Fractured Reality

"The Dive Into Peril,"

A/N: Hey everybody so I know the last thing I should be doing is writing another story on this site, but I was convinced since I have never co-authored something. So here I am the opener for this new story with my cohort Ultimate Alternate Universe. So we hope you enjoy and please read and review.

A harsh rasped breathing was heard as a person was running like their life depended on it. The wind was quiet, the world was silent, and the only thing that could be heard was this person running. They had roughly no idea how long they had been running if someone were to ask. It was easy to see that they were reaching their limit quite soon. They were running from some unseen person, or something that was chasing them. It was hard for them to exactly explain what they were running from, but it was something that should be avoided. Something really bad and possibly life threatening. Even though when he looked up he saw a peaceful night sky, he knew that with the way the world was it couldn't last long. He looked back to see a rush of some strange energy come flying at him. He leaped out of the way a great distance above the attack to land on the ground farther away. He looked to see whatever the enigma was coming, it quickly change direction to charge at him again. He dived out of the way just at the right moment barely avoiding it again. The person who was running began to try and run again, but found himself unable to move. Some type of paralysis came over him and he didn't understand how. He looked up to see the enigma come toward him again, but much slower. It soon began to take shape into a more humanoid form with all it's features still covered in some strange energy.

"You've caused me a lot of annoyance, having me chase you down, and through all the layers no less. But this game of chase is over and it's time you recognize your new master," the figure bent down to place their hand on the runaway's head.

"Master, you?" the figure responded distastefully. "You may've convinced my other with this trick but not me. I shall remain loyal to Peril,"

"Well I guess we will see about that," He grabbed the runaway's head tightly then sent a pulse of energy straight into the person's brain. The runaway cried in agony trying to resist, but it looked to be a losing battle. The sparks of yellow energy dancing around in the air lighting the area slightly. "Stop resisting or you may just be worthless in the end. You're no good to me dead,"

"Peril help me!" he called in agony as he struggled. Suddenly the runaway's eyes began to shine a white light which made the enigma wince in disgust. The runaway got over his paralysis then pushed the enigma's hand away. Once free the runaway jumped back, their entire body began glowing.

"You have little strength to resist me, your better fighting me like you were , then trying this tactic again,"

"I shall use the remainder of my power for one last act of defiance that will at the very least delay your suicidal plans!"The runaway began shining brighter and brighter. "With this last will, I shall cast you out of this layer unable to step foot here or the next two over! Your power may be great and alien to this world, but it is not unheard of. You are not the only champion of this power!"

"You're wasting your time Numen you have no knowledge of where I come from to know how to find those that can challenge me. Let alone there be such a being that exist,"

"Who said anything about there being one?"questioned the glowing figure with a knowing smirk that was soon covered by the shining light. He fired a beam at the figure which made them wince as they were frozen and unable to move. "Now for the summoning spell…"A strange symbol appeared below the figure's feet and suddenly a great light shined that blanket the entire land as it engulfed all things and as if a supernova was consuming the planet. A concentrated portion of the sphere shot into the air and seemed to hit the sky ripping a hole into it. The light fades away and the enigma is left alone. He looked around for his target and found that there was no trace of the being. He looks up to gape at the large hole in the sky where the light was retreating to. He grimaced about to give chase when the holes sealed up after the light faded away inside.

"Got away again…" he groaned. He punched out at a tall structure but found his fist went right through it. He gasped as he pulled his fist back. He placed a hand gently on another structure but with the same result which made him chuckle slightly. "Well played Numen, well played. He didn't have the power to banish me, but he was able to make all things on this layer intangible to my touch. A wicked spell…but extremely crafty given his reputation. I suppose I shall leave the task to Void, once he's done with rehabilitation," the figure stared into the night sky to see the sky shift into day. "This world makes no sense to me still, but I'll change that soon enough," he turned his back to the rising sun to disappear in a flash.

