LEGO Universe, Legends of Chima, Ninjago, and Nexo Knights belong to the LEGO Group.
Mechanical stomping sounds echoed through the hallway as a big robot walked through it, heading towards its destination. The mech's one red eye seemed to shift around its eye socket as it looked through its heads-up display, overseeing the preparation of its troops in a different room. The robot's body, in contrast to its glowing red eye, glowed purple of different tones; from dark purple from the top of its head and slowly becoming lighter downwards until the bottom, which ends in its white feet. Most notable of all was that it seemed to be made out of enlarged LEGO pieces.
As the mech turned to open a door to the armory where its troops are preparing, it suddenly paused as it received a transmission from its superior. The robot accepted the call, being greeted verbally by a voice that is recognized well enough amongst both the robot and its troops.
"[ED-902, report,]" the voice began, awaiting the mech's response.
"[My Darkitect, we have found the prophecized and we are preparing as we speak]" The mech, classified as ED-902, reported.
"[Good. This is what you and your units have been working for]" the voice, belonging to a person named the Darkitect, sounded pleased. "[I do not care who you and your troops kill, but make sure that the prophecized are included in the body count. Do not fail this mission.]"
"[Understood, my Darkitect.]"
The call ended as ED-902 opened the door to the armory, greeted by the sight of troops of different shapes and sizes gearing up for the mission.
Tynan walked back to the table where Aidan, Armando, Andrew, and Jacob are seated, having placed an order for himself. He had some spare money and decided to buy himself a drink while the group got together to talk.
The coffee shop's interior consisted of green walls and grey stone flooring. Windows took up most of the front wall, allowing plenty of sunlight to flow into the building. The group decided to sit at a table at the front wall, giving them a nice view of the outside world. Not many people come at this time in the afternoon since adults still have work and other teens don't have much of an interest to hang out here, making this shop the perfect place for Tynan and his friends to hold this impromptu meeting.
Normally, Andrew and Armando would be on their phones playing a game together, Aidan would be also on his phone doing his own thing, and Jacob would have his homework out trying to finish it. However, this meeting isn't under normal circumstances. Everyone in the group was thinking about last night.
"How much longer until they get here?" Jacob asked the group, referring to Liliana, who we will be calling Lily from now on, and Christian.
"Probably in a few more minutes," Armando answered. "Look, maybe we should try to focus on something else other than what happened last night."
"You're right," Andrew replied, thinking of a different topic to discuss. "Tynan, Aidan, do you remember the airsoft match last weekend?"
Occasionally, the three boys would play airsoft with each other when they all can find the time to. Airsoft is a sport where players shoot at each other with realistic replicas of guns that fire bbs, six-millimeter white spheres. Andrew and Tynan started playing when their fathers started to participate in the sport as well. Aidan started later than the other two after some convincing by Tynan. It took the three boys some time to get used to the painful sting from getting hit by the high-velocity orbs, but eventually, they came to enjoy the sport a lot.
"Yup, especially that one time when I hit one player in the butt during this one round. It must suck for that guy," Tynan snickered as his gaze slowly shifted towards Andrew.
"Haha, very funny, Tynan," Andrew sarcastically replied, a bit irritated that his friend brought that embarrassing and painful moment up. "But I did see Aidan hit someone from far away with his sniper rifle."
"Well, it's not too bad once you got the hang of using it," Aidan sheepishly replied, feeling a bit awkward from the sudden praise he got.
Jacob sighed. "I don't see the point of airsoft. It's a waste of time and it's painful."
"I think it's supposed to be fun once you get used to the pain," Armando responded despite not having played airsoft before.
"Maybe you could join us during fall break," Andrew suggested to the two.
"I'll pass. I've got better things to do," Jacob curtly replied.
"I guess I could try it out with you, guys," Armando answered, his yes-man behavior showing once again.
The store's front door opened as Liliana and Christian arrived, looking for the rest of the group.
"Hey, over here," Armando waved at the two friends, notifying them of where the group sat.
Lily and Christian took a seat at the table as Jacob cleared his throat, getting the group's attention. "Let's get this over with. I've got stuff that I need to do."
"Yeah, let's start," Armando agreed. "The reason why all of us are meeting here now is that we all had the same odd dream last night, and it revolves around a closed online game. LEGO Universe, right?"
"Yeah, it is LEGO Universe," Andrew replied, remembering the late massively multiplayer online game. "The floating islands and the Mythran were dead giveaways."
"You've played it before?"
"It was my favorite game before it shut down. A shame that it was closed."
"I never played or heard of this game before until now," Jacob said in response.
