I did so without asking any questions. The book in question was several ledges up, but it was no problem for either of me. Ranshiin soon followed after me. When I reached the book, I was able to make out its title despite it being dark out: "The History of Legendz". Huh. I tried to pull the book out, but either I was too small or the book wasn't budging.

"Ranshiin? I could use a little help."

Ranshiin sighed and came up to help me. Together, the two of us managed to pull the book out, but it only came out partway. When the book was pulled out a good two inches, there was a distinct clunk and several grinding noises down below us.

At first, I thought Ranshiin had led me into a trap, but he simply pointed down at the central area of the Archives lobby. A hole about six inches wide had sunk in about an inch or so and the central design was spinning open like a circular shutter. When it was fully open, there was a distinct drop in the center of the lobby to a room hidden deep below us.

"What is that?!" I said, amazed. "How come no one at the Archives had ever reported seeing that before?"

Ranshiin crossed his arms and smiled. "That is what we're looking for. Come on."

He jumped down from the bookcase and used his tiny wings to flutter down to the floor. I soon followed him and the two of us entered the hole.

At the end of a long, spiraling slide was a room that had been built deep beneath the National Archives. The room was a good 200 feet tall and about twice that wide. In the center of the room was a raised platform with a circular... something positioned on top of it. The object in question was pointing at a large black stone slab that was as tall as the chamber itself.

"Wow." I said in awe. "How come no one has ever found this place before?"

Ranshiin scampered up the stairs to the circular object and examined it. The thing was about six feet in diameter. and had some strange markings all around the back of it.

"This is the Mirror Chamber. Long ago, you and I created this room to house the Mirror of Twilight. The reason that the humans have not discovered it is because it is magically undetectable. It will not show up on any of the hardware that they use to scan this building.

"This is the Mirror of Twilight." He motioned to the object in front of us. "This leads to my home in the Twilight Realm. The Twilight Realm is my world where I am king. It also houses a great power that will let us take over this planet."

"Huh." That was all I could say.

"Your lack of confidence is evident. Let me show you."

Ranshiin whipped up another Whirlwind and with seconds, he was full-size again. I quickly mimicked him and we were standing in front of the Mirror of Twilight.

Ranshiin stepped off the platform where the Mirror was positioned and walked in-between the giant black slab and the Mirror. He then turned around and took flight so that he was looking directly at the mirror.

"Mirror of Twilight! Your master has returned! Open the way for me to return to my world! I command you!" He spread his black wings wide and started collecting energy. "BLACK... TORNADO!!!"

(Legendz Fans: Due to a lack of information, I had to improvise with Ranshiin's attack. If you know the right name of it, let me know.)

A super-powerful gust of black wind flew from Ranshiin's wings and slammed into the Mirror of Twilight. At first, nothing happened, but then the front of the Mirror suddenly lit up and seemed to be reflecting a non-existent light directly onto Ranshiin. The light passed right through him and was reflected on the black slab behind him. It looked like a giant interdimensional portal that contained more strange symbols than I had ever seen.

"Neat," was all I could say.

I watched as Ranshiin was engulfed by the light radiating from the Mirror of Twilight and he soon disintegrated into millions of black squares and was drawn into the portal. It looked like he had been destroyed, but I suddenly heard his voice echoing all around me as if it was being warped.

"What are you waiting for?! Get in here!"

I blinked and spun around to return back to my normal form. I then walked in front of the mirror. The light didn't hit my whole body, but a small staircase made of blue light materialized on the end of the platform and ended with a circular pad. Once I stepped onto the pad, I was fully engulfed by the light from the Mirror. I didn't know what else to do, so I went with my gut on this one. Stepping forward off the platform, I felt my entire body go numb as it was reduced to millions of black squares like Ranshiin had. My fragmented body was then drawn into the portal and I felt a strange whoosh-like feeling as I was drawn into the Twilight Realm.

When my body rematerialized outside a similar portal in the Twilight Realm, I was greeted by Ranshiin waiting for me.

Ranshiin smiled and gestured to the area behind him. "Welcome to my home, Shiron – the Twilight Realm."

If I had to classify this realm in one word, I would have to use the word "weird". It seemed like the city we were in was suspended by an endless void of "white darkness". The area around us was black but at the same time there were flashes of light pock-marking the world. The buildings were separated by no roads that I could see, but I saw strange black figures moving from place to place via platforms of blue light. And the air in here was so... strange. I could see several black squares being pulled up from the ground in random places and drifting up into the air where they vanished at random. This must be the "Twilight" that made up this world.

The buildings seemed to be solid, though. They looked to be made out of black stone and masonry work that I had never seen used before. And off in the distance was a massive structure that was surrounded by a cloud of Black Twilight that didn't seem... natural, somehow. It seemed to be a castle that was surrounded by very unusual Twilight.

"Very... dark, Ranshiin," I said, not able to think of a different word.

Apparently, this came across as a compliment, because Ranshiin spread his wings elegantly and cross his arms, smiling. "Thank you. I'm very proud of it." He gestured to the path in front of us. "Would you like to come inside?"

I should have been suspicious of his unusually-nice behavior, but something about this world seemed to grow on me. I liked it. It made my heart warm to be here somehow.

"Sure. Lead the way."

The inside of the Twilight Castle was covered with a strange black fog that I had a strange feeling about.. I couldn't see much through it, but Ranshiin didn't seem to be bothered by it. But that's not what bothered me.

As I walked through this Black Twilight, I started to feel a great anger welling up inside me. I began to despise everything and everyone... except my brother, Ranshiin. I felt that I was superior to everything that lived. Not only that, but a great power was surfacing within me and soon it was overwhelming. I felt that the powers of Twilight would give me the strength to destroy anything in my way. I was now all-powerful and I was sure that Ranshiin would help me focus my anger effectively.

Ranshiin smiled as he saw the Black Twilight starting to take effect on me. This is what he wanted all along, but I didn't know that.

"I see that the Twilight is already starting to affect you." He looked at my eyes and saw that they were now colored jet-black. "Now all we have to do is teach you how to focus your anger and power into something that will be beneficial to our cause."

I could now see completely through the Black Twilight, but I had gotten a new lease on my life. The Windragons were the masters of the Twilight Realm and soon, we would spread the Twilight into the Real World.

"Let's get started, Brother."

When we reached the throne room, Ranshiin took a seat on the massive decorated throne and spread his wings impressively. Since I was not king, I took my seat on a smaller, less impressive seat at the side of the main throne.

Ranshiin and I sat for the longest time, not a word escaping us. I could tell that Ranshiin was enjoying being back in his home world and was feeling the power of the Black Twilight flowing around the castle. I, on the other hand, simply waited patiently. When Ranshiin was ready, he would let me know.

Suddenly, Ranshiin balled his paw and slammed it down on the arm of his throne. The sound that it created was not unlike a gong going off. It echoed all around us and it sounded like some kind of summons.

Just as expected, the doors to the throne room opened and a single creature entered. Its head was covered with a massive plate that covered its face and its body was black and lined with red stripes. It "hair" was comprised of similar-colored tentacles and it seemed to crawl on its feet and knuckles like a gorilla.

(Zelda Fans: This is a "Twilit Messenger" from those who have played Twilight Princess.)

The creature did not speak words, but it did make a hiss-like shriek that seemed to be its way of speaking. I was not experienced enough to understand Twilit, but Ranshiin seemed to understand it perfectly.

"Ready the troops. We are planning to invade the Real World in three days. When we return, I will give you more details."

The creature let out another hiss-like shriek and gave a demonic bow before it walked out of the throne room, leaving the door open for us. Ranshiin then turned to me and smiled.

"Shall we go, brother? We have some scouting to do."

I shrugged and got up. "Let's."

The two of us went to a balcony behind the throne room and took off through the Twilight Realm. We soared high over the city and approached the portal we had entered from.

But as we flew, I sensed something "winking" at me from two of the buildings in the city. I paused in mid-flight to look down at where the winks had come from.

"Something wrong, Shiron?" Ranshiin had noticed me falling behind and had stopped to investigate.

