It was thousands of years ago, deep in the mists of time, that Rakastamos was first defeated. It was a coalition of many powerful beings- Primal Troops, Primal Brawlers, and several mysterious beings engineered specifically for that moment. And it was headed by a truly legendary figure- the great and powerful Wizard, Askari the First.
Song: Bardock Falls
"Stay close.", whispered Askari, as he tapped his biomechanical eye. "I think he's resting for now. We've got to sneak up on him."
"Sneak up?", asked Avalayas, the Primal Witch, the purple smoke emanating from her highly magical body serving to cover the group from view. "We can't do that. His senses are too strong."
"Oh, come on.", said Mariah, the Primal Musketeer. "We can totally do this. Right guys?"
She looked behind her, to see most of the group not quite sure if they were actually ready. There was the Primal Bomber, Scarl, gently tossing his bombs from one hand to the other. There was the Primal Executioner, Falce, trying to keep his split mind balanced. There was the Primal Prince, Andrew, attempting to keep his horse composed. Next to them was the Primal Bowler, Grug, wiping a drink of Dark Elixir from his lips. Behind them were many more Primal Troops- but, of course, they numbered far too many to count.
But in front of the group were several Primal Brawlers, from across the sea. Rakastamos's army had gone after their land first, intent on exterminating the few Regular People that still lived there. But several of the Brawlers had risen up against him, refusing to let Rakastamos destroy their land without a fight. Their names were Dynamike, Brock, Piper, and Ricochet.
"Yeah.", said the Primal Miner Micheangelo, and stabbed his shovel up into the air. "Let's get him!"
"Hold it!", shouted Askari, just before the Primal Troops all rushed in. They were not yet the godly beings they would eventually become. That would come later, once the gods decided power would be split amongst the Primals, rather than the Dragonlords. However, they still were very powerful in their own rights.
"I admire your enthusiasm, Micheangelo.", said Askari, tapping the side of his head. "But we need a plan. We can't just go in there without one- Rakastamos will eat us all alive."
"That what do you suggest?", whispered Falce, not to Askari- but to himself. Or, more accurately, his two halves.
We all attack at once, he heard himself say- his dark, twisted side. There will be deaths- but Rakastamos will be among them.
How about we just talk it out?, asked his more sane side. Try and change Rakastamos's mind.'
"Everyone!", shouted Fallon at the front, and everyone turned to look. Fallon winked, and drew a shining arrow. "Let's Clash."
Then he jumped forward on one foot, past the border of the darkness and into the massive cave. It took only a second until everyone there, even the ones in the far back, nodded, gave mighty battle yells, and followed him into fate.
Rakastamos lay in the center of his cave, muttering to himself.
"It's quite the irony, is it not?", he asked the Archer Queen in front of him. "That even though I have at last awakened the very fullest of my strength, that it is a secret to all the world?"
"Yup.", said the Archer Queen, and nodded. "Uh huh."
"Really, I almost wish someone would know.", said Rakastamos, flicking a single massive claw against the stone wall. "It's ever so dreary- to attain such power without any flourish. To put on the greatest show ever told, but to have no audience to present it to."
"Yes.", said the Archer Queen with another quick nod and a forced smile. "It sure is."
Rakastamos looked down in distaste, and brought his hand up towards his face.
"You're not listening, Suzie.", he said, and sneered. "I don't think you're listening at all."
The Archer Queen startled, and crossed her arms to try and protect herself from the draconic onslaught that was about to be unleashed. "Wait no please-"
"Honestly, I think you've served me long enough.", said Rakastamos dryly, as his hand began to move down. "Goodbye."
But even as he started to attack, a huge blast of electricity hit him right in the back of the neck, sending small Zaps in every direction.
Rakastamos turned around, and snarled. "What the-"
Then he saw it. A vast, assembled army of Primals, their weaponry drawn and intent to kill written upon all of their faces. He took a step back, and let his fist fall open.
"What is this?", he asked, moving around his massive head on his neck. "A little visit? How utterly delightful. I don't get them that often- in fact, hardly ever."
"Rakastamos!", he heard someone shout from below. He looked down, to see the small figure of Askari the First standing proudly atop a rock. "Your reign of terror ends here!"
"What?", Rakastamos asked, pretending to look hurt. "What reign of terror? I haven't done anything."
"Ah, but you were about to.", said Askari with a raise of his white eyebrows. "Trust me, I could tell."
"Hmph.", said Rakastamos, beginning to draw out his full strength. "I suppose you could. What with your silly, mortal, science and all."
Then he spread his wings in a massive cloak, golden red light starting to pull out from between every scale. "But what good is your science, mortal, when you face one such as I?"
But even as Rakastamos spread himself up to his full height and width, Askari just smirked. He had calculated this battle to every measure, and Rakastamos would fall.
"You absolute fool!", he shouted at the top of his lungs, subtly gesturing for the Primal Army to fire on his command. "I bring no ordinary science. No-"
He stepped to one side and swung down his hand, prompting the battle to begin. "For the science of the Ivory Tower is indeed the finest in the entire world!"
Before Rakastamos could come up with a proper retort, the entire Primal Army attacked. All three Wizards fired their respective projectiles, ice wrapping around flame and electricity wrapping around both. Mariah shot off a hail of bullets from her boomstick, stopping only for a half second to completely reload. Falce swung his axe as hard as he could, hearing it cut through stone, air, and even the sound it encountered along the way.
In the back, a young Juno covered her face with her mask, as the wrath of the combined attacks kicked up a massive cloud of dust. She was waiting until the fighting got to closer quarters- that was her specialty.
"Dad!", she yelled into her communicator, even as Fallon fired off a perfect shot. It sung through the air and pierced directly through Rakastamos's hand, sliding deep into his skin before vanishing. "How do I help?"
Fallon jumped on one finger and fired again, this time sliding so deep into Rakastamos's scales the attack could no longer be seen. "Just keep on doing what you're doing, kid. You're gonna do great."
Juno huffed, and sat down. She looked over to the entrance of the cave, where a certain something was being pulled in. "Okay."
The barrage of high-intensity weaponry flew towards Rakastamos, and he almost flinched. But he managed to keep himself collected, and his entire being flared with golden light.
"You dare attack me?", he bellowed, and swung his hand forward. "Your overlord?"
His gargantuan palm collided with Falce's axe, a deafening crack filling the entire cavern. A large slice ran up his hand, scales flying off, and the axe rebound. Rakastamos grimaced, even as Mariah's bullets shot directly into the open wound. There was a sizable explosion from the fast attack, leaving much of Rakastamos's hand mangled.
"What-", Rakastamos managed to spit out, before a barrage of fire, electricity, and ice slammed into his left leg. He howled in agony as his skin was burned, shocked, and frozen all at once, the bizarre multi attack wreaking massive havoc.
"Why, you little…", he spat, and stumbled backwards. The Primals below all revved up for another shot, several more members joining their ranks. Rakastamos's eyes narrowed, and he prepared his own fire, his entire head beginning to glow. "Brats!"
With a massive rush of pure heat, Rakastamos unleashed his flame. It flowed forwards like a flash flood, flowing through the cave and reaching the Primals in mere seconds.
"Woah!", shouted Emmaline, the Primal Healer, and threw up her hand. A thick wall of Heal rose to life in front of the army, blocking the fire as it splashed up against them. The flame poured relentlessly around the group, scorching the rocks to black, but was unable to get through.
"Everyone!", shouted Fallon, and pointed his finger forward. "Rakastamos is weakening! Attack!"
He fired off another arrow, which shot directly into Rakastamos's other hand. The Dragonlord roared, and swept his giant wings in front of his entire body.
"You think you can defeat me?", he shouted, and closed his eyes. He let his rage fill him, imbuing his entire body with his true inherited might as a Dragonlord. "You cannot! You will not!"
Just before the Primal army began their attack, they saw Rakastamos's body start to glow. "You...are...nothing!"
He gave a roar so loud it could scarcely be heard as more than a flat wall of noise. A golden light flared out from him, burning the skin of anyone it touched. Several members of the ranks stumbled back, even as they charged their attacks once more. When the light finally fell away, Rakastamo's hand had fully healed up. He seemed to stand even higher than he had, his muscles bulging to an unnatural size.
"Perish!", he roared, and swept forward his immense tail. "And be no more!"
His tail slammed into Emmaline's barrier with the force of a collapsing mountain, sending a shockwave through the entire cavern that shook the walls. Emmaline grimaced and tried to hold on, but the pressure was too much.
"I'm sorry, everyone.", she said, her arms about to give out. "I can't hold it-"
Then she screamed as her barrier was broken, and her breath gave out. She fell unconscious to the ground, landing in the arms of Andrew with hardly even a sound.
"Shoot.", Andrew said, looking around for any place he might put her. "That's not good."
"None of this is good.", Micheangelo said from next to him. "How do we actually take this guy on? He's so huge…"
And indeed, Rakastamos was. At that time, he measured just a little over 750 feet tall at the shoulder, almost 3000 feet in length, and hundreds, if not actually thousands, of tons. He was not just a big Dragon- he was The Big Dragon.
"Don't worry, gentlemen, I have a plan.", said Fallon, coming to a stop in between them. "For we are not the only ones who await our revenge this day. And we are certainly not the only ones who turned out to fight."
Andrew nodded, handing Emmaline off to someone else. He couldn't quite see who. "Right."
Then he looked to the right, to where The Brawlers had begun their conflict. "So we do."
Juno ran as far away from the fighting as possible, an unconscious Emmaline carried in her arms. She was not a large troop- only 5'2 and 115 pounds. But she still had the strength to carry.
"Where do I take her?", she asked into her communicator, trying to figure something out- but there was no response. Fallon's communicator had been broken in the heat of battle.
"Shoot…", she said to herself, and jumped over a rock. She could see the light in the tunnel up ahead- she was almost out.
Juno gave one final yell and one last leap, landing outside of Rakastamo's tunnel. She blinked in the bright light and set the still unconscious Emmaline down, patting her on the forehead.
"There you go.", she said. "Stay safe."
Then she ran back into the tunnel, hearing the sounds of combat.
Rakastamos roared, and flung his head forward. A massive blow from the three Primal Wizards slammed into him, crunching his jaw a little bit and breaking a few of his teeth.
"Keep the pressure up, everyone!", Fallon shouted, as he aimed another shot. "Don't let him rest!"
"You!", bellowed Rakastamos, and reared up to his full height. The tips of his horns scraped against the stone ceiling of the cave, shaving bits of it off. "You will die first!"
Fallon jumped backwards in a clean prediction, as Rakastamos's massive claws swiped straight through the space where he would have been. They continued onwards, slashing apart an upright boulder and almost causing a small shockwave with their speed.
"Fire again!", yelled Falce timidly, and caught his axe. He took aim and released it, hearing the sweet sing as it cut through the air. "Don't let him-"
"Attack!", finished Juno, suddenly appearing behind him. "Let's get him!"
She crouched to Dash, aiming straight for what looked like a sensitive spot on Rakastamos's neck. She could deal some real damage there, if only she hit.
Fallon fired another arrow, then his glance turned to his left. His eyes widened, as he saw Juno leap through the air straight for Rakastamos. "Juno!", he yelled, and twisted around.
Rakastamos saw Juno head right for him, Dash flickering around her entire body, and grinned. "Yes…", he said, and brought back his hand. "You will make a good first death!"
He swung his hand forward, directly into Juno's angle of flight. "Come to me!"
Juno's face whitened in fear, as she realized she had no way to dodge. She tried slowing down, only to speed up in her panic. "Wait, shoot-"
She cried out in terror, as Rakastamos's hand shot forward and grabbed her. Her Dash kept her from being crushed, but she could no longer move.
"Aha…", Rakastamos said, ignoring the constant assault of firepower that rained upon his side. He lifted Juno up as high as he could, and opened his mouth far below. "Yes, a good first death indeed."
Then he let go, and Juno fell screaming towards his gaping maw- until an arrow of light shot through the back of her cape, shooting her towards a wall, and sticking her there.
"Juno, I told you!", shouted Fallon, his face deadly serious. "Now stay away."
"Hmph.", Juno huffed, and crossed her arms. "Fine. I will."
Yet she was grateful inside of what had happened- for Fallon had certainly just saved her life.
Rakastamos's jaw slammed shut on empty air with a colossal bang, sending a wave of solid sound all throughout the cave. His eyes narrowed and he swung his head downwards, angling to look at the assembled Primal army.
Fallon looked up at Rakastamos. Despite all their best efforts, and near constant attacks, he was barely injured. Any time they managed to hurt him, he would regenerate it just as quickly. Fallon crouched- he knew what he had to do.
"Fall back!", he shouted, and leapt. "Fall back, and pool our power!"
The army began to retreat, but Rakastamos just laughed. "Fools!", he shouted, and reared up. "Where do you think you can possibly run to? Do you think that-"
"Hey!", he heard from down below, and saw the assembled team of the four Brawlers. "We'll hold him off."
Rakastamos saw the ones before him. He looked back up at the retreating army, backing up towards the far side of the cave. He pondered the two in his mind, flipped the thought over, and then finished processing it as a single thought- an uproarious laugh.
"Haha, you fools!", he laughed, and began to build the fire in his throat. "Do you think you four could ever possibly defeat me-"
Then his laughter stopped, as a rocket lodged itself deep inside his throat. It took him a few seconds to realize what it was, then it exploded.
Rakastamos roared in pain, and thrashed around his head. He slammed it into a dozen different spots on the wall, creating a new massive crater every time it hit. He coughed once, expelling a cloud of smoke, and then landed on his hands upon the floor.
"So, that's it?", he whispered without opening his mouth, and started to build up more flame."I don't blame you. You mortals, after all…."
The charge built up even more inside of his throat, and he lowered his head to shoot at the Brawlers. His eyes narrowed. "Are so easy to make afraid."
He had been just about to fire, when something hit him right in the eye. He shifted his vision to check what it was- and there he saw Juno, still hanging from the wall, grabbing another rock to infuse with Dash energy and then throw them at whoever she saw.
"Hey, you!", Juno yelled, trying to keep her heat from beating outside of her chest. "You wanna die?
"No…", said Rakastamos, as he reached up a hand to grab her. "But I suspect you do."
Then a gigantic blast of dynamite landed on his shoulder, tearing away some of the scales. Rakastamos looked away for half of a second, and saw Old Dynamike carefully running between a confusing looking pile of rocks.
"Curse…", he snarled, and turned away from Juno to more important prey. "You!"
But Dynamike kept on running, throwing dynamite as we went, until finally Rakastamos knew he needed a plan. Breathing fire took a lot out of him- which meant he couldn't just spam fire blasts until everything had been killed. No, this required a plan. And that meant skill.
"Heyo!", shouted Piper from down below, and shot off three quick shots. Each one streaked through the air, gathering more damage as it went, until finally it impacted on the bottom of Rakastamos's jaw. There was a crack of popping teeth, and Rakastamos groaned in pain.
"You insolent little-", he spat, and whipped around his tail. It raced directly towards Piper, faster than she could possibly hope to move out of the way. Her eyes widened in terror- then she suddenly felt herself get pushed out of the way.
"Ricochet?", she breathed, looking up as she flew. She saw Ricochet, holding her in his arms- or, rather, arm. The other one had been torn off by the very tip of Rakastamos's supersonic tail.
"Ricochet, your arm!", she said, and slipped down to the ground. "Oh, sweetie-"
"Do. Not. Worry.", said Ricochet, and unslung his gun from his back. He took aim at the titanic figure of Rakastamos overhead, currently locked in combat with some more Primals. "I. Am. Fine."
"Noooo, you're not.", Piper said, dragging him away. "You need attention."
Ricochet swung his head around, staring Piper right in the eyes. "I. Do. Not. I. Can. Fight."
"Rico!", Piper yelled, using his nickname. "You need help!"
Ricochet stared at her with all the force he could muster, and once again took aim. "NO."
Piper looked at him in shock. Ricochet had never raised his voice- not even once. So she nodded, gripped her own weapon, and took aim alongside him. "Alright."
A rain of arrows suddenly hit Rakastamos from the side, and he looked over his shoulder. "What-"
Then a bolt of lightning hit him right in the side of the neck, causing a huge spurt of blood to erupt. He staggered backwards, his eyes boiling over in rage. "Gaaah!"
Falce had been watching, preparing to throw, when his eyes lit up in an idea. He turned to Fallon, who landed next to him with a soft tap upon the stony ground.
"I found his weakness, sir.", Falce grunted, and pointed. "He seems to be very easily distracted."
"Yes…", said Fallon, then slapped Falce on top of the head with his bow. "That would be a prime weakness to exploit, if he was able to be hurt!"
"What?", Falce stammered. "You mean that-"
"I do.", said Fallon with a stern look upwards. He watched as Rakastamos tore a huge chunk straight out of the ceiling, forcing many of the Primals to retreat. "I do."
He watched as a huge barrage of attacks rained upon Rakastamos's side, none of them hardly even noticed by the Dragon. Rakastamos boiled over with raw, primal fury, his draconic body radiating pure power. "Rakastamos seems to be impossible to kill."
Rakastamos once again reared up to his full height, and roared so loud it came out as just a pure white wall of noise. The walls of the cavern shook, rocks falling from the ceiling.
"You fools!", he bellowed, and slashed at his own body with his claws. "I am immortal! Unkillable! Unmatched! I am the great Dragonlord Rakastamos, and none of you can stop me!"
He prepared once again to fire his destructive breath, looming far overhead. "Once I defeat you, there shall be nothing to stop me and my Forgotten army from cleansing this world of its baser inhabitants! I shall save Dragonkind!"
He saw the Primal army back up, and smiled so wide it seemed to extend past the borders of his face. "Yes, yes! I see you surrender, run away- admitting your servitude to true power!"
He was about to strike again- when he heard a booming voice ring out from across the entire cave.
"RAKASTAMOSSSSSSSSSS!", came a confident scream, and everyone in the cave turned to look. There stood their leader Askari, perched atop a giant machine, one hand on his forehead, and the other extended in a pointer finger.
His mechanical eye beeped and spun, as his Builder attendants frantically tried to get the machine working. "Your time has ended, Dragon!"
"Oh?", Rakastamos said, and slowly began to crawl towards Askari. "And who might you be to try and end it?"
"My name is Askari the first!", shouted Askari, and flipped a switch. The machine started to hum, its interior turbines coming to life. "And this is my finest invention-"
He posed once again, and the massive construct turned on. "THE DRAGON CANNON!"
"The first?", Rakastamos asked with a raise of his eyebrow. "You are so bold as to assume you will have a line?"
Then he realized what else Askari had said, and his eyes went wide. "Wait, the what-"
"FIRE!", Askari screamed, and flung his hand downwards. The Builders all looked up, nodded, and pressed their respective buttons. Nothing happened for a second- until a gargantuan blast of gold and white energy shot from the Dragon Cannon like a volcanic eruption.
"Oh shoot-", Rakastamos spat, and tried to bring up his hands to block it. He just barely managed to reach in time, and the attack slammed into him with the force of a breaking mountain. There was a flash of white light that seemed like a supernova, and everything, for a brief moment in time, disappeared.
When the light faded, Rakastamos was struggling to hold back the blast. Sweat dripped from between his scales, and his jaw trembled with the exertion. Askari stood on top of the Dragon Cannon, teeth gritted, signaling to his workers for more power.
"We've almost got him!", he shouted, in anger. "Just a little more power, and he'll be finished!"
One of his Builders looked up at him, in panic. "Sir!", he shouted. "There's no more power!"
"What?", Askari yelled. "What do you mean, there's no more power?"
He looked at Rakastamos, who was beginning to overpower the blast. Askari's face turned pale, and his hands began to heat up with panic. "Get more! We have to get more!"
Far down below, on the stony ground, Brock looked at his two partners. Dynamike thought for a moment, then nodded. Ricochet looked at his fellows, at Piper, then nodded as well.
"Gentlemen.", said Brock, and raised his rocket launcher. "It has been an honor brawling with you all."
"Same to you, old boy.", said Dynamike, and grabbed a huge charge out of his barrel. "Same to you."
"Good. Bye.", said Rico, turning to look at Piper one last time. "My. Love."
"Ricochet?", Piper asked. She ran to him, wrapping her arms around his torso. "What are you doing?"
But Ricochet said nothing. He merely looked to his fellows, as they all put everything they had into one final attack.
"Rocket…", said Brock, and pushed his soul into his effort. "Raiiiinn!"
A barrage of massive rockets shot outwards from his launcher, even as he himself disappeared. His body slowly vanished, until all that was left was a pair of glasses and the launcher.
"Ka…", Dynamike said, and spun around one last time. "Boom!"
He heaved a gargantuan charge of explosive powder, the effort knocking him back, his barrel sticking straight up. It rolled away into a corner, revealing nothing underneath.
Piper saw them sacrifice themselves, and a cold shock shot through her heart as she realized what Ricochet was about to do. She started to cry. "Ricochet, no!"
But even as Piper tried to hold his arm down, Ricochet aimed up. A single tear fell from his eye- not of oil, but of real, actual tears. "Good. Bye."
"Ricochet!", Piper screamed, her voice cracking. "Richocheeettt!"
Then Ricochet fired one final blast of bullets, his body slowly falling to pieces. Piper screamed in pain, as he vanished right in front of her, the Brawler's final attacks borne upon the wind.
"Yes!", Askari yelled, seeing the power of their last actions flow into the Dragon Cannon. "We have enough power!"
Just as Rakastamos was about to push the blast back, Askari flung his hand downwards again. "FINISH HIM!"
The Builders pushed on their buttons, and the Dragon Cannon roared in rage. The blast redoubled, forcing Rakastamos back. He stumbled, and fell to the ground.
"No!", he shouted in anger, still trying to push. "I- am- immortal! I- am-"
Just then, he saw something around the corner. A glimmer of hope, come to help him.
Tremon the Aqua Wizard ran at the head of the army of Forgotten, breathing hard.
"Rakastamos, sire!", he yelled. "We've come to help-"
Then with a massive clap of sound that could have drowned out an earthquake, the top of the cave cracked from the pressure. Rakastamos screamed, as the Dragon Cannon finally flung him back, right towards his army of Forgotten. "NOOOOOO-"
Then the top of the cave collapsed in a shower of gigantic rocks. The Forgotten army screamed as one, as both they and Rakastamos were covered in an avalanche of stone that melted from the heat, leaving them covered in a blanket of solid rock that would keep them dormant for many, many years.
Askari stood huffing and puffing on top of his Dragon Cannon, and cracked a grin. Even though there had been losses, Rakastamos and his entire cursed army had finally been defeated.
"Uh… hello?", yelled Juno from overhead, still pinned against the wall. "Could somebody get me down? Anyone? Dad?"
There was a flash of movement, and Fallon landed right beside Askari. Juno fell from the wall, and landed roughly in his arms. She huffed and slid down, blowing her bangs out of her face.
Fallon put his hand over Askari's shoulder, and bumped fists. He looked out over the landscape- his army had survived. For the most part, anyway. But those that had fallen would be remembered- their prodigy would take on their names and roles in life, wielding whatever they had left behind.
"Well boys, we did it.", he said with pride, rustling Juno's hair. "Rakastamos is no more."
Song: Ancientry
Rakastamos closed the ancient, torn book with a slam, sending a fine rain of dust over the entire nursery. Several of the Baby Dragons there let out a few small coughs, but Rakastamos paid them no heed.
"And that, children…", he said with a pained smile, "Is how I first fell."
"Father Rakastamos?", asked a Baby Dragon in the front row. "Father?"
"Yes, my child?", Rakastamos asked, as he set the book back on the shelf, carved deep into the rock. The entire shelf was filled with books of gigantic size, their ancient pages filled with everything from age-old stories to recipes for forgotten spells. "What is it?"
"Then what happened?", the Baby Dragon asked. "After they beat you?"
The edges of Rakastamos's face twitched, but he managed to keep his cool. He closed his eyes, and shook his wings. "Well, I was asleep under that rock for many, many years. I'm not sure exactly what happened. But eventually, He woke me, and I was free, along with my loyal army."
The Baby Dragon tilted his head. "He?", he asked in curiosity. "Who's He?"
For half a second, Rakastamos stopped moving. He just stared straight ahead, remembering how it was when Grrshknn had awoken him.
"Serve me, Rakastamos.", he heard, still echoing in his mind. "For although the paltry efforts of mortals have fallen short, I know that you have no such weaknesses."
"Right.", said Rakastamos, to the confusion of the Baby Dragons. "That is correct. I have no-"
He suddenly slumped to the side of the wall, clutching at his heart. He gasped, and closed one eye. "Weaknesses."
"Father Rakastamos?", asked another of the Baby Dragons, taking a plate of meat from a Skeletal attendant. "What's wrong. What are you talking about?"
"DON'T!", bellowed Rakastamos suddenly, and the entire cavern seemed blown back by the force of his voice. "Do not interrupt me."
He clutched tighter at his chest, feeling the dark laughter of Grrshknn fill his mind. To call the sound hellish would be like calling the ocean damp. But finally, it vanished, leaving him leaned against the side of the wall in silence. No sound interrupted the quiet, not even the rhythmic sound of the Blood Elixir Extractor that had been pumping for weeks.
"Sire?", asked one of the Skeletons, as everyone in the nursery looked up at him in stunned silence. They had just seen their invincible Dragonlord Rakastamos, the one who would cleanse the world in a baptism by fire, seem to have a panic attack. "Are you-"
"I'm FINE!", Rakastamos shouted, slightly melting the rock around him with his words. "Do not talk to me."
"Oh.", said the Skeleton, and backed up. "I just wanted to tell you that your sister was here."
"What did I just say-", Rakastamos growled, then stopped. He took in the Skeleton's words, turned them over in his mind, and then broke forth into a wide grin.
"Well, why didn't you say so?", Rakastamos asked. "By all means, let her in."
His command, even though it was merely spoken, was still loud enough to carry. A few robots on the far side of the cavern heard his voice, and nodded. As one, they tugged on a rope- which tugged on another rope, which pulled a gear, which spun around another machine part, which slammed a huge hammer into several sections of a door. And as a vast brassy tone rang out across the entire cave, the massive door slowly swung open.
The robots in front of it scattered, as the immense turquoise figure of Chuqalita burst into the cavern. She swung her head back and forth, and shook her wings in a glorious display of seablue light. She looked up as the dust settled, and saw the smiling face of Rakastamos looking back at her. His was a genuine smile, not one of haughtiness or evil.
"Why, Chuqalita!", he boomed, spreading out his wings in greetings. "It is so very nice to see you!"
But Chuqalita seemed not to be listening, as she stomped towards him. Her eyes boiled over with fury, and her muscles tensed.
"I hear you finally got your own continent to rule over- the Rushlands, right? How is that holding up?", Rakastamos asked, the smile on his face getting a little stale as his sister continued to not respond. "Is it doing well?"
But Chuqalita just approached, continuing her strained silence. Rakastamos's eyes softened, and he sat back a bit. "Chuqalita?"
He stared at her in confusion, his ears beginning to notice the lack of a grinding in the background. "Chuqalita, could you at least acknowledge that I'm here-"
And then, finally, Chuqalita did answer. But it was not the answer that Rakastamos had expected- no, this one came in the form of a slap to the side of his face, sending him shocked and reeling.
"Rakastamos!", Chuqalita shouted, her voice full of confusion, shock, anger, and fear. She spread her arms around to indicate the entire cave, and leaned forward to address him. "What the Illk'aa are you doing?"
Rakastamos bent his head back around from the force of Chuqalita's slap, staring at her in just as much shock as she did. He looked back, and rubbed the spot where he had been hit. "Reading to the children?"
Chuqalita stared at him, and rolled her eyes as wide as she could. "No, not that. I know that you're doing that but-"
She gestured to the army of robots and Skeletons that patrolled the cave, dried Elixir from dozens of failed assassination teams littering the ground. "What's all this? The robots? The Skeletons? All this spilled Elixir? And what the frick is the gigantic machine in the other room that seems to have been made for the sole purpose of killing people?"
Chuqalita's voice was accusatory, but Rakastamos's face lit up in delight. "Ah, that!", he said. "Yes, I was wondering when you were going to ask me about that. You see-"
"Rakastamos!", said Chuqalita again. "You were killing hundreds upon hundreds of people- and you're happy about that?"
"Well…", said Rakastamos, and shrugged. "Yes. Why would I not be? After all…"
He chuckled. "They're just mortals."
Chuqalita stared at him in total shock, and backed up a bit. She had known her brother for a very, very long time. He had never been this cold, nor this callous.
"What- what do you mean just mortals?", she asked. "Have you forgotten, Raksy? They are your charge!"
Rakastamos's eyes widened. "Raksy?", he asked. "No one's called me that in a very long time."
"Oh, that's what you're worried about?", Chuqalita asked. "Not the thousands of innocent souls you were killing up until now?"
"I told you.", said Rakastamos, starting to get a little agitated. "They are just mortals-"
Then he stopped. He tilted his head a little bit, starting to put things together in his mind. "Wait a minute, Chuqalita.", he said slowly. "You're talking about that in the past tense."
He took a single step forward, his wings flattening down against his back. "What did you do to my machine?"
Chuqalita huffed, and slammed her foot down onto the ground, asserting her position. "I destroyed it, of course.", she said. "And I set all of those innocent people free."
Rakastamos blinked. When he closed his eyes, his pupils were rounder, almost even friendly looking. But when he opened them again, they were ferocious slits of pure fury.
"Oh.", he said calmly, and started to snake his neck forward. "You did, hmmm?"
"Yes.", said Chuqalita. "I did. No one else will die."
"No one did die." said Rakastamos, as he slowly drew himself closer towards her. "The only things lost were a handful of mortals."
