Hey everybody, JackalRaptor here! I'm not a Jackal or a Raptor, so don't get the wrong idea.

After sitting in my bed thinking about what I should make for dinner (I can't cook to save my life so I was leaning towards reheating pizza, but there was also sushi leftovers… I went with both.), I randomly thought, "What if I not only did art… BUT ALSO WROTE SHIT?!" This was a new revolutionary concept for me, and I decided to go with it. I decided that I'd work on this new story, Convergent Fates. I've hit a bit of writer's block writing the story, and otherwise this would have been posted two weeks earlier. Nevertheless, I'm still gonna do it. Actually, rescind that statement, given that if I wasn't gonna do it wouldn't be reading this now. Anyway, this is a completely new and different experience from what I usually do (draw, play video games and be an asshole in general), so cut me some slack if I don't get some stuff right. Also, check out my Twitter, JackalRaptor, where I actually put effort into things, and my DeviantArt which I barely ever use, hahaha. Now without further ado, on with the story!

Convergent Fates, Prologue: Already Too Late

There were no coherent thoughts humans could understand coming from the worm; more, there were mere feelings. As the worm inched across the hardened rock, it felt the feeling of anxiety. Would it be able to make it back to the soft ground in time? What if it was eaten by the large flying creatures before it got there? The worm was incapable of predicting what would happen, but it knew it had to get back to a place where it could burrow in as soon as it could. The worm had no hopes, dreams or plans, but it had one goal: survive. It didn't exactly know why it had to do such a thing; it never thought to ask such a question. It was instinct that caused it to do this, and it was instinct that caused it to do everything else as well.

Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, the worm felt the ground fade from existence. It felt a strong force pulling it, but it was as if something was holding it back. The sudden change in stimuli caused the worm to wriggle in confusion and panic. Was the ground going to come back soon? That was the last thought the worm ever had, as the warbler chewed it up in it's beak.

The warbler flew up over the rocky cliff, littered with assorted patches of grass, tumbleweed bushes, and small piney trees. After about a quarter-mile of flight later, it neared its nest. Now, unlike the worm, the warbler was a more complex creature, capable of coherent thought and emotions. Right now, it was thinking about the chicks it needed to feed, and how much bigger they would grow within the next few cycles of light and dark. As the warbler fluttered it's brown and white wings down to the nest, it could hear the chirping of its offspring, who had immediately sensed their mother's return. The mother warbler chewed up the now motionless worm, and spit it into the mouths of the chicks, who eagerly gobbled up the mush. They cheeped happily, content with their mother's nurturing. The mother warbler settled in with its chicks in the comfortable nest, as they all seemed to relax, understanding that now was a time to do so. The warbler family looked out upon the scenery from their nest, the arid snowy mountains in the distance, the rocky cliff side where they lived, and the vast, flat, dry plain in between.

Suddenly, a bright flash shone from the valley below, as streaks of green and purple light seemed to radiate in a fabulous display. The warbler chicks were awestruck at the beautiful sight, but the mother was also cautious as to what this was caused by. She was right in her judgement to do so, as an intense sonic burst screamed through the air, like a thousand jet planes flying away from a single point at once. The chicks huddled close to the mother warbler, who could only sit and wait with her kin, hoping the dangers in the valley wouldn't come her way.

Meanwhile in the valley, the dangers were only getting worse. A shadowy bulky figure jumped back from the center of the blast, as did another shadowy tall figure from the opposite direction. The bulky figure raised his hand, like a policeman guiding cars out of a crowded area. From that hand energy seemed to swirl and coalesce into a sphere of raw power the size of the dragon himself. With a simple thrust of his hand, the ball became an enormous beam of energy, streaking through the air straight for the other figure. The dragon snarled, revealing razor sharp teeth, as he braced himself for the attack. As the beam found its mark, he thrust his arms into the path of death. With some difficulty, he was pushed back a couple feet before, with a shout, he threw his arms apart, ripping the beam in half and blowing away the surrounding debris. As the he looked up, his tail swayed in a brooding manner.

"Why the hell are we fighting, Cyrus?! Can't you fucking give it a break; everyone's not that bad! You're the one making it bad by KILLING EVERYONE!" He shouted with anger and annoyance.

"That's not an option. The our species is torturing itself to death and the only way to stop it and break the cycle is to end it all and start over. You should know this, you're not that different from me and the rest of us. How long ago was it when you were slaughtering people? You killed an entire militia, it's what you were MADE for. You can still join us, we'll… no. It's too late, and I know you'd never agree with us anyway." He said, indifferent to the other's pleading.

"Just because we can kill everybody doesn't mean we have to, they don't deserve this. Sure, some of them may, but most people are really nice. If everyone was gone, how'd we survive?"