(BREAK)

A boy was walking down the street with his hands in his pants pockets and a brown grocery bag floating behind him. He didn't really have anywhere to go that day so he volunteered to do some shopping for his mom, which she teased him for by saying "you must be bored out of your wits". He had been bored as of late, bored to return to normalcy after the a few months ago of his exciting life. The boy capped wearing boy was a hero, a young hero, but a hero none the less. Ness the psychic wonder recognized by his signature red cap he wore all the time. He decided to update his look a bit by wearing a blue shirt, with a red sleeveless vest that has a hood, dark blue denim shorts, and red-black high top converse. His good friend Paula had suggested the wardrobe and she found him adorable in it, so he couldn't help but agree with just about everything she said. She was one of his best friends, though teased a lot for there being more there. However, he didn't think so, although everyone thought he was just being oblivious of not only her feelings, but his own. This was Jeff's point, another of his good friends that's way too smart for his own good. Jeff's smart enough to make almost anything a weapon, but he isn't very people smart. Sometimes mouthing off or saying things that most well cultured people wouldn't say if they had a lick of people skills. It was difficult to be mad at him, since he knew Jeff didn't know better. Although a man should know to never ask a girl if it's her "time of the month". The last of his comrades is Poo, dalaamnese prince from Dalaam. Very cultured fellow, Ness could never get used to someone calling him Master Ness. Ness felt weirded out by it at first, but grew accustomed to it rather quickly. However, he does tell Poo that it's alright to just call him Ness. It was interesting that Ness was being called master when Poo could probably quite easily kick his butt up and down, left and right or whatever other directions there are. With his Mu training and extensive knowledge of PSI he was a dangerous force to be reckoned.

Ness himself was content though. He often wondered why he was the leader of the Chosen Four compared to the other amazingly skilled members. However, they say he was just being modest. The leader isn't always the best fighter or the strongest. But the one who can make the tough choices, create morale, and a certain charisma that makes people want to act. Plus, being able to use pure psychokinetic attacks was also a very major fact that put him in another league of his own. Still with all that happened in the past and the battles he's fought he'd thought he'd welcome this change of pace. Of course it was a relief to finally come home and see his mother and sister again. Of course it was a relief to know they saved the day and beat the bad guy. Of course the peace was welcomed after all the struggling and life threatening situations. But still he got over those feelings a month in.

"I just wish something exciting would happen," Suddenly thunder crashed from above which made him groan. "Great now it's going to rain," he glanced up, but he gained a look of confusion. He saw only sunshine overhead. "Wait, thunder…without a cloud in the sky?" he questioned. He stared for a moment as a gut feeling told him to be ready. He noticed some strange energy was building up, but it wasn't PSI energy. He didn't recognize it at all which was odd to him. Suddenly the sky literally opened up to reveal a shining light. On reflex Ness raised a PSI Shield quickly around his body as a green sphere covered him. However, this was ignored by the strange energy. Ness realized his shield only reflected PSI attacks and this was very clearly not a PSI attack. "What is happening?"

"Heroes from another world, I beg you ones of pure heart to come and save Peril,"

"Who is that, and who the heck are you?"

"Please, come,"

"I'm not going anywhere until I get ansssswerrrrssss!" Ness cried as he suddenly sucked up into the air towards the rip in the sky. And in a moment's notice he was gone. Nothing, not even a sign he had been there at all. Ness was then flung through a colorful wormhole of some sort. He lost all sense of awareness and his surroundings, as his eyes were completely overpowered by the flashing light all around him. Next thing he knew though the light vanished for it to take the place of a blue sky. A sparkling blue sky that was beautiful to look at, but Ness noticed the sky was getting further away. He soon felt himself at the mercy of gravity as he turned his head to see the ground rapidly approaching. "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" he screamed as the ground got closer and closer. With the disorienting feeling still present over his mind he felt his powers were beyond use. He flinched as the ground got close, but thoroughly shocked as he sunk into the ground. Then launched back up into the air. "What the heck?" he questioned as he launched high again. Then he came back down to bounce again. He repeated this process for a while until he deemed it boring and landed on his feet to cancel out the next bounce. "Weird," Ness said tapping his foot against the ground to feel the rubbery resistance. He noticed that the grass has a beautiful shine to it, the perfect shade of green although the bouncing he just experience made him realize that the grass was probably not real. He looked around his immediate area to see the grass was the same shade. Also the trees he noticed were probably as tall as skyscrapers reaching jaw dropping height. He had never thought it was possible for trees to get so high. "An entire forest…of fake grass?"