Chuqalita sighed, and started forward. "Oh, again with you and all the "mortal" talk!", she shouted. "You're always "oh, mortal this", and "oh, mortal that"! Why?"
Rakastamos was about to speak, but Chuqalita cut him off. "Oh wait. I know why. It's because you have this weird theory about how mortals somehow destroyed the perfect Old World, and killing them all is the only way to bring it back. Am I right?"
Rakastamos slowly nodded. "Yes, that is true."
Chuqalita stared at him in fear. She could see now- there was no sense in trying to reason with him.
"Rakastamos!", she said. "What would Dad think?"
Rakastamos's face grew shadowed, and he pulled back slightly. Then he rushed forward in full force, causing Chuqalita to back up.
"Father…", he snarled, shouting as he pulled back his upper lip. "Would be PROUD! Of what I am doing."
His arm tightened, his massive claws scraping against the rock as he glared at his sister. "If he were here today, this would be his goal as well. I assure you of that."
"Really?", Chuqalita asked, trying to regain ground. "Then why are you getting so defensive about it?"
Rakastamos snarled in frustration, before closing his eyes. "Look.", he said, and gestured to the Baby Dragons, still watching in utter fascination. "All I'm doing is trying to make a better environment for children to live in. Is that so bad?"
"Yes!", Chuqalita yelled. "Well, not that part but- the way you're doing it. That's what's bad!"
"Really?", asked Rakastamos, and folded his arms. "What am I doing that's bad?"
Chuqalita's mouth hung open in sheer disbelief, as she gestured to the level of the mountain where The Machine had been. "Um, you mean besides literal genocide?"
"That's not a bad thing.", Rakastamos scoffed. "Not when it's done to mere mortals."
Chuqalita stared at him for a moment, then shook her head. "I don't think I'm getting through to you."
"That's because there's nothing to get through to.", said Rakastamos, then realized his words did not come out the way he had meant them to. "Wait, I mean-"
"Rakastamos, listen.", said Chuqalita, and poked Rakastamos in the chest. He looked utterly taken aback, pushed back a little bit. "Dad's not gonna be very happy when he finds out about this."
She tried to keep her demeanor calm and confident, but in reality she was beginning to get scared. The look in her brother's eyes terrified her, all the way down to the bone.
"What?", Rakastamos asked, and drew himself backwards. His eyes shot wide open with terror, and his crimson skin crawled. "Father is- returning home?"
"Yes.", Chuqalita said. "I don't know exactly when, but he is coming home soon. And he's going to see you first."
She stared forward, desperately hoping that her bluff would hold. But as her eye twitched nervously, the look of fear upon Rakastamos's face slowly disappeared.
"Now, dear sister.", said Rakastamos, and started to advance. "Why would you ever lie?"
Chuqalita swallowed nervously, but managed to hold her ground against her much larger brother. "Because,", she said, "I wanted to scare you. So you would stop this."
She had considered lying again, but then decided for some reason on telling the truth. No matter how powerful Rakastamos was, there was no way in a million years he could possibly stand up to the Primal Dragon himself.
"Oh.", said Rakastamos. "Hmm. I see."
Although unseen by anyone, a strange crimson glow began to emanate from his entire body. He looked up, staring into Chuqalita's eyes with an unknown ferocity. "And you wish to stop me from doing… what? What am I doing that you would consider undesirable?"
"Undesirable?", asked Chuqalita in disbelief, pulling down the corners of her mouth in agitation. "Rakastamos, you are slaughtering thousands! Thousands of innocent lives, wasted just to-"
"Chuqalita.", said Rakastamos, both incredibly loud and yet terrifyingly soft. "Do you know why I sent out my army of Forgotten?"
"What?", asked Chuqalita. "Excuse me, I was talking-"
Rakastamos flicked his claws on a nearby rock, sending up a sharp shower of sparks into the air. He slowly raised his head, and looked up. "To remove those I found… an irritant. Those who would… interfere with my plans."
Chuqalita looked up, and noticed by just how much Rakastamos towered over her. She was an absolute titan of a Dragon, but he had at least four or five hundred feet on her.
"Ra… Rakastamos?", she asked nervously, as she saw him slash a deep, pulsating gash deep within the rock. It, and his eyes, burned a rich smoldering crimson. "What are you… doing…?"
"And right now, Chuqalita…", Rakastamos said, as he clenched his fist. A spill of crimson power burst out of it, dripping onto the floor and splattering the walls. "Do you know what you are being?"
Chuqalita couldn't respond. It felt like she couldn't even breathe. Her heart began a faster beat, as she felt the terror build. Even though she was a Dragonlord, ruler over an entire continent, her power was nothing compared to the sheer, overwhelming might she knew that Rakastamos was capable of wielding.
"That's right.", said Rakastamos, and placed a hand on her shoulder. He slowly turned around her, as if bragging that he could move and she was unable to. "An irritant."
Chuqalita tried to respond, but the only thing she could manage was a small, high pitched groan. Rakastamos continued talking, seemingly oblivious of her absolute terror.
"By the way, sister,", Rakastamos said, spitting out the word between his jaws, "Do you know what happens when a Dragonlord dies?"
This time, Chuqalita was able to respond- a simple, quiet "No", forced out from her mouth.
"Ah.", said Rakastamos, and began to pace. "Well then, let me tell you. You see, when a Dragonlord dies…"
While he spoke, Chuqalita tried to search for a way out. She clearly could not remain in here much longer- Rakastamos had clearly become far too unhinged.
"Their continent breaks down, goes into decline, and eventually dies with them.", Rakastamos said. "Most of their population experiences very quick deaths- but a few of them go on and survive. Only a few, however…"
He leaned in close to Chuqalita's ear, and breathed out his final words. "And you wouldn't want that to happen to your Rushlands, now would you? No, you just got it…"
Then he leaned back, and his eyes went from a deep blood red to normal. He waved his hand towards the exit, and raised an eyebrow. "Go on, then."
Chuqalita blinked, and stared at him. "Wait, what?"
Rakastamos sighed, and gestured once again. "Go on. You are now free to leave."
"Oh- oh.", said Chuqalita, and sat up. "Well, uh-"
"I said go!", shouted Rakastamos, his form bulging with sheer, absolute rage. "Before I kill you myself!"
Chuqalita's face twisted in horror, before she scrambled to her feet, ran towards the exit at top speed, and jumped, propelling herself into the sky.
As she flew away, she could not help but shiver at the thing Rakastamos had become. She knew she had to tell somebody- but who?
Then, as her mind tossed things over and around, sifting deep through her memories, it suddenly came to her in a bolt of mental thunder. Her eyes widened.
"Oh, of course!", she said to herself, and took a deep bank. "They can help."
And as she dived for the far side of the continent, seeking the first sign of silver, she didn't even notice the small black vapors that hung in the forest- nor a small party of 3, walking through the woods thousands of feet below where she flew.
Song: The Stardust Man Appears
Dan still trudged on through the forest, occasionally stepping over a broken bush or fallen log. Leon and Brandy sat on his shoulders, both of them trying their best not to fall off. But even if they did, they knew that Dan would be there to catch them- Brandy, anyway. Leon wasn't so sure. Even if Brandy loved him, Dan still seemed totally aloof.
Brandy almost wanted to fall off- she liked the prospect of Dan catching her in his giant hands. But she knew that he wouldn't like to be bothered as he walked, and so she didn't try it. Perhaps she would have tried it near the beginning of their journey, but they were far too far along by now.
"Hey Mom?", Leon whispered, rolling his lollipop around in his mouth. "I'm getting kinda hungry. What do we have for food?"
"You mean besides that lollipop of yours?", Brandy asked, flicking some dirt off of Dan's heavy metal armor. "You've got that."
Leon rolled his eyes, and gave a half shrug. "Well yeah, but, this doesn't count. As Primo used to say-"
He suddenly assumed a Mexican accent, although it wasn't very good. "It has no nutrients!"
Then he leaned back, and crossed his hands behind his head. "Yeah, I need some real food."
Brandy frowned, her mom brain starting to take over. She leaned towards Dan's head, and spoke into his ear. "Hey, honey?"
"Mmm?", Dan grunted, smashing straight through a thick curtain of spiderweb. It almost draped across Brandy and Leon, but he burned it away in an instant with a small flash of Star. "What?"
"Where's the food?", Brandy asked, and nervously grinned. "We're getting hungry, and, well…"
"We can't find any.", finished Leon. "Anywhere on you."
Not with his clothes on, of course, thought Brandy, but knew it would be best not to say it out loud. "Yeah. That."
"That's cause we're out.", said Dan, and stepped over a large rock right into a small river. The water splashed as his foot impacted, but it didn't even come up to past his ankle.
"Out?", Brandy asked. "What do you mean, out-"
"I said we're out of food.", said Dan. "We left it all back at the hotel… remember?"
"Then what was all that stuff we had last night?", asked Leon. "The hot ch-"
"I found it.", Dan said. "It was just out there in the woods."
"You found… hot chocolate.", said Leon in disbelief. "In the middle of the frickin woods."
"Yes.", said Dan, and flexed his shoulder a little bit. Leon stumbled, and held tighter trying to stay on. "I did."
"But like, how?", Leon asked, trying to wrap his head around this strange idea. "How did you-"
"What?", Dan asked, with barely hidden force. "Don't they have hot chocolate trees where you come from?"
"Uhhh…", said Leon, and tried to remember. "No."
"Heh.", said Dan, and kept on walking. "Neither do we, kid. But apparently, this place does."
"Good hot chocolate though, isn't it?", asked Brandy, trying to break the tension. But it was a difficult task- the tension in the air was thicker than a Pekka's armor. "I think it was."
"Yes…", said Dan, and stopped, right in the middle of a small clearing. "It was."
"Hey, why did we stop-", Leon asked, then stopped when Dan bucked his shoulder. Brandy grabbed on to him, and silently told him to listen.
"I think we all want food.", said Dan. "You guys said you were hungry ,and now I'm hungry as well. We don't have any food with us-"
He gestured to the woods, no doubt filled with all manner of strange animals and even stranger plants. "But we can certainly find some."
He bent down, before either of them could respond, and gestured for both of them to hop off. Both Brandy and Leon slid down to the ground, and stood up at attention.
"Now.", said Dan, and slammed his hands together. "These are dangerous woods, and there are most likely some weird things in them. Hence, I want you to stay together, and stay safe. If you see something dangerous, report it back to me, and we can both take it on together. Sure, fine, all of us, not just both."
Leon almost said something, but realized that Dan had anticipated and answered his own question. So he just put his hand down, and resumed his silence.
"Now when you think you've found enough food, report back here, okay?", Dan asked, then clapped his hands together once more. "Alright! Let's move!"
Dan turned around, and immediately headed into the woods. He took a breath and snapped his fingers, a golden flame appearing above his head for illumination as the overhead leaves grew dim. Brandy and Leon still lingered in the clearing, not sure if they should follow him or stay.
"Leon?", asked Brandy, and put a hand on his shoulder. "Do you want to stay here?"
"What?", Leon asked. "Why do you think I would want to-"
"Bad things have happened to you in those woods.", said Brandy. "It wasn't a question."
Then she pulled him closer, and hugged him in a surprisingly tight embrace. "And I don't want my little boy to feel afraid."
Leon coughed a little bit as Brandy hugged him, not used to the attention. His face went a little red, both from embarrassment and from lack of oxygen. "Mom…"
"Okay, okay.", said Brandy, and let go. "I don't have to hug you if you don't want."
Leon huffed, and pulled his hoodie closer over his face. Then he shifted on his feet a little bit and said something out of the corner of his mouth.
"What?", Brandy said, and her ear twitched. "I couldn't hear you."
"I said…", Leon said, and again whispered his words so quietly that Brandy was unable to hear them. "There."
Brandy sighed, and took a step closer. "I can't hear you, Leon. Speak up."
Leon, to Brandy's surprise, grabbed her ear and leaned directly into it. She stiffened a little bit at the contact, but listened to what Leon was trying to say.
"It's fine you can hug me.", Leon said, and clenched his teeth together. "There. I said it."
"Aww, Leon!", Brandy said, again wrapping him in a hug. "It's fine! I'm your mother. I can hug you all I want."
Leon rolled his eyes, and his lollipop around in his mouth. "Okay, Mom.", was all he said.
Brandy broke off the hug, and stretched her arms into the air. She bounced on her heels a few times, then landed with a confident grin. "Alright. Now let's go get food."
"Right…", Leon said, and coughed into his collar. "Food."
"What's wrong?", Brandy asked, immediately sensing that something was up. "Leon?"
"Nothing.", said Leon, and turned away. "I'm good."
"No, you're not.", said Brandy, and grabbed her shoulder. "Something is bothering you."
Leon fiddled with his jacket pocket a bit, then sighed. "Okay. Yes. It's uh… the way you move."
"Hm?", Brandy asked, leaning backwards. "What about it?"
"Well it's uh…", Leon said, trying not to look at the way Brandy leaned. "It's just a little provocative. I feel."
"Oh.", said Brandy, and immediately stood straight up. "I'm sorry. I guess I've just been alone with Dan for a while. Just us and him, wandering around in the woods, with no one else to bother us at all…"
She stared off into space for a few seconds, before Leon politely coughed. "Mom?", he said. "You're doing it again."
"Oh!", Brandy said, and uncrossed her legs. "Sorry."
Then she started walking towards the woods, her hood pulled a little tighter over her face. "Now follow me. We had better find some food."
"Right.", said Leon, and followed her.
They had hardly gone a dozen feet into the trees, sunlight barely filtering down through the thick canopy, when Brandy abruptly stopped. She leaned down to grab something off of the ground, and held it up in front of her face.
"Woah…", she said, and smiled. "Epic!"
"What?", Leon asked, trying to see what it was. "What did you find?"
Brandy opened her hand, to reveal a shiny green Gem. "I found a Gem. Just here, on the ground."
"Oh.", said Leon, and tensed his arms. "Uh, mind if I have it? I kind of really need it for a skin."
Brandy stared at him, then smiled. "You're my son, alright."
"What?", Leon asked, but Brandy had already dropped the Gem into his open hand. She closed his palm and patted it, then turned back to the path.
"There you go.", she said. "I want you to have good things."
"Uuhh…", Leon said, and tucked the Gem into his pocket. "Okay."
He started jogging to keep up with Brandy, who had already moved ahead.
"Aaaand…", she said, stopping next to a large fruit tree. The fruit it bore seemed like a strange mix of apple and banana, with perhaps a hint of cherry thrown in. "What's this?"
She waited a second for Leon to show up next to her, as he looked up into the branches of the tree. "Uh…", he said, and thought ."I think that's a banareyy tree."
"Hmmm.", Brandy said, and drew back her fist. "What do they taste like?"
"Oh, they're pretty good.", said Leon, not having any idea what he was saying. "We had some back home. Want me to get some for you-"
"Dorra!", Brandy yelled, and slammed her fist into the side of the tree. It shook violently for a few seconds, and half a dozen banareies waved from their stalks.
"Could you catch those, Leon?", asked Brandy, as they fell. Leon spun his arms around as fast as he could, trying to catch them all, and somehow succeeded.
"And carry them, too.", Brandy said, making her way over to her next tree. "I have a lot of gathering to do."
Leon hurried after her, trying not to drop any of the fruits, almost bumping into Brandy in the process. She was staring down another strange tree, this one bearing fruits that looked to be a rather vibrant blue. It was almost as if the blue had been added to the fruit digitally.
"What's this one?", she asked, pointing up at it. "It's strange."
"That.", said Leon, and readjusted his grip so as to not drop all the fruit. "Is. Um."
He took a look, and tried to make something up. "The Blue fruit. Yes."
"Blue fruit…", said Brandy, and again her hand started to glow. "Doesn't sound half bad."
"Wait!", Leon said, and Brandy paused right before she threw her punch. "You can't eat those. They're not viable for consumption."
"Oh.", said Brandy, and frowned. "Darn. Follow me, then."
Leon, inwardly, sighed in relief. Although Blue fruits actually were quite edible, they were also very dense. And Leon did not wish to carry any more fruit. He would leave that up to Dan.
He had gone only a few more steps before he once again ran into Brandy, who had stopped.
"What?", he muttered under his breath. "Can I not go three steps without-"
Brandy slapped a hand over his mouth, and tried not to make any noise. "Shhh.", she said, and pointed. "Look up ahead."
"What?", Leon asked, but it was muffled through Brandy's hand. "What is it?"
"Make no sound.", Brandy said. "We don't want to scare it."
"Scare it?", asked Leon, and knit his brow together. "Scare what-"
Then Brandy grabbed his chin in her hand, pointed him towards where she was looking at, and Leon gasped.
"Oh my R'yan…", he said under his breath. "Is that a…"
"Yes.", said Brandy, and leaned a touch forward. "I've never seen one before."
"Amazing…", Leon said. "In real life- a Panda."
They both stared forward at the rolling, black and white ball of fur that lay on the ground before them. It was on its back in a bundle of bamboo shoots, sticking up out from the ground. It lazily munched on one, closed its eyes, and relaxed in the early morning sun.
"That's what they're called?", Brandy asked. "I thought they were called Panders."
"No.", Leon said, and shook his head. "Pandas. Although I could have sworn they were native to Brawltopia…"
"Really.", said Brandy. "I've never heard of them being there."
Leon turned to look at her, a strange look upon his face. "What are you talking about?", he asked. "There are totally Pandas in Brawltopia. Where do you think Panda Nita comes from?"
Brandy blinked, having no idea who or what he was talking about. "What?"
Leon shook his head, and turned back to watch the Panda some more. "Eh, just forget it. It's a me thing."
"That means it's a me thing too.", said Brandy, and grabbed his shoulder. "I'm your mom, that's why."
"But why-", Leon started to say, then stopped, as he realized that Brandy had predicted his next words. "Oh. I'm not sure about that."
"Yes, but I am.", said Brandy, and sat down on a rock. She crossed her legs and folded her arms, staring down her button nose at Leon. "Now tell me more."
"Uh, okay.", said Leon, and cleared his throat. "You see, there's this Brawler at home- her name is Nita. She has a skin that's called Panda Nita."
"Skin?", Brandy asked. "Like… star skins?"
"No.", said Leon. "It's a Gem skin."
"What?", Brandy asked in astonishment. "You can buy skins for Gems where you come from?"
"Yeah.", said Leon. "Why, can you not do it where you live?"
"No.", said Brandy. "We can only get skins with Star Points."
"Aw man, that sucks.", said Leon, and slapped his knee. "Even if Star Skins are the coolest ones."
"So… what's Nita like?", Brandy asked, trying to get back to the point. "What does she do?"
"Well, she's my sister-", Leon began, and Brandy's eyes nearly bugged out of her head.
"WHAT?", she screamed, jumping up from the stump. She sputtered for words, her hands flying everywhere. "You have a sister? But that means that-"
She slapped her hands to the side of her face, and stared down at the ground. "I had twins?"
"Woah, woah, woah.", said Leon, and stood up. "No. I mean that like she's my sister figure. Not literally my personal sister."
"Oh.", said Brandy, and her face went neutral. She sat down on the stump again, and crossed her arms. "I see."
"Yeah.", said Leon, and looked down at the ground. His eyes lit up as he noticed something, reaching down and grabbing it off the grass. He squinted, and held it up to his face.
"Hey…", he said. "Is this… gum?"
Song: Wind in the Wilderness
Brandy leaned over, and looked at the small pink material in Leon's fingers.
"Huh.", she said. "I think that is. Why is there gum out here?"
"I don't know." said Leon. "Not unless-"
He stopped, his face turning pale. He stood up, and flicked a spinner blade into each palm. "It's her.", he said with shallow breaths. "She's here."
"Who?", asked Brandy, and stood up behind him. "What's going on?"
"She found me.", said Leon. "I don't know how, but she found me."
"Who?", Brandy asked, a little louder, and stood in front of him. "Tell me who it is."
"Her name's Bibi.", said Leon, trying to keep his hands from trembling, as he remembered what she had done to him. "She chews gum, talks big, and uses a big bat."
"I see.", said Brandy, and started to carefully inch forward. "Well don't worry. Mom's here."
She threw out her hand, and shouted into the woods. "Hey! Whoever the frick Bibi is, show yourself! Now!"
She growled under her breath, flickers of purple starting to light up under her palm. "No one hurts my little boy."
She heard the pop of a bubble from in front of her, her head immediately swiveling towards the sound. There she saw a girl in a black jacket, head full of hair, casually swinging a large metal bat in one hand. With the other, she popped another piece of gum into her mouth, and began to loudly chew.
"Hey, nerd!" she shouted, and swung her bat up onto her shoulder. "Who is that with you?"
She pointed with her free hand, and chuckled. "Your mommy?"
"Yes!", shouted Brandy, and put a hand on her hips. "And who are you, his failed escort?"
Leon put his hand over his mouth, and felt the edges of his cheeks heat up a bit. Bibi was a little taken aback by the sudden insult. She gripped the edges of her bat a little tighter, and thought up a retort of her own.
"So you really are his mother, huh?", she asked, looking over Brandy with a sneer and a glare.
"Makes sense. You've both got the hood, the pre-blackened eyes, the whole green scheme…"
She chewed and popped a bubble, then took a step back. "And just from looking, I can tell you're both hard subs. So how about I start this off by getting you two on your knees, where you belong."
She snapped her fingers, and a nearby bush rustled. With a grunt of effort, the El Rudo Primo stood up, and dramatically posed. Bibi grinned, and grabbed another piece of gum out of her pocket.
"Because you may be his mother.", she said, and took a single step forward. Her bat began to glow a light purple, and started to spin. "But I guarantee that in just a few minutes…"
Her eyes narrowed. "You're both gonna be calling me Mommy."
"Hey!", came a shout of anger, and the trees parted. Dan pushed his way out of the foliage, all 21 feet of him glowing in the sunlight.
"Oh.", said Bibi, and took a step back. She looked up to El Rudo, who kept his evil smile plastered upon his face. "Hey uh…"
El Rudo nodded, and jumped back. He brought his hands up in a vicious pose, and snarled.
"Right.", said Bibi, and brought her bat out to her side.
Song: Broly begins to battle
"Dan.", said Brandy, and Dan leaned in to listen. "I'm betting these guys are from Rakastamos, same as the rest of them. But they don't look that hard."
"I should take the big guy.", said Dan, and popped his knuckles. "Or at least, big to you. He's not big at all compared to me."
"Right.", said Brandy, and gripped her own bat tighter in her hands. "And I'll take the… uh…"
She turned to Leon. "What was her name again?"
"Bibi.", said Leon. "Her name is Bibi."
"Right, thot, that was it.", said Brandy, and nodded. "Thot."
She took up a stance next to Dan, who took a deep breath as he prepared to fight. Bibi took up a stance of her own next to El Rudo, who stared at Dan from somewhere underneath his impenetrable mask. Leon just stood there, not really sure what to do.
"Yaaaah!", Brandy finally screamed, and threw herself forward, Dash flickering off of her.
Bibi snarled, and brought up her bat in front of her. El Rudo jumped forward as well, intent on landing directly upon Brandy. But before he could, a colossal blow from Dan slammed into the side of his torso, throwing him away and to the side.
"Hey!", Dan shouted, and brought up his fists. "You're fighting me!"
El Rudo laughed and crouched in an attack position, trying to conceal the fact that Dan was almost three times as tall as he was. "Buenas noches!"
Dan took a deep breath, Star flickering around his hands as El Rudo charged.
Brandy's kick landed with a loud smack upon the front of Bibi's bat with a sound that reverberated for miles. She yelled in anger, and threw another blow that almost caused the bat to slip out of Bibi's hands.
"What are you doing, twerp?", Bibi growled, and took a step back. She tightened her grip on her bat, and it started to spin with a loud whine. "You think you can take me?"
"Twerp?", Brandy yelled, remembering who else had called her that once. "You're trying to take my son from me!"
She charged up a handful of Dash, and jumped forward once again. Bibi's hands flashed as she swung her bat around almost too fast to see, somehow managing to absorb the blow.
"What-", Brandy began, and instinctively protected her head with her hand a half second before Bibi's charged Home Run shot went straight for her skull. There was another loud crack, and Brandy flew back.
"Mom!", shouted Leon, his limbs stiffening in panic, but stopped when Brandy regained control of herself. She slashed one foot into the ground, carving a deep trail before she slowly slid to a stop. She jerked herself up off of the ground, wiped a bit of blood from her mouth, and spat.
"Don't worry.", she said to Leon. "Mom's gonna beat this one into the ground."
Then she yelled again, the grass around her blowing back from the force of her energy. Brandy leapt forward right at Bibi, plowing a furrow in the dirt behind her from the energy she shed.
Bibi brought up her bat again, and grinned evilly. Even though her Home Run wouldn't be ready for a few more seconds, she could still hit pretty hard without it.
"That's right, come to me.", she said, and blew another small bubble. "Right into my-"
She was about to say "range", when Brandy suddenly seemed to vanish from her sight. She blinked and looked up, only to see nothing. She looked to the right and the left, and saw Dan and El Rudo circling each other in aggression. It occurred to her too late to look down- and that is, of course, where Brandy was.
"Ha!", Brandy yelled, and planted her feet firmly into the middle of Bibi's torso. Bibi's head flew back a second before she did, propelled from the force of the kick almost a dozen feet.
Bibi slid across the grass, her eyes spinning around in a daze, before stopping just in front of a rock. She placed a hand on the ground and stood up, spitting a bit of her own blood to the side.
"You're kind of tough, aren't you?", she said, holding her bat out to the side. It started to recharge, faint purple light running up its side. "I mean, for someone like you."
Brandy could have come up with a witty retort, but she chose not to. Instead, she just chose to change the grip on her bat, and leap forward holding it like a sharpened spike instead of a club.
Bibi took more than a few steps backwards, trying to dodge Brandy's attack- but Brandy just pushed off the ground, boosting herself with a sudden Dash. Bibi brought up her bat just in time to block Brandy's attack- but the force wasn't simply absorbed. Instead, Brandy actually bounced away, using the returned energy to skid further back into the tall grass.
There was hardly even an elapsed second before Brandy once again attacked, striking forwards with her fist out. Bibi spun around her bat, trying to block- but as Brandy extended her leg, that suddenly didn't work anymore. Bibi yelped as Brandy's foot connected with her stomach, sending her backwards and almost knocking her into the ground.
But unlike the last times, Bibi didn't wait to recover. She instead lashed out instantly, catching Brandy off guard and surprising her with a hard whack to the ribs. Brandy hissed under her breath, jumping backwards as well, now subconsciously clutching her ribcage.
Brandy thought for a moment, trying to decide the best course of action. Bibi seemed to be rather strong, but she didn't seem to be able to take that much. Brandy could use that to her advantage- if she was somehow able to avoid getting hit. But Brandy actually had a shorter range than Bibi- out-maneuvering her would be tricky.
But, she reminded herself, just because something was tricky did not mean that it could not be done.
So she jumped forward again, not even saying a word. Bibi nodded, and once again brought up her bat to strike. She swung it right at Brandy- not expecting that Brandy would dodge, slip right up underneath the bat's range, and deliver a powerful elbow directly to Bibi's stomach.
Bibi gasped and swung, but Brandy was too quick. She threw up an arm and moved the attack aside, following up with another strong knee right to Bibi's chest.
Bibi let herself be carried by the force of the attack, feeling herself gain some distance from Brandy. She slowly took a piece of high-powered bubble gum out of her pocket, popped it into her mouth, and began to chew.
"You think you're funny, huh?', she asked, and started to grow a bubble. "You think you're so tough?"
Leon's eyes widened- he had seen this buildup enough times to know exactly what was coming next. He stretched out his hand, trying to give Brandy a warning. "Mom!", he shouted in mild panic. "Look out! She's gonna-"
"Then chew…", Bibi said, and blew the bubble. It hovered over her, almost as large as she was. Brandy looked to Leon, trying to figure out what he was shouting about. "What?"
"On this!", Bibi finished, and released her attack. The gigantic ball of magically charged bubble gum flew forward, light glinting off of it as it barreled straight for Brandy.
"That.", said Leon, and shrugged. "Avoid it!"
"Yeah.", said Brandy, and crouched. "I figured."
As the giant buble rolled towards her, Brandy continued to run. She picked up speed as she went, silver Dash lines flickering around her, until her skin began to vibrate.
She breathed in, trying to calm herself. She saw the way the bubble moved- she could tell that it was going to automatically target her. So instead of trying to outrun it, she did what no one would expect- and that was to close her eyes.
She didn't see anything, as was expected. However, she could still feel- and that was the important part. She could feel the aura of the giant bubble in her mind's eye, seeing not only where it was, but also where it was going to be. She saw every potential path it could take, and knew exactly what she had to do in order to avoid it.
Brandy spun on one finger around on the grass, as the bubble roared past her. It soon stopped, reversed course without turning, and sped up again, but by that time Brandy had moved on. She tapped one heel against the ground, leaning back just enough to dodge. Her hair slowly blew as she did so, far slower than it would have in any ordinary wind.
Bib growled in frustration, flicking her finger around in order to guide the bubble- but to her increasing anger, Brandy was able to somehow dodge each and every shot.
"What the…", she spat, taking another look at Brandy. "What is she?"
Yet even as she kept up the relentless attack, Brandy was coming ever closer. She not only dodged with every leap- she was slowly, surely closing the distance between her and Bibi.
Finally, after one particularly fancy dodge in which she seemed almost to turn intangible, Bibi dropped her fingers. The bubble continued onwards without her guidance, vanishing somewhere into the woods.
Brandy opened up her eyes again, no longer able to sense the bubble's energy. She saw Bibi in front of her, huffing and panting from all the spent energy. Brandy pushed against the ground in another leap, and aimed right for her opponent.
