The Heroes of the Jewel
Based on a role playing game created by Jorge Rustrian, Santana Stevens and Samantha Byrd
Act 1: Working Together
The forest was quiet and calm and very peaceful. She liked it this way. There was no one to bother her and nothing to sway her. Kikyo was this kind of person. She was more of the quiet, shy melancholy type. She was as well strong when she needed to be, responsible and loyal to her friends as well. She hummed to herself as always as she walked in through the tall trees. It was around 1350-1500 during the Sengoku or "Warring States" period in Japan. The Feudal Era as people today name this period in time. Kikyo was a priestess in these parts and has responsibilities. Well had at least. About fifty years ago, Kikyo was killed. She was later resurrected and is now after the demon that killed her.
"Naraku…" she said quietly
That's the demon that killed her. His main goal is to find the pieces of Shikon-no-Tama or "Jewel of Four Souls". This jewel is made of immeasurable power and is no wonder why he would want it. Kikyo was the protector of this jewel back in her village and when she died, she took this jewel with her and it disappeared until her reincarnation, Kagome, came to the feudal era and brought with her the Shikon jewel. Since then, it has been shattered and its pieces scattered through out the land.
"Where are you? I hope Inuyasha hasn't found you first." She said
Kikyo walked to a nearby tree and sat down in front of it. She sighed and looked up at the darkening sky. She rested her bow and quiver full of arrows next to her.
"I've been doing this way too long… so tired of it all. Why is it always about me? Why do I have to live this life? I guess I'm just unlucky. I was the one who had to protect the jewel. I was the one who fell in love with Inuyasha. I was the one who died while putting that spell on him."
She leaned back and a tear rolled down her cheek.
"The resurrection was even harder. Now look at me, running around the forest looking for Naraku. Everything is going so bad. I just…huhhh…I just wanted to be normal…"
Then, in the trees, a figure appeared. The familiar presence that she felt indicated who it was.
"Naraku…" she said as she stood up and grabbed her bow.
"Hello, Kikyo. Fancy meeting you here." he said.
"I finally found you." She picked up her bow and readied it.
"Heh, you are a very bold girl. That will never work." He said happily.
"At least I can try! Naraku, its time that you were put down!"
"Kikyo, do not make me laugh!" he extended a pincer and directed it towards her.
Kikyo shot her arrow, which sliced through the pincer. Naraku extended five this time, all of them flying straight at her. She lowered her bow and her head. Closing her eyes, she stepped backwards… and fell.
Naraku stared at the swirling mass of energy that encased Kikyo as she fell. In a moment, she was gone.
"Nice try Kikyo. One day, I will get to kill you. No matter how long it takes." he said as he made a grin.
Back in modern times, somewhere outside Gotham City, a half demon named Talim was pondering her dilemma.
"Where can you be?" she asked nobody "I've been chasing you for three months already and I've turned up nothing!"
In her small cabin, the place was completely empty except for a small cot and a table with one chair. Talim paced around the cabin as if she was looking for something.
"That bastard, I'll get him. I told my bro I wasn't going to go after him, but I gotta. He killed all of our friends and he's gonna pay for that."
Her eyes glowed red, matching the color of her hair. The demon blood in her boiled violently. She remembered all the times she was with her friends and her brother, Koga. How much fun they had and how happy they were, only to be disrupted by Naraku. She remembered how she found all of them dead, dying or disintegrated. Some of them where crying out to die and to be put to rest. Her brother tried to help them but it was no use since they were going to die in matter of minutes. Talim would never let that image go from her mind. Never…
"There you are, you bastard. I know where you are. I finally found you and now I'm coming after you, Naraku."
She walked outside and looked to the mountains. Talim then closed her eyes and teleported.
In Metropolis, a man drove up to a bank in a car and entered. He fired up into the air and within minutes he was out with all the money he needed. Down the road he drove, being pursued by the M.P.D. They fired at him and he fired back, laughing as he did. He didn't notice the boy who flew down in front of him and just stood there, defiant to his rampage. The boy smiled just as the man in the car did and held out his hands. By the time the man noticed the boy, the boy was unavoidable. The boy, with massive strength, toppled the speeding car onto its side. He then proceeded to rip open the car door and pull out the man.
"I didn't do nothing, man!" the man said.
"Oh really? Then what's all this money?" the boy responded.
"It's…a loan?"
"Don't play dumb with me!" the boy said as he crushed the man's gun into pieces. The man just stared at the pieces as they fell onto the ground.
"Here, I'll leave you to them. I got better things to do." the boy said as he dropped him onto the ground and started floating. The police came at that instant and handcuffed him. One of the policemen looked up at the flying boy.
"Thanks for you help, Superboy!" the policeman said.
"No prob, dude. See ya!" he said and then he flew up into the sky.
Just one of many events in a superhero's life. After awhile, it gets kinda boring, stopping the same kind of thug everytime. Of course, there are those exceptions where it's a very big adventure that you would remember for a long time to come. Fewer and fewer of those come around these days. They usually come to the big time heroes. But that doesn't bother Superboy too much. He knows what he has to do and does it well. He has to because when you're next in line to be Superman, they expect a lot from you. He trains hard but has fun in the process.
"Slow day today. Not much going around except for that guy in the car. Hmmm, I can always go study…but that's boring. Arcade? No. There's no one else to go with. Wow…never actually thought I'd get bored doing this. Just wish something exciting would happen." He said as he flew across the Metropolis skyline, the sun setting in the horizon.
"Ok then, where are you?" Talim said as she walked around a construction site on the summit of a mountain in rural New Jersey.
"Naraku, quit hiding, I know you're around here somewhere." She said.
"Ok, ok you found me then. Gotta hand it to you, Talim, you have a really good hunting skill. I actually tried this time." said Naraku as he appeared out of the shadows. He was dressed in modern clothes but in form still looked the same.
"Well thanks, but remember that I'm here to kill you. So get ready to die." said Talim as her eyes glowed red.
"Oh fine then. If you want it that way…" he mutated into his large demonic form, pincers and all. Talim got into her fighting stance.
"By the way, Talim. Once I get your powers, I'll be after your brother next!" Naraku said delightedly.
"You will not put a finger on him!" she said.
Talim leapt and fired out an energy blast of some sort at him. It exploded on his body but it was apparent that it was ineffective. He extended an appendage and whipped her away. She was thrown into a nearby work crane. She jumped, eyes blazing and ran full throttle at Naraku. Talim slammed into him and was ricocheted away with no apparent damage to Naraku.
"Hehe, please Talim do not test my patience. If this is your best, then you are a complete fool to challenge me." Naraku stated.
Talim had a sort of worried look on her face. She sighed and threw a blast at him, with the same effect as before.
"I thought I could catch him off guard by throwing some very powerful attacks at him at first," she thought "I don't know what affect my more powerful attack will have… I'm in deep trouble… Geez, why did'nt I listen to Koga? Gosh I wish he was here to help."
Naraku towered over Talim as he prepared to attack…
A little ways away, a translucent tunnel opened and out came Kikyo as she fell on the ground. The tunnel then closed up behind her and disappeared.
"What was that about? Ouchie…Hmmm…This doesn't look like the forest I was in. It's a completely different one." She stood up
"What was that light about? Did it teleport me to this place? Asking myself won't do any good. I've got to get myself back." She picked up her bow and arrows.
"Well, here goes…wait…Naraku? Is that you? I can sense you. Yes…I'm coming for you…" and she ran off towards Naraku.
Metropolis at night is a beautiful sight. But Superboy isn't interested in that. He was sitting on one of the towering skyscrapers by himself looking down at the city.
"It's amazing how melancholy it can get up here. Not that I haven't been before. There's been nobody to talk to, nobody to hang with. Clark's been very busy, Tana's dead, I can't really talk to Mr. & Mrs. Kent and the Teen Titans are still scared of me with all that brouhaha with Lex Luthor. I've been on my own before but never like this." He lied back.
"So many problems but no one to tell them to. I…just need someone to talk to…" he said as his superhearing picked up the sounds of a fight on progress.
"Hmmm…I wonder what that is. I better go see what it is." And he flew off in the direction of the mountain. A few miles off, he used his telescopic vision to see who was near: A large, shapeshifting demon, a demon girl with green eyes and a making her way up the mountain was a teenage girl dress in a red and white kimono. He grinned and made his way down to the fight.
Talim was barely holding her own against the superior might of Naraku when Kikyo made her way to the summit of the mountain. A little ways of sight of the ongoing battle, she waited and watched.
"Naraku, I knew it was you. Who is that girl he is fighting? I can sense she is a demon, but only half? How can she stand up to him? Her power is waning and she is losing. If I am going to destroy him, then my chance is now! I have to help her!" she said as she got out of the shadows and walked towards the fight.
Talim dodged a series of strikes as she launched a solid energy ball into Naraku, sending him flying back. She took this moment to run and leap into the air towards her enemy. Naraku seized the moment by extending a tentacle and stabbed her through the stomach.
"Heh, nice try, but you just made it a whole lot worse." he said as his tentacle split into two and started to pull Talim's middle section apart. She yelped out in pain as blood dripped to the ground. Suddenly, a shining arrow sliced through the tentacle which was pulling apart Talim, dropping her to the ground. Both the battling half-demons looked over to where the arrow had come from and saw the priestess standing, looking determined and ready to fight.
"Kikyo? So this where you have disappeared to? It's amazing that you still hate me after all these years." Naraku said with a slightly puzzled look on his face.
"Wait a second," said Talim "Who are you?"
"Naraku, it's about time." said Kikyo as she readied another arrow.
"Oh boy, this'll be a great joy. I get to kill both of my enemies at the same time. What a great day I'm having!" said Naraku.
He then extended another tentacle at Kikyo. She jumped out of the way in the nick of time, firing her arrow as she did. The arrow ripped through the middle portion of Naraku's body. He fell on the floor and quickly regenerated his body. Talim then took this opportunity to punch him away. Kikyo ran over to Talim, looking concerned about her wound.
"Demon girl, are you alright?" she asked her.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Talim said happily as she ran her hand over her fully healed stomach.
"Wow, you certainly are full of surprises, demon. What is your quarrel with Naraku?" Kikyo asked Talim just as Naraku slammed himself into the space between them, making them both go flying.
"I'll tell you later!" Talim yelled out to her as she regained her ground.
"Talim, why didn't you tell me you could speak Japanese?" Naraku asked her as he shot spikes at her.
"You didn't need to know!" she replied as she dodged them and blasted him.
"Naraku, stand still!" Kikyo yelled out as her arrow went flying.
He dodged that attack and wrapped his slimy tentacles around her, binding her tightly. Talim attempted to get her free, but was then encased in protoplasm shot out by Naraku.
"Hahahah…wow that was easy. Just look at the powers that both of you posses! This will boost myself up quite a bit!" he said maniacally as he towered over both of them. He was about the strike when a blast of red energy released Kikyo and Talim.
"What? Who dares to ruin my plan?" Naraku asked as he looked up in the sky. Kikyo and Talim looked up as well and saw with their own eyes a boy flying in sky.
"I wouldn't do that if I where you, dude." said the boy.
"Who are you?" asked Naraku.
"The name's Superboy…"
Superboy landed calmly on the ground, in between Kikyo and Talim. He smiled softly at Naraku, then turned his attention at the two girls.
"Are you two alright?" he asked them
"We can take care of ourselves. I was just about to take hi-" started Talim as she looked over at him.
"Feisty, aren't we? Who's the monster?"
Kikyo spoke to him, but her language was one he didn't understand. Superboy arched an eyebrow as she spoke.
"Um…sure." he said, confused.
"Ok, this is wasting my time. I don't care if there's how many of you, all of you will now die!" Naraku said gleefully.
He swung one of his many protrusions at the three, each of them dodging it. Talim made a strike at his body to no avail. Superboy slammed his fist into his body, but was then swiped away by Naraku. Kikyo shot her arrow, but missed. Seeing that their attacks weren't working alone, Superboy pulled the girls back to a safe position.
