June 25th, 2006

Sometimes I tended to sleep on three hour intervals. Tonight was one of those cases. I woke up with Tara still between my arms. The time read four o' five in the morning. I figured this was good enough to meet up with Deku. I went outside and called his name. He was by the fire snoring gently.

I poked his side to see what would happen.

He turned over on his shoulder and looked at me all dreary like, "Brian what is it? It's too early to be up."

"I've come so you can show me how to protect my friends."

"…oh I don't know Brian, can't it wait until morning?"

"No, our time is growing shorter and shorter. I'll sleep later in the day."
"You think that's going to help you prepare for this battle?"

"Well by the example you're giving me it looks like it isn't!"

He finally came to and got up brushing the sand off his body. "Ok let's get this over with!"

I agreed and followed him into the middle of the forest. It seemed longer with the moon up and the trail was shorter than normal. When we got there he bent down and opened a trap door in the middle and started to go in.

"Don't worry, this shouldn't take too long. Come on in."

I shrugged and followed him in, "What is that smell?" I said covering my nose.

"You'll have to excuse that, I haven't been down here in three hundred years so you can bet everything has pretty much gone to waste!"

The stench was so strong that it leaked out of the door and onto the island. Soon everyone else would be up and notice that I'm not there. Tara would be worried of course.

He led me down a small corridor that led to a shiny object in the middle of the room.

"Hey Deku what is that in the middle?"

"Why Brian this is the key that has kept this island protected for thousands of years. Believe it or not this isn't the first time that an army has tried to take over our island."

"Our?"

"Yes, whoever lands here is given part of the island to protect from any evil that should occur. No one is allowed to touch the key except whoever is in charge of the group of people who lands here, thus meaning you!"

"So you're saying that I have the power to protect this island?"

"Yes that is correct, and more importantly the power to protect your friends. I know how much Tara means to you, and I want you to have the strength to do it as well."

This all seemed to good to be true to me at the moment but I didn't ask any more questions.

"Go ahead Brian, hold it up!"

I did as I was told and took the key off the pedestal. It gave off a blinding beam of light that lasted about ten seconds. It was as if it had programmed my memory and strength into itself because the key felt light and powerful at the same time.

"Well what do you think? Great isn't it?"

"I'm not sure; waiting for something bad to come is one thing. Though fighting them is something else. I don't know that I'm up to handling this."

"Brian how many times must I tell you? You are the key bearer. Until someone proves their strength over you will have the ability to defeat whoever comes close to you, not including your friends and more importantly Tara."

"Tara eh?" I couldn't help but show off my powers while I was down here. I took a couple of swings around.

"Whoa easy there tex, I know you think you're hot stuff but it's going to take more than just power to overcome your challenge."

I hadn't intended on there being more. He explained to me the purpose of the key and why it was placed on this island. Without it we would perish almost instantly.

"So what about your tree friends, they'll be here to help me out too, right?"

"Oh yes don't worry about that, they'll be here incase your friends don't show up. Now I think that should do it for right now, let's get you back to the hut so you can get some sleep."

The key somehow gave off a feeling of power, like there was nothing to stop me…the only person who could was…Tara. When I got back she was still sleeping peacefully.

I picked up my cell phone which now read six thirty seven. It was still too early to do anything so I headed back to bed. Deku practically tripped into the sand but started snoring immediately. I wasn't the kind of person to do that, well actually it was more my bodies choice. The only problem I had was teeth grinding. I've felt myself doing it before in the night but not enough for people to tell me how annoying it is.

"Brian wake up! Brian wwwaaaakkkkeeeee uuuuuupppppp!"

Cree was leaning over my bed looking down on me.

"What is it Cree…what time is it?"

"That doesn't matter Brian, read this note that we found!"

I took the note from her and focused my eyes on it.

"Due to circumstances beyond our control we won't be able to make it to assist you in your times of need. We hope you understand; we will make it up to you somehow."