"You…", they both growled, and tightened their grips on their bats. "Die!"
They swung at the same time, just as they reached each other. Bibi had had time to fully charge her Home Run, and Brandy's blow was Dash-enhanced. The two superpowered impacts met each other in a flash of light and sound, sending a nearly visible shockwave out through the entire area that flattened the grass.
Brandy and Bibi stared into each other's eyes as they both pushed, each struggling to gain some upper hand. But after a few seconds, Bibi's superior bat strength had won out- Brandy's cracked all down the middle, collapsing to bits of wood upon the ground.
"Ha!", Bibi yelled, and pushed down. "How do you like that, you bi-"
Then she stopped talking. For although Brandy's bat had broken, that didn't even slow her down. In the time that Bibi had taken to talk, she had already slammed her boot as hard as she could into the underside of Bibi's chin.
"Swing…", Bibi groaned, as her eyes rolled back in her head. Her grip loosened, and she fell unconscious to the grassy ground. "... and a miss."
"Hmph.", said Brandy, and wiped the sweat from her brow. "Nobody hurts my little boy."
Leon watched her in awe, as she grabbed Bibi's bat from her grasp and threw it to the side. She gathered a huge amount of Dash in her left hand, straining from the effort, and held it above Bibi's neck for the kill.
Then Leon saw it- a flash of pink and purple from somewhere behind him. He ducked as soon as the sight reached his eyes, throwing himself down to the ground. He saw Bibi's bubble pass overhead- somehow, she had recalled it at the very last second.
Leon had two choices here. Either he could shout to try and warn Brandy- but there was no guarantee that would work. The bubble was traveling very fast, perhaps too fast for him to shout in time. That left only one other.
Brandy was just about to swipe through Bibi's neck, finishing her off, when she heard a strange sound from somewhere behind her. She turned on instinct and saw Bibi's bubble bearing down on her- then it vanished.
She blinked, and heard the roar of Hunter Killer's bullets. They flashed through the air right next to her, plowing into the soft dirt with a small explosion each. And there stood Leon behind them, Stand drawn, one eye closed.
"Thank you, Leon.", said Brandy, and let the Dash disappear from her hand. "I missed that."
Leon gave a weary thumbs up, and staggered forward. "No problem, Mom. It's no problem at all."
Nearby in the same field, El Rudo and Dan's battle was nearing it's short climax. El Rudo, big and strong as he was, had stood no chance against the much larger and much more powerful Dan. El Rudo was breathing heavily, his muscles sore and his mask ripped in places, while Dan had hardly even broken a sweat.
But inwardly, El Rudo smiled. He had somehow landed enough hits on Dan to charge his super, and a faint yellow light came off of him. Flames soared deep within him, ready to be unleashed upon landing from his legendary elbow drop. He just had to land a direct hit on Dan and then attack with all he had, and he could win this battle.
"Ellll…", he shouted, and jumped into the air. He soared, elbow out, right towards Dan.
"Primo-", he continued, and noticed that his attack had ended prematurely. He then noticed that the reason for this was that Dan had reached out a hand and caught him, before he could properly land. He stared at El Rudo with a face that was an odd mixture between boredom and total contempt. "-ooooh shoot-"
"ORA!", Dan roared, and punched El Rudo with such force he was blown off of Dan's hand and into the sky. He screamed as he went, old flames falling from him, until he landed next to Bibi's unconscious body with a loud fwump. He too sent up a large plume of dirt- the area had unusually soft and malleable soil.
Brandy stared down at the two, beaten and bruised, totally out cold. Leon stared over her shoulder, silently counting in his head to see if they would get back up. After a few seconds Dan came over to join them, Star still held in his hands just in case.
"What should we do with them?", Brandy asked. "Kill them?"
"I think we should get information out of them.", said Dan. "Find out more about Rakastamos."
"Guys…", said Leon, and winced. As much as it pained him to tell the truth, he knew that he had to do it. "Mom… Dad.."
"What is it, sweetie?", Brandy asked, turning. "Is there something you have to tell us?"
Leon looked at Bibi, feeling a little sorry for her. Now that she was knocked out and the spell likely broken, she looked a lot less malicious. In fact, she almost looked sad.
"I know these two…", he said. "They're sort of my family. Please don't kill them. They're not usually like this."
"Oh.", said Brandy. She wasn't entirely sure how that worked, but she was guessing it was similar to how troops all lived in castles. "Okay. I guess we'll leave them then."
"Right…", said Dan, although he didn't exactly relish the thought. "Let's move on."
And so they walked away, leaving Bibi and El Rudo sleeping peacefully, a note on each of their faces that said "Do not disturb". Also each of them were missing the bacon sandwiches they had brought for the journey, because Dan was getting a little hungry. Brandy, however, had declined to eat any. She just didn't like meat.
Far away, in a small research laboratory precariously perched atop an ancient cliff, a Valkyrie was working the morning shift.
"All signs of the range point towards normal.", she muttered, writing things down in one of her various notebooks. "No sign of anything dangerous."
She took a bite of her roast beef sandwich, and took a glance over at the array of seismographs beside her. She noticed something odd in the one furthest to the right.
She saw the paper tremble, the needle scratching anxious marks. She slowly put down her sandwich, put on her glasses, tightened her lab coat, and made her way over.
"What…", she whispered to herself, peering down at the glass display. The needle once again jumped, going past the 3 inch "Safe" zone and into the "Caution" zone. That couldn't be a good sign of anything.
She gasped softly, realizing this was too important not to share. She turned away from the seismograph and swiftly walked to her supervisor's office, all the way across the lab. But what she failed to notice, missing it by just a few seconds, was that the needle jumped up again, this time all the way into the 9 inch "Danger" zone.
"Uh, sir?", she asked, and slowly pushed the door open. Her supervisor, a kindly old Wizard, was reclining in a large stuffed chair, fast asleep.
She sighed and placed one hand on the chair, shaking it gently a bit to wake him. "Sir?", she asked again, louder. But still, there was no reply.
The Valkyrie rolled her eyes, and shook the chair vigorously. "Sir!", she shouted, and the Wizard awoke with a start, fumbling around and trying to find his glasses.
"What?", he shouted, flailing around. "What is it, Stella? What, what?"
Stella pushed his glasses down off of his forehead in front of his eyes, and the Wizard stopped moving around. He blinked, adjusted the glasses a little bit, and spun his chair to face Stella with a friendly, if confused, smile. "Ah, that's better. Thank you. Now what is it you have to speak to me about?"
The worried look on Stella's face was all he needed to hear. The Wizard nodded solemnly, got up, and leaned on the wall. "I see.", he said. "Bring me to the emergency."
"Well, I wouldn't exactly say emergency.", said Stella, gently escorting him out of the office and towards the seismographs. "But I think you should take a look at it all the same."
When the two reached her workstation, the Wizard's eyes furrowed in anger. "Stella?", he said. "What have I told you about eating in your station?"
"I'm sorry, sir, but that's not what I wanted to speak to you about.", said Stella, and grabbed the paper from one of the seismographs. "Look at this!"
"What?", the Wizard grunted, and grabbed the paper. He held it in front of his face and squinted, trying to make sense of it. "I hope this isn't another one of your-"
Then he stopped, realizing just what it was that he was looking at. His eyes widened, and his fingers began to shake. Before Stella could stop him, he dropped the paper onto the floor, and turned to look out the windows towards the Clashcrush Mountains.
"No.", he said, barely even able to hear himself. "Noooo…."
"What?", Stella said, worried to see her usually collected supervisor like this. "What is it?"
"Call someone.", said the Wizard, and pointed towards the nearby phone, not removing his gaze from the tallest mountain in the range. "Right. Now."
Stella nodded, and ran over to the phone. She dialed the first number she could think of- another researcher that worked at the lab every other day.
"It's….", said the Wizard, and continued to stare forward. Dark memories flooded his mind, memories of when he was but a young boy. "It's…"
"Hello, Emmaline?", the Valkyrie said, trying to get her co-worker on the phone.
"Yes?", said Emmaline the Princess, on the other line. "What is it?"
"I'm…", said Stella, and took a deep breath. "Detecting seismic activity."
"Is that what you called me for?", asked Emmaline with annoyance. "Because I-"
"No.", said Stella, hoping Emmaline would remember the code they used. "I mean I'm detecting seismic activity."
Stella could hear Emmaline's phone almost drop from her hands, as she realized what this meant. "Oh…", she could hear quietly from the other end. "Oh my Se'th…"
"It's…", said the Wizard quietly, still looking out the window. "Him…"
Song: Desperate Plan
"Okay.", said Brandy, once all three of them had walked a sufficient amount of distance away from the two defeated enemies. "Let's stop here for a moment."
"Yes, please.", said Leon, dropping to his knees. "My back is killing me."
"What, already?", asked Dan, coming to a halt. "It's not been that long."
"That's not why we're stopping.", said Brandy. "We're stopping because we need information. Information that Leon has."
Leon's eyes widened. "Woah, where are you going with this-"
"I mean that we're just gonna ask you!", Brandy said, suddenly finding herself hugging Leon. "Don't worry, we're not gonna hurt you. Sorry."
"Right…", said Leon, and cast a wary eye at Dan. Even if he knew that Brandy would never hurt him, he wasn't as sure about Dan. "Sure…"
"Yes.", said Brandy, and clapped her hands. "Now, Leon. You said those were called Brawlers… correct?"
"Yes.", said Leon, with a nod. "Bibi and El Primo. Although I guess he was really more of an El Rudo-"
"And will there be more coming?", Brandy asked, drawing a circle in the dirt. "If so, what and when?"
"Well, uh…", said Leon, trying to remember all the members that Mortis would have likely recruited. "I know there's Tick, and Rico, and Tara, and Gene, and-"
"Woah, woah.", said Dan, and Leon flinched. "Slow down. We don't know who any of those are."
"Oh.", said Leon. "Right. So, basically…"
He held out his hand towards Brandy, who dropped the stick into his own. He started scratching the ground with its sharp end, making a line of marked soil. "There's Tick. He throws mines a lot. Everywhere. All the time."
He drew a Tick- it was nothing too realistic, but it was good to go by. "Watch out for him."
"Okay.", said Brandy, and flickered. She reappeared behind Leon, and wiggled her fingers.
"And then there's Rico.", said Leon, drawing a simple Rico in the dirt. "Some people call him Ricochet, but I-"
Then he felt someone touch his back, and he jumped a full eight feet into the air. He immediately spun around to see who had done it, only to find Brandy.
"Woah, Mom.", he said, trying to calm himself down. "What are you doing-"
"What?", Brandy asked, and shrugged. "You said your back was hurting. I figured I might as well massage it."
"Oh.", said Leon, and relaxed a tiny bit. "I guess you can do that."
"Yay!", Brandy said, and grinned. She rolled up her sleeves, popped her knuckles, and laid her hands upon Leon's upper back. "I like giving massages. They're fun."
"Right…", said Leon, and turned his attention back to his drawing. "So anyway, there's Rico. He can shoot bullets that bounce off of stuff. Pretty dangerous to face if you're stuck."
He felt Brandy's hands press against his back, and he began to get a bit woozy. But he blinked a few times, and moved on.
"And then there's Gene.", said Leon, not even noticing that he had skipped one. "He can shoot a huge hand that grabs people. Right where they are."
Brandy's wrist suddenly twisted open a small socket in his back, and Leon took in a sharp breath. He could feel his cheeks get a little hot, but he was determined to push on.
"And then. Um.", he said. "There's Tara. She can… um...like…"
He was struggling to still maintain speech, while Brandy kept on pushing his muscles and popping his joints. Leon groaned just a little bit, and dropped the stick.
"There.", said Brandy with a grin. "Now doesn't that feel all better?"
"Yes.", said Leon, trying not to make a sound that he didn't want to. "It does."
"Ooh…", said Brandy, with a sly smile. "Then how about…"
Leon tensed a bit, before Brandy slipped her hands underneath his hoodie and grabbed him by the sides of his torso. "This?"
Leon's eyes suddenly went a little weak, and his hearing clouded up. His heart threatened to beat out of his chest, and he sucked in a deep breath.
"Uummm…", he said, unable to say anything else. The positive attention he was finally getting was just too much for him yet. "Ummm…"
Then as Brandy started actually massaging his back instead of just holding it, Leon's eyes rolled back into his head. He audibly moaned, and fell face first onto the dirt. "Woaaah…"
Brandy looked at him, and her eyes tightened. "Aww, do I have a tired little boy?"
"Yes…", said Leon, barely able to speak. "I'm a tired boy…"
"Mmm…", said Brandy, and grabbed his hair. "I think you need to wake up though. There's still so much that you have to tell us."
"Right!", Leon shouted, jolting awake. A small bolt of Star had reached him from underground, giving his nervous system a sudden boost. "I do. I do, I do, I do."
He hurriedly reached for his stick, sketching out the form of one more brawler. "And then there was the leader- Mortis."
"Mmm…", said Brandy, taking a look. He looked oddly familiar, although Brandy could not quite place why. "And what can he do?"
"Well, he dashes.", said Leon, and Brandy's eyes widened. "And he has a really sharp shovel and can summon Bats."
"Wait… dashes?", Brandy asked. "You mean like- like me?"
"What?", Leon asked. "You can do that?"
Brandy stared at him in shock. "Of course I can do that!", she said. "What do you think this is?"
She gathered Dash in one hand and punched the ground, sending out a small shockwave. Then she jumped into the air and Dashed even higher, coming down with a soft timp.
"Uhhh…", Leon said. "Yeah I'm pretty sure he can't do something like that."
Brandy huffed, blowing her bangs out of her face. "He better."
"Yeah…", said Leon, once more picking up his stick. He drew a pair of X's over Mortis's eyes. "I'm pretty sure he's dead now though. I shot him full of holes yesterday afternoon."
"Oh.", said Dan, leaning over. "Did you now?"
"Yes.", said Leon, shrinking back a little. "That is what I said, yes."
"Hm.", said Dan, and returned to his previous position. "Just making sure."
"Alright…", Brandy said, and stood up. "So that's all the Brawlers? All the ones we have to look out for?"
"Well, there may be a few others.", said Leon, trying to think. "They might have brought along a Rosa. Or maybe a Bull. Or perhaps even a-"
Then his eyes lit up, and he remembered. "Oh, right!", he said, and started to sketch again. "I almost forgot about the Sandy!"
Brandy tightened a bit, as she remembered about Sandy. "Yes, him-"
"So Sandy can throw sand.", said Leon, drawing as fast as he could. "He can be dangerous to go up against, but-"
You know, we already know about this, thought Brandy, and Dan looked up. Want me to tell him?
Sure. Go ahead, was Dan's silent response. Tell your new pet anything you want.
Wha-, Brandy thought, and her eyes started to get a little wet. Dan, what are you talking about?
You're treating him like a pet, said Dan. All the petting and care and baby talk.
Yeah, because he is in fact my child, thought Brandy, with a slight huff of her nose. In case you have forgotten.
No, no, I remember, said Dan, and looked up. Your child, alright. Not mine.
Brandy took a step back, stepping on Leon's hand. A single tear fell from her eye, unable to focus on anything else- not even Leon's yelps of pain and protest.
"Dan…", she said out loud, not even bothering for secrecy. "I thought…"
She looked down at the dirt, the tears beginning to fall from her eyes. "You… loved me…"
"What?", Dan gasped, and stood up. He walked over to Brandy in a single massive step, Leon just barely managing to dodge out of the way. He scooped up Brandy in his massive hands, despite her weak attempts to fight him off.
"Brandy.", he said, staring her in the eyes with all the force he could muster. "I do love you. No matter what. So where are you getting this from?"
Brandy pointed towards Leon, who was staring up at them in immeasurable awkwardness. "But you don't love him. And he's part of me."
"Yes, but-", Dan said, and sighed deeply. "He's not all you. He's him too."
He gripped Brandy tighter, trying to give her the best hug he could. "And every time I see you giving him a hug, or massaging his back… it's like you're doing those things to him."
"Dan, I know that.", said Brandy. "But I can't just ignore him and treat him like that. He needs love. Look at him."
Leon just stood there sort of awkwardly, shifting back and forth on both feet. "He doesn't know who his biological father was. He has no trace of him inside his soul. He just knows his real father- and that's you."
Dan sighed, and gripped Brandy tighter. "I know that, Brandy. I'm trying to be. I just… I love you. You know that, right?"
"Yes., said Brandy, and let herself be hugged. "I do."
"And I still hate him.", said Dan. "Almost as much as I love you. I'm sure he's burning or rotting in Hell somewhere- but I still hate him. You know that."
"Yes.", said Brandy. "I hate him too. And yet, I still love Leon."
She stroked Dan's chin, looking up at him with big pleading eyes. "So can't you just give him a chance?"
Dan thought for a moment, then sighed deeply. "I'll try, Brandy.", he said. "I will try."
They hugged each other again, pressing tightly against each other, until they heard Leon cough from behind. He slowly rocked back and forth on his heels, rolling his lollipop around in his mouth.
"So, uh…", he said. "I'm sure that conversation was important and all, but aren't we supposed to be somewhere by nightfall?"
"Oh, right.", said Brandy, and gently tapped on Dan's arm. He looked up and down, and Brandy tipped her head upwards. Dan nodded, and gently placed her on his shoulder. "Yes."
"We're going to one of the clanmates.", said Dan, with an affirmative tone. "I believe his name was...um…"
Brandy started to reach for the map in Dan's back pocket, but he just flicked his hand into the air, and Brandy withdrew. She still gave his back packet an affectionate tap. "Never mind that. We know where he is, and we need to get going."
"Well, where is he?", Leon asked, reaching for Dan's hand. But Dan just looked straight ahead, pretending not to notice. "Dad, could you give me a lift?"
"Brandy, where is he?", asked Dan, again pretending not to notice Leon. "Could you get the map?"
If you let Leon onto your shoulder, Brandy thought, but didn't say. She didn't exactly want to offend Dan any further. So she just sighed, rolled her eyes, and once again reached towards Dan's pocket. She had almost reached it when Dan suddenly stopped, bouncing her against his back and almost causing her to let go.
"What is it now-", she said, then Dan grabbed her across the waist. He threw her back onto his shoulder, his other hand reaching out in front of Leon. Whether he did it on purpose or just out of habit was unknown to any of them.
"There's something out there.", he said, whispering so as to better hear. "Listen."
They all stopped, and listened as hard as they could. Leon struggled to hear anything but the sounds of the forest, the rustling of leaves in the wind and the constant trill of birdsong. Dan could hear something, of course- a faint, barely perceptible humming at the very top of his hearing. Brandy, however, with her sensitive ears could hear it well, the sound of walking machinery on stubby little legs.
"I hear it.", she said, tilting her head one way and the other. "But I can't quite tell what it is. It does seem to be coming from the left…"
Dan thought for a moment, then raised his open palm. He took a deep breath, and golden light began to flow into it. "Shining…"
Then a lightning fast volley of blades flew by him, slicing into the woods like a sword through hot butter. He looked down in surprise, to see Leon flashing his own fingers.
Dan let his hand fall, as Leon continued the storm of metal. Once he was done, he took a deep breath, put his hands on his hips, and rolled his lollipop around in his mouth. "Well, whatever it was…"
He looked up at Dan and Brandy, a hopeful look in his eyes. "I think it's gone now."
Brandy smiled and gave a soft clap. "Good job, sweetie. That was wonderful."
But Dan just looked away, continuing to walk.
Song: Calm Sightseeing
Not overly far away, but about an hour later, at the village of Atoy the Great, an Archer Queen was leaning against a wall, inspecting her fingernails. She huffed her hair out of her face, and the Builder beside her waited patiently.
"When is my suit gonna be done polishing?", she asked. "I'm getting a little bored."
"Sorry, Rachel.", said the Builder, and bowed. "It will be another couple of hours."
"Sorry?", asked Rachel, and waved her hand. "Oh, psha. You're fine. No need to apologize. Really."
"Ah.", said the Builder, and straightened up. "Thank you, Rachel."
"Yeah, you're cool.", said Rachel (known to her friends as Kayce) the Archer Queen, and took a quick glance at her watch. She looked up towards the horizon and the treeline, and squinted.
"When are our clan castle troops supposed to be here?", she asked, and the Builder shrugged. "Clan mail said they were supposed to arrive half an hour ago."
"I don't know, madam.", said the Builder, leaning against the walls as well. He took out a piece of grass from his pocket, lit the tip, and stuck it in his mouth. "I don't know."
He took a deep drag on his handmade cigar, when Rachel slapped it out of his mouth with a single finger. He turned in protest, but Rachel just shook her head.
"Don't smoke, George.", she said in disappointment. "It's bad for you."
Elsewhere in the forest, in a location that grew closer to that village with every step, was the semi-exhausted trio of Dan, Brandy, and Leon.
"Mom?", asked Leon, leaning lethargically forward on Dan's shoulder. "I'm hungry. Like, I'm really, really hungry."
Brandy looked up from where she lay curled around Dan's neck, and adjusted her crooked hood. "Well, you have that lollipop if you're hungry."
"Yeah, but I can't eat that.", Leon whined. "I need something else."
"You can eat it, honey.", said Brandy, and Dan noticeably twitched. "You're fine."
She looked up, and saw that Leon's face hadn't changed. "Or do you mean that you literally can't eat it?"
Leon sighed, and bit down as hard as he could on the lollipop. It didn't show any sign of wear at all. "I've been sucking on it for months, and it hasn't gone down."
"Hmmm…", said Brandy, and a thought suddenly occurred to her. She was his mother. Mothers typically fed their children in a way that only they could.
She bit on her lip a bit, and thought about it. Sure, he wasn't exactly a baby, but he was still her own offspring. And the only other one around to see it was Dan, so maybe-
"Here.", she heard Dan say, interrupting her train of thought. She saw him hold up a branch full of fruit, grabbed off of a random tree. "Heard you were hungry."
Brandy almost grabbed for the branch, hungry as well, when she noticed that she had unconsciously begun to lower her tunic. Her face turned a little redder as she hurriedly pulled it back up, hoping that nobody had noticed.
"Yeah, thanks.", said Leon, and plucked a piece of fruit off of the branch. He eagerly bit into it, then noticed Brandy trying to right the awkward position of her clothes.
"Hey, uh, Mom?", Leon asked, taking another bite, and Brandy stiffened. "Were you just trying to-"
"No!", Brandy yelped, and pulled her tunic back on. She looked away, and grabbed Dan by the neck. "I mean, I don't know what you're talking about. Hmph."
"Right…", Leon said, and took another bite. He wiped the juices from his chin, and swallowed.
I'm kinda into that sort of stuff, really, he thought to himself. It's almost a shame she's my mother. And married. To a man who hates me and could most likely kill me with a single blow.
He looked down at his legs, and tucked them near to himself. He audibly sniffed, causing Brandy's mom senses to activate and her to look up.
"Leon?", she asked, crawling across Dan's shoulders and placing a hand on Leon's knee. "Is everything alright?"
"No.", said Leon, and slightly turned away. "He still hates me. And I'm still hungry and I still have no idea where we're going and I'm still being followed."
Brandy sighed, and squeezed his knee a little bit. He tensed a little bit, then relaxed at the touch. "He doesn't hate you, Leon.", she said. "He's just… you remind him of someone else. That's all."
"Who?", asked Leon. "My real father?"
"Well- I mean…", Brandy said, and shut her eyes. She tried to not think about him, but it was hard to keep the intrusive thoughts from her mind. "Yes. The man who shares his genes with you was an absolute monster. But he's dead now. I killed him."
She brought up her other hand and pulsed her Dash, filling it with a soft silver light. "With my own hands. And his brother too."
Leon gulped, trying to imagine what his biological father could have been like to warrant such actions. "Oh.", he said. "I see. And how do I fit into this?"
"Well, you are technically Ch-", Brandy began, then caught herself. "His child. Even if you're my son now, and by extension, Dan's. But he doesn't see that."
"I can hear you, you know.", said Dan, and gave his shoulders a small flex. Both Brandy and Leon bounced a few inches in the air, and Brandy's nostrils flared.
"Yes, Dan.", she said. "I know you can hear us. But I'm trying to talk to you too-"
Only then did she realize what Leon had said last. She slowly turned to look at him, alarm rising from within her. "Leon?", she asked. "Did you say you were… being followed?"
Song: Second Bomb
"Yes.", said Leon, and felt the tail on his jacket begin to twitch. It wasn't technically part of his body, but it still reacted to certain stimuli. "I probably should have mentioned that sooner."
"By who?", Brandy asked. "Where are they? Are they the Brawlers you showed us before- oh. They're those, aren't they?"
"Yes.", said Leon. "So… I guess I did mention it before then."
"Right…", said Dan, and stopped in his tracks. He looked down, to see small tracks running across the dirt. "Does this look like any of your friends to you?"
"They're not my friends.", said Leon, and looked down. He could see the tracks, alternating holes in the dirt. "But yes. They look like they're from a-"
His words were interrupted when there came a metallic thwump from the other side of the nearby treeline. A trio of blinking metal objects flew out of the bushes and landed on the trail, right in front of Dan. Leon winced. "Tick."
"A Tick…", Brandy murmured, and tried to remember. "Was that the one that throws bombs?"
"Yes.", said Leon. "He throws a lot, and he throws them everywhere. He's super annoying."
"They don't seem to be doing much.", said Dan, and pointed a single finger. He shot out a beam of Star that pierced straight through the third bomb, triggering it's explosion. The shockwave hit the other two, causing them to explode as well. "And they're not very strong."
"Yeah, but it's the amount of them that matters.", said Leon. "They're weak individually, but they can get very dangerous in groups."
Dan thought for a moment, then started walking again. "Well, let's get going.", he said. "Better than just staying here and letting ourselves get bombarded."
"Dad, wait!", Leon shouted, and held out an arm. Dan hesitated, but did stop in his tracks. He was glad he did- for there in front of him, not even a full step away, the path was covered with a dozen ticking bombs.
"Hmm.", said Dan, and once again raised a finger. "He's not very accurate, now is he?"
"No.", said Leon, and his brain began to think. "He doesn't seem to be firing them with much accuracy. It almost makes me wonder if-"
Then half the bombs vanished, and Leon looked up. "Duck!"
Dan threw his arms over them in a huge protective shield, Brandy grabbing Leon and sliding underneath. The fresh batch of mines detonated upon Dan's arms, the explosion impressive even if the bombs themselves didn't do much.
"Huh.", said Leon, looking out. "That's weird. Usually he doesn't aim directly at people."
"Hmph.", said Dan, and looked at his barely touched arms. "Looks like it didn't even do much."
"No.", said Leon, and realized what Tick had been trying to do. He looked up again and around, searching for the inevitable attack. "He's just trying to charge."
"Charge?", Dan asked, then heard a peculiar sound coming from the top of the bush.
There, hanging in the air for half a second, was a veritable blanket of bombs. Then the half second ended, and the bombs all started to fall, straight towards Dan.
"Dang it!", he shouted, and leapt backwards. The bombs fell towards the ground, colliding with the dirt- except for one, just barely nicking Dan at the edge of his foot.
Leon counted all the bombs that had gone off so far, did some calculations in his head, and shivered. "Shoot.", he said. "That last bomb- it was enough damage for his super."
"His super?", asked Dan, and bent down. Both Brandy and Leon slid off of his shoulder, Brandy taking a stance and Leon's eyes widening in panic. "Here. Take the back."
"What's his super?", Dan asked, his bias against Leon vanishing in the face of combat. "What do we have to watch out for?"
"Um-", Leon said, then heard a metallic ring at the edge of his vision. He slowly turned towards it, to see a bouncing, smiling, metal head.
"Look over here!", it shouted, leaned towards him, and shot forward faster than it had any right to. "Look at me!"
"That!", Leon said, and crossed his arms in defense. But it would be useless against the massive explosion. He screamed as it drew closer, ticking and whirring manically, until-
Until Brandy jumped forward and stuck out her arm, momentarily covering herself with Dash to block the explosion. Tick's head smacked against her, detonating in a nasty looking blast, but when the smoke cleared, there was no damage that had been done.
To Brandy, anyway. Some of the blast had hit Leon, streaking his face with soot and a tiny streak of blood. He blinked a few times, trying to clear his face of the damage. Brandy's arm had left a negative tattoo of the ash across his face, a mask of clear skin across his eyes.
"That was close.", said Brandy, and turned around. "Are you okay?"
Leon rubbed his arm across his face, and blinked a few more times. "Yes.", he said. "I'm okay."
"Good.", said Brandy, and gave him a tight hug. She buried her face in his neck, his one inch of height on her allowing her to do so. "I don't want you hurt."
Dan breathed out a little, and drew himself up to his full height. "Let's get whatever was in this bush, shall we?", he boomed, and then refilled his lungs.
"Yes.", Brandy said, and broke off the hug. She turned to the bush, charging up Dash in her right fist. "You break the bush, I'll kill the thing."
"And I'll shoot it.", said Leon, and spun around his hand. With a flash of light, Hunter Killer appeared in his grasp. "I guess."
Dan yelled, and shot out a blast of energy so bright it illuminated every inch of the forest around them like a noonday sun. "Overdrive Cannon!"
Brandy and Leon both stumbled back behind Dan, as the blast from his hand shot forward. It tore the bush into atoms, continuing onwards through the woods. A Tick briefly became visible for less than a second before the blast hit him, turning him into a red splotch almost faster than the eye could see. The blast shot upwards into the sky after about a thousand feet, leaving behind a patch of burned forest that extended far onwards.
"Oh.", said Brandy, and let her charge drop from her hand. Her fingers tingled a little bit as she did so. "Or not."
