The Mixel King 2: Flain's Kingdom
Chapter 1 - We've Barely Begun
The moon was still a little bit up in the sky, but every Mixel was still starting to wake up at this hour, because today was a VERY special event; the event was being held in the Magma Wastelands, otherwise known as the Infernite Kingdom.
What was the event that the Mixels were gathering for in King Flain's fiery home? That's easy to answer. It was the birth of King Flain and Queen Pyp's new child.
After the cold hours of the night had turned warmer when the sun was starting to rise, all of the Mixels were gathered at the base of the same mountain that Flain was presented when he was born, and like Flain, their new child would be presented by Magnifo, who was now walking up to the edge of the mountain top with and Pyp with him, and he was holding their child that was bundled up in a red blanket.
But then they were also joined by Globert the royal Glowkie advisor, as he flew up to the mountain top and bowed in respect to the new child. And Magnifo didn't want to keep the Mixels below waiting much longer, so the Wiztastic suddenly pulled back the blanket to reveal the Infernite child's face and upper body.
Flain's subjects cheered with joy of the new generation of royalty being born, and the baby couldn't help but smile as its eyes sparkled from all the love it was receiving.
And as the sun shown down, King Ignitus' ghost rested happily in the sky and smiled down at his grandchild, as he made the wind blow, and Flain, Pyp and Magnifo could all feel his presence in the breeze.
Soon though, Magnifo had to bring the little child back down, and he gave it back to its mother who cuddled it.
But Teslo and Seismo were also accompanying their old friend Flain up there too.
"Just look at him, Seismo; a chip off the ol' block, and juzzzt who do you think'll be the ones to look after him?" Teslo asked with a smirk.
"His parents?" Seismo questioned.
"Well yeah, duh. But I mean who will teach him the REAL fun things in life; like how to belch?" Teslo asked, and he suddenly let out a big belch himself, "or how ta dig for grubzzz. I tell ya, Seismo, it'll be JUST like old times: just you, me, and the little guy."
"It's a girl," Magnifo corrected with a chuckle.
"Girl," Teslo added.
…
"GIRL?!" Teslo and Seismo both exclaimed with shock, and then they just fainted.
Many moons had gone by, and Flain and Pyp's little daughter wasn't as little anymore; she had grown into a cute little girl. Their daughter's name was Embery, and she had turned out to be the spitting image of her mother…except for the tiny prongs on her head that looked exactly like her father's.
And right now, Embery was up bright and early in her fiery home, so that she could LEAVE her fiery home and go explore outside it…but Flain had something else to say about that.
"Whoa, there! Where are YOU going?" Flain exclaimed as he gently grabbed his daughter's arm and pulled her into a forced hug that she tried to escape.
"Daddy, let go!" Embery pleaded in a chuckle, and Flain soon let go, but after he did, Embery started to try and chase a little butterfly…only for Flain to stop her again by stepping on her tail and making her trip.
"Where's the fire?" Flain asked with a smirk.
"Come on, Daddy. I just wanna go play," Embery whined after Flain stepped off her tail.
"I know, and that's just it; you need to be careful. You could get-."
"Hurt, lost or even kidnapped, I know. And if I see any strangers, don't talk to them; come straight home. Ok, ok, can I go now?! Pleeeaaase?!"
"Mind your father, Embery," Pyp softly laughed as she approached her family.
"Yes, Mom," Embery sighed.
"Ok, you can go play…but just stay away from The Outlands," Flain warned.
"Yes, there is nothing out there but back-stabbing, vicious Outsiders," Globert grimly added as he flew into the conversation.
Who were Outsiders? They were Infernites who secretly turned to the dark side like Nyx, and followed him and believed he was the rightful king too. But once Flain found out about their intentions, he banished them from the Mixel lands, and sent them far out passed the abandoned Nixel lands as punishment.
"Yeah, you can't turn your back on an Outsider," Flain grimly pointed out.
"Why not?" Embery questioned with a cocked eyebrow.
