WS- Yes, well, once again, I have an idea. An idea that I've been working on for a while but never thought I'd use. lol. Well, off to the world of Change talents, creatures, and Overlords…
Shade's Return
Chapter One: An Old Memory
Ninde, her brown hair spider-webbing over her shoulders, watched as Ella and Drum, her children, played in the park.
It was amazing. Only thirty years ago had the Change come, and had she, with Gold-Eye, and the team leader, Ella, and then Drum, had been able to defeat the Overlords. Ella and Drum had given themselves to the cause so full-heartedly, that when they knew they would die by doing it, they did the only thing possible to send them back to their dimension: breaking a device that would emit radiation after broken. They did it knowingly, and died together right there, the shadows of dusk wrapping around them as they shared Gold-Eye's last, and final, vision.
The area that they had done it, atop Mount Silverstone, was still, even fifteen years later, draped with the deadly poison of radiation.
Gold-Eye came, and sat beside Ninde, placing a light kiss on her cheek. "What are you thinking about?" His golden eyes, from the Change, glittered in the evening sun.
"How things changed so quickly, and for the better. After the Change, everything happened so quickly, and only got worse, and now, things are so… perfect. It's amazing, and it sets anyone at ease to think that your kids won't have to endure the same as we did." Her voice held a small sadness as she thought back to the very evil of the Overlords, and how many had died, and how many that Shade had sacrificed to try to kill the Overlords. Then how the real Shade, someone named Robert, had snapped out of his mysterious nature and remembered who he was. How Robert, the English professor, had sacrificed himself also, but in a different way.
All of a sudden, Gold-Eye tensed, seeming to stare out into space.
Ninde noticed it and recognized it immediately. She wanted to scream. "Oh, no!" she said, and slapped him to try to get him to stop.
Then, he blinked, and looked at her, shocked. "Oh, gosh, no…" was all he could say.
Right then, something happened. It wasn't anything big. One of the older kids accidentally tripped. Nothing big, right?
But it was big. Gold-Eye had seen the soon-to-be-now. He shouldn't be able to without the Overlords here! But he was able to, and he hadn't seen it for fifteen years, since he shared his, the one with Ella and Drum. The one that went to now, with the Overlords gone. But he had seen it, which meant…
Ninde looked horrified. "No! Please, no. Tell me you didn't—"
Gold-Eye looked down for a moment. "I did," he said, and looked her straight in the eye, his eyes intent and focused, serious. "They're here."
A tear-drop rolled down Ninde's face. "But why aren't we gone? Why aren't we in their meat plant or something? I thought that as soon as they come, the adults always vanish." Her voice was cracked with sobs.
"Maybe they're doing things differently…" Gold-Eye thought about Jemmie and Petar, all those years ago. He didn't want anyone to have to go through this. Petar was about to use the knife… he made Gold-Eye run… Petar wasn't about to let the Overlords use him for their creatures… it neared his chest… he was going to use it on himself, to fight would be capture… but the Myrmidons got him and Jemmie before he could do it.
Gold-Eye closed his eyes. "We have to do something… we have to get weapons, something… I don't want to give up Ella and Drum… I don't to give us up, either. We have to inform the others here. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea that no parents ever told their kids about the Change and the Overlords, because now they won't be prepared…" His voice was slightly panicked.
"Enough! We all did what we thought was right, and no one could be prepared, no matter what! You know that! Quit dwelling and work on telling others!" Ninde ordered.
She looked around and noticed that others were uneasy. They were all adults. It looked like some of them knew, too.
She stopped for a second, and put her knuckle in her mouth, staring to chew on the skin there. Her eyes widened. "My Change talent… everyone knows. The ones with talents have already experienced it, I can tell."
"And the ones who don't?"
"There aren't many of them, but they're being informed by the ones with a talent," Ninde said, her voice serious. "We need to get ready."
Gold-Eye nodded, and got up. "Ella! Drum! Come here, it's important!"
