A forgotten friend
They shined a clear path through the abonded storage facility.
Following the heavy footsteps, were lighter ones, belonging to the warriors companion.
She had been with him for a while and been a good friend through the tough times they've had to
endure while discovering more about their dark past every day.
The heavy footsteps stopped at a door, marked 'research and development'
"Shopping time." A light female voice said as they entered the laboratory.
The taller of the two walked to sveral shelves, holding steel containers.
He began reading the notes on the front of them, aided by a flash light in his right hand.
The other aimlessly began to walk around the lab, seeing what for kind of technology was left to plunder.
She then came across a small switch against the wall.
Curious to what it would do, she flicked it.
The sound of electricity generators echoed through the hallways and into the lab, as the lights above the two strangers flickered on.
"Thanks" The dark warrior spoke as he turned the flash light off and hide it within his long dark raincoat.
It was much easier now to read the labels.
"Anything there?" Theta asked curious as usual.
Hood shook his head, leaving the shelves as they were.
He walked over to a wall behind a desk. Hung on the wall was a photograph of the man in charge of researcha and development for Pandorax. On the plaque beneath it was written,
'Dr. Light, Chief Scientist of Research & Developement, died in a chemical accident.'
Theta smiled as she read the plaque.
"So that was him huh? The guy that saved us?" She asked Hood. He simply nodded as he analysed the photo.
The man had a short grey beard, wore small silver glasses and had dark grey curly hair, although there was none left on the center of his head.
Then he looked at the eyes of this man that was in charge of Moondust. This was the man that created them.
The man who had saved them from being liquidated and died trying, being killed by gas.
In the personel archive he was nick named FATHER, being the creator of many projects and side line activities of Pandorax.
Suddenly, he noticed the one eyes blue, what he had expected, but the other was dark red and seemed to glisten a bit. He noticed then what it truelly was.
But just before he was going to remove his sunglasses, he remember what had happend to his eyes and that the analyser would not recognise him.
He then turned to Theta, still looking at Dr. Light.
"Theta? Would you mind standing here please?" Hood stepped aside so that she could stand where he was.
She suspicously looked at him before moving. He then told her to look straight into Dr. Lights red eye.
This was the point where she was getting worried, but reluctantly she complied.
For a moment nothing happend. Though just before Theta was going to move, the light flashed on and a red beamed over her eye.
Once it had stopped a series of beeps could be heared from a speaker behind Dr. Lights mouth.
Theta quickly stepped backwards whenthe wall started to move.
Hood calmly looked at her.
"Thank you." He said friendly and watched as the walldid a 180, revealing a secret shelving system.
When it stopped, he began reading the labels on the steel boxes which belonged to Dr. Lights personal hobbies which also involved technology.
"Why did I have to get my retina scanned and you didn't?" Theta asked, as she helped rummiging through the boxes.
"Because my retina is black thanks to the adamantium in my bones. It wouldn't be able to recognise me and all kinds of alarams would have gone off."
He then read a label that made him curious indeed. He read it out to Theta.
"Nano-bot mobile generator." He said and lifted the box off the shelf and placed it on the desk.
After he had lifted the top off, he saw a watch like device and a booklet beside it.
"What is it?" Theta asked, as she stood beside off her comapnion, who was reading the booklet.
"According to this, it produces nano bots which can be used as an energy weapon and as anti gravity devices." Theta looked perplexed at her warrior friend.
"In other words," he continued while he strapped the generator to his wrist, which appeared like any other watch. "it makes tiny robots which can make energy bolts and can make me levitate."
"Lovely. Anything for me in there?" Theta asked and began to rummig through the box.
"Sorry, only one on sale. See what else is left."
Theta though was way ahead of him and read every label on the boxes in the hidden shelf.
As she did, Hood admired the craftmanship that Dr. Light had put into this Nanobot generator.
In time it would proove it's usefullness one way or another. He read the instructions in the booklet.
Once he had finished reading it, he held his right hand up and opened his fist.
He pressed a button on the watch and a small stream of machines began to crawl from the generator.
Slowly they grouped together, to form some kinda of minature army on his hand.
Suddenly he felt the air in front of his palm become warmer, and saw a small light being generated.
"What the..?" He mumbled as the small light began to grow to a small ball, which seemed to grow and shrink everytime Hood opened his palm and closing it.
After a while, he decided to aim at a empty wall and see what the effect would be if he tried to fire what ever weapon this was.
The ball of light grew and once his palm was completly open it released itself from his hand, flying across the room into the wall.
An explosion hit the wall opposite of Hood, as he stared in disbelief at what had happend.
He had just created an energy ball and fired it into the wall.
Once the smoke had cleared he noticed the the energy ball had gone straight through three other walls.
"Cool!" He said softly has he began to make another energy ball.
He suddenly felt Theta's hand on his shoulder, and when he turned he saw that she had grown very frightened.
"What was that?" She spoke nervously.
"Just me and my nanobots." Hood joked and played with the energy ball in his hand.
There was a silence has he stood just behind the door, ready to entered the room.
"Found anything interesting yet?" Hood asked as he fiddled with the Nano bot generator a bit.
"Think you were wrong H, found another nano bot gene...." That was as far as she got with her sentence has see looked at the door they came through.
A strange figure loomed their shadow infront of the glass window. But before she could say anything to Hood, the door was smashed into splinters as the creature walked into the room.
"What now?" Theta sarcasticly asked as she ran to Hood.
Already had he drawn his sword from his back and was battle ready for this strange creature.
But he had no chance to attack. As soon as the six legged creature saw the sword he rushed towards Hood.
As he did, the lights above him began to flicker and go off, keeping his face hidden.
Suddenly a huge metallic claw reached for the warrior and was able to grab ahold of him by the waist.
"Intruder! Course of action: termination!" A computer like voice spoke from the creatures head.
And as he spoke, the steel claws began to close around Hood.
"Who are you?" Theta shouted, grabbing ahold of the claw, trying to free her companion.
The only response she got was a smaller claw hitting her in the stomach and sending her flying across the room. The creature then focused on it's main target.
In the shadows his red eyes began to glow.
"You're one of Dr. Zachary's creations aren't you?" Hood asked, gasping for air.
It seemed to work. The creature slowly lossend it grip, still holding Hood, but enough for him to breath.
"You're his spider drone aren't you? I read about it in the archives." He continued.
Theta struggled to climb back up from the boxes she had been thrown into.
As she did, she looked towards Hood, who was talking to the mechanical beast.
Then she noticed that his hand was waving at her. At first she didn't understand, but when she looked at his wrist she got an idea.
"Hydrolic legs, carbon diamond armor, and an attitude to add."
The creatures head, although still in the shadows, tilted, as if it was thinking about something.
Suddenly a bright light appeared next to it's face.
"Put him down or I'll turn you into a can opener!" Theta shouted, holding the energy ball in her hand, ready to knock the creatures head off. The light made by the ball allowed them to see the face of this monstrousity.
Hood looked at him, and then recognised the face.
This wasn't a hostile being. Far from it.
He was the one that told him about Moondust, allowing to escape from the laboratory in Australia.
"Joe?" He asked, staring at his bionic eye.
He twitched for moment, now remembering the voice. His half mechanical face nodded.
"So it is you."
The steel claw holding Hood captive was released and he fell to the ground. He brushed himself off and then noticed that the creature was about 7 foot high.
"Thanks. What happened to you?" He asked. He then noticed that Theta was still holding the energy ball in her hand, ready to release it.
"Theta, close your hand." Hood told her off. Reluctantly she complied.
Joe stared at the two as they stood together, not recognising the girl, but he knew who this other person was. He regretted knowing in a way, for it was Joe who assisted in giving him the adamantium skeleton that held within his flesh.
"Joe? What happend?" He asked once more, although he had a good idea to who could have done this.
The metallic legs lowered allowing his steel body to rest on the floor.
"Dr. Zachary happened. He did this to me." His voice had changed from a computerized one to a more human voice. "After you had escaped from the lab, and I told you about Moondust, he was furious, and turned me into what I am today. He posted me her, protecting the technology you have now.
In time he'll probably forgive me and give me a more human look."
Hood sighed as he heard the last sentence. Joe the former lab-technician did not know what had happened to Zachary, that the warrior had his revenge on the mad scientist and sent him into space.
"Joe....Zachary's dead. I killed him." He softly spoke. His own words sent chills down his spine.
He had killed the only hope this mechanical friend had of becoming human again.
"Thank you. Dr. Zachary had it coming. I'm glad he's gone now. And do not worry, I know of another way."
Joe seemed pleased now that his superior had been killed by the person he had enhanched, it seemed in a way ironic.
"I see you found the bot generators." Joe pointed with a hidden hand at the watches that Theta and Hood wore. "But I do not believe we've met." Joe asked Theta in a polite way.
"I'm Theta. Member of Moondust. Although it's just us now."
"What happened to the rest of them? There were supposed to be nine of you."
Hood sat down on the desk, he first stared at the floor, then turned back to Joe.
"Two of them were already dead, and the other five were killed by Zachary. We placed them in stasis tubes. According to the computer they'll have regenerated in a couple of years."
"I'm sorry." Joe spoke softly, and put one of his human hands on Hoods shoulder.
"How many arms do you have in there?" Theta asked, thinking he only had claws.
"Two claws, two human arms, and six legs." Joe waved them in the air.
"So where are you going now?" Joe asked, as he looked at the warrior in front of him.
"What do you know about the genes, used to make us?" Hood asked.
"I only know that they were called Z8, I don't know where they came from." Joe answered. "Why?"
Theta stoo up from the desk and wonder around the desk.
"Before Zachary was sent hurdling into space, he said we were based on the genes from aliens."
She continued to look in the various boxes on the shelves.
"Now I know about that." Joe pointed out to them. "You see before I was working for Dr. Zachary, I was an intern working at Pandorax, sorting out files. I know that they found an alien crash site some where Nevada desert."
"You mean Rosswell?" Theta asked, turning to the mechanical friend.
"No, this crash site was buried deep under ground, and it must have been over hundreds of thousands of years old. And they found the remains of three bodies, buried. Thing is, they were buried in three graves."
Hood listened to all of this.
So it could be true afterall. They were created from the alien remains.
"Come, I'll show the details." Joe invited the two travellersm to follow him to his chamber, where he held the secrets of Pandorax hidden from all.
Finally, Hood would be able to discover his true origin.
He kept thinking of it.
'My true origin'
A gift
He opened a vault like door, revealing a large complex, with computers, monitors, lights, signs and who knows what else.
"This way." Joe spoke in his half computer voice.
He lead the two to a locker, which he then opend.
"I kept some of these items seperate from the others, because these were meant for you."
He lifted a box out of the locker and placed it upon a table.
"Meant for us? What do you mean?" Theta asked Joe, while opened the box.
"Dr. Light knew that Moondust would stay alive, well most of you. That is why he kept these seperate from the other inventions. They were specificaly built for you."
He lifted out a long red whip, the kind that Indiana Jones had. Joe handed it to Theta.
"The grip is made for your hand, and when you turn it one, it produces a high voltage."
She smiled as she heard the High voltage bit.
"Give me the nano-bot generators."
"Why?" Hood asked, slipping it off his wrist together with Theta. Joe handed him two more Nano-bot watches.
"These are stronger, and have more options, and can produce nano-bots faster and more of them. Energy balls, anti-gravity, cloak, and they look better. There are some other things on them, but those are more complex." Theta felt insulted by the comment, that they would not be able to understand the science talk.
"Thanks Joe." Theta finally said, after putting the new nano-watch on. He was right though, it was slimmer and looked better on her.
"If that's all, I'd like to get to the info about the crash site." Hood asked, impatient to discover if what Dr. Zachary had told him was true.
"Of course, this way. You've still got that laptop I gave you?"
The warrior reached for the bag that Theta was carrying, and took the laptop he had received from the lab-technician a while back. It had given him valuable information about Moondust.
"Good, I'll download the information, and you can read it on your way." He grabbed the laptop from Hood and with his steel legs walked to a computer terminal.
He only had to connect it for an instant, and then handed it back to Hood.
"If it was in the mainframe, how come I wasn't able to acces it?" He asked.
