The Fortress

by C Cubed

There are many worlds. Many Roses. Many heroes. Many villains. Many battles. Many wars. Many stories to be told. And they all revolve around one thing…The Fortress.

1. I

-1Bang! Bang! Bang! The soldiers pounded on the door of a small house in the village of Bryn. When there was no answer, one of them kicked the door down.

The soldiers walked into the house. Inside, they split up and went about taking valuables and looking for the tennants. One of them went into the bedroom and opened the closet.

"Got 'em," he called out to his comrades. The other two marched into the bedroom.

"Please, sir. We don't have the money this month. If you could just give us another few days-"

"Shut up, peasant. We've been told you have two daughters. Where are they?" the captain asked of the peasant.

"W-what do you want with them?" the peasant asked.

"You don't have our money. So, you need to compensate some other way."

"NO!" the peasant's wife shouted. "Please, take me instead. Not them, please not them," she sobbed.

"Shut up, woman. We would take you too, but you're too old and ugly. Now get away," the captain said coldly.

"Please, not them!" the peasant's wife pleaded. She crawled over to the captain and grabbed his leg. "Please, sir-"

"Get away, you filthy whore!" the captain shouted in revulsion. He kicked her in the face. "Now, I suggest you tell us where your daughters are, or we'll kill you both and burn this house to the ground."

"U-under the bed. Please, leave them alone. I'll pay you double," the peasant cried.

"No. John, go get them," the captain ordered.

The soldier named John pushed the bed violently away. Underneath were two girls, the oldest no older than fourteen. The other one, her sister, looked to be about nine.

"This one's too young. But you..." the captain said. He observed the older girl. At fourteen, she had filled out nicely. Her pretty face was clear of blemishes, and as the captain felt her long brown hair, he noted that it was soft and clean. "You're perfect."

She tried to slap him, for she was very brave. However, the captain was seven feet two at least, a giant. She stood at a mere five four. Her hand connected with his neck, and her nails left small red marks across it. He barely felt it.

"What is your name, cull?" he asked her nastily. When she didn't answer, he slapped her. She was knocked sideways and she crashed into the wall. "I said, what is your name!" the captain shouted.

"Carol!" she shouted through tears.

"You're quite a pretty one," the captain said quietly. His hand slowly found its way up to her breast.

"Get off of me!" she cried. He gave her bosom a squeeze and obediently let go.

"Take her," he said. "Kill everyone else except the father," the captain ordered his deputies. He then walked back outside the house. Through the open window, he heard swords being drawn, and the screams of the peasant's wife and younger daughter. He rolled himself a cigarette and lit it on a torch. After a minute, he heard the door open and close, and Carol crying. He dropped his smoke and stamped it out. Then he threw the torch through the window and walked towards the horses.

The soldiers rode towards the Castle with their prize tied up between them. Carol screamed, kicked, and struggled, but her efforts were to no avail. Every few minutes, one of the soldiers would squeeze her generous breasts, and she would struggle violently. Once she fell off the horse and wiggled on the ground like a worm. The soldiers laughed uproariously at this, and the Captain even poked her in the ass with his sword. This brought tears to her eyes, and she screamed for help. The Captain struck her with the blunt end of his sword, drawing blood across her forehead. She fainted.

"Shit, Cap, did you kill her?" John asked.

"No, idiot. I knocked her out. Now, what do you think we should do with her?"

"Well, Cap, she's out cold, and can't struggle. I think it would be downright wasteful to not take advantage of the absence of her mind," the third soldier, Evan, stated.

"Hell yeah. Let's do it right here! It's not like anybody can do anything," John said.

"Good idea, deputies. I'll go first, while you two stand guard," the Captain said.

"Aw, Cap,"

"C'mon, Cap!"

"Shut up, both of you, or you won't get any! Now stand guard."

It might not seem it, but Carol could not have picked a better night to get gang-raped. For as the captain was pulling off her shirt, the son of Robert "Fever" Brown, the most powerful warrior in the village, just happened to be going on a midnight ride to the castle armory. He passed her, and noticed the pretty girl from his school being beaten by the King's enforcers, the Brute Tre, as they were called. He had danced with her at many a Reap Festival, had even kissed her once. He never told, but he had had a crush on her since the first time they danced together, when they were both ten. So when he saw what was going on, he naturally decided to intervene.

"What the hell is going on here?" he asked.

"Cap! We got company!" John shouted.

"What the hell?" the Cap was interrupted removing Carol's skirt. He spun around and drew his sword. "Shit, that's the son of the Fever!"

"Cap?" John.

"Well, no matter. What do you want, you bastard?" the Captain said.

"Get away from her!" the boy shouted.

"Aw, little Jack Brown has a crush. That's so cute. Piss off, boy."

"N-no. If you don't get away from her, I'll-" Jack started.

"You'll what? Tell your daddy? He may be tough, but the years have been hard on daddy. You just stay the fuck out of our way, boy!" the Captain snarled.

"You're just lucky I caught you on the way to my destination. If I had a weapon..."

"You think of engaging the Captain in the field of honorable combat? Guess again, young child!" Evan said.

"I can take you three fools," Jack said, gaining confidence.

"Hmph. Doubt it as I may, I'd rather you fight...them!" the Captain shouted. He then snapped his fingers. Out of the ground spouted three small rings of fire, and out of them came three creatures Jack had never seen the likes of, not in his worst nightmares.

Jack eyed the creatures with a look of utmost horror on his face. They were small, probably only three and a half feet tall, and they had glowing red eyes. They walked on two stubby legs, with two small feet; from their torsos sprouted stubby arms with small hands. On each one of their heads was a single horn about eight inches long. Their entire bodies were colored black, and they had no facial features besides their haunting eyes.

Those eyes!

Jack had to step back a few feet from them, for when he looked into the eyes of one of them, he felt an intense fear of the creatures. They couldn't be killed; he should run, they would all kill him and kill Carol, he had to run away. He was so scared that for a minute he lost all will to fight. Then he regained control of himself and asked the Captain, "What in the name of the Man Jesus are those things?"

"Despairs. A wizard conjured them up for His Royal Highness one day, and they sorta stuck." he shrugged his shoulders. "Here, I'll even be nice and give you a weapon."

The Captain went to John and took his sword.

"Hey, boss-"

"Shut up, cull," the Captain snarled. He threw the sword to Jack, and Jack caught it by its hilt.

"Impressive. Now, Tak!"

The Despairs leapt towards Jack. He panicked and forgot all of his sword training. He swung the sword as hard as he could at the nearest one, and to his utter dismay, it went right through him!

"What the hell is this? Oh, I get it. A wizard, right. These are illusions, aren't they?" Jack said.

Before the Captain could answer, one of the Despairs tried to stab Jack in the leg with his horn. Jack's instincts let him dodge, but not quite in time. His pants leg cut, and he felt blood running down the back of his leg.

"Shit!"

Jack swung the sword at the Despair. It went right through him again. Another one leapt up at him, and he tried to parry it with the sword, but the thing went right through his sword and Jack went sprawling.

"Can tah! Tak alah!" the Captain shouted. The Despairs jumped at him again. Jack raised his sword in defiance and prepared to die.

Before the Despairs could get to him, however, there was a blinding flash of white light.

Jack had to shield his eyes from the light that nearly blinded him. 'This must be what death is like,' he thought to himself. 'Endless light. Well, I guess there really is no afterlife.'

After a couple seconds, Jack realized that the light was gone. He wasn't dead after all. He felt something heavy in his hand, where just a moment ago he held a blade. He uncovered his eyes. In the other sword's place was...an even greater sword? No, Jack thought. This is no sword.

It was about the size of a large sword, and it felt like steel, but it weighed virtually nothing. It was in the shape of a large rose, with the stem serving as the handle. Large, thorny spikes went all the way up the stem, starting at about the halfway mark, up to the red petals. Jack noticed that the petals were sharp.

Suddenly, Jack's head was filled with voices. He screamed and put his hands to his ears, dropping the rose.

"Roses are Red, violets are blue, the one you love can be awakened by you," Jack heard.

"W-what?" he stuttered.

"Get up, boy!" the Captain shouted. "What in the hell are you doing?" the Captain came closer to Jack and noticed the rose on the ground. "Ho-how did you get that? Tell me now, and you may yet live!"

"F-fuck you!" Jack picked the rose up from the ground with tremendous speed. He got up with the resilience of a man who had just found his purpose in life, swinging the rose up. He hoped to God and the Man Jesus that this thing was supposed to be a weapon.

A blunt part of the rose struck the Captain beneath his chin. Jack saw the look of mingled surprise and horror on his face before the Captain fell to the ground.

"Ah! Little brat!" John drew a spare sword from his horse and dismounted. Brandishing his weapon, he charged towards Jack. Jack felt a moment, if even, of fear before he was ready to Rock N' Roll. He held the rose horizontally in front of him with two hands; one below the 'bud' and the other at the bottom. Right before John's sword would have split his skull, he raised the rose up above his head, and the sword crashed into that instead.

Jack looked at the part where the sword had hit. 'Not a scratch,' he thought. He nailed the blunt end of the rose into John's stomach, and John went sprawling. He raised the rose to fight the last soldier, but he had already dropped his weapon and looked scared.

"Go on, get out of here," Jack said. He then walked over to Carol's limp body.

Jack walked over to Carol's body, completely forgetting about the rose. He dropped it about ten feet away from her and started running. He got over to her in less than two seconds.

Jack almost gagged. She was bleeding in two places on her head, and her shirt was in tatters. At least her skirt was on.

"Shit, what am I going to do?" Jack said to himself. Behind him, the Captain was getting up and rubbing his chin.

"Oh, shit!" the Captain remembered what was going on, and saw the rose on the ground near him. His mind took a second to register this, but then he got up and ran over to the rose. He picked it up and held it like a broadsword.

"Little punk, you should never put your weapon down in a fight! N-" the Captain was cut off when the rose vanished from his hand and turned back into a sword in a flash of light. "What?"

There was another flash of light, and the rose reappeared in Jack's hand.

"What the hell?"

Jack held the rose out. "Get out of here."

"Fuck you, punk," the Captain snarled. He had never been spoken to before, except by that infernal wizard. "I have a sword and you have a big flower. I think I have a better chance of winning."

With that the Captain charged at Jack.

"Ah!" Jack grunted and got ready to block. He turned his head around and closed his eyes. When the Captain was about ten feet from Jack, time stopped.

"W-what?" Jack opened his eyes. Nothing was moving, the Captain, Carol, or his soldiers. Not even a blade of grass was rippling in the wind.

"Hello, Jack."

"Who's there?" Jack screamed. He turned around frantically, searching for the origin of the voice.

"A friend. I'm sorry to interrupt this, but I wanted to meet you at least once before it's time."

"Time? Who are you, and what do you want?"

"Do you want my name, or who I am?"

"Your fucking name AND who you are! Just show yourself!" Jack screamed at nothing.

"Very well. My name, is Sugo."

"What the hell kind of a name is Sugo?"