I felt the items winking at me again and pointed down at them. I could "see" two bright, pure objects winking at me from two of the buildings in the city. They seemed to be calling out for me.

"What is in those two buildings?" I asked innocently. "They seem to be "winking" at me."

Ranshiin looked at the two buildings in question and his expression went wide. "Those buildings are off-limits to you. They contain the Sols."

"Sols? Why?"

Ranshiin's expression went from amazement to anger. "The Sols contain the power of Light in this realm. They are like the sun in the Real World. You see that plateau?"

He pointed to a plain circular platform not far from the portal.

"Yes."

"The Sols were taken from that plateau in order to ensure my reign as king. If they were ever returned there, they could be used to destroy me. You are forbidden from going into those buildings! You hear me?!"

His anger was truly genuine. He made my own seem completely meaningless. I actually flinched when he looked at me and growled at me.

"Yes, sir," I muttered. "I'll do what you say."

Ranshiin gave me a look that would have split steel clean in half. After making sure I got the message, he nodded and said, "Good."

We continued back to the portal and reentered the Real World. I now knew what Ranshiin could do if he was antagonized. I didn't want to make him mad, but something about the wink from the Sol had made me think. Was Ranshiin really the king he said he was or was there something that he wasn't telling me? I didn't know what to think as we left the Twilight Realm.

We reappeared inside the Mirror Chamber below the National Archives. The portal was still active and the Mirror of Twilight was still shining on the black stone. However, this time, I noticed that there was a second mirror on the platform that I hadn't noticed before. This one was a bright blue color and it didn't seem to be reflecting anything. But there was a definite size difference to this one. This one was easily twice as big around as the Mirror of Twilight. I could have easily spread my entire body over the center of it and I wouldn't have been able to reach the sides of it.

"Ranshiin...?" I started.

"That's a treasure that I had brought from the Twilight Realm," he said, stepping off the small staircase to face the massive mirror. "It's called the Mirror of Light. It can be used to teleport to any place in the world at a person's command."

"Wow... neat."

"Isn't it?" He looked at the Mirror of Light with a smug smile on his face. "I pride myself on it. This is how we're going to spread the Twilight throughout the world."

"How's that?"

Ranshiin looked in my direction and pointed his head upwards. "First, we have to install it. Give me a hand here."

About ten minutes later, Ranshiin and I had used our combined strength to lift the Mirror of Light up into the air and fit it into a notch on the ceiling so that it was pointing straight downwards. The Mirror was not as big as the room, so there was plenty of room to maneuver with it. Looking straight up at it, I could see the reflection of the Mirror of Twilight 200 feet below us. In fact, if you were looking at it for the first time, you would have thought that it was just a regular glass mirror.

Satisfied with our work, Ranshiin hovered just below the Mirror and looked up at it. "A perfect fit if you ask me. Shall we put it to the test?"

I shrugged and answered, "Fine with me."

Ranshiin smiled and flew up to put a gauntleted paw on the massive mirror. Speaking very clearly, he said, "San Francisco, California – Main Street."

The Mirror suddenly went black for a minute. I watched in awe as a cloud of white clouds swirled inside it before a new reflection appeared in the glass. The busy city of San Francisco's Main Street complete with buildings, people and vehicles appeared along with it and it looked like I was looking at an upside-down version of the city.

Ranshiin looked at me and winked before he flew upwards and disappeared through the mirror. I now realized what this was. This was a direct portal to any place on the map, inside or out. This way, we could maximize our global takeover. However, it bothered me slightly that we had had to install this thing on the ceiling. There was obviously not enough level surface on the walls and there was certainly not enough room on the floor, so I had to deal with it for now. I flew upwards and entered the Mirror of Light to follow my brother.

Seconds after the portal was activated at our end, the people of San Francisco were witnesses to a vortex of dark clouds appearing high above them. The winds picked up and the clouds had agitated the natural cloud cover over the city, turning them into dark stormclouds. The wind also picked up and the people soon realized what was going on. The traffic down below ground to a halt and several people crashed into each other while others had gotten out of their vehicles to look up at the sky.

About a minute after this chaos started, Ranshiin and I exited the portal and hovered over the city. We looked down at the city and watched the people looking up at us and pointing. The portal closed behind us, but the stormclouds remained. I did not know this at the time, but the cause of our dramatic entrance was due to Ranshiin and his dark power over the winds.

Ranshiin and I looked at each other and nodded, exchanging unspoken words. We were going to stir up a little chaos before we actually brought the Twilight here. To start with, let's stir up a little something something for the citizens to remember – something I doubt they had ever seen before.

Ranshiin and I spread out about 200 feet apart from each other and started circling around a central building. We started out slow, but then the two of us leaned left and soon picked up speed. As we spiraled, the wind started acting up and the panels and windows on the building were starting to fly off. We went faster and faster until we were just a blur. In our wake, a fresh twister was building from the wind speed and the debris flying from the building. We reached an outstanding speed and kept it for a few seconds before slowing down and stopping dead to examine our work.

In the midst of our Whirlwind was a brand-new F-4 tornado that turned the building into scrap within seconds. It was then that the people down below realized that they were in trouble. The tornado took off with a life of its own as we watched our work do its thing.

As the tornado ripped through the city, I felt... unsatisfied. I turned to Ranshiin and spoke up.

"A 100-yard tornado doesn't seem like much to me. Want another?"

Ranshiin laughed and spread his wings wide. "I thought you'd never ask. Let's tear this town apart!"

The two Windragons went to work and managed to create a second F-4 tornado in no time flat. This one took off in a different direction, wreaking havoc as it went. But I was still... unsatisfied.

"Something's missing here. It needs something... else."

Ranshiin looked at me with interest. "Do you have something in mind?"

I gave a malevolent grin and held my paws apart to signify my idea. I looked at the two of them in turn before I brought them together and folded my six digits over each other. Ranshiin chuckled and flew over to give me a pat on the back.

"That's just wrong – I like it! I'll follow your lead."

I chuckled and flew off to chase the first tornado while Ranshiin went after the second one. Since we were creatures of the wind, we did not have to worry about getting knocked out of the sky. I sailed through the first twister without so much as a deflection from the wind speed. I had to watch the flying debris, though.

We were now at least five miles from each other, but we were able to communicate through the wind.

"You ready?" I said to Ranshiin.

"Ready and willing," came his answer.

"On three... one...

"Two..."

"WING...!!!"

"BLACK...!!!"

"TORNADO!!!"

A super-powerful blast of white wind was gathered in my wings and was released with an incredible flap of my feathered weapons. The force was more powerful than any natural force and contained more destructive force than a hurricane. The power of the gust was enough to slam into the tornado and send it spinning in the opposite direction.

(Author's Note: I am not sure if there is a force on Earth that can abruptly change the direction of a tornado, but then again, Shiron and Ranshiin aren't native to Earth, are they?"

Meanwhile, a similar, if not more powerful gust of black wind had flown from Ranshiin's wings and had slammed into the twister he had followed, sending it flying at breakneck speed to meet my own.

We watched as the two tornadoes connected and merged into a 400-yard F-5 typhoon. But when they did, the force of their merging contained enough wind force to knock the two of us out of the air and level a good 20 acres of the city in one blast.

Ranshiin slammed into the side of a still-standing building while I had nothing to prevent me from spinning a good twelve miles out of town and landing hard in a field. The force of the impact wasn't enough to break my super-dense bones, but it was enough to stun me and knock me out cold.

Deep in the Dream World, I was watching the destruction of a similar city somewhere else in the state. Two massive bird-like creatures were decimating the city with absolutely no one to stop them. The first one had already done his share and he was leaving it up to his apprentice to finish the job.

The bird in question was high up above the clouds, gathering a cloud of violet energy. It wasn't Twilight, but it wasn't quite Shadow. So it had to be Darkness –a lesser evil that was not as dangerous as Shadow and Twilight, but it was dangerous nonetheless. And from the violet tone of the birds' feathers, they were clearly the masters of Darkness.