"That doesn't matter. We just need to purge the universe of people who'll get in the way, and we'll worry about what's next when we get to it." He said calmly. Cyrus's foe sighed.

"You know what? Fine. If you really wanna play it like that, that's fine. How about we start it right now… but where to start? Oh, I know! WE'LL START WITH YOU." The tall figure hunched over, head down, muzzle facing the ground. Perhaps it was because he knew he couldn't do this alone, or because he knew even if he succeeded how much trouble he'd get in later. Whatever the reason was, he started to laugh. The colored stripes on his otherwise black scales began to emit a bright light, as green energy crackled and built up around him. Within about ten seconds, the landscape around him had cracked and broke. His laugh then reduced to a slight chuckle, and the tall, glowing figure looked up. Cyrus knew what was coming, but he still wasn't fully prepared for what he saw. As the tall one looked up, the yellow surrounding his red irises had become pitch black, and black ooze was leaking from his eyes, along with blood, which mixed into the ooze to create repulsive dark red tears. His face twisted into an unnatural grin, which transformed into a hysterical smile. His eyes were wide; they weren't filled with anger, sadness, or even happiness. What filled those dark, bloody eyes was nothing but pure, unadulterated insanity.

"THIS IS GOING TO BE FUN!" he said, and he lunged at Cyrus at an incredible speed, cackling hysterically.

The battle was intense. Laser beams, loud noises, and powerful gales blasted from where the two dragons tall one manifested energy into two large swords, twice his height but weighing close to nothing since they were made of energy, and cleaved through the air at his foe. Cyrus blocked every swing, purple lightning crackling from his arms as he held them up to intercept each attack. He opened his mouth, and a sphere charged up within his maw. The tall one crossed his arms just as a massive blast knocked him backwards to the ground. He got up, brushing himself off, appearing to be only slightly hurt. His jacket sleeves had completely burnt off and his arms were steaming.

"Dammit, That was on sale."

That aloof attitude was exactly what pissed Cyrus off. He was never able to get how someone could still joke around when anyone else would freeze in terror. This was why that man would never qualify as a member in his organization; he was literally unable to take anything seriously. Of course, the fact that he was insane didn't exactly help either.

Cyrus' thoughts were interrupted by his opponent's energy weapons changing rapidly. He was switching strategies, trying to confuse Cyrus. The swords changed into spears, and axes, then guns. The taller dragon was switching strategies, that much was true. But he wasn't just switching to another strategy, he was changing it every few seconds. Cyrus was hardly able to keep this up, he'd have to take the offensive or he'd be finished.

Whips. He punched some away, avoiding the rest.

Guns. He sidestepped a few, but a bullet grazed his right shoulder, leaving a small cut.

Spears. He used his palms to move their trajectory away from him, but two hit his left arm. He started to bleed.

Clubs. Cyrus was knocked backwards. The air was knocked out of his lungs, but he gritted his teeth and kept his mouth shut; he needed to if he was going to win. His foe leaped into the sky, coming down for the finishing blow with dark red blood leaking from his mouth and eyes.

"DIE, ASSHOLE." He grinned, rocketing down towards the injured dragon, claws crackling with green lightning. And that's when Cyrus opened his mouth, releasing the huge explosion of energy he had been storing up that whole time. It was a dead-on hit, and Cyrus's enemy was blown back with the force of a missile, slamming against a nearby natural pillar of rock, the surface cracking from the force of the impact. He slumped down, hacking a combination of blood and black ooze and barely able to move.

"Not today, asshole."

Cyrus walked up to his weakened foe. With this guy out of the way, there was virtually nothing that could get in the way of their goal. They could finally be free, never having to worry about torture or being captured again. All he had to do was finish him off. He had won. The sweet feeling of victory swam through Cyrus's mind like an unbeatable ecstasy.

"You're going down."

"SPARKY, NOW!"

And with that, Cyrus felt like he'd been hit with a thousand hydrogen bombs at once.

…

…

...I guess I did it right.

…

...wait, this isn't right! Where…

Beeping. I hear beeping. What…

Wait…

...Oh, that's what it was.

"DAMMIT!" I tossed in my bed, looking at my clock. It was 7:00. I'd forgotten to turn off the alarm; I didn't need it anymore. I had thrown the alarm at the wall that day. It broke, to my surprise. I hadn't thrown it that hard. I got out of bed and thought about that dream. It felt so vivid and real… but back then I thought it was impossible for that to be anything else but a regular dream. Back then I forgot about it and had a great day… but that was a week ago. I know why the alarm clock broke now. And I'm not exactly having good days anymore. Interesting days, sure, but not good though. But I remember a saying a friend of mine told me once… when everything's at it's worst, the only way things can go is up. Doesn't really make much sense, but… he's right. I hope so, at least.

...

...

OW! Tripped on my tail again. Gotta get used to that.