"It's MY NAME, young one. Now, I want you to listen well. There are things going on in this realm that nobody has ever imagined, not even in their worse nightmares. Those creatures that attacked you, the Despairs-"

"Oh, that's right! They just disappeared. Did you make them go away?" Jack asked.

"No. They fear the Roses. When they felt its presence they left," Sugo answered.

"Where did they come from?" Jack asked.

"Didn't the Captain tell you? After all, in a story such as yours, there is always a stupid villain who gives away all of his plans and secrets. The Captain and his Brute Tre are the stupid villains in your story."

"My story. Right. Okay, then, nice to meet you Sugo, and goodbye. So, if you could just please unfreeze everything?"

"Very well. But you do not understand. One boy alone cannot plant the seed."

"Are you some kind of nutcase?" Jack asked. He wasn't afraid of Sugo.

"Foolish boy. You will never understand," came a low, monotonous, emotionless voice from the shadows.

"What are you doing here? This is my world. Go back to Chicaga, or wherever you were assigned," Sugo snarled.

"I am here on account of our boss, Sugo. He wants you to return to the Fortress immediately," the Voice rambled.

"Very well. Jack, you might want to move somewhere, like behind the troublesome Captain. You know, confuse him a little. Time will revert back in about thirty seconds," Sugo said.

"Wait, don't go! Who are you?" Jack screamed. There was no reply. Jack sighed and walked behind where the captain was "running." Somehow, just sneaking up on him was just not a good idea.

Thirty seconds later, the Captain burst back to life as if nothing had happened. He went two feet and then his pants came off, and he tripped on his shoes, which had been tied together. He got up and swung around, but Jack and Carol were gone.

"FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT!"

Jack raced across old Jack Daniels' fields, with Carol in his arms and the Rose lying on top of her. Twice he almost dropped the Rose, and once he almost dropped Carol. Jack Daniels' field was full of potholes. Coincidentally, his field was not only full of potholes, but it was also full of pot.

"FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT!"

Jack heard the Captain yelling from behind him. He took that as a signal to run faster. Gasping for breath, he flew over the marijuana fields like a bird.

Bang! Jack heard a gunshot from behind him.

"Shit!" Jack fell to the floor, still holding Carol and the Rose in his arms. Old Jack Daniels came out of his house holding a shotgun and looking like an angry bitch.

"Get up, ye kid! I saw you! Get the hell off a' my property!" he shouted in Jack's direction.

Jack got up. He left Carol and the Rose on the ground, however. He held his hands up.

"What in the name of tarnation are you doin' on my fields?"

Jack knew about Old Man Daniels. He hated the government more than anything. The whole village could hear him shouting at tax collectors every Monday.

"I'm running from the soldiers, sir," Jack said, keeping calm. "The Brute Tre are chasing me around the village for no reason."

"Brute Tre! Fuckin' bastards! Pickin' on the youth of today! C'mon, kid, me and you will show the fools who's the law in these parts!" Daniels pumped his shotgun and shot it up in the air. He took a shell out of the pockets of his overalls and loaded it. He then pumped again.

"Um, maybe if we could just-" Jack started, but he was cut off by the Captain, and John, one of the deputies, running across the field.

"You goddamn bastards! You're tramplin' on my crop!" Daniels shot the shotgun at them. It exploded near where the Captain was running. Daniels gave a roar of anger and reloaded. He then shot again. This time it hit the Captain's sword out of his hand.

"Dammit, he's got a gun. John, let's get out of here," the Captain said. "I'll be back for you, boy!"

They left. Jack took a look at Old Man Daniels. Jack judged he was about six feet one, maybe two, and weighed in at about 150. He was very lanky, and wore nothing except a pair of faded overalls and a straw hat. He had a scraggly beard and was chewing on a hayseed. His eyes seemed dead, at least compared to most other people.

"Next time you see those culls, give 'em this for me," Daniels said. He then shot another shell into the air. With that, he walked back inside his house. Jack walked back to where Carol was, and the Rose used to be.

"Where did it go?" Jack cried frantically. "Where did the fucking Rose go?" He searched around. After a few minutes, he sighed and let it go. Hell, he had probably imagined it anyways.

"At least you're still here," he said to himself. He thought about how lucky he was to come upon the Brute Tre before they could have their way with Carol. Shit, they both were lucky.

Jack looked at her. Then he crawled over to her body and shook her shoulder.

"Wake up, c'mon girl. I can't carry you much longer..."

There was another flash of light, and the Rose was back in his hand.

Jack approached Carol's street. By now, he was starting to notice her waking up. He decided to stop so he could rest and she could collect herself. He was still shaking from when the Rose had disappeared and then reappeared. Why? Where had it gone? And why did it come back?

Jack stopped by the edge of the road and lay Carol down. She was stirring already. Jack ran a hand through his short brown hair. He was sweating, which didn't surprise him; however, his heart was also beating regularly, which did surprise him. He had just ran almost two miles, carrying a human being. How the hell was he so calm, but so sweaty?

"Jack? Jack Brown?" Carol sat up.

"Hi, Carol. Thank God you're awake," Jack said. "What happened to you?"

"I-I don't know. I was about to go to sleep, and then-" Carol's eyes lit up. "Oh my God! My family!"

"What? What happened?"

"The Brute Tre! They came to my house because my dad is late on his taxes-"

"Aren't we all," Jack sighed. Carol ignored him and went on.

"They killed my mom and my sister, and they were going to rape me, and I don't know where my father is, and I-I-" she burst out crying, and threw herself in Jack's arms. "They're all dead," she sobbed. "All dead..."

Jack held her and let her cry it out. This took less time then he would have thought; after about ten minutes, she had stopped crying and stood up.

"What happened with you?" she asked. "Did you get into a fight with them?"

"Carol, tonight has been the single weirdest night of my life," Jack started. "The Captain, I don't know his name, he made me fight these-these THINGS, that just scared the shit out of me. Something weird is happening with the king; he's never sent the Tre to collect anyone's taxes before…and he's been holed up in his castle for the past few months. I feel like everything is about to change. C'mon, I'll take you to your house. Maybe your dad is there."

Carol nodded, then started crying again. "And I need a shirt," she said, and then let out a nervous laugh.

Jack forced a smile, then took his jacket off. "Here, wear this," he said and held it out to Carol. She put it on gratefully. Now, if somebody cared to look out of their window they wouldn't see her boobs.

"Thanks, Jack," and with that, they started walking towards the remains of her house, arms around each other as if they were together; and anyone looking out on them would think they were. On the way, Jack told Carol what had happened; how his father had mysteriously left the house in the middle of the night, and Jack went to see if he was at the Armory. On his way there, he had came upon the Brute Tre, and the rest is history.

They came upon the burned out ashes that were Carol's house.

"NO!" she shouted.

What they came upon was a burned wreck, plain and simple. In the ruins, the thing that had made Carol shout NO, were the burned remains of her sister and mother.

"They BURNED them! The fuckers burned them! No, no n-"

"Carol, listen. They're dead, it doesn't matter what state their corpses is in. But you're dad isn't with them. He's still alive, see?" Jack's excitement was rising. Maybe this was a quest in the making for him. Then his excitement dawdles. "We have to find him," he added lamely.

Carol sniffed. "Do you think we can? I mean, where would he have gone?" she asked.

"I don't know. But we have to start somewhere. Don't you want to see if the last member of your family member is alive?" Jack asked.

"It doesn't matter. Our family is broken. Even if my father is still alive, it'll never be the same."

"No, but it's better than nothing. Trust me." Jack remembered why he had left in the first place. "Oh, crap! My dad is gone too! Do you think it's connected?"

"Maybe," she said. Jack could see that she was still shaken, and decided not to bother her until she was better. He went about the burned remains of Carol's house, waiting. He saw a charred family portrait, and the dusty and blackened keys of a grand piano. He turned to go back to comfort his crush, but something caught his eye. A shotgun, presumably belonging to Carol's father, lay perfectly preserved where the wall used to be. He went towards it, kneeled, and was further dismayed to find several boxes of shells right next to it:

Shells of Gilead

50 Shells

Manufactured by the Tet Corporation, in memory of the ka-tet of nineteen and ninety-nine

the boxes read.

"What the hell?" Jack said under his breath. "Hey, Carol, I think your dad left us his shotgun."

"What?" she asked, and got up. She walked through the blackened remains of her house, pausing only slightly, to where Jack was kneeling. "My dad doesn't have a shotgun."

"Well, someone was here, and they left this. Who the hell..."

Carol turned away from him and got up. She had seen something else against the far wall, of which a part of still remained. She walked towards it, and saw a small piece of paper tacked up to the wall. The paper read:

Dear Carol, I hope you enjoy the shotgun. I figured that since Jack has a weapon, you might as well get one. You might need it in your quest, anyways. I wish you both luck, for the trials that await you require a strong will, and an even stronger weapon. One more thing: your father yet lives. Look for him at the top floor of the Fortress. Sincerely yours, Sugo Bausch.

"Jack, come look at this!" Carol said. She was shaking. Someone had been here, in her house, and knew who she was and where her father was.

Jack walked over to her, holding the shotgun and the boxes of shells in his hands. She held the letter out to him and he took it. He read it over in about a minute, then lowered it. Carol could see the look of surprised horror on his face.

"Sugo," he said.

"Someone you know?"

"Well, I've met him," Jack said. "In a sense." Jack told her the part of his story he had left out before, about time freezing and Sugo talking to him. She listened intently, and when he finished, she said:

"Well, according to that, the shotgun is mine. Give it here," she said. Jack laughed and gave it and the shells to her.

"It's a nice shotgun," he told her. "A pump-action, not one of those single-shots."

She nodded. "It says that you have a weapon, too. What is it?"

"Oh, the Rose! Where did it go?"

Jack ran back "outside" frantically, searching for the Rose. When Carol had awakened, he had completely forgotten about it. "Wait a minute," he said. "I think I know what to do."

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Quiet a minute," he said. He focused on the Rose with all of his mind, but nothing happened. 'Dammit, what was I thinking about back there?" He tried to remember, but couldn't. Thinking, he caught Carol's impatient expression, and then remembered.

There was a bright flash of white light, and the Rose appeared in Jack's hand.

"Ahh! Wow! How did you do that?" she asked. Despite of her recent tragedy, Jack could see the look of amazement on her pretty face. "It's so pretty! But how is it a weapon?"

"It's really sharp, and from what I've gathered, damn near indestructible," Jack shrugged. "It works, if that's what you're wondering."

"Where did you get it? Can we trade?" she asked.

"I don't know where I got it...it just kind of appeared in my hand when I was fighting the Brute Tre. Sure, I'd rather have a shotgun then a flower," he laughed. They traded, but after a second, the Rose disappeared from Carol's hands and reappeared in Jack's. Jack expected this, and gave Carol the shotgun back.

"Sorry. The same thing happened when the Captain stole it. I guess it only works for me," he said.

"Well, I guess it's okay-" she started, but was cut off by a gunshot.

"Shit!" Jack yelled. He grabbed Carol's shoulder and pulled her down with him. They hit the dirt at the same time, not daring to look up. Jack heard the bullets (were they bullets?) hit near him, and he rolled over. He looked at Carol and saw that she was loading the shotgun.