When he had got the laptop, he was able to acces the Pandorax Mainframe when ever he wanted.
"There are some things, even you can't hack into." A half smile on Joe's face spoke.
"Is that everything? Because we need to get back to camp, diner should be nearly cooked by now."
Joe shook his metallic head. He reached for one more object in the box.
The half man half machine threw Hood a pair of sunglasses. He looked surprised at Joe as he caught them.
"The ones I have are just fine." He said, looking at the new ones.
"They might be, but these are better, as I said....more options." Joe smiled.
"Thanks, man!" Hood shouted as Theta and himself made his way out of Joe's chamber.
He waved back at them with all four of his arms.
"Take care Hood. Father would have been proud."
In most ways they seemed the same as the ones he was wearing, but there was something different about these he couldn't put his finger one.
While he was looking at the shades, Theta was having fun with the glowing red whip, slashing and electrocuting bushes as they made their way through the forest, back to the campsite.
"So how do you know Joe?" She asked, still playing with her new toy.
"He helped Zachary in transplanting my bones, but when the lab began to explode, he told me about Moondust. I owe a lot to him, when I think about it."
It was true though. If Joe had never given him that laptop, he would have never learnt so much about Moondust and Pandorax. He would never have known that Theta was also part of Moondust.
In his mind, he kept thanking Joe, who although he worked for a great evil, still helped him.
"Smells like the chicken's ready." Theta could smell the chicken they had left on the campfire had now been fully cooked. Hood could smell it as well.
He hadn't eaten for a couple of days, and chicken must have been his favorite of all meals.
And as he felt them slip onto his nose, he felt a small electrical shock.
Suddenly, on one of the lenses of the sunglasses, a small screen appeared.
It seemed to be targeting the campfire just ahead of them, and after flashing from infra red scanner, it went to a more normal view.
He then focused his eyes on the chicken still on the spit, perfectly cooked.
The screen lense suddenly circled the chickn with a red line, and some text appeared beside of it.
'Object: Chicken - Cooked'
Hood smiled in amusement of this new device he had gotten.
"This could be fun." He smiled, and sat down, ready to have his grub together with Theta.
They seemed to glow red, in the dark bushes it was hiding behind.
Only the moonlight shined upon the top of this msyterious figure.
And only could be seen that he was wearing a brown robe, and hood. Dressed like a monk.
But unlike any other monk, this one did not pray to the god of life, but considered himself the god of death.
It had been a long time since this figure had seen the Hood. And he remembered the life he had taken away from Hood. The mother of his son.
Cara.
A smile appeared on this figures face as he resided into the forests surrounding.
Soon.
She watches
They walked through the forest. Hood and Theta had been told that it leaded to a small village,
where they could get food and supplies.
It had been so long since they saw a map or a sign, that they didn't even know which country they were in.
The forest was a glistening with frozen flakes with lay upon the leaves of trees.
It was a bueatiful winter wonderland, the snow beneath their feet, crunching, the sky blue as could be.
And the chilling breeze which travelled along the road they were on.
Although Theta had gotten a thick coat and wore warm clothes, Hood still wore the black leather raincoat, which he had always worn, together with the black trousers, boots, shirts, armor, cowboy hat and shades.
Only difference this time was that he wore black gloves as well, which gave him a better grip on his sword.
They were lucky. No one had bothered to challenge them.
While they were walking, Hood read out the information being displayed on the inside of his shades.
They were linked to his laptop, thanks to the genius lab-technician Joe, they had meet a couple of weeks ago.
"Dr. Light apparentely was the top scientist in Pandorax. Was head of a lot of projects, besides Moondust.
Had a thing for robotics and biology as well. Sounds like a top doc."
Hood saw his breath freeze in front of him as he spoke.
"Anything else on the crash site that you forgot?" Theta asked, making sure her friend hadn't missed anything out about the information he had given earlier.
"Nevada desert, a mile or two beneath the earth, only found the skeletons which they used to make us. No nothing else." He had summarised the information, otherwise it would talk days to explain everything.
"This is a drag. We know everything about our past now, but nothing about who are ancestors were."
She kicked a lump of ice, sending it flying into a bush.
The two travellers heard a hard thump, and after looking at each other, walked over to what the ice had hit.
Hood moved the bush away, and saw the disgarded sign which had been laying there for the last couple of years.
The words were barely visible, but they were able to read it.
"Gerze? What for town is that?" Theta asked, Hood stood up slightly and then realised in which part of the world they were. They didn't have a real objective to go anywhere, and were just wandering around.
Had they strayed this far?
How far had they travelled since they landed a month or so ago.
"So, you know now where we are?" Thet asked, putting her hands on her hips.
"We're in central Tibet." He spoke beginning the journey again
"So that's why my ears popped when we climbed that ridge." She laughed at the thought.
"How far away did it say it Gerze was?"
"I think half a mile or so."
"Can't wait to get into a normal house."
"Gerze is a village. It's about the size of an army base, pretty small for a village."
Theta sighed, thinking that perhaps before the virus, there might not have been any teenagers there to begin with, so no one would be there.
"Let's keep going."
Hood and Theta pushed on, as a pair of eyes watched them walk in the cold snow.
She watched down on him, from the heavens above.
Still watching through the Eye of Truth.
It was all she could do to be honest. The only other person she could talk about it was with Tala.
He was her best friend in this realm. Eventhough he would rather have been matched with her, he couldn't because of her stay on Earth. He still liked her a lot, but he knew that her heart was meant for the one they called Hood.
"I still don't see what you do in these humans." He said as he leaned against the Eye.
"It's not what I see in them, Tala. It's what I feel for him. At first they were a fascination, but Michael, he is so much different from the others." She just stood with her arms folded, in front of the eye.
It was about five foot high, a small mirror at first glance, but if you watch closer, you can see who ever you want to see in the other realms.
"Of course he's different from the others. He's one of those....umm, what were they called?"
Tala scratched his head, trying to think of the alien species Hoods DNA was based upon.
"They were Shadow Warriors. And so's Theta. To think that they're the only ones left."
Karen smiled as she saw Hood stare upwards sometimes looking at the sky, almost knowing that she was looking right back at him.
"The elders aren't liking this too much. It's like you're obsessed with that being."
"I'm not obsessed. And it's your fault for having to leave him." She stood up and began walking around her chambers.
"My fault? What do you mean?" Tala quickly went in pursuit after his friend.
"You were the one that suggested I should come back. Now I've been here for nearly three years thanks to you." Karen walked furiously down the corridor and out into the courtyard of the palace.
The sun shined as normal on the eternal palace of Celestis. It was home to the Eternals, in their realm.
"And now all I can do, is watch him through the Eye of Truth."
"So I might have mentioned what was going on." Tala was trying to put up a defence, but no Eternal could ever win an argument with Karen. It was simply impossible.
She turned around a they were face to face now.
"Mentioned? You told them that I inspired the pyramids, that I was nearly discovered by the people of Atlantis and that I destroyed an entire continent, that I let the Shadow Warriors stay on earth untill they died, and that I was obessed with the humans!"
Tala feeling very small at this point.
"That's not all I said." He said truthfully, affraid of what Karen might do to him.
"Oh! I forgot about the plague, Roswell, the Bermuda triangle and those head hunters in Africa and I had nothing to do with any of them!"
Without waiting for a reply Karen continued walking over the courtyard towards the tempel.
It was the place where the Elders of Cronos stayed.
They were like judges, sitting behind a huge desk. When ever some one came to them, and asked them what to do they made a decision. They also weren't to keen about Eternals interacting with humans.
Karen remembered what one of them said about the humans.
'They are so primitive that if an Eternal stayed on Earth, they would become as primitive as the humans'
She just had to laughed at the thought.
As she walked up to the temple, she could sense Tala behind her.
"It doesn't matter anyway, I'm going back."
"You know what they said, you can't!" Tala tried to persuade her to stay here, but he knew it was a futile attempt.
"No, they said they didn't like it. You know they couldn't care less if I went or not. The only thing that was keeping me here was your big mouth."
With those words, Karen opened the doors to the temple and closed them behind her, keeping Tala from following her.
Once inside, it was completly dark. But she knew where to go.
She walked towards the red light at the back of the temple. There, three woman sat.
One looked as old as Karen about eighteen, but both were thousands of years old.
The second was a middle aged woman, and the third, who sat in the middle was the oldest and the wisest.
"Young Karen, how can we help?" The young girl spoke, her voice didn't match her appearance. It was a loud booming voice.
"I wish to go back to Earth." Karen stated.
The three elders looked at each other, as if they were talking to each other by just looking at each other.
But it wasn't that, they communicated telepathicly. Karen could as well, but when the Elders did so they secured the link with each others minds.
"Why would you wish to return to Earth?" The middle-aged woman asked, her voice the same like the younger looking elder.
"I am still fascinated with this species, especially an individual." Karen quietly spoke the last bit.
"They are still rebuilding from your last visit." The teenaged Elder said. Karen sighed.
"That virus didn't have anything to do with me. It was a scientist."
The teenaged Elder acknowledged this, knowing clearly that should an Eternal lie to an Elder, and hide the truth, the consequences would be severe.
"Tell us more about this individual." The middleaged woman spoke.
"He is has been created and brought up on Earth, but he and his companion belong to a species alien to the Earth. They are called the Shadow Warriors, from the Andromeda constellation."
"But that is not your only reason is it, Karen?" The young elder asked, knowing Karens alternative reason.
All the while that they were talking, the oldest Elder, sitting at the top of the stand, in the middle of the others just listened and did not speak at all.
"Umm...well. Yes. I hold feelings for this person." Karen had trouble admitting this for she knew that the elders would not understand love.
The love she still felt after two years of being seperate from Hood.
"These feelings, they are intimate for this individual?" The middle aged looking woman asked.
Karen nodded.
The two elders suddenly looked at each other and began their discussion on wether or not Karen should be allowed to return to the Earth.
After, what seemed hours, they reached a decision, and the young Elder spoke.
"Karen, we have decided not to allow you to return."
Karen sighed as she heard the elders reason for keeping her here.
"You are to stay here in the Palace of Celestis untill we decide......." The teenage looking elder couldn't continue her sentence, for the older of the elders was looking at her, and could hear her thoughs.
The old woman then looked at Karen, and smiled.
"These feelings you hold for this person, is it love?" Her voice was not like the others.
It was soft friendly, like a grand mothers voice.
"Yes it is. I truelly love him." Karen seemed pleased to admit it now.
The old woman smiled again. And nodded.
"Then yes. You may return to the Earth, but do not forget young Eternal."
Karen was pleased to hear she was allowed to return, but now came the age old rule of Eternals.
"Should you reveal yourself to these humans as an Eternal, you power will be....halved."
Now the two other elders stared at the wisest of them. This was not the rule.
The rule was that should an Eternal reveal themselve, their powers would be taken away completly.
"Don't forget young one, this is a very large favor I am doing for you."
Karen couldn't stop smilling.
Finally she would be able to return to the Earth,
to return to Hood, the one she loved.
"Thank you elders. I appreciate this so much. Cronos bless you." She thanked them in the aged old way and then quickly walked out of the temple.
As she did, the two younger elders were still staring at the older one, amazed with her decision.
"Ohh lighten up you two!" The old elder ordered, and couldn't help smiling, knowing she had made a young one eternaly happy.
Something forgotten
Here and there were stall selling food, pottery, blankets and anything that could be made.
She then saw a small item laying amongst bracelets, necklaces and some others stuff.
"You like crystal?" The boy behind the stall asked. Theta was kind of surprised to hear
him speak english, but she nodded in reply.
It was necklace with a purple crystal, which seemed to be softly glowing.
"What do you want for this?" She asked as she pointed at the crystal.
"What..you have?" He asked, thinking perhaps he could scam her into trading something valuable for a crystal he simply picked off the groun the day before.
Theta began looking through her coat, and layed them out on the table.
"Let's see. Gun, daggers, handcuffs...don't ask, umm....mars bar?"
Now you must realise that living up in the Tibeten mountains, you don't have much in the way of civilisation, let alone chocolate bars and sweets, so when the young boy saw this strange but intersting food product.