Within seconds, the bird above the clouds had accumulated a shield of solid yet unstable storm clouds of Darkness. He then turned to face downwards and took a nosedive straight at the already-damaged town. I knew that bad things would happen if that shield exploded, but I also felt jealous that there were other creatures wreaking chaos and claiming destruction besides Ranshiin and me. If I ever found these creatures, I would show them what the powers of Twilight could do to these lesser creatures.

(Author's Note: Sound familiar? Keep reading!)

As soon as the bird-like creature hit the ground, the shield of Darkness detonated with the force, power and awe of a nuclear bomb. Not one thing was spared as Darkness flooded the city, eradicating everything in its path. Buildings were leveled and collapsed, debris unlike any you'd ever seen before was sent flying and all people in the way were killed outright. The force of the explosion had rattled my dream a little, causing it to short out for a second and become static-filled. I was still asleep, but I had been thrown out my dream by the force of the explosion.

Fuming, I got up and went back to the door that I had been kicked of. The knob was open, but there was something blocking the door on the other side. I pushed and shoved and finally managed to pry the door back open and reenter my dream.

The image had changed, but it was still my dream. I was now standing in a starry void that seemed to go on for eternity. Stars, nebulas and galaxies moved all around me on their own and I knew that this had to be the Shadow World – a separate realm of darkness that housed these two demonic creatures. But despite that, I had to admit that this place was far more beautiful than my own Twilight Realm.

Regardless of its beauty, I was able to eavesdrop on a conversation between the two bird-like creatures.

I am impressed, Sheik, said the first creature, speaking in a psychic voice that echoed all around me. You did so well on your first Shadow Storm that I think I'll give you the day off tomorrow.

You... Are you serious? The second creature was surprised at his brother's generosity.

Yes. You've certainly earned it.

Thanks. He tried to move, but the "Shadow Storm" had all but completely drained his power. I... can't... move.

The first creature put a hand on his partner and closed his eyes. That was a little much for your first time. Don't worry; you can stay here until you have recovered. You shouldn't feel too bad, though. Over time, your strength will increase to match mine.

The second bird sighed and closed his eyes as his self-regeneration went to work. He was weak at the moment, but by the next day, he would be at full strength. I made a note of this creature's intentions. There was only enough room on this planet for two creatures of darkness. And by sundown tomorrow, the "extras" would be taken care of. This I promised.

Suddenly, I heard a voice echoing all around me.

"Shiron...? Shiron. Get up, yutz!"

My dream shorted out and I was instantly awake.

Ranshiin was standing over me with his paw on my forehead. It was already dark and he looked like he had done a lot in such a short time.

"You up yet?"

I groaned and slowly sat up. My head was spinning and one of my ears was aching.

"Yeah... I'm up."

Ranshiin sighed and got up. "You had me worried. When those twisters merged, I thought you were a goner."

"I'm fine. But there's something I think you should know."

"And that is...?"

I got up and told him about my dream. Ranshiin listened intently as I told him about the competition. He was quite interested to learn that there were other evil forces at work here.

When I was finished, he thought for a moment before speaking. "They obviously don't know about us yet. What do you say we use this to our advantage and get the jump on them?"

I smiled and nodded. "That's just fine with me. I'll start looking right away."

Ranshiin smiled and spread his wings. "I'll see you back in the Twilight Realm tomorrow night. You probably don't know this, but..." He pointed to the gold-and-ruby bands around his gauntlets. "You can use these to teleport back to the Mirror Chamber. Just make sure nothing follows you back."

I nodded and grabbed my own. "You can count on me."

Ranshiin smiled and pointed his paw skywards. His band and gauntlet glowed a bright red and with a flick of his claw, he fired the energy into the sky, causing a fresh portal to open up. But this portal was like the Mirror of Light in reverse. I could see the Mirror Chamber in a fresh hole in the sky and the wind didn't pick up as much as it had when we had exited the previous portal. Ranshiin then spread his wings and soared up to the portal, where he disappeared through it and the portal closed behind him. Now that I knew how to do it, I made a note on what to do when it was my turn to come back.

It was very late out and I was fighting back fatigue, but I wanted to get the jump on that Shadow Creature before day broke. So against my extreme tiredness, I took off and flew in the direction of Los Angeles – the city that had been destroyed in my dream. If I knew my quarry, he would be spending his "day off" basking in the glory of his first destroyed city.

Once I got within sight of the city, I stopped at a nearby farm and buried myself in a haystack to get comfortable and soon fell asleep.

A massive whoosh over my head woke me up with a start. That had been no normal gust – it was the creature I was determined to destroy as he soared overhead to revisit the scene of destruction. At the speed he was going, it pleased me to know that he hadn't seen me. This was going to be a snap.

Shaking the hay out of my fur and feathers, I gave myself a quick tongue-cleaning and soon looked presentable again. I then took off after the creature and perched myself on the remains of a building that had survived the Shadow Storm.

The creature did look like a bird, but from what I could see, he had many more qualities than a normal bird did. For example, normal birds did not stand 12 feet tall or were colored a deep-violet color. Also from the look of it, the only feathers on this creature were those on the edges of his wings. They looked like four flat "fingers" and a fifth "thumb" underneath his palms. In fact, what was supposed to be feathers looked more like skin to me. And the sheen and reflections coming off of it reminded me of a dolphin's melon or an orca's hide.

His wings, though, looked more like massive flippers than anything else. They were thick and wide except for the thin feathers on the end of it. They looked impressive, but he currently had them folded against his sides like a normal bird would.

Along his spine, there were ten flat, rectangular, lavender-colored... I guess I could call them "plates". A similar-colored patch covered his front torso. (I had to sneak across the buildings to get a decent look.) The mark was circular on the bottom while the top had a kind of V-shape to it. And at the tip of a long, thick tail was a pair of lavender-colored spikes that looked like they could do some serious damage it they connected, I had to be careful to avoid those.

His footpaws looked more like taloned claws to me. His digitigrade legs weren't very long, but they were strong enough to hold up his massive body. His feet were three-toed, but there was a long, pointed claw at the end of each one that looked like a long, pointed toe instead of the claws on my own feet.

His head looked to most threatening. At the end of a medium-length, slightly-serpentine neck was a pointed skull with a curved, pointed beak. There were two pointed fangs on his top jaw, and when the creature yawned, I could see two more sharp fangs on his lower jaw. He may only have four fangs, but I didn't overlook the muscles that were etched into his jaws. I didn't doubt that he could have bitten clean through a coconut if he wanted to.

But what was around his eyes made chills run through my blood. Two long, pointed, jagged, lavender-colored flashes extended from around his eyes like some kind of demonic mask. But that's not the worst of it. His actual eyes were faint silver circles in the middle of a piercing red field that was in place of a normal being's whites.

(Author's Note: Players of "Pokémon XD" should know that this is a Shadow Lugia. However, Shiron does not yet know that. Stay tuned!)

The mere look of those soulless eyes made me greatly reconsider taking this guy on. If he could destroy a city with one blast and his eyes were that evil, what chance did I have against him? What's more, how did I even know that his brother wasn't hiding somewhere to ambush me?

The pure fear that flowed through me made me shudder and lean against the building to catch my breath. This creature scared me – even more than Ranshiin did. How was I to combat a creature with this kind of influence?

But as the creature walked through the streets, I started to get my head on straight. This creature may be able to frighten someone by looking at them, but I was sure his power wasn't anywhere near as powerful as mine. I was going to destroy this creature because Ranshiin was counting on me.

As I started to move, the creature suddenly froze. It looked around its surroundings and appeared to be smelling the air. I froze as well and waited for it to continue. However, it seemed suspicious of its surroundings. I knew it wasn't in tune with the wind as well as I was, but the powers of Darkness that flowed through its veins had its benefits. It closed its eyes and listened to its surroundings. It seemed to know that I was here, but it couldn't prove it.

Just then, I got tired of waiting for it. Taking to the air, I spread my wings to get ready to attack it. But the movement had also kicked up the wind around the creature and I realized that it had detected me. Acting quickly, I gathered the powers of the wind and focused it into a...

