Chapter 1

Brett quietly picked up a piece of rock, and flipped it a few times, before making it skip across the water. Two months… that's how long it'd been since that incident at Sol Sanctum. He remembered everything up to the portal, and then, his memory had left him. Eve couldn't remember either, sadly enough. He and Eve were allowed in Sol Sanctum, so that they might retrieve their memory, but it didn't help anything.

With a sigh, Brett sat down Indian-style, the chilly fall breeze making his hair wave about. His hair had grown about two inches in those two months, and he hadn't bothered to shorten it. He'd been training extra hard to learn even better Psynergy, for if he had to leave Vale in search of the Jupiter Star, he'd need it. So far, he'd definitely improved a lot, but all he'd been thinking about the past two months, was what had happened. If only he could remember. Sad thing was, he couldn't. Sadly, he watched the water for awhile, watching the silver-colored liquid reflect the stars in the sky.

"Brett??"

He looked back at his mother, showing her she was listening.

"Brett, you've been out here for hours! You should take a rest."

Brett shook his head, and looked back at the lake.

"Brett…"

"No. I want to remember, somehow," Brett intervened.

Nelly sighed, and said: "Okay Brett, but please, don't make it too late, I mean…"

"Mooooooom!!!" Brett said, highly annoyed now. "I'm not a kid anymore! I'm 18 for Sol's sake! The least you could do is stop babying me like a child!"

Nelly looked baffled. She then returned her face to neutral.

"I'm sorry Brett, it's just the way I am. And besides, I don't trust this place one bit."

Brett looked confused.

"Why?"

"They say that quite some decades back, a young child went here at night, and when she returned, she had changed, for the worst. Some say her parents killed her, others say that the priests banished her. I'm not sure what had happened, but it was here that she changed."

Brett blinked, and said: "Corny fairytale mom."

His mother looked shocked, and then she looked mighty mad.

"You think I'm making this up, do you?!" she demanded.

"I never said that," Brett defended. "I just say it was corny. How can a lake change someone? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! I mean, come on!"

Brett placed his hands behind his head and lay down on his back. He couldn't imagine, a lake that changed a person forever. How could that be?

After awhile, Nelly left, still fuming, and Brett sat up, wondering. How could this place change a person? This kept his mind busy for awhile. He closed his eyes, and tried to imagine what could've happened. He didn't know how the girl had looked, so he put in a mental picture of Eve when she was young.

Brett made her walk to the lake, humming a gentle tune and swirling around and around. And then, he made her freeze, and then she fell, seemingly unconscious. After a few minutes, she got up, and looked seething mad! This was hard to picture, for he'd never seen Eve mad before. After that, he opened his eyes and rolled them.

"Ridiculous I tell ya," he muttered and got up. "Really ridiculous."

He walked back toward his house, and entered the darkened house, which was only lit with a candle of Psynergy. He calmly walked up to his room, and slumped down onto his bed, not even bothering to undress. All of the fatigue from those two months was finally catching up to him, so it was no wonder he fell asleep almost immediately.

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He heard heartbeats, strong ones. It was banging in his ears, his head was ringing from the force, and his body shook. They were steady, then became faster, as if the person was running, or exercising. Heavy breaths could be heard, but he soon realized that they were his own, but the heartbeats weren't his. Not at all.

He saw blue… silver… and red… That's when four bright lights caught his eye. He looked closely, and recognized them as the Elemental Stars.

Mars… a deep red, the color of Fire…

Venus… a light yellow, with its Earth powers…

Mercury… a lovely blue, like Water (and of course, Eve's hair)…

And Jupiter… a deep magenta, strong like the force of Wind…

But… the Jupiter Star was moving away… away from the other stars… away from Vale…

As much as he tried, he couldn't run fast enough to catch the Star, it was too far ahead of him. The heartbeats continued, becoming louder and louder, and it was gaining on him, coming closer and closer. The Star suddenly sped up, and vanished in a flash of light. He slowed down, until he finally stopped, staring at the place the Jupiter Star had vanished.

The Star was going south… toward Vault…

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Brett shot up, panting.