"Done!" The boy said, keeping Theta from getting anything else out of her coat.
He grabbed the mars bar and threw the crystal necklace to Theta.
Leaving his stall he ran over to one of his friends, and showed him the bar.
Theta couldn't help laugh as they were figuring out how to open the plastic packaging.
If he was lucky there might be have been a Pandorax SSAT station some where.
It would cut any of their travelling to a mere hour or so.
But as he scanned through the map of Tibet, he couldn't find any signs of even a small city.,
only small villages, or settlements.
There was a sudden bliep on the screen.
He thought at first that it was a mere error, but then it re-occured.
It was blinking on a small mountain on the screen. He was only just able to get the location before it ended.
What could this be?
Could be Pandorax building, being powered up?
He stood up and began walking through the village looking for Theta.
If they were going to make it to that mountain they would have to leave soon.
It was pure coincidence that as he walked around the corner of a house, he bumped into the person he was looking for.
He saw her drop something on the ground as she cleaned herself up.
"Sorry about that." She apologised, and then saw that Hood was holding the crystal.
"Ohh, yeah that. Umm..Happy Birthday?"
"It's the thirteenth?" Hood asked, surprised he hadn't kept better track of time.
Theta nodded.
He then looked at the crystal necklace. He had seen this crystal somewhere before, but he couldn't put his finger on it. It was the way the light hit it, and it's purple colour.
"Thanks, Umm..sorry didn't get you anything." He felt ashamed he had forgotten his own birthday, let alone his friends.
"That's okay, you're to busy with fighting wars any way, that's alright." She laughed.
"Listen, I got an idea on where to go. It'll take a while, but we'll get there by tonight if we start walking now."
Theta agreed, and they began walking out of the village, beginning their journey to the mountain.
Although they had no idea of the pair of eyes, watching them from a distance.
The red eyes gleaming beneath it's brown hood, holding a long perfectly cut dagger at it's side.
It wouldn't be long untill blood would stain it's shiny adamantium metal once more.
He was ordered to do so, nearly a year ago, but ordered none the less.
And soon he would finish the job.
Light was flowing out of every window, door and crack.
It was a bueatiful sight, bringing inspiration to any poet, musician or writer.
No one had ever set foot in it since the virus had struck, but now it was occupied by a single person,
a single being, that soon would be re-united with her loved one.
The light being emitted from her body, entering the mortal realm slowly faded, and was now replaced by a teenage girl, about eighteen, with long dark hair and blue eyes.
She looked around at the old monastery, which hadn't been used in what seemed like centuries, but were
merely years.
She could feel the cool air of the mountains flowing in through the open windows, and touching her soft skin all over. Now was the time that she greatly appreciated being an Eternal, for when one arrives in a different realm, the clothes that they wear are disintergrated.
With a single though, a small set of clothes appeared before her.
She knew that it wouldn't be long untill Hood would arrive, and although he would not mind her present appearance, Theta would.
She began to wander around the former religous home to dozens of monks.
As she did, there was a strange feeling that just seemed to be radiating into her from the surrounding walls.
It was something she had felt before, but that was thousands of years ago.
Then as if a thunder bolt had struck her, she realised what was giving her this eerie feeling.
Something she had felt close to a year ago, when she was watching Hood in a battle with a scientist.
She now knew how it had been brought back. It could have only been Pandorax,
unsatisfied with being the most powerful corporation in the way of technology,
they just had to tamper with the unknown and the mystical powers of the universe.
It wouldn't be long untill hell would break loose on this holy ground,
the good and evil would face each other, and only one would walk away from this battle this time.
It showed that somewhere along the mountain, some kind of energy had just made itself known.
"What?" Theta asked, as they glided over the mountain face.
A dark blue light was being emitted from the soul of their feet and slightly up the leg.
Those were the millions of nano-bots, producin an anti-gravity field, keeping the two travellers above the rocky and icey ground beneath.
"There was a burst of energy up the mountain somewhere." He answered, still trying to locate where the sudden burst of power came from. Then the locater in his shades locked on to a small, but barely visible path, going along the face of the mountain.
"There's a path here, beter start walking before the bots over heat." As suggested both of them clicked a button on the watches they had on their wrists and the blue glow dissapeared up their bodies, over their arms and into the watches they wore.
"What ya think it was?" Theta asked as she began walking up the path.
Hood didn't even answer the question, he was trying to solve that question himself.
Perhaps it was some kind of sign, he just didn't know if it was a good sign or a bad sign.
It was just a sign.
The light returns
But this time the flow of air was interrupted by the presence of two travellers, which ahd just arrived at the place where years ago, monks prayed to their god.
Hood analysed the room thoroughly, trying to see the source of the energy burst which had drawn them here. But there was nothing. Only stones placed into walls, wooden ceilings creecking from the wind, and a broken chair or two in the corner.
Then there was a strange sensation he felt, which ran over his spine.
It couldn't have been the cold of the wind. He had lived in far colder places than this.
And wouldn't be the eerieness of the deserted monastery either, for to his eyes, there was nothing eerie about it. Just another place in the world.
Listening to the silence, he could hear it. It was like a call, something calling him through the silence.
Without realising it, he had started to wander around the room.
Theta was just admiring the view that one of the glasses windows gave her upon the bueatiful Tibeten mountains, where the snow had freshly fallen the night before.
"I'll be back in a sec." Hood suddenly broke the silence, and dissapeared through a doorway, not giving Theta even a second to respond.
She just continued to stare out in to the blue yonder.
Something he had heard before, but it was strange because to anyone else there wasn't a single sound.
Just wind flowing through windows, and the creecking noises from the wooden banisters above.
He entered another room, and just stared vaguely at the space in front of him.
It was empty as far as he could tell.
And suddenly, he heard it.
The sound. The voice. The one that had been calling him since he had entered the monastery.
And it was calling his name now.
But not the names he had heard before, not Alpha, Beta or Hood.
"Michael?"
Hood felt something go through him. It was something he thought he would never feel again.
Something that he hadn't felt ever since...she left.
He turned to his right, to see the owner of the angelic voice he heard.
Those eyes. They stared straight at him. He could feel her sight touching him.
All he could see, all he could hear, all he could feel, was her.
The one that left so long ago and now, now she was here, with him.
"Karen?" His voice was so soft now, but she could hear him and she smiled.
Slowly they walked to each other.
It had been close to two and a half years since she had left, he had some many questions, so many things to tell her. But all of these just slipped away as their hands touched.
"I've missed you Michael." Her voice was the same as had heard it so long ago.
And it still made him feel like there was nothing more in this world then just the two of them.
It was so unbelievable. Like a dream. He had still dreamed of them together, but this was no dream,
and he was glad of it. It was real, and he wanted nothing more than that.
"I've missed you aswell."
She smiled. That smile, it was something he had remembered, and was so glad to see it again.
"If this is a dream....I never want to be awokend." Said Hood, his hand slowly touching Karens cheeck.
"Neither do I." Her voice so soft as they embraced each other.
But their dream was awakend, by the mere sound of a cough.
Slowly they let go of each other, and Hood turned to the disturber.
"Ummm, I should go, shouldn't I?" Theta said, pointing to the door.
"No, no it's alright." Hood said, trying to be polite. "This is...Karen, Karen this is..."
"Theta, I know." She smiled as she shook hands with Hoods companion.
He then turned to her, and now was as good a time as any to know where she had been.
"Where have you been? Why did you leave?" He asked her.
"That's going to be hard to explain." She answered.
"Trust me, we've been in weirder situations." Hood answered, and held Karens hand.
"I know. I know, Chosen, The Wolves, Genesis, Dr. Zachary, Moondust, the dark side of the moon....I know." Theta and Hood couldn't believe what they were hearing, what she was saying.
Most of all she knew about Moondust and Dr. Zachary.
"Karen? How do you know all this?" It was hard enough only just finding the girl that had left him so long ago, but that she knew about close to everything he had been through, as well as Moondust, it was just extra ordinairy.
"I'll tell you, but when I explain where I've been something very strange will happen to me, okay?"
"I understand, but you must tell me. Please."
"Very well, let me start by saying that I am not human, and I know you aren't as well."
"Aliens of the universe unite!" Theta laughed, knowing now that their secret was revealed.
"I am an Eternal. We are like a gods, but with less power. And once I am done telling you this, my powers as an Eternal will be halved, because the Elders have told me so."
"Wait, wait, wait. This is getting confusing already, and I get the idea you haven't even started. You are a huh...a demi god, and you have something like superpowers that will be halved once you've told us what you are?"
"Yes, Eternals, have been around since earth was former, but we live in a different dimension, we call it the Eternal Realm. And well, we've seen everything that has happend on earth. The creation of life, dinosaurs, asteroids hitting the earth, humans evolving. And humans is the reason why I came to earth."
"This is getting confusing, I've got to sit down." Theta said, feeling slightly faint.
"Oh well, here." And with the flick of here wrist a small light appeared behind Theta, which took the form of a chair. It appeared only just in time, because on seeing this Theta feel on the chair, fainting.
"Wow." Hood smiled.
"There's more."
And so, Karen began the long story of what had happend, what she had been doing since she left, watching him nearly everyday, hoping that she would one day be allowed to return.
She told him about everything she had seen since the dinosaurs up till the two travellers entering the Tibeten mountains.
It was unbelievable to say the least. To think that he was in love with a demi god.
It was even more stranger to finally find her.
He could tell this was going to be a long night.
The Shadows appear
"Umm...one hundred twenty six million, give or take a millenium." She laughed a bit.
Hood could tell she felt much better, getting about ten millenia of her concience.
"Oh my god..." She suddenly realised what was about to take place.
"What? What is it?"
"De'nar....." She softly spoke.
"What's a De'nar?" Theta asked, who had come back to the world of the conscious.
"You've met it before, he might not be your biggest threat at the moment, but he is really annoying."
Karen began to explain.
"De'nar was a monk wise beyond his years some what eleven hundred years ago. The spirit realm gave him several powers, and he became a demon."
"You've got to be kidding me. A demon?" Hood had to admit it thought too himself, this day wouldn't be complete without a demon aswell. "Wait....you mean...the monk? With the dagger?"
Karen nodded. She knew of what had happend in Australia, and that the demon known as De'nar had killed Care, mother of Hoods son.
"Good. I've got something to settle with him." With that he reached for his sword.
"He'll be here soon." Karen stood up, and snapped her fingers. The funiture dissapear as fast as it had appeared.
"What do know about this guy?" Hood asked, hoping she might know it's weaknesses or something.
"Supposedly he was held in a limbo between the spirit realm and this one, and guess who found the spell to bring him back."
"Pandorax?"
"Yep."
"Great. What else?"
"There is a spell to lock him up again, but I don't know it."
"I know someone who does." With that, he went to his back pack and took out the laptop, connecting a wire between the computer and his sunglasses.
"What are you doing?" Karen asked, over his shoulder.
"Seeing if Pandorax has it in their mainframe." With those words he furiously began entering commands searching the database, hoping that it would be in there.
"We must hurry. He's nearing." Karen said this as she could feel De'nars power again, after seeing the lst time and what he had done to an entire village hundreds of years ago.
She was the soul surviver, but never told the tale to anyone.
"It'll take a while before I can find it. Theta." She quickly ran over to her superior. "Finish going through D-section, it's in there some where."
"Where are you going then?" She asked, having the laptop pushed into her hands.
Hood began to walk to one of the many doors in the monastery.
"I'm gonna pick a fight."
"Yeah, well I'm coming with you." Karen said, and before Hood was able to protest a single word she was already ahead of him. He then looked at Theta, who just gave a shrug back and continued searching the database for the spell.
"I know he's can slow time slightly, giving him better anticipation. I know his only but best weapon is his dagger, and I know that you'll do whatever it takes to kill him won't you?"
Karen didn't get much of a response, but she could feel she was right.
Although it was hidden deep within him, ready to be released on De'nar the moment he faced him.
They entered a large hall, where the banners of the forgotten monks still hung from the ceiling along the walls. At the end of the hall a stone statue stood, representing their god.
To be honest, Hood was getting a bit tired of gods, priests and monks.
