CHAPTER 21: A THICKENING EVIL
"Hey! Sonny! Get up!" X said as he pressed on Sonny's chest, trying to wake him up. Sonny groaned as he sat up in a bed, and as he looked around he found himself in a comfortable wood cabin. He saw Piccolo leaning against a wall, but Alucard was nowhere to be found.
"Where are we?" Sonny asked.
"An Italian man discovered our bodies lying on the border of Italy." X said.
"That tidal wave blew us back much further than I had first thought." Piccolo noted. Shortly after he finished his sentence, Alucard and a short, chubby Italian man with red clothes, blue overalls and a mustache entered the room.
"Everyone, this is Mario." Alucard said, referring to the Italian man.
"Hello!" Mario said cheerfully.
"So why haven't we gotten a move on to the Lookout yet?" Piccolo asked with a hint of impatience in his voice.
"Because Mario has revealed more intelligence concerning the Discord Z-666 and the Xenolunar Unification. We need to modify our plans a bit." Alucard explained.
"Go on, then." X said.
"My father is not the only one planning the Xenolunar Unification. A goddess and a sorceress are also attempting to do the same thing."
"So why can't we just go kick them hard in the guts now?" Sonny asked.
"Because they are all at different points in the time stream. The goddess is in the past and the sorceress is in the future. My father is the only one in the present."
"Well, certainly there's a way to go back or forward in time and stop them." X said.
"You're partially right, X." Piccolo said. "We could use the Hyperbolic Time Chamber at Kami's Lookout in Mongolia to get to the past and defeat the goddess, but the problem of getting to the future remains an issue."
"We've still got to keep an eye on Dracula, though." Sonny said.
"Piccolo, there may be a way to get to the future, but it's not an opportunity that we can pursue." Mario said.
"What do you mean?" Sonny asked.
"You see, this sorceress has the power to control time. She will have to come to the present in order to perform the Xenolunar Unification anyways." Mario said.
"So that's something that we just have to be patient about." X said.
"Although, I have noticed some rifts in the time stream lately." Alucard said.
"What does that mean?" Sonny asked.
"That sorceress could be causing time to merge with itself, thus causing the utter destruction of everything but her." Piccolo said.
"Exactly." Alucard said.
"That doesn't make any sense!" Sonny said, with frustration present in his voice.
"Whatever the case, we should start with what we know and head east for the Lookout so we can take care of the goddess in the past. She should be the most powerful of the three." Alucard said.
"Alright then. Let's do it." X said. The others agreed, with the exception of Piccolo.
"I think it would be wise for one of us to stay here so that we may keep a close watch on Dracula." Piccolo said.
"Then we shall all head for Mongolia, and I trust you will be heading for Romania, Piccolo?" Alucard asked.
"Yeah." Piccolo responded, and they left on their quest.