"Hm.", said Leon, and made a gesture. Hunter Killer disappeared back into his hand, and he folded his arms inside of his pockets. "Well, you did destroy the bush."
"Yep.", said Dan, and put down his hand. "That was impressive, wasn't it?"
"It was.", said Brandy, and slowly walked over to him. She crouched, then jumped onto his shoulder. Laying across him, she slowly ran her fingers across his ear. "My big strong man…"
Then she yanked on his ear, prompting a shocked "What?", from him. "That just destroyed a thousand feet of forest and told every enemy in the valley exactly where we were! Dan, what were you thinking?"
"Ow!", Dan said, and winced as Brandy again tugged on his ear. He took a step back, flattening a bush and forcing Leon to dodge. "I was just trying to make sure he was dead!"
"Yes, but any one of us could have done that!", Brandy said. "You didn't need to go full Dragon Cannon on him!"
"Yes, you could have, but I wanted to make sure I could do something like that.", said Dan. "Just in case we ran into something really strong, and I needed to protect you."
Brandy stopped tugging on Dan's ear, and relaxed. "Oh.", she said. "You mean… you were doing that… for me?"
"Yes.", said Dan, and brought his hand lower to the ground. Leon hopped into his grasp, and Dan gently set him down, right next to Brandy. "I do. And I was."
"Oh.", said Brandy, and brightened slightly up. She took her hands off of his ear, and moved them to his neck. "Well then. I guess that's better. You did give away our position though…"
"I'm sure it'll be fine.", said Dan, giving her a little pat on the back. She gave a quiet purr, and arched her back as he did so. "We just gotta keep walking."
Dan started to walk down the path, giving a few looks around as he did so. Even though no enemies were likely around, it still could not hurt to check.
"Where are we going, again?", asked Leon. "To what village?"
Brandy just shrugged, figuring that Dan wasn't going to answer. "Don't worry about it, sweetie.", she said, and started to stroke his arm. "Just wait till we get there."
"Mom?", asked Leon, and started to slide off of Dan's shoulders. "I'm getting kind… of… tired…"
Brandy patted her lap, and spread her legs just a few inches for a good resting spot. "You can lay on me, Leon. My little boy."
"Yes.", said Leon, and closed his eyes. He instantly fell into Brandy's lap, his back reclining between her thighs. "Just gonna…"
Then he was asleep, and Brandy smiled.
I have a son, she thought. A real son, asleep in my lap.
Then her own eyelids grew heavy, and closed. She fell forwards, laying across Leon's back, the rhythmic pattern of Dan's footsteps and the crunch of the rocks underfoot lulling her to sleep.
Song: Propaganda
Far away, somewhere around the middle of the vast continent, there was a range of small mountains. In the middle of these rough, weather-scarred mountains was a small valley, both rocky and volcanic and overgrowing with life. And in the exact middle of that bizarre valley was an immense shining tower, the outsides constructed of the purest ivory.
Yes, this was the legendary Ivory Tower, the place constructed thousands of years ago in order to defend the world from any threats that might threaten to destroy it. Legions of elite, battle hardened troops constantly patrolled its halls and perimeter, nothing escaping their veteran gazes. From Archers and Goblins to Pekkas, Barbarian Kings, and things not yet even given names, the forces of the Ivory Tower were immense.
Deep down in the basement, experiments were constantly running. Hundreds of Wizards from all walks of life congregated together, pushing the limits of science beyond the boundaries of mere rational thought. Regular Wizards, Ice Wizards, Electro Wizards, even the rare and wild Plasma Wizards all produced fantastical creations for their leader.
Even further below, in the understories of the deep down structure, Witches and Night Witches pursued their own works. These were not flashy and physical fabrications like the Wizards- no, they built far stranger things. Bizarre potions and ancient scrolls, raw implementations of mental trickery that boiled and spit at their glass jars. Magical equations that revealed the secrets of life and reality themselves were scrawled across chalkboards, argued over, and eventually put towards constructive use.
The middle of the tower, and really most of the compound, was home to rank upon rank and legion upon legion of Troops. Barbarians sparred with Knights, both of them exceeding their natural levels and moving beyond. Archers practiced almost nonstop, being able to shoot behind themselves in a rainstorm and hit a moving drop. Pekkas and Golems were constantly being worked upon, all sorts of modifications being made to make them into the best fighters they could possibly be. Exotic troops- everything from Ram Riders to Flying Machines- trained there as well, bursting with power far above what they could ever find in the Arenas. And yet, it was not just Troops that trained at the Ivory Tower.
It was also home to Brawlers, come to train in defense of their homeland. The Troops of the Boom Beaches were there as well, bringing their advanced technology to fuse with the magic of Clash. Even a few farmers from the Hay Day farms made the Ivory Tower their homestead- the troops all had to eat.
And at the very top of the tower, supervising the entire operation, was a man known in myth throughout most of the entire known world. The legendary Wizard, the one who currently served as The World's Protector, descendent of the one who first sealed Rakastamos away- the one and only Askari the 15th.
At the moment, he was in his room, arms folded behind him, standing in front of the picture window. He looked out over the entire valley at once, scratching his chin and beard with his mechanical hand. His technomagical eye zoomed rapidly in and out, keeping a careful watch on the trainees below. He refused to let any of them slack off- not when the rumors of something happening were on the horizon.
"Yes?", he asked, as soon as he heard the sound of breathing just outside his door.
"Master Askari?", asked a young Builder, stumbling through the door with a handful of sheets of papers. "I have some news for you."
"What is it?", asked Askari, turning around without taking his eye off of the window. "I should see, correct. It must be vital information."
The Builder stared at his leader in a mixture of wonderment and fear. He had never seen him up close before, and now to be talking with him was more than slightly intimidating. He stared for a moment more before realizing what Askari had said, then grabbed ahold of his papers.
"Right, sir.", said the Builder, and brought out a piece of paper. He handed it to Askari, who took it in a single lightning fast motion with his mechanical hand. He held it up in front of his face, then brought it down again. "What's your name, boy?"
"Donny.", said the Builder, and shuffled his feet. "Uh, Donny, sir. After my grandfather."
"Well, Donny…", said Askari, and placed the sheet of paper on a small stand that had popped out of his shoulder. "You've brought me some interesting news indeed."
His eye beeped and spun, taking in the information on the letter within a single second. "It's from… Lady Chuqalita.", he said in surprise. "And she says…"
He allowed the information to settle in his mind for a few seconds, then slowly began to laugh. He threw back his head and spread wide his arms, allowing all the mechanized parts of his body to whir along with him. Donny took a step back, not sure what to do in this situation at all.
"Donny, my boy.", said Askari, calming down. "Do you know why I was born a cyborg, after a dozen generations of pure flesh?"
"Um…", Donny said. "No?"
"It's because I have a job to finish.", said Askari, letting the paper fall to the floor. "A job that my great ancestor started."
He looked up towards the distant peak that was Clashcrush Mountain, and smirked. A hint of fire appeared in his eye, and he stood calm for a few seconds.
Then he threw his arm up into the air, startling Donny. "So tell the Troops to train! Tell the Wizards to work, and tell the Builders to build! Our army must be truly invincible if we are to win!"
Before Donny could ask, Askari brought up a clenched fist. "Because it appears that Rakastamos… is back."
About an hour after they had cleared a rather large swath of forest, the group of Dan, Brandy, and Leon finally stumbled into the edges of the village they had been coming towards.
"So.", said Dan, and put his hands on his bent knees to rest. "This is it."
He waited a few seconds for some sort of response, but he didn't get so much as even a peep. After looking to his shoulders, he realized that the reason for this was because both Brandy and Leon were still fast asleep. Brandy sat with her back against Dan's head, Leon laying across her lap.
"Hmph.", said Dan, and considered waking them up. They looked rather peaceful, with Brandy gently breathing in and out, Leon face down in her legs. Her hand was resting on his neck-
Dan scowled. The only person she had ever done that too was him. And now Leon was getting the same attention, despite the fact that she had known Leon for only a day and Dan for her entire life. He felt a bolt of anger shoot through his heart, and his massive hand twitched.
He stared at Leon again, expecting the same rush of anger- until he rolled over in his sleep. Dan's anger was halted for a second, as he saw the expression of faded pain that crossed Leon's face. He could see the way he hung on to both of them, Brandy as a show of love and him as an expression of both fear and respect. Dan's expression softened, and he started to rethink himself here.
Perhaps he was wrong about Leon, and Brandy was right. He had done nothing but try and help the entire time he had known both of them. He had no idea who Chad even was, or had been. There seemed to be no trace of the pure evil inside of him at all.
And yet, Dan still could not bring himself to quite trust him all the way. Even though he had not done anything wrong, that was no guarantee that he would not in the future. Even though he did not consciously know Chad, he was still, in fact, his son. The genes still filled him- and then, Dan realized that that was what he hated most of all about him.
He had said it before, but only now did it sink in all the way. Leon was Brandy's son, not his. She could no longer have children due to the things that had been done to her. The only child she would ever have, would ever give birth to, was not Dan's but Chad's. He still had a phantasmal grip on her, from far beyond the grave. And every time he looked at Leon, he could swear he heard the faint echoes of ghostly laughter, mocking his failure to protect.
The corners of Dan's mouth twisted down in a vicious snarl, and he raised his hand. He took a deep breath, star crackling around his open palm. He wouldn't have to kill him. He could just teach him a little lesson, to not remind Brandy or him of what had happened. Or he could have fallen off in the woods. Dan growled. Yes, Leon had fallen off his shoulder in the woods. No, he didn't know where he went.
"Yo!", came the shout of an Archer Queen behind him, and Dan startled. He shot his hand down without hitting anything, the blast ending up striking the ground in a cloud of dust. He spun around so fast Brandy and Leon nearly fell off, but he made sure to catch them both with an outstretched hand. There he saw Rachel, arms crossed and one eyebrow raised. "Hey."
"Hello.", said Dan, and took a more relaxed stance. "Good afternoon."
He gently blew on his shoulder, and Brandy blinked her eyes open from the wind. "It's time to wake up guys. Or morning."
"Wha…", Brandy muttered, and stretched wide. She gave Leon a few quick taps on the shoulder, until he woke up as well. He looked around in confusion, then remembered where and who he was.
"So.", said Rachel with a friendly smile. "You must be our Clan Castle Troops. Took you long enough to arrive."
Song: Welcome to the World
"Um-", said Dan, about to explain that they were in fact not, when he felt Brandy slide down from his shoulder. She rubbed her eyes as she hit the ground, and gave a wide yawn.
"Awww!", Rachel said, and reached down. She grabbed Brandy by the arm, prompting a surprised yelp, and looked across her. "This one's a cutie."
"Hey.", said Dan, and drew himself up a few feet higher. "I'd appreciate it if you let go of my wife."
His words were quiet and calm, yet the anger in his voice was obvious. He had had far too much crap go on for just a few days, and he was getting closer to erupting. "Now."
"Oh.", said Rachel, and took a step back. "I'm- I'm sorry. I didn't know. I was just… inspecting the Troops."
"Yes…", said Dan, a spark of Star flashing from his cheek. "I think she's been inspected quite enough already."
Brandy looked up at both Rachel and Dan in confusion, her eyes wide. She tugged at her tunic, trying to get it into the right position. She blinked a few times, trying to clear the sleep from her tired eyes. "Dan?", she mumbled, still kind of sleepy. "Where are we?"
Dan looked away from Rachel, and down at Brandy. He saw her standing in the sunlight, a little confused and still tired, and his heart swelled. She looked cute, he thought. A cute little miracle, and his wife. His chest tightened, as he thought of what she was probably going through right now. The way he hated Leon based off of his memories of Chad was hurting her- he knew that. A single tear threatened to form in the very edge of Dan's eye, almost dripping down. Then he forced the tear back into his eye, grit his teeth, and knew what he had to do.
He suddenly dropped to one knee, to the surprise of Brandy, Rachel, and Leon. With trembling eyes, he put his hand on Brandy's shoulder. She looked up at him in confusion, still fairly sleepy.
"Brandy.", he said. "Listen to me."
"Okay…", she said, not knowing what had gone through Dan's head in the last few seconds. To her, he had just been standing there, then he had dropped to his knees.
"I want you to know that I love you.", he said, staring straight into her eyes. "And I'm sorry for the way I might have been acting these last few days."
"What… do you mean?", Brandy asked. "Dan, what's wrong?"
"I'm sorry for treating Leon so badly.", he said, and slammed one fist to the ground. It broke underneath him, sending several cracks. "And I'm sorry if I've done anything wrong."
Brandy, too, was suddenly overcome with emotion. She wrapped her arms around Dan's, burying her face in his muscle. "Oh, Dan…"
They stood there for a few seconds, just feeling each other's presence. Brandy let herself fall into Dan's hand, still a little tired. Dan wrapped his entire hand around her, and gently lifted her up onto his shoulder again. "There you go, Brandy."
Rachel had been leaning back against the air, arms folded, watching the scene with mild interest. She watched as Dan stood there, gently stroking Brandy's back with one finger. Then she brought herself to a full upright position, clapped her hands, several Troops scattered around the village all standing up to listen. "Alright, everyone!"
Then she realized what she had said, and put down her hands. "Sorry, not everyone. Just these three."
The Troops that had stood up blinked, looked around, and then sat back down and resumed whatever they had been doing. Several Archers continued a game of jenga, a Golem fell back asleep, and two Bowlers kept on practice rolling at a nearby stump.
"Yes.", she said, and tapped the side of her crown. "Sorry about that, got to keep order. Anyway, where would you three all like to sleep?"
"Sleep?", asked Dan. "But- it's the middle of the afternoon. If that."
"Yes, well.", said Rachel, with a flip of her hair. "It never hurts to take precautions, right?"
"I guess.", said Dan, and looked down towards Leon. He extended a hand, trying to be friendly. "Hey, kiddo. Where do you want to sleep?"
"Uh…", said Leon, and looked around. He didn't know how a Clash Village worked at all, so all the buildings he saw were totally unknown. This was the first time he had ever been in one. He shrugged, and looked for Brandy- but she was still asleep on Dan's shoulder.
"The… big one?", he ventured, pointing towards the level 11 Town Hall.
"Alright, that's one Town Hall bed.", Rachel said, taking a small notepad out of her sleeve and jotting something down. She pointed towards Dan, who was still watching Brandy sleep. "Hot guy and cute girl. What about you two?"
"Excuse me?", Dan asked, but Brandy suddenly perked up. She flipped back her hood, brushed the hair out of her eyes, and blinked. "What?"
Rachel rolled her eyes, and sighed. "Oh, fine. Big guy and his little girl. Where are you sleeping?"
"Well, in the Clan Castle I guess.", said Dan. He had known that Leon had wanted to sleep in the Town Hall, but declined to mention it to Brandy. Even though he really was trying, he still could not quite bring himself to accept him completely. "As always."
"Alright, two for Clan Castle.", said Rachel, writing it down, then stuck the notepad back into her sleeve. She clapped her hands again, in a different note. A Villager almost instantly appeared by her side, taking a quick bow.
"Yes, your majesty?", she asked, holding up a mirror for some reason. "What can I help you with?"
"Show these three around.", said Rachel, grabbing the mirror and holding it up to her face. "Also, find Trey and Derein for me. I'm sure they've gotten off to somewhere, but I'm not sure where."
"I'll get on it right away, your majesty.", said the Villager with another bow. "I shall show them around first, and find Trey and Derien second."
"Yes.", said Rachel, scratching at her face to rid herself of some dried blood from a previous battle, staring deep into the mirror. "Do that."
"Okay, you two.", said the Villager, and stuck out her hand. Her hand was tiny compared to Dan's and too far away from Brandy's, but she seemed intent on shaking them anyway.
"My name's Helen, and I'll be your guide this afternoon. Now follow me to the Clan Castle, and we shall-"
"Why?", asked Dan. "We've been in Villages before. And we're just staying in the Clan Castle for the night. Not much point in giving us the full tour."
Helen bowed, and wisely winked. "Maybe so. But what's the highest level village you've ever visited?"
"10.", said Dan, with a nod from Brandy. "That's pretty high, I'd like to think."
"Yes, 10 is a respectable number.", said Helen. "But ours is a village of Town Hall 11. I think there are more surprises than you'd think."
"Hm.", said Dan, and leaned down. He gently shook her hand with a single finger, almost lifting her up off the ground as he did so. "Okay, fine. Show us around."
Helen smiled, twirled around on her feet, and pointed towards the direction of the Town Hall. "Alright you three, follow me!"
"Three?", Dan asked, and looked down. There stood Leon below him, giving a small, nervous wave. "Oh."
"Three.", said Leon, nervously twisting his lollipop around in his mouth and rocking back and forth on his heels. "I wanna see the village."
"It's okay, Dan.", whispered Brandy, anticipating what Dan had been about to say. "He can come with us. He's fine."
"I know he's fine.", said Dan, the hair on the back of his neck slightly bristling. "I didn't say anything to the contrary, in fact."
"Oh.", said Brandy. "Well, good."
She looked forward, the tension of the conversation still hanging in the air. Dan took a step forward, Leon dodging between his legs, Helen brightly oblivious to the smoldering. She pointed to the far corner of the village, towards where a huge building brightly shone.
"That's our Eagle Artillery.", she said. "Normally we would have it in the center of the village, for better defensive value, but it's being upgraded at the moment. I believe that Dave's working on it at the moment- say hi, Dave!"
The Builder on the Eagle Artillery looked up at the faraway mention of his name, waved, and then immediately got back to work. The Hyper Cannon Fuse Array of the structure was acting a bit funky, and it was imperative that he got it to work.
Helen turned her attention towards the Town Hall in the center, glimmering white and shining gold. "And that, as you may have guessed, is our level 11 Town Hall! We upgraded it about 3 months ago."
Dan took another large step, and felt something on the back of his boot. He looked down to see Leon accidentally stumble past him, having stepped on the back of his shoe. "Sorrydad!"
Dan took a deep breath, Star flashing around him as a side effect. "Don't push your luck kid. I said I would try."
Leon winced, and stepped back. "I'm sorry.", he said quietly, staring up at Dan. "It won't happen again."
"Hmph.", said Dan, and strode further along the path through the village, overtaking even the surprised Helen. "It better not."
"Dan-", Brandy said, from atop his shoulder, but Dan just flared up even more.
"What?", he snapped, and Brandy shrunk back. "You're gonna tell me to be nice to him, just because he's your son? And yes, I say yours, because he is not mine. He may say he is, you may say he is, but I know he's not. He is the son of the person that we both hate the most out of anyone living or dead, and nothing will ever change that fact."
Brandy stared at him in shock, never expecting such words to come from him. He had always been such a paragon of purity, a gentle giant. He had never been one to snap like this, or to harshly speak to anyone. And yet now here he was, snarling at Brandy like she was an opponent.
"D...Dan…", Brandy whispered, her eyes beginning to tremble. She stared at him in shock, betrayal and a slight bit of fear written across her face. "Why did- why would you-"
She felt the tears start to fall, and her entire body heaved as she sobbed. "Dan…"
Helen put up a hand to stop the tour group, disregarding the fact that she and the family group were the only ones in it. "Hold on, everyone, we've got something wrong."
Dan's face instantly softened, as he only then realized what he had done. He saw Brandy crying on his shoulder, Leon's shocked face, and various troops that had been milling around staring at them in a mixture of shock, horror, and mild curiosity. "Brandy…"
He gently reached one finger towards her, and she tried weakly to slap it away. "Don't touch me.", she mumbled. "I don't want you to."
There was a spark of slate blue between them, as sudden as a flash of thunder. Dan's hand went limp on his own shoulder, and his eyes widened as if he had been stabbed- which, in fact, he had been. But it had not been by any physical blade. The edge of Brandy's words had cut him far deeper than the blade of any knife.
Leon stared at them both, in shock. What had just been spoken were some of the most venom-edged words he had ever heard. Not only were the words themselves born of anger, but the tone of voice used to speak them was practically black acid.
"Oh.", said Dan, his voice so low it could barely even be heard. "I see."
He just stood there, watching Brandy sob into his shoulder, not knowing what to say or do. The entire village seemed to be watching their breakdown, in total silence. Finally, after a few seconds, Brandy looked up, sniffed, and slid off of Dan's shoulder and onto the ground, continuing to cry all the while.
She walked over to Leon, leaned against him, and closed her eyes. Leon looked around, unsure what to do, and decided to just gently pat her on the head.
"Hey.", said Dan, finally getting his voice back. He lifted one fist over his head, as it crackled with bright golden light. "You better let her go."
Leon looked up at him, then at his mother that had apparently fallen asleep on his side. A bright spark of bravery sparkled through him, and he stared up at Dan with his full eyes. "No."
Dan blinked, and leaned over. "I could kill you. Right now."
"I know you could.", said Leon, and hugged Brandy a little tighter.
Dan's face stiffened, and he reached out to grab Brandy from Leon. But Leon grabbed her first, moving her to his other side. She still wasn't out of Dan's reach, but it was the action that counted. Dan narrowed his eyes. "Since when did you-"
"If I said it didn't have anything to do with me holding my mom in my arms, I'd be lying.", said Leon, staring upwards with confidence. "It does."
He looked to a nearby Healer floating around at random, and gave a sharp whistle. "Here.", he said. "Flying lady."
The Healer turned around, and Leon gestured to Brandy, now totally asleep. "She needs to go sleep in the Clan Castle. Go and take her there."
"Alright.", said the Healer melodically, and gently plucked Brandy off the ground. She slowly flew off in the direction of the Clan Castle, leaving the audience and Dan totally stunned by Leon's insane display.
Dan had no idea what to say. He just kept on staring at Leon, as the Healer and Brandy vanished out of sight. The events of the last few minutes kept on replaying in his head on a fast forward loop, everything flashing in front of his mind's eye. Leon stepping on his foot, Brandy saying something, him lashing out, her falling to the ground as if hurt-
Then Dan gasped, as he realized what he had done. In his anger at Leon's origin, he had made a terrible mistake. His words had hurt her. He had hurt Brandy.
"Wait…", he whispered, the ground underneath his feet cracking from his pain. "Wait!"
He held out his hand, and started walking towards the last place he had seen the Healer fly. "Brandy! I'm sorry! Come back!"
But even as he looked around, the Healer was nowhere to be found. She had most likely already gone towards the Clan Castle, and Dan hadn't yet reached the part of the tour where that was shown to him. He collapsed to his knees in shock, and clenched his fist unconsciously.
"You.", he rumbled, and gestured towards a random Barbarian. The Barbarian took a fearful step back, and pointed to himself. "Yes, you."
Then Dan stood up, the enraged glare in his eyes pouring over the Barbarian like a purple waterfall. "Take me to the Clan Castle. Now."
The Barbarian stammered in fear, trying to think of what to say. He had only seen the conversation's last few sentences- he had no real context, nor any idea what to do.
"Actually!", came a booming voice from behind him, and Dan slowly turned around. There, walking into the Village, were a drunk Barbarian King and a red-faced Grand Warden. "We're going to need your help with something."
"What?", Dan snarled, and turned away from the Barbarian, who yelped in panic and scrambled away. "What do you want me to do?"
"We need you to help us defend the Village, bro.", said the Barbarian King, scratching his stomach and yawning somewhat. "There's this thing outside the walls."
"What thing?", Dan asked, and yawned a little as well. "Why do you need my help? I was in the middle of something."
"Well, I don't know what it is.", said the Grand Warden. "I've never seen anything like it. And yes, I know that I'm a Grand Warden and all- but I truly do not know what we are up against."
"What?", Dan asked, suddenly realizing what this meant. His gaze lightened up, and his snarl dropped to nothing. "Is it another one of those weird things?"
"What weird things?", asked the Barbarian King. "Although yeah, I guess it's a weird thing."
Dan brushed himself off, and took a deep breath. He extended his hand, which the Barbarian King loosely shook. "We've been getting attacked by strange Troops for a while now. It's safe to assume that this thing is here for us."
"Huh.", said the Barbarian King, moving his entire body with the word. Then he shrugged, turned around, and started walking for the far side of the village. "Well, follow me."
Dan walked after him, as did the Grand Warden. None of them bothered to look behind them- if they had, they would have noticed another one following them, leaving bare footprints upon the soft ground.
Brandy felt her eyes open, softly fluttering as she was laid down upon a soft bed. She started to look around, the fuzzy details of the room all falling into place. There was a pair of large red beds beside her, neither of them occupied. The walls were well done, in rich mahogany. And over her was a Healer, smiling brightly as she lay Brandy in her bed.
"Wha…", she mumbled, and tried to get up. "Who are you?"
But the Healer just laid a hand across her forehead, gently pushing her into the sheets. "I'm Emma. And you need to sleep."
"Huh…", Brandy mumbled, and felt her arms move underneath the covers automatically. "Do I?"
"Yes.", said Emma, and grabbed Brandy's head. She lifted her up, sliding a soft pillow underneath. "You were very upset and you fainted. Rest is heavily recommended."
"Mmmm, okay.", said Brandy, and let her eyes fall shut. "If you insist…"
Then she was asleep, the magic of the Healer having done its job. Emma smiled, and floated away, humming a soft tune to herself that had no name. "Goodnight."
She turned out the light and left Brandy in her bed, lightly snoring.
"Okay, so that's what we got.", said the Barbarian King, holding up his binoculars to his chin. "That weird pink dude, over there."
Dan almost brought the binoculars up to the King's eyes, but decided to just take them for himself. He looked through them and saw something very strange bouncing about in the woods.
It looked to be about 5 or 6 feet tall, but it was hard to tell from such a distance. It was a bright purple and pink, the garish colors distributed seemingly at random. It spun and bounced on a tall stalk, two long floppy tendrils hanging down from either side of its head. It was difficult to see its face, but it seemed to be wearing extremely heavy makeup.
Dan put the binoculars down, and passed them to the Grand Warden. He frowned, and tried to make sense of what he was seeing.
"It certainly doesn't look like anything I've ever seen.", said all three of them at once. "But we should figure out some way to properly attack it."
Then they looked at each other, and simultaneously gave each other a three way high five in a gesture that would be impossible to fully explain. "Ayy!"
Then they switched again from bro mode to scout mode, and the Grand Warden raised his staff. "I'm gonna attack it. Just to see what happens."
"Woah, are you sure-", said the Barbarian King, a half second before and after the Grand Warden shot a small blast of energy at the thing, glancing off of its right side and into the trees. It stopped bouncing long enough for them to see its face- and they could now see it rather clearly. What Dan had thought was too much white makeup was instead a row of vicious, sharpened teeth.
Song: Fat Buu
As they watched, the top of the thing's head flipped open. A megaphone slowly rose out, and crackled to life. "I am Jester Bot 1.0. I will kill you!"
Then the head flipped back to completeness, and the Jesterbot spread its arms open wide. It shrieked as it leaned, then rushed forward with the speed of a Hog.
"Woah!", shouted Dan, and stood up. He took a deep breath, aimed, and began to speak. "By-"
"Hey.", came a voice from his side, seemingly out of nowhere. "What is that thing?"
The Barbarian King and the Grand Warden both looked at each other, then at the place where the voice had originated from. There seemed to be nobody there. So they just blinked, shrugged, chalked it up to going insane, and turned back to face the approaching monster.
"Kid?", Dan whispered, breaking his concentration. "What are you doing here?"
"Hey, I just thought that I would be needed.", said Leon with a shrug. "Am I?"
Dan took another look at the Jesterbot coming closer, now noticing that it had a wheel on the end of its stalk. He rolled his eyes, and gestured to Leon. "I guess we could almost use you. Now come on, let's shoot that thing."
"Yes!", said Leon, and spun his hand around in a circle. There appeared Hunter Killer in his hand, shining and silver as ever. "Now that's what I'm talking about."
"What are you shooting it with?", Dan asked, not seeing Leon draw anything. "Your blades?"
"No.", said Leon. "My Stand."
"Your what-", asked Dan, then suddenly threw up his arm. For out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Jesterbot arrive.
"Kyeaaaaaahhh!", it shouted, not attacking them. Instead, as it bounced up and over a log, it launched its long arms toward the ground, sending up a spray of dirt and loose rocks as it collided.
"Shoot it!", Dan shouted, and raised his hand to fire. "Shoot it!"
But it was too late, as the ground began to shift. The dirt wriggled and formed itself into a formation, thousands of small playing cards flying from the Jesterbot's sleeves. By the time Leon was pulling the trigger, the playing cards had already assembled themselves- into a tall and rickety, 9 story house of cards that wrapped around them both.
"What?", Dan spat, the sheer speed with which the thing had been constructed astonishing. "What the- what even is this?"
"I don't know.", said Leon, and started to pull the trigger again. "But I bet it can be destroyed."
"Wait, you idiot!", shouted Dan, and threw his hand in front of Leon's gun. "It can probably reflect damage. Or it's indestructible. Or something. We can't just go attacking until we find out its weakness, we have to do that first."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever.", said Leon. "Let's just shoot it."
"No!", Dan yelled in frustration, but Leon didn't care. He just ducked to the ground, aimed his blaster upwards, and pulled down on the trigger as hard as he could.
Hunter Killer roared as it shot barrage after barrage of high-powered bullets right into the wall, tearing through it like a sharpened sword through tissue paper. The thin, weak material blew apart under the onslaught, sending clouds of dust throughout the entire room that Dan and Leon were in. When the rubble finally settled after a few seconds, there was a hole that took up almost the entire room, revealing dozens of more rooms beyond. And through the holes in each of those rooms, dozens more could still yet be seen.
"Shoot.", said Leon, and set down the gun. "Were there that many rooms before?"
"No.", said Dan, leaning forward to look. "There weren't… I think."