"Heads up!" called a voice from above him. Ness was startled as he turned his head to see someone falling towards him. Ness yelp in surprise, but was unable to remove himself from the path of the person as they crashed into one another. Ness felt the other person sitting on top of him. He groggily opened his eyes to see the legs and feet of the person in front of him. "Well that landing was less soft then the first one, but still not so bad," Ness shook the confusion out of his eyes then mashed his teeth.

"Get off you fatty!" Ness groaned. He felt like the person weighed a ton.

"Fatty?!" the person quickly took offense. "I'll have you know I'm nowhere near fat," the person, a boy Ness surmised, said as he poked Ness in the head. "I said heads up,"

"Two seconds before you landed on me,"

"A warning is a warning,"

"Get off you-," Ness stopped when he looked back to glare into the boy's face but paused. The boy paused also staring at him in return. Ness summoned the strength he needed to throw the boy off of him and jump to his feet to face the boy properly. "Who are you?" Ness demanded with a serious tone. He was freaked, and rightfully so. When he looked at the boy he saw a very familiar face, his own. The Ness's lookalike picked himself with a small scowl. Ness noticed he has a cap like his own, only the brim was tilted the opposite direction. His hair was lighter than his own as well as it was more a dark brown then black, also his hair was messier. But the face, the face was the exact same. He wore a yellow shirt with a blue sleeveless vest with a hood, a red bandana around his neck, denim shorts, and blue-white converse.

"Who am I?" the boy questioned. "Well you should know since you are copying me,"

"Copying you?!" Ness exclaimed offended.

"And doing it badly might I add. I mean if you're gonna try to one up me, you need to try harder, a lot harder,"

"You're just jealous because I'm better looking," Ness said crossing his arms.

"What, you've gotta be kidding! Besides there's only one real Ninten and that's me!" the boy named Ninten exclaimed punching his chest.

"Ninten, that's a lame name, but it fits a lame person like you. I'm Ness, so I don't need anything that yours. You may be trying to throw me off by using that name but it won't work. I can tell you're no regular person. Besides what are the odds of someone looking like me and having PSI?"

"So it wasn't my imagination. Alright only one way to prove who the real fake is here," Ninten jabbed a finger in Ness's direction. "No weapons, only our fist and skills,"

"That's an oxymoron," Ness muttered to himself. "But okay then let's go!"

Both boys rushed each other head on. Although both were having an awkward time to seeing as they both were clearly not accustomed to the bouncy terrain. Ninten smirked as he jumped then stomp the ground next to Ness to launch him high into the air. Ness called out in shock as Ninten bounced up to deliver an uppercut into Ness's jaw. Ness went toppling through the air then bouncing against the ground. Ninten bounced up again then slam next to Ness to launch him again. However this time Ness was ready avoiding Ninten's fist and controlling himself in the air. He placed his feet against one of the trees to push off and deliver a strong kick into Ninten's side that sent him back to the ground. Ninten bounced against the ground then regained his footing as best he could given the environment. Ness rushed him this time kicking off the trees. Ninten bounced up to meet Ness in midair. However, Ness vaulted off of Ninten's extended arm to flip forward and kick off Ninten's back making him catch a face full of a tree trunk. Ness laughed heartily as he lands on the ground again. Ninten pulled himself away from the tree with his face red.

"You ask for it now!" Ninten growled.

"I've been asking for it, when you going to give it?" Ninten then struck the ground from where he was. This sent a wavelength through the ground straight toward Ness. Ness was launched high into the air astonished at Ninten's raw strength. Ness flipped once in midair to regain his balance as he placed his feet against a tree. However, he had lost track of Ninten which he was painfully reminded as Ninten had launched himself to land his foot into Ness' gut. Ninten pushed off throwing Ness into a tree back first. Ninten, trying Ness' strategy, kicked off a tree to dive bomb Ness. Ness saw at the last second and quickly rolled to the side avoiding Ninten's foot. He vaulted off of Ninten's back when the super strong boy turned around to swing. Ness swung his leg to bring Ninten's right leg from underneath him and Ness followed up with a well-placed punch right into Ninten's cheek as he was falling downward. Ninten staggered a bit but regain himself to charge forward. Ninten let out a barrage of attacks that Ness had no choice but to block or dodge. He regrets blocks though cause of the pain they brought. Ninten spun for a spin kick that Ness jumped back to dodge. Ninten, thanks to the bouncy ground, was able to push off on his standing leg to follow. Ness gasped as he crossed his arms just in time to block another of Ninten's punches, but was still thrown back a good distance as he went rolling against the ground. "Man, this guy is a little too much…"

"Geez, what does it take to get a good solid hit in?" Ninten groaned as he was growing tired as he tried catching his breath.