"You know how to use that, right?" he called to her.

"Yeah. My uncle is a mercenary," she called.

"On the count of three, get up and run back into the house. One...two...THREE!"

Jack leapt to his feet, and heard Carol do the same. He swung around in the direction of the shots, and saw a large cluster of men standing across the street, reloading what looked to be like rifles. He wasted no more time, and backpedaled back into the 'house.' He hid behind a piece of the wall, and saw Carol following suit on the other side. She had the shotgun ready to fire, and was muttering to herself. Jack got an idea and swung out of his cover.

"Hey, assholes! Over here!" he shouted. A shot hit the wall, not a foot away from him. Then another went past his ear, and one hit the rubble at his feet. He fell to the ground and played dead. His head was at an angle so that he could see Carol. She too had taken the bait, which was not good. He blinked rapidly at her, trying to convey that he was faking it, but she started to move towards him. Then she noticed his rapidly shuttering eyelids, and seemed to understand. He risked making a thumbs-up at her, and she smiled and took cover.

The shots stopped, and Jack could hear the men walking towards the house. Could even hear one of them, presumably the leader, talking: "You three, go in and confirm the kill."

Jack heard them, and dared move his head a little to see them. They didn't catch this, say thankya. They marched right over to where Jack lay, and began to kick him gently in the ribs. Jack lay still.

"What the hell? He's not bleeding?" one of them shouted.

"Die!" he heard Carol yell. Jack focused his mind on the thing that made the Rose appear, and then got up. The men whirled around at him, and Carol put one of them down easily. Jack swung the Rose into the side of one of them, and the man crumpled to the ground. One of them took out a small pistol, a five-shooting revolver, and pointed it at him. Before he could pull the trigger, his hand exploded in a shower of crimson, and the revolver fell to the ground. Jack caught it and pointed it at the rest of the men across the street. He fired all five shots in succession, not bothering to aim, and when the revolver was dry, he dropped it. Then he backpedaled to where Carol was standing.

"Nice shooting," he said to her.

"Thanks," she said; smiled, and blushed. Jack thought she looked beautiful when she smiled, and that made him smile too. Then he remembered the rest of the men and peeked out of their cover.

"They're gone!" he said. "Unless they're just tricking us," he added as an afterthought.

"I'll risk it. Maybe you killed the rest with that gun," she mused. "Did you even aim when you shot it?"

"Nope. I've only shot a gun once before in my life, so I didn't really know what I was doing. Alright, let's get out of here. I don't know what's going on, but I'm getting the creeps here."

They started to walk away, but before they could, time stopped again.

Carol screamed, for this time it was she who had not frozen. She looked around, saw Jack's frozen face, saw everything frozen, and screamed again.

"What happened?" Then she remembered Jack saying that this had happened to him too, and that was when Sugo, who had left her the shotgun, had spoken to him. "Is anyone there?" she asked.

"Carol! Can you hear me?"

"Father?" she shouted incredulously. "Where are you?"

"I'm being held captive in a room somewhere! I need you to rescue me! Please, Carol, find me! They say they'll kill me!"

"Where are you? How did you get there?"

"I went to get help after they took you, from the Fever," her father's voice said. Carol looked at Jack in amazement. There was a loose end tied up. "He said he'd go change the Brute Tre's minds, and he told me to wait by the house. I went there, but on the way, everything just seemed to...I don't know, stop. And a voice told me that I was being taken to the Fortress until my daughter came to rescue me." He paused. "And then I woke up here," he finished simply.

"I can't rescue you if I don't know where you are! What do you want?"

"I don't know...Carol, listen. If I never see you again, I want you to know that I love you. I don't want you to risk your life trying to find me. But, there is something I would have you do."

"Anything!" Carol cried.

"There is something wrong with the king. He's...different. I fear the kingdom may be heading to doom. Please, you must try to do something about it."

"How are you talking to me?"

"The people are letting me. They want you to come here. SO LISTEN TO YOU'RE FATHER, AND STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM THE FORTRESS! No, get away from me-"

Her father screamed. Then, nothing.

"Dad..." she looked up. Now what? What if time just stayed frozen forever? What was she supposed to do then?

But her fears were unfounded, because after a few seconds Jack sprang-for that was the only word for it-back to life.

He walked a few steps, then stopped and turned towards her. "Coming?" he asked.

"Jack...something just happened. I-"

And Carol told Jack of what had just transpired. Jack nodded in silent horror the whole time, listening intently.

"Dammit, that feels so weird! To me it feels like nothing happened! To think that you had a whole conversation while I was walking is just..."

"Eerie," she finished for him.

"Well, let's not just stand here talking about it. Clearly your dad wants us to do something for him. You up for a little quest?"

"Okay, but before we do anything, we need to find out if the rest of those men ran away or if they're just hiding."

"Seconded," Jack said. "But where could they hide?"

Carol put a finger to her lips. She raised the shotgun and pointed it at a group of bushes in the neighbor's yard, and pulled the trigger. The gun exploded, and Carol fell back a step from the recoil. Jack hadn't noticed before just how loud it was.

But there was another noise, following after. A muffled thump.

"There are our freinds," Jack said. "Finish the rest of your shots in there; flush 'em out!"

Three more deafening shots. Jack covered one of his ears with one hand, and one of Carol's with his other. He had figured out that he could make the Rose disappear whenever he wanted also. How he did it he didn't know. There was a shout from behind the bush, and five men jumped out of it and ran at them. Jack could see that they all had strange swords drawn, and were trailing them behind them in one hand. Their hair was tied back in buns, and they wore strange robes; and sandals instead of shoes.

"Who the hell are they?" Jack said, and thought of the thing that he needed to think of to summon the Rose. It appeared in his hand, and he readied it. He looked back at Carol and saw she was fumbling with the shotgun, trying to reload it. "Hurry!" he shouted, and charged.

Jack ran with the speed of the winds at the strange men with the robes. When he got closer he could tell some of the features of them. Their skin was either very tanned, or it was naturally just darker than his. When he was about ten feet from the one in front, he leapt into the air. He could hear Carol behind him. Good. He had some cover.

He landed right in front of the one in front, and brought the Rose down hard on his head. He could see the man's blue robe splattered with scarlet, and all of his emotions except rage were brought down to a complete zero. He raised the Rose again, and jumped at the next blue-robed warrior, and swung it down. This one blocked it, however, with his sword. Then he swiped it at Jack, cutting his shirt. Then he stabbed at Jack, missing by less than an inch. Damn, he was fast! Jack jumped back and redoubled his strategy. He swiped back at the warrior once, twice, thrice, and more. The man blocked each one. Then, after what seemed like the millionth time (actually it was the seventeenth) another blue-robed warrior jumped in and violently slashed at Jack. Jack stopped swiping at the first one to block the second, and the first got another stab in. Jack dodged it, never keeping his eyes off of the other.

Make it double!

Two more joined in. They had Jack completely surrounded, and they prepared to all stab him at once. Not knowing what else to do, he jumped.

The four warriors, Carol, and even Jack gasped as Jack jumped almost ten feet in the air, easily dodging their stabs. Then Carol remembered what was going on, and shot at the four remaining blue-robed warriors. Two of them went down, but the other two scattered. She aimed at one of them, and shot him dead. She was not so lucky with the other, however; for while she was distracted he went to her and kicked her in the side of the head. By this time Jack had landed, and was running at the final warrior. He got to him as he was picking Carol up, and kicked him. The man stumbled, but did not fall, and Jack brought the Rose down on his head. He crumpled to the ground.

"You okay?" he asked Carol, who was rubbing her head.

"I think so..."

There was a click of a pistol or rifle, and a gruff voice with a rough accent said, "Get up."

Carol looked up and saw another one of the dark-skinned men. This one, he noticed, did not have a blue robe. His robe was made of a flowing gold material. Definitely not silk, or cloth, or cotton. Something else entirely, for it shined with the intensity of a brightly polished gold. His sword, while it was strangely shaped, was sheathed, but she could see that it had a golden handle, adorned with decorations of what appeared to be some sort of serpent. Also, his hair was not pulled back into a bun, but the man was bald. Behind him were a large assortment of men in strange wooden armor. They held rifles in their hands, trained on her.

"Get away!" Jack shouted.

"W-where did you all come from?" Carol asked in astonishment.

"The woods," the man said in his strange accent. It sounded like the wuds. "Now get up and come with us."

Carol started to get up.

"Carol, no-"

"I have to, Jack." she got up and started to walk over to the man with the golden robe. Before she got to him, she jumped back a step and picked up the shotgun. She aimed right at the man with the golden robe, and pulled the trigger.

There was a deafening roar. Once the smoke cleared, Jack looked at the man in the golden robe, but the man stood there as if nothing had happened.

"Nice try. Now, come!" The man leapt at Carol, drawing his sword with a speed that Jack never could have fathomed. Jack had to act fast, too. He ran towards Carol, skidding to a halt in front of her not two seconds before the golden-robed warrior would have killed her. Jack swung the Rose into him, but the man was so goddamned fast! His sword, a second ago raised high above his head, now was horizontally across the man's body. The Rose clanged off of it, and the man raised the sword again in the blink of an eye. The blunt end swung into Jack's head, and Jack was knocked back, out of reach of Carol. He got up, blinked blood out of his eyes, and heard Carol scream.

"Get off of me, you fucking pervert freak!" she was saying. She kicked and screamed and punched at the man, but he seemed to not feel it. The man said something in another language to his soldiers, and one of them ran out and collected Carol's shotgun.

"No, put her down!" Jack tried to shout, but it came out barely over a whisper.

A voice came from somewhere behind Jack. It's owner sounded hurt.

"Wait! Take, wait! I'm still alive!"

Jack turned his head to see this new player. It was another one of the strange foreigners, this one in a green robe. He was clutching his side, and Jack could see some (not a whole lot) of blood staining the robe. His sword was not quite as nice as the gold man's was, and neither was his robe. It was glowing, however, signaling that it was at least made of the same material. The man walked over to Jack, and drew his sword.

The man took his hand off of his side, and clutched the handle of his sword with both hands. He held it so that it was face-down, the point facing Jack. Not a moment before he brought it down, the golden-robed man shouted, "Wait!"

The green-robed man stopped and looked at the gold-robed man. "Take, what is it?"

"I'm sorry, Nomu. My orders are to leave everyone who's injured behind. I really want to kill you, for I've always hated you, but I'm going to show you mercy and let you commit seppuku. Do it now, and leave the brat alone. Storm said not to kill him."

"Take...?" the green-robed man said to Take.

"Kill yourself now, you worthless piece of shit. The Dragonclan has no need for fools like you."

"N-no! My family!"

"If you do it right now, I might let your family live. Now, you worthless fucking piece of rat shit!"

The green-robed man raised a shaky hand and grasped the sword over Jack again. He started to bring it down on his stomach, but before he did, he moved it a little to the right, and it went behind him. Then he swung it around and held it out in a battle stance against the rest of his former comrades.

"You fool. You can't beat even me, let alone all of us! Now, you kill yourself, or I'll kill you and your entire family!"