"WING... TORNADO!!!"

A gust similar in power to the one that had changed the direction of that tornado flew from my wings and slammed into the creature just as it turned around. It was powerful enough to lift it off its feet and send it through the air before it slammed into a weakened skyscraper and caused it to crash in the lobby.

At first, I thought I had finished the job, but then something happened that made even this job questionable. The creature had crashed through a support pillar. I watched in awe and horror as thousands and thousands of tons of debris, mortar and charred metal came slamming down on it, burying it forever underneath its massive weight.

When the debris finally cleared, I touched down on the ground and folded my wings, shocked. I had meant to attack it, but I wanted to at least fight it before I killed it!

"What have I done?" I said to myself, dropping to my knees from the shock of what had happened. "I... I... I killed it! I've never killed anything before... and... this had to happen! It... it's overkill! I... I'm sorry!"

I tried to cry, but something wouldn't let me. The sheer overkill I had used had paralyzed me with a fear that neither that creature nor Ranshiin could administer. I couldn't believe what I had done... and now I had to live with this for the rest of my immortal life...

...but then that all changed. I suddenly saw the remains of the building started glowing a dark violet that I knew was the powers of Darkness. I could hardly believe it – it was still alive?!?! In my amazement, I suddenly found myself in the air without any memory of how I had gotten there.

I watched as the violet field around the building remains was lifted into the air and hovered high over the debris. The field then solidified and a familiar figure materialized in the middle of it. I could hardly believe my eyes – the Shadow Creature was still alive and still airworthy. His body looked extremely banged up and damaged, but I watched in shock as the gashes on it sealed over and its bones reformed on their own.

Holy... God! It had completely Recovered from a near-death catastrophe!

Once it had fully Recovered, it cracked its neck rather loudly and called out to me. Pathetic dragon! It's going to take a lot more than that to kill me!

Now that I knew it was still alive, I had regained my spunk. I even had the courage to talk back to it! "I don't doubt that for a minute. Gods like us are surprisingly difficult to kill."

The creature took a moment to look me over. It apparently had never seen a creature like me before and wanted to know what it was going to fight. Once it was done examining me, it let out a shrill hiss that wasn't quite as inhumane as the Twilight Messengers in Ranshiin's castle. It obviously didn't like me.

As I flapped my wings to stay in the air, I decided to find an excuse for why I had attacked it. "You're trespassing. This is my territory! If you know what's good for you, you'd leave right now."

The creature hissed again and spread his flipper-like wings to appear more intimidating. I was here first! I say you are the trespasser! It was because of me that this city is destroyed!

He had a point, but I was determined not to let him see that I was cornered. "I have strict orders from Ranshiin to leave my mark on this city. It's mine!"

But the creature flicked its tail angrily and gave me a fierce look. But who was the one who destroyed it? I don't see your "mark" here. Darkheart and I destroyed this city last night! This place belongs to the Shadow Lugia!

Now that I knew the type of creature this was, I scoffed at his attempt to intimidate me. "Whatever my brother says... goes. I don't care if you got here first; I now claim this city in the name of the Windragons!"

I could have kicked myself for telling it my species' name, but now that we were on even terms, I was determined not to show that I was once scared of it.

Then I say we fight for it! The last god standing gets to claim this city!

I scoffed again and cracked my neck just like it had. "Fine with me. Don't say I didn't warn you."

The Shadow Lugia spread its wings and took off at me. I did likewise and took a nosedive to face it. We were going to attempt to knock each other of the sky, but then something happened that changed everything.

Before we could lay a claw on each other, a field of white and violet energy seemed to appear around the both of us, completely against our wills. The resulting explosion sent us flying backwards from the force of the impact. The Shadow Lugia hit a building hard, but this time, it did not collapse.

I, on the other hand, had flown a good 100 yards where I hit the ground as slid another 50 feet or so before coming to rest in a heap. But the impact had done more than knock us for a loop. I suddenly felt my mind being invaded and I blacked out from the shock of the explosion.

I was standing in front of a building somewhere in the Twilight Realm. The door was locked, but I felt that I could get inside it without any problems. After placing a gauntleted paw on the strange lit design on the door, I was rewarded with the sight of the lights dimming and the door sliding up and open.

Once inside, I was instantly greeted by a group of Twilight Messengers. But something about these particular ones told me that they were not my enemy. They simply stepped aside and allowed me to pass. I walked through the room until I reached another door. Once again, I was able to enter it without incident.

I was standing in the middle of a large square room. There didn't appear to be anyone here, but I didn't drop my guard. At the end of this room was the object I was looking for. In the grip of a black stone hand lined with red energy streams was a large, glowing, white sphere with several designs on the surface of it. I knew what this was. This was one of the (...).

Huh? I thought I knew what it was. It was one of the Twilight Realm's (...). Damn it! I know what it is, but I can't place a name! Spit it out already! This was a (...)!

"AAAUGH!!!" I yelled, stomping my feet in annoyance. I knew what this was, but something wasn't allowing me to name it! Despite that, I knew I had to get this (...) back to the (...).

sigh I obviously knew my objective, but Fate was not letting me identify it. The only way I would get through this was to get to the (...) and get it back to the (...). Only then would I fully understand my purpose and my past would become clear.

I stepped forward towards the (...) before I froze. Something wasn't right here. There was an air of evil here. Granted, I was in the Twilight Realm, but there was something different about this particular evil. I tried looking around to see what I was up against, but there was nothing in the room that appeared intimidating. But against all odds, something did appear here.

A black-and-red portal appeared in the air and a figure materialized out of it. My eyes went wide as I looked at this figure. I couldn't believe who it was – it wasn't possible... there's no way that...!!!

I woke up as if I had been kicked in the face. There was no possible way that he would turn on me... right? There had to be a different reason why I had seen him there. I would never turn on him...

But I began to have second thoughts about all of this. The sight of that... whatever it was had opened my mind to a whole new range of possibilities. I began to question what I was doing and whether or not it was what I really wanted to do. Did I really exist to consume the world in Twilight... or was I being used? Ranshiin had always said that the Windragons would soon rule the world, but what part of that was really true? Was he really looking out for the both of us... or was it all about him?

I tried to think about who I really was and what my true purpose in this world was. My memory was severely damaged from my Soul Doll being damaged.

Wait... my Soul Doll? Thinking back, I started to remember a long-forgotten dream that I had once had. It involved a dark, black-winged figure inside an air vent holding a Soul Doll.

Suddenly, my vision shifted and I found myself standing in the same duct with the figure sitting at the end near the slowly-turning fan.

In the figure's hand was a Soul Doll that I was sure had been in the dream before. But what the figure said next sent red flags flying all over my mind.

"It happened to me last time... it will not happen again. I lost you once... I will do everything in my power so that it will not happen again. But just to make sure..."

He held the Soul Doll in front of him and put a pointed talon on the crystal surface. For the first time, I noticed that the paw was not covered. It was easy to see the sharp, black claw as it tapped the surface of the Soul Doll.

I could hardly believe what happened next. The Soul Doll cracked in a spider web-like fashion and a faint white light emitted from it. I suddenly felt my own mind crack and become fragmented. I couldn't believe this! He had intentionally damaged my Soul Doll so that my memories would not be fully intact when I awakened! I felt cheated and robbed by the sheer evil of this creature.

The vision then seemed to surge and flicker forward several minutes. Now the figure was shining up my Soul Doll with some wax so that no one would be able to tell that it was damaged. If he was solid, I would have run up to him and throttled him for what he had just done.

"Soon, Shiron, we will be together again. The pieces are in motion as we speak and Fate will be on our side again." Then just like last time, he turned to look directly at me. But this time, I was too angry to black out.

The dark figure that had haunted my dreams for weeks was none other than Ranshiin himself. My "brother" had planned all of this from the start and had had every intention of using me to accomplish his dark deeds. Words could not describe the pure anger and hate I felt towards Ranshiin. This was not because of the Twilight that he had tricked me into absorbing – that was no longer inside me. The fury that I felt was genuine and pure. I made a solemn vow to destroy Ranshiin with all my power, no matter what it took. And when I did, I would make sure that he crawled back to the Twilight Realm and stayed there forevermore.

