Chapter One - It Begins...
"Where am I?" Crimsa wondered out loud. She was floating in a strange void when a mysterious shining figure came out of the darkness.
"Child of the Revival…" the figure began. "It is time to awaken to your purpose. All was not lost in the victory of evil."
"My…purpose?" Crimsa said. "What can I do?"
"The power of your heritage shall revive the courage of the others."
"My heritage? Stop the cryptic speech and give it to me straight."
"My words hide nothing. You only hide from it."
"You're speaking cryptically again…can't you dream people ever speak plain English? This is so clichéd."
"Think about it. You must awaken from your long slumber now…"
-- -- -- -- -- --
Crimsa awoke with a start, and the first smell that came to her was a faint scent of rotten eggs…not something someone would want to awaken to after a year of sleep. Then she heard the clacking of plastic on wood.
"I thought you'd NEVER wake up…" a voice nearby said. The bat turned her head to see a strange hedgehog sitting by her bed, playing chess with a wolf at least twice his size. "Checkmate," the hedgehog said.
"What? Again! You're way too good, Yakujo!" the wolf growled angrily.
"Glad to see you're up, Crimsa." Yakujo said, taking the wolf's comment lightly.
"Where am I…and what is that smell? It smells like something died in here!" the bat asked with a twinge of disgust.
"We're in the city you live in…" the hedgehog replied. "Only now it's overrun with hornets from hell."
Crimsa said nothing for a minute. "Demon bees, huh? Freaky." she finally said. "And who exactly are you two? I assume you're friendly, since you haven't murdered me in my sleep."
"The name's Yakujo…" the hedgehog replied. "The wolf's Raiden."
Crimsa paused for a moment, then remembered. "Miko told me about you…where is he?" Crimsa said.
"Wish I knew. They came to rescue you…but…they failed."
"What about my mom?"
"You mean Rouge?" Raiden said…but he couldn't bring himself to finish. Crimsa somehow knew what he was going to say…with the planet as it was, she had doubted that her mother would have survived the drastic changing that occurred…
But why did I survive? Maybe that dream…yeah…Crimsa seemed deep in thought.
"Crimsa…you okay? You're taking your mom's death pretty well…" Yakujo asked.
"Yeah…I think we need to find the others…things shouldn't be this way…at least that's what the guy in my dream said."
"The others? Are you nuts? You want to search this entire hellhole of a planet for a few of your friends?" Raiden said, obviously surprised by Crimsa's bold idea. "I really have to say that that is the stupidest idea I've ever heard. It is so clichéd that people will listen to dreams…sometimes I think the events of the past few years have been one big cliché."
"I'm up for some action…you're no fun to play at chess, anyway, Raiden." Yakujo said, as he began to pick up the chess game.
"That's because you're way too good…it's no wonder Aeron made you the tactical manager of our group," Raiden replied.
"So…are you up to it?" Crimsa asked.
"Aw, hell…let's do it! I've got nothing else better than save the world!"
"That's the spirit!" Yakujo said cheerfully. "Now come on, I know exactly how to deal with these hornets…I just hope we don't plan on coming back."
-- -- -- -- -- --
"So, you want an exit visa?" one of the hornet soldiers asked as the three stood near the exit to the city.
"We all do. So...can we have one?" Crimsa said.
"It shall cost you a lot."
"We don't have any money…" Raiden said.
"Then you cannot leave."
Yakujo already had an idea. "How about the run-down restaurant…no one goes there…it's just extra closet space for your hive…we don't plan on returning."
The soldier gave this a bit of thought, and nodded. "That sounds like a fair deal. Besides, the Queen's been meaning to expand into that area. I'll issue your visas now."
The hornet buzzed off for a minute, and returned with some strange items that vaguely resembled paper. "Just sign here and you may take your visas and leave."
"Uh…I can't understand a word of this…" Yakujo said as he looked over the strange form.
"Oh…you are not demons," the hornet said. He paused and shifted his eyes. "I'll be lenient…since you claim you have no plans to return…we'll skip the paperwork. Just leave." He motioned another guard to open the city gates.
"Consider yourselves very lucky that you came on my shift…most of your kind are turned away. Goodbye…and good luck." The trio nodded in gratitude to the guard, and left.
-- -- -- -- -- --
"Why does it have to be so damn hot?" Raiden complained as they walked across the hot, desolate wasteland, following a single highway. "There's too much fire and brimstone in this world! Man, this stinks!"
Yakujo was getting irritated. "Can it, Raiden. We're out of the hive…I just wish we knew where we were going. I hope we can find someplace safe by nightful, or we'll be hunted by some freak for sure."
Several minutes later the sound of a large vehicle speeding down the highway suddenly came to their ears. To them, having walked most of the day with little or no food, it was like the chorus of a thousand cherubs. Soon the source of the sound came into sight: a black bus roughly thirty feet long, nine feet wide and fifteen feet from wheel to roof, careening down the highway at eighty miles per hour. What was more, the bus began to slow down, apparently to pick them up. Crimsa stopped…she knew it was a bad idea to just hop onto some random bus…but it was better than being hunted by who-knows-what if they traveled on foot.
The bus grinded to a halt, and the door opened. A short, impish looking demon hopped down to the ground and looked up at the group.
"Hey…you guys in need of a lift?" the imp said. "Ultimate Life Form don't leave no people walking through no wasteland on our watch! It just plain ain't sensible."
"Thanks for your kindness…but we don't ride demon buses…" Raiden said. "Unless you have air-conditioning on that thing…"
The imp nodded. "Yeah…we got the AC. Not all demons like fire and brimstone, y'know. This bus is Ultimate Life Form's home!"
"Hot dog! Let us on!" Raiden replied gleefully. Crimsa and Yakujo got on as well. Once they boarded, the imp got back on, and the bus took off.
-- -- -- -- --
The bus was surprisingly comfortable, though a bit freakish for the trio. There was a small booth-like table, a sink, a range, and what appeared to be two bunk beds.
"I never knew demons could be so nice…I thought they were all evil and twisted…" Raiden said to the imp.
"Most of us demons are like that…I suppose Ultimate Life Form is a few good apples in a rotten basket. But don't tell that to the fans."
"The fans?" Crimsa asked. "Are you a…rock band or something?"
"Yep…we're a band alright...on tour to be exact. We're the opening act for Lavos Ku…they're the biggest names in music today!"
"Trenk…did you pick more hitchhikers again?" a voice came from another small room…and out came a familiar face…at least to Crimsa…it was a black hedgehog with red streaks on his quills, a white furry chest and blood-red eyes. It was Shadow.