'By Sol! What was that all about?!' he thought, wiping the sweat from his brow.

He looked out the window, and saw that it was already morning.

"Whoa, I slept like a rock," Brett mumbled, and got out of bed.

As he washed his face, he tried to figure out a few things about his dream. The heartbeats, the swirling colors before his eyes, the light of the Jupiter Star heading south…

It was as if someone suddenly slapped him.

Somebody had the Jupiter Star in his or her possession, and was heading for Vault, or was already there, or was already way past Vault. By Sol, they really had to move if they wanted to catch that thief!

With a quick move, Brett had his sword sheathed around his waist, and was running down the stairs with two steps at a time, before hurrying out the door. His parents weren't up yet, or they were probably out, because he heard no one shout at him.

Underway, he met up with Erica, an old friend of Eve.

Erica had elbow-length purple hair and deep green eyes, and was friendly, had a good sense of humor, trust must be earned with her, very trustworthy, loyal, kind, caring, but a bit too curious for her own good. She was mostly dressed in a violet tunic over a blue shirt and blue leggings. She was 3 years younger than Brett, meaning she was 15.

"Hey Brett! How are you?" she asked.

"I'm fine I guess," Brett said. "But I have to see Eve, so, if you'll excuse me."

"I do, but you should really get some more sleep, you look terrible."

Brett simply nodded. The two said their good-byes and Brett made his way toward Eve's house.

Eve was outside near the pond in her backyard, looking like she'd been awake for the past two months all along, and he guessed he did too or Erica wouldn't have said so. Eve had almost seemed to have matured much quicker in the past 2 months, not that Brett didn't, but for Eve, that was a little strange.

Eve noticed him and smiled.

"Mornin' *yawn* Brett. Wha's up?" she asked.

"Bad night?" Brett inquired, though he already knew the answer.

Eve nodded and stretched her back and arms, groaning a little painfully as her bones made a popping sound.

"Eve, I have a strange feeling that tells me that the Jupiter Star is moving away from us," Brett said, and that woke Eve up fully.

"Beg your pardon?!?!" she asked.

After explaining the strange dream he'd had to Eve, she looked a little less confused than before.

"So, we have to leave Vale??" Eve asked, and Brett nodded, thinking she'd flip or something, but she didn't.

Instead, she seemed to think about it, one hand on her elbow, the other under her chin, and her eyes directed up in deep thought.

"Hmmm… well, we can't go alone, that's for sure. We're going to use some help on this one," she mumbled thoughtfully.

Brett thought about this too.

After a while, Brett seemed to come to a solution.

"We could ask Erica to join us," he suggested.

Eve instantly smiled.

"Yes! That's a great idea!" she said, and Brett smiled.

"Let's move then," he said.

Eve walked inside the house to grab her Magic Wand, before the duo left to find Erica. While searching, they split up, and Brett made a small pit stop at the weapon and armor shops. He bought a very strong artifact that looked strong enough and some armor that couldn't be so easily penetrated, just incase. Eve had already bought a new wand the day before, and also some gauntlets, which were carefully hidden under her sleeves.

And in the end, Eve was the one to find Erica instead of Brett. Erica was just helping a few kids move a few boulders using Lift and Move. After the kids had left, Eve cleared her throat, making Erica turn around to look at her.

"Oh, hi Eve! What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to talk to you."

Erica fully turned and gave her a nod to show her she was listening. Eve told her of their situation, and Erica seemed to think about it for awhile.

"Who else is coming?" she asked.

"Just me and Brett, no one else," Eve said, and Erica looked thoughtful for a long moment.

"And where, exactly, did you say you were going?" she asked again.

"South to Vault, and if we can't find the Star there, we'll continue on south."

Erica looked up at the sky in deep thought.

Finally, she looked at Eve and said with a sly smile: "Good enough."

Eve smiled broadly.

*******************************************

The three finally left Vale, each waving their parents and friends farewell. The trio had each received a Djinni, one Venus Djinni and two Mercury Djinnis, Flint, Fizz, and Sleet.

The sun burned high above them, seeing as it was a cloudless day, which would result into a freezing night.