"Fuck you," Nomu said. Take laughed at this. Then he drew his sword, and motioned behind him. The rest of his warriors put down their rifles and drew swords. "Still want to fight?"

"I can kill you all alone! You don't scare me, Take!"

"You won't have to do it alone," Jack said, getting to his feet. "Release Carol, and maybe I won't kill you all."

"Ha ha haaa..." Snap! Take snapped his fingers.

Several black clouds appeared around them, and out stepped...

"Despairs. Enjoy!" Take snapped his fingers again, and him and the rest of his men vanished.

Jack and Nomu were completely surrounded. The Despairs stared at them with an intensity that Jack found surprising. He averted his eyes so as not to look into theirs.

"Don't look into their eyes," the green-robed man, Nomu, whispered. "Good luck."

"What do you mean, good luck? You're in the exact same position I'm in!"

"No, my child. I have been disgraced. I must die, or my family will suffer for my failures. If you survive, please, kill Take for me!" Nomu raised his sword over himself, and started to plunge it down into his stomach.

"NO!" Jack shouted. He summoned the Rose and swung it at Nomu. The Rose struck Nomu's sword, and the sword went far off course. It hit a leaping Despair in the head, and cut it clean off. Jack thought the Despair would fall to the ground, but it disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.

"What the hell?" Jack said to himself.

"No! You fool!"

The Despairs leapt all over Jack and Nomu. Jack was ready for them and was able to parry four or five of the leaping monsters, but Nomu was not so lucky; perhaps it was because he wasn't ready, or perhaps it was because of his injury, but either way, he was only able to slash one Despair out of the air before the rest of them tackled him to the ground. Nomu struggled wildly as the crawling beasts scuttled all over him, biting and scratching.

"Hold on!" Jack shouted. He started over to Nomu. As he did, one of the Despairs seemed to decide that Jack would be more interesting to kill then Nomu, and it jumped at Jack. Jack jumped up at the Despair, and the two met in midair. The Despair pointed its large-horned head at Jack. Jack started to swing the Rose at the Despair from below him, but the Despair somehow propelled itself at Jack, and Jack was barely able to avoid being gored through the chest; instead it cut through his left arm. Jack and the Despair fell to the ground, and Jack felt the horn slip smoothly out of his arm.

"AAH! Fuck!" Jack raised the Rose in his right hand and brought it down hard on the Despair. Again, and again and again he hit the thing. Finally it disappeared in the little cloud of black smoke and Jack could focus on saving Nomu. He started again towards him, but a sharp pain in his arm made him stop. He collapsed to the ground and dropped the Rose. His arm was on fire, every nerve felt like it was being ripped out. There must have been something poisonous in that horn, there was no way being stabbed could feel like this. He wanted it to end; contemplated cutting his arm off so that it wouldn't hurt so much.

'No,' he thought. 'I can't! They took Carol! I need to help her! And I need him to do it...'

Jack pulled himself up again, and ran towards where Nomu was still grappling with half a dozen Despairs.

Jack rushed the crumpled mass of bodies that was Nomu and about six Despairs. He ran with the Rose gripped in his right hand, trailing it slightly, at his side. His other arm still suffered from a very recent injury, and he held it close to his stomach, trying to ignore the stabbing pain. He jumped over a rut in the road, and finally he was there!

Jack started to swing the Rose at the Despairs, but then his eye caught something on the "bud" of the Rose. The edges curved out slightly, so it sort of resembled a bell, but the edges were fucking sharp. That was how he was supposed to kill with this thing, not by bashing people on the head like a lunatic. Jack angled the Rose differently, and swung it at the swarming Despairs. There was another cloud of black smoke, and the Despairs were reduced to five. They scattered from Nomu and started to swarm Jack. Holding the Rose in one hand (he was still amazed at how light it was) he swung it left, then right. The two Despairs disappeared, the black smoke accompanying them, and the other three jumped back a step. Jack held the Rose by his side, ready to attack. He did a little half-hearted swing at one of the Despairs, just to freak it out. The thing jumped back again, and Jack could not help but giggle at how scared the thing looked. Behind the fools, Jack was surprised to see Nomu getting up; was further surprised to see that he was barely harmed. Jack caught his eye, and they both nodded.

"Die, motherfuckers!" Jack yelled, and leapt at the Despairs. Nomu did the same, but without the battle cry.

Jack landed right in front of one; caught it by surprise, and took it out with a crushing slash. He swung around to see Nomu kill the other two with an uncanny speed; the two separate black clouds seemed to appear simultaneously. Nomu sheathed his sword and approached Jack.

"You saved my life..."

"You're welcome. Please, I need your help. Where is Take taking Carol?"

"I know not; but I know where Take is going after. We'll just have to question him."

"Wait, you're helping me now? I thought you were gonna kill yourself," Jack said, genuinely surprised.

"Where I come from, if someone saves your life, you are eternally indebted to them. I must help you on your quest, 'till either death takes me or you dismiss me." Nomu bowed his head, drew his sword, and lay it flat upon his palms.

"Um...okay then. Where is Take going and how do we get there?"

"Back to my world. He's going to sell her to this man who appeared in our land some days ago."

"Sell her? What's his name?" Jack screamed.

"Soh, I know not. I just know that he is somewhere in my world, and we have to act fast to save your girlfriend."

"Um, thanks, but she's not my girlfriend. I just-"

"Sure." Nomu rolled his eyes.

"I don't understand? You're world? What does that mean?" Jack asked.

"Sit down, Jack of Bryn. I expect there is much that you do not know."

Jack and Nomu sat down to palaver.

Once there was a time when the worlds were whole; where everybody knew everybody, and peace was the only government. This land was appropriately called the Land of Peace. It was inhabited by eight very large families; each named after their respected family crest: they were called the Clans of the Red, Pink, Yellow, Orange, Green, Purple, White, and Burgundy Roses. These families lived for a while in peace, but then all of that changed with the coming of the Clan of the Black Rose. The clans were all thrown into chaos, for with the Black Rose, war and destruction also came. People were slaughtered by the hundreds by the powerful leader of the Black Rose. This man's name was Randall Fagg. He still lives as the Lord of the Fortress, but he is called by his followers The Maker. He slaughtered the warriors of each clan in search for their respective Roses. The clan leaders tried to fight back, but Fagg killed the leader of the Clan of the Pink Rose, whose name has been lost, and took that Rose. His power nearly doubled, and the others gave up. They fled to all corners of the world and used their powers to separate the worlds, so that the Black Rose could not taint all of them. The Roses were then hidden in each of the worlds; and in time some of the weaker ones split into a few different Roses. Every time a Rose split, a world did with it. Today Fagg still tries to eliminate everyone who wields a Rose; for if all of the Roses are collected then they can be re-formed into the fabled Golden Rose.

After the Rose Leaders escaped, Fagg's anger was so intense that from the Black Rose sprouted first the Despairs, Angsts, and Doubts; then the Panics, Lusts, Guilts and Greifs, and Ennui; next came Rages and Wraths, Fears, Depressions, Emptinesses, Shames and Sufferings; and finally, The Horrors. Fagg found that he could use them to do his bidding, and was pleasantly surprised to find that they had an uncanny connection to the rest of the Roses. Now he uses them to find them; and to kill his enemies. He religiously sits on his throne, clutching the Black Rose to him like a baby.

"That's quite a story," Jack said. "It's true? I mean, are there really more Roses than this one?"

"Correct. And they are all found in different worlds."

"How do we get to these other worlds?" Jack asked.

"There are certain doorways in each world, and we must cross through the corridors between doors. It's dangerous; we were attacked on the way to this world by those creatures. It's also hard to get to the exact world you need." Nomu sighed.

"Well, I guess we'd better go then. Where is this door?"

"In the outskirts of this town. Not too far."

"Alright," Jack said. "Let's go."

"You have no family? Nobody to say goodbye to?"

"I do, but..."

"Well?" Nomu asked.

"Carol is so much more important then that...besides, my only family here is my father and my twin sister."

"No friends?" Nomu asked.

'Persistent sonofabitch' Jack thought. "Raz. But there's no time...he's probably at home, asleep. Besides, I'll be back, right?"

"Probably. This world is the Magnum Opus, and if you hope to defeat The Maker then you'll have to."

"Right now I just want to find Carol…"

"So you love her?" Nomu asked. "Is it her you think of to summon the Rose?"

"How did you-"

"Each Rose is symbolic of a certain emotion or feeling; the Red one is love."

"I see...what's the Magnum Opus?" Jack asked.

"This world connects to the Nonexistant Plain; where The Fortress is. Seventeen miles from yon hills." Nomu gestured at the mountains in the distance.

"Okay. Let's go..."

Jack and Nomu walked in silence towards the outskirts. There were few people here; and the ones that did live here were all asleep anyways. Finally Nomu stopped at a large boulder. There was nothing special about it to Jack, but Nomu tapped it with his sword and an emblem of a Rose appeared on it, glowing red.

"How come your sword can hurt the Despairs? Before I had the Rose I used a sword on them and nothing happened."

"My sword is forged out of the same material as the Roses. It's a very rare substance called Metallica."

"Is the Black Rose made out of Metallica?" Jack was curious.

"Jack of Bryn, I know not. Come now, grasp my hand and leap into the boulder."

Jack gripped Nomu's hand, shut his eyes tight and leapt.

For a second, everything went black, even when Jack opened his eyes. Then he found himself on a platform, hurling through endless space. Around him, darkness. Jack got up and surveyed his platform. It was probably about thirty yards in diameter; he could see Nomu getting up about ten feet away from him.

"Get your weapon ready! Here come the Despairs!"

Jack thought about Carol, and the Red Rose appeared in his hand; for a second, the space outside of the platform was illuminated, and Jack could see thousands of dark creatures (he assumed they were the other 'emotions' from Nomu's story) scuttling around.

"Ah! What the hell?"

"Fear not, Jack! Most of them will stay away; when I went before only the Despairs attacked us."

Jack nodded and walked towards the center of the platform. He eyed Nomu expectantly, and when nothing happened after a few seconds, Jack asked, "Well?"

"Just wait...they should notice us in a few seconds."

Jack waited...and waited...and waited some more. Finally, after what seemed like hours (but was really only about five minutes) Jack could see a skinny black leg appear on one side of the platform.

"Nomu-"

"I see it," Nomu said. He drew his sword.

In the next second, the amount of Despairs on the platform went from one to about fifty, and more kept coming.

"Go!" Nomu shouted. Without hesitation, Jack ran forward to the Despairs, careful not to look into their eyes. When he was about ten feet away, they all started to run towards him. Jack flinched for a second, collected himself, and leapt at them. He landed squarely behind all of them, swung around, and swung the Rose into the nearest one. Black cloud. Jack didn't notice it this time, because by the time the first one was gone, his vision was clouded by many, many more. He swung right and left, killing (was it killing?) Despairs as he charged forward through them. Finally they started to attack him. Jack blocked a jumping one to his right, and quickly counterattacked. Three more leapt at him; he parried the first two and leapt into the air to dodge the third. Up and up he went, probably almost twenty feet. At the top he held the Rose face-down and fell.