"This guy is tougher than I thought," they both muttered to themselves. Ness decided that in a physical bout of strength Ninten was superior and much more experienced in combat as he was able to adapt to the environment faster than he could. Ness knew he was quicker though and better battle skills. He came to the conclusion to use PSI to make the difference. Ness raised his hand forward pointing at Ninten making the other boy flinch in concern. Ness began charging energy up for his next attack, and his signature move.

"Alright here goes the kids gloves come off, PK RO-,"

"Excuse me," came a voice to the side. Ness stalled in his attack as he paused hearing the new voice. Ninten also paused as he turned toward his right and Ness following his gaze. They both saw a blonde boy wearing an orange shirt and sleeveless yellow vest with a hood that he had covering his blonde head, black denim shorts, and black-white converse. The boy flinched at seeing both boys stop to stare at him but regained his composure. "I-I-I'm s-sorry to interrupt…I was kinda hoping you guys knew where I-I am," Ness and Ninten stared at the blonde a little longer. They looked at each other seeing the same clueless look then back to the blonde. They both shrugged signaling they had no clue either. "Okay…bye," the boy said simply then began walking in another direction.

"Hey wait a second!" Ninten called as he bounced a few times to launch himself in the air. He lands right in front of the blonde startling him and making him fall on his butt. "Hahaha, sorry about that," Ninten said with a big smirk on his face. Ninten regarded the boy for a moment he noticed he looked pretty strong, but maybe a bit younger than him and Ness. "How old are you?"

"T-T-Thirteen,"

"Oh really, then that makes you a year younger than me huh kid," Ninten said kneeling down to the boy's level.

"I-I don't wanna fight," the boy said in a shaky voice clearly nervous and a little afraid.

"Ah I won't hurt ya," Ninten smirked as he pats the blonde on the head also earning a confused look. Ninten wouldn't like the kid to be afraid of him. "I'm not the bad guy,"

"Well you were quick to attack me," Ness said walking over.

"Well who said our fight is over yet?" Ninten said standing back to his feet.

"Why don't you use your head, this kid did actually point out an important fact. We have no idea where we are and fighting each other isn't going to get us anywhere,"

"You only say that because you were losing," Ness rolls his eyes. His gaze falls on the blonde that's still on the ground. Ness pushes Ninten aside to extend his hand out to the boy who was shocked to see the appendage. The blonde looked at the hand then to Ness' face as if trying to find deceit. He began raising his hand to take Ness', but for some reason he pulls back at the last second. Ness looks at the boy curiously as he balls his hand into a fist.

"I can stand on my own," the boy said at last. He did just that standing up by himself ignoring Ness quizzical gaze.

"So we gonna finish this or what?" Ninten questioned with raised fist.

"Time out, once we figure out why the heck we're here we can settle this whole mess," Ness said waving off Ninten. He looked toward the youngest member there. "So what's your name?"

"…Lucas…"

"Great, nice to meet you…much better than the other guy at least. I'm Ness….I guess my sparring partner over there is Ninten,"

"More like the owner of your butt,"

"Oh shut up before I really knock your block off!"

"Well you two are real spirited!" came a voice from above them. The three boys jumped startled by the new voice that seemed to come from everywhere. Suddenly, a person began bouncing all around them like a rubber bouncing ball deflecting of everything it touched all over the place. The three boys were in shock as they tried to gather their wits. "What's the matter where'd all that spirit go?"

"Right here," Ness called jumping up timing his jump perfectly to grab onto the bouncing person. Ness tackled the person to the ground. However, somehow Ness found himself on the ground being sat on. He saw that the person wore yellow high top sneakers. He couldn't help but see them since the sides were pressed against his face.