My vision then shifted and I soon found myself standing in the middle of the street that I had confronted one of the Shadow Lugia. The Shadow Lugia... Sheik... was his name. I do not know how I knew that, but something about the force that had separated us seemed to tell me everything there was to know about him. Sheik had been dragged into this mess and transformed against his will. He had been led to believe that the creature he had released would help him take his rightful place in the world. But just like Ranshiin and me, he had been duped and was now stuck in his new form for all time. He was to be cast aside while his "twin" reigned over the powers of Darkness.

But unlike me, Sheik's heart had been slammed shut by the Darkness that now flowed through his veins. He would never fully understand happiness or joy. He would forever be sealed within a cell of Darkness and Anger. I found this hard to bear. He had sacrificed so much more than I had and was now paying for his mistakes. Even though it was not his fault, he would never know true happiness again.

Unless...

I walked over and put my paw on his neck. I was no psychic, but I could feel a faint trace of Light within him. Against all odds, I felt that there was still hope for him to come back into the Light. There was still hope for him... but it would be a long fight for him to Purify himself. I wasn't completely with myself on this, but if both of us survived the attacks against the ones who had done this to us, I made a solemn oath to protect Sheik and help him come back into the Light.

I guess I'd better wake him.

"Sheik? Sheik... You need to wake up."

Sheik's silver eyes slowly opened and looked up at me. His whites were just as red as ever, but I could tell that he was not as evil as he appeared somewhere deep down.

Shiron...?

We both looked at each other in silence. We were still uncertain how we knew each other's names. During our brief confrontation, we hadn't said anything to the other except for our species' names. But for reasons not yet clear, we did question our methods.

I could tell that Sheik had just had a life-changing vision as well. But unlike my vision, I could tell that he was disappointed with what he saw. However, I could see a new expression in his eyes – hope. There was still hope for him and his locked heart. All he had to do was stand up against his twin and awaken who he really was.

The two of us looked into each other's eyes and Sheik said four simple words that meant everything: What happened to us?

I sighed and looked up at the sky. For the first time, I noticed that it was already dark out. I thought long and hard before I answered him.

"I think we both had our minds unlocked when those fields blew us apart. I seem to know now why I became a Legendz and what Fate did to help: I was to become the Guardian of the Wind, but after my conversion, I was lost and confused. I think that Ranshiin has been manipulating my mind and body to suit his plans." I then looked at him. "What about you?"

He had to think about this for a second. I think I just had an epiphany to my full power. I was used by Darkheart and my heart was slammed shut because of it. I think that in order to unlock my full potential, I have to defeat Darkheart and cleanse the planet of his Darkness. He then looked up at me and gave the first smile I had ever seen him use. Shiron... do you think that our meeting was planned by Fate?

I shrugged and gave him my own sad smile. "Possibly. Our meeting may have been planned by Fate to help us see our own paths." I then got to my feet and held out a paw. "Need some help?" Sheik nodded and extended his own hand to help get to his feet. I also noticed something for the first time. "By the way, the new anthro form."

Anthro..?

While we had been knocked out, Sheik had undergone a different transformation. His body had shifted into a more human-like form. His legs were now much longer and much leaner despite him still standing on three-clawed digitigrade toes on each foot. His torso had also slimmed out so that his abdomen looked extremely ripped and muscular. Although all of his previous colors remained the same, his torso was now much longer and much leaner. His hand/flipper-like wings had shifted positions from being his main limbs to taking place behind his shoulders, where they now reminded me of my own draconic wings, except his wings were lined with flexible skin instead of feathers. The plates on his back were relatively unchanged, but he had also grown a pair of new lean, slim arms with five long, slender, nail-less fingers on each hand. As for his tail and head, the latter was pretty much unchanged except for a slightly shorter neck, while the former was significantly thinner, but slightly longer and more flexible. He was still tall, but this time, Sheik only went up to about seven feet on the tip of his skull.

Unfortunately, since his heart was slammed shut, he could not take in the true awe of his new form like I could. I thought it was a true gift to change your form at will (even I though mine was somewhat less than impressive), but in Sheik's case, all I saw was a bland satisfaction on his face.

He then looked at me and showed the same bland satisfaction in a smile on his face. Thank you for your encouragement, Shiron. Let us meet again when this evil wind has passed.

I nodded and held my paw forward one last time. "I look forward to it. I'm going back to the Twilight Realm to teach Ranshiin a lesson or two a bout the power of the wind."

He shook my paw firmly and the two of us turned around and took off at once. While Sheik had to fly to a predetermined spot to access the Shadow World, I simply reached an altitude of 20,000 feet and used my wrist bands to teleport back to the Mirror Chamber. When I got back, I was going to show Ranshiin just who he was messing with by giving me the powers of an immortal.

But something about the Mirror of Twilight caught my eye as I was about top reenter the Twilight Realm. It was a series of symbols that told the history of the Mirror of Twilight. Most of it was just stuff about how it worked, but there was one line that caught my eye.

"Only one who can harness the power of Twilight but not for their own benefits can truly destroy the Mirror." A line further down said: "When the Elements of Darkness, Shadow and Twilight are in harmony, Fate will choose the true King of Twilight."

This had several effects on me. First off, the only way that I could truly lock Ranshiin in the Twilight Realm was if I had the power to use Twilight but not for my own benefit. This was only half-accurate. I did not know how to use Twilight, but if I did, I would certainly not use it for my own benefit. That stuff was not to be messed with!

The second effect was when the words "Shadow" and "Darkness" hit my brain. I knew that Sheik and Darkheart were commanders of Darkness, but Shadow... I could not think of who controlled that element.

I would have to worry about that some other time; I had a score to settle with Ranshiin. I stepped up the small staircase that had appeared in front of the Mirror like last time before stepping off the platform and disintegrating into millions of Twilight squares.

The Twilight Realm was much quieter than usual when I rematerialized on the plateau. The Twilit Messengers were missing in action and the wind was eerily calm. I didn't like it. If I didn't know better, I'd say that Ranshiin had already left.

But that couldn't be true. Ranshiin had planned to move out in two days. There was something not right here and I knew it. There had to be something missing that I wasn't seeing.

Nevertheless, I took to the air and flew up towards the balcony of the Twilight Castle to check if Ranshiin was even home. The wind was completely dead here and I didn't like the chilling feeling it was giving me.

"Hello? Ranshiin? Anybody here?!"

The Throne Room was deserted, and upon closer inspection of the rest of the castle, so was everything else. Even the Black Twilight that normally hung around the hallways was missing in action. I walked through the deserted hallways, listening for anything out of the ordinary. But all I heard was the sound of my talons echoing like an annoying clock when you're trying to sleep at night. It really bothered me how quiet everything was and the lack of Twilit Messengers scared me more than the Messengers themselves.

As I walked through the castle, I noticed that there was something interesting in the main lobby. There was a large, round orb double the size of a bowling ball lying carelessly in the middle of the room. It was covered in strange Twilight symbols, but that was nothing to the extreme light that it was giving off. It almost looked like a miniature sun.

As I walked forward to pick it up, I could have sworn that it had just "winked" at me! I then realized what this was! This was one of the two "Sols" that Ranshiin had warned me not to go near. This was one of the weapons that when harnessed properly, Ranshiin told me could be used to defeat him.

But that didn't make any sense. If Ranshiin couldn't use it and the Twilight Messengers couldn't touch it, how did it get here? There didn't seem to be any way for the Sol to travel on its own – it looked like a harmless glowing sphere.

As I pondered these questions, I noticed that the Sol appeared to have rolled out of a divot in the floor. The hole was roughly the size of the Sol and it looked like some kind of keyhole. On a hunch, I went over to the Sol, picked it up and placed it in the hole. I was too busy being concerned to pay attention to the pure power that had radiated from it.

When I had placed the Sol in the hole, beams of green light had flowed through the floor. The beams then moved to circle a round mark in the center of the lobby. I had a strange feeling of deja vü when the floor opened up just like it had in the National Archives and a series of steps appeared. Against my better judgment, I walked down the steps to whatever evil awaited me below.

A few dozen steps spiraling downwards later, I came across a door marked with the same symbols that were on the back of the Mirror of Twilight. It looked as if it was sealed shut, but curiosity was getting the better of me.

Some of the symbols read as thus:

"Only one of pure Light can open this door. Inside, a great power that was sealed by the first King of Twilight lays dormant. Be warned – this power may corrupt even the most pure of pure creatures. Creatures of Light beware!"

O... kay... I was obviously dealing with a super-powerful form of Twilight here, which should have been a red flag right then and there. But something wasn't right here. A dark wind radiated from this door and it told me that someone was already inside. I shouldn't have opened the door, but I was determined to flush whoever was inside out without awakening this almighty power.

Against all Common Sense, I placed my paw on the door and it opened just like all the other Twilight doors. I then stepped inside to face whatever Fate had in store for me.

Uh-oh. Bad move.

Inside the room was none other than Ranshiin himself. But that was not all. Standing to his right was a figure that looked like a black bipedal dragon with five blood-red talons on each of his hands, three similar-colored talons on his feet and a mane of crimson-colored hair. Over his left eye was a scar that looked as old as he was. Down his front were a series of sharp, crimson plates. Similar-colored stripes that looked almost like claw wounds were marked in even increments on his arms and all the way down his long, thick, black tail. His wings looked more bat-like with several red "thorns" where the "fingers" on his wings met.

The dragon wore a tattered white shirt with a red Biohazard symbol on the front with a black bomber vest over that. Around his right arm were a series of black leather bands and a thick, black-leather gauntlet was over his left forearm, wrist and hand. He wore a pair of black sweatpants that had more straps, pads and coverings than I had ever seen on one person. But they also seemed to bend in two places, telling me that he as also digitigrade. Finally, at each of his sides was a silver holster where a lethal-looking pair of modified 9mm pistols hung.

One look at this dragon told me that this guy was bad news. He radiated pure evil and... Shadow... I don't know how I knew it, but this guy had to be the master of Shadow that I had read about on the back of the Mirror of Twilight.

But there was one more dark creature at Ranshiin's left. However, this creature scared me the most.

I could have sworn that I was looking at myself, but evil! A Windragon that matched me in size, build and power was staring back at me. But even though he was a dark Windragon, he did not look as much as Ranshiin as he did me. In fact, he looked exactly like me, but with most of my colors inverted.

My jagged blue back stripe and wing-shaped ears were colored white on him, his entire body – fur and feathers – were jet-black, his talons were white, his gauntlets and helm and hair were sterling-silver, his gold-colored bands were burnished with rubies just like Ranshiin and where my wing rings were red, his were blue. Finally, the only thing that wasn't different was the golden band around his neck, except that the rings around it were blue instead of red. What freaked me out the most were his piercing-red eyes that were the same size and shape as my own.

"I see you've already met my guests, Shiron," said Ranshiin, smiling and gesturing to the two dragons. "Meet Vexx – Lord of Shadow..." He pointed to the black-and-crimson dragon on his right. "...and his servant, Black Shiron." He gestured to my look-alike on his left. "They've generously brought me the keys to unlock this room where the power of ultimate Twilight lays dormant – the Omni Cube."

He pointed to a pedestal in the center of the room. On it, floating on its own, was a large glass cube that had millions of stars and galaxies floating inside it as it revolved constantly. So this was the ultimate Twilight. It was said to be so powerful that it could destroy not only the planet, but the entire universe. No wonder it was locked away.

"It's too bad that our "friends" had had to leave us before we could activate it fully," said the black dragon, Vexx, sighing and shaking his head. "After all Black Shiron and I went through to capture them and bring them here, they had to escape and lock us in here."

Black Shiron said nothing but instead glowered at me. Ranshiin spoke instead. "It's a crying shame that Latias and Latios escaped, but now we have another one who can take their place."

Latias... Latios... Why did those names ring a bell with me? I had never heard their names before, but somehow, they reminded me of a memory that I was sure had been damaged by Ranshiin.

"So what are you getting at?" I said for the first time, crossing my arms and returning my evil counterpart's glare.

Ranshiin chuckled. "Isn't it obvious? Before they left, Latias and Latios opened the Omni Cube enough so that I can unleash the power of Twilight on the world. And once we defeat you, we will use you to unlock its full potential."

I rolled my eyes at the trio. "Forget about it! You three can talk crazy all you want, but I'm outta here."

I turned to leave the room, but suddenly, three black-and-red spikes shot up in front of the door, locking me in. Spinning around, I saw that the Omni Cube was starting to radiate a powerful Black Twilight aura. Within seconds, it had spread throughout the whole room, trapping me and them inside the core of the Omni Cube.

Stars and other cosmic wonders drifted all around on their own. Beneath me, a white grid-patterned platform the size of the room hovered in the middle of the infinite space. As for the Omni Cube itself, a shadow of it hovered in the middle of the arena, spinning casually in complete sync with the cosmos around it.

Ranshiin, Vexx and Black Shiron started flapping their wings and took to the air. It seemed that the Omni Cube was limitless because they flew well outside the white grid platform and off in different directions. Since the power of the Cube hadn't hindered my own strength, I did likewise, but I knew I had a fight on my hands. It was three-against-one in the dragons' favor. And unless I suddenly had some backup coming, I was on my own.

Ranshiin opened up the fight by holding his paw forward, turning it palm-up and lifting it high above his head. From down on the platform, the Omni Cube shadow fired a trio of violet energy beams at the three of them. The beams hit them, but other than glowing a strange purple shade for a second, nothing happened. The three of them then split up and tried to surround me.

I countered this by standing my ground until the first of them, Black Shiron, flew at me, claws extended and grabbed my enemy in a firm grapple. We rolled over in the air and I managed to flip him over me so that he went rolling through the air. But shortly after that, Ranshiin came after me in a sharp spiral Black Whirlwind. I managed to avoid this by folding my wings against my side and dropping a few yards so that he flew straight over me. Then from out of nowhere, Vexx dove after me and attempted to rake me in the eyes. However, I rolled over so that he missed my eyes, but instead, he latched onto my back and sank his fangs into the back of my neck.

Roaring with pain, I reached back and seized Vexx by the neck and flung him forward so that he went head over tail and collided with Black Shiron as he made a second attempt to attack me. Ranshiin took the opportunity to flap his wings hard and causing a black gust of wind that was indistinguishable from the black sky to hit me in the back.

As I arched my back in pain, Ranshiin flew at me and hooked his arms around mine near the shoulders. It seemed easy to break, but try as I might, I couldn't move my arms enough to break the lock.

(Author's Note: WWE fans should recognize this as Chris Masters' Master Lock.)

Ranshiin thrashed my struggling form from side to side so I could barely see what I was doing. I tried to pull myself out of his grip, but his lock was strong. I knew that he was going to hold me here until Vexx and Black Shiron could recover enough to retaliate.

But then I got an idea. Humans may not have been able to break a lock like this, but humans don't have tails! I managed to hook my own around Ranshiin's and give a powerful tug, pulling him under me and forcing him to break the lock. Ranshiin went spiraling down towards the white-grid platform and slammed into it, stunned.

But Ranshiin's arm lock had stalled me long enough for Vexx to launch a sneak attack. He had pulled his modified 9mm pistols and managed to unload a few rounds at me. The bullets barely pierced my furry skin, but they were buried deep enough to cause me some excruciating pain. I clawed at the spots where the bullets had hit, but my gauntlets were way too thick to pull them out. All I got in return were a couple of unusual blue-blood-colored stains on my prized gauntlets.

For the first time, I was bleeding. I then wondered how immortal I really was. But even though I was injured, I had a feeling that It would take a lot more than this to kill me. I knew that every immortal was mortal in some way. To kill an immortal, you needed to use an immortal-type means of attack. I knew that Vexx's bullets probably wouldn't kill me, but somehow, I figured that he hadn't meant to kill me with that attack.

I was distracted long enough for Black Shiron to fly at me and spear me in the gut, knocking the both of us from the air. When we both hit the platform, Black Shiron recovered first. He put both his paws around my neck in an attempt to strangle me, but even with the lack of oxygen, I managed to roll over so that HE was on the bottom. And with a move more primitive than what I was used to, I gave my evil counterpart a quick three-strike chain of punches to his maw. When I was done, I had evidently stunned him slightly and a faint trickle of black blood was oozing out of his snout. Once he was out cold, I took off back into the air to face the other two.

For a moment, I had lost sight of my foes. There wasn't any wind here, so I couldn't feel where they were coming from. Then from out of nowhere, Ranshiin and Vexx came flying at me, their arms locked in a flying clothesline. I anticipated this somehow and leaned back so that they flew straight over me.

But they seemed to be expecting me to do this, because as they flew over me, they both delivered a brutal kick directly to my chops, stunning me and knocking me clean out of the air. But before I hit the ground, Black Shiron, against all odds had grabbed me by the tail with one paw! He held my limp form there for a second before spinning me around at an alarming speed and sending me flying through the air.

But this was just the first step in their surprise attack. Vexx was waiting further along, hanging upside down in the air. But he was just as dangerous this way. At the precise moment I passed him, He gave a swift double kick with his clawed feet, causing me to fall in a completely vertical and upward way. Finally, Ranshiin was further up in the air, waiting for me. As repayment, He delivered a swift crack to my back with his tail, snapping several bones in my spine and paralyzing me. But before I could start falling again, He wrapped his arms around my waist so that we were belly-to-belly. And with a flap of his wings, we went flipping over and over through the air at a speed that startled both Vexx and Black Shiron. And just before we hit the ground, he released me and threw me hard against the platform like a spinning powerslam.

This did amazing damage to my already-weakened body. I was completely winded and I knew that several bones in various parts of my body had broken. I found myself unable to move as the three dragons descended on my broken body.

"Well, well, well..." said Ranshiin, crossing his arms as the three of them hovered close to each other above me. "Look at the mighty Shiron the Windragon now. I knew that you would never be able to defeat the three of us on your own."

Vexx smiled, showing very pointed fangs. "You were easier to deal with than Latias and Latios were. I can't believe that Ranshiin even allowed you to fight us. Even my slave here had a better fight than you put up."

Black Shiron merely nodded and glowered at me.

But I was determined to show my resistance to the very end. "I can't believe what you've put me through for your own benefits, Ranshiin! You never cared about the survival of the Windragons! You just cared about unleashing the Twilight on the world."

Ranshiin laughed darkly. I had never seen him laugh as loudly as he did right now. "You seem to finally understand your purpose, Shiron. The only reason I used you was because you held one of the keys to awakening the Omni Cube. I was even surprised at how easily you were defeated this time. It seems that damaging your Soul Doll made you even weaker than you were all those years ago."

I knew that he was talking about the last time that the Twilight ran amok. It was because of me that Ranshiin was defeated last time – I couldn't believe that I couldn't repeat the same feat many years later.

"Well, Ranshiin?" said Vexx, folding his arms as well. "Shall we finish the job?"

Ranshiin nodded and my blood ran cold. "I guess. We can use his body to free the Omni Cube when this is all over with. Black Shiron..." He looked at my evil counterpart. "You know what to do."

I watched completely helpless as Black Shiron removed his gauntlets one after the other. What was under them scared me even more. His paws were not like mine or Ranshiin's in any way other than that they were three sharp, clawed digits. His paws, in fact, appeared to be made out of metal! Three long, flexible metal digits with sharpened steel claws on the tips gleamed from under the starlight. What was worse, he held them in front of him and they seemed to grow even longer! They went from about six inches apiece to well over 18 inches each. He looked like a living replica of that X-man, Wolverine, but far more threatening.

Now for the first time, I noticed that my neck was cleanly exposed. I could do nothing to react as Black Shiron hovered over me and lowered his deadly metal talons down to my jugular.

Ranshiin smiled as he looked down at me. "Good-bye, Shiron. Tell God... he's next."

I closed my eyes as Black Shiron placed his metal claws on my fur and prepared to slit my throat. This was it. After all this time, I was finally going to die. It looked like I wasn't going to be able to keep that promise to Sheik to protect him and unlock his heart...

...but then...

POW!!! BANG!!!

From out of absolutely nowhere, two beams of energy – a red one and a blue one – came screaming over me and the others and collided with the shadowy Omni Cube. Ranshiin, Vexx and Black Shiron looked up in shock, momentarily taking their eyes off of me.

That was all they needed. Two streaks or color – a red one and a blue one – flew under the platform and yanked me completely through it and out of the dragons' grasp.

I yelled in pain, but I heard a gentle shrilling call followed by a much gentler paw on my neck.

Hang on, Shiron. We're getting you out of here!

It was a psychic voice like Sheik's was, but this one was much younger and was obviously female. I tried to turn my head to see who had me, but I was in excruciating pain and couldn't move.

Up above, the Dark Dragons (Author's Note: Yes, that's what I'm calling them from now on.) were trying to figure out what was more shocking – me slipping out of their grasp or the Omni Cube, which was now starting to crack and emit beams of white light.

But the creatures that were carrying me let out a trill and began to escort me as far away from here as possible.

"What are we doing?!" I said to my rescuers.

The Omni Cube is going to explode, said a male voice from the second creature. If we don't get out of here, we'll be trapped inside it when it detonates.

I wasn't entirely sure that that was possible, but since the space around me was starting to crack and quake violently, I didn't have time for opinions. I started to feel entirely weightless and my mind whited out completely.

In my dreams, I was standing next to a creature that left no doubt in my mind who it was. It was an exact copy of myself, except that this one was missing his gauntlets, helm, bands, jewels and neck band. I knew instantly that this was my former self, communicating to me through the afterlife.

"Hello, Shiron," he said, putting a wing around my shoulder.

"Hi, Skyle," I answered. "What's going on?"

"Latias and Latios helped you escape the Omni Cube and the Twilight Realm. After that, they left to spread out the fragments of the Omni Cube and the Mirror of Twilight."

"Say what?!" I couldn't believe what he was saying! "They broke the Mirror of Twilight?!"

Skyle sighed and we started walking. "They had no choice. Even in fragments, the Dark Dragons could reach out from the Omni Cube shards and leech Twilight into the Real World."

"So, what are you saying? That the Omni Cube shards are in the Twilight Realm?"

Skyle nodded. "And the Mirror Shards are scattered throughout the Real World. Since they aren't the rulers of the Twilight Realm, all they could do was break it into shards. Besides, it's better that the Twilight Realm was sealed instead of trying to save it."

I wasn't quite sure about this. The power necessary to keep the Twilight Realm sealed would be incredible.

"You shouldn't worry about it now. Ranshiin, Vexx and Black Shiron are trapped within the Omni Cube shards. Even those are trapped within the Twilight Realm. It is highly unlikely that they will escape any time soon. Besides..." He stopped walking and turned to face me directly. "A friend of yours desperately needs help now."

"Friend...?" I had to think about this for a minute before... "Sheik...?!"

Skyle nodded and seemed gestured to a blank spot in the white void. An image that looked like a movie was playing appeared there. In it, my heart all but stopped.

Sheik the Shadow Lugia had gone completely berserk. He was surrounded by a reddish-purple aura and was sending attack after attack at completely innocent people. He was in his true form and on the ground, but that wasn't hindering him in the slightest. He was backhanding civilians, sending Shadowblasts at buildings and even had a smear of blood on his beak! I couldn't believe that the Shadow Lugia that had started to turn his life around was wreaking complete destruction without thinking twice.

"What is he doing?! I thought he'd changed!"