Jack landed and plunged the Rose into the ground. Large beams of light erupted from the point where the Rose struck the ground, and whenever a Despair wandered into it; or when the light happened to strike one, the Despair was instantly killed.

"Woah. Glad that worked," Jack said aloud. There were only a few Despairs left. Using his legs, Jack propelled himself at the nearest Despair, holding the Rose out in front of him. It went through the Despair, creating another cloud of black smoke that quickly dissipated. Three left! Jack jumped at one of them, not too high this time, and landed in front of the thing; he brought the Rose down upon it as he did. He swung around and slashed one that had jumped him behind his back, and then turned to face the last one. As he did, however, Nomu charged right through it, holding his sword out in front of him like a spear. He went right through the black cloud, too. Jack looked around, and saw the remaining Despairs on the other side of the platform retreating from it.

"Excellent fighting, Jack. Come now, we should be able to pass to my world."

Nomu lead Jack back to the center of the platform. He then turned in a certain direction, and instructed Jack to do the same.

"Jack, picture if you will a green valley, surrounded by elegant forests. In the center of this valley is a bustling town with huts made of bamboo. Do you know what bamboo is?"

"I think so, but where I come from we call it hollowood."

"Fine, fine. Close your eyes, and do this."

Jack did so, and found it was quite easy.

"This is where we are going, so be prepared. It should be somewhere around here..."

"Around where?" Jack asked.

Jack started, for when he looked up the platform was ringed with doors. They were all white, and had handles instead of doorknobs. He couldn't see what was on the other side. Jack looked closer at them and saw that each one had a small image engraved above the handles. This particular one had an image of several islands. He looked at the one next to it. The image was of a long hallway. This one was moving, however; there were flashing lights on the walls of the hallway.

"Nomu, come look at this!" Jack called.

"Why?"

"It has lights…real ones!"

"I've seen it already. Look for the place I described to you…never mind, here it is."

Nomu raised his sword and held it up to the door. While he was doing this, he was unfortunate enough not to notice a Despair creeping up behind him. Jack watched as Nomu's sword began to glow white, and the engravement of the valley gained a white outline. The Despair leapt at Nomu, and Nomu's sword swung around the opposite way. Now it pointed at the door with the islands.

"NO!" Nomu shouted.

There was a flash of light, and they were gone.

Jack looked up and spit sand out of his mouth. Nomu was lying next to him, and beside him...

"That goddamn, motherfucking, PEICE OF SHIT DESPAIR!" Jack got to his feet and seized the Despair in his hands, but the thing slipped out easily. Jack summoned the Rose and whacked the thing on the head. The Despair screeched and tried to run away, but Jack hit it so hard with the blunt part of the Rose that it fainted. Behind him, Nomu was getting up.

"This is definitely not my world," Nomu said, shaking his head.

"Well, let's just go back into the rock, and go to yours."

"It's not that simple..." Nomu said. "We need to find the Rose of this world..."

"We do? Wait, does that mean that you guys found the Rose to your world?" Jack asked.

"Our shogun has it. He says that he is holding it for its rightful wielder, but that's a lie. Everyone knows he's trying to find a way to wield it himself so that he can conquer other lands. When we get there, I'd like you to take it from him."

"Okay, I guess..." Jack said, nervous about stealing from a shogun. "Which one is it?"

"Yellow," Nomu said. "It stands for platonic love. So you may have to think of your father or sister to summon it."

Jack nodded. "First we have to figure out where we are," Jack sighed. "I think I hear some noise coming from that way. You wanna check it out?"

"Might as well. It's as good a start as any," Nomu said. Together they walked towards the lush palm forest about a block away from them. When they were halfway there, they could hear several pops, and then they were surrounded by...

"More Despairs?" Jack shouted.

"These ones are different, slightly...look!"

Jack looked, and saw that Nomu was right. Instead of black, these ones were very, very dark green. Their horns were brown, and had small palm leaves coming out of them. They were also wearing a strange armor (maybe it was scales, or something of the sort) on their shoulders, that was made out of...

"Coconut shells! They're wearing coconut shells!" Nomu said.

"Well, they're still Despairs, so they still need killing," Jack said. He held the Rose ready, and charged forward, Nomu at his side.

Jack ran into the Despair head-on, and upper slashed the bastard through the torso. It disappeared in a cloud of dark green smoke this time. He swung around and parried two that were leaping at him; then he jumped forward and killed another.

Nomu, meanwhile, was a little more graceful. He waited for a few Despairs to come to him and for them to attack. He drew his sword, lightning-quick as always, and cut two of them down before they could even get close. The other propelled itself at him, and Nomu parried it up in the air and threw his sword through it. He then leapt up, caught his sword, and landed gracefully behind the remaining Despairs. He whipped around and slashed through three of them in a single, graceful move. There was only one left. He ran towards it, feigned a slash, and then leapt up in the air. He landed right on top of the thing, and brought the sword down on it.

Nomu looked up and saw Jack fighting the last Despair. He killed it with ease, then made the Rose disappear. Nomu walked towards him.

"Good fighting, Jack. Come, let us proceed." Nomu said.

Jack nodded. "Okay."

Together they walked through the jungle. They could both hear a noise coming from the direction they were going towards, and when they could distinguish human noises, they started to run. Finally, they burst through and came upon a large town, complete with bamboo huts, streets, what looked like sewer grates, a marketplace, what appeared to be a city hall, and a barracks.

"Wow..." Jack said.

Jack and Nomu were startled when they heard a bell ringing. "Outsiders!" they heard a voice yell; and suddenly they were surrounded by large men wearing bamboo shoulder guards (they reminded Jack of the ones the Despairs were currently wearing) and toting large bamboo spears and wooden shields.

"Speak you the common tongue?" the nearest one, who was about a foot taller then the rest and looked especially fearsome, asked.

"Yes," Nomu spoke up. "Jack, let me do the talking."

"What is your name, and where are you from?" the tall one asked.

"My name is Nomu of Japan, son of Kurosawa. We come in peace, we assure you. We are on a sacred quest."

"Sacred? I will be the judge of that. What quest would this be?"

This time Jack spoke up. "We come from another world, and we seek the Roses!" With this, he thought of his missing love, and the Rose appeared in his hand with a flash of light. The soldiers shielded their eyes, then look with awe at the Rose.

"N-no! It can't be! Men, attack!" the tall one commanded.

Jack readied the Rose and Nomu drew his sword, but nothing happened.

"What is wrong with you? Kill them!"

"No, captain. They have the Rose! This one must be the Messiah from the prophecy! We have to help him!"

"He's dangerous! Kill him!" the tall one commanded, louder. People behind them were coming out to look at the commotion. When none of his men attacked, the captain said: "Fine, I'll kill them myself!"

The captain rushed forward, holding his spear out in front of him, blocking his head with his shield. Jack got ready to fight, but before he got the chance Nomu ran into the captain and booted his spear out of his hand. He lightly slashed the captain across both of his cheeks, kicked him to the ground, and held his sword in front of his face.

"Leave him to us, sai. You must come to our town hall," one of the soldiers said. Three more soldiers came and grabbed the captain around the arms, and hauled him off towards the barracks. "Welcome to Paradise Islands," the soldier said. "I'm Captain Iz."

"I'm Jack Brown," Jack said.

"And you're Nomu, right?" Iz asked. Nomu nodded, and Iz continued. "Normally we're very peaceful, but since the Emos came, we needed defense."

"Emos?" Jack asked.

"The Emotions. Despairs, Rages, Wraths, etcetera. As the Rose Carrier, you must know of them."

"I've fought the Despairs, and I've heard of the rest." Jack said.

"You have Metallica?" Nomu asked incredulously.

"Yep, and lots of it. One of our islands, which we aptly named Metallisland, has a whole mine of them. Our spears are tipped with them." the new captain said.

"Excellent. You said something about a prophecy?" Nomu asked.

"Ah, yes! There's a stone in a certain cave on the Isle of Prosperity. It is covered in runes, which our shaman has recently translated. It translates to: 'Roses are Green, violets are blue, the ocean is calm, unlike you.' Any idea what it means?"

"I think so," Nomu said. "In the meantime, do you know where we can find the Green Rose? It would appear that it is here, in this world."

"Well...no. But there is one island..." Iz paused.

"Yes?" Jack asked impatiently.

"Nobody has gone on it for centuries...since the Splitting."

"You mean when the worlds split, or when the Roses split, or both?" Jack asked.

"Hush, Jack," Nomu said. He twirled his right hand in an impatient, go-on, hurry up, gesture.

"Both," Iz said. "Anyways, people say that it's haunted. I think that it's infested by the Emos. Well, we know every other island front to back, so it must be there."

"Then that is where we must go," Nomu said.

Nomu through another of the large pouches into the small boat. Jack was already piled into the boat and was waiting impatiently for Nomu and Iz to get in. Finally, Iz got in, and Nomu right after him.

"Finally!" Jack sighed. "What's in the sacks?"

"That's for me to know," Iz said. "And you to maybe find out."

"I hate it when people do that," Jack said. "So, what's this island called?"

"The Isla de Muerta," Iz said. "We've got sort of a long boat trip ahead of us, so bear with me."

And they set off in complete silence, and in silence they went the whole way. It took about an hour of just sitting and taking turns rowing. They passed numerous other islands, and Iz pointed out which ones were which. All of the islands had names like, "Serenity Isle, Passion Cove, Grace Beach," etcetera. Finally, after Jack's arms felt like falling off, Iz said, "Yon island is the Isla de Muerta," and gestured to an island in the near distance. Nomu took over the rowing, and they made it in less than ten minutes. The three of them stepped out onto the beach. It was covered in stones and shells, and about fifty feet up there was another palm jungle. The beach curved around the island to the left and right, nothing to see there.

"Where to?" Nomu asked.

"Straight ahead," Iz replied. Jack and Nomu nodded, and walked forward. When they got right up to the edge of the jungle they heard a low moan.

"What the hell is that?" Jack screamed.

"I don't know...but it worries me. Have your weapons ready." Iz walked in front of them, brandishing his spear.

Meanwhile...

"Dammit...this sucks! No way I'm going to get displaced by the fucking little runt and his bastard friend...got to get out of here..." the former captain said from inside his jail cell.

"Is that what you need?" spoke a voice from the corner. "Because I can help you with that."

"Who's there?" the former captain (who will hereon be referred to as Yinez, for that is his name) shouted.

"You're name is Yinez, is it not?" the voice asked.

"Come out! I'll kill you! Guards!"

"They can't hear you. More like, they're frozen in time," the voice said with a chuckle.

"Frozen? Who are you?" Yinez asked into the dark corner of his cell.

"My name is Sugo, and I can help you kill the brat with the Rose."

Jack, Nomu and Iz crashed through the jungle, using their respective weapons to cut through branches and leaves. Finally, they came to a clearing, and Iz said, "We'll rest here a minute."

"Thank the Man Jesus!" Jack shouted. He sat down on top of a rock and made the Rose vanish. Nomu sheathed his sword, and did the same. Iz, however, who was holding all of the sacks, opened one and withdrew a smaller pouch. Inside was a small black powder, which Iz sprinkled on the ground. Then, from the large sack, he took out some matches, lit one, and dropped it on the powder, chanting "Meka-leka-hai, meka-leka-ho!" The powder lit on fire immediately, and soon they had a roaring bonfire.