"D-don't worry about it right now…you'll understand when you're older, so just run along and play," Flain softly protested with a smile.
"Daaaaaad…" Embery whined while shaking hr head, thinking she knew better, but she then turned and ran off to chase after that butterfly.
"And stay on the path I've marked for you!" Flain called with worry, and Pyp only chuckled.
"Who does she remind you of—Flain?" Pyp asked with a grin.
"Huh…what…who?" Flain asked with confusion.
"She's just like you when you were young."
"Exactly. Do you remember the dangers we put ourselves in?" Flain asked with regret, but Pyp only gave him a surprise kiss on the cheek.
"You mean the dangers YOU put us in," Pyp stated matter-of-factly, and she and Flain laughed, "she'll be just fine."
With that, Pyp walked off with a smile…but Flain was still pretty worried, and he had an idea when he saw Seismo and Teslo close by.
"Hey, Teslo, Seismo! Come here!"
"G'mornin', Buddy!" Teslo said cheerfully as he and Seismo approached their friend.
"I want you two to follow Embery; you know that she's bound to run off."
"Don't worry, Flain, we'll be on her like mud on a Cragster," Teslo stated carelessly.
"Hey, I'm counting on you guys; danger could be lurking around ANY corner," Flain said firmly.
Meanwhile, little Embery had continued to chase that butterfly, and she had chased it out into some pretty tall grasslands. But she soon cornered it when it landed on a rock, and then she crouched low and growled.
"Ah…the mighty hunter has cornered her prey."
Embery continued to growl and crawl closer, but when she tried to pounce and catch it, it flew away again…but then Embery saw something interesting while up on the rock; she saw the Outlands. The Outlands weren't as grey and colorless as the Nixel lands, but it certainly wasn't as lively as the Mixel lands either.
"Whoa, cool! The Outlands…I wonder what's out there," Embery wondered aloud as she sat down at the edge of the rock over a pond.
But as her back was turned, she didn't notice the movement in the tall grass that was fast-approaching her. But when she heard a twig snap, she finally decided to turn around, but she was met with Seismo and Teslo's face just a few inches from hers.
And they really startled her, so she started screaming, and her screaming made THEM scream. But as Embery struggled to step back and get away, so lost her footing on the rock and fell down into the pond.
"Oh, no! No worry, Embery! Uncle Seismo coming!" Seismo called as he cannon-balled into the water, but Teslo started flustering with paranoia.
"Oh no-ho-ho-ho! U-uh…gee, Flain, the good news izzz that we found your daughter…the mad newzzz is that we dropped a Cragster on her! Izzz there a problem with that?" Teslo started role-playing as to how he would explain this to Flain.
"Embery? Embery?!" Seismo called when he didn't see her anywhere…but he also didn't see the bubbles underneath him.
"Seismo! Let me define—BABY-SITTING!" Teslo angrily exclaimed, and Seismo soon got his dark joke and hopped up to find that Embery was drowning underneath him.
"Sorry," Seismo sighed as Embery got out of the water and couched some water up after restarted the flames on her head and tail tip, "now Princess Embery, as Flain's daughter, you should know better than to run off. You could've been hurt."
"Hurt?! Oh, Flain would kill uzzz…ya didn't slip a disk, did ya? Catch a cold? Get a hang-nail?" Teslo babbled on.
"No!" Embery growled.
"Well, I had one once," Teslo pointed out.
"Very painful," Seismo added.
"Excruciating, even," Teslo added as he grabbed a long grass stem and used it to shade Embery, "Darling, with your complexion, you should stay outta the zzzzun."
But Embery only angrily swatted the grass away from Teslo.
"What? Do you wanna wrinkle?" Teslo asked.
"Will somebody please just LISTEN ta me?" Embery asked angrily.
"I'm sorry. I wazzzn't listening. Did ya say somethin', Princess?" Teslo asked.
"I'm not JUST a princess; that's only HALF of who I am," Embery protested.
"Well then, who other half?" Seismo questioned, but Embery only mumbled in confusion when she really didn't know that answer to that.