Skyle sighed and shook his head. "It is not his fault. The Darkness in his heart is conflicting with the Light. His anger has grown out of control and has entered Reverse Mode. If no one can calm him down, he'll destroy himself and everything in his path."

I was now more concerned with Sheik's well-being than my own and started taking to the air. But then I remembered that I was injured.

Skyle seemed to be reading my mind. "Don't worry about that. Latias and Latios healed you completely before they left. You'll need all your strength to get to Sheik."

"Thanks," I said distractedly. "Can I wake up now? I need to hurry before he kills himself."

Skyle nodded and I immediately felt my dream giving out. But before I was fully awake, he managed a few last words. "Good luck, Shiron – Waker of the Winds."

That title was foreign to me, but I had other things to take care of. I was fully awake in seconds and I soon realized where I was. I was inside the Mirror Chamber underneath the National Archives. The torches were out, but there was enough light to see what was going on.

Sure enough, the Mirror of Twilight was just a fraction of its former self. Only a quarter of the thick artifact remained on the pedestal in front of me while the rest of it was missing in action. Not only that, but the black stone slab that normally bore the reflection of the mirror and the portal was covered in massive heavy chains and was lifted slightly off the ground so that it was suspended in the middle of the massive room.

(Author's Note: Players of Twilight Princess will recall the Mirror Chamber in this condition when you first clear the Arbiter's Grounds and climb to the top of the tower after the Twilit Fossil Stallord battle.)

I was amazed at what the Lati had done while I was out. If they could do all this magic in that short of a time, they must be quite the talented divine pair. But that was for another time. I had to find Sheik ASAPronto. Looking up, I crossed my digits in hope that...

Whew! The Lati had left the Mirror of Light completely intact. They must have realized its amazing properties and used to it leave the Mirror Chamber with the Mirror Shards. Now that I was fully healed and alert, I flew up to the Mirror and placed a gauntleted paw on the glass, speaking very clearly.

"I don't care where I go – just help me find Sheik before he hurts himself!"

At first, nothing happened. I felt cheated that it hadn't worked. It probably needed more exact coordinates than that. But then the Mirror went black and the winds whirled inside it before it reappeared high above a city half-destroyed by Sheik's rage. Upside down in the Mirror, I could see that Sheik was still in Reverse Mode and was tearing the city apart. I thanked Fate for being on my side and flew up into the Mirror.

Hold on, Sheik... friend...

I practically nosedived out of the portal above the city towards the massive Bird of Destruction. I spread my wings wide and harnessed every last ounce of wind to get to him as soon as possible.

"SHEIK!!!"

Sheik appeared to have heard me, but before he could turn around and attack me, I slammed into him and latched myself onto his back. I figured that he was less dangerous from behind, but he hadn't folded his plates into his back and they were cutting into my chest and abdomen.

Regardless, I did my best to stay on him as he shrieked and roared, trying to buck me off. I wasn't sure what to do, but I had to do my best to get him to come back into the Light.

"Come on, Sheik! You need to get a grip! If you keep this up, you'll destroy yourself and me!"

I sensed that the Light in his heart had heard and recognized my voice, but the Darkness wasn't going down without a fight. The conflicting energies made him even more unstable. I held on for dear life as he backed me into a building. There was a distinct crunch as one of my wings broke, but I still held onto him, trying to bring him into the Light.

"You can win this, Sheik! I know you can! Come back into the Light! You need to win this! I believe in you!"

I was getting through to him, but I sustained a bruised neck and a broken arm before he finally started to slow down in his thrashing. The Darkness in his heart was starting to recede and I could see the purple mist in his eyes start to lift. He soon stopped attacking completely and fell to the ground, completely winded and gasping for breath. He had won. He had been taken out of Reverse Mode, but the damage was already done.

My next order of business was to make sure that he was protected from the humans who were likely going to retaliate when they got over the shock. Fighting against my pain, I lifted the incredible creature, who was easily bigger than me, into my arms and started walking. My wing was completely useless, so I would have to hoof it until I got him out of harm's way. I knew that I would never make it out of town without being seen, so I settled for an abandoned warehouse that I had seen when I was flying over the city. It wasn't very far and I needed a place to rest. Even in my emotional state, I was able to look up at the afternoon sky and smiled.

"Thank you..."

It took a while, but eventually, Sheik started to stir. When he finally woke up, I could tell that he was both physically and emotionally drained. I could tell that he could not remember anything since going into Reverse Mode. I smiled at him and addressed my shattered wing bone.

"You gave me quite a run for my money there, Sheik. I thought you'd never wake up!"

Sheik looked at and acknowledged me for the first time. I could tell that he was very glad to see me.

Shiron, what... where am I? I can't remember what I've been doing this whole time. All I can remember is anger... such unquenchable anger... I thought it would destroy me.

I winced as I stood up, walked over to him and put my unbroken arm on Sheik's shoulder. "The evil in your heart seemed to have reached a critical point. You went out of control after you defeated Darkheart and I could barely get through to you. You're lucky that I managed to stop you before you wiped out the entire city."

Shiron... Sheik looked as if I had just saved his life – and I basically did. Thank you... I owe my life to you.

"No problem at all. But just to ensure that you don't hurt yourself, I'm going to stay with you and help you reopen your heart. It's the least I can do."

"But..." said Sheik nervously. What happened to Ranshiin? Won't he find us?

He obviously didn't know about Vexx, Black Shiron or the Lati. I decided to tell him about them at a later date. He had been through enough today. I shook my head and winced, clapping a paw to the back of my head.

"Don't worry about him. We had our confrontation shortly after I left you. He is no longer a threat."

Oh... That's good.

I walked over to a corner and lied down, thinking. "You know, Sheik... I've been thinking about my purpose in this life ever since we last met, and I wondered why Shiron picked me to be his successor. I used to be just a regular Legendz fan, but he had chosen me to carry on his legacy. I never found out why. Was it Fate? Or was there another force at work then? Ever since my transformation, Ranshiin never really told me why Shiron had to choose me. All he did was just use me to spread his Twilight throughout the world. I can't even remember who I am anymore. My memories were damaged when I was converted and I can't remember anything other than pain and destruction. I just wish I could find out who I was. I wish Fate wasn't so cruel to me." I sighed and sat back as I felt my body start to Recover on its own.

Meanwhile, Sheik had Recovered enough himself to get to his feet and he walked over to comfort me. I understand your pain. Darkheart also never told me about who I was before I was converted to a Shadow Lugia. You know, I think that somehow, we were meant to be with each other, Shiron. Besides... He put a wing on my uninjured arm. I've always dreamed of becoming a great god: I just never realized it until just now. I guess in a way, it's a dream come true... somehow. So, how about it? You watch over me and I'll take care of you. Friends? He flipped his wing to one side like a human peace offering.

I looked from his wing to his demonic face. I the realized that deep down inside his frightening exterior and locked inside his black heart, the soul of an honest friend radiated clearly. I smiled and slapped my paw against his wing and shook it.

"Friends. Like you said, dreams do come true."

Sheik smiled, walked over to another corner, curled up and soon fell asleep. I did likewise. We had a big day ahead of us tomorrow and I needed to be well-rested for the unknown.

Somewhere locked away in the world, a fragment of the Mirror of Twilight stood on the top of a large tower. the Lati had hidden this shard where no normal person could find it. But even though it was hidden, it still existed, and soon, a massive figure walked up to it and looked at the Mirror Shard. This was a figure of pure Shadow that had been reawakened by Fate to destroy the world. He looked at his reflection in the shard and a sinister smile stretched across his face.

"One down, three to go. Watch out, Shiron. I will avenge my fallen comrades and soon, Shadow, Twilight and Darkness will spread across the world. You may have escaped us once, but I can guarantee that it will not happen again. When the moon turns black and the sun fails to rise, we will return. You have not seen the last of us! We will be back and our power will be second to none! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!"

To be continued...?

Coming soon from shadowlugia249:

"Dreams Come True 6 Red Version: A Touch of Destiny" – ??? vs. Vexx

"Dreams Come True 6 Blue Version: A Twist of Fate" – ??? vs. Black Shiron