"Iz, it's so hot out, why are you making a fire?" Jack asked.

"I'm gonna cook some sausage. You guys want any?"

Jack and Nomu shook their heads.

"Just kidding," Iz said. "This is a special fire. It'll go out if any Emos come near us."

"Nifty," Jack said. "But I wouldn't mind some water if you've got it in one of your bags."

Iz chuckled, and indeed did pull out three large flasks of water. One he tossed to Jack, and the other he whipped at Nomu. Nomu, who was meditating and had his eyes closed, whipped to his feet and caught the flask in his right hand. Iz and Jack clapped. Nomu laughed.

"Cheers!" Iz said, and held his flask up. Jack and Nomu followed suit. Behind them, the fire went out with a hiss.

"Iz, the fire!" Jack warned, pointing.

"What?" Iz swung around and looked at the blackened ground where there magic fire had been. Then he looked at the jungle. For a second, all was quiet, then they heard a deafening thump, and several dozen Despairs encircled the clearing.

"Ready to fight?" Iz asked.

"Always," Nomu said, and Jack answered with "Never better!"

This time, the Despairs all charged at them. Jack summoned the Rose and readied it in his right hand (his left still hurt when he moved it too much). Finally, the Despairs reached the center of the clearing, and the fight was on.

Jack swiped at the nearest one, then violently slashed it. It 'died,' and Jack went to fight the rest. He slashed at them, trying to duplicate the form he had seen Nomu use back on Paradise Beach, and was somewhat successful. He slashed right, swung the Rose around, slashed left, upper-slashed one of the bastards in front of him. A few leapt at him, he jumped back, dodging two of them, then he parried the other two. He counter-attacked one of these, and 'killed' it. He looked around, and saw he had barely left a dent in them!

"Time for plan B!" he said, and jumped into the air. Twenty, twenty-five, thirty feet in the air, and when he finally fell he brought the Rose into the ground, like he had done on the platform. It worked! The beams of light erupted from where the Rose had hit, killing dozens of Despairs.

"Take that!" he shouted, and doubled over. Man, did that last wear him out! He steadied himself until his breathing returned to normal, then he looked up.

"No..." Jack said under his breath. He was surrounded again.

"For the love of God, what the hell is going on here?" Jack asked.

Iz was grappling with a Despair, and now he jumped backwards, near Jack. "I told you this place was infested. Ah!" He blocked the Despair, who had propelled itself at him, (Jack still wondered how they did that) and then plunged the spear into him. Nomu ran up to them.

"We are completely surrounded...there are hundreds of them..." he said with his head down. "Jack, it looks like our quest will end uncompleted."

"No! We can beat 'em! I hope..."

The encircling Despairs were now closing in on them.

"Well, time to enter the Clearing at the End of the Path. Jack, it was nice meeting you, however briefly." Nomu, who had previously sheathed his sword, now drew it. "Let's go down fighting!" With this, he charged at the army of Despairs. Iz gave a wild battle-shout and followed suit. Jack screamed, "I love you, Carol!" and also charged.

Jack met the Despairs head on. He bashed through them, hacking and slashing all around him. Soon, he was himself surrounded. Three Despairs leapt at him, all from the same side, and he took the Rose in both hands (for some reason, his arm hurt no more) and spun it around. It battered the Despairs away, and they all seemed to cut themselves on the thorns. That Jack hadn't cut himself on the thorns amazed him. He looked at the wounded Despairs. They were disoriented, and where they were cut, small wisps of black smoke rose and dissipated.

Now, all of the Despairs leapt at Jack. They covered him, he lost the Rose. 'I'm dying,' he thought. 'Well, this isn't so bad...it's actually kind of peaceful. Just let it end...let it all end...I'm calm now..' With this thought came a vision of the endless ocean, the waves lapping up on a quiet beach. Everything seemed calm.

There was a blinding flash of white light.

The Despairs covering Jack were violently thrown off of him, in all directions. Many of them died. Jack arose from the place where he had nearly died, holding the Green Rose in his right hand. It was the same length as the Red Rose, but the bulb was slightly larger, and there were no thorns. Instead, there were very sharp leaves adorning the stem.

Nomu looked up from the group of Despairs he was killing and saw Jack standing there, his clothes torn, his head scarred, heaving from the effort of pushing them off of him.

"Roses are Green, violets are blue, the sea is calm, and so are you."

This time Jack had expected the voices, and was not surprised by them. The Despairs were regrouping and attacking him again. Somehow, there were MORE of them! Where were they all coming from? Jack couldn't take them all! Nomu ran next to Jack and held his sword out at the approaching horde.

Apparently, Iz was thinking the same thing, because he ran next to Jack on the other side and brandished his spear and shield.

"Well, now we have the Green Rose," Nomu said in an undertone.

"Wanna see something cool?" Jack asked. Nomu and Iz both looked at him, and nodded. Jack turned the Rose sideways and threw it at the horde of Despairs. It turned in the air like a boomerang, cut through maybe a dozen Despairs, and returned. Jack caught it in his right hand. "Wanna see something cooler?" he asked, and they nodded again. The Despairs were getting awfully close.

There was another flash of light, and Jack held the Red Rose in his left hand and the Green Rose in his right.

Holding two Roses, the Green in his right hand and the Red in his left, Jack charged at the Despairs. He held the Green Rose at his side, facing behind him at an angle like he had seen Nomu do it. The Red Rose he held at the same angle, but out in front of him. The Despairs charged in unison to meet him. He swiped both Roses at them, killing two. About a dozen leapt at him, he parried them all individually, and the ones that were parried with the Green Rose died instantly. He slid through their cluster on his back, cutting them from their feet as he went. He jumped to his feet, spinning the Red Rose in front of him and the Green Rose behind him. This alone took out the ones surrounding him. Still more came out of the forest. Jack killed them as they came to him almost effortlessly.

Nomu and Iz watched in utter fascination. Finally, Nomu got a good look at Jack's face and saw that he was perspiring. Heavily.

"Iz, he needs help! Whatever he's doing to hold both Roses...it's really beating the hell out of him."

Iz nodded and ran to join the battle. Nomu followed closely behind him, trailing his sword exactly as Jack had seen him do before. They crashed into the line of Despairs from behind, for all the Despairs were currently aware of was Jack.

Together the three of them fought, desecrating hundreds of the Despairs. Jack was getting more and more tired by the second, but somehow, every time he killed a Despair he felt a little better. He supposed that if he could keep killing, he could keep going.

Still they kept coming. And coming. And coming. Then, suddenly, they stopped. It was Nomu who killed the last one. All three of them looked around, expecting to still be surrounded.

"We did it!" Iz shouted.

"No," Jack said. "There's something else..."

They stopped and listened. They heard nothing.

"Jack, are you sure-" Iz started, but Jack shook his head and made a shushing gesture.

"Hile, you bastards!" came a voice from the jungle, and out popped Yinez, the former captain of the Paradise Guard. In his hand he held...

"A Rose? How can that be?" Nomu gasped.

"I don't care how he got it. I'm gonna kill him!" Jack shouted, and he leapt at Yinez, bringing down both Roses with all his might. Yinez was a master warrior with the spear, and a spear his Blue Rose was not. He held it in both of his hands (mistake) and cut himself on the thorns. Grimacing, he held it up to block Jack's dual blows. Jack came crashing down on him, and the Blue Rose was knocked out of Yinez's hands. Cursing, Yinez jumped backwards and retrieved the Blue Rose. By the time he turned to fight, however, Jack was upon him, cutting him in so many places that Yinez could never have counted that high, had he been given enough time to look.

Everything went red. And green. But mostly red. Every time Yinez blocked one of Jack's blows, another one hit him. He was too fast, and he had two weapons.

"N-not fair..." Yinez said, and he dropped dead.

Jack picked up his Blue Rose.

"Wait...there's nothing in the story, or any legend I know of, about a Blue Rose. Something here doesn't fit."

"Brilliant deduction, Holmes," a familiar voice called. Suddenly, the Blue Rose disappeared from Jack's hand. But there was no flash of light accompanying it.

"What the hell?" Jack asked. He was now only holding the Green Rose in his hand, and he was panting heavily.

A man walked from the jungle, holding the Blue Rose. "How unfortunate," he said. "I thought that the foolish Yinez could last a little longer than thirty-two seconds! But no matter. His purpose is served. Good to see you again, Jack."

"Can't honestly say the same for you, Sugo," Jack said, and looked up.

"I otta kick your ass," Jack grunted. "Did you send those things at us?"

Sugo was tall, maybe six four. He had slicked-back black hair, and a rat's tail on the back of his neck. He was wearing a jet-black trenchcoat. Jack couldn't distinguish his face, because he wore a strange mask over it.

"Maybe!" Sugo said, and with that, he held his right pinky up to the corner of his mask's mouth. Then he burst out laughing. "Sorry, I just got back from this one world, and saw this HILARIOUS movie!"

"What's a movie?" Iz asked Nomu in an undertone. Nomu shrugged.

"Ha ha, that's nice. What do you want?" Jack asked.

"Nothin'. Just stopped by to say hello." Sugo snapped his fingers, and he disappeared.

"Damn, I hate that guy," Jack said, and he fainted.

When he awoke, he was in a strange cave, surrounded by Iz, Nomu and several of the Paradise Guards.

"Hile, Jack. You've slept for almost three days, are you okay?" Nomu asked, genuine concern in his eyes.

"Yeah...where are we?" Jack asked, getting up.

"By the rock. The one that'll get us out of here. We were waiting for you to wake up."

"I've been laying here for three days?" Jack gasped.

"No, of course not. We just moved you here because our soothsayer said you would awaken soon. We decided to get a move on. Oh, and I'm coming with you," Iz said.

"Really! That's great!" Jack exclaimed. "Wait...why? Don't you have to protect the islands?"

"Nope! Not anymore! We figured out that the Emos were coming from the Isla de Muerta, and we-mostly you-killed them all. We're safe!"

"Sweet," Jack said, getting up. "Alright. This time, your world for sure, okay Nomu?"

Nomu nodded. He walked over to a large boulder and tapped it with his sword. The Green Rose that was still in Jack's hand glowed, and an image of a green rose appeared on the boulder.

"Hop in," Iz said. Jack went first, then Nomu.

"Goodbye, everyone," Iz said to the rest of the warriors. "Tell Sandra I love her, and I'll see her again soon."

"Hile, Iz of Paradise Islands," they all chanted in unison. Then Iz held his breath, and jumped in.

Ten minutes later, back on the platform, they were once again attacked by a semi-large group of Despairs. Nowhere near as close to how many they had fought on the Isla de Muerta, but still a formidable force. Because Jack was still pretty tired, and hadn't the energy to use both Roses at the same time. He fought with the Green one, to get a feel for it, Nomu supposed. Finally, the line of images appeared.

"Which one do we want?" Jack asked.

Nomu walked over. There was one that looked like a large metal building; Jack could see that almost everything was covered in chrome. There were also many screens with flashing lights on them.