"Well, while you think about that, let'zzz eat!" Teslo said with a smile as he and Seismo walked up to a log, and Seismo snapped his fingers for Seismo to lift the log.
Teslo leaned down and soon turned back towards Embery with a leaf plate of creepy-crawling bugs.
"How doezzz a bug brunch sound?" Teslo asked with a smirk.
"Eww! Gross!" Embery cried with disgust and leaned away when Teslo nearly shoved the bugs into her face.
"But they other white meat," Seismo added.
"And so high in protein. But if you don't want 'em, then what about you, Big Fella?" Teslo asked his big Cragster buddy, as he let Seismo take a whiff of the grubs.
"Love grubs," Seismo happily sighed.
"Not like," Teslo began, and they stated the last part in unison, "love!"
Seismo then grabbed a crunchy beetle from the leaf and popped it back into his mouth…but after a few loud crunches, he gagged and spit the half-eaten and slobber-covered bug back onto the other ones.
"Oh! You ALWAYS do that; ya take a bite outta everything, and then you spit it back! It drivezzzz me crazy!" Teslo angrily ranted.
"But you can no tell from outside, which are real slimy ones!" Seismo happily protested when thinking about slimy grubs.
"Slimy?! Seismo, my Cragster compadre, it's the crunchy ones that make the meal," Teslo protested as he grabbed a bug and crunched it into his mouth to prove his point.
"Slimy!" Seismo argued.
"Crunchy!" Teslo argued back, and the argument only went on.
But as they kept fighting, they were too distracted to notice that Embery had slipped away to continue exploring…and she really wanted to get a closer look at The Outlands.
"Slimy!"
"Crunchy!"
"Slimy!"
"Crunchy!"
…
"Less filling!" Seismo argued.
"Tastes good!" Teslo argued back.
"Less filling!"
"Tastes good!"
After a while, Embery had successfully escaped her childish uncles, and she seemed to be just on the border of The Outlands when she was crossing over a calm yet murky river over a log.
But she was so busy looking around on the log that when she reached the end, she slipped and fell…but she bumped into someone and sent them tumbling back a few feet.
For a few seconds, the two young Mixels grumbled while shaking the dizziness away, but The Outlander Mixel was the one to jump back up to his feet first as he snarled at Embery.
"Who are you, Mixellander?" the little boy Outsider growled in a nasal tone, and he huffed, which caused little flames to suddenly burst and disappear from his nostrils.
Embery was face-to-face with one of the Infernite Outsiders; he looked mostly like a T-Rex dinosaur with a few yellow spines on his tail, back and up the back of his neck, he had a long tail, long and sharp claws on his hands and feet, and he had sharps fangs in his mouth, but he had a darker red tone than most other Infernites that Embery had ever seen; he even had rust-colored circles around his eyes.
And this Outlander didn't want to let a little Mixellander like Embery get away, so he tried to corner her, only for her to randomly jump back and forth a few feet to get away.
"What are you doing?" the Outsider questioned as he stood up straight.
"My father says to NEVER turn your back on an Outsider!" Embery growled while gaining her confidence.
"You always do what your daddy tells ya?" the Outsider asked with a grin.
"No!"
"Bet'cha do! Bet yer daddy's little girl! Ha-ha!" the Outsider laugher, making Embery feel embarrassed.
"An Outsider doesn't need anybody," the Outsider began while getting cocky, as he stepped out onto a few stones out in the swampy waters, "I take care of MYSELF."
"Really? That's so cool," Embery said with awe as she followed the Outsider out onto the rocks…but then a pair of eyes opened in the rocks.
And the young Outsider thought he'd turn around to grin at Embery, but when he turned, he saw the open jaws of a giant alligator! So he screamed out of terror, and Embery was confused as to why he was screaming, but when she turned around and saw the gator, she screamed even louder.
"This way!" the boy called with fear for Embery to follow him onto a REAL rock sticking out of the water, as they both jumped away from the couple of gators they had accidentally woke up.