"Okay, who else has never played LEGO Universe?"
The rest of the group responded by raising their hands.
"Figures."
"Okay, so if Andrew is the only person here who's played this game, then why are we all in this little 'prophecy.'" Jacob questioned, not expecting a valid answer.
"I'm not sure," Christian answered, but then smiled. "But guys, think about it. If none of this stuff is actually nonsense, then we could end up going on some kind of adventure. Away from our boring, everyday lives in our efforts for the greater good. Doesn't that sound awesome?"
A silence overcomes the group as everyone hesitated to answer. Each of the teens had mixed reactions about the thought of them going on an adventure.
"Um, guys?" Christian asked, taken back by the hesitance from his friends.
Jacob sighed. "Look, Christian, while going on an adventure may sound like fun, I for one think it's going to be too much of a left turn in my life. I've been working too hard in school to suddenly have to deal with something as unbelievable as the K-Pop community becoming less toxic all of a sudden."
Tynan smirked as Jacob made that statement. "Nice one," he said as he raised his hand for a high five from the hard-worker. Jacob's hand didn't slap the jokester's, which is something that he should've expected.
"Jacob's right," Aidan agreed. "All of this just seems so... sudden. Besides, we're just middle school students. The only people in this group who have some sort of gun training are me, Tynan, and Andrew; and we've only fired airsoft guns."
"...Maybe we're missing something here," Armando said.
"What do you mean?"
"I haven't been sharing this since I was sure that no one else was involved, but the three nights before last night I've been having dreams where I was in those three LEGO TV shows that are, or were, showing on Cartoon Network. I'm pretty sure they were called Legends of Chima, Nexo Knights, and Ninjago."
This shocked Tynan immensely. He has also been having those dreams before the vision last night, but he shrugged them off as a result of watching too many cartoons. Tynan looked at his friends and judging by the looks of the rest of the group, it seems that everyone is in the same boat.
"I guess that you've also been having those dreams," Armando concluded.
"How is this supposed to help us, though?" Jacob asked.
"...I'm not really sure, to be honest."
"Exactly. They're just dreams that are related because they take place in cartoons made by the same company."
Andrew turned his head towards Lily, who has been quiet for the entire conversation so far. Now that Tynan thought about it, he realized that Liliana looks like she is troubled with something had that kept her deep in thought.
"Lily, is everything all right?" Andrew asked the girl.
Lily gave out a sigh. "I've just been thinking about this one part of the dream last night where that...Mythran told us that we have to survive."
The group froze as Lily brought this up, having forgotten to discuss this part of the dream. As Tynan processed this information, he realized that the group will have to fight, regardless of their inexperience.
"I can't believe I forgot about that," Armando said in disbelief.
Lily turned her head towards Andrew again, looking for answers. "Andrew, do you know what the Maelstrom is?"
"It's been a while since the Maelstrom crossed my thoughts, so I don't remember much. One sec." Andrew pulled out his phone and opened up its browser app. "Maybe there's a LEGO Universe Fandom page that I can look up."
"How is a closed game supposed to have a Fandom page?" Jacob asked, thinking that such a website doesn't exist.
"You'd be surprised what you can find on the internet."
Meanwhile, in a different part of the shopping center, a couple exited an Italian restaurant after having paid for their meal. The two lovers were happy as they had finished another date together.
The Hispanic woman, whose name is Maria, and the Caucasian man, named Tyler, have been in a relationship for a few years and have deepened their bond during that time frame. Despite their occasional arguments with each other, the couple loved each other unconditionally.
Now Tyler is ready to bring their relationship to the next level.
"That was a good restaurant," Maria happily said as they left the restaurant.
"I told you that you'd like it," Tyler replied, equally happy.
"Hm, it's still pretty early. Is there something else you want to do?"
Tyler hesitated at his girlfriend's question. Nothing crossed his mind as to what the two should do, except for one thing.
'I have to do this now.'
"Yeah, just follow me. It's a surprise," Tyler answered, set on doing what he has been preparing to do for the past week.
Without question, Maria followed Tyler to a statue of a surfboard placed in the center of the shopping center before Tyler stopped in front of it. There were other people in the area, but that didn't deter Tyler in the slightest.
"Maria, we have been together for years now. Even through thick and thin, you've stuck with me, and I have done the same." Tyler began reaching into his back pocket, pulling out a small box before going down on one knee. This was a gesture that many people know, including Maria judging by her shocked emotion on her face. This even began to attract other people into spectating.
"I don't think that there would be someone else that I would want to spend my life with." Tyler opened the box, revealing a silver ring with a sapphire on top of it. "Maria, will you marry me?"