There was some light coming into the hall through the open windows, which allowed the moon to shine some of it's light into the place of prayers.
Then the eerie feeling returned. Not just to Karen but also to Hood, who had also felt it when Cara was killed. He had been waiting to let go of all his rage of that day on this man, or demon, or whatever he wanted to be called. All Hood knew him by was one simple word.
Murderer.
A flash of light, similar to when Karen arrived in the monastery occured on the other side of the hall.
It was him. The one that he had been waiting for.
"I'm getting close to the spell." Hood heard from within the small ear phone placed in his sunglasses.
He didn't react, knowing that if De'nar knew of the spell, which he probably already did, he'd go straight after Theta, in the next room.
"So you're De'nar?' Hood asked standing straight across from the monk.
Though he didn't respond. All Hood could feel that in one way or another, the monk was answering yes.
"You don't belong in this realm." Karen shouted, remembering the agony he had caused before. "You don't even belong in to the living realm."
"..."
Hood was getting tired of this stand off. He didn't like them, they wasted too much time.
But that was what he needed now. Time.
As soon as Theta had the spell, they would be able to fight, distracting De'nar while Karen performed the spell.
"What was it like huh? When you killed Cara. Did you feel proud, glad or did you just get a kick out of it?"
His voice was getting deeper now. Something that had only happend twice before.
It showed when his anger was seriously building up to a dangerous level, even for his standards.
"Did you enjoy being released from your prison, and taking a life straight after."
"..."
"Then so be it." Hood reached for his sword with his gloved hand.
Without saying a word, Hood told Karen to move away, forgetting she was an Eternal, an immortal.
Even though she knew that she couldn't be harmed, she moved away, allowing him to fight with as much space as he needed.
A noise could be faintly heard in the background, as Hood stood ready for battle.
It started to become louder and louder.
The sound of someone laughing, not just a bit either.
It was a psycho laughter, insane with anger and hatred. The laughter seemed to be coming from all around them. From the walls, the doors, even the mountains themselves.
Slowly the sound seemed to be deciding on a source, and so as if it was something real, it gathered around the demon.
The laughter then seiced, and from De'nars concealed hands, a dagger was revealed.
It was the one. The dagger with Caras blood on it.
This didn't help to subside Hoods rage. It continued to grow.
He was at breaking point now.
Then, in an instant, a voice came from the hooded demon.
It was chillin and felt like it had been dead.
"Fight!"
The Light is taken.
Now was the time that he released himself, the core within him.
There were no more emmotions now, only one.
Rage.
And it had dominated his entire body.
It gave him strength, it gave him power, it gave him speed.
He a blur, he moved across the hall, to De'nar who held the long dagger in his hand.
Prepared for what this mortal could throw at him.
The clash of metal could be heard.
The speed at which the two fought could barely be kept up by others.
Flashes of steel clashing with each other dominated the hall.
Karen watched as Hood took on the demon.
She had never known anyone who could last as long as now, no one would have been able to last
more then 10 seconds with this mad man.
But he was breaking the record, it seemed like hours, but it had only been five minutes.
And still they held their power at its highest.
Smoke could be seen as the steel and adamantium weapons fought on the holy ground.
For a brief moment, the two jumped away from each other, seeing the result of their fighting.
He looked at his clothes.
Ripped and torn.
His trousers arm had been cut through, and is black coat had been chopped to no ends.
He felt something cold run down his cheeck.
Moving his hand over it, and then holding it in front of him, he saw his own blood.
Dark, darker then usual.
Now the anger had never been greater.
Suddenly they returned to the fight.
A dark light seemed to be dominating around the demon. It seemed impossible,
but he seemed to be glowing a dark light.
Within ten seconds, Hood was thrown against the wall.
The pain hit his metalic spine like a brick.
It surged through his body.
He stood up and prepared for a new stratergy.
His hand was a blur as he entered a command onto the device on his wrist.
Within a second, he held his hand out and the light of pure energy glowed within his fingers.
They gathered into a ball, glowing red.
"Eat light."
A blast blew Hood further inton the wall, as the energy ball flew through the hall with tremednous force, aimed at the demon.
As it seemed to hit him, it past straight through.
This was impossible. Nothing could have survived one of Hoods energy balls.
A blur sprinted around the room, Hood was unable to keep with it.
Suddenly a shadow stood infront of him, and a pain suddenly pulsed through his entire body.
He opened his eyes.
His hands felt an object, being pushed into his chest. Grinding against the Adamantium ribs.
He took a hold of the dagger, being pushed into his chest, and pushed it away from him.
It was only then when he realised that it had been entered into his lung.
The darkness around him seemed to increase now, and the light of life slowly drained away from him.
"Karen......"
Her heart seemed to have gone.
The Eternals face covered in fear and regret.
He was gone.
Again.
The man she had been watching for years taken away from her, now that she had finally been able to be with him.
No.
It couldn't be. It just couldn't.
His lifeless body layed on the cold stone of the monastery.
There was nothing left in him.
But as she looked at her, Theta saw what was wrong.
Hoods body on the ground. De'nar standing over it.
"He's...gone." Karen uttered.
Her arms were suddenly clutched by Theta, shaking her.
"He isn't yet. Quickly, you must read these words."
She pushed a piece of paper into Karens hands, which were still trembling.
The shock of having her love killed was still in her, but slowly she raised the paper to eye level,
reading what it said.
"You...sure?"
"YES! Now hurry. Only you can speak these words." Theta urged her friend to speak.
These words held the spell.
The spell to be rid of De'nar once more, but for how long.
She took a glimpse of the words.
They were written in Latin.
"The spell of imprisonment." Her voice still trembled.
"Yes, now hurry."
Karen didn't seem to understand why Theta didn't feel the same pain as she did.
But this was probably because Theta didn't feel the same for Hood as she did.
"No." Karen suddenly spoke.
"WHAT?" Theta shouted in anger.
"I have one better."
She remembered the spell now, but in a different context.
It held the power that would be able to destroy De'nar, and with some hope, bring him back.
She raised her hands to the sky.
Now she would show this demon what power she had. Even if it was cut in half her powers would
still be immense, and it was that which she needed.
Lightning seemed to be forming between her hands. Red and blue mixed
"Recro lux lucis spiritus in hac militis - Comprehendo hac nocens acerbus carcer!"
Her voice was changing.
"RECRO LUX LUCIS SPIRITUS IN HAC MILITIS, COMPREHENDO HAC NOCENS ACERBUS CARCER!"
Karen shouted as the soft breeze around them began to increase.
It didn't seem to worry De'nar who still was watching the Eternal from behind Hoods body.
A strange blue glow formed in her eyes.
The lightning between her hands became a storm of light and thunder.
The wind around grew and grew. It had become something like a storm within the monastery.
Theta watched from a distance as her new friend performed the spell.
"RECRO LUX LUCIS SPIRITUS IN HAC MILITIS, COMPREHENDO HAC NOCENS ACERBUS CARCER!" She shouted again.
Slowly she lowered her arms and moved towards Hoods body, which lay beaten on the ground.
De'nar would not tolerate this. He could not allow his mission to fail.
With a sweep of his arm, and hit Karen and threw her against one of the walls.
The power at which he threw her could be felt as the monastery shook slightly.
He saw the bright dissapear.
The light he had seen before when he was trying to escape the clutches of a pandorax scientist.
And then he had also been taken away from entering the light, and brought
back to his shadowy exsistence.
Now it happend again.
He felt someone touching his shoulders.
The hands felt warm, welcoming. And he still felt a great deal of power enter him.
What had happend?
All he could remember was the pain he felt before he saw the light.
A sharp pain entering his body.
But it had gone.
He opened his eyes, still concealed behind his sunglasses.
Finally his thoughts began to return to him.
De'nar.
He had struck him in the chest, but as Hoods hands moved over his body,
he could not feel any pain what so ever.
Karen.
That could have been the only explaination.
Some way or another she must have healed him.
With touch of a button on the leg of his shades he took a reading of his health.
A small bar appeared in one of his lenses.
One hundred percent.
Good.
This meant he had the power to take De'nar on again.
And this time he would not underestimate his enemy.
The Power of Battle
She had been thrown against a wall of pure stone, by De'nar.
"Are you okay?" Theta helped her up, and noticed the impression in the wall of Karens body.
"I'll be fine...Is Hood alright?" She held her hand to her head.
She felt a splitting head ache developing.
So that's what pain feels like?
Hopefully she wouldn't have to experience it again, being an immortal for all of eternity is something
completly different from being only half immortal.
"Looks like he's fine. I knew that the spell would work." Theta watched as Hood stood up,
still a bit dazed from the resurrection.
"Strange though...." Karen stared at him for a moment.
"What is?" Theta asked.
"Huh? Ohh...nothing. Nevermind."
For the first time, a voice could be heared, coming from De'nar.
"First time you have fought something from another realm I believe. I must admit.
I did not expect you to last as long as you did."
The voice was so cool and calm.
He just continued to glare at the demon.
"No more words." Hood spoke, and reached for his sword, laying on the ground.
The battle began anew.
The speed at which they fought was once again mesmorizing.
Reactions faster than you imagine.
Power you couldn't even imagine.
The steel of De'nars dagger was beginning to glow from the heat of battle.
The adamantium sword of Hood did not however, being able to stand immense heat.
This can't be right can it?
Hood continued his battle, but as he did, he notice the health and power read out on the
lenses of his shades. It had to be a malfunction.
It was increasing.
Beyond one hundred percent...it had to be a malfunction.
He ignored it and continued fighting.
De'nar couldn't believe this.
How could a child like this actually be matching up to him?
After all, he is a demon. An immortal demon to be exact.
There was something different about this one.
Something that just didn't show.
He didn't let it distract him, but he continued to listen.
In fact he wasn't hearing it.
Karen.
She would be the only one that could do this.
"There is only one way of killing an immortal."
"What is it?" He spoke in his mind.
"Decapitating him."
"Thanks."
Immediatly he changed stratergy.
The jumped away from each other and once more they saw what the battle had done to them.
Mainly what Hood had done to De'nar. The monks robe had been shredded.
This fueled his anger now.
And as he raised his dagger, beginning a new attack, he noticed that the warrior had moved.
Correcting his position, De'nar began his attack again.
But Hood had moved once more.
"Are you affraid of dying, boy?"
He stared at the demon. No longer would he allow this mad man destroy lives.
Now that time had come that De'nar, died.
Every part of him filled.
He felt his power in every cell of his body.
His rage.
His anger.
His passion.
From behind the sunglasses, a glow could be seen. An eerie red glow.
Theta and Karen watched as Hoods eyes began to glow.
The black shades could not hide the red glow being emitted from Hoods eyes.
Without a word, he dashed around De'nar.
Zig zagging before him, giving the demon a taste of his own attack.
Then it ended.
The steel dagger fell to the ground.
Now the struglle had ended.
Hood stood on one knee, still holding his sword.
A blue sticky liquid dripped from the edge, as De'nars body fell to the ground.
Beside it lay the head of the demon.
The glow left his eyes now. Calmness returned to his body, as he slowly relaxed.
The health read out returned to one hundred.
He then stood up, and walked to Karen and Theta.
"Are you alright Michael?" Karen asked, as she touched his cheek.
"I'll be fine. That spell....it brought me back. Gave me the strength to finish this."
He wasn't suprised of the supernatural, but at the power it held.
"I felt so....strong." He couldn't believe the power that had surged through him.
Karen stared at him for a moment.
This wasn't right.
"Karen?....What's wrong?" Theta asked, noticing that the Eternal hadn't said a word
in ages. She simply looked bleekly at Hood.
"Michael.....I never had a chance....to finish the spell." Her voice trembled slightly.
He then stared at her for a moment, and then looked behind, at the body on the ground.
"You did it by yourself..."
The shadow and the light united
This could not be true, could it?
How could he have done this, by himself. The power that had entered his body.
The surge of energy that rippled though his entire exsistence and gave him the strength
to kill De'nar.
"My health read out....." He quickly entered a command into his electronic sunglasses,
making it do a self diagnostic.
It was fine. Nothing was wrong with it.
But when he felt the power enter his body, it went over one hundred percent.