"We best get to Vault as quick as possible, unless of course, we'd want to freeze to death on the very first day," Erica said to the others.

"Right, and I don't want to stay in this burning place any longer, or I'll be fried by the time we reach Vault," Brett said.

Erica was about to retort, when a loud "EEEEEP!!!" from Eve caught their attention.

They followed her pointing finger to a large red puddle, which had been dried into hard pool with a darker shade than it originally had been. However, that hadn't been all.

Mixed through it, was a strange, crystalline powder of a dark magenta color.

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"Excuse me," a man asked a passing woman.

The woman turned to face the man.

"I'm new here, could you please tell me the fastest route to the Fuchin Temple? I need to get there as fast as possible."

The woman looked up at the man, smiled and said: "Sure sonny, there's a cave to the east of here, which leads to Bibilin. Once you're there, head southeast to Kolima. Then, once you reach Kolima Bridge, keep following the road to the Fuchin Temple."

The man smiled warmly and bowed while saying: "Thank you."

And then he left.

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"Is… is that… blood??" Eve asked, a little frightened.

Brett was examining the dried up pool, and nodded.

"Yes, and it's about five days old. So whoever's been bleeding here, has probably gone to Vault for help."

He got up, but was silent.

They continued their journey toward Vault, fighting monsters underway.

After a long and quite exhausting trip, they finally arrived in Vault. It was still day, but the sky was slowly darkening. But even so, a lot of people were still on the streets.

"I wonder how we're going to find the Jupiter Star, I mean, how do we know where to look?" Eve asked, a little unsure.

Brett was about to answer, but never got the chance, because right then, they passed by a Sanctum, and someone, who happened to exit the building walked straight into Eve, seeing as he hadn't been paying attention to where he was walking.

Eve fell onto the ground, and cried out in surprise. Eve looked up, and noticed that the person that had bumped into her was offering her his hand for her to get up. She smiled shyly, and accepted it, allowing him to pull her to her feet.

"I'm very sorry," the man said, "I should've watched where I was going."

Eve just smiled and said: "That's alright."

Brett and Erica watched this all, and Brett was starting to get a little steamed about it all.

The man was mighty tall, 7'0 in advance, had silver colored hair that hung in front the right side of his face, yet about an inch away from his face, not even shielding his sapphire blue eyes. He had highly slanted eyes and rather high cheekbones. And the armor he wore… looked awfully familiar. A dark red cape hung around his shoulders, coming close to his heels.

He smiled at Eve and said: "I would've given you a true apology, but I am in a hurry, so I must leave now."

Eve smiled back, until she asked: "Have we met? You look… awfully familiar."

The man sighed.

"A lot of people tell me that. I guess I look a little too much like my father," he said.

"Who was your father then?" Erica asked, really curious now.

The man shook his head.

"Wish I had time to tell, but I don't, so."

He kissed the back of Eve's hand, smiled once more, and ran off. The trio watched him leave for a moment, until Brett quirked an eyebrow.

'Who was he? He looked so familiar,' he thought.

A few hours later, they sat on a table in the Inn, discussing the latest topic; the strange man they'd met outside of the Sanctum.

"There was something about him that made me want to punch that guy," Brett mumbled, taking a swig of his drink.

'Yeah, him touching Eve, that's what!!!' his mind yelled at him.

"He seemed rather nice," Eve said, and Brett almost choked. "But there was something about him that I didn't trust. I don't know what it was."

Erica was quiet and just sipping her rood beer, doing a little thinking herself. She gave it some thought. She closed her eyes, and put up a mental picture of the man they'd just met.

Once she couldn't figure it out, she reopened her eyes, and took a rather large swig of her rood beer. Eve was fingering her fork, her head leaning on her knuckles.

"It was something with an 'S', I can tell you that…" she muttered.

That had been all she could remember. Brett began to summon on different names he knew with an 'S', which weren't much. He kept at it though, raking his brain, trying to find the answer, until…

His eyes snapped open, and he nearly dropped his drink. Eve and Erica looked at him in confusion.

"What is it, Brett?" Eve asked, worried.