"It's not working you guys. This guy is tough." said Superboy as Kikyo arched an eyebrow.
"Can you translate for her please?" he asked Talim.
She nodded and started translating.
"Apparently, you know this guy better than me, but I'm guessing that if we all combine our strengths that we will eventually overcome him. I mean, it'll be harder to fight three organized people than three unorganized people right?" Superboy explained.
"Yes, that's right. But with Naraku, we must destroy everything about him or else he can regenerate himself." said Kikyo as Talim translated for Superboy.
"I see. Then an unrelentless, powerful attack should catch him off guard. I've seen you two fight and it just might work. Your arrows are powerful, so you should stsy back. You, Red, your energy attacks are awesome. Don't be afraid to get close." he explained.
"My name is Talim, for your information." Talim corrected him.
"Sorry, Talim, but no time for chit-chat. We gotta attack him now!"
"Watch out!" yelled Talim as she push Conner out of the way of Naraku's attack. He walked over the area by which they were talking and swiped at Kikyo. She dodged and out behind her jumped Talim, blasting her attack into Naraku's face. He staggered back and was punched forward by Superboy. Naraku knocked Superboy away into a local car. Kikyo took advantage of the attack by launching her arrow across the midsection of Naraku's body, separating him in half. He, with an angry face, knocked her away. Talim jumped on top of him and burned him with demonic energy. Naraku looked surprised at what happen, but shrugged it off wrapped her up in tentacles. Superboy looked at what happened and burned away the tentacles with his heat vision. He then slammed his fist into his face, knocking him back a few yards. Naraku growled, obviously annoyed and shot a fleshy glob at Superboy, missing him narrowly. Then another arrow ripped through Naraku's body and was burned fiercly by Talim's attacks.
"We have him!" Talim yelled out.
"We must press on!" Kikyo demanded as she let two arrows fly.
"Just a bit more!" Superboy yelled as his heat vision flied and fried.
Then, out of nowhere, a giant glowing tunnel appeared Naraku, and sucked him in, smiling as he did. Just as quickly as it appeared, it was gone.
"Damn it! He escaped!" Talim exclaimed.
"That was just like that other tunnel that appeared…" Kikyo said.
"Was that a Boom Tube…?" Superboy wondered.
"Well, wherever he went, I will find him and destroy him." Kikyo said.
"Not before me, girl!" Talim snapped back at her.
"Please girl, you couldn't possibly have a greater drive of vengeance than me."
"Oh yeah? I'll show you-"
"Shut up!" yelled Superboy "This is getting us nowhere! Apparently, both of you have some sort of problem with this 'Naraku' character but quarreling among each other isn't gonna solve anything."
"You're not involved, kid. So I'd be quiet if I were you." Talim coldly said to Superboy.
"I just saved your lives, red. For your information, I recognize that tunnel where he disappeared too." he said.
"I've seen that tunnel as well. I went through one as I got to this world." Kikyo said as Talim translated.
"I have to investigate this further. If you guys would like to join me, then fine. If not, ok then." Superboy explained.
"I'm in if it means the destruction of Naraku." Talim said.
"I have nothing else to live for, so this will be my final mission. I'll help you two." Kikyo said.
"So I guess we're all a team then. Nice to meet you, Talim, was it?"
"Yeah it is, Superboy." Talim said.
"Heh, it gets annoying when people call me that. My real name's Conner Kent. So what's her name?" he asked.
Talim turned to her, asked her and muttered out "Kikyo."
Conner smiled and waved at her.
"It's a little late for investigating, don't you think Conner?" Talim asked him.
"It is. Let's go to my place and discuss it there." he answered.
"Where is it?" she asked again.
"Smallville, Kansas." he answered.
"Wow, you're a little ways off from there." she said.
"Yeah, but I get around."
"Yeah, so let's go." Talim said as she turned to Kikyo and explained what was going on. She then grabbed everyone's hand and teleported away.