"Over here!" Nomu said. Jack and Iz walked over to Nomu. He was standing in front of the one that looked like the large valley again. He raised his sword to it, and the sword began to glow, like before. Jack still held the Rose; no Despair was gonna fuck them up this time. The three of them also glowed, and then they were gone.

Far, far away from where Jack and his new friends were going, ten men sat around a large table. Five on one side, four on the other, and one, the leader, at the head. The one at the head said, "I call this, the seventeenth meeting of the Council for Attaining Divinity, to order. Presiding is me, Grand Divine, Tony Accardo. Please let all council members state their name."

"General Mandible."

"Jiro Ichumanji."

"Taro Ichumanji."

"Manute."

"Bill."

"Sauron."

"Imhotep."

"Marcellus Wallace."

"Randall Flagg."

"Excellent, gentlemen. Now, to the matter of the insolent brat. Taro, Jiro. He is heading to your world. So, I am giving you both the duty of killing him."

"We can do it," Jiro said. "Our father recently split his land among us, and banished our foolish brother."

"Ah, yes, Saburo. He will pay for not joining us."

Jack got up and brushed some dirt off of his shirt. He saw Nomu and Iz doing the same.

"Hey, Nomu? Where are we?"

"We're outside of the First Castle. Taro, the eldest son of Hidetora Ichumanji rules here. I believe I should explain what's going on in my world, first. Well, this land was unified by our former leader, Hidetora Ichumanji. But he has grown old, and he recently divided up the land among his three sons. The youngest, I believe his name is Saburo, was banished for threatening Hidetora, and him and his army are long gone. Jiro, the middle son, rules over the Second Castle. As for Hidetora, he should be in the First Castle now, visiting Taro."

"Where do you tie into this?" Jack asked.

"I served Take, as you know. Close friend of Taro. I was a deputy in Take's band of mercenaries." Nomu shrugged. "Taro hired us whenever he thought he needed some extra support. I think we'll-I mean they will-be getting a lot more work now that Taro is ruler of the First Castle. Which means he's in charge of defense of the land."

"Oh. Will Take be in here?" Jack asked.

Nomu shrugged. "Only one way to find out." He turned around, and so did Jack and Iz. What they saw was a HUGE wooden wall with an impressive-looking gate. It was guarded by three men with primitive rifles, dressed in yellow uniforms. Nomu approached them.

"Who goes there?" one asked.

"My name is Nomu, and I am not an enemy. I seek council with Take Nomura. Is he here?"

"I'm afraid he and his mercenaries are doing work. Are you a member of the Ichumanji clan?"

"No. I'm a member of Take's mercenaries. I got split from them, and came back here," Nomu lied.

"Oh...that explains your robe. You may enter. Are the ones with the strange clothes with you?"

"Yes," Nomu said. The yellow-clothed guard motioned at someone at the top of the gate, and the doors began to open. "Come."

Jack and Iz walked forward, and through the gates with Nomu. They came upon a brilliant city, filled with bustling people. There was a very strange castle behind the town, built upon a small hill. Jack also noticed that part of the town was elevated.

"Come. Towards the Castle," Nomu said, and walked forward without waiting. Jack and Iz followed.

When they arrived, they found more yellow-clothed guards waiting by the doors. Nomu approached and said, "I am a member of Take's mercenary force. Is either Take, Taro or Hidetora here?"

"Hidetora should be inside. Take is on a job, and Taro should be back very soon if he isn't back already. You may enter."

The guard opened the doors. Nomu took his sandals off and walked in, and motioned for Jack and Iz to follow suit, which they did.

Jack, Nomu and Iz walked down the deserted hallways of the First Castle. It was very nice in there, with finely polished tiles and freshly painted wood. Finally, they came to a small room at the top of the Castle. Inside, they saw a young man, a very beautiful woman, and a very old man sitting on a mat around what appeared to be some kind of food. This food was alien to Jack. Nomu signaled for them to be quiet so he could eavesdrop.

"Father, I want to talk to you about taking complete control over the land. You are getting very old, and I would like to offer help by giving you a break. A vacation, if you will," the young man said.

"Taro, you know better! I would never give up my empire until I die. Surely you can wait until then?" the old man replied. Jack peeked into the room. The old man was bending down over his food, and the woman was gesturing at the young man to keep going.

"Father, you are old and foolish. I demand that you abdicate control over the empire to me!"

"Never in my life! The reason I divided the castles-"

"Get out of my castle!" The young man shouted. The old man got up, scowled at the young one, and said: "Your brother would never treat his father with such disrespect," then he walked out of the entrance on the other side.

"Are you happy now? He's going to Jiro's place!" the young one demanded.

"That is fine. Your little brother would not stand up to you, even with his father. Besides, you have Take!"

"Take is gone right now! He'd better be back soon..."

Nomu gestured for them to follow him back the way they came, and they did. When they were safely out of earshot of Taro, he said: "This is not good. Come, we must follow Hidetora!" and with that, he began to run. Jack and Iz ran after him. They raced through the castle, this time not bothering to admire it's cleanliness. Finally, they burst through the doors. The guards were gone. 'Good,' Nomu thought. He slipped on his sandals and ran into the city, not even thinking about how abnormal it was to leave the castle unguarded.

They ran through the city, searching for Hidetora, but to no avail. Finally, they came upon a large group of soldiers and civilians on a street corner.

"What's going on?" Nomu asked one of the soldiers.

"This fool is getting picked on. It's really funny," the man chuckled. Jack, Nomu and Iz pushed and shoved to the front of the crowd, and came upon...

"My lord, NO!" Nomu shouted. Hidetora looked up, and the soldier he was fighting hit him in the head with the blunt end of a spear. Nomu, lightning-quick as ever, drew his sword and cut the soldier down with an intense fierceness.

"We should go."

The yellow-clothed guards moved forward to the front of the crowd and drew swords.

"Um, Nomu? Are they trying to kill us?" Jack asked.

"Oh, no! My lord, we should go!" someone shouted from near the front of the crowd. A man walked forward.

"Kyoami! My fool! How do you propose we get out?" Hidetora asked.

"So THAT'S what he meant by fool," Iz muttered to Jack.

"My lord, stay close to me!" Nomu said. He held his sword out to the guards.

Hidetora and Kyoami ran behind Nomu. Iz brandished his spear threateningly. Jack envisioned the sea again, just as he had done at Paradise Islands, and the Green Rose appeared in his hand.

"Th-the Rose!" one of the guards said. "Kiota, inform Lord Taro!"

Another guard nodded and started to run towards the castle, but a voice spoke up: "I'm here, and I know. Guards! Kill them all!" Taro was sitting on a rock above the crowd.

"No!" Jack gasped. The guards closed in on them, and Nomu ran forward to meet them. Iz followed.

"Jack, protect Hidetora!" Iz shouted.

Jack got the Rose ready and walked towards Hidetora. There were already four guards in the immediate vicinity of where Jack was standing, and one of them was swiping at Jack. Jack dodged and countered, and the man fell down, his head ALMOST decapitated. Another swung at Jack, but he parried it and booted the guy in the stomach with one of the sharp leaves on the stem. The last one seemed scared, and Jack took pity on him and knocked him out.

"Enough! Men, pull back! I have a better idea!" Taro shouted. He snapped his fingers, and Jack was once again surrounded by Despairs. In THIS world, the Despairs were back to being black, but they were wearing strange green helmets with holes in the top for their horns. They also had an emblem of a dragon curled around a rose on their helmets.

"No! Not again!"

"Tak!" Taro shouted, and the Despairs propelled themselves at Jack. He jumped up in the air, making sure not to look into their eyes, succesfully dodging them. Below, Hidetora and Kyoami watched in amazement as Jack leapt almost twenty feet in the air.

"Alright, bastards! Here comes a painful death, alla Jack Brown!" Jack plummeted downwards, and plunged the Rose into the ground as he landed. The dozen or so Despairs around him were all killed, but remarkably, no humans were.

'Guess it only affects Emos,' Jack thought.

"Dammit. It seems I have underestimated you, Rose Warrior. Despairs are so...weak! Try some Angers!" Taro said, and laughed. He snapped again.

What appeared before Jack now was nothing short of a monster. It was about twice the size of a Despair, and had two horns instead of one. Their eyes were a light red, and Jack didn't need to be told not to look in THEIR eyes. Once again, they were wearing weird helmets with the emblem of a dragon around a rose.

Jack held the Rose out, and charged at the Anger.

Jack didn't expect the Anger to just die in a cloud of black smoke instantly, like the Despairs, and so wasn't surprised when he slashed the thing and all that happened is a few small black wisps of smoke rose from the wound. He had seen this happen before when he had only lightly cut some Despairs back on Paradise Islands. The Anger did flinch, and Jack used this as an opportunity to deal it a string of light blows. Finally, after the fourth or fifth cut, the thing practically was a cloud of black smoke. It lunged at him clumsily and he battered it away, finally killing it. In its wake, there were several small pop! sounds and three more Angers appeared around him. Out of the corner of his eye Jack saw Nomu and Iz fighting more Angers near where Hidetora and Kyoami were standing. Jack jumped over the heads of the Angers that were leering at him, and landed very close to where Iz was grappling with an Anger.

"Here, let me help," Jack said, almost lazily, and he cut the Anger fiercely across the head. Black smoke gushed out of the wound, and the Anger wobbled around, disoriented. Jack followed up with an upwards-slash to the thing's belly. This killed it. Jack looked around for Iz, and saw he was already fighting another. Jack took the hint and moved on to his next victim. He caught a glimpse of it drawing close to Hidetora. Too close for comfort. Jack leapt, and glide right over the Anger, slashing it from above. He landed a couple feet in front of it, swung around, and whipped the Rose into its head. It was violently knocked to the side, where it struggled to get up. Jack walked over to it and put it out of its misery. Another propelled itself at him, just like the Despairs, and he jumped back towards Hidetora and Kyoami. Nomu and Iz were also near there.

"These guys are tougher, but they don't fight much, do they?" Iz muttered.

Jack nodded, eyeing the one that had jumped him, almost goring him with those horns. Confident that he was for the moment safe, Jack looked around. Three left. Well, it was obvious what to do.

The three friends looked at each other, nodded simultaneously, and each leapt in unison at an Anger. Jack took his in a string of crushing blows to the torso, then swung around, expecting more to pop! up. But none did. Iz and Nomu finished with their Angers soon enough, then all three of them returned to Hidetora and Kyoami. By now there was quite a crowd watching them, including about twenty of Taro's guards.

"Impressive! You truly are the Rose Warrior!" Taro said, laughing. "Father, I would have your head for killing my guards! I want you three," he gestured to Jack, Nomu and Iz, "to leave this town now. Father, your fool can go free if you come with consent."

"Never! I'd rather commit seppuku!" Hidetora shouted defiantly.

Taro's grin turned into a scowl. "Your death shall be painful and dishonoring, Father."

"I've had enough of this!" Jack shouted. "Your highness, let's get out of here!"

Hidetora looked at Jack and nodded. "Thank you, Rose Warrior. If you can get me out of here, I can help you get our Rose."

"Sounds like a deal. As we like to say in my world, Taro! Commala come-come, the fighting's just begun!"

Taro scowled. "Very well." He then drew his sword. Jack noticed it was very similar to Nomu's, maybe a little longer. Taro jumped down from his ledge and landed about twenty feet in front of Jack.

"Guards! Get these civilians out of here!" Taro ran towards Jack, trailing his sword exactly as Nomu had done it. When Taro was about ten feet away, however, a voice thundered out: "TARO ICHIMANJI!"

Taro looked around, apparently frightened by the voice. Jack looked around, too, and saw a figure, dressed in black, standing on top of the First Castle. He seemed very small, but he jumped off of the Castle, towards them, and Jack could make out some of the features of him. He was bald, and was wearing a black trenchcoat and a strange mask over his head...

"Sugo?" Iz asked.

"No, this one's hair is different. He's dressed the same, and with the same stupid mask, though."

"Wh-who are you?" Taro asked, clearly scared shitless, Iz thought. Good, maybe they could escape.

Iz tapped Nomu on the shoulder and pointed to the gate. Nomu nodded and whispered something in Jack's ear. Jack also nodded, and they began to make their way to the gate, Hidetora and Kyoami following closely behind. Iz looked at Taro. He didn't notice. Iz ran towards the gate, praying the man who was dressed like Sugo but wasn't Sugo would keep Taro occupied for a while.

Outside the walls, Nomu said, "My lord, is there anyplace we can go?"

"The Third Castle. My bodyguards await me there. It is only a few miles to the east, about a day's march if we're fast."

Kyoami nodded. "And on this day Taro did attack Jack, but if he hadn't been stopped he would have been beaten blue and black."

Nomu and Hidetora roared with laughter, so Jack and Iz decided to force a chuckle. Humor was far behind in this world, it seemed. Then they began their march.

By the end of the day, the Third Castle was in site. Jack noticed it first and told Hidetora.

"Yes, that's it! Faster, for I fear Taro has sent troops to follow us!"

They ran, Kyoami helping Hidetora along. They made it to the gate in about ten minutes, and Hidetora was immediately recognized and they were let in.

In the throne room, Hidetora offered them any of his concubines. They all refused; Jack was in love with Carol, and Iz and Nomu were both either engaged or married. Hidetora shrugged and sat in his throne. They were in it for not five minutes when a guard rushed in and said, "Sire, we're under attack! Taro and Jiro have both sent massive armies!"

Hidetora got up, and they all went to the window.

"No..." Hidetora whispered.

The Third Castle was completely surrounded, as far as the eye could see, by yellow and red uniformed soldiers.

Hidetora drew his sword. Nomu did the same. Jack summoned the Rose.

"What are you all doing?" Hidetora asked.

"What do you think? Getting ready to fight, of course!" Jack said.

"Why? We have no chance?"

"You're drawing a blade, too, my lord. What is it that you are planning to do? Surely not-" Nomu started.

"Seppuku."

"My lord, NO!" Nomu shouted. He swung his sword at Hidetora's, cutting it.

"You FOOL! What am I to do? Get out, get out, get out!"

Nomu glared at him, then started to leave. "Come, Jack, Iz. We can make it out of here."

He left the room. Iz followed. Jack hesitated and also went. He looked behind him and saw that someone had thrown a torch through the window.

Meanwhile, Taro and Jiro overlooked the scene with a sense of deep satisfaction. Soon, the Rose Warrior would be dead, along with their troublesome father.

"Jiro, you've done it again, it seems."

"No, Taro. This was all you. Well done! The Council will surely reward you handsomely." Jiro turned around and walked over to a man named Kurogane. He whispered something to Kurogane, and Kurogane walked over to Taro.

"Lord Taro!" he said.

Taro looked around. "What?"

"This is from his highness, the future Lord Jiro." Kurogane drew his sword with a lightning-quick speed that rivaled Nomu's and cut Taro down.

"N-no! I was supposed to be the ruler...I...I...I-" and he fell down dead.

"Well done, Kurogane. Now, for the matter of my father..."

"Over there, lord, look!" Kurogane pointed to the gate, and they saw an old man in a white and red robe stumbling out into the wilderness.

"Fool. Leave him; the land will kill him if bandits don't."

Jiro laughed and turned to Taro's soldiers. Then he told them all of the propaganda: that the Rose Warrior had killed their beloved lord, and they must join him to get revenge. He was met with thunderous applause and cheers.

Nomu burst out of the door to the flaming Third Castle, drawing his sword and muttering about his foolish dishonorable Shogun. He cut down one of the awaiting soldiers, and bashed another on the head. Jack and Iz followed close behind. Nomu ignored their presence and kept fighting. He stabbed a soldier through the stomach, and kicked him off of the end of the blade.

Jack surveyed their odds. There were roughly three hundred yellow-armored soldiers on this side of the Third Castle, and there were three of them.

"Hey, Iz. You ever fight a hundred to one odds before?"

"Only with you two," Iz replied. He looked over at Nomu. He was taking on about five soldiers at once, but there was one sneaky bastard sneaking up behind him. Iz hurled his spear at him. It took the sneak in the back, piercing his lungs and coming out the other end. Iz ran forward and retrieved the spear, Jack following behind.

"If you could do that thing where you hold both of the Roses, that would be very appreciated," Iz muttered to Jack.

"I don't know...I was pretty damn tired after that."

"Okay, we'll have to beat them the old fashioned way," Iz said, and he lunged at a soldier, taking him through the neck.

Jack blocked a blow from a sword holding the Rose horizontally, but when the guy tried to stab him he had to jump back. He didn't want to kill anybody, but now he had no choice. He hit the person in the head with the blunt part, and then stabbed the soldier with one of the leaves.

"Nomu, what's the plan?" Jack screamed, parrying three attacks at the same time.

"Kill them all!"

"No, seriously!" Jack slit a man's throat.

"Fuck, you're right. I don't know!" shouted Nomu, slashing three men.

"I do!" called the voice they had heard earlier. The bald man in the black trenchcoat and the strange mask was suddenly behind them. He grabbed Jack and Iz in one arm, and Nomu in the other. Then they were all gone.

Jack found himself in a strange room. It was dimly lit by several candles, and each wall was blocked by a very large sofa. There was no door. Jack was on one of the sofas. He got up and looked around. Nomu was getting up on another sofa, and Iz on a third.

"Welcome, ka-tet of the Rose. I trust you aren't too tired?"

Jack looked towards the center of the room. The bald-headed, trenchcoat-wearing man was sitting cross-legged on the floor, staring at him.

"W-who are you?" Jack asked. He was tired, very tired. More then he had been after fighting all the Despairs on Paradise Islands.

"My name is Dexter Bench. Have any of you three ever heard of The 17th?"

"The 17th?" Jack asked.

"Did I stutter? Yes, the 17th," Dexter snapped. "I'm guessing no. You three are all pitiful fools. I can't believe you hope to breech The Fortress!"

"Who ever said that?" Nomu asked.

"Don't bullshit me. I know your ultimate goal. Jack, would you like to see Carol?"

Jack started. He got up from the couch he was on and summoned the Rose. "Where is she? What have you done with her?"

"Take delivered her to The Fortress this morning. She is in a holding cell right now. Do you want to see her?"

"Yes! Please, take me to The Fortress!" Jack shouted. He ran to Dexter. "Take me or I'll cut you in half!"

"Feisty. Well, if you want to see her, there is one thing you must do for me."

"Anything," Jack said in an undertone.

"There is a man named Herman Melvin. You must seek him out and kill him. Goodbye," Dexter said. He snapped his fingers, and he disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.

"How did he do that?" Jack asked.

"I don't know," said Iz, getting up. "Jack, are you really going to kill a man to save Carol?"

"...Yes."

"Very well. Then I'm with you!" Iz said.

"As am I. But first, we need to find out where we are," Nomu said. "I knew that voice was familiar! He's the one who hired Take to kidnap Carol and kill you. Bastard. And why was he calling us 'the ka-tet of the Rose?'"

"There doesn't seem to be a door in here," Iz said. "Just this really foggy window."

"That is a door," Nomu replied. He walked over to the foggy window and grabbed ahold of the side. He pulled, and the door slid open. They were greeted by a beautiful morning. It just made Jack (and Nomu, and Iz) feel more tired then they all did.

"I just wanna take a nap," Iz said.

"Me too," Jack said. "How about it?"

"Sounds good to me," Nomu said. "Just not a long one."

They all walked back to the couches against the walls and laid down. Soon they were all asleep.

Jack and company were awakened several hours later by someone screaming.

Jack got up from the couch and summoned the Green Rose. He sprinted across the room to the strange opaque 'door,' if that was what it was, and looked for a way to open it. He saw a handle on the right side of it. Jack pulled the handle, and the door slid open.

Jack surveyed the scene. Hidetora and his fool, Kyoami, were standing outside of the house, along with two other men. They were surrounded by Despairs and Angers. It was Kyoami who had screamed.

One of the men Jack did not know asked, "W-what's going on?"

"What the hell do you mean what's going on? There are creatures attacking us, can't you see-" Jack turned towards the man and realized that no, he couldn't see. He had no eyes. "Oh, shit. I'm sorry!" Jack called. Then he, Nomu, and Iz ran towards the scene developing some thirty feet ahead of them.

Jack crashed through the line of Emos and sliced a Despair into dust before they could react. Then he was hacking and slashing right and left, killing Despairs and wounding Angers. Iz and Nomu backed him up. The battle was all over in a matter of minutes.

Jack breathed heavily and banished the Rose, for now. Then he looked up at the men before him.

"What's going on here?"

"M-my name is Tsurumaru," the blind man spoke up. Hidetora gasped and looked at him. "What happened?" Tsurumaru continued.

"I'm not sure...we kind of woke up at this house..." Nomu said.

"This is my house," Tsurumaru stated. "I was outside, taking a nap, when I awoke to hear the footsteps of three people coming towards me. I got up and ran to them, and then I heard some strange noises, and that's where you came in."

Jack assumed Tsurumaru was still talking to him. He looked at Hidetora. "Hidetora, how did you escape from the Castle?"

Hidetora just looked at him. No, gazed at him, with blank, lifeless eyes.

"I'm afraid the Lord Hidetora is not in his right mind," the other stranger said. "My name is Tango. I am-was-a servant of Hidetora, but he banished me along with his youngest son, Saburo."

Tsurumaru spoke up, "Hidetora! You lousy bastard, you had my eyes cut out! I hope that whatever happened to you happens again a thousand times worse!"

"Enough!" Tango snapped. "The kingdom faces hard times. Saburo in exile, the Shogun mad, and Taro dead. What are we to do?"

"We need to find a more secure place to hide. They know where this is now," Nomu said, shaking his head.

"There are ruins of a castle a few miles from here. They're very defensible," Tango suggested.

"Perfect! First, is there some food or water here?"

"I have several jugs behind the house, and a well. No food we can take with us," Tsurumaru said sheepishly.

"Enough. We can live off of the land. We'll leave in one hour." Nomu sheathed his sword and went around to the back of the house.