"Come one! Tell us!" Erica said, rather curious.

"That guy… he looked… he looked just like………… Saturos…"

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With one strong push, the pillar dropped and he easily jumped over. He turned to see if he was being followed. When he was sure he wasn't, he sighed, and continued to walk. He climbed some vines, and pushed a few more pillars down.

After a small while, he came to a cave, which he entered, but not before sadly glancing at the sky.

"Mother… father… where are you?" he whispered to the darkened sky and the full moon, before entering the cave.

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Eve and Erica were shocked. Now that they knew who to compare the man with, it made sense. Saturos had also been known for having hair like that guy had, but also for his quite fierce personality. The only thing that wasn't right, were the skin and the eyes. Saturos's skin had been a pale blue, and his eyes had been fiery red.

"But… but how?" Erica asked. "I thought Isaac, Garet, Ivan and Mia had taken care of both him and Menardi!"

Brett nodded.

"So did I. Everyone said they died when the Venus Lighthouse crumbled. But…" he paused to think. "It could've been that they somehow survived, but, then there's that question again."

The trio looked at each other at the same time, and said in unison: "How??"

"Well, Saturos could've used a spell to save himself," a new voice said.

The trio looked to a table not too far away from them.

The man was about 5'10, wasn't a very clean shaved fellow, but he still had no beard, sea-gray eyes, and short black hair. He wore a dark green cloak, a dark green tunic over a white shirt, some black pants, heavy brown boots, had a belt wrapped around the tunic about mid-waist and had a sword strapped around his back.

Brett blinked, twice, because he felt a mysterious air about the man.

"Hey! You should stay out of other people's business!!" Erica said to the man, not really angry, just a tad annoyed.

The man simply humphed, and took a large swig of some of his ale.

"Hey, I'm just trying to help, alright?" he said, keeping his cool.

"Who are you anyway?" Brett asked.

The man smirked for a moment, then let it drop as he said: "Rander."

"So, Rander, you said something about Saturos maybe casting a spell on himself to survive, but, how can one use Psynergy when you're almost dead?" Eve piped up.

Rander looked at her for a moment, and Eve suddenly realized that he probably didn't know what Psynergy was, but…

"Actually, he could've. I've been in a situation that I almost died, but my Psynergy saved my life. Don't ask how," he finished with a shrug, and took another swig from his ale.

Brett's eyes widened a little, then he asked: "But how?"

"Apparently, when Adepts are in danger, their Psynergy protects them," Rander said, not seeming interested in what he was saying at all.

Brett thought about it for a moment, than said: "It would be great to be able to control it. I'm sure of it."

"Probably," Rander said, getting up. "But it probably won't work."

And he left to the sleeping quarters.

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They all went to bed a little late, each thinking about the man they'd met just that very same day. Brett was at a loss.

Saturos… How could he have survived? It had been a miracle that Isaac, Garet, Ivan, Mia, Felix and Sheba survived, but Saturos?? He'd been far more injured than the rest of them, so how could Saturos have survived? It didn't make any sense. Was Rander right? Did Saturos survive because of his Psynergy?

There were definitely some weird things going on in this world.

And that was the last thought running through his mind, before he fell asleep.

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The next morning, they were all awake before the sun arose, but it didn't really matter. The sooner they left, the better. Rander had checked out that morning, leaving them alone again. They searched the city, trying to decipher where the Jupiter Star could be hidden. Eve searched the eastern portion of town, Erica searched the south, including the cemetery, while Brett searched the western and northern portions, checking pots and crates for any sign of crystalline powder.

It was 10 in the evening when they finally gave up their search. Brett had even searched the attic of the Inn, but nothing. Eve and Erica didn't have too much luck either. They gathered in front of the Inn, discussing matters at hand.

Most people hate it when they search a whole city and find nothing, but what can be worse, is that when you're not really paying attention, you actually find it.

Because when Brett leaned against the Inn and was gazing up, his eye caught sight of a magenta sparkle up on a ledge. It was all over the ledge, as if someone had climbed up all the way. He walked over to see if he wasn't seeing things.