But even when they reached the rock, the gators reached it too, and snapped their massive jaws at them. Luckily though, the boy and Embery were able to jump out of the way, and out into the middle onto more rocks. Once there, they stopped to catch there breath.
"That was a close one," the boy sighed hysterically.
"Yeah," Embery sighed in agreement, but the rocks they were sitting on turned out to be an angry congregation of alligators, as they rose from the water with the young Mixels still on them, and they were dangerously close to their jaws.
So the two once again started to jump away from the beasts, as Embery climbed up onto a tree, but the Outsider ran passed her and hopped across some of the gators' back.
"H-hey, what about me?!" Embery called.
"I'll distract 'em! Run!" the Outsider called back, but he then soon ran out of gators to jump on and he fell right into the water, where was even MORE vulnerable as the gators swam towards him.
And as Embery was trying to climb further up the dead limb in the water, the gators soon left her and tried to get to the Outsider. And one gator was just about to chomp its jaws down on the boy when he was back up against another giant dead tree limb, but Embery came to his rescue when she lunged across and closed the gator's jaws by jumping onto them.
"Move it!" Embery shouted, and she and the Outsider then moved up the tree limb ahead of them because it was reaching up towards a steeper platue.
But Embery wasn't as luck as the boy when one of the gators chomped down on the limb to try and break it for Embery to fall in, but she took the chance and leapt for the edge just before it snapped, and she landed safely next to the Outsider.
The two were huffing with exhaustion, as they then went to the edge and looked down at the gators since they could no longer chase them up the slope.
"I did it…I did it!" Embery began with excitement as she blew a raspberry at the beasts, and she and the Outsider left the edge while laughing.
"Whoa, man! Did ya see the size of those teeth?! So gnarly! He was TOTALLY about to eat you up, but I saved you by jumping onto his head just in time!" Embery laughed, and the Outsider listened with a smile.
But as the two were only playing, they were never aware of the dark red figure with glaring eyes that were watching them while staying hidden in the tall grass.
"We make such a great team! And you…you were really brave!" Embery huffed.
"Yeah? Well, you were pretty brave too. My name's Meltus," the Outsider Meltus introduced while feeling cocky again.
"I'm Embery," Embery giggled, and Meltus was a little creeped out.
And when Embery got too close, the dark red figure in the grass snarled and glared with even more anger.
But now that they were through all the danger, Embery thought they would just play.
"Tag! You're it!" Embery laughed as she tapped Meltus' shoulder, and was prepared to run, but Meltus never started chasing her, so she tagged him again, "tag! You're it, you're it!"
But as Embery continued laughing, Meltus still didn't move.
"Hello? I run. You tag. Get it?"
But Meltus didn't reply.
"What's the matter? Don't ya know how ta play?"
Still no reply from the boy.
"Oh…" Embery sighed with realization, and so she got down on all fours while maneuvering from side to side and growling, figuring that play-fighting was more Meltus' speed.
And it was. Meltus soon grinned as he also crouched down and started growling…but when he did, that was Flain suddenly came out of nowhere and stepped in front of his daughter with his flames roaring.
And that was also when the dark red figure in the grass jumped out too, and she stepped in front of Meltus. This feminine Mixel was a very dark red Infernite with dark circles around her eyes, like Meltus, so she was likely an Outsider too. She had pretty much a cat-like body, with a long and noodly tail, slim form, cat-like paws, claws and teeth, and she had her black ears folded back in anger while growling at Flain.
"Fira," Flain stated the bigger Outlander's name like it was poison.
"Flain," Fira the Outsider stated with an evil grin, as she crouched down even lower onto all fours too, but just when she thought Flain was alone, a lot of Flain's Infernites appeared, as well as Pyp, Globert, Teslo and Seismo.
"Pyp," Fira stated Flain's wife's name.
"Fira," Pyp sneered back.
"Teslo, Seismo. Great, now that we all know each other—GET OUTTA OUR KINGDOM!" Teslo angrily exclaimed.
"YOUR kingdom?" Fira snarled, and it struck fear into the Electroid's heart, and he hid behind Seismo.
"These lands belong to Nyx," Fira growled.
"I banished you to The Outlands; now you AND your young one! Get out!" Flain said firmly.
"Oh? Haven't you met my son, Meltus? He was hand-chosen by Nyx to follow in his footprints—and become king."
But Flain only growled and glared down at the said little Outsider, and Flain was intimidating enough to make Meltus start quivering.
"Pbht! That'zzz no king; that's a dino-maraca," Teslo joked.
"Meltus was the last born before you exiled us to The Outlands…where we have…so little food and water," Fira dramatically pointed out.
"You know the penalty for coming into the Mixel lands," Flain angrily added.
"But the child does NOT; however—if you NEED your pound of flesh, then here," Fira stated with a smirk, as she scooted her son up to Flain, just to see what he would do.
"Take your son and leave. We're done here," Flain said softly yet firmly, as he turned and scooped up his daughter into his arms.
"Oh no, Flain—we have BARELY even begun," Fira chuckled darkly while smiling evilly at little Embery, scaring her.
But then Fira turned and didn't even pick up her own child, she just grabbed his arm in a bit of a vice grip as she pulled off with her.
"Bye," Embery whispered, wishing that Meltus could hear her.
"Bye," Meltus whispered, wishing she could hear him.
The sun was close to setting when Flain and his other Mixels were arriving back at the Infernite kingdom, but then Flain stopped before going on.
"Flain?" Pyp questioned her husband as to why he wasn't going on, but he cleared his throat while referring to their daughter, and Pyp nodded while walking away.
Soon, Flain gently sat Embery down on a near-by rock, and she tried to give him an innocent smile, but Flain only glared down at her.
"Daddy, I-."
"Embery, what were you thinking? You could have been KILLED today."
"I know, and I'm really sorry."
"Embery, I only tell you this stuff because I love you, and I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost you. One day, I won't be here, and then you'll have to-."
"Take your place, I know," Embery angrily sighed.
"Exactly, so you need to be careful. As future queen-."
"What if I don't wanna be queen? It's no fun at all."
"That's like saying you don't wanna be a Mixel; it's in your blood, as I am. We are a part of each other," Flain said softly with a smile, but Embery wouldn't even look at him, so he just gently shoved her off the rock for some fun.
Embery soon looked up at her dad with surprise, only to see him grinning innocently down at her, and she couldn't help but smile back.
"Oh, I still love you, Daddy," Embery said softly as she jumped into her dad's arms for a hug, and he hugged her back.
"I know. But know that we are one, my child. And as long as you live here, it's who you are," Flain said as he pulled his daughter away and kissed her forehead before walking off.
But as much as she loved her dad, Embery still had a hunger for exploring and to be free, as she stared out at the sun trying to set over the horizon.
The sun was also setting over The Outlands, home of the Outsider Infernites, and the sky for them right now was practically blood red. The land they lived in was nothing but dry, barren, empty and dead dessert, but they luckily had one remote mountain that provided shelter from the sweltering heat; even Infernites needed to cool off sometimes.
Even the few plants that had somehow grown out there were shriveling, but that didn't stop another one of the youngest Outlanders from trying to pull a dry root from the ground with her teeth.
This little girl Outlander had a slim body and long tail, like her mother Fira, but she wasn't as cat-like as her; in fact, she looked more like a lizard, who was also dark red with dark circles around her eyes.
"Meltus, Meltus, Meltus…Nyx wasn't even his father, he just liked him the most," Burnard, another Outlander who was more like a teenager these days, mumbled angrily; Burnard was more or less an oddball-looking, hefty Infernite, and that's why he wasn't chosen by Nyx to be king because he wasn't healthy to be as king-worthy as Meltus.
But Burnard soon found his little sister trying to tear the poor root apart.