Ella and Drum came up, obviously from some kind of running game, for they were covered with sweat. Ella was about 7 years old, and so was Drum. They automatically sensed that something was wrong, and got a confused look on their face. "What's wrong, Daddy?" Ella asked.
Ninde and Gold-Eye exchanged worried glances, and Ninde got up after Gold-Eye. "Something's happened. We need to go home," she asked, not able to think of any better way to say it.
The two kids followed their parents towards the mini van, asking questions about what happened the whole way.
"We'll explain later, but for now, we can't tell you much. We have to go home and do some things," was always the response they would get, or it would be close to it.
The entrance to the park was pretty busy, with people trying to get out with their kids. Ninde and Gold-Eye exchanged worried glances, knowing that the roads would be just as bad, and that this meant that most knew what had happened.
Instead of the usual ten minutes to get to their house, it took about thirty, for the roads were cramped with scared people. Kids could be seen, confused, in the car windows, wondering why everyone was suddenly on guard.
"Gold-Eye… get the children… we have to go now…" Ninde said, her voice low from fright.
"What? What is it?" Gold-Eye asked, seeing her knuckle in her mouth, meaning that she had been using her Change talent.
"M—M—Myrmidons are coming," she stammered out.
They heard the sharp sound of a Screamer, loud enough to break a human's ear drum when in close range.
"Mommy? What was that?" Drum asked, obviously shocked and frightened.
"Get out of the car," Gold-Eye ordered, his voice steady with fright for his children.
Ninde opened the door and climbed out, and opened the back door to let out Ella. Gold-Eye got out and opened the other side for Drum.
Everyone around them was doing the same, obviously scared to death.
They could hear a few fathers ordering their kids or wives to stay together, or assuring them that it would be alright.
Ninde took a deep breath, and looked at Gold-Eye, who did the same. Their eyes met. They each saw concern for the other in their eyes. The windows that led to their soul couldn't have been more open.
They heard another Screamer, closer this time.
The family huddled together, as did most of the others in the road.
"We have to find shelter," Gold-Eye said.
"Where? There could be Ferrets, and Myrmidons might be around. I felt them close. Trackers, too. Lots of Trackers. And then there were Screamers, and… I felt something else, but I don't know what it was," Ninde answered.
"Wait a second… if this is another Change, and it affects things the same way… could Shade be operational still?" Gold-Eye asked.
"Maybe. I don't know. But right now, we have to watch for creatures," Ninde said, her eyes scanning everything.
"True," Gold-Eye agreed, and did the same.
"Daddy! What's that?" Ella asked, pointing to the horizon.
There, merely silhouettes against the red—more blood-like than comfortable—and orange light of the setting sun.
Gold-Eyes's eyes flashed in the light. "We need to hide," he said firmly.
"W—What are they?" Drum asked.
"Something that I hope you'll never have to learn about," Ninde answered.
Ella grabbed Drum's hand, and they both squeezed tightly in fright.
"Where can we go?" Ninde asked Gold-Eye.
"Try that building over there," he answered, and grabbed both of his kids by the hand, knowing that Ninde would follow on her own, and walking to the construction that he had said.
Obviously, many families had gotten the same idea. They went to different buildings on different sides of the road, the silhouettes gaining form quickly.
Screamers could be seen, and Wingers, and Myrmidon Masters, along with Trackers. No Ferrets were in sight.
Gold-Eye entered the building, and so did his family. There was no one else inside, and no one seemed to want to come inside, so Gold-Eye closed the glass door and locked it. Since it was glass, he knew that it wouldn't keep them back for long, though.
"The top floor! Go!" he said urgently, and started running up the stairs.
Both Ninde and Gold-Eye both wished that they had a sword. Those were always much better to use on creatures than guns, and they didn't even have guns!