-Team Brazil

The question of how they got this note here was up for grabs again. I walked outside and looked out across the ocean. Tara ran up behind me when she heard of the note.

"Brian what does the note mean?"

"Well it's kind of obvious. We will need reinforcements to replace my friends from coming. And I know just where to find them."

Deku must've left before I saw the note because there was a large imprint in the sand where he had slept. I leaped over the imprint and headed into the cabin and changed quickly before Tara could object to my leaving the area again.

"Brian, where the hell are you going this time?"

"Tara I'm doing this for your own good! I'll be back later!"

I knew either way she'd be more worried then anyone else.

The one thing on my mind at the moment that stood out was being able to keep the key sword a secret from everyone else…even Tara. Deku seemed to know that I was trying to find him because he was doing crunches on the sand inside the forest. I hadn't noticed yet, because I was still looking down at the letter.

"Deku I just got this letter this morning and I don't know…um what are you doing?"

"Preparing for battle Brian; this is one of the most effective ways of loosening up my body and also for powering up."

I shook my head and showed him the letter, "We will need your help even if you already agreed to it. I don't know what was more important to them then not helping us out!"

"Well I'm sure they had a good reason for bailing at the last minute. It had better be good if they know what's good for them."

"Now hold on, they're my friends no matter what! The last thing I need is for you to change sides against them. We should be concentrating on the army…"

"Oh alright! What else do you need to be ready?"

I took a deep breath and sighed, "I'm not sure, I guess just for them to show up so we can get this over with."

"Are you sure, what are you going to do with Lucia?"

"Oh shit I forgot about her. I have to go back right now and warn everyone!"

"Right you do that; I'll summon my brothers up!"

I ran back as fast as I could even though I wasn't in the best of shape. As I ran I noticed my clothes seemed to be changing colors. My shorts grew longer and my shirt turned into a bright yellow color with little sparkles coming off of it.

As I got back everyone was laying around the fire.

"Brian, where in the hell were you; don't you ever think about anyone before yourself!"

"Shut up and listen! The army is making its way here right now! You must get Lucia and clear the area right now!"

Tara got up right away and shouted, "Ok Brian now you've gone too far! It's one thing to see you battling, but it's another to be doing it by yourself!"

"I won't be alone; I have Deku and his friends on my side. Now go!"

She didn't seem to be buying what I was saying.

"Look if you don't go right now you'll be hearing from me later Tara!"

Jason and Cree didn't seem to argue, they hurried right into the forest.

"Brian…let me stay and fight with you."

"That is out of the question, go take cover with everyone else and wait for me to come back! I'm not going to lose you! You think I'm going to risk your life when you don't even know what you're up against!"

"Don't you pull this art of being the hero crap on me? I know how you feel about my powers, but that's no reason to not let me try!"

"Look whether you like it or not I'm doing this without your help, I will not lose you!"

She looked at me with a tear falling off her eye, "If you die I swear I will not shed another tear on you again!"

I struck my key into the sand splitting the ground open.

As she ran back there, I thought about sacrificing and fighting for what's good.

"Tara, hold up!"

I knew I could run faster then her so I sprinted into the forest but just as I reached her the ground started shaking again, but not from what I did back there.

"Brian what's going on!" Tara screamed.

"Get onto my back! This is going to be rough!"

She didn't weigh as much as I expected and I started towards where Deku was.

"Brian isn't this awesome! We're going to have ourselves a good ass whooping!"

I saw about three hundred trees stacked behind him.

"Oh men how can this get even sweeter?" I thought to myself.

The ship landed next to the water and a door opened with a figure standing in the light.

"Will the human known as Brian please step forward!"

I looked back at Deku who motioned me to do as told.

Slowly I took my key and put it behind my head and walked forward.

"Yes I am Brian, what is it you wish from me?"

I still couldn't make out the figure but whoever it was they weren't too tall.

"I've been waiting for you Brian. Today you shall witness the greatest defeat this island has ever seