Chapter 1

"Are you sure Andros? Are you absolutely positive?" A mellow male voice asked, "Yeah…I saw who you were looking for, he's probably in Prism city limits by now." replied a much deeper voice. Just then a tavern door burst open, and a couple of figures stepped out towards a vehicle that looked like a jet plane with an open cockpit and had two helicopter blades on the wings. "I have to get there and help them." The mellow voice said, "You're not thinking of going alone…are you?" asked Andros in an arguing voice. "I don't have a choice Andros…either I help them or they're done for, and the second choice is not an option at all."

The figure securely fastened himself into the harness and started the engine, Andros backed away and watched as the machine started taking off, "Okay Roland…it's your loss, I just want you to know it took one of my best cartel deliverers to get that information!" Roland looked down with his gray eyes then looked ahead, pulling out a crystal pendulum. Focusing his energy into it the thing started spinning only to stop and point to his left, "I have nothing left to lose." Roland growled as he turned the vehicle in that direction and headed off that way. Behind him he saw an area of reddish-orange in the sky…a new day was about to begin on Neo-Earth, and unless he acted now…the Crest warriors wouldn't be alive to see the end of it.

MEANWHILE IN PRISM…

"Come on you two…get up, TODAY'S the DAY!" An excited Hope shouted from behind her parents' bedroom door. Kayin let out a groan, "Doesn't she know the celebration doesn't begin for another 7 hours?" he grumbled to his wife Grace.

"Probably not," replied Grace.

"HEY, don't you go to sleep, we have to be ready!" Hope nearly pulled both of them out of the bed, forcing them to get ready.

The Crest Fair, created to celebrate the defeat of the Empire and the restoration of the Crest, had grown to amazing proportions. Literally thousands of beings (Humans and Anthros…yep, it's that type of story) across Neo-Earth attended the two day celebration. Sponsored by Ambar Enterprises and held in Prism, the festival was held in the largest stadium in Prism and the doors only opened at the official start, with no one but the preparation staff knowing what was inside.

Landing outside the dome, Kayin, Grace, and Hope tried to move in the crowd, but the place was already swamped. Kayin saw some people looking at him and either whispering or pointing him out to others, "Why is everyone looking at you dad?" Hope asked. Kayin said, "I'm sure it's nothing." But he knew what they were perhaps whispering about, him slaying that creature that had rampaged the festival a while back. "Looks like you've made quite the historical legend out of yourself." Grace whispered to him, Kayin blushed a bit.

"How are we going to find anybody in this crowd?" Hope asked, straining to see through it. "Ask…and you shall receive." A voice behind them said, "So how are you three doing these days?"

"Carmesi!" Grace shouted out, wrapping her in a hug. "Uhh…it's nice to see you too." Replied Carmesi nervously. The two girls exchanged hellos while Kayin and Howl just nodded at each other, Howl looked down and saw Kayin had one of his swords with him. "Umm…why are you still carrying that around?" Howl asked.

"Come on Howl…don't tell me you don't sense it too?" Kayin asked. Then turned his attention eastward, Howl didn't admit it but he did sense it…an immense power in the east, getting closer with every minute. Which is why he'd hid a dagger in his left boot, just in case it proved to be hostile.

"So where's Vixy?" Kayin asked, "She met up with Nearie, they went ahead without us. Kate and Bengala are here too with Shin. Saw Pulsar a few minutes ago…but that's all."

"Sometimes I wish we were all here…you know, the whole group." Kayin said with a shallow sigh. "I know…but we all do our own thing, I spoke with Minos. He said he'd felt something as well, but it faded away before he could tell what it was." Howl told him.

"I'm going to find the others." Announced Hope, and with that the little antelope/coyote mix breed made her way through the crowd.

Once they were all inside they met up with Ambar and Pulsar, they all exchanged their hellos, "Well Ambar…this looks like a better turn out than last time." Commented Carmesi, "Yeah…but I wonder how long this type of quiet will last." Ambar replied, looking around.

"What do you mean by that?!" Asked a voice behind them, They all looked to see Kate standing behind them, Kayin also saw that Kate had brought her kitana with her. "You've sensed it too…haven't you?" Kayin asked, Kate nodded, "Bengala too, he's brought his weapon along as well."

"You bunch aren't the only ones, I've kept in touch with Geeku and Xeanica…Geeku said that she was taking a walk through her native rain forests when she saw somebody, he was wearing clothes too heavy to be from around her parts…but that's not the weird part, the weird part is he had this black satin pouch around his neck, she saw the person pour out several of these little ball bearings. Then the person laid his hand out flat and flicked them off one by one, but instead of falling to the ground they zipped off and hit the trees…almost like they were bullets. Xeanica had almost a similar story, said she was resting on a deserted beach in the south when she saw this guy in a clear plastic rain poncho land by a tide pool, she saw the guy put his right arm out over it, then prick his finger…and then it got interesting, she said the water in the tide pool became a water made creature. She said she watch him give it some commands before dispelling it back into the tide pool again and watch him leave." said Ambar.

"You think this might be another attempt by the Empire don't you?" asked Kayin.

"At this point and time I can't tell…but it's a probability." Ambar replied.

Pulsar looked around and saw somebody ushering him to come over, "You guys go on…I've got to see somebody." he said, and with that he left them.

Meanwhile from the east Roland was darting across the skies in that flying contraption of his ( Author's Note: If you can, use the Age of Emipires II: The Age of Kings Start Menu theme for the right mood) , he looked ahead and saw the top of Ambar Tower…which told him he was nearing Prism. He took a thermal scan and saw that most of it was in an arena on the north side of the city, he quickly set the autopilot to first go to the arena…then go on and land on Ambar Tower.

Back at the arena Kayin looked at all the festivities, trying to put what happened before Hope was born in the back of his memories. He suddenly looked eastward again and sensed that the power was much closer now, suddenly he saw Pulsar looking around as if searching for something, "If your looking for your wife…she's near the refreshments area with Kate and Nearie!" he called out to him, Pulsar responded with an 'O.K' gesture.

Pulsar found them, and started to make his way towards them. Nearie waved him over, "So, the gangs all here?" Pulsar asked smiling, there was something in that smile that Nearie didn't like. "Everyone who could show up." Kate replied.

"That's good…now the real fun begins." Pulsar said, suddenly Pulsar turned around and threw an energy blast at one area of the stadium, this was followed by two similar blasts thrown in the opposite direction of each other.

"Pulsar…what in the name of Sam Hill do you thin—!?" Ambar started to say, "Oh Ambar…didn't you know I'd always betray you and the others? Didn't you think that for one second the Empire's hold on me could truly be broken? Now excuse me while I have some fun of my own!" Pulsar interrupted, with that he flew up until he was in the dead center of the stadium, and then started throwing energy blasts everywhere. While everybody Human and Anthro alike ran from Pulsar's rage, Howl, Carmesi, Bengala, Grace, and the others there ran to Ambar, Kate, and Nearie. Kayin looked up at Pulsar who seemed to be enjoying this a bit too much for his taste, "Has Pulsar completely lost it!" he asked.

"Looks like it." Vixy replied.

As Roland neared the stadium he saw smoke rising out of it, "Looks like I'm late to the party again…well as long as I get to crash it." Roland thought to himself, he then undid the harness and as soon as he was over the stadium he jumped out and made his dive towards the ground.

Shin was the first to spot it, "Hey guys…what's that falling out of the sky?" They all looked up and saw a person falling from the sky, Ambar was about to use her Telekenisis to try and slow the guy down, but Howl stopped her and said, "Wait…can't you sense that?!"

"I can…it's that same power I sensed earlier, it's coming from him, whoever he is." said Howl.