"Oh hey, Pyroni. Where's Little Insect Meltus…the 'chosen one'?" Burnard asked in a mockery tone, and then he thought Pyroni was taking too long, so he took out his claws and cut the root with ease, sending her tumbling back since she was still pulling.
"Burnard! Where's Meltus? Did you leave him alone out there AGAIN?" Pyroni growled as Burnard was trying to play with the other half of the root.
"Hey, it's every Mixel for himself out here; that little insect's gotta learn ta be on his own, anyway," Burnard grumbled as he scratched away some ticks and fleas feeding on him.
"Mother's gonna be mad; she told you to watch him."
"Oh, who cares? I should'a been the chosen one; I'm the oldest, I'm the strongest…I'm the smartest-OH, THESE STUPID FLEAS AND TICKS!" Burnard started to explain, but all of the bugs making him itch made him burst out and start scratching like there was no tomorrow, and his sister watched with disappointment.
"I…could be…a leader someday…if she'd just give me a chance!" Burnard growled as he tried to scratch his backside by dragging it across the ground like a dog.
"Yeah right," Pyroni chuckled, "then why don't ya tell that ta HER?"
"Oh, don't think I won't!" Burnard said with a glare.
"Oh, yeah? Here's your chance."
Burnard was confused by his sister's statement at first, but then he turned to find Fira approaching while still holding Meltus' arm.
"Oh! Mother! Mother! Hi! Mother, I caught some field mice for your dinner, and I left it by the…by the…o-ok…" Burnard jumped and tried to get his mother's attention, but she ignored him as she practically tossed Meltus when she let go of his arm.
"Hey, Meltus. Wanna fight?" Pyroni growled at her brother, and Meltus crouched down with her to start fighting with her.
"You were supposed to be WATCHING HIM!" Fira scolded Burnard, and he shrunk back in shame.
"I-it's not his fault. I went off on my own," Meltus cut in with concern.
"What were you doing?" Fira angrily questioned.
"N-nothing," Meltus stammered as he fell down onto his back, and started scooting back from his intimidating mom that kept coming after him.
"Who has made us outsiders?"
"Flain."
"Who killed Nyx?"
"Flain!"
"What have I told you—about THEM?!"
"I-I'm sorry, Mother…sh-she didn't seem so bad…I-I-I thought…I-I thought we could be-."
"Friends?!"
Meltus' head shrunk into his shoulders with his mother's yelling.
"You thought you could get to the daughter, and then Flain would just welcome you with OPEN ARMS?! What an idea!" Fira rambled on with anger…but then her eyes went wide with realization, "what…an idea!"
"You BRILLIANT child. I'm so proud of you; you have the same conniving mind that made Nyx so—powerful," Fira said with pride as she stroked her youngest son's back with her claws.
But Burnard only gagged that it was Meltus and not him, but when he gagged, Fira instantly growled at him and stuck fear into his heart. After that, she picked her son up into her arms, and headed for their mountain home.
"Ugh…chosen one," Burnard grumbled under his breath.
Meanwhile, Fira had carried Meltus into the dark and cool caverns inside the mountain, and she found an old tree stump that was smoothly scooped out, and would make a good enough bed for Meltus, as she dropped him into it.
"I now see the path to our glorious revenge—to power," Fira announced with pride, as the other Infernite Outlanders came into the dark caverns too.
"But I don't want-," Meltus tried to start.
"Hush!" Fira hissed, but then she calmed down and hugged her son, "hush, my little one, you must be exhausted."
With that, she walked off while wearing an evil grin on her face.
"G-goodnight," Meltus said, ever so quietly, but his mother still heard him as she turned and smiled back at him.
"Oh, goodnight my little prince; tomorrow your training intensifies."
"So what, does this mean you've found someone ta chase Flain up into a tree, or something?" Burnard asked with doubt, but he smiled when his mother noticed him.
"Well, as much as I would like to see that, I'm sure the battle will be MUCH bloodier," Fira pointed out in a dark chuckle, "trust me, my children—Meltus WILL pull us up and out."
I love sequels, I really do, especially when I'm the one writing them.
Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!