Maria's eyes teared up; tears of happiness. "Yes, a thousand times yes!"
The couple kissed as the people watching the proposal cheered for the two's newly engaged status.
This moment didn't last.
As Tyler and Maria broke their kiss, shots echoed through the air as people began to panic and run away from the source of the sounds; some of the screams were cut short. The couple turned towards the source of the attacks.
What Tyler saw shocked him; abominations of different shapes and sizes, mostly humanoid, attacked everyone unfortunate enough to be within their presence using different kinds of weapons, some of which were never seen before on Earth.
Before Tyler could register more about the sudden situation, another shot rang through the air; the last sound that he would hear before darkness consumed his consciousness.
He was never given the change to embrace Maria one last time.
"So that's what that Mythran was mentioning last night," Armando said after Andrew finished his internet-aided explanation about the Maelstrom.
The new information weighed heavily on Tynan's mind; a chaotic force of evil that could evolve by infecting organic beings and technology, memorizing the forms and anatomy of those forcefully pulled into its ranks so that they can be cloned for future use.
"...Do you think that the Maelstrom has grown stronger over the past few years?" Lily worriedly asked.
"I'm not too sure. I hope not, but it's still possible."
"Order for Tynan," the barista announces, indicating that the boy's drink was ready.
"One sec, guys," Tynan tells the group before going up to the counter to pick up his drink; caffeinated strawberry juice with ice cubes and strawberry slices dropped inside of it.
Just as Tynan turned back around to the table with his drink, he saw a multitude of people run past the shop, screaming in panic. The faint sound of banging and zapping could be heard coming from outside. His friends have taken notice of the mass panic and looked at where the sounds were coming from. Their faces depicted shock as they take a good look at the aggressors.
"Oh my God!" Jacob exclaims, standing up from the table.
"What the heck is happening?" Tynan asks the shaken students.
The group quickly stands up with Aidan rushing towards his brother's side.
"There's no time to explain, but we need to run!" Aidan hastily answers his brother.
"Through the back door! It's too risky to leave through the front door!" Andrew quickly tells the group.
The group quickly rushed to the shop's back door behind the counter, Aidan pulling the confused Tynan with him, causing him to spill his drink.
"What's happening?" The barista asks the group, dumbfounded at the sudden predicament she found herself in.
"Just go through the back door!" Andrew yells at her, the group entering through the aforementioned door. The barista quickly follows suit, understanding of Andrew's tone of voice.
The store was left empty as the chaos grows outside, the spilled drink over the grey stone floor serving as the only sign that the group was here.
Hael Storm stood behind his giant golden telescope in the Nexus Tower's observatory, reminiscing how it overlooked the scattered lands of LEGO Universe. Now, the only thing that one could see through the telescope was Earth.
The pirate gave out a sigh before turning to leave the room, not before being stopped by the sound of a holographic Minifigure taking form next to the telescope. The Minifigure was mostly colored grey with light-blue accents scattered throughout her form, resembling wiring connected throughout her entire body. She also dons a helmet that covered the entire backside of her head.
"Naomi, I presume that my scouts have news for me," Hael says to the hologram.
"They have good and bad news," Nexus Naomi replies. "Which one do you want to hear first?"
"The bad news, lass," The Venture League faction leader answers.
"The Maelstrom has made the first contact with the denizens of this world, and they are slaughtering them."
"And the good news?"
"They're not 100% sure, but the scouts think that the Stromlings are looking for the people in that prophecy that Vanda mentioned. If that's true, then they won't last long down there."
Hael's face morphed from sorrow to determination. "Deliver this news to the other faction leaders and notify every member to gear up. We need to get down there and rescue the lads."
"But Hael, our forces are barely strong enough to fight and what your scouts reported is just speculation."
"I'm taking that risk. We've been watching from the shadows for too long and that gave the Maelstrom time to grow. Not this time, never again."
Welp, things just went from 10 to 100 fast. Our heroes will now have to defend themselves against the Maelstrom, who have grown to become stronger and more aggressive than ever before.
This COVID-19 pandemic forced many people into their homes, including me and my family. With my internet slowing down for no reason (I hate Spectrum), what is a better time than now to start focusing more on this story?
The proposal scene was a big obstacle for me since I have absolutely no experience whatsoever on romance (watching those romance shows don't count at all). Still, I hope that this should suffice for now.
Special thanks to Mr. Nobody for helping me with proofreading this chapter before submission. He definitely taught me a few things on grammar that I didn't know up until now. So thanks, man!
I have nothing else to say, so see you next chapter! And stay safe!