And he wasn't.

He looked pissed off, and called the girls over. Once they caught sight of the crystalline magenta powder, they too, looked mighty pissed off.

"It was right under our noses and we didn't even see it!!" Eve exclaimed a little angry.

Erica growled angrily and said: "This is not funny! Not at all!"

Brett contained himself though. He looked up and noticed that it wasn't that high, but still, he couldn't see anything.

"Hey Erica! Get on my shoulders!" he said.

Erica looked confused, then brightened up and nodded.

Eve could understand why Brett would ask Erica instead of her. Erica was shorter, meaning she was lighter. However, even though she knew this, an angry flame was burning in her eyes that couldn't even be extinguished by her Psynergy. Erica slowly climbed on Brett's shoulders, who made sure she wouldn't fall, not noticing the death glare Eve was giving Erica behind their backs.

Erica managed to look over the ledge, but had to shield her eyes from the setting sun. When she looked, she saw the towers of Kalay.

"What do you see?" Brett shouted up at her.

"Nice view on Kalay up here!" she shouted back down.

Eve dropped her glare the second Erica was off of Brett's shoulders and she smiled.

"We're going to Kalay?!" she asked, suddenly excited.

"Tomorrow," Brett said. "It's late, we should get some rest."

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He was wandering through the cave, holding a small orb of electricity above his hand to light the way. His eyes searched the area carefully, trying to find out where to go next. He sighed. What was he going to do?

"I should've asked how to get through this danged cave as well!" he muttered angrily under his breath.

A sudden movement behind him made him whirl around and grab the blood-red axe he always kept with him. The light pink colored gem that formed the pommelstone lightened the area so he could grasp his weapon with both hands.

The small critter let out an "EEEEP!!!" but didn't scurry away like he had expected it would.

It was small, almost as big as a parrot, with small wings, a pointed head like a feather, beady crystalline eyes, small feet and a small stump for a tail. The upper-part was white, but the lower part besides its feet were black.

"Sorry, sorry!" it squeaked. "Didn't mean to startle you!"

He calmed down a bit, but kept his axe out, and walked toward the small critter.

"What exactly are you?" he asked.

"I'm Windia, a Jupiter Djinni! Nice to meet you!" the critter said, even though he didn't see the thing's mouth. "And you're a Jupiter Adept, aren't you?"

He nearly toppled over in shock. "What?! How did you know!?" he demanded.

"Hey! I also know how to use Jupiter Psynergy!"

He blanched.

"Don't worry! I just wanted to know what kind of Adept you were, I didn't discover anything else."

This made him sigh in relief.

"Thank you, I don't like people budding into my thoughts, not after what I've been through."

His face was shadowed with sadness for awhile, and Windia looked up at the Adept in compassion.

"Sorry. Say, I still don't know your name!"

The man bit the inside of his cheek, and finally answered: "Zeros."

Windia nodded.

"Pleasure! Anyway, I get the feeling you're a little lost."

"A little!?" Zeros said, looking around. "A more appropriate word would be completely!"

The two of them laughed for a moment, before Windia said: "Tell you what; I'll get you out of here, if you let me join you!"

Zeros looked down at the small Djinni.

"I don't…"

"Please?? Pretty please with an artificially cherry flavored candy on the top of a soy based vanilla flavored frozen dessert product? With imitation chocolate flavored molasses topping?"

Zeros blinked.

"Never heard that before. But… seeing as you're so desperate," Zeros sighed, "sure, show the way."

The Djinni seemed to smile, and with a speed Zeros hadn't expected from something that small, flew ahead.

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A new day, a new journey.

Brett, Eve and Erica rose with the sun, each ready to travel to Kalay.

"Good morning!" Eve said, smiling broadly.

Eve had been the first to wake, and was waiting for Brett and Erica to eat breakfast with her. Or more precisely, Brett. She'd had a secret crush on him for the longest time, but fear of rejection had always pushed her back.

However, now that he was threatened away from her, she was going to try to win in heart, no matter what the costs. Brett smiled and descended the stairs, Erica not too far behind. Breakfast was rather silent, because no one had anything to say.