They watched as the person did a back flip and then slowed his own decent, floating only a few inches from the ground and then finally landing, he was a Fox-Anthro with a light-grayish/burgundy trench coat on, he wore a purple shirt and faded blue jeans. His hair was a rich maroon-like color and so long in back that he had it in three pony tails, his gray eyes stared up at Pulsar, and Pulsar looked back down at him and with a groan said, "Oh cripes, not you again!"

"Yes…me, now we can do this the easy way," Then the person opened his trench coat a bit more, revealing two rather large holsters, and from those holsters he pulled out two large pistols from them, "or we can do this the hard way."

Suddenly Kate got in the way of his line of fire and said, "I won't let you kill Pulsar!"

"No, it's not!" the person replied back.

"Are you calling my mom a liar!" Argued Shin, who'd slowly made his way to his mother's side. "I'm just saying he's not who you think he is!" responded the person, who now sounded like he was getting angry.

Suddenly Pulsar attacked both Kate and Shin from behind, the stranger then took the gun in his left hand and squeezed the trigger, the report was so loud they didn't even hear Pulsar cry out in pain as the bullet entered his right thigh. Pulsar fell to the ground, and the figure looked up, straight up into the barrel of the gun in strangers other hand. "Now…tell me where the real Pulsar is and I'll make your co muffins less excruciating."

Pulsar looked up into the persons eyes and with a sigh said, "I tied him up and locked him in a janitor closet."

"That's better," the stranger said, he then looked at Hope and said, "You, can you check the janitor closets in the stadium." Hope nodded and took off, "Aren't you going to check for yourself?" 'Pulsar' asked, the stranger turned his gaze back to him and with a slight smile on his face, "If you're lying…this bullet is going in your skull."

Ten minutes later Hope returned with a rather dazed Pulsar, he looked and pointed at himself saying, "That's the guy who knocked me out…he pretended to want an autograph, then when I look at him his face suddenly changed into mine."

'Pulsar' shot a quick smile and said, "Yep…and the worst part is you have no idea what's to come in the next several months! You'll all bear witness to glory of our return, you thought just because you killed Torreador you stopped us? Well think again kids because it's our time now." He then charged at them powering up for an attack, the stranger saw this and started powering up himself, cupping his hands together a baseball sized orb of golden energy formed in them. With an upscale scream the stranger yelled out: "RAIL…WAY…" Suddenly all of them felt the energy he gave off, Carmesi nearly fainted it was so intense, "BOMB!!!" and with that he released the orb from there it expanded to three times it's original diameter and struck 'Pulsar' from behind, they all watched as he flew past them screaming as he hit and went through the wall to the main concourse, then went through that wall and passed two rows of parking spaces before finally landing dead as a doornail.

The stranger then stood there for a few moments, then walked until he was standing right next to 'Pulsar'…only he didn't look like Pulsar anymore, he was a Bear Anthro with shaggy blond hair. Carmesi came up behind him, "That was incredible…I mean the power you had and everything, how did you do that?"

He looked up at her and said, "Long story…you'd probably be put to sleep just hearing it."

Shin and Vixy were the next to appear, with Kate following from behind. Shin looked down at the body, "Is he?" the stranger nodded, "And I knew him too…his name was Lionel, has three sisters and a brother…he was the baby of that family, it's going to pain me to tell his family what happened to him."

Shin was nearing to touch it, but Kate stopped him, she then looked at the stranger and said, "Oh…how unlike me, my name is Kate Aryoko, the two standing next to you are Carmesi and her daughter Vixy, and this here is my son Shin."

The stranger stood up and said, "Roland Victoire…nice to meet you, I'm supposing you and Carmesi are two of the twelve the make up the Crest?"

"How'd you know that?" asked Carmesi, Roland looked at her, "Part of the story I'd rather not get into…I'm going to need to see the others…have them all meet at Ambar Tower, Kayin too…I think what I have to say may interest him as well as shock you all."

"You don't think we can trust this guy…do you?" Asked Kate, Carmesi shrugged.

"I trust him," Vixy added in, "we should probably tell Mrs. Ambar to prepare the tower for multiple guests…shouldn't we."