Ninde, Drum, and Ella followed their father and husband up the stairs, never stopping even though their legs hurt from the long climb. Drum nor Ella complained, for they were scared, and could see something wrong with their parents.
Gold-Eye smiled slightly. They had chosen the right building.
In front of him, on the top floor, was an array of weapons. This was a knife, gun, and sword store.
Gold-Eye quickly grabbed a long-sword, brandishing it to make sure that it was balanced, and tossed one to Ninde, who caught it. They had used them against creatures when they were around fifteen, and it was a kind of thing that you never forget how to do.
Drum's eyes widened. "What are you going to do with those?" he asked with shock in his voice.
Ella looked about to cry. It was understandable, considering how young she was, and everything happening.
Gold-Eye knelt next to his children. "Listen, kids. There's something very dangerous happening. I can't explain it now, but you have to do as I say without hesitation. This is hard, I know, but it's true." He spoke firmly.
Ninde nodded, and added, "Yes. We need to work together on this. Don't scream, whatever you do."
Drum gulped, and Ella's tears instantly went away. Her eyes were wide, and her mouth was nothing but a thin line.
They heard something out the door in the stairwell. Gold-Eye held up his sword, as did Ninde.
Someone opened the door, and they were just about to lunge forward at whatever coming in… they stopped at the last minute.
A girl, about 15 years old, walked in, eyeing the swords carefully. "I'm a friend," she said.
Gold-Eye and Ninde both lowered their swords. Hey looked at the girl, who wore a form-fitting camouflage crop top and camouflage jeans. She was also wearing combat boots. What a trend-setter. They looked, and noticed that she had a fake dog-tag, too. What a piece of work.
Gold-Eye picked up another sword. "Do you know how to use one of these?"
"Yes. I know about the creatures and Overlords, so don't worry. My parents have told me everything since I was a kid, but no one else I know my age knows about it," she said, and chose her own long-sword. It had a sheath, black, and she slipped it into her belt, fastening it tightly. She put her hand on the hilt and pulled it out carefully, brandishing it a few times before returning it to the sheath.
"Good. Do you know about the different creatures?" Ninde asked.
"Yes. My parents were always good at sketching, and would sketch them out and name them, their weaknesses, their strengths, and their characteristics and make me memorize them. I know all that my parents knew about them, except for experiencing them." The girl's brown hair was short and her bangs hung in her eyes. She brushed those out of the way.
"Well, it looks like you're going to experience them now," Gold-Eye said ominously.
"It looks like our best way of getting through this attack is if we stick together," Ninde said, though she wasn't too sure about the girl. "I'm Ninde, and this is my husband, Gold-Eye. My children are Ella and Drum."
The girl's eyes widened. "You're Ninde and Gold-Eye! My parents told me that you and your team are the ones who sent the Overlords to their dimension in the first place!" she exclaimed.
"Yes. Now, we have to get ready and fight," Gold-Eye said sternly.
The girl nodded. "Of course. My name is Lerow," she said.
Just then, there was a large boom as the glass door was knocked down on the lowest level.
"Um, don't creatures hate heights?" Lerow asked.
"Yes. But being on solid ground is fine to them. They just don't like climbing," Ninde told her.
She put her knuckle in her mouth and chewed for a moment.
"Oh damn it! There are trackers, and a couple of Myrmidons. I think that there's a Ferret, too." She wasn't too happy about it.
They heard the heavy foot steps of a Myrmidon Master come up the stairs.
Gold-Eye had a soon-to-be-now vision.
Foot steps. They were loud. The Myrmidons were almost there. There was one final bang as they came to the door. Ninde shouted at Lerow to move from the door. As soon as she had, the door burst open. Outside was a Myrmidon, as strong as the last one they had seen fifteen years ago. He walked in with a Tracker. Ninde slashed at him with her sword…
It was over. He came out of his trance, and could already hear the loud foot steps. His vision was happening.
WS- MWAHAHAHAHA! Cliffhangers! PLEASE R&R!