"Well that was fun, but next time you might want to hold on to your target eh?" teased the person. The accent the person had was a bit odd as well. Like a medium bass tone fitting someone of thirteen, with a bit of accent that fit a much deeper voice. The boy was lighter then Ninten though, so Ness grabbed the boy's ankles forcing his feet out of his face. He rose off the ground then slammed the boy face first into the ground and watched with glee as he bounced uncontrollably until his face met a tree.

"Maybe next time, wash your socks before jamming them in someone's face,"

"My bad buddy," the boy said rubbing the back of his head bashfully as he sat up. "That hive was a nasty way to hit the brakes though,"

"You mean that tree?"

"Tree?" the boy questioned.

"Yeah, the tall things sticking out the ground is a tree," Ninten said with a mocking voice.

"No you dumbbells, these are hives, home to a dozen of those killer flies. Nasty little things, surprised they didn't fly out to deal with you two with the way you were going at it," The three boys took in this new arrival. His wild bright red hair was an eye catcher with the way it stood up in the back and flattened out in the front. His eyes also matched his hair along with his T-shirt, orange shorts, and of course the yellow high top sneakers Ness got acquainted with.

"So there was someone other than Lucas around here," Ninten surmised.

"I thought there might've been someone around, who are you?" Ness asked.

"It's not polite to ask for someone else's name before giving your own," the flame headed boy responded.

"It's also not polite to spy so I guess we're ignoring manners for today,"

"That is fair enough…." The boy scratched the side of his head as he gazed off to the side. "It's a bit unfortunate but I don't remember my name or much anything about myself,"

"Seriously?" Ninten asked.

"Yeah….not a thing….not even a name," that optimistic and energetic spark in those flame eyes seemed to die out just thinking about it. Ness and Ninten share a gaze with one another then to Lucas.

"Look, we wish we could help you, but we're not doctors or anything," Ness suggested.

"Oh, it's not like it's your problem to help me or anything I just met you guys," The boy responded the cheerful tone returning. He stood up to dust himself off. "Well I guess it was fun meeting you guys. You'd better find some place to hideout soon before nightfall,"

"Why?" Ninten asked.

The boy tilts his head at them, "What do you mean why? It should be obvious why you can't be out at night,"

"We're not from around here, maybe you can…um…" Ness felt guilty asking for help of someone who themselves were in such need of help. The boy seemed to catch his drift though and smirked.

"Oh, so you guys aren't from around here, that explains why you thought these hives were trees,"

"Dude, these are trees, their hallow on the inside!" Ninten walked over to one to prove his point and went to beat on it. The boy raised his hands to stop him with a panicked express as Ninten's fist hit the tree or hive. Since Ninten's fist cracked the tree which made his eyes widened considerably as he turned to look. He pulled his hand back in shock at seeing this. "Well….flies is at most just annoying not really threatening…"

"I don't know what kind flies you've been around…" the flame headed boy said. Suddenly a large buzzing was heard and suddenly giant bugs burst out of the, now official, hive. The bugs were giant, about the entire size of the boys' torsos. They have four large wings on its back, giant red eyes that looked like slits; a mouth with a vicious row of teeth, and at the end of the insect's abdomen was a stinger easily half a meter long. The boys all winced at seeing the pack of insects fly out and then glare down at them.

"He did it," Ness said pointing at Ninten.

"RUN!" the flame headed boy exclaimed as he took off surprisingly fast for the ground being so hard to even walk on. The three PSI boys rushed after him as well trying to outrun these dangerous insects. The three newcomers struggled to stay balance on this terrain as the stingers of these dangerous insects were poised to strike. "A sting from those things can kill!"

"Well obviously that thing is as big as my arm!" Ninten yelled. Ninten yelped out in panic as one fly almost skewered him through the chest.

"AH!" Lucas yelled in surprise as he lost control of his trajectory as slammed into another hive.

"Uh oh…" Ness gasped looking back.

"He's a goner maybe the flies will get contact with one target. He does look like he might be able to satisfy them all," The flame headed kid said.

"What they eat people!?"

"Meat to be more accurate,"

"Crap!" Ness gasped stopping. He leaped back pulling out a metal bat then managed to wail on one of the insects that was about to impale Lucas.

"You…helped me?" Lucas asked with wonder.