Afterwards, they made their way toward the exit, when Brett stopped, apparently thinking about something. Brett finally shook his head, and they left the Inn. Just when they were about to leave Vault, they heard some commotion a few houses up ahead.

"What in Sol's name is going on over there?" Brett asked, confused, as they walked over.

They saw a boy around Brett's age, of about 6'0, yet bulky and muscular, with fierce red hair and pure aqua colored eyes. He wore a yellow tunic, some brown padded gloves, a leather belt, a pair of brown pants and some brown boots. He was holding what looked like a very heavy club, but it was like he hardly noticed the weight.

He was heavily arguing with a man probably twice his own age, neither even noticing that they had an audience.

At some points, they both cursed so heavily on one another, that Brett quickly covered Eve's ears, and that Erica gasped in horror, which you don't see too much. Finally, the older man stomped into a house, which was positioned atop some stairs and slammed the door, rather loud. The boy growled, and ran past them, out of the village, raging mad.

The trio looked at each other in confusion, before shrugging their shoulders at the same time, and heading toward the exit as well.

"That was weird," Erica said softly, once they left the village.

"Yeah," Eve said.

Brett got a world-map from his bag and studied it for awhile.

"Okay, if we keep on going south, we should arrive in Kalay within a few hours, and if we search the city for about 2 hours, we should still be able to make it to Kalay Docks so we can get to Tolbi, is that alright with you girls?" he asked.

"Sure," Eve said.

"We're actually going to Tolbi?! Unreal!!!" Erica asked, suddenly ecstatic.

Brett was about to answer, but something droned it out.

The earth shook, and they were knocked of their feet.

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Zeros gave a startled yelp as another boulder landed in front of him. Windia avoided boulders for awhile, until Zeros simply grabbed the Djinni and continued to race to the exit, dodging boulders as best as he could. Windia whimpered as another boulder nearly hit them. Zeros however, kept his cool and kept on running.

Once they were out of the cave, they looked around, trying to figure out what was going on. Zeros turned to the northwest, and his eyes widened as the color drained from his face.

"She didn't…" he whispered, as he watched the smoking mountain for the longest time.

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"BY LUNA AND SOL!!! WHAT'S GOING ON AROUND HERE!?!?!" Brett screamed, trying to be heard by the girls, but they couldn't hear him.

They looked back, and all three blanched.

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Rander held on to a tree for support, staring at the smoking mountain in ultimate horror. What was happening?

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A girl with chin-length black hair that had a red to it, green eyes with red flecks and a pale complexion, ran toward the Temple, trying to run as fast as she could.

"Master Nyunpa!! Master Nyunpa!!" she shouted, running in.

The old master opened his eyes, and looked at her a little strange.

"What is it, child?" he asked.

She panted a few times, then said: "I… I had another vision…"

"Yes?" Master Nyunpa asked.

"We… we're in real trouble…" she panted.

*******************************************

The young girl was not mistaking. It was a horrible sight. Smoke came from Mount Aleph, and inside the mountain, thousands of gallons of molten rock were quickly rising to the top. Once had been bad enough, the second time was even worse. The rest of the Djinnis escaped the Sol Sanctum, leaving the Wise One to try and guide the molten rock past the village that rested near the mountain's feet. He wasn't strong enough though, not at all.

But… there was something else in the village that did. Crystalline water rose from the lake, and took shape of a young five-year-old girl, who aged into a luscious sixteen-year-old, with a stern look. A second figure appeared, a boy this time. The two flew toward the mountain with speed unimaginable, and used their powers to guide the lava away from the village.

Then, the lava stopped, but everyone in the village was silent, for the longest while. They knew what had happened, far too well.

The Elemental Stars had been stolen.

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Well, that's chapter 1. I feel sooooo loved with all the characters I got. Only thing that I need are bad guys/girls.

From now on, I only accept bad guys/girls. So if you want to be a good guy/girl, tough luck. I've got enough of them. Far too many even.

Special thanks goes to Brett Morphy, the brain behind a great deal of the characters.

Brett

Eve

(more of his work to come)