"Huh…", Leon said, and brought his gun back up. "Well, let's make sure there are a lot less."
"Wait.", said Dan, the tone in his voice almost forcing Leon to put Hunter Killer back down. "I wanna check something. Just blast one room."
"Why should I listen to you? You just hate me.", Leon thought of asking, but decided against it. The confines of the room were very tight, and Dan seemed on edge. It would not be very wise to anger him any further. "Okay…", he said instead, and raised his Stand.
A single bullet shot out from the barrel, shooting straight towards the nearest door. It shot a hole straight through, revealing for half a second the light of the outside.
"There.", said Dan, pointing. Most of his anger was gone, having been replaced with the calm analytical face of specialized combat. He had been trained for situations like this during his time with Juno and Fallon. "Look at that."
"What?", Leon asked, staring at the hole. "It's just-"
Then he saw it, and took a step back.
The view through the hole had gone from outside to another room in the boxy structure. Dan's suspicions were confirmed, and he took a deep breath as he realized that fact.
"Kid.", he said, and continued to breathe in. "I'm going to do something explosive, and I need you to take cover in any way you can."
"What?", Leon asked in panic, searching around for something to hide behind. "Why?"
"If you shoot a room, it just grows another one.", said Dan, golden light flickering around him. "There's no way for you to escape just by blasting."
Indeed, he was right- viewed from the outside, the structure had grown much larger. The Troops inside the village stared in both awe and confusion at the surreal building that had suddenly appeared.
"I'm here.", said Rachel, running towards the thing with her bow drawn. "What's- oh. What is that?"
"There.", said the Grand Warden, and pointed towards where the Jesterbot stood. "That."
Sensing the gesture, the Jesterbot turned its entire head around. It did not move its neck.
"You call yourself King.", it said towards the Barbarian King, who looked up in shock. "But I ask you…", it said as it laughed, "What is a King… without a Jester?"
The Barbarian King gasped, and stood up. Some ancient memory bounced around in the back of his mind, but it was not quite anything he could really get a grip on. He even dropped his turkey leg and sandwich in terror. "What did you say?"
But the Jesterbot just laughed, and turned its attention back towards the tower. It sensed something moving around inside of it- something metal, fast, and very very deadly. It smiled, and magically grabbed hold.
"Well then, how are we supposed to beat it?", asked Leon. "Just wait it out and see if it collapses?"
"No.", said Dan. "I'm going to blow up every bit of it at once."
"What?", Leon asked, and stumbled back. "How are you gonna-"
Dan didn't hear his last word. Somehow, for whatever reason, time seemed to slow down. All he could see behind Leon was the wall bursting open, and a stray Hunter Killer bullet headed right for the small of his back.
Dan had a few thoughts. One one hand, he didn't actually have to save Leon. He could just let him die, and not have to live with him anymore. On the other, he had been valuable so far, even if Dan was loath to admit it. But the reason he decided on, the reason why he did save him, the reason why he reached out a single finger behind Leon's back and blocked the bullet with a clang, was because Brandy loved him. And he refused to let anything that Brandy loved die.
Leon yelped in surprise, as he was suddenly pushed to one side. He saw Dan quickly look away,and resume charging up his attack.
"Thank you!", he said, and waved his hand. "You know, for that."
"Oh, just wait.", said Dan, and took another deep breath. The entire tower shook with the might, and Dan's entire body began to glow. The Jesterbot, outside, feeling the blows to his tower, started to roll back and forth on its singular wheel.
"This…. Is…", Dan grunted, trying to contain the vast amount of strength flowing through him.
Then he bellowed, and let loose all the Star in his body at once. "Superdirectional overdrive!"
A blast of pure force rocketed out from him in all directions, searing the air with their heat and plunging deep into the side walls. Several more started to grow, but they were too slow to survive the onslaught of pure power. More and more of the walls fell, even as the massive blast that made them began to slow down. Finally, and to the shock of everyone there, the entire Block Castle exploded, sending Dan and Leon tumbling to the ground and the Jesterbot reeling back into the grass.
"You…", the Jesterbot creaked, slowly pushing itself to its feet. The Heroes of the village watched, as the monstrosity rose. The skin had melted off, leaving only whirring servos and spurting Elixiroil. "You're a Star master. Aren't you."
"That's right.", said Dan, not thinking of what he was saying. "Now die."
He raised his hand, even as the Jesterbot snarled and threw itself forward. A beam of light erupted from Dan's hands, slamming right into the mechanical beast with a crash of pure heat and sound. There was a bright flash as the Jesterbot was incinerated- then it disappeared, leaving absolutely nothing behind but an overbearing sense of unease.
"Well.", said Rachel, who has been just about to shoot. "That certainly was… something."
"Yeah.", said Dan, angrily stomping back towards the direction of the Village walls. "It was. You know what else is something? Sleep. I'm gonna go get some right now."
Expecting it, he turned around and jutted a finger at Leon. "And don't you dare follow me. You said you were gonna sleep in the Town Hall, not the Clan Castle. You got that, you little brat?"
"Yes…", Leon said quietly, and looked down at his feet. "I do, sir."
"Good.", said Dan, and kept on walking. His massive shoulder unceremoniously shoved the Barbarian King out of the way, with the Grand Warden only narrowly dodging. "See that you do."
Leon watched Dan stomp off, and tried not to cry. He thought he had helped in the battle. He really did. But even so, Dan refused to accept him, solely because of the actions of a father he had never known. It was all Leon had in him to not just pull out his Stand, place it next to his head, and-
"Hey, kiddo.", said Rachel, and Leon jumped as the Archer Queen took a knee next to him. She put one giant hand on his shoulder, and winked. "You're not doing too hot, are you?"
"No.", said Leon, and sighed. "My dad hates me. And my mom just lets him."
"Awww…", said Rachel, and stood back up. She patted her waist in a follow me gesture, indicating towards her Pad. "Don't worry, kid. You can stay with me."
"Really?", Leon asked, his eyes widening. "You mean that-"
"Yes.", said Rachel, and gave a cheery laugh. "I love helping people."
So she started a slow walk towards her Pad, Leon running to keep up with her.
On the far outskirts of the forest, something stirred. On the far outskirts of the woods, a small band of people made their way through the trees, silent as a bed of moss and far more deadly. They were tall and short, small and huge- their abilities were strong and diverse, a very good mix. They headed towards the village with dark intent, ready to catch what their master wanted, and kill if needs be. Actually, not kill if needs be- more like kill all they could, and leave what they had to alive. They passed a massive swath of annihilated land as the sun began to reach the top of the mountains, their shadows growing long. One of them sensed what had happened there, and stopped for a moment to mourn their fallen brother. But with a quick tug on the neck from their leader, he was again swept back up into the tide of the crusaders, bent towards an evil goal.
Song: Tusk
Brandy lay in her bed, trying to make sense of what was going on. She saw herself in a vast cavern, full of strange, multi-dimensional objects. One was a massive, blinking machine, full of strange lights and boards. One was a gargantuan roadmap, a canyon portrayed on it that was far deeper than the paper was thick. One was a purple and pink cap, a single silver bell at the end of it still softly ringing. One was a river, somehow suspended in the air. A green scale ran through it, only at the beginning and yet speeding through until the very end.
And the final object, right at the corner of the room, was a tall, simple grave. Brandy leaned closer- and saw, to her utter horror, the sharp, tear stained engraving of a mask.
Brandy pulled back, not quite believing what she saw. It appeared to be the grave of a Bandit, as much as that prospect disturbed her. But this was not a simple grave that appeared when a troop died. No, this was a prepared one. As if whoever this Bandit that had died was, she had been an important individual. But who could that be?
Brandy leaned closer in morbid curiosity, trying to make out the name it read on the surface. It kept changing, switching from a name that began with a B to a J, then a VR. But then, after a few seconds, it finally settled- and Brandy's heart all but dropped out her pounding chest.
Y O U, it read, a pointing finger trembling, trying to break free of the rock. Brandy screamed, and tried to exit the vision, but it would not close, no matter how many times she tried.
"YOU!", the grave suddenly roared, and the hand broke free. It shot towards Brandy at a speed too fast for her to escape, wrapping around her hand and-
"Hey, honey.", came the comforting voice of Dan, sending a golden shock line down her vision. The image stuttered and broke, Brandy blinking open her eyes as she did so. "Wha-"
"You were having a nightmare.", Dan said, who Brandy could now see was kneeling on the floor next to her, gently cradling her head in his hand. "I thought I should wake you."
"Oh.". said Brandy, letting her head fall back into Dan's hand. "Yes. Thank you."
Dan sighed, and looked down. "Thanks Brandy."
Brandy noticed how little his words corresponded to his delivery, and took about .3 seconds to realize something was wrong. "Dan? You okay?"
"No.", said Dan, and stood up. He plucked Brandy off the bed, putting her on his shoulder. "I'm not okay. I think you know why."
"Leon?", asked Brandy, and Dan grimly nodded. Brandy frowned, and stretched out her arms around Dan's neck. "Oh, it's okay honey."
"It's not.", said Dan, and his face tightened. "It's not okay. You hear me? Not. Okay."
"Why?", Brandy asked, again reaching out her arms to hug him. "What's not okay about him?"
Dan sighed again, and sat down on the side of the large bed, far larger than Brandy's was. "I wouldn't expect you to get it. Just forget about it."
"No.", said Brandy, and squeezed Dan's shoulders. "I need to know. He's my son."
"Exactly.", said Dan, the expression on his face becoming angrier and angrier. "He's your son. Not mine. I know I've said that already, but it's true."
"And I know I've said this before, but that doesn't matter.", said Brandy, trying to plead with him. "His biological father is dead. You're his father now."
"And that's what I'm saying.", said Dan, his arm muscles tightening. "That- well…"
He stood up, brushing the bottom of the ceiling. Then he scowled and threw a punch, breaking the wood and sending dust raining down below. "Listen. I don't like Leon. I'm allowed to not like someone, but I feel like you're not letting me."
"But why don't you like him?", Brandy asked, starting to get a little hot headed. "So what if he's technically his kid, he doesn't remember him at all! They have literally never met!"
"So?", Dan said forcefully, standing up. "Look, I'm tired of all this arguing. Can we just move on?"
"No.", said Brandy. "Not as long as you still think Leon, my own son, is evil."
"I don't think he's evil.", said Dan, crossing his arms. "Wow. Way to misrepresent my statement like that."
"Dan, wha-", Brandy began, then stopped. She wasn't used to Dan being like this before. He was always so nice. But something about Leon was clearly twisting his spirits.
"I know that I've said this before, too.", said Dan. "But I cannot look at Leon and picture you. The only thing I can picture is him. Besides, I expected my first kid to be both of ours- not just yours."
"Yes.", said Brandy. "I expected that too. But even if it didn't work out, we can pretend it did-"
"Oh.", said Dan, and threw up his hands. "So that's the way it works, huh? We're just gonna ignore the past, are we? Gonna pretend like it never happened, huh?"
"No!", Brandy snapped, frustrated at Dan's seemingly irrational hatred. "That's not what I meant, and you know it."
"Do I?", Dan said, crossing his arms. "Because at this point, I'm not really sure what I know about you anymore."
"What?", Brandy gasped, reeling back. She put both hands on the sides of her head, trying to fend off the tears she could feel rising. "Dan, what are you talking about? What are you doing?"
But despite her efforts to soften Dan's hardened heart, he kept on pushing. "Why are you defending him so much? What has he ever done for you?"
"I-", Brandy asked, but Dan wasn't done. He leaned in close to her face, the anger in his eyes clearly visible. "Nothing. The first meeting you had with him was him spying on you taking a bath. If that doesn't prove he isn't like his father, I don't think anything does."
"Dan…", Brandy murmured, and then finally did break down. Tears flowed from her clenched eyes, taking deep breaths of muted air. "Why are you treating me like this?"
"You?", Dan asked. "No. I am not. Everything I don't like in this situation is purely Leon. It's just him."
"And he came from me!", shouted Brandy, red faced. "If you hate him, that means you hate part of me!"
"No!", bellowed Dan, almost shaking the walls of the Clan Castle. "Stop blaming this on me! This is all his fault!"
"All he's done since meeting us is tried to make us happy!", Brandy yelled back. "He's trying to be a good son for you, and you won't accept it! Just- you have a son!"
She flopped back down onto the bed, and closed her eyes. "Admit it."
"Admit it?", Dan asked. "I can't admit things that aren't true."
Brandy just continued to stare, not even sure what to say. Nothing she did was working at all. A deep feeling welled up from somewhere inside her, and she thought she might once again start crying. "Dan…"
"I'm going to get some sleep, Brandy. In my bed.", said Dan, and rolled onto his bed. "You can use your small one. Down there."
If, for the next few seconds, if someone were to listen extremely carefully, they could actually hear the sound of Brandy's heart breaking. She took in a quiet gasp, tried not to cry, sat down on the edge of the bed, tried not to cry, rolled over, tried not to cry, and cried a lot. Her head swam with dozens of new emotions every second, not able to process what was even happening.
Dan closed his eyes, sending a little bit of Star right at the middle of Brandy's neck. For although he disagreed with her heavily, the last thing he wanted was for her to suffer. It struck a certain point right in the muscle, and her breathing slowed down almost instantly. She tried to say one last word- but before she could, her eyes shut, and she began to sleep.
Dan watched for a moment, then turned back to his own sleep attempt. He closed his eyes, breathed deeply, and concentrated on something else- and within mere seconds, he was asleep too. And so it was that for the first time since they had gotten married, Dan and Brandy slept in separate beds.
At Rachel's pad, she had already gone to bed. She lay totally asleep, deep in the slumber of a hero, nothing able to wake her till morning save perhaps a natural disaster. Next to her, on a wooden slab with a thick woolen blanket, lay Leon. He was totally awake, unable to achieve any relaxation at all. His eyes were wide open, blood shot. His hand twitched, the edges of his sleeves switching between Hunter Killer and a spinner blade. He aimlessly tracked the movement of a single butterly against the sky, as the light of the day began to vanish from the sky, leaving the world in reds and blues.
He could hear the argument coming from the Clan Castle, with his inherited hearing. Although he could not make out the exact words, he could hear the tone- and that was the important part of it.
He could hear the way they yelled at each other. The way they screamed. And it was, as he for some reason felt the need to remind himself, all over him. If he hadn't appeared, they would still both be happy. But now he had somehow gotten himself dragged into all this, and now he was hated. Oh well. He could just live at the village from now on. Wave goodbye to his parents, as they left for the next leg of their journey.
But then, he realized that wasn't the thing that needed to be done. The problem was that he was alive. The problem was that he always managed to get his business in places it didn't belong. It was part of what had gotten him exiled before, and what was getting him hated now.
So Leon sighed deeply, as he realized that he knew what he had to do. With a heavy heart, he summoned up Hunter Killer one last time. He gulped as he drew the barrel to the side of his head, and took one last look at the stars overhead.
"Well, goodbye Mom.", he said, to nobody. Come to think of it, that was a bit strange. How literally everybody else had settled in for the night. Even the Villagers and Builders were sleeping in their huts. But, he thought, such things didn't matter when you were dead. "It's been a real pleasure knowing you."
Then he placed his finger on the trigger, took a deep breath, and-
Song: Silver Twist
Brandy slammed her locker shut, before taking all the books out in a lightning fast motion. She tucked them under her arm- Bandit Training 101, Arena Combat, and The art of the Steal.
Turning around, she faced out into the hallway- only to bump into her best friend, Brenda. They were both in schooling to become Bandits, but Brenda was a full year ahead of Brandy. As such, she had gotten her hair dyed white and received her green cloak. Brandy still only had her tunic, as she was on her first year. Once they graduated their third year, however, they would finally be allowed to wear a mask.
"Hey, Brenda.", said Brandy, looking her up and down for a brief moment before going in for a deep hug. They patted each other on the back, then broke off. "How you doing?"
"I'm doing well.", said Brenda, giving the straps of her backpack a little tug. "How about you?"
Brandy sighed, and pulled out her class schedule. "Well, I've got a lot of homework today. I have a paper due in Mr. Antnamon's class on combat, and…"
"And?", Brenda asked, raising an eyebrow and tapping her foot. "What is it?"
"I didn't do it…", Brandy said slowly, staring down at the floor. "Like, at all."
"Oh, girl!", Brenda said, grabbing Brandy by the shoulders. She grabbed Brandy's chin and lifted it upwards, staring right into her face. "You didn't do it?"
"No.", said Brandy. "I was distracted last night."
"Distracted?", asked Brenda. "By what?"
"By…", Brandy said, a sly smile creeping up her face, pointing to a poster on the far side of the wall. It depicted a Mega Knight holding a football and the school's colors, his helmet by his side and his caring smile shining bright. "Dan for class president", it read in bright blue font. "Him."
"What-", Brenda asked, then leaned back. "Brandy, you little thirster! Don't tell me you have your sights set on Dan!"
"Oh, but I do…", Brandy breathed, and put her hands on her cheeks. Her face got a little redder, and she sighed. "What am I even supposed to do? He's just so hot…"
"I know, but he's so hard to get.", said Brenda, and shook her head. "I think you should set your sights on someone else… my thief."
Brandy gasped, and almost slapped Brenda across the face. But she just withdrew, and covered her mouth with her hand. "Wha- Brenda! You can't say that yet!"
"Oh, yes I can.", said Brenda with a sly smile, and withdrew a shiny piece of paper from her back pocket. "I got the T word pass from Ms. Juno this morning at practice."
"At track practice?", Brandy asked, as Brenda was on the school's track team, and Brenda nodded. "Luckyyyyy. Can I see?"
Brenda nodded again, and Brenda gently handed her the pass. Brandy snatched it in her fingers and inspected it carefully, looking over the glittering note with even shinier eyes.
"Can I use this-", she began, before a massive hand slammed into her locker right next to her, causing her to jump right into Brenda's arms.
"Well, lookie here.", said an Elite Barbarian, leering right into Brenda's face. "We got ourselves a couple of cutie pies- don't we, Rick?"
"Yes…", said Rick, slamming his hand on the other side. Brandy flinched, but Brenda didn't even blink. "Yes we do, Chad."
"Oh.", said Brenda, the disgust in her voice almost visible like black muck. "Hello, Chad."
"My, who's this little snack right here?", Chad crooned, staring right into Brandy's scared face. "I don't belive I've seen her around before. Is she your new girlfriend, Brrrrenda?"
"No.", said Brenda, and slowly tensed the muscles in her upper arm. "Meg's sick today. That's why she's not with me."
"Oh?", Chad asked, rolling his eyes back in his head. "Well. We might just have to go pay her a visit."
"Woah-", Brenda began, and shot her arm forward, but Chad clamped a huge hand over her mouth. Brandy screamed, and tried to jet away, but Rick slammed one arm over her chest, locking her in place against the locker. Chad leaned forward in Brenda's face, even as her hand began to glow. "I just said I was gonna pay her a visit. What makes you think I would want that skinny little toothpick of a girl? Huh?"
Then he gasped, as he felt a sharp shock of pain right in his stomach. He let go of Brenda's face and staggered back, taking a deep wet gasp. Brenda's Dash infused strike, unprofessional as it was, had broken the skin and left a bleeding circle.
"You little-", Chad growled, and grabbed his sword from his backpack. Although it was an unsharpened practice sword, it was still heavy and could deal a lot of damage. "Bi-"
Brenda slapped Chad with a strike across the face that was almost too fast to see. "Chad, you've always been a jerk, but this is going too far. I'm going to Principal Seth to have you arrested for assault."
"What?", Chad said nervously, and backed up. "What have I done? I'm the one with the bleeding wound. I'm gonna get you arrested. Besides, our witnesses are even- and I think Rick will be available to report a lot better than that little trembling ball of fun."
But even as Chad chuckled, Brandy's hand was holding a small device. It captured Chad's every word and movement, recording his crimes. She had taken up the device after he had threatened her a few weeks ago, in the back hallway.
"Hey.", said Rick, taking a look towards where Brandy held the device. "What has she got there? Some sort of camera like apparatus?"
Chad tilted his head, and smiled an eerie grin. "Why, yes it is.", he chuckled, and held out his hand. "Come on, girl. Give it here. We can't have you recording us."
"No.", said Brandy, even though she was almost shaking from fear. "Frick you."
"Oh…", said Chad, and started to lean in more. "You will be."
With a flash of fear, both Brenda and Brandy realized what he had meant. Brenda's muscles tensed, and she drew back on one foot. Brandy's face went white, and she tried to get her Dash ready for the fight. Chad just smiled, drew back his hand, and then shot it right at Brandy's torso.
There was a resounding smack of metal against bone that exploded down the entire hallway, and Chad suddenly crumpled to the floor. His skull had been slightly cracked- with a hit hard enough to put down, but not hard enough to kill. And above him, with helpful fury, was Dan.
"Hey.", he rumbled, motioning to his teammate, a Pekka, to take care of Rick. "What do you think you're doing, preying on some innocent girls like that."
Brandy stared in awe, as the Pekka grabbed Rick by the collar, shouted "But. Ter. Fly.", and tossed him away. She stared as Dan kicked the unconscious form of Chad to one side, reaching out a hand for both of them. "Sorry girls…", he said with a flip of his blonde hair. "Are you alright?"
"Yes….", Brandy sighed wistfully, staring into Dan's eyes. "We're fine…."
"Ah.", said Dan, and nodded. "Good. I was worried about that."
He looked down at the Elite Barbarians, both of them laying against the wall in a pathetic pose. "And don't worry about them. We'll get them reported before they wake up."
For Brandy, Dan's kind smile was almost enough to hurt. She was still in Brenda's arms from her scared jump, but she reached out to grab Dan's hand. "Okay…"
"Brenda.", said Dan, only now noticing who it was he was talking to. "How are your play tryouts coming?"
"For Phantom?", asked Brenda, and grinned. "I got Christine."
She winked, and Dan smiled. "Oh, that's awesome! I knew you could do it. And…"
He looked down at Brandy, and she gulped. "I don't believe we've met before. Tell me, what's your name?"
"Woah…", Brandy whispered, then shook her head to compose herself. "Brandy. I'm Brandy. Nice to meet you, Dan."
"You know my name?", asked Dan, and folded his arms. "But I haven't introduced myself yet."
Brandy stared at him, the visual feast being taken in by her eyes unable to provide any thoughts for her mouth. "Uhh…", she said in desperation. "Yes. I saw the future."
"Oh, it's fine.", he said, waving it off. "You've seen my posters, everyone knows me. Silly girl."
At those words, all the hairs stood up on Brandy's body. Her cheeks went red, and she slowly slid out of Brenda's grasp and lay upon the floor.
"Oh.", said Dan, looking at her. "Is she okay?"
"Yeah.", said Brenda, grabbing Brandy again and holding her on her shoulders. "She's just a little nervous, is all. Finally getting to meet you."
"Ah.", said Dan, observing how Brandy's eyes sparkled as she looked at him. "I see. Well, there's a game tonight if you two wanna come. I think I can get you in for free."
"No, no, we're good.", said Brenda with a wave, then both of them realized the second part of what Dan had said. "Wait, for free?", Brandy yelped. "Okay then! Count us in!"
"Alrighty.", said Dan, turning away. He gave a wave over his shoulder, the Pekka that he had been traveling with carrying both Chad and Rick around her waist. "Bye then. See you around…",
He took one last look, and winked. "Brandy."
If one were to listen very carefully, they could hear the sound of Brandy's heart exploding as dozens of emotions reached it at once. She lay there dumbfounded in Brenda's arms ,her subconscious scratching unique patterns into her skin.
"Uh, Brandy?", Brenda said, looking down at Brandy's waist. "I think you just-"
Brandy's face went red, and she covered her mouth with her hand. Sliding down to the floor again, she guessed that such a reaction was at least somewhat natural. "Yes.", she squeaked. "I did."
"Well, I suppose you can't help yourself.", said Brenda with a sigh. "I think he's hot too."
"Yes….", said Brandy, staring straight ahead in shock and awe. "He is…."
Song: Only a Chilling Elegy
"Good, good!", came the voice of Mortis, as all his minions gathered behind him in a bush. "It appears as though everyone in that entire tiny city is asleep. Even the couple."
He gestured towards Tara, who took a small bow. "Excellent work, Tara. That mind magic of yours can certainly be formidable. With any luck, the boy will never wake up and the girl will only wake up for us. This is the perfect plan."
He gestured to Gene, who gently laughed as his lamp rotated around his head. "Now. Gene. You are to keep lookout for anyone that might be following us. Everyone- come with me."
"What are we gonna do?", asked Sandy, a twinge of fear sneaking into his voice.
"More like who are we gonna do.", scoffed a Rosa, but it was quiet, and nobody heard her.
"That is simple, boy.", said Mortis, and licked his lips in anticipation. "We're going to collect Leon and his mother for the master, and then kill everyone else as they sleep."
"Oh.", said Sandy, and blinked. "Sleep, eh? That sounds nice-"
"No!", shouted Mortis, and Sandy jerked himself awake. "Do not dare sleep! This is the moment! Our plans for the last week are all finally coming together!"
"Oh…", said Sandy, and scratched his head. "Are they?"
"Silence!", Mortis screamed, the sound disturbing the trees overhead, bats and nighttime birds flying in all directions.
Leon had been merely seconds away from pulling the trigger, when he heard an all too familiar noise come from a tree across the village. His heart nearly stopped- he had heard the angry yell of that particular Mortis many times. It brought back memories.
Immediately Leon stumbled back, Hunter Killer vanishing back into mist. "What?"
He looked into the trees, his heart beating faster in panic. Mortis couldn't be here. He couldn't be alive. Leon had killed him. He had shot him full of so many rounds it had thrown Leon into the dirt with the recoil. He had seen him die- and yet, here he was all the same.
"I-", he said, then dropped down low, close to the ground. "I've got to get closer. I need to find out what they're planning."
He slunk along the low dirt and grass, a spinner blade in one hand and Hunter Killer poking out the jacket sleeve of another. He swept his vision down and low, keeping an eye out for any suspicious movement. His breathing was short and tense, trying not to attract any attention.
He saw a flash of steel in the alleyway of walls in front of him, and ducked behind a flowerbush. He only had one opportunity to turn invisible, and he wanted to save it.
He took another look- the flash of steel had been nothing but a Bomb, laying on the grass. Leon breathed a sigh of relief, turned around, and-
There, in front of him, stood a Rosa, cracking her knuckles manically. "Hey, guys!", she shouted, and turned her head. "I found him!"
Leon swore under his breath, and turned the other way to run. Even if he could defeat the Rosa, it would leave him heavily injured. But there, blocking his way, were Gene and Rico.
"Woah, woah-", Leon started, and tried to jump back, but he felt Rosa's muscular hand grab him around the waist. He tried to scream, but another hand clamped around the mouth took care of that. "Hey, where do you think you're going?"
Leon tried to scream still, the sound barely making it through Rosa's thick hand. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the Bibi and El Primo Dan and Brandy had defeated earlier stride up from the left, and take a pose. His eyes darted around, trying to take in as much information as possible- until Rosa moved her hand upwards, and blocked off his vision.
Finally, Mortis himself stalked into the circle of Brawlers. He held up a hand, with one upwards facing thumb. "Rosa.", he said. "Let him go."
Rosa scoffed, and threw Leon into the center of the circle. His face plowed roughly against the ground, and he cut his cheek on a sharp rock. He almost instantly scrambled to his feet, and prepared a spinner blade in each hand. But taking a look around, he knew he was outmatched. Even if he took out one of the squisher ones, all of them combined could kill him in an instant. He was trapped.
"Hey.", said Bibi, and popped her gum. "Put those blades down."
Leon gulped, and withdrew the blades into his sleeves. He slowly put up his hands, and his face turned pale red. Bibi grinned, and spun around her bat. "Good boy."
"Now.", said Mortis, and strode up to Leon. Leon braced himself for an attack- but instead of hitting him with his shovel, Mortis merely put a hand on Leon's shoulder. "Come with me."
"Wh… what?", Leon asked, and blinked. "What do you mean, come with you-"
"I said, come with me.", said Mortis, and tightened his grip. "We have much to discuss."
"We do?", asked Leon, then suddenly felt himself being dragged by Mortis's surprisingly strong arms. That was the thing about old men, they always had oddly powerful grips.
"Oh. We do.", said Leon again, trying to keep talking, until Mortis slammed him roughly down onto a rock. He coughed, and tried to right himself. Mortis sat down next to him, looming over him with ferocious intent.
"Leon.", said Mortis, with a smile as fake as it was wide. "I have something that I want to talk to you about."
Leon had no idea what to do in this situation. Here he was, face to face with an enemy that had been attempting to kill him almost nonstop for the past few days- and now that he had finally caught up to him, was sitting down for a friendly chat. It made him so confused that all he could do was utter that expression so commonly heard in such situations- "Um. Okay."
"Well, not me.", said Mortis, and chuckled. He stood up, and Leon noticed with alarm the sudden bulge in his stomach. "My master wishes to speak."
"Wait, what-", Leon asked, then Mortis's eyes vanished.
The worrisome bulge in his stomach traveled upwards, gaining size and speed as it went. It went from a golfball in his stomach, to a tennis ball in his chest, to a bowling ball in his throat, the look on his face becoming more and more agonized as it went. Finally, to the utter horror of Leon and the mild discomfort of everyone else, the ball exploded into the form of a thousand tiny Bats, flittering and flying every which way. The chorus of Bats screamed, flew into the sky- then came back downwards again, concentrating near the ground, almost in the form of some sort of vague shape.
Leon watched in confusion, as a column of bats hovered right near the ground. They seemed almost to form the shape of a foot, then the beginnings of a leg. Then as the same thing started to happen just a few feet to the right, he realized that is what they were making.