"Come on don't look so shocked…I'm not a bad guy either," Ness said shooting Lucas a quick smirk before facing the swarm glaring down on him. "This is gonna hurt,"

"…I can help…" Lucas muttered quietly but loud enough over the buzzing. He stood up, but Ness raised his arm to halt Lucas from going too far. "Don't worry…" Lucas said as he gently moved by Ness' arm. Lucas removed his hood then stared up at the deadly insects.

"Talking to animals like this won't work if that's what you're trying to do. Feral rage is a pretty strong rage," Ness said. Lucas began to glow slightly as his eyes shined as well. Sensing the danger now the flies moved in poised with their stingers with Lucas only calmly raising his hands to point out at them. A suddenly explosion of yellow light that came and went quickly, but the affect was obvious as all the flies dropped like…well flies. "Whoa…."

"What was that?" Ninten asked walking over as he nudged an insect with his foot.

"Uh…an EMP burst that targets the electrons in the brain and….well basically I turned their brains off," Lucas explained.

"Whoa…that is so awesome!" Ninten exclaimed.

"I totally agree that's cool as heck!" the red haired boy agreed trudging over to Lucas. "You ARE just as amazing as the other two after all. I thought you might've been some sad sack who didn't trust people," the boy then looked at Lucas' head. "Cool hair by the way," he said running a hand through Lucas' blonde locks.

"Could you not do that…" Lucas asked politely.

"Huh why?" the boy asked curiously with his hand still in Lucas's hair as he stared the slightly shorted blonde in the eye.

"Because it's a little something called boundaries," Ness said with his hands on his hips. "Geez this place is way too crazy for my taste,"

"Aw you can't handle this layer then you may as go back to wherever you came from…where are you guys from anyway?"

"We're from Earth," Ninten said. Ness and Lucas looked at Ninten curiously. "Oh like everything here can be categorized as Earth. The ground is like a freaking moon bounce, giant killer FLIES, hollow trees that aren't trees, and the sky is even weird!" Ninten exclaimed pointing upward. Ness and Lucas look to see that there are other planets within sight along with a sun and two moons. "So as much weird stuff we might've seen, especially given what we can do, this should be classified as not Earth,"

"Well actually this planet did go by that name," the flame headed boy said. "Well…it was a super duper long time ago though. Welcome to Planet Peril,"

"Planet Peril?"

"Why is it named that?" Lucas asked nervously.

"Well it's not exactly the most hospitable planet, barely any sentient life here at all. The ones that do live, well…it's a harsh world here, and were only on the tip of the iceberg,"

"Well Flame, maybe we can help each other out," Ness said with a thoughtful look.

The red haired boy tilts his head at Ness. "Flame?"

"Yeah, gotta call ya something till we find out your real name,"

"What do you mean?"

"Does he have to spell it out for ya. We need help finding a way home and surviving this crazy place. You have the knowledge, and we've got the means. We'll help you get your memory of who you are, and while we're doing that you can show us around and help us get home," Ninten explained.

"Really, you'd just…help someone…without knowing them,"

"Well I don't want to be speaking for them, but I don't mind. Besides it's a 'you scratch my back, I scratch your back' situation,"

"I understand that but most beings here do whatever they can to get over, no one is concerned with fairness or selfless desires…but clearly you guys are from another world!" Flame said with a large smirk. "Alright my name's Flame, cool, I like it. Flame, Flame, Flame, Flame, Flame!"

"You mentioned something about nightfall didn't you?" Ninten reminded him. Flame stopped to look at the sky a moment.

"Yeah, we'd better hurry," Flame looked back at Lucas with a smile but it faltered as he watched Lucas pull his hood back up. "Awww don't hide your face like that, it makes you look more like a sad sack," Flame grabbed Lucas' hand surprising the boy. "Come on, let's hurry," Flame said leading the way with Lucas's hand still in his.

"Think this is a bad idea?" Ninten asked.

"Yep," Ness said as he followed Flame with Ninten right behind them.

Farther away a figure watched them over a large cliff that oversaw the coming sunset. "This new development is annoying, but nothing more. More PSI wielders won't mean a thing in the long run. They'll be dealt with all the same," The figure glanced back. "See to it Void,"

"Yes sir," came a young, but dark voice.