"Umm...guys? May I suggest moving away from the decomposing demon body laying on
the ground?" Theta said, as De'nars body began to rapidly dissapear.
The three moved away from the body and stepped into another room.
"Michael. What happend?" Karen asked, they sat down.
Theta gathered some broken chairs and pilled them up, then lit them with a small energy ball.
The night cold entered the monastery. And it would still be several hours till dawn.
"I'm not sure...I think it was my ancestery."
Karen understood slightly.
"What do you mean?" Theta asked, as she sat down next to the two.
"You remember what the base genes were for Moondust?" Theta nodded.
"They were from aliens."
Suddenly something seem to click within Karens mind, remembering something from a long
time ago.
"I remember them..." She softly spoke.
This caught both Hood and Thetas attention.
"It was thousands of years ago, but I still remember it pretty well."
"Karen....what do you mean?" Hood asked as he gazed past his sunglasses into Karens blue
eyes. She turned to the small fire that Theta had made and then waved her hand.
From it what seemed as dust, sprinkled over the flames, giving them shapes.
They stared at the images being held with the flames of the fire.
"They had come from another solar system. This was the only habital planet in the region.
Three of them came here, because it was their dying years. They said they were called
Shadow Warriors, soldiers from another region of space."
The images flowed like a movie within the fire.
They saw the ship make an emergency landing in a jungle. The three beings stepped out.
The beings looked exactely the same as humans.
images flickered of the Warriors training their last day away.
"I only visited them once or twice."
"And they had the same powers as I had just now?" Hood asked, looking at her.
"No, their powers were far greater then yours. But that was only because they were the best
of the army they had been put in, if they weren't fighting or hunting food, they were training."
Theta though this all voer.
"Wait a minute. How come Hood has got some of these powers and I don't have any of them?"
It was like she was jealous of her companion at this point.
"It's probably been dormant in your cells. And because Hood has been fighting longer than
you have. You have them yourself, but it will take a while before you can use them."
Karen explained. It seemed quit clear now to Theta that she would have to fight more to gain
such powers.
"Then we must train more." Hood spoke.
"Looks like their attitudes has also been passed on with the genes you were created from."
Karen smiled.
He looked slightly confused and gave a questioning look to his girlfriend.
"I remember one of them was called Ajax. He was a lot like you Michael, same style of clothing,
same fearless attitude, bit more cocky and didn't like bright lights much."
Their was a moment he felt insulted, but he let it pass.
"Listen, love birds. If you don't mind I'd like to get some sleep." Theta spoke,
as she covered herself with her coat and snuggled up.
"Goodnight." Hood spoke as he guided Karen to another room, to let their friend sleep,
while they talked.
He held her arms, and looked into her blue eyes.
He could never forget those eyes. They were the most bueatiful he had ever seen, and he
would never forget them. He couldn't.
Hood could just fall in to them and never want to come out, like giant oceans.
The cool water that flowed in her eyes that made them so crystal blue.
"Sshhh. No more words." Karen placed her finger on his lips.
Then she replaced her finger with her lips and kissed him gently on the lips.
It had been close to three years since he had felt those lips upon his own.
It all seemed a dream. There was nothing else.
Just being with her was all that he needed, all he wanted.
Nothing else.
"Karen?"
She looked up for a moment, seeing as he was slightly taller than her.
"Yes, Michael?"
"I love you."
"I know."
Their gaze seemed to continue for an eternity, as they stared into each others eyes.
And for the first time in close to a year, he reached for his sunglasses and removed
them, allowing an underhinderd sight towards the one he loved.
Even though it all seemed to bright for him, and it even hurt slightly, it was worth the
sight. Being able to gaze into those blue eyes of hers.
And she could not stop looking in to those red eyes.
See had seen so many eyes, strange eyes. But even if she had never seen red eyes
like his, she did not care. She thought they were bueatiful.
And it was that that he thought of her.
It was finally when he spoke that knocked her out of the dream she felt like she was
living at this point. And yet even when she woke up, it still seemed a dream.
"We should get some sleep."
He hadn't slept in a long time, having to fight, travel or stand guard the whole time.
"Of course." Karen said, and waved her hand over thin air.
An extra large sleeping bag appeared on the ground.
Hood never could sleep in a normal bed, too comfortable he always said.
"Come."
A moment later, they lay together, as they held each other in their arms.
Finally being able to hold each other after so long.
It was not long before Karen fell asleep, and as she lay there, in his arms, he knew
that perhaps he would know true happiness after all.
All the worries had dissapeared once she arrived, and he could finally relax.
"Sleep well my love." He whispered, and did the same.
And so the two lovers held each other tightly, asleep, never wanting
to let go of the other.
Lives before
It felt cold, but it felt good, so fresh and clean.
The sun shined through the windows, reflecting off the soft snow of the mountains.
There was the warmth she felt as she lay in the king size sleeping bag.
It had been a long time since she slept in the mortal realm, on this world.
Sleeping in the clouds of the Eternal realm was so much different, but when
she was down here, it all seemed so much more real.
For a moment she thought she'd roll over on to the man she loved next to her.
The man that she loved and cared for.
But as she moved she noticed that there was a cold place beside of her.
Softly she sighed to herself.
"He never changes."
Slowly, as if she was a flower just blooming she rose out of the sleeping bag,
materialising some clothes on to herself as she walked through the corridors of the
monastery, where they had battled the night previous.
Undoubtely there would be one place where he would be at this point in the day.
over the cold stones.
Slowly he practised his Yoga technics, in nothing more then his sunglasses and his
trousers. He had his nano bots repair them the night before.
It felt good.
So natural, for once being able to relax after the struggles he has had for the last
couple of months. Having to travel over and through the globe,
in search of his lost family, only known to him as Moondust.
Then having to fly to the moon, only to have his family taken away from him, by
the mad man known as Dr. Zachary.
And even after killing the good doctor, one of his minions still seems to be after him.
But thanks to Karen, he was able to make short work of the demon who killed
the mother of his son.
Another breeze of wind blew against his chest as he elegantly glided through the air,
moving as if he was fighting, but slow enough to have any butterfly avoid his fists.
"After three years you still can't help doing that." A formiliar voice said behind him.
"Do what?" He asked in a coy voice.
"Choosing your training over waking up together with me." Karen moved closer
to him, and eventually was able to rap her arms around him.
"It helps me concentrate on the things I believe in." He reluctantly turned around
and embraced his love.
"What is that then?" Karen asked, leaning her head on his shoulders.
"Justice, peace, war, love....you." It sent a smile over her face, and she raised her
head up to his lips and kissed him. "You never seice to amaze me."
They slowly began to dance over the the roof of the holy building, remembering
the song they listened to when they first met.
better get ready to go." And so she dissapeared down the wooden ladder.
of the Tibeten mountains.
The nights, cold, the days bright due to the reflecting sun on the white snow.
It was days before they came to the next village, and weeks before they reached a sign of
decent technology. It only happend to be a small town.
Snow had covered most of the buildings, and there was a severe lack of civilisation.
"Where do you think we are?" Asked Theta as they walked through one of the streets.
"Can't get a decent lock on our position." Hood fumbled with the GPS system.
"Last time I checked I thought we were in Mongolia." Karen said.
"That was last week, wasn't it?" Theta asked.
"Could be."
They continued their treck through the heavy snow covered streets.
Out of one of the shops, up a long the streets, a figure was smoking something, staring at
nothing in particular. He then noticed the travellers in the distance.
He began walking towards them, and upon reaching them began talking in a language
that none of them understood.
Finally when the man stopped his strange talk, Karen was able to say something.
"Umm....you speak english?" She asked.
He stared a moment, and then laughed.
"Of course. Of course. My apologise." They could now get a decent guess on what language
he was using.
"Wrelcome. Wrelcome to the great Russia!" He shook everyones hands with immense power.
It seemed obvious that this guy was no threat.
Though Hood kept his suspicions.
"Please, let me intrrroduce myself. I am David." He greeted in a friendly voice.
"David?" Hood wondered.
"No...DavId, with an I. Tell, where have come frrrom?" He asked, as he fumbled with his
short little beard on his chin.
"We have travelled from China. Do you have somewhere we could stay the night?" Karen said
and began to pay more attention to this David.
"China. That is very far away. Of course! You can stay with my brothers and I!" He walked behind
the three and held on to them.
"Come! My home is just around the strrraight." And with great enthusiasm he guided his newly
found friends to his home, which happend to be a small ware house at the back of the town.
Inside, there was an office space where two others sat.
Both were guys, and looked pretty much like David. One had rather long side burns, which seemed
edge towards his nose. The other had sideburns that fluffed out, consealing his ears.
David greeted his brothers in their own language, and then introduced the strangers.
"This here is Boris and Bjorn. Brothers, this is....I'm sorry, but what are your names?"
David realised that he hadn't even asked for his newly found friends' names.
"I am Karen, this is Theta." The girls introduced themselves.
"My name is Hood." He spoke, watching his breath freeze infront of him.
There was a moment of silence betweent he brothers, when suddenly Boris snapped his fingers.
He then began talking frantically to David, naturally in russian.
David raised an eyebrow as he turned his head towards Hood.
He analysed he from top to bottom, looking at every detail.
Boris continued talking to his brothers, now and then mentioning the name Hood.
"I am sorry, but are you THE Hood?" Bjorn asked.
"Yes." He answered.
"Warrior of shadows? Destroyer of Chosen? Killer of Wolves? Banisher of Zoot?"
"Yes."
"WOW!" Bjorn was blown away from being in the same icy room with someone he thought was
the greatest person alive.
"Looks like you're making a fanclub." Karen joked.
The warrior simply raised an eyebrow.
"So we can stay for the night? We'll be gone in the morning." Theta was tired and really wanted to
get some sleep.
So the brothers agreed and gave the girls their bed, while Hood stayed up and slept in a chair, beside
of Karen.
Another mystery
All they knew was that they had left early in the morning and had left a rather large
basket of fresh fruit on the breakfast table.
Strange thing was that you couldn't get fruit for thousands of miles.
"So where we headin to now?" Theta asked, as she kicked a lump of ice.
"Dunno, what you think, hun?" Karen looked at Hood, who was simply staring in front of
himself, thinking about the recent days. "Hun?"
"Huh? Oh, right...I say we head west, till we hit Europe." He finally said, coming back to the
present day. The girls agreed, and continued their journey.
It was too be expected, when travelling over one of Russia's roads, through the forests that
sooner or later someone would come along, demanding what ever you had without even
saying please.
Three figures jumped out of the trees and onto the road.
Each held their faces hidden behind masks.
They stood about ten meters from the travellers.
"You're batteries..."
"...or your heads.....
"..which comes first." They spoke.
Theta, Karen and Hood turned to each other, and smiled. These guys were messing with
the wrong kind of people.
He stepped forward, and raised his arm. From the thieves view, it seemed as if he was
holding something in his hand
"You guys sure you want it?" He asked with a smile.
There was a moment of hesitation from the three robbers, but finally they nodded.
"Okay then."
He opened his hand to reveal nothing but air.
Though now the light of an energy ball began to glow with in Hoods palm.
First it grew as a small blue ball, the size of a marble, but then gained the size of a basketball,
glowing red.
"Oops." The three robbers spoke in unison as the energy ball headed towards them.
Each were blown away from the explosion, and flew through the air, back into the forests where
they had came from.
"Blast 'em away, why don't ya?" Theta laughed, then noticed something perculiar.
She looked at Hoods wrist, where his nano bot generator watch was meant to be.
Exactely, meant to be. It wasn't there.
"H? Where's your watch?" she asked.
For a moment he did not understand, but the looked at his wrist.
Nothing there.
He suddenly remembered he had put it in his pocket the night previous, because it felt
uncomfortable.
Karen had also noticed this, and had already explained to herself what had happend.
"Karen. Did the Shadow Warriors have the power to make energy balls?" The warrior asked in
curiosity.
She only had to nod, with a smile.
"You learn something new every day." He smiled.
become extremely cold.
Hood sat at a table together with Karen and Theta.
It had become clear that some were slightly nervous by the warriors presence in the
humble inn. There was an eerie silence as the ate.
"I hate it when people stare at me." Theta said, as she ate her soup.
"What makes you think they're staring at you?" Karen said non-chalantly.
"What? You mean Hood? Guess you don't really blend in with the flowerly wall paper."
Theta and Karen couldn't help but giggle amongst themselves.
Hood on the other hand was also getting slightly irritated by the constant staring.
When he had had enough he stood up and looked at everyone.
This shocked all the others and quickly backed against the wall.
"Barman, would you mind translating for me?" He shouted.
The barman nodded his head away.
"If you have something against me or my friends, say it now.
If not, then just get on with your diner!"
The barman made a quick translation, but the idea of what the warrior had said had
already hit the others, and understood quickly.
The crowd sat down and began talking to each other, about nothing in particular.
"Blends in as a shark with gold fish." Karen laughed.
He couldn't help but show a grin as he continued to eat his soup.
Hood sat on the bed as she got changed in the other room.
"What do you want to know?" She asked, her head only just popping from
around the corner.
"As much as possible."
"I don't know everything about them, only what Ajax and the others told me."
"That'll do for now then."
Karen appeared from the bathroom and walked towards Hood.
"Let's start with their home planet." She began, yet she couldn't help but notice
the stare he was giving her.
It probably had something to do with the fact that what she was wearing, was nothing
more then silk gown which barely reached her legs.
She still continued.
"Their planet was lightyears away, near the horse head nebula. They had five planets
come to think of it. The population consisted of two species.
Shadows and Shadow Warriors. The warriors were a genetic enhancement of the Shadows.
They were born soldiers, raised with the knowledge of every form of fighting known.
I don't have to tell you that they were a highly advanced civilisation."
He simply nodded, taking in all the information.
"Well, several decades after the warriors were created, the decade war began, and each
of the five planets turned against each other, eventhough they were all the same.
After the war, there was only a small handfull of Shadows and Shadow Warriors left,
and those were also dieing because of the radiation contaminating them, left after the war.
So, the Shadows and Warriors left the planets, travelling in small groups trying to find
somewhere new to live. I suppose the radiation has probably seiced on the planets.
I don't know about the others, but Ajax and his group crash landed here.
They lived long after the crash, and couldn't stop training. Everytime I met them, they were
fighting. Yet they knew there wasn't going to be anymore wars for them.
Ajax began to become more interested in the planet though, learning of the animals, the
plants, basicly learning about nature. Being the leader, the others followed suit.
After several years, they reached the end of their natural lives and died.
Ajax was the last....I buried him."
There was a moment of silence between the two.
"Don't worry about it, I've buried plenty of people I know. Though sometimes...
sometimes they were the people I had killed...only to keep my identity a secret."
She turned her heads downwards, in shame of what she had done thousands of
years ago. She couldn't even tell if they actually did know if they knew about her or not.
But she had been taught not to take the risk.
Tears fell down her cheeks as she remembered all the screams of pain and suffering she
had caused. It had never bothered her untill now.
Now that she could confess.
She felt Hoods arm slowly move around her neck, comforting her.
"I'm no longer an Eternal....I'll never be human...only now..."
She struggled to free the words that had been locked in her throat.
"Now I realise that...I'm nothing but a cold blooded murderer."
Those words gave reason now, for her eyes to let go, and tear after tear fell upon the floor.
Hood held her close, feeling her tears fall upon his shoulder.
"Shhhh.... It's alright...it's in the past." He softly spoke as they laid down.
Karen crying in his arms, only feeling comfort there.
Slowly her tears dissapeared, and her breathing calmed to slow one.
Now she could rest.
He held her tight, never wanting to let go again.
Now there was only sound of their breathing, and the soft wind blowing outside...
The Hunt begins
Two months to be exact.
It had taken that long for the three travellers to reach Europe.
And as they travelled, they left a reputation behind them.
A different reputation for each though.
Karen, had become known as the kind and gentle girl, helping anyone she came across.
She had promised herself to make amends for the wrongs she had commited thousands
of years ago, for the lives she had taken.
Theta, was now known as the most seductive woman of this side of the globe.
One way or another, she would be able to get any guy to do what she wanted.
Nearly any guy except for Hood of course, for she knew her methods of seduction
would never work on a man who was so much in love as him.
And as the three travelled, Hood had become known as many things.
A sorcerer, a devil, an angel, an alien, but most of all, a warrior.
His true nature was now being revealed.
Not only his true nature was being revealed, but also his true powers.
The powers he had inheritated from the beings he was created from.
through the parks of Paris. There was a severe case of overgrowth her.
It was no longer a park, but a jungle.
"Hate to be the gardener." Karen laughed as she nearly tripped over a vine.
"I just hope we don't meet anyone. Before the virus I flunked french." Said Theta as
she sniffed a flower.
"I never went to school." Hood confesed as he cut his way through the overgrowth,
creating a path for the girls.
"Neither did I." There was moment of surprise as Theta and Hood stared at Karen,
who seemed to be getting red cheeks all of a sudden.
"In all of your time on this planet, and ever since there were schools, you never
bother to even see what it was like?" Said Theta.
"Well... I never got around to it."
A slight grin appeared on Hoods face as he continued cutting.
But it came to a sudden halt, as his sword hit a large metalic object, hidden
behind a large bush.
"What is it?" Theta asked, as she joined Hood.
He began moving the bushed away, revealing a large metalic base.
It was only then when he looked sky wards and saw the legendary monument.
"The Eiffel Tower." Karen said as she gazed upwrds as well.
"Never realised it was so big." Said Theta, looking in complete amazment.
"I always thought it would be so romantic to have a date in the cafe up there."
Karen said, now being swept away into the old Paris atmosphere of love and romance.
There was a second of thought within Hoods mind, and then he turned to the girls.
"Theta. Ever been on a shopping spree in Paris before?"
"No, never." She said, slightly perplexed.
"Karen, I assume you have?"
She nodded franticly remembering the hours she spent trying on dresses and perfumes,
through out the centuries that she had spent around the world.
"Right, take Theta on spree with you and get a nice dress for tonight."
The sight was unbelievable, seeing the two girls face light up, it would have made
the coldest warriors heart melt.
He threw them a bag of batteries and jewelery, and just before they dissapeared,
he was able to get a word in.
"I'll meet you back here at 8. My treat."
The grls dissapeared from the park and into the shopping centre of Paris.
Hood smiled as he saw the girls leave.
But his smile did not last long. For he heard the sound of rustling branches above him.
Immediately he could sense that in seconds he would be attacked.
But before he could prepare himself for attack, and reach for his sword,
a figure jumped down from the branches above.
It stood there before Hood.
He stared at his adversary.
"You are Michael Hood, are you not?" The voice was dry and seemed to struggle
from his throat.
"No, it's just Hood to anyone I don't know." His hand was itching to reach for his sword,
but he knew patience.
"Then it is you I have been sent to kill." Hood saw the large steel claws attached to the
figures right glove.
The grey clothed figure stared directly at Hood, and seemed to pass through the black
shades.
"Do not bother analysingmy strengths with your glasses. I am not truelly here."
This was unexpected, but he still checked the strength this person had.
Zero.
He was right. He wasn't there, but how could he still be there.
"Before you ask, I am a hologram. I am actually a far distance away."
"Who are you?"
"I am Griffin. I thought it would be only fair to warn you, before I kill you. To give you a
sporting chance."
At this Hood could not help but grin.
"Who sent you?"
"Elas, the batteries on these hologram projectors do not last long, so I will say
goodbye... for now. But rest assured, you shall be dead by the end of this day."
With those last words, the figure turned into a small marble size ball of light and
vanished int thin air.
There was a moment of concern within Hoods mind, as he realised that a man, with
technology like this, similar to his own, would be hunting him down soon.
He also had the problem now, that he would have to deal with Griffin, find a reasonable
suit, and meet Karen back at the Eiffel Tower, all by eight o'clock.
Though the concern dissapeared, and so did he, as he walked back into the park.
several dresses.
"How come? Never had enough money?" Karen asked from behind the curtain.
"Oh no. I had plenty of money. Though my so called parents made me save up for
college. Load of good that did me."
The curtain was pushed aside and Karen stepped out of the changing room.
"Wow!" Theta said in amazement.
Karen had put on a beautiful long blue dress. Around the waist were small patterns
like rain, sown into the dress.
"Think, Hood will like it?" Asked Karen, as she twirled around in it.
"He'll fall in love with you all over." Theta laughed, and quickly took Karens place
in the changing room. "Now, I'm gonna try and snare me a guy tonight as well."
Karen looked at herself in the mirror, admiring the dress she was wearing.
He'd love it.
Battle of the Hunter
The text quickly dissapeared off the screen within Hoods shades.
He had been able to succesfully locate where Griffin had sent his holo image from.
He found himself in a small neighbourhood, completly overgrown with plants.
There was even the faint sound of monkeys and birds.
He stared at the building in front of him. It was the tallest there.
From the top he could tell it gave a fantastic view of Paris.
Without hesitation, Hood walked to the large oak doors.
Across the doors, 'Griffin' had been scratched in.
"I know, kind of gives it away. But no matter." A voice came from a loudspeaker,
mounted in the corner of the door.
He stepped backwards, to take another good look at the building.
Vines had grown all way from the ground to the top.
It probably would have been easier to just enter through the front door,
but he could expect that it would be too easy.
Instead, he pushed several buttons on the nano bot watch on his wrist.
The tiny little robots quickly dispatched from the watch and made their way to Hoods
boots. Slowly but surely, they began to lift him upwards.
It was not long before he had reached the top of the building and landed in a garden.
The garden seemed to be in total chaos, yet he couldn't help but notice the structure
it seemed to form.
"Hood! It seems you also have Pandorax technology. This will make the hunt
more interesting, don't you think?" The voice seemed to be coming from all
around him.
He didn't bother to answer. Hopefully it wouldn't take long to finish this, he still had
to get a suit for tonight.
"Let's begin." Griffins voice seemed to be more located now.
He could tell it was from behind him somewhere.
A flash of light, reflected on the side of Hoods shades, revealing Griffins position.
He saw a claw like device on his hand, and could see now that he wore a tiger skin
jacket.
Griffin watched his prey before him, unaware of the danger behind him.
As a tiger he launched forward, lashing at Hoods back, though he had already
anticipated the attack and was able to roll backwards, allowing Griffin to
fly over him.
They both stood up and faced each other.
"You are taller than I had expected." Griffin laughed.
In cat like fashion he made another leap for Hood, holding his claws forward.
They would have torn through Hoods body, was it not fot the fact that
his Adamantium sword was locked in combat with the claws.
"I see you still use your sword. I believed you were more a hand to hand fighter."
Griffins smile was ruthless as he stared at Hood.
Both holding their ground, their weapons locked in each other.
Suddenly, Griffin rolled backwards, throwing Hood over him.
Steadily he landed on his feet, his sword ready.
"Come, come, friend. You must be more powerfull than this. Listen, if you wont
hold back, neither shall I. Agreed?"
A slight nod came from Hoods direction, and then both flew at each other.
This time they held none of their strength back.
The sword and the claw clashed together.
Once more, they landed opposite each other.
Griffin ran towards him, preparing to use his claws once more.
There were brief thoughts while Hood was fighting this hunter. Everytime
Griffin would attack, he'd talking a running jump and then swipe with his claws,
just like a tiger or cat.
Though the claws were getting dangerously close each time.
Griffins fourth attack approached, and Hood knew exactely what to do.
As the hunter ran forwards, he thrust his metalic claws towards Hood.
But he had not accounted for Hoods sword do slash on to the claws as he did.
With a single sweep, the Adamantium blade cut the three razors from Griffins
gloved hand, letting them fall upon the earth covered floor.
Griffin jumped backwards, looking at his broken weapon as he did.
His stare then returned towards the warrior he had been sent to kill.
"You are as good as I've been told. But I must confess now..."
He stopped the sentence there as he jerked his back.
For several seconds there was the sounds of metal sliding on metal.
On Griffins back, long razor blades had unfolded, flowing down his back, over
his shoulders and down his arms.
His new weaponry reflected the bright mid day sun light, being shined on the jungle
penthouse.
"...I've been holding back." His grin now showed the fang like K-nine teeth he had.
With the new armoury on his body, Griffin made a flying attack on his prey.
Hood, only just being able to avoid the blades that struck in to the concrete floor.
The warrior rolled aside and stood up, holding his sword tightly.
All of a sudden, Griffin turned into a human tornado, flying towards Hoods with
a blinding speed.
And as Hood struck the tornado with the sword, the force at which Griffin was
spinning blew him a couple of meters away.
He then stopped.
The sweat on his forward unmasked the fact that this was tiring Griffin.
"Right... play time is over. Time to die." The hunter shouted, and made another
attack on Hood.
That this wasn't tiring Hood, would be a lie, although he could keep it up for
an hour or two more.
If Griffin truelly issn't holding anything back now, neither shouldm I.
Hoods thoughts ended as he kneeled on one knee and quickly developed
a light ball in his palm as he aimed it at the attacking hunter.
He released the ball and let it fly with tremendous force at Griffin.
It took him completly off guard as it blew him backwards.
Eventually gravity took it's toll, and pulled Griffin only just back on to the roof.
most of his armour had been blown off, and the rest was falling to the ground
as he hung by one hand from the ledge.
With speed Hood ran to the hunter.
"You are better than I had been told. I must remembered that next time."
Griffin smirked as he held on to the ledge.
The warrior held his palm just above Griffin, a small energy ball being made.
"Tell me who sent you." Hood demanded.
"And if I don't?" The classical answer came from Griffin.
Hood first looked down to the ground, and then to his palm.
"Either the drop will kill you, or the energy ball will. Now tell me!
Who sent you!?!"
"You'll find out." With those words, the hunter known as Griffin, voluntarily
released his grip on the ledge, and plummited to ground beneath, ten
floors lower.
Hood heard the sound of bones and vital organs break as Griffin hit the ground.
He had never intended to kill Griffin to begin with, he had planned after
he had been told who he was sent by, to help Grififn back on the roof.
But that he would take his secrets to the grave he had not expected.
The warrior walked down the fire escape to the ground, to inspect Griffins body.
It was too Hoods amazement to find that the body had gone.
A trail of bloody footsteps walking away from the pool of blood.
"This is impossible. Not even I could have...."
Slowly he realised something that he should have seen an hour ago.
Griffin would never had been able to get that technology by himself.
The hologram projector, the claws and armour.
There were all trademarks of the company that had created him.
The company that he had hoped to have stopped by killing the only remaining
adult in the world, Dr. Zachary.
But Zachary was dead, and Joe was on their side now.
It only meant one thing.
There were more adults alive.
A night to remember
the Apocalypse." Karen smiled, as they stood in front of the Hilton hotel.
"We'll get a room here for tonight, and leave for whereever it is we're leaving in the morning."
Theta said as they entered the luxury hotel.
It could be said, that the Hilton had a class of style high above every other hotel,
no matter what the time period. This was also true in tribeworld.
The fancy chandeliers had been replaced by disco lights, and the entire interior of
the lobby seemed as any other place in Tribeworld, but it had such a certain style to it.
"I remember the last time I was here." Said Karen as the walked to the reception.
"I was the adopted daughter to an American minister. It was beautiful....and it still is."
Theta shook her head, with a grin on her face.
"Karen, you're a strange one."
As they stood at the reception, there was no one around.
Karen gently hit the bell for some attention.
No one came.
Again she hit the bell, a bit harder now.
No one came.
This frustated her, and the third time, she hit her fist on the bell, letting it fly across the
reception area.
Quickly, the receptionist popped his head up, behind the counter.
He appeared about 13, and his hair was a bit ruffled.
"Finally. We'd like two rooms please." Karen said, slightly annoyed.
"Umm, I'm affraid, we are full. Though there is a nice motel down the street."
Karen could instantely recognise the sarcasm in this guys voice, and was ready to
turn him into dust. Theta saw this, and placed her hand on Karens fist.
"I'll take care of this." She whispered and then stepped up to the reception.
"You know, I've never really been in France before." The tone in which she spoke,
mesmorized the young receptionists mind. He was completly bedazzled.
"And I've been travelling so long, ever since my boyfriend broke up with me."
A slight snigger came from Karens direction.
"It be so nice if we could get a room here... I always had a thing for younger men."
At this point, the thirteen year old, had been drawn from his side of the desk, by
his tie, which was firmly in Thetas hand.
"Two single rooms?" The words were nearly stuck in his throat.
"No. Two kingsize bedrooms, her boyfriend will be here tonight."
"But, there's only three of you then, and a kindsize bed is for two...."
He then realised what she meant, by the seductive stare she threw at him.
"Two kingsize bedrooms, for the two lovely ladies, complements of the hotel."
He handed the keys to the girls, and as they had cleared the receptions hearing range,
couldn't help but go in a hysterical laughter.
The shopping rush had ended, and he was nearly alone.
The fight with Griffin had left his clothes ripped and torn, and he had to find
a tailor for tonight.
He passed a church tower and stared at the clock.
"Six o'clock." Hood mumbled. Only two hours left before he had to be at the Eiffel
tower. He began walking a bit faster now.
As luck would have it, there was a single tailors shop he had nearly walked past.
It was still open.
Quickly he walked in.
There were suits and clothes hung everywhere.
Hood didn't see anyone there.
"Hello? Anyone here?"
"Ahh good day, my foreign friend." A voice said in another room.
The owner of the voice then entered the tailor shop.
It was a small man that entered, about 16, and seemed a proffesional tailor, from
the pin cushion on his arm to the tap measurer around his neck.
"How may I help you?"
"I need a suit that fits within an hour." Hood said, knowing it would take at least
an hour to get from this side of Paris to the Eiffel.
"Of course, you are talking to Frances fastest tailor. Now if you would step this
way please, I'll measure you up."
Hood quickly followed the tailor into the next room.
"Black smoking, bow tie?"
He nodded.
"Now if you would take off those...." The tailor paused as he stared at the ripped
armour and clothing of Hood. "... clothes."
He threw the clothes aside, and the tailor began his tidious work, of finding the
correct clothes for the warrior.
"Do you always have those sunglasses on?" The tailor asked while he was
working. There was long stare from Hood, which was an answer in itself.
"Nevermind."
The clouds had left the sky, leaving a beautiful, clear view of the stars above,
looking down at the earth beneath.
The full moon, glowing it's light on Paris.
It was a night of beauty, that was for certain.
Karen walked down the path of the park.
Even though the plants had overgrown and during any other night it would
have seemed scary, it didn't tonight.
The light gave the plants such a beautiful shade she thought.
Slowly she entered the clearing, where the Eiffel tower stood.
And there, in front of the lift, he stood.
He had plenty of time left after had left the tailors shop.
Now he simply stood there, awaiting for Karen to arrive.
In his hand, he held a single white rose, which he had picked from
the garden of Griffins place, just before leaving.
He looked at his Nano-bot watch.
"Five past eight..."
He was getting slightly worried. If Griffin had healed fast enough after
the fall, he might have gone after Karen.
But that thouhgt was quickly erased as he heard someone approaching.
There, from around one of the steel feet of the tower, she came.
There she stood.
She was beautiful.
She was more than that. She was more beautiful than anything he could imagine.
Karen stared at him, getting used to the fact that he was wearing a smoking.
He still wore his shades, and he had gotten rid of the hat.
There were no words left.
He was beautiful.
She was beautiful.
He slowly walked towards her, holding the rose in his hands.
Her dress looked fantastic, the blue colours nearly glowing beneath the moonlight.
"I got this for you." Hood handed the rose to her.
"Oh, Michael. It's beautiful."
"Come, I've got a table reserved." Hood took her by the hand, and walked just
from under the tower.
"Michael, the stairs are there." She pointed towards them.
A smile covered his face, as with one sweep he held her in his arms.
"We'll take the lift." And with those words, they both began float into the sky.
A soft blue glow emitted around his feet, pushing the two lovers upwards.
He stared in to those beautiful brown eyes of her.
He had no words to describe them, except for one.
Perfect.
Those were the eyes in fell in love with three years ago.
And he never fell out of it.
Karen put her arms around his neck, and rested her head on his shoulder.
"I love you Michael."
"I love you too."
She had plenty of time, knowing that Karen and Hood would be out all night
and wouldn't be back at the hotel soon.
It was a good night.
Though as she went from club to club, getting chatted up by guy after guy,
she was getting bored.
Everything in Paris seemed to be at a slower speed then she was used to.
As she turned the corner, she saw a neon sign in blue.
'The Ice Queen' was the name of the bar.
It was probably the last bar in the neighbourhood, and if she didn't meet
any decent guys here, she'd call it a night.
Inside the theme had definitely been set.
Everything was a shade of blue.
The barmaids were dressed in blue fur, the drinks were coloured ice blue,
the bar, everything but the people themselves.
She walked up to the bar and took a seat.
"What'll it be?" The barmaid asked.
She wore the same as the other girls, who were also busy serving drinks,
although this wore bluw wristbands and a fury necklace.
"Got anything that's not blue?" The red haired warriores asked.
The barmaid smiled and poured a glass of some kind of red cocktail.
As she took a sip, a rather sly looking guy came up to here.
"Haven't seen you here before." He said.
"Haven't seen you before either, don't want to either." Theta said
and Sly moved on, knowing that she would be to cold to defrost.
Almost immediately, a chinese guy walked up to her, but before he
even got a chance to say a thing, she was shaking her head, as in
saying 'no way buddy'.
As two more guys got the cold shoulder after him, the barmaid that had
been serving her was getting a bit suspicous.
"You alright girl?" She asked, pouring her another drink.
"Just getting bored with these guys." Theta responded.
It was definitely showing that she was bored,
"The hottest guys in the bar hit on you, and you say you're bored? Wonder
what does get you excited."
It had gotten less busy at the bar now, and Theta and the barmaid had
gotten to talk abit more.
She was called Venus, and was about the same age as Theta.
Her was ice white, and she had deep blue eyes, chilling blue.
The bar had gotten very quiet now, nearly everyone had gone.
Theta was getting more and more interested with Venus, and she
got a long with her very well.
It must have been out of complete boredom, or perhaps it was the fourth
red cocktail that asked what she did.
"Venus, you wanna come up to my hotel later?"
At first she couldn't believe what she had said, but later it sunk in that
her feelings for guys might be different than other girls.
She was even more surprised when Venus said yes.
"Perhaps this night hasn't been a total loss after all." She laughed.
Secrets revealed.
The sky was beautiful blue and spring had definitely come to France.
In the overgrown parks of Paris, flowers bloomed, birds sang.
Outside, the markets had already started, selling groceries of all sorts.
In the two kingsize rooms of the Hilton hotel of Paris, the occupants
arose much slower than the inhabitants of the europian city.
Karen laid on the bed, feeling the sun shine through the window on to her
bare shoulders. Without opening her eyes, she awoke.
She had expected, like every other time, she would wake up alone and Hood
already doing is morning meditation.
But for the first ever time in her life, she awoke next to her love, who was
still asleep.
It was hard to believe, but it was true. He hadn't gotten up before her, and
gone outside to practise his skills.
So for the first time ever, she moved her lips above his and kissed him
awake.
There was a murmur from his mouth as he kissed back.
"Morning warrior." She smiled as Hood opened his eyes.
"Goodmorning Eternal." He responded.
What a sight to wake up too.
This couldn't be real, he thought at first.
But it was real. He knew it to be true.
And there was a feeling within him, he had never felt before.
It was such a warm feeling, a strong feeling, it made he feel like there was
nothing more in the world that he wanted.
That was because he had the only thing he wanted, the only girl he needed.
This feeling was something he had never felt before, and after a few moments
he realised what it was.
It was the feeling, the emotion he had been cursed to live without.
Yet now, the curse had been lifted, and he the feeling he had.
He felt true happines. For it was all he wanted at this moment.
"You seem puzzled." Karen said, as she noticed his deep thoughts.
"It's just being here with you. You've given me a feeling I have been without
for my entire life." Hood answered, stroking his hand over her cheek.
"What's that then?" She asked, feeling the warm hand on her skin.
"True happines." He smiled.
"I feel the same way." Karen said, and gave another passionate kiss.
"Though, there's another feeling I have at this moment." She said afterwards.
Hood seemed slightly confused.
"What's that then?" He asked, in the same she had previous.
"True hunger." She laughed.
Karen at up straigh and pulled the covers with her as she got out of bed,
heading for the small kitchen of the suite.
This left Hood somewhat exposed, and quickly moved the cushion he was
laying on.
His hand quickly dissapeared to edge of the bed, searching for his trousers,
which to Karens dissapointment, he found.
"Why is it so bright in here?" Hood asked as he stepped in to his combats.
Karen looked at him from around the corner and laughed.
"Mainly because you haven't got your shades on."
Hood sighed for a moment and walked over to a mirror.
There, he stared deeply at the reflection, at the figure in the mirror.
Once more he sighed as he stared at those eyes.
The red on black eyes he had.
Because of the Adamantium bones he had, his eyes had changed colour,
from the normal white around the brown iris, to the black and red he had now.
Karen then stood behind him, putting her arm around his neck, and he
put his arm around her waist.
Without saying a word, her other hand waved before Hoods face, obstructing
his view of the mirror.
Once her hand had gone, he looked again, but now, his eyes were normal.
Normal like they had been a year before.
"Thank you Karen." He whispered softly, and turned to her.
"There was nothing in the kitchen. So...if you could just pop across the hall
and see if Theta's got anything there."
"Karen, that's Theta room. I can't do that. She's probaby got some guy in there."
"Yeah so, you're technicaly her brother. She wont mind."
There was a moment of silence as Karen tried her hardest to convince
him, simply by staring into his now brown eyes.
He then walked to the dresser and picked up his sunglasses.
Karen looked puzzled.
"Old habits never seice."
Then there was another knock on the door.
Still no one opened.
Then, after that, there was the sound of nano bots opening the lock, allowing
Hood to enter the room.
He walked past the bed, where he saw a pair of feet sticking out from under
the bed. It cuold be seen from his position that there were two bodies
beneath the sheets, and so he decided to walked silently to the kitchen.
Theta heard the sound of a fridge door opening, and someone rummiging
around in the kitchen.
"Who's there?" She said sitting up straight in the bed.
Her head was still spinning from the previous night.
"Just me, knicking some grub." Hood answered, putting some food on a tray.
"Oh...right." She said, and fell back onto the bed.
As Hood walked past the bed again, back to the door, the second person
in bed decided to appear above the blankets.
Venus sat up, her white hair seemed more like a bush that hadn't been cut
in years.
As Hood made his way to the door she stared.
"Well Hello." She said in a sexy voice. "Who's he?" She asked Theta.
Hood paused and turned his head towards the bed.
"That? Oh..umm..Hood, technically he's my brother. Hood, this is Venus."
Her head didn't even move from the cushion it was laying.
"Uh..hi." He stammered out of his throat.
"Michael hurry up please." A voice called from outside.
"On my way." He answered and dissapeared.
"Dam." Venus said, dissapointed that he already had some one.
Theta couldn't help but hit her with a pillow.
In the doorway stood the wounded hunter.
"You got your ass kicked, didn't you?" A voice said from somewhere
in the dimly lit room.
"If I hear the words, I told you so, come from your lips, I'll rip them off."
Griffin sat down at a table, holding his shoulder in pain.
The room was more like a laboratory.
Everywhere were tubes, flasks, medical equipment.
A figure moved from behind a cpboard and sat down next to Griffin.
"My bloods boiling again, Turtle." Griffin sniggered as he said it.
The green skinned boy took out a syringe from his lab coat.
He looked pretty young, about twelve, but what he lost in age, he
made up in wisdom.
"I told you not to overdose on the drugs."
He took out a tube with a green liquid and placed it in the syringe.
"He was stronger than I had anticipated." Griffin confesed.
He didn't even twinge as the needle entered his arm.
Turtle took the needle out, and soon after Griffin gave a sigh.
"They're not going to be happy." Turtle said as he walked over to
another table. He opened a laptop and began entering commands.
"They gave us two days. We must kill him today or we're going to
be some ones new experiment in a lab. And you remember what
happend last time we were in a lab, didn't you?"
Griffin merely stared at his green friend.
The Hunters Revenge.
shoulders. She nodded.
"Don't worry about me. I'll stay here and work at the bar."
Theta said as she looked at Venus.
"Venus will show me all the ins and outs of the work."
A mischiveous smile occupied her face as she hugged him.
It was then Karens turn to say goodbye.
"I'm not gonna have anyone to chat with." Karen said.
"Hey!" Hood looked slightly hurt.
"Oh yeah you're the greatest talker in the world." She laughed.
Hood shut up then.
"We'll be seeing you then." Hood said, as they began to leave the lobby
of the hotel.
Theta and Venus watched as Karen and Hood departed from the Hilton.
She felt sorry, leaving her geneticly engineered twin like this, but she
was getting enough of the fighting.
She would miss him, but she also did want a life to herself, not just living
to face another battle on another day.
The two travellers walked through the park of Paris.
Though as they found out the day before it was more like a jungle.
Beauty was still blooming, and it was not only the flowers.
Hood knew now, the curse had been lifted.
The curse that prevented him from knowing true happiness...true love.
And now, he felt the love flow through his body like his blood.
He kept looking at her, seeing if he wasn't dreaming.
Though if it was a dream, he'd never want to wake up again.
She was so beautiful to him.
"Michael?" Karen said after a while of walking.
"Hmm?" Hood snapped out of his thoughts, being called by Karen.
"What's that?" She pointed at object laying on the path in front of them.
A light seemed to be blinking on the small disc shaped object.
Being with Karen had completly took him off guard and forgot that there
was still a hunter trying to kill him.
"Bad. That's what it is." He answered and pulled Karen a couple of steps
back from the object. "I think it's a mine."
Suddenly a ghost like figure appeared above the disc.
It was Griffin, grinning.
"No, this is a distraction." He smiled and the hologram dissapeared.
Hood suddenly felt a pair of feet push in to his back, throwing him forwards.
Griffin stood smiling as his prey lay on the ground, but it wasn't
long before the warrior was back on his feet.
"Nice to see the art of surprise attacks hasn't faded, don't ya think?"
Griffin smirked, as he unfolded his steel razors on his back and arms.
On his right arm a shield unfolded.
"I've learnt from my mistakes. This time I wont be as easy to defeat."
With the speed of a tiger he ran towards Hood, who already had his
sword ready in hand.
Sparks flew as the Adamantium blade clashed with the steel shield.
The hunter returned for a second attack, but this time through the air.
He huddled himself into a ball, making his razor back more deadly.
With immense speed he flew against Hood.
He let lose a roar of pain as the razors cut through his black coat and into
his left arm.
"I think you might want to step back for his next attack."
A voice spoke behind Karen, who was watching the battle.
A greenskinned child appeared behind her.
"Who..what are you?" She asked, taking the boys advice.
"My name is Turtle, the green skin explains the purpose of the name, I
am Griffins accomplice shall we say."
That was the wrong thing to do, revealing his identity so soon, in front
of a sweet young girl, he thought.
Of course, Karen didn't take kindly of being patrionised, and lifted the
kid up by his throat.
"Tell Griffin to stop." She sneered at Turtle.
"umm...can't...breath." He could barely get the words out of his throat.
Karen losened her grip slightly.
"Even if I told him to stop, he wouldn't. If we do not finish your boyfriend
off we're dead." Turtle was very blunt when it came to explanations.
"Who sent you?" She asked.
"Michael Hoods creators. Pandorax." Turtle knew that he would be either
killed by Karen if he did not speak, or by the Pandorax for failing.
The fight between Griffin and Hood continued.
The warrior was injured by Griffins razor attack.
It seemed like the hunter had doubled in energy, and was moving faster
than ever. Hood could barely keep up.
There was a moment of pause as the two teenagers stood still.
"Can't say you've improved on your fighting skills since yesterday."
Griffin smiled as his armor reflected some of the sunlight that cut through
the canapy of the jungle.
Hood stood several meters from the hunter, his right hand holding his sword,
his left arm bleeding from the attack.
The blood dripped on to the soil beneath.
"Well, it's been nice knowing you. Time to die."
But before Griffin began his attack, he noticed a change in Hoods breathing.
It was heavier, darker, and slower now.
He had also lowered his head towards the ground.
Karen watched from the side of the clearing holding Turtle by his neck.
She knew exactely what was going to happen now.
It happend before, and his opponent did not survive.
"Dam you Hood! Attack!" Griffin became impatient of this.
Slowly, the warriors head moved upwards, and then looked straight at Griffin.
The hunter stared at his enemy.
From behind the black shades, two eyes glowed a strange red light.
Those eyes stared straight at Griffin, and to say that he was not slightly
unnerved by this sight would be a lie.
The dark warrior raised his arm, holding his rapier sword tightly.
It was pointed directly at Griffin.
He couldn't help but stare, he felt his feet anker himself to the ground.
There was no doubt about it that what ever was going to come, he should
avoid with all his energy, but he couldn't.
Merely stare at what the warrior was about to do.
In a deep dark voice he began chanting words he never knew of before.
"Corrumpo Nocens, Corrumpo Nocens!"
Over and over he spoke the words he had never spoke before.
"Destroy the evil." Karen softly mumbled, listening to the Latin that Hood spoke.
Around his right hand, there was a blue glow developing.
It glow all around his hand as it held on to the sword.
Slowly, it began surrounding the sword itself, emitting the blue glow all around.
Then, a silence surrounded the entire jungle of Paris
The silence was eerie, no birds, no animals, no air.
Not even the wind made a sound.
"Corrumpo Nocens!" Hood shouted one last time, before the blue light
surrounding his sword became red, and it gather at the tip of it.
In less then a second a blast was emitted from the Adamantium sword, heading
straight towards the hunter known as Griffin.
He stared in horror as the blast of pure energy headed for him.
This was it.
The moment he had feared for a long time, but from a simple warrior like this?
His last sight was that of the pure red light surrounding him, burning through his clothes
and through his skin.
The pain lasted no longer than a second, for it was all over within two.
The blinding red light that had surrounded the two teenagers slowly dissapeared, revealing
only one had survived.
Hood stood in the position for a moment, still holding his sword in his right arm.
It was over, yet he still held his sword, as if there was more to come, but there wasn't.
There was nothing more left to do, and so he lowered his weapon to the ground.
He realised what had just happend.
His powers as a Shadow Warrior had reached an all new high.
No longer did his opponent stand before him.
There was nothing left of Griffin. Nothing but a small pile of dust laying on the ground
of the jungle. And even that was slowly being blown away by a soft breeze.
"Michael? Are you alright?" Karen walked over to her boyfriend.
He hesitated a moment before looking at her.
"I'm fine." He softly spoke as he placed his sword back in its harnas.
Hood then looked at his left arm, to where Griffin had severly cut him.
The blood had dried up around the wound.
Karen quickly embraced him, holding him tighter to her than she ever did.
His battles were getting more dangerous with each day.
"Carefull." Hood spoke, clenching his left arm.
His long coat was once more shredded to pieces.
"Here. Let me make it better." She smiled and quickly wiped a tear away from her cheek
before Hood could see it.
She made him hold his arm out slightly, and began waving her hands over the wound.
A soft blue sparkle came from them, and began covering the wound.
"It should make it better." She explained as the blue light softly dissapeared.
There was a pause as she stared at his arm.
Nothing was happening.
This could definitely not be right, she though to herself.
But noticing Hoods puzzled looked she thought of something to say.
"It should be alright in the morning." She quickly said, and hugged him.
Turtle stared from behind the bushes at the couple.
As he did, he felt sweet pouring down his forehead.
"The council is going to make soup out of me." He murmured to himself.
He suddenly felt a large hand take a hold of his shoulder.
The young boy didn't dare look around, but he heard a heavy voice speak.
"The council believes that you are not even worthy of becoming an experiment."
The owner of the green glowing eyes dragged the green skinned boy back in to the
darkness of the French jungle, Turtles fate being sealed.