The swarm of Bats formed into the shape of two huge thighs, then a waist wearing only a kilt and a belt. The pair of legs stepped over the now unconscious body of Mortis, towards Leon, ruminating with pure evil energy. The Bats turned into a torso, the muscles bulging and huge, yet nothing but a torn hole where the heart should have been. Finally, as the last of the Bats flew down from the sky, they assembled themselves into a head. The leering face stared out from beneath the horned helmet, as the Bats all burst into nothing, revealing a being made of pure shadow. It took a long, frighteningly calm step forward, and Leon flinched.
"Hello…", it breathed, the voice rich, baritone, and absolutely evil. "Son."
Song: Un'altra Persona
"Wha…", Leon asked, his mind reeling in shock. "S- son?"
"Yes.", said the evil figure, and smiled. "I'm your father, Leon. Your real father, not that dull witted behemoth who hates you. I am the one who planted the seed that gave rise to you."
"Oh…", Leon said, and his breathing grew short. "I mean. Um. This is a lot to take in-"
"Yes, yes, I know.", said the figure, and put his hand on his chest. He gave a short bow, and held up his hand. "However, I believe some introductions are needed. Firstly- my name is Chad. I am- or, was, rather, I am so much more now than I ever could have dreamed- an Elite Barbarian."
"You…", Leon said, and took a fearful step back. "My mom mentioned you. She hated you."
He raised his hand, a spinner blade nocking into the slot. Rosa stepped forward to block the blow, but a single gesture from Chad sent her back. Leon snarled, and stared straight forward.
"What did you do to her?", Leon growled. Chad chuckled, and pushed his hands towards Leon.
"Nothing too bad.", said Chad, and laughed. "She's fine. Don't worry about her."
"What did you do to her?", Leon shouted, and jabbed his hand forwards. "Tell me!"
"Well, if she didn't tell you, then it doesn't matter.", Chad barked, and Leon suddenly felt an overwhelming pressure to sit down. "Besides, that was the best night of her life."
"But-", Leon began, but a massive blast of mental force from Chad almost forced his mouth shut. Chad began strutting in front of him, stroking his chin, his low breathing causing his gaping chest wound to move in and out.
"Now, I'm sure you're wondering how I got this way.", said Chad, and chuckled. "Well, you see-"
"Not really, no.", said Leon. "I really don't care about why you're here."
Chad scowled, and clenched his fist. "Well, too bad. You're getting it anyway. You see…"
He began pacing again, and brought up his hand. Images slowly appeared from his palm, growing into nearly life sizes visios of smoke that acted out his every word.
"You see, I had been living with my brother Rick for a long while. But then, due to rather unfortunate circumstances involving your mother, we were both tragically killed."
He waited for Leon's response, but he kept his face straight. Chad inwardly scowled, and continued with his story. "But, due to your mother's naivety, she kept our hearts in jars in her room. This is what allowed our souls to cling on to life here, instead of being able to cross over into the next world. Of course, I highly doubt-"
Then he stopped, realizing he couldn't reveal his evil nature to Leon. He wanted to win him over first. "I mean, there were some things we had to do first. Or, as I should say, I…"
He lifted up his arm, revealing a nightmare tattoo of a screaming Elite Barbarian, being sucked into a black hole. "My brother was absorbed into me, granting me enough strength to escape the limbo and enter back into this reality. It was a simple matter finding my minions, finding your mother, and then teaming up with Mr. R himself. Even that is only a simple matter, until I grow strong enough to defeat him. Once I learned I had a son, I set out to find you before anything else. And now…"
He took a stride forward, and dropped to one knee. He put a hand on Leon's shoulder, and tried his best at a genuine smile. It didn't work very well, however. "I finally found my boy."
"But-", Leon began, stopped, then resumed again once he realized Chad wasn't going to shut him up. "I don't even know you! You're my dad, but- who else are you?"
"Ah, I appear you want the wishes.", said Chad, and brought up his hand. "Well, I would be glad to lend a portion of my own power to my very own son. What an experience that would be."
"What-", Leon sputtered, and took a step back. "I never said that!"
Chad shrugged, and raised his hands. "Maybe not. But here, this, is an example of my power."
"Wait- said Leon, until Chad opened his full arms. He had a veritable toolkit of strange, magical shapes floating around, and too many swords to properly count. "Behold."
He took a float over to Leon, who no longer shrank back at much. Chad took a simple look at Leon's shoulder- there, engraved upon it, was a bronze 3.
"Oh, my.", sad Chad, and laughed. "You're only level 3…I can fix that for you."
"What-", Leon asked, trying still to make sense of the situation. He just squeaked out "Wait, what-"
Chad slammed his hands down on Leon's shoulder, lightning bolts of rich purple flashing from one to the other. Leon's eyes rolled back in his head as he felt the bizarre feeling of being flash upgraded rush through him. "What?"
Then, as soon as it had happened, it was done. Chad took his hands off of Leon's shoulder, and crossed his arms. "There. That is good, yes?"
"Oh my…", Leon muttered, standing up. "I'm… level 9. I could get starpowers."
Something about the way that Chad had grabbed him left some sort of impression. He stared at his arms in disbelief, going from weak to strong in a matter of seconds.
"Yes, starpowers…", crooned Chad, and leaned down. "Which one would you like? Smoke Trails, or Invisiheal."
"Uuuhh…", asked Leon. "Invisiheal?"
"Alright.", said Chad, and reached into his back pocket. He withdrew two small squares, throwing them to Leon. Leon caught both of them with no trouble, feeling them get absorbed into his skin. "There you go, child."
Then he spread his arms open wide, and delivered the final blow. "All this power- it excites you, does it not? I know exactly where you can get such power…"
Leon stared him down for a second, noticing out of the corner of his eye most of the enemy brawlers were either leaning bored against a wall or on their phone. "Where?"
"Why, lord Grrshknn, of course!", boomed Chad. "He is the true conductor to power."
He stared Leon down, and opened his arms. "Come son. Join me- and together, we will save this world. Together, we can save it from the evil being of Rakastamos."
"Will… Mom be okay?", asked Leon, slowly twisting around the rock he sat on. "That's what I'm worried about."
Chad just threw back his head, and gave a rich, hearty laugh. "Of course, son. She will be kept in pristine condition- I shall see to it. After all, she has to be healthy to provide me with all those children…"
"Children?", Leon asked in shock. "You mean-"
"Oh, yes I do.", said Chad. "I am going to give you all the brothers and sisters you want. I'll give you whatever girl you wish to possess- you can create grandchildren, all citizens of our soon to be glorious empire. All you have to do…"
"What?", asked Leon, rising from his rock and moving closer to Chad. "What do I have to do?"
"Just shake my hand.", said Chad, extending his shadowy arm. "Take the deal."
"Well.", said Leon, and took a deep sigh. "That is a very nice deal you have there. Very nice indeed. I'm gonna be honest- most of that doesn't sound too bad."
"Yes, yes…", said Chad, starting to growl. "So take my hand, son. Seal the deal."
"Oh, but that's just the thing.", said Leon, folding his arms behind his back and looking at Chad through his side eye. "There is just one little detail preventing me from doing so."
"Oh.", said Chad, and chuckled. "Well by all means, tell me what it is. I can alter the contract as you wish-"
But Leon didn't care about any of that. Instead, he just took a deep breath out, rolled his sucker around in his mouth, and stared right up at Chad. His face took on a strange hue and value, all sound but his voice seeming to disappear. "I refuse."
Song: Lotte Feroce
A shock seemed to shoot through the entire area. Chad jerked his head back in surprise, as did most of the Brawlers around the circle. Leon's intense gaze radiated like a flame in a circle all around, forcing back and nearly sizzling the edges of Chad's skin.
"What?", Chad snapped, and snarled. "How- how could you refuse? That is the perfect deal!"
"Because.", said Leon. "No matter what lies you throw at me, I know you did something awful to my mother. And whoever does something like that, well…"
He flicked a spinner blade out of his sleeve, and raised his hand to shoot as his eyes flashed. "Doesn't deserve to live."
"Woah, son, let's talk about this…", Chad said, his hands going for the sword on his belt. "You don't need to resist this. I can-"
"Don't call me that. You're not my father.", said Leon, as he pointed towards the clan castle where Dan was still asleep. "He is."
"You…", Chad rumbled, and started to grow in size. "Don't think you can tell me what's what, boy! I planted the seed inside your mother that would become you! All he did was-"
A thick, ragged cough suddenly came from behind Chad, and he turned around. There he saw the No-Hat Mortis slowly getting back up, leaning on his shovel for support. His eyes were filled with bloodshot veins, and foam seemed to drip from the corners of his mouth.
"Master…", he coughed. "Allow me to handle this."
"Hmm.", said Chad, and slightly moved to the side. "Alright, Mortis."
"You…", Mortis snarled, taking a step forwards towards Leon. "You have been nothing but a thorn in my side since the day you arrived. Every time you've gotten underfoot, every time you spoiled my plans, everytime you made me a fool! No more, brat! Today, you pay! Once I kill you, your family will be next!"
"Wait, what-", said Leon only for Mortis to make a signal to a nearby bush, and his last ally emerge. Mortis fumed with insane energy, staring only at Leon, until he threw his hand down and shouted the command. "Villasteel! Shoot out his throat!"
Villasteel breathed in, nocked an arrow, and fired. It wasn't a white arrow- it was just a regular arrow. But as it spiraled through the air, picking up speed as it went, slicing in a whistle, he still knew it would be enough for Leon. And correct he was, as the arrow slid deeply into his neck and out through the other side. A huge burst of blood erupted from the area of impact, Leon gasping for breath and falling to the ground. He spat as he hit the dirt, another huge blossom of blood coming right from him. He lay there for a few seconds, trying to say something, but the only thing that came through was blood.
"Hmph.", said Villasteel, and stood up. "I thought you had hired me for something more interesting than a single target."
"No.", said Chad, and turned around. He scoffed, a little upset at the loss, but it was fine. Brandy had been more of a target anyway, and she was still in the clan castle. Chad smiled as he remembered that the only person who could have possibly alerted anyone was now dead on the ground. Everything and anything could be a target-
"Hey!", came a voice from behind, and all the Brawlers turned around in total shock. There stood Leon, his eyes blazing with pure fury, Stand in hand, arrow still sticking right through his shredded neck. "You think a little thing like that… would be enough to stop me?"
Song: Instant Kill Battle
"What?", Mortis gasped, fumbling for his weapon. "How- how are you still alive? That was an arrow from a Forgotten directly through your weak point!'
"Yeah?", Leon sneered, and spun around his hand. Hunter Killer appeared with a flourish, and he aimed it right at the group."Well guess what. Frick Forgotten, frick weak points, and frick you!"
"You're the ones who are going to die.", said Leon with nothing but calm. "Me and my parents are going to get out of here, and continue on our quest. And that is final."
He growled, and started to pull the trigger.
Chad, knowing full well what was coming, ducked down across the ground. His body of pure darkness flattened instantly against the grass- but not everyone else was so lucky.
"Vola vola vola vola vola vola vola-", Leon said, as Hunter Killer shot its rounds. They tore through Tara and headed for Rosa almost before anyone cold blink- that was one down. Rosa screamed, and activated her super, but the bullets began to crack it almost instantly.
"Volavolavolavolavolavola-", Leon ruttered, and the bullets finally shredded Rosa's super. A fair amount of them sliced right into her skin, and Rosa screamed in agony. A few seconds later, the bullet storm continued onwards, leaving no trace of the Rosa at all.
"VOLAVOLAVOLAVOLAVOLAVOLA-", shouted Leon, and Hunter Killer's spray only increased. An immense horde of bullets shot through the air, slamming into and ripping apart Rico and Gene. Gene simply turned into a puff of smoke, and Rico's head was torn off and thrown to one side. Mortis attempted to run, but he was far too slow.
"VOLAVOLAVOLAVOLAVOLA-" screamed Leon, and aimed Hunter Killer at Mortis. Mortis shrieked, and tried to dash away, but even his speed was no match for current Leon.
Mortis was actually lifted up into the air by the force of Leon's bullets, each one tearing a new hole in his body. "VOLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
He screamed in immense pain- then was silenced, as he finally exploded with one final volley into a burst of red liquid upon the broken ground. Leon took his lollipop out of his mouth, tossed it into the air, and turned around, catching it even as he didn't look. He smirked, finally having gotten his revenge. "Volare Via."
For a second, they just stood there. Leon and Chad, technically father to refusing son.
"I see how it is, Leon.", said Chad. "You would rather kill everything offered to you than just take it. You're worthless."
"Oh really?", Leon asked, and once again aimed his gun. He smirked, and pulled the trigger. "Tell that to Hunter Killer."
But even as the storm of bullets tore through him, Chad was totally unaffected. He just looked down and shrugged, then began to laugh maniacally.
"You are a fool, boy.", he spat with utter mocking laughter. "Not only do you refuse the offer of a lifetime, but you fire upon me even though it shall do nothing. I am now a being of pure shadow. My only weakness is-"
Then he stopped, and laughed to himself. He took a step in Leon's direction, already running forward. "I'm not gonna tell you! Prepare to die!"
But Leon had already figured out the nature of Chad's weakness. And so he took a small break from firing, even as Chad approached. He just took another deep breath, loaded up his sleeves, and fired another pair of spinner blades. They soared high over him, turned around, came rushing back and sliced the top neatly off of a pair of white cottonwood trees- revealing the final rays of the beautiful setting sun.
As soon as one of the rays even brushed Chad's skin, he screamed. The pain resonated through him like nothing he had ever known, almost like fire being lit on fire. He instantly stopped going after Leon and collapsed on the ground, writhing and screaming louder than it was thought possible for a ghost to do.
"How…", he gasped, as cracks began to appear in his sides. "How did you figure it out? How did you guess?"
His darting eyes saw the shadow of a nearby rock, and he crawled for that- but Leon just picked it up and moved it out of the way. Chad howled in agony, and his skin began to dissolve.
"This... ", he spat, as his body began to fall apart in massive chunks. "This cannot be!"
He grabbed the flakes out of the air with his fingers, or at least tried to- they too crumbled to dust upon touch. "I was… supposed to live forever! Not die like this!"
"Well, I'm sorry, Dad.", said Leon, mustering all the sarcasm he possibly could. He leaned over Chad, writhing on the ground like a spastic worm, and grinned. "It looks like…"
Then he folded his arms, and turned away from the carnage. "You couldn't handle the strength… of either sun."
"NOOOOOOOO!", Chad screamed, as the sun finally hit his heart. Bits of him swirled away into the air, his tortured form becoming more and more faded, until it finally disappeared, the rightfully terrified scream echoing away into the night.
Leon looked past the tiny cloud of smoke and patch of burned grass where Chad had fallen, to the terrified survivors. Bibi clung to El Primo, her eyes wide with fear. Sandy had been jolted into a state of full wakefulness, brought upon by the threat of impending death. They just stared at him, not knowing if he would shoot them to bits- or, for some odd reason, spare them.
Leon continued to look at them, wondering the same thing. Sandy didn't look like he had wanted to be here in the first place. He shook with terror- similar to the way that Leon himself had done.
He saw Bibi, her eyes streaked with tears, holding on to the unconscious body of El Primo. He bled from his neck slightly, one of the bullets having grazed him. But he would heal.
Finally, Leon made a decision. He sighed to himself, brought up Hunter Killer-
And shot a single blast directly upwards into the sky, the sharp crack echoing over the already destroyed quiet. But rather than running away, the Brawlers just stared at him, unsure of what to do.
"Run!", he screamed, and Sandy jumped. "Fricking run!"
Bibi, without a word, hefted El Primo up over her shoulder. She started to run, reaching out an arm for Sandy- but he had already taken off. Bibi looked back at Leon, mouthed a silent, teary "Thank you-", and ran out of sight, passing through a small gap in the walls.
Leon closed his eyes, savoring his victory- then fell to the ground, clutching his neck. "Ow ow ow ow ow-"
He looked up, trying to see if there were any Healers nearby. They could help. But after a quick search, it was revealed that they were not. He looked around for a doctor- but he still didn't really know the village. The tour earlier that day had been interrupted in a rather distracting manner. "Shooooot…."
Leon forced himself to his feet, trying to think of what to do, when an idea suddenly found itself in his mind. He laughed out loud, then winced because it hurt to laugh. Or to do anything, with a giant hole in his neck.
"Spell….", he said, trying to find the spell factory. Perhaps they had Heals set out for anyone that needed them, just cooling down on the windowsill. Or even better- a healing turret. Yes, that would be the best thing to find. Leon used these thoughts to reassure himself as he crawled along the ground on his hands and feet, just slamming his head into the door when he finally did come across the Spell Factory.
It took a few times, but eventually someone answered. That someone was an old, tired looking Wizard, bent over his cup of coffee and speaking into his own ear horn. "Eh? What can I-"
Then he saw the way that Leon was bleeding, and almost jumped. "Oh. Oh my goodness. Stay right there, young one, I will-"
"Oh, just give me one of those heal spells.", said Leon forcefully, shoving past the old wizard and grabbin a Heal right off the line. "Or not, I guess I'll just have to take one."
Ignoring the Wizard's shouts of protest, Leon took a deep, refreshing swig, then slammed the rest of the bottle directly onto his neck wound. He took a deep, satisfied sigh as it healed, the pain disappearing- and then he did black out, right onto the Spell Factory visitor's couch.
"Miss Brandy.", said the tall, imposing figure of Mr. Antnamon, as he strode his way down the desk of his classroom. "Since you always manage to get your homework done every class, would you mind showing it to us this time as an example?"
"Uh…", Brandy said, trying to keep the color from draining out of her face. "Actually, uh… see. I kind of can't do that. Sir."
"Why not?", asked Mr. Antnamon, putting his fingers gently on Brandy's desk. "You did it, didn't you?"
"Yes.", said Brandy. "But then someone stole it. Cause I did it, and then it was in my bag, and then it wasn't. That is the only thing that could have happened."
"I see…", said Mr. Antnamon, seeing the sweat on Brandy's face. He could tell she was lying, even if she was good at it. "And who, pray tell, stole it from you?"
"Bailey.", said Brandy, pointing towards the section of the room where Bailey sat. "I'm pretty sure it was her."
Bailey spat out her coffee as soon as she heard Brandy say it, and stood up out of her chair. She pointed an accusatory finger at Brandy, fuming out of anger. "Excuse me, frick?"
Kurizas behind her tried to motion for her to sit down, but she was having none of it. "You think you can just say that I stole your homework, and have him believe you?"
"Perhaps.", said Mr. Antnamon, and stood up to his full height. "Why should I not?"
"Because I only steal good things!", Bailey shouted, and Brandy gasped. "Why would I ever steal her homework? It's probably gonna fail anyway!"
"Why, you little-", Brandy shouted, standing up. "You think you can just-"
The two Bandits yelled at each other, and jumped straight out of their seats. They Dashed towards each other, the curtain of wind blowing back hair and papers. They had almost collided in the center of the room, when Mr. Antnamon's arms shot out faster than light and grabbed both of them by the cloak, bringing them to a sudden halt.
"Sit down, Bailey.", said Mr. Antnamon, and stretched out his arm to her seat. He unceremoniously dumped her in and activated the seat's restraint- this was far from the first time he had had to restrain her like that. But for Brandy, he did something different.
"Brandy.", he said, holding her up to his face. "I need to tell you something. Dan, you too. Come up here."
Brandy sort of struggled a bit, but she was being held about 15 feet off of the ground. There was no way to reach. So she just crossed her arms and pouted, hanging by her hood.
"Oh.", said Dan from the far back, and slowly rose to his feet. He made his way gradually through the vast maze of desks, bumping into anything larger than a Goblin, which was everything there, and eventually stepped foot in front of Mr. Antnamon. "Yes, sir?"
Mr. Antnamon put Brandy on Dan's shoulders, much to the amusement of the rest of the massive class. There were giggles and gasps, not to mention Dan's reddened face and Brandy's wide eyes. But Mr. Antnamon was not trying to spark anything- he knew full well they were beyond that. He just looked at both of them at once, and spoke.
"You two.", he said, and flicked his fingers. "It's time to wake up."
"Wait, what-", Brandy began, then noticed something. The edges of the room were beginning to blur, and soften like a painted paper left out in the rain. The sounds of the class slowed down and simultaneously sped up, bleeding together like water and milk.
"What the heckkkk-", Dan shouted, his words trailing off into a gigantic, staticy blare as everything closed in on around them. Brandy screamed and Dan held on to her, as they tumbled head over heels through blackness into an infinite pit- then suddenly found themselves laying in beds, the sheets tumbled up and the blankets thrown off onto the floor.
"D…", Brandy mumbled, rubbing her head and sitting up. "What… what just happened?"
She waited a few seconds for an answer, but Dan remained motionless. "Dan?"
She crawled onto his upper body, nuzzling her head against his chin. "Dan? You awake?"
Dan suddenly sat up, almost throwing Brandy off of him. His face was perfectly level, no emotion whatsoever. He gently swayed as he sat there, as if pushed along by the breeze.
"Are… you okay-", Brandy began, but Dan just talked as though he didn't hear her.
"What the frick…", he muttered to himself. "Was that?"
"Did you have a weird dream too?", asked Brandy. "Like we were-"
"Yes.", said Dan, his fingers slightly twitching, Star sparking off of them in bits and pieces. "I did. That was not something I particularly enjoyed."
"I don't know.", said Brandy, sitting up, facing forwards, and putting her chin in her hands. "That was kind of fun. Except for the part where-, well, no, that was kind of fun too. Because you came and saaaved me…."
She put a tentative hand on Dan's leg, hoping he wasn't as mad as he had been last night. Thankfully, as he moved his leg a little bit closer, it seemed as though he wasn't.
"Yeah.", he said, and shivered, the force rocking the bed. "But like… we weren't together. I was dating some Valkyrie."
"Oh.", said Brandy, and blinked. "Yeah, that does sound bad."
She leaned over and hugged Dan's leg, burying her face in his muscle. "Don't you worry, Dan. I'll never do that."
Dan put one finger on her back, stroking her as well as he was able. "And neither will I."
They just lay there for a moment, feeling each other's contact. But after a few seconds, the quiet in the room grew to a fever pitch, and Dan cleared his throat. He removed his finger from Brandy's back, and she looked up in mild curiosity.
"Hey, why did you stop?", she asked, craning her neck to see. Her hood was about to fall down, but she reached over and pulled it back up. "I was just enjoying it."
"Cause it's about time to go.", said Dan, and grabbed her around the waist. She flipped in his grip and landed on his shoulder with a twist of her entire body, running her finger along his arm as she went. She was making an effort to be extra affectionate this morning, trying to stop him from the anger he was having the night before at any cost. She hated to see him like that.
"Oh.", said Brandy. "Where are we going?"
"Breakfast.", said Dan, and started walking towards the door of the Clan Castle. "That's where."
"Ooooh.", Brandy said, and scratched Dan's neck. "That sounds fun. I bet there's gonna be pancakes. I like pancakes."
"Probably.", said Dan, and put one hand on the door. "Those seem to be pretty standard fare.", he said as he swung it open, and stopped in his tracks at what he saw.
The ground in front of the Barracks within view was torn almost to pieces, long scars running across the grass. Smoke still rose from a medium size circle among the blasts, the grass withered and dead around it, if not actually vaporized within. A single blade grew in the exact middle, but it seemed, in some unplaceable way, to be evil. A tree was smashed to bits nearby, branches hanging off the stalk in crazy patterns. One of the nearby wall segments seemed to be missing. Not that it had been destroyed, or that it wasn't there- it was most definitely Missing.
"What the…", both Brandy and Dan said together, surveying the damage. "What happened?"
Rachel the Archer Queen ran by, clutching her bow to her side and her crown to her head. "Where did the kid go?", she shouted, trying to get the attention of everyone within her reach. "Has anyone seen the kid?"
"The kid-", Brandy muttered, then it clicked in her mind. The bullet marks on the ground? Leon's Stand. The obvious signs of a struggle? Same answer. And him missing…
Brandy felt her face freeze up. That was not a good sign. "Leon?"
"Right!", said Rachel, and looked over at them. "Leon was his name. Yeah, I can't find him anywhere."
"No.", said Brandy, her arms tensing up. "Oh no, no, nonononono."
She again looked over to the scene of the right, hoping and praying that what she thought was not what had actually happened. But she saw some of the footprints leave the right and head off towards the trees, and almost screamed.
"Hi Mom.", came a voice next to her on Dan's other shoulder, as Brandy began crying.
"Leon…", she choked out, thinking that someone had taken him during the night. "No...-"
Then her ears registered what she had heard, and she spun around in shock. "Leon?"
Leon and Brandy stared at each other some more, until Brandy gently tapped Dan on the shoulder, in a signal letting him know that she wanted to get down. Dan let them both down onto the ground- and before even a full second passed, Brandy grabbed Leon in a hug. She lifted him off the ground, spun him around, and squeezed him so hard he struggled to breathe.
"Woah-", he coughed, as his face turned red. "Mom-"
"Oh!", Brandy shouted, and let go. Leon stumbled forward, leaning on Brandy's shoulder. "Sorry about that, Leon. I just… thought I lost you. For a moment there."
"Nope.", said Leon, and sucked in a breath. "Just almost knocked me out there though."
"Sorry…", Brandy said, and winced. "You okay?"
"Yes,", said Leon, and stood up. "Just had to catch myself there for a bit."
"Good.", said Brandy, hugging him again, gentler this time. "I'm glad you're okay."
"So uh…", said Dan, and leaned down. "Do you know what caused all that destruction out there?
Leon thought for a moment, rolling his lollipop around in his mouth, until he leaned back and struck a pose. "Well, of course I know.", he said. "That was me."
"You did that?", Brandy asked. "How? I mean like- what happened?"
Leon scratched his head, and remembered. "Well, all the Brawlers that had been following me finally caught up.", he said. "And they surrounded me, and started beating me up."
"Oh…", Brandy said, bringing her hands to her nose. Dan leaned in, feeling a little sorry for him for some reason that he couldn't quite place. "Then what happened?"
"Well, then Mortis started talking to me about something. Something about a Dragon.", said Leon, and Dan and Brandy exchanged surprised glances.
"And then Mortis summoned his master or someone- he was like this horned shadow demon. Said his name was Chad."
Brandy's breath caught in her throat, and her face turned as white as her hair. Her hands automatically grabbed at Dan's skin, digging in as tightly as she could. Dan's muscles tightened, and his face grew dark at the mention of Chad's name. A low rumble escaped his throat, and a bolt of star flashed out from him and smote the grass.
"Yeah so uh…", Leon said quickly, a little surprised at his parent's reactions. "He said that I should come and join him, and that he would give me all the brothers and sisters that… I… wanted…"
"Oh?", Dan said, looming tremendous over Leon. He had stopped talking because of Dan's intimidating presence, and even now he trembled. "And then what did you do?"
"Well uh…", said Leon, and winced. "I killed him."
Dan instantly leaned back, and blinked in surprise. "Oh. You- you did?"
"Yep.", said Leon, and nodded. "Hunter Killer wasn't working, so I let the rays of the setting sun fall on him, and that seemed to do the trick. Now, he's dead."
Brandy stared at Leon, and felt her eyes start to water. She gently reached out to him, and put her hand on his shoulder. "Leon…", she said quietly. "I don't know how to explain this."
But Dan just stood there quietly, lost in his thoughts. He considered just how badly he had been treating Leon these past few days. How now that he thought about it, he didn't deserve it all that much. And especially that Chad himself had talked to him, given him an offer- and yet Leon had killed him, without even a second thought. And as Brandy hugged him, Leon stared upwards at Dan. Finally, his stoic face cracked into a smile. He brought up one hand, and Leon cowered. Brandy's feet instinctively jumped back, taking the rest of her with them.
"That's my BOY!", Dan roared, and swung his hand downwards for a slap on Leon's back. Of course, his force put into the slap was very strong, much more than the strength Leon had in his legs. This, naturally, caused Leon to fly over the Barracks and into the trees past the walls of the village with a yell of both joy and panic.
"Oh, shoot!", Dan shouted, as he heard the crashing sounds of Leon falling to the ground. "I'm sorry! That was on me!"
The crashings sounds continued, as Leon fell to the ground. He lay there dazed, as the leaves knocked free from his fall gently fell onto his face. "Thanks, Dad. That really helps."
"Hey, no problem…", said Dan, and let out a deep breath. "Son."
Brandy looked up at Dan in shock. His words as he had slapped Leon out of the village only then hit her mind, at the same time she heard the words he had just spoken.
"D...Dan?", she asked. "Dan, honey? Did you just-"
"Yes.", said Dan, and put one massive hand on her shoulder. "I did."
Brandy said nothing- she didn't need to. She just leaned her head into Dan's hand, pushing up against him. She closed her eyes and purred, feeling the love that had been in question.
"I was wrong, Brandy.", said Dan. "About him. He is a good kid."
"Oh… oh.", said Brandy. "You… really mean it?"
"Yes, I do.", said Dan. "I was blinded by anger. But now that he killed Chad… I can see where I made my mistake."
"No, no.", said Brandy. "I made a mistake. I shouldn't have-"
"What mistake?", asked Dan. "What mistake did you make?"
Brandy thought for a moment, then sighed. "I shouldn't have been so fragile. I let myself break when you yelled at me."
"No, no.", said Dan, and hugged her a little tighter. "That wasn't a mistake. Don't worry."
"Yes it was, though.", Brandy whined. "We both made a mistake, now let's stop fighting."
"Fighting?", asked Dan. "No, we're not fighting. More like-"
Brandy suddenly Dashed out of his hand, up his arm, and landed a quick kiss on his cheek. He didn't even have time to respond before she slid back down again, and once again took her spot below his hand.
"Flirting?", asked Brandy. "We can do that, my mountain."
As she leaned into him, Dan realized what she had said. "My… mountain?", he asked. "Is that a new name for me, my star?"
"Ooooh…", said Brandy, and grinned. "Only if that's a new name for me."
"It is.", said Dan. "It totally is."
"Well then.", said Brandy, and looked up. Her face smooshed into Dan's hand. "You know, this kinda makes me want to go mountain climbing."
"Hoho.", said Dan, and sent the tiniest shock he could through Brandy's ear. "Then I want to explore the stars."
"Oh, you can conquer the stars.", Brandy purred, her face glowing. "Just as long as I get to be trapped by the mountains…"
"You can.", said Dan, as his hand started to wrap around Brandy's torso. "As long as I-"
"Yo.", said Leon, and they both stopped in their romantic tracks. "I'm right here."
"Oh.", said Dan, and his face turned a tiny bit redder. "Yeah uh, sorry about that kiddo. Me and Brandy were just uh…"
"Talking about how much we love each other.", he said, at the same time that Brandy said "Telling each other what we're gonna do back in the beds." They looked at each other, and smiled.
"Yeah.", said Leon, and scratched the back of his head. "So basically, um… the Heroes all want to talk to you about something. I don't know what it is, but they made it sound super important."
"Ah.", said Brandy. "Anything in particular?"
"No.", said Leon. "Just they wanted to talk to you. And no, they didn't say why."
"Well.", said Dan. "What do they want to talk to us about?"
Leon stared at them in total disbelief, and blinked a few times. "Did you not just hear what I-"
Brandy giggled into her hand, and Dan laughed. "Oh, don't worry kiddo.", he said. "We were just messing with you."
"Oh.", said Leon, his face a little redder than usual. "I see. Still though. Heroes."
"Yes, we should.", said Dan. He grabbed Brandy gently around the waist and lifted her up onto his shoulder- but instead of dropping there, Brandy chose to fall onto and wrap around his head.
"Where are they right now?", asked Brandy. "The Heroes."
"They're all in the Town Hall.", said Leon, jerking a thumb back towards where it was.
"Good to know.", said Dan, and grinned. "Thanks for the help, son."
Then they set off, towards the glowing ivory structure.
"I should have been awake.", said Rachel, tapping her fingers impatiently on the wooden desk of the mahogany meeting room. "Those things attacked the village, and I wasn't awake to defend it."
"Oh, come on, Rachel.", said the Barbarian King, idly tossing a small boulder up and into the air, only for him to catch it every time. It was a boring game, but one he enjoyed. "You worry too much. We all survived."
"Yes, but what about next time?", asked Rachel, the tapping evolving to scratching. "What if something like that happens again, and this time Leon's not here? I'm an Archer Queen- I should always be awake and ready for everything."
"No.", said the Grand Warden, and Rachel turned to look. "We all know that offer falls to me."
"Yeah, come on down from it.", the Barbarian King scoffed, holding up a giant sandwich. "What do you ever do, you level 4 looking bugger?"
"Level 4?", asked the Grand Warden indignantly, and held up his staff. "I am, in fact, level 5!"
"Whaaat?", asked the Barbarian King in disbelief. "No. Since when?"
"Since yesterday, you idiot.", said the Grand Warden, and massaged his forehead. He was capable of speaking every known language- save that, for perhaps, the language of stupidity. "I was upgraded to level 5 yesterday."
"Oh.", said the Barbarian King, and brought up his hand in a heartbeat. "Well then, never mind me then."
"Okay, when are they getting here?", asked Rachel, and slammed her hands down onto the table. "I could have sworn I specifically asked Leon to-"
Then the door burst open with a bang, and all three Heroes turned to look. There stood Dan, a tiny bit of Star still emanating from his fingertips, and Brandy, riding on his head.
"Hey.", said Dan, and stepped into the room. "I think we're supposed to be here."
"Oh.", said Rachel, and sat up straight. "Yes, you were. We all wanted to talk to you."
"Okay.", said Dan, and pulled over a chair. Being Hero-sized, it was just right for him. "What did you want to talk to us about?"
"Well.", said Rachel, and knitted her fingers together. "I want you to tell me everything you know…"
Her eyes narrowed, and she stared down the table at them. "About Rakastamos."
"Well uh…", said Brandy, and winced. "That might be hard. Because to be honest…"
She gestured a few times with her hands, none of them meaning anything, before just giving up and shrugging. "We don't really know anything about him."
"What?", Rachel asked in shock. "But Leon told me that you had been on his trail for days now! That you were going on a great quest to stop his plan from taking over the world!"
"Yeah…", said Brandy, and scratched the back of her head. She jumped down onto the table and walked around, prompting a silent aww from both Dan and Rachel. "That's all we know about him too."
"Well, and that we know he lives in the Clashcrush mountains.", said Dan. "And that we need to find the Dragonlord of this continent to help us save the world before we fight him."
"Okay…", said Rachel, gesturing for the Grand Warden to write notes. It took a few seconds, but he jumped to a proper sit and began writing stuff down in his massive book. "What else?"
"Nothing.", said Dan. "That's all we know."
"I see.", said Rachel. "Well, thanks for the info I guess. It'll be useful."
She stood up and stretched, popping her back. "I mean, if you guys need to continue on your quest, then-"
"Wait!", came the shout of Leon, and the door slammed open on the other side of the room.
5 minutes earlier, Leon had been walking around on the grass where he had finished off Mortis and Chad. The grass where Chad had gone down still sparked and smoldered, the blade of grass wearing a tiny red crown. The entire area was still ripped and torn- all the Builders were too busy with various projects to help clean it up. Leon sort of just poked around, looking for anything he might have missed.
He saw Bibi's faded footsteps in the dirt- they would have faded all the way by now, if she hadn't been also carrying El Primo at the time. It was amazing really, the way she did it. She was quite a strong girl, even if she had been easily swayed. Leon closed his eyes, wondering what she was doing at that moment. He hoped she was okay. Even though she had been working for Mortis, and by extension Chad, he knew she didn't really mean it. In fact, maybe, once the quest was over, he could maybe find her again, and-
"Hey.", came a metallic voice, clanging as Leon's foot kicked it. Leon looked down in shock, to see Rico's severed head still staring up at him. "Do. Not. Kick. Me."
"Woah!", Leon yelled, and jumped back. Rico's head came with him, rolling up Leon's knee even as he tried to get away. "Where the frick did you come from?"
"I. Am. Rico.", said Rico. "My. Body. Has. Vanished. Where. Is. My. Body?"
"Your body?", asked Leon in disgust, kicking his shoe clean. "How am I supposed to know-"
Then a thought occurred to him. It was a bit of an evil thought, or at least a mischievous one. But as a grin came over Leon's face, he knew it was the right one.
"Come on, bro.", he said, as he lifted Rico's head up unto his own shoulders, and started to walk off. "I think you can help me here."
Back in the present, Leon slammed the head of Rico down on the table. He took a deep breath, and wiped the sweat from his face. Rico looked around in a blind panic, trying to make sense of how and who he was and what he was doing there. "Behold!", Leon shouted, and leaned back. "We may not have any information about Rakastamos. But I believe I know someone who does."
"That thing?", asked Rachel, leaning forward to see. "What even is that? It looks like a head."
"It's a Rico.", said Leon, and flicked the side of Rico's head. "I know just how to crack that information out of him."
"How?", asked Brandy, but her words went unnoticed by Leon's ears. He just stared at Rico with an insane grin on his face, ready for the torture to begin.
Everyone else waited for a bit, not sure where Leon was going with this at all. Brandy's first impression was that he wanted to try torture, but she wasn't sure how well that would work on a robot. And something like solitary confinement wouldn't affect him either.
"So, how?", asked Brandy. "What are we gonna do to this poor soul that would make him talk?"
"Oh, I'll do something." said Leon, and rubbed his hands together in excitement. "Just you wait."
Everyone waited for a few seconds, staring at Leon, waiting for him to say something. But he just kept on rubbing his hands together, putting all the final details together in his mind.
"So… are you gonna tell us?", asked Rachel, flicking at the table with her finger. "Cause-"
"Yes!", shouted Leon, and gestured to Dan and Brandy. "Mom, Dad, I'm going to need your help."
"Okay, but…", Brandy asked. "What is it? What are we helping with?"
Leon laughed, and spun Rico's head around on his hand, much to his mechanical protesting. "Well. It's a bit of a routine I've been working on."
If that was meant to give an answer, it didn't work. Everyone just kept on staring, unable to guess whatever bizarre thoughts Leon was thinking. "What?", Rico asked.
Finally, Leon sighed, and stood up straight. "Okay.", he said, and set Rico's head down. "I'll just show you. Watch this."
Song: Ancientry
Far away, in the Clashcrush Mountains, at the base of the forest, things were stirring. Some of them were large things, some of them were not. Some of them hovered, and some of them prowled about on powerful feet. Some of them boiled over with weaponry, while others were almost as smooth as a Goblin's bald head. But all of them had one thing in common- they all were the loyal servants of Rakastamos.
"Have you got the TV working?", asked a deep, baritone voice, and the girl next to him flinched.
"Not yet.", came a cheery reply, as a blue cloaked, huddled figure messed with a bunch of wires. "But I'm about to- ah!"
He held aloft a sparking spark plug, and smiled. "There we are! Now to just-"
The TV in front of him sparkled to life, and the shadowed figure of Rakastamos slowly became visible upon it. He coughed, and made a subtle movement. "Is this on?"
"Yes, my lord.", said the one who had got it working, and bowed. "It is."
"Ah, good.", said Rakastamos, and sat back. He slashed the wall of rock he was next to, and breathed in and out before continuing. "Now I can speak to you all directly."
"Yes, my lord.", said the one in blue. "We would be eager to hear your wisdom."
"Well.", said Rakastamos. "I don't have any at the moment- but I do have a plan."
"Yeah?", asked someone in the audience, jabbing his spear into the air. "What's the plan?"
Rakastamos thought for a moment, then blinked. The youth's spear suddenly heated to burning temperatures, and he dropped it with a howl- the price to pay for his brashness.
"There is a pair of Troops.", Rakastamos said. "They have gone up against several of our own with results that…"
He slowly closed his eyes, to prevent his army from seeing the wetness within them. "I would rather not have happened."
"Oh.", said someone in the audience. "Does he mean that-"
"The Raptor, the Kraken, the Zombie, Vulgalia, Bonoome, Ugof, Villasteel, the Serpent, the Hydra, and one of the Jester's robots.", said Rakastamos, with a heavy heart. "They have all been killed."
A shocked silence fell over the crowd. Those names were familiar to them- they had practically been family. To hear them announced as dead came as quite a shock to all.
"Oh…", said one particulary large and slow individual. "So that's why I haven't seen Bonoome around for a while."
"Where are they?", shouted one angry Forgotten. "We have to get them back!"
"Oh, I sent someone after them.", said Rakastamos angrily. "An ambush mission when they were totally asleep and thought they were safe- It was the perfect plan. Only for his own son to appear, and screw everything up!"
"My lord…", came a timid voice of an exotic Wizard in the front row. "The plan?"
"Oh, the plan.", said Rakastamos, and relaxed. Then his emotions grew again, as he realized he did not actually possess one. "Um…"
His mind raced, until he finally found something to grab upon. He surged forward, causing his airborne camera to fall backwards. He stabbed one finger into the air and shouted- something. All his army was watching, and yet they heard no word.
"Sir?", asked a small, creeping Forgotten. "Your sound is out. I think the-"
Rakastamos scowled, and fiddled with the buttons on his drone. But it was a rather small drone, compared to his legendary size. "You've almost got it sir, just gotta-"
Then Rakastamos snarled in frustration- his claws were too large and long to properly manipulate the drone. There appeared a crack in the screen, then the signal went dead on the army's side. Rakastamos, it appeared, had accidentally destroyed the camera drone.
"Oh.", said a Forgotten, and frowned. "What are we gonna do now-"
Then they heard a colossal boom, far away up the mountain. All heads turned to look, to see a huge cloud of smoke erupt out of the entrance. And what came next was an order unlike they had ever seen.
"KILL THEM!", came the roar from atop the mountain, a tongue of flame coming with it. The sound swept down the mountainside, through the various tunnels and false layers, through the forest, and right into the army of Forgotten.
They all looked at each other, looked up, looked at each other again, and silently reached an agreement. Almost as if one, all the Forgotten there took off into the woods, and vanished within moments- except for one, who just stood there in shock. But after a few seconds, she too left the area, leaving it silent as a grave and the TV still sputtering.
"Okay.", said Leon, and clapped his hands together. "See, and the final step is like this."
Leon put his hands on his hips, spun around, and ended with his hip pointed outwards. "Yeah."
Brandy did the same, as close as she was able. Dan did the dance as well, casting shadows over everyone nearby.
"I see.", said Brandy, and returned to a neutral position. "So you're saying this is the dance we need to do?"
"Yes.", said Leon. "I am. This is the right one."
"And somehow dancing to this…", said Dan in disbelief. "Will get that Rico to tell us everything we need."
"Yes!", shouted Leon. "This is what's gonna help. Just trust me on this one, okay?"
Brandy sighed. "Okay, Leon. I trust you."
Leon looked to Dan, who just rolled his eyes. "I trust you, son."
Now, anyway, he almost said out of the corner of his mouth, but decided not to.
"Right.", said Leon, and dug the Rico head out of his pocket. "You ready, buddy? Because apparently we all are."
"Go. Die.", said the Rico, his eyes red.
Leon had been trying to train his parents in The Dance, as he called it, for nearly an hour now. They had moved from the Hero meeting room in the Town Hall to outside, where it was sunny, warm and most importantly open. Leon just laughed, and patted Rico's head. "Sure, buddy. Sure."
He moved his hand towards some things he had gotten ready, including a magnifying glass, some rope, and a piece of paper. "Alright, we've got everything, help string it all up?"
"Dan.", said Brandy. "Could you-"
"I certainly could.", said Dan, and took a massive step forward. "It all looks very important."
"Yes.", said Leon, and gestured appreciatively, as he wound a rope around Rico's head. "This is all very important. Yes, very important indeed."
"And that's why I'm doing it.", said Dan, and raised his hand. Several dozen feet of the rope stood straight up, hoisting Rico straight up into the air. "For my son."
"Thanks, Dad.", said Leon, and gave Rico's head one last pat to make sure everything was in order. He tilted the magnifying glass into Rico's lense, sat back, and reached for a nearby stereo. "It's better with music."
He clicked the button, and a strange sound began to fill the morning air.
Song: Canzoni Preferite
The beat of the song was strange, almost salsa-like. But it was too fast for such a type, yet too slow for anything else. The lyrics were strange, barely able to make out. But that did not stop Leon from shifting back and forth on the grass, snapping his fingers to the rhythm.
"Leon?", Brandy asked, and tilted her head. "What are you doing?"
"I'm getting him to talk!", Leon said, and drew his head back. He let his hood fall, and scraped his feet against the soft grass. Rico's eye started to grow uncomfortable from the heat, his pupil shifting back and forth. "That's what."
"But… you're just by yourself.", said Dan. "I mean sure you're doing the dance, but do you really need to be alone?"
Leon spun slowly around on one foot, and stared at Dan as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Yes, I need to start alone. Did I really not tell you this?"
"No…", said Brandy, and shook her head. "Not really.",
And yet, even as she observed Leon's movements, something started to click in her mind. The way he slunk back and forth, the way he moved his arms, the way he gyrated his hips- something about it seemed maddingly familiar. Brandy continued to stare- and then in a flash of inspiration, she remembered. "Rascals!"
"What?", asked Dan, as Leon continued the dance. He slowly brought his arms up against his sides and then spun around, rolling his lollipop around in his mouth. "Where?"
"No.", said Brandy, and shook her head. "I'm saying that the dance he's doing- doesn't it remind you of the one that Double and Trouble and Doug did? At that party, the night before-"
She leaned onto his leg, and looked up into his eyes. "You proposed to me?"
"Why, yes, I do.", said Dan, and gave her the tiniest shock he could. She quite enjoyed the little ones. "Those movements are indeed very similar…"
Brandy stood up, watching Leon continue the dance. He snapped his fingers twice as he glided against the ground, then slapped his hands against his knees and chicken walked forwards.
"Let's join him.", she said. "I don't think it'll be that effective, him dancing up there all alone."
Dan rolled his shoulders, popping the joints, and slowly stood up. He rolled his eyes, and put his hand to his forehead as he looked at Leon. "I suppose it couldn't hurt."
Leon jumped backwards, turning his head upwards to look at the sky. He took a step back, rolling his arms all the way around in their sockets- and almost bumped right into Brandy, who had come up from behind him. "Woah!"
"Sorry, sorry.", said Brandy, and stumbled a bit to catch up. She stepped in front of him, and tried to take up her position. "I'm gonna dance with you- is that okay?"
Leon thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Sure. It's time for two- although it's actually best with three."
"See, that's what I was thinking.", Brandy said. "See, I originally saw this dance from this type of troops called Rascals-"
Then the stereo was abruptly turned up, by a Goblin that had turned out to watch the show. Brandy's words were lost, and the two resumed the dance.
Leon stuck his foot out as far as it could go, his bare feet scratching up the dirt. He leaned low and gave Rico a sly wink, as the heat of the sun was focused through the magnifying glass and directly into Rico's pupil. Brandy gave a quick twirl, her skirt and her cloak lifting up from the resulting breeze. Rico just screamed, but it could hardly be heard over the pounding music.
The Goblin on the sidelines began to move his head to the music, as totally uncoordinated as it was. Another Goblin moved to join him, turning up the music even louder as he did so.
Brandy rolled her arms around in their sockets, and slapped her hands on her thighs. She spun in a tight circle, meeting Leon on the return in a tight, clean, high-five.
Rico's eye started to become unfocused, the heat beginning to deal structural damage to his internal wiring. He screamed louder, begging to be let go- but there was no one that could hear.
Brandy crouched for a bit as Leon shifted his weight, and sprung into the air, turning herself over a half dozen times. She landed on the grass in a wide display, one eye closed and one hand turning her over in a swift twist. Leon made a small gesture towards her, and she lined back up with him. She had been getting a little off of the choreography.
Leon and Brandy's movements were now perfectly in sync, as they twisted around on their ankles. They threw their hands down low to the ground, then leaned back and drew their arms across their torsos. They looked to the left, then looked to the right, wiggled their elbows, and looked up into the light. Then they saw the two Goblins near the stereo- that had grown into a massive crowd. There stood all three of the Heroes, enraptured with the dance they were doing. There was a great variety of troops, all clapping with the song and laughing. Their cheers only grew louder, as Dan finally stepped into the circle of the torture dance.
All three of them moved together, their dancing almost as one. Rico's vision began to blur out of control, the colors of the scene before him turning into a surreal oilscape of greens and blues. He could see the dancers before him- yet, curiously, he also seemed somehow able to see his own head. He could see it suspended by the ropes, the magnifying glass forcing the sun into his melting eye. All the while he screamed, but to absolutely no avail.
Brandy, without even thinking about it, moved her hand upwards, and caught Dan's passing palm. She swung herself over his wrist, as he grabbed her with his other hand. He passed her over his head, bluegreen passing over silver and gold, and then landed without a hitch on the other side of him, much to the cheers of the crowd.
Leon crossed his arms in front of him soulfully, as if trying to pull apart a huge chunk of taffy. He looked up towards the sky, and flipped his lollipop around in his mouth. "Rerorerorerorerorero."
Brandy spun around, looked towards Rico, and rotated her finger around her ear. She stuck out her tongue, the crowd going wild as the music reached a jazzy, funky climax.
Leon pulled off one last pose, stretching his arms up towards the sky, as the music finally cut out. He folded his arms, stuck out on one leg, and loomed over Rico's head.
"Well?", he asked, a nearly sadistic smile crossing his face. "Are you ready to tell us now?"
He leaned in, and Rico screamed. "About this Rakastamos?"
"Yes!", Rico shouted, and tried to roll off the table onto the ground in order to kill himself. "I. Am. Ready. To. Talk."
"Good.", said Leon, and grabbed him. He set Rico up on the edge of the table, and removed the magnifying glass, causing Rico to let out a gasp of relief. "Now. Tell us eeeverything you know."
"I. Know. Little.", Rico said, trying and failing to get his vision back. "But. I. Do. Know. Some."
"Yeah, yeah, spit it out.", said Leon, flicking a spinner blade out of his jacket sleeve. "Or do we have to keep dancing?"
"No!", shouted Rico, and closed his destroyed eye. "I. Will. Tell."
He collected himself for a bit, then spilled everything he knew. "My. Master. Was. Mortis. His. Master. Was. Chad. And. Chad's. Master. Was. Dragonlord. Rakastamos."
Song: Dark Rebirth
"What?", Brandy shrieked, and jumped off of the ground. She landed all the way on Dan's shoulder, rubbing at her ears, in shock at what he had just said. "What did he say?"
"Dragonlord… Rakastamos?", Dan asked, taking a step back. "No… no way…"
"What?", asked Leon, turning away from Rico to look at his parents. "What is it? What's going on?"
"No…", Brandy mumbled, her face turning white. "No…"
"That means…", Dan said. "That means that…"
"This Rakastamos that we've been pursuing, and the Dragonlord of this continent…", Brandy said with dread, and looked right into Dan's eyes as they spoke together. "Are one and the same."
Absolute silence covered the entire area for a few seconds, as everyone with knowledge sufficient enough to digest this information properly did exactly that. The only people who knew enough to do that were Dan, Brandy, and the Grand Warden. All three of them slapped their hands to their faces, and screamed. "Oh noooooo!"
"What?", Leon asked, as did Rachel. The Barbarian King was a little distracted by a Bowler's spinning boulder. "What is it? What does that mean?"
"We have to face off against a Dragonlord.", said Brandy quickly, her voice higher than usual. "I don't think we can do this. We can't do this."
"No, no, don't panic.", said Dan, holding Brandy in his arms. "It'll just be harder, is all.",
"Too hard.", said Brandy. "There's no way. No way at all we can beat him."
"That. Is. Correct.", said Rico, and all heads turned to look at him. "You. Will. Never. Beat. Rakastamos."
His eye reopened, to reveal a ghastly sight. His melted eye had solidified, to reveal a warped and twisted glass plate, with broken flickering color coming from within. "Everything. You. Have. Faced. Or. Will. Face. On. This. Journey. Will. Be. Nothing. Compared. To. Him. As. If. They. Were. Merely. Scraps. And. Pieces. Upon. The. Wind."
"Oh, will he?", asked Leon, and grabbed Rico's face. His expression was deadly serious- Leon was no longer messing around. "Well then. Tell us his weaknesses. Tell us how to defeat him. Tell us his schedule."
"Schedule?", asked Rico, and slightly beeped. "Very. Well."
"Wait, really?", asked Leon. "Hold on, I just meant that as a joke-"
"From. 6. To. 8.", said Rico, apparently going off of deep memory. "He. Reads. From. 8. To. 12. He. Studies. The. Past. From. 12. To. 1. He. Has. Lunch. From. 1. To. 4. He. Speaks. With. His. Forgotten. From. 4. To. 6. He. Takes. Care. Of. The. Baby. Dragons. From. 6. To. 8. He. Goes. Out. And. Fetches. Blood. Elixir. For. Himself. From. 8. To. 6. He. Sleeps."
"I see…", said Leon, and looked over his shoulder. "Hey Mom! Dad! Was that useful for you?"
"What?", Brandy asked, trying not to faint.
"Tell them.", said Leon, and flicked Rico on the forehead. "Again."
Rico trembled, and told them again, with the exact same schedule and details that he told Leon. Leon gave him a pat on the head, and set him down. "Good bot."
"So… that means he's out during a few hours of the day.", said Dan, the very roots of a plan beginning to form in his mind. "That seems important."
"And you said something about Blood Elixir…", sad Brandy. "What is that? Tell us."
"What's Blood Elixir?", asked Leon with interest, for he did not know himself. "Tell us."
"Blood. Elixir.", said Rico, and sighed. He wasn't supposed to be telling things like this- but what did he have to lose? He was already a blind head, couldn't get much worse than that. "It. Is. Rakastamos's. Ultimate. Plan."
"Okay, and?", Leon asked, jabbing Rico's cheek with his finger. "What does that mean? Tell us."
"When. He. Has. Enough.", Rico said, almost trembling with anticipation. "He. Shall. Drink. It. All. And. He. Shall. Become. Powerful. Enough. To. Destroy. All. Nondragon. Life. On. The. Entire. Planet."
"Oh.", said Leon, and took a step back. "That sounds-"
"And. You. Can. Do. Nothing. To. Stop. It.", said Rico, finally with an advantage. "Rakastamos. Is. Invincible. Rakastamos. Cannot. Die."
"Oh, I bet he can.", rumbled Dan, as he approached Rico's bench. "And you're gonna tell us exactly how."
"No.", said Rico. "I. Will. Not."
"Yes.", said Dan, and brought up his hand behind him. It filled with a blazing charge of golden energy, hot enough to reflect off of Rico's metal skin from nearly 15 feet away. "You will."
"Yes.", said Rico. "I. Will. Rakastamos. Has…"
He trailed off, not wanting to say whatever came next. "Has. Has."
"Has a weakness?", Brandy asked, speaking up at last. "What is it?"
"Yes.", said Rico, and continued. "Rakastamos. Has. A. Weakness."
He once again stopped talking, not wanting to give away information still. Dan stared at him with raw intensity, and again brought up his hand, but this time near Rico's face. His metal skin started to heat up, the edges beginning to turn red. "And?", hissed Dan. "What is it?"
"Rakastamos's. Weakness.", Rico said, and widened his blinded eye. "Is-"
Just then, Rico saw something in front of him, in his mind's eye. He appeared to be suspended over a massive cavern, seeing Rakastamos deep within.
"What are you doing?", Rakastamos asked, and popped his massive jaw.
"What. Am. I. Doing?", asked Rico, not wanting to admit it.
"Telling people my weakness?", Rakastamos growled, putting his arms against the floor in order to better push off.
"Am. I?", Rico asked, feeling himself heat up. He knew that the wrong answer here would cost him his life, so he had to tread carefully.
"Are you?", Rakastamos shouted, and lunged. Rico didn't even have time to respond- he wasn't even sure of what he was going to have said- before Rakastamos's jaws slammed shut, and everything went dark.
"The Dr-", Rico's physical head got as far as, before there was a bright flash from within. Leon jumped back, and Dan held up a protecting arm, as a sudden yellow fire consumed Rico's head within a second. He didn't even have time to scream, leaving only a splotched red puddle and a pile of ash behind. Just as he had been about to reveal the secret, Rakastamos had stepped in.
"Oh.", said Brandy, and sneezed as some of the ash hit her nose. "That happened."
"Well, at least it was helpful.", Dan grumbled. "We know now that we're facing off against a Dragonlord. And that if we don't stop him, he's gonna destroy the entire population of the world. And also he has a weakness- something beginning with D and R."
"Yes….", said Brandy, and shook her hand against Dan's arm. "We know more now. Even if some of that stuff is a little terrifying."
"And also I guess that the things that have been attacking us for days are called Forgotten, then.", said Dan. "That's a good name for them, I suppose."
"Right…", said Brandy, and looked up. "Alright. Somehow, I don't think the old plan is gonna work anymore. We need a new one."
"What would you suggest?", Dan asked. "I thought the old one wasn't that bad."
"Well...", said Brandy, and slid down from his hands onto the ground. She broke off a branch from a nearby bush and began to draw in the dirt. "I guess. But I really do wanna make a new plan."
Song: Yuuki Rendan
"Let's start with the basics.", Brandy said, drawing a figure of a huge dragon in the dirt, then marking X's over the eyes. "We kill Rakastamos. If we don't do that, everyone dies."
"Right.", said Dan. "That is the priority. And how, exactly, are we doing that?"
"Well, Juno said he lives in the Clashcrush mountains.", said Brandy, drawing a rendition of a mountain range underneath Rakastamos. "So, of course, we go there. He shouldn't be too hard to find. He's probably a big Dragon, very well known."
"And once we find him… then what?", asked Leon. "You can't just expect us to go in there with weapons firing and bring him down just like that."
"Well, of course not.", said Brandy, and rolled her eyes. "That's why we train on the way."
She looked up at Dan, trying to explain her point. "We've both gotten stronger on this journey so far- a lot stronger. So if we keep on battling enemies like this, just imagine how strong we'll be when we finally meet Rakastamos."
"I'm not sure that's really the best idea, honey.", said Dan, and gave her a single pat on the head. "We can't take too much time. If we don't get to Rakastamos in time...well…"
"You're right.", Brandy said. "It was a stupid plan. Let's get rid of it."
"What?", Dan asked. "No. I didn't mean it like that. I just thought we should modify it a bit. That's all."
"Okay, fine.", Brandy said, and yawned. "Modifications it is. What do you think should be changed?"
"Well, we can't go around the entire continent trying to run into as many enemies as possible.", said Dan. "Our course should, ideally, be a straight line. For the best results."
"Okay, okay, straight as possible line.", said Brandy, writing that down in the dirt. "Towards the Clashcrush mountains… hey, anyone got a map?"
She stuck out her arm, and felt some random Builder from the assembled crowd toss her a map. She grinned, and unfolded it. "Thanks."
She stared at the map intently, trying to figure out where they were. There were a number of assorted landmarks, none of which she was used to. They ranged from immense canyons she had never heard of, to huge mountains and rivers she had no idea existed. "Uuuuh…"
She rolled the map up again, and turned her attention towards Dan. "Yeah, let's worry about that one later, shall we? Dan, what else?"
