The fire that burns between friends is strong. It can break, but often grows as they struggle together. However, the beginning of a friendship is sometimes shaky, but once steadied it becomes harder and harder to break. This is no different than these four heroes. Matthew, Nina, Theodore, and Dove went to the same school, some even in the same class. They barely knew each other, they knew their names but nothing else about one another. It was an average day, warm, with a mild wind. They were at school. It was the middle of spring, and school would be out in a month. Matthew was walking to his locker after school. Opening his locker, he noticed a note. "Go to the gym." It read. He decided to go, because there were cameras. There isn't a lot of bad things could happen when on school grounds. Add in the cameras, and there is little to worry about.
He entered the gym, and there were 3 other people.
"Hello?" He wondered.
"Hey." Another guy said. Matt knew he was Theodore. Matt was a year older, but Theodore was a year ahead of everyone his age. He also knew Nina, who was in the same year as him, and in the same math class. Dove was a senior at 17, she didn't stand out with academics, or sports, or anything. She was an average senior, and Matt only knew her name because she turned in a paper late a few times during the history class he was in. The teacher did two history classes, one for juniors, and one for seniors.
"Why are you here?" Matt asked. "I got a note." Dove said. "Yeah." Ted agreed. "Did you get a note?" Nina asked. "Yeah, me too. I wonder who sent it?" Matt shrugged. Then there was what sounded like someone tore a piece of paper, or ripped a pair of pants. Things went dark for a few moments before they head a voice. "W-what's that voice?" Dove wondered, stepping back a little.
"Show yourself!" Nina shouted, slithering to the center of the gym. Nobody was there, however. That is when she noticed she didn't have arms or legs, nor many limbs anymore. "What! I'm... a snake!" She yelled. The others suddenly realized that they could have changed as well. They looked at themselves and realized they too had changed. "I think I am gonna be sick..." Ted looked like he was going to vomit.
"What happened to me! What happened to us!" Matt screamed. The voice chuckled lightly. "I am no threat. I have come to deliver a message." Matt was suddenly angry. He didn't know what happened or who likely drugged them, but he was not happy. "Tell us who you are first!" Matt snapped, and joined Nina at the center of the gym.
"Yeah!" Ted agreed loudly, joining the two at the center. "A random voice just popping out of nowhere!? You must have a physical form to have gathered us here with that note! That much is obvious!"
"No it isn't!" Everyone shouted except Ted and the disembodied voice. Dove walked to the center with the others.
"Oh goodness," The voice said, "you're going to need to get along to save the universe you know!"
"U-universe! What?" Matt wondered. "If you would allow me to explain..." The voice stated. "I'm listening…" Matt said. "A different universe needs you help. The world is slowly drifting to a war, a war between light and darkness. This war will be started by the one from the dark lands. If this evil one is not stopped, then universe will be drenched in pure darkness." The voice explained. "What does this have to do with us?" Matt asked.
"Humans are the only ones who can stop it. Their spirits are different, making them much harder to corrupt. Only a bad human can be corrupted by the darkness." The voice said. "Why us? Why not use humans in that universe?" Dove wondered. "Humans went extinct thousands of years before." It said. "But why us?" Dove repeated. "Any human would do, however you four have a spirit that so few have. It is a spirit that can't be described easily. There is one thing I can say about it, your spirits are brighter than normal. That kind of spirit is required." It spoke.
"Why should we help?" Ted asked. "If you don't, there is a good chance the dark one will find his way to this dimension. He will conquer the universe and cover it with darkness." It said. "How good of a chance?" Matt asked. "One hundred percent." It answered. The 4 looked at each other. They knew there was not much of an option. If they stayed in their universe, the evil creature would destroy them. If they leave, they don't know if they can get back, but they will save the world. They would save both universes. It wasn't much of a decision. One led to their demise, the other to their possible demise. A certain percent chance of death, or a zero percent chance of living, it wasn't a hard choice.
"I'll go." Matt said. "Yeah, it's obvious that if we don't go our world could be destroyed! I like living here, and I like living." Nina said. "I like living to, count me in." Ted agreed. "Yeah. A good chance of death or certain death. We don't have any other option." Dove stated. "Step into the portal of light." The voice said. A portal appeared, it was made of swirling light. "Let's go." Nina said. They stepped into the portal and felt like they could float on air.
Things went dark for a moment before the four opened their eyes and saw they were in some kind of small town. They were surrounded by a bunch of strange monster like creatures. They were still the same monsters they were back in the gym. The four knew they were the same creatures as the ones staring at them. "Uh, who are you?" One of them asked. The four were in a pile on the ground. "Where are we?" Nina wondered, looking at the strange monster like creatures.
"Wait... Didn't we jump into the strange portal? Then where did we end up?" Matt asked.
"Yeah, we did." Ted answered. Suddenly, he remembered the creature asked a question. "My name is Theodore, but call me Ted." He said to the weird creature, it was like a teddy bear, with a crescent moon on its head. It looked too cute to be a monster, but it could be a deceiving evil creature.
The four stood up, slightly embarrassed.
"I'm Dove." Dove answered. Matt and Nina looked unfocused. Dove nudged Matt and Nina to get their attention. "Huh?" They wondered. Nina gestured to the weird monsters.
"Oh! I'm Matt. It's nice to meet you." Matt greeted. That is what he said, but on the inside he wished he was back home. However, they had to save the universe. Matt had doubts and regrets but he knew the universe wasn't going to save itself.
"My name is Nina. Don't wear it out." Nina said, and her natural instinct was to put out a hand.
She possessed no hands, or arms for that matter, so her tail rose into the air instead. The weird creatures were puzzled by her behavior. "Give me a few seconds." Matt said.
Matt walked behind a large tree, and signaled for the rest to follow. "I don't know how we're going to save the universe, but I think we better associate with the creatures here first."
"You're right." Dove agreed. "I may not be the smartest person in the world, but that sounds like a good next move." Nina said.
The four nodded, for Matt it was a bit difficult, but he managed it. The four walked out from behind the tree. They would need a good lie to tell.