"We still do need to find your parents.", Dan said. "That's one of the reasons we came out here for."
"Right…", Brandy said, and wrote in find parents right under Kill Rakastamos. "Let's add that to the list. What else?"
"Well…", said Dan, and leaned in close. "It is still, technically speaking, our second honeymoon. So after we get all of that done…"
Brandy giggled, and closed her eyes. "We can get other stuff done. I'm stuff, you're other."
"Who's st-", Dan began, then realized that Brandy had already answered his question. He smiled, and moved his hand towards her. "Yes. You're right."
"But back to the plan.", Brandy said, trying again to unroll the map. "That is also important."
"Right…", Dan said, peering at the map with intent. "But this map is so confusing. I don't know any of these landmarks or locations or anything."
"I know.", said Brandy. "What we need is like, a guide or something."
She looked up. "Okay, why do I feel like I'm in a commercial for a-"
A horn blew at the very edge of the village. It was not the loudest of horns, or the most obvious. It came nowhere near to the sheer volume of a Battle Horn- but it was, still, very noticable. Rachel looked up, rolled her eyes, and groaned.
"About time the Clan Castle troops got here!", she yelled. "It's been over a day!"
A caravan of carts emerged from the treeline, several assorted troops riding within them. Brandy could see a Barbarian and a Goblin in the first cart, an Archer and a Wizard in the second, and a Pekka in the third. They were packed in tight, more than this level of Clan Castle was supposed to fit.
The caravan slowly rolled into the village, drawn by a pair of exhausted Skeletons. It crawled to a halt in front of Rachel, and both Skeletons collapsed to their knees, then a pile of bones.
"Nice to finally see you.", said Rachel, reaching out a hand. "It looks like you all were a little late in arriving, weren't you?"
"Wait, what?", asked the Archer in confusion. "What's going on?"
"What do you mean what's going on?", asked Rachel. "Aren't you-"
She trailed off, as the confused faces of both the Archer and the Barbarian were all she needed. Rachel grabbed her forehead and leaned back in frustration, yelling at the sky. "We sent in that request yesterday morning and they still haven't come! What the frick?"
"Uh, miss…", said the Wizard timidly, and held up a finger. "We are your requested troops."
Seeing Rachel's confused face, he quickly hurried to explain further. "But these two- the Archer and the Barbarian- are not. We found them in the woods. They say they're on… um…"
"Federal holiday.", said the Barbarian. "You see, we're actually federal troops. From across the ocean. We don't live here."
"Huh.", said Rachel, and jerked a thumb back at Dan and Brandy. "That's pretty much what they said."
"Who?", the Barbarian asked, taking a look at where Rachel was pointing. He saw them, nodded, realized what he was looking at, and his eyes nearly bugged out of his head.
"What-", he spat, and the Archer leaned to look at the same thing. "Is that- are those-"
"A Bandit and a Mega Knight…", the Archer said breathlessly. "Amazing…"
"I didn't know we would find some out here.", said the Barbarian. "What a coincidence."
"Yeah, yeah, okay.", said Rachel, and turned again towards Dan and Brandy. She cupped her hands to her mouth, and shouted. "Hey! You guys needed guides, right?"
"Yeah.", said Brandy back. They hadn't heard any of that conversation. "Why?"
"Well, I think I just found some.", said Rachel, and pointed to the Archer and the Barbarian, expressions of shock and confusion written across their faces. "Right here."
"Wait, no-", said the Barbarian, only for the Archer to give him a slap across the face.
"This is our only way out of here!", she whispered. "We could either go with this, or be stuck here in this village and be forced to fight."
The edges of the Barbarian's mouth pulled down automatically, and he rubbed his cheek with his hand. "Okay, okay." He shrugged. "I guess that makes sense."
"Right.", said the Archer, and pointed towards Dan and Brandy. "And it looks like we might be able to get to go with them."
"But we're not guides though.", said the Barbarian. "We can't-"
"No, but we're good enough with guide like things that we can fake it.", said the Archer.
"Yes…", said the Barbarian. "I suppose you are right."
"Hey.", said Brandy, who had suddenly appeared behind them. They both jumped, and fearfully turned around. Brandy gave a little wave, and smiled. "Are you our guides then?"
"Um…", said the Barbarian, and stood straight up. He gave a little salute, and cleared his throat. Engrossed in conversation as they were, none of them noticed that the general crowd had left the area, leaving them alone. "Yes! My name is Trevor, and my specialty is knowledge. I am familiar with all the basic plants and animals of the area. I can be most helpful."
From behind Trevor, the Archer spoke up. "And my name is Annabelle. I may not be that strong, but my eyes are unmatched. Right now, I can see what a butterfly is doing on the other side of the village."
Her eyes focused on a small blue and yellow butterfly on the far edge that Trevor would have identified as a Summer's Small, had he seen it as well. "It's taking a nap. Now it's washing its face. Now it just flew away."
"Niiiice.", said Brandy, and stuck out her hand. "Well, me and my husband just found out we have mere days to save the world from an insane Dragonlord bent on destroying it. We're going to need help. Wanna come?"
"Ummmm…", said Trevor, and shrugged. "It wouldn't be my first choice, but I suppose we really have no option."
"Heh.", Brandy chuckled as she bent down, and flipped back onto Dan's shoulder. "Well, we have our guides and our plan. Let's-"
But her words were cut off, as the bushes rustled ahead.
"Hold on.", said Dan, and held out an arm. "What's that?"
The bush rustled again, and Dan started to take a deep breath. Trevor's hand went to his sword, and Annabelle's to her bow. Brandy began to charge up some Dash in her left hand and feet, getting ready for anything that might emerge. "Probably nothing good."
The group stared for a few more seconds, waiting for something to come out of the bush. The bush moved again, and Dan's hand lit up with a bright burst of energy.
"Get ready.", he said to Annabelle and Trevor. "I think we're about to be attacked by something."
"Attacked?", came the voice of Leon, who stepped up from behind Dan. He flicked a spinner blade into each hand. "By another… what did he call them… Forgotten?"
"Oh, is that the word we're using now?", Dan asked. "I think it fits. Forgotten."
Then the bush rustled again, and something jumped out. Dan shouted, and brought up his hand to fire- only to stop, when he realized the thing that had jumped out was merely a small rabbit. Yet oddly enough, as Brandy looked at the rabbit, she just could not get the bizarre image of a crying child out of her head.
"Ah.", he said, and let his hand down. "Well, now I just feel a little silly."
"That's cause you are.", said Brandy, and let her hand relax with a sharp jolt of pain as the unspent Dash was absorbed into her. "You can be silly when you want to be."
"I guess.", said Dan, and turned back around towards Annabelle and Trevor. "So. You guys are in our group now, I guess."
Trevor looked at himself, and looked at Annabelle. His teeth clacked together involuntarily, and he gulped. "Yup. I guess."
"Alright so…", said Brandy, and once again grabbed hold of the map. "We're going to the rough center of the continent, finding a Dragonlord, killing him before he takes over and/or destroys the world, and probably battling all sorts of never before seen Troops along the way. You wanna come?"
"We don't have much choice.", said Annabelle, and fiddled with the ends of her bowstring. "Like I said before."
"Also, this is my son.", said Dan, and gave Leon a friendly pat on the back. He was thrown forward a bit, but managed to stagger to a stop right before he hit Trevor. "He will be coming with us, for obvious reasons. He can turn invisible and shoot stuff from his sleeves."
"I see.", said Annabelle. "That sounds…um… impressive. And if you don't mind me asking, what uh… is your son?"
"My name is Leon.", said Leon, flicking his lollipop around in his mouth. "I am a Legendary Brawler. Excuse me if you didn't recognize my appearance."
Annabelle's face reddened, the sheer salt in Leon's voice not lost on her. She tucked her hair behind her ear, and sniffed. "Oh. I… I didn't mean it like that, I promise."
"Frickin better.", said Leon quietly, and Brandy jumped down from Dan's shoulder. "I'm sorry."
Annabelle quietly mumbled something, which was too quiet for Brandy to hear. She was about to ask what it was, when she heard Dan clear his throat behind her.
"So.", he said, and held aloft a map. He pointed to the gigantic mountain range in the center, and looked down. "This is our first target. Do you think you could-"
Then, he stopped. For looming over Trevor and Annabelle's heads, he saw a massive, drooling, eyeless head on a stalk, two toothy jaws connected by stone.
Song: Nella Cerneria
"Woah!", he shouted, and took a deep breath. He fired off a quick blast towards the head before he even had time to think, acting out of sheer habit. "Look out!", he yelled.
But to his utter shock, his Star cannon just continued straight through the head like he hadn't even fired it. It reared up, and opened its mouth wider to devour the two- yet both Trevor and Annabelle were acting as though they didn't see it. Dan shouted, and waved his hand through where the head was. Yet even that had no effect- at least for a second. Then the head was knocked backwards, and shook itself in phantom pain.
"Dan!", Brandy screamed, propelling herself off of his shoulder and skidding along the grass. She pointed upwards, at something in the sky. "Look out!"
Dan looked behind and upwards for a half second so as to not take his attention off of the toothed head- and saw absolutely nothing. To his sight, the sky was totally clear.
But to Brandy's, it wasn't. A colossal floating human head hovered in the sky, borne aloft on seemingly nothing but the clouds. Its stone expression was fixed, unmoving except for a scowl of anger. "Shoot it! Shoot it, or something!"
"Shoot what?", Dan asked, pointing one finger at the thing over Trevor and Annabelle, and the other roughly at the sky. "What am I supposed to be shooting at?"
"Shoot that!", Leon yelled, as the thing in his vision became clear. It was a massive green tentacle, reaching out of the woods and floating towards the village. "Shoot that!"
"What's going on?", Brandy screamed in confusion, trying to take in everything at once. "Why aren't you shooting?"
"I don't know what I'm supposed to be shooting at!", Dan snarled, and raised his hands. "I'm seeing something, but you guys act like you're seeing something else!"
"What are you seeing?", Brandy yelled, dodging narrowly to avoid what looked to be a massive laser blast. "I'm seeing a head!"
"I'm seeing a-", Dan growled, then noticed something. The toothy tendril he had seen at first had been hovering over Trevor and Annabelle for a while now, and it still hadn't attacked. It would have had plenty of opportunities to do so, and yet it had not. Dan took a few seconds to think- and then, all of a sudden, it clicked into place.
"Guys!", Dan said, and let go of his Star. He grabbed Trevor, Annabelle, Brandy, and Leon from where they stood and threw them onto his shoulders, leaning forwards. "They're all illusions!"
"What?", asked Leon. "How can you be sure?"
"There's nothing that lives in this area that can create illusions!", said Trevor, and put a hand to his face. "Pretty sure at least."
"We're about to find out what can!", shouted Dan, and breathed in. "We all seem to be seeing different things, Leon. And they haven't attacked us yet. That can only mean one thing-"
He finished breathing in, and attacked- but instead of releasing it as Star like normal, he chose instead to fire a massive gust of wind. "They're all fake!"
The blast of concentrated air swept along the ground, pushing over the grass and bending back the trees. A small bush, the exact one that the rabbit had emerged from, rustled violently, something within seemingly struggling to hold on to the branches.
"In there!", Annabelle yelled, and drew her bow. "I see something! It looks like- like-"
Dan increased the force of his breath with a massive burst, and whatever was in the bush screamed. The bush blew off the ground entirely and flew into the air, as something shot out backwards from where it had been. Brandy saw what it was, and gasped.
"A kid?", she asked in disbelief, and blinked. The figure that was now rolling along on the grass, clearly in pain, seemed to be a young girl. She had long, blonde, dirty hair, reaching halfway down her back. Her clothes were simple, and torn in some places. And as she jutted out an elbow and slowly scraped to a stop, she gave a gasp of clearly audible agony.
"Shoot it! Shoot it!", shouted Trevor, and drew his sword. He seemed not to have seen who their target was, and rushed towards the bush with a fervent anger. "Annabelle, shoot!"
"No!", Brandy yelled, and stuck out her arm. Trevor's face banged directly against it, and he went down hard against the ground. He lay there for a few seconds, staring up at the sky, not quite yet ready to get up.
"Look at her.", Brandy said, and pointed. "She doesn't seem like a- a Forgotten."
Dan had been about to fire, when he took a look too. His brows shifted, as he stared directly at the girl. He slowly put his hand down, and the light of the Star within faded to nothing.
"Maybe not, but…", he said, and motioned to Leon to keep ready. Leon actually had no idea what the gesture meant, but he summoned up Hunter Killer just to be safe. Dan took a huge step forward, and loomed over the small girl. "From what we've seen, they can look like anything."
He raised his hand again, and took a deep breath. "We can't be too careful."
The girl looked up, and into Dan's glowing hand. Sheer, real terror filled her eyes, and she brought up her hands in front of her face as if to protect herself. "No…", she choked out, her face turning white from sheer fear. "Please… don't hurt me…"
Brandy looked at her more closely, and gasped. In her eyes, she could see the same look she had known herself to have many times before. She was no Forgotten- she was just a scared child, alone, afraid, and acting in self defense.
Then Dan fired, blasting a hole in the ground that sent up cracks in the surrounding area. Once the light subsided, the girl was gone. Dan turned around- to see Brandy's shocked face.
"Dan-", she choked out. "What did you just-"
"She was clearly a Forgotten.", Dan said. "And I just took her out-"
But before their impending argument could actually come to pass, Dan felt something directly to the right of him. He jerked his head back, only narrowly avoiding a broadsword that had come out of completely nowhere. He took a step back and spat on the ground, swiveling his head in the direction of the threat. "Who the-"
To his mild surprise, there stood the girl, in the branches of a tree. She looked slightly dirtier, and a little winded, but very much alive. She yelled something in some different language, and raised her hand to once again throw.
"I got her!", Annabelle yelled, and drew her bow. She nocked an arrow into the bowstring, and aimed. "I got her-"
Then she stopped, blinked, and let go out of her bow when she noticed that she seemed to have grabbed a writhing green eel. She shrieked and let it fall, jumping away. "Never mind!"
"She's mine!" shouted Trevor, and charged forward. "She can't trick me!"
He swiveled his head for any sign of her, ready to attack. He spun around and searched the treeline, failing to find the girl. The reason for this was most likely because part of his vision had been blocked off, leaving him unable to see anything else but the trees.
"Guys, stop!", Brandy yelled, jumping forward. She landed on the ground in front of where the girl had vanished into the trees, and stood. "Stop attacking her."
"Why?", Leon asked, sweeping his Stand around. "She attacked us!"
"I said, stop.", said Brandy, with a stern eye. "Just hold on."
"Oh.", said Leon, and took a step back. He slowly let Hunter Killer demanifest, and his arm fall. "Ooookay then."
Brandy took a step towards the treeline, and cupped her hands around her mouth. "Hello?", she asked, her heart beating quickly. She was acting entirely on a hunch here. She didn't know why- only that she should do it.
"I'm not going to hurt you!", she said, and took another step. "I just want to talk!"
From within the treeline, the girl stared. She wasn't sure if she should trust this strange adult. She seemed to be like all the other ones who had hurt her, the ones that she had just barely managed to get away from.
"See?", Brandy said, and took a deep breath. She spread out her arms and did something that no one there expected- she closed her eyes, bent her legs, and sat down on the ground.
"I won't hurt you.", she said, as she folded her arms on her knee. "I can't."
"Brandy, what are you doing?", Dan hissed, wanting to charge forward- but Brandy's attitude and mental link telling him that he shouldn't. "Don't sit down!"
Watch, was Brandy's only reply. I have an idea.
Leon started to take a step forward, but a quick gesture from Dan sent him back again. And as the group watched, they saw the girl appear as if from thin air right next to the thin treeline.
She stepped forward, getting closer to Brandy, with the utmost caution. She looked up into Brandy's still, silent face, trembling fear written upon her own.
"It's okay.", said Brandy, and the girl almost jumped back. But something about Brandy seemed familiar somehow- familiar enough for her to press on. "You can trust me."
The girl took a deep breath, and placed her hand upon Brandy's knee. "H… hi.", she said timidly. Brandy smiled outwardly- but inwardly, she braced herself. For where the girl had placed her hand on her knee, Brandy felt no touch or pressure.
"Got you!", the girl shouted, and the image on Brandy's knee abruptly vanished. The real girl suddenly appeared, brandishing a knife and leaping directly at Brandy's head. But she was young and inexperienced, and her attack was huge and sloppy. As such, it took less than a second for Brandy's hand to Dash right at her, snake through her arms, and tap hard enough on her forehead to both push her backwards and knock her out cold.
Brandy stood up, grabbed the girl around her midsection, and started to walk back towards the village. Dan and Leon jumped to her side almost instantly, crowding around her and staring at her in utter confusion. Trevor and Annabelle hurried to catch up, but they were markedly slower.
"Brandy, what are you doing?", asked Dan. "That was a clever trick, but you just beat her. Now finish her off and let's go."
"No.", said Brandy. "I told her I wouldn't hurt her, and I didn't. Much."
"Wait, why are you doing this?", asked Leon. "It just seems weird how suddenly you're caring for her. Did she not literally just try to kill us?"
"No.", said Brandy, and stopped walking. She gently set the girl down on a rock, and slipped a hand behind her head. "She was acting in self defense. I find that quite interesting."
"What are you talking abou-", Leon asked, but a quick tap on the back from Dan shut him up.
"She's like this for a reason, son.", said Dan. "When Brandy focuses on something, she tends to really focus."
"Huh.", said Leon, as Brandy put one hand on the girl's forehead and gently pushed. "Well, you do know her."
"Hey.", said Brandy, as the girl's eyes fluttered open. "You alright?"
"What…", the girl said, as she looked around. "What just happened? Where am I? What's going on?"
"My name is Brandy.", said Brandy, and lifted the girl to her feet. "I think we got off on the wrong foot back there. You don't look evil. You just attacked us, but I hardly think it would be right to blame it on you. Would you mind telling us why?"
"Um…", said the girl. "I'm Bubble. I attacked you because you were scary and I thought you might hurt me. A lot."
"Oh.", said Brandy. "Nice to meet you, Bubble. Why would you think that?"
"Because everything tries to hurt me out here.", said Bubble, and folded her arms to her legs and chest. "Even the animals."
Dan and Leon watched in wonder, as Brandy seemed to engage the strange girl in conversation and calm. They looked at each other, shrugged, and then went back to watching.
"Oh, that doesn't sound fun.", said Brandy, her voice soft, almost lyrical. "But you're safe now."
"Please?", Bubble asked, and she started to shake. Her eyes grew wet with tears, and she buried her head in her knees. "Please don't hurt me…"
"What?", Brandy asked, and gently touched Bubble's cheek. "Of course we're not gonna hurt you."
"Oh…", Bubble said, and dried her tears on her skirt. She looked up into Brandy's eyes, and relaxed a bit.
"Who are you people, anyway?", asked Bubble, her voice full of suspicion, and yet adoration.
"Well.", said Brandy. "We're the people who are going to save the world."
"Woahhh…", said Bubble, her eyes sparkling. Oddly enough, all of the fear she had had just a few moments ago seemed to have vanished. "I wanna come!"
"Oh.", said Brandy. She thought for a moment, shrugged, and then stood up. "Well, sure."
"Yay!", Bubble said, and wrapped her arms around Brandy's waist. "Thank you, Brandy!"
"Um, yes…", said Brandy, and gestured towards Dan. This is happening, she thought.
Well… yes, Dan thought back. I suppose it is.
"Okay.", he said out loud, and stood up. He wasn't quite sure what had just happened there, but he knew that it had ended well. He cleared his throat, and pointed towards the horizon.
"Everyone…", he said, and posed. "We're off!"
"Wait!", came the voice of Rachel, running to the group as fast as she could. "Are you guys leaving?"
"We were about to.", said Dan, and came back down. "Why, is something wrong."
"No, nothing's wrong.", said Rachel, and reached into her bag. "I just wanted to give you a few things, is all."
She had scarcely gone a few more seconds rummaging when she saw Bubble peeking out at her from the edges of Brandy's skirt. "Oh, who's that?", she asked. "I didn't see her around before."
"Oh, this is Bubble.", said Brandy, and patted Bubble's head. "I just found her. She attacked us, but she didn't mean it."
"You're sure she's not a Forgotten though?", asked Dan. "That just happened really suddenly."
"I could check again.", said Brandy, and leaned down. "Bubble, tell us who you're with."
Bubble stared for a second, not sure what exactly Brandy was asking. "...you guys…"
"Not Rakastamoz?", asked Brandy, and Bubble tilted her head. Brandy had purposefully gotten the name wrong. If Bubble then called him Rakastamos, they would know she was working for him. But if she got the name wrong in the same way, it would mean her likely innocence.
Bubble scrunched up her face. "Who's that? Rakastamoz? Sounds like a Goblin."
"I see.", said Brandy. "Bubble, where did you come from?"
"Over there.", said Bubble, and pointed to a mountain. At the very top, there was a very thin column of smoke that only Annabelle could sort of maybe see. "That way."
"Before that.", said Brandy. "Before you walked here."
"Oh.", said Bubble, and nodded. "I don't remember."
"You don't remember?", Brandy asked. "Hm. What about… before that? Where were you born?"
"I don't know.", said Bubble. "I don't remember anything."
"I see…", said Brandy, and stroked her chin. "Well-"
"Hey, could you do the questioning on the Balloon?", asked Rachel, who was still standing behind them, impatiently tapping her boot. "Cause I have some stuff to give you guys before you go. To help on your quest."
"Oh.", said Brandy, and looked up. "Sure."
Then she waited for a few seconds, and heard what else Rachel had said. "Wait, did you say Balloon?"
"Yep.", Rachel said, and pointed towards the Village. "I chartered a Balloon to take you to the village of one of our clanmates, Mr. Chairman, near the Clashcrush mountains. Figured you'd need it- there's a lot of stuff in the way. Canyons, rivers, ancient haunted forests- that kind of stuff."
"Oh.", said Brandy, and bowed. "Well, thank you Rachel. I am very obliged."
"Don't mention it.", said Rachel, and clapped her hands. "Handarchers! Gifts."
At once, a half dozen Archers rushed out from behind her, each holding various objects. They ranged from potions to gems to very large vials, all very large and clearly heavy.
"I picked several things out to help you on your journey." said Rachel with pride. "It's the least we can do, for helping our village with the things that attacked."
They probably wouldn't even have come if it wasn't for us, thought Leon, but he decided not to say it. Rachel had been nothing but kind to him, and he would have hated to ruin such a thought. "Thank you for your kindness, queen.", is what he said instead.
"Here…", said one of the Archers, at a nod from her queen, and brought up the Potion. "This is a Power Potion. Such a mixture will grant immense strength if imbibed."
"But don't drink the whole thing.", said Rachel with a wag of her finger. "We use Power Potions to power up entire armies at a time. If you drink the whole thing at once, it will probably kill you. So just a few drops or less, you understand?"
"Yes.", said Brandy with a nod, and gave the potion to Dan, who tucked it into his pocket. "I do."
"And here's 80 Gems.", said another Archer, holding up a large barrel overflowing with Gems. "In case you wanna buy something, at any store you might run into."
"Thank you, but-", Dan started to say, when he saw the way Brandy stared at the Gems. He rolled his eyes, and changed his mind. "Actually, yes. We would like some."
Brandy grinned, and grabbed the barrel of Gems. She tossed it up to Dan, who placed it gently in his other pocket. "That'll be fun…"
"And here is another gift.", said another Archer, holding up a vial. "This is a Poison spell, for if you ever need it. I'm not sure you will, but just in case."
"Oh, that will come in handy.", said Brandy, and tucked it into her pocket. "We run into monsters plenty."
"And here is one more thing.", said a fourth Archer, the last two struggling to help her carry a large bottle full of a dark reddish-brown liquid. "This special compound is what is known as the Dragon Poison. It is what we believe is the only thing that could permanently kill Dragonlord Rakastamos."
Brandy's eyes practically bugged out of her head, and she did a double take. She pointed at the vial, her fingers trembling. "Tha- that stuff? That could kill him forever?"
"Yes.", said Rachel. "That is what she just said."
"So we better keep this safe.", said Dan, and gently plucked it from the arms of the Archer trio. He delicately and precisely tucked it into his back pocket, and gave it a little pat. "There we go."
"Yes.", said Rachel, and clapped her hands. "Now, you had best be off."
Song: Killer
"Right…", said Dan, and leaned back. He put his hands on his back and stretched, making sure not to pop the vial. Even though it was made to kill Dragons, it would still most likely affect him.
He grimaced, noting how his armor was cracked in many places. He would have to get a new set at the next place they stopped it. Did they carry Mega Knight armor, all the way out here in a different continent? He frowned. Probably not. "We should get going."
"Oh, are we leaving?", asked Brandy, and looked around. She made a mental check to see if everyone was there- Dan, herself, Leon, Bubble, Annabelle, and Trevor. Dan was right next to her, she was at herself, Leon was leaning against a stump with his lollipop, Bubble was next to him, looking up in admiration, and Annabelle and Trevor were next to each other, looking slightly scared but not allowing themselves to touch. She sighed in relief. That was all her children-
She blinked, and shook her head. "Wait, what?"
"Come on.", said Dan, and grabbed her around the waist. She squeaked, and found herself suddenly sitting upon Dan's shoulder. "Yes, we are."
"Oh, we're going?", asked Leon. He put one hand to his forehead, and stared at the Balloon, several Skeletons struggling to keep it tethered in the stiff wind. He fiddled with a spinner blade a bit, still nervous at what might await them on their journey. "I didn't know we were going already."
"Well, we are.", said Dan with a hint of annoyance, and reached out to grab Leon. "Now come on, son, off we go into the Balloon."
"Wow, I get to come with you guys?", asked Bubble. "Did I do-"
Dan sighed, not wanting to repeat the process with everyone there. Instead he just took a deep breath, steeled himself, flexed his muscles, and his arms shot out like a storm of yellow lightning. The entire group felt themselves get grabbed by Dan's gigantic, muscular hands, and thrown into the basket of the Balloon. All except Brandy- she was already on Dan's shoulder.
"Okay, we are off!", Dan said, and jumped into the Balloon himself. He landed lightly on his feet despite his massive size, making sure to not crush the bottom of the Balloon. "We are leaving, going away, starting on the next leg of the journey, etc, etc. Now let us go."
The Skeleton ground crew all saluted, and untied the ropes as one. One of them forgot his arm was still attached to a Balloon and watched as it lifted off, his eyes drooping from sadness.
The Balloon soared upwards into the sky, borne aloft by the excellent winds. It took a few seconds for everyone to get settled in, with everyone crawling all over each other and trying to sit in the smallish basket, but eventually everybody was settled in.
"So.", said Brandy as she looked over the side. The weather was excellent for flying, the sky clear except for a few assorted clouds. A few birds passed by, small white and blue ones. "Bubble… what are you?"
"Hey look, a flock of navywings.", Dan said, looking at the birds, then turned back in towards the basket. "What is she?"
"I told you.", said Bubble, and folded her arms. "I'm Bubble."
"Yes, but what are you?", asked Brandy. "You don't look like any Troop I've ever seen."
"Troop…?", asked Bubble, with a curious tilt of her head. "What's a… Troop?"
"Okay, I'm guessing she's not one.", Brandy said. "Leon, is she a Brawler?"
Leon took a look, stroking his chin. "No, I don't think so. At least, not that I know of."
Bubble stared at them, and threw up her arms. Her cheeks grew red from childlike fury, and her teeth seemed to grow sharp, from some cast illusion. "I told you! I'm just Bubble!"
"Hm.", said Brandy. "Well, you've got to be something. You can't just be-"
"No.", said Dan, and took a closer look. "I… think she might actually be."
"Be what?", asked Brandy, and Bubble shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
"It's complicated to explain.", said Dan, reaching over and giving Brandy a scratch on the cheek. She leaned into it, and closed her eyes in pleasure. "But I'll tell you what I mean once we land."
"Oh, okay, fine", said Brandy. "We'll have more time to talk on the ground anyway."
She cast another look over the side, and almost jumped. The Balloon had been traveling at high speed, and they were now thousands of feet above the ground. An immense canyon spread out far below, and Brandy shivered at the sight.
"Dang, we're pretty high up.", she whispered, and then turned back around to the basket. She looked at everyone seated, and gave a wild smile. "Does anyone want to play a game?"
"A…", Trevor asked. "A game?"
"Yeah.", said Brandy. "To pass the time. You know, like 20 questions, or rock paper scissors, or- I know! Does anyone have a deck on them? We could play go fi-"
Then she stopped talking, and tilted her head. A faint whistling noise reached her ears, seeming to come from down below. A faint alarm bell tickled at the back of her mind, but it was nothing too loud. "Does anyone else hear something?"
Dan stopped to listen, but his hearing wasn't quite precise enough to hear the whistling, now growing louder and louder. "Not really, no. Why?"
But Leon, as he listened, was able to pick up on the sound as well. "Yeah, it sounds almost like-"
His eyes widened in shock, as he realized just what it sounded like- it reminded him all too much of the sound of a Brock's rocket. "Shoot."
He leaned forward, and grabbed for Brandy's hand. "Mom, look out!"
"What-", Brandy asked, when a huge explosion rocked the side of the Balloon that, somehow, she alone was on. Time seemed to slow down as the sides of the tough wicker basket bent inwards, pushing against Brandy's back, and throwing her backwards. She let out a scream of panic as she realized what was about to happen, seeing the immense void of empty space open up far below her. Dan stretched out a hand to try and grab her, and Brandy attempted to flip back in- but it was too late as the impact of the airborne missile threw Brandy out of the basket of the Balloon, about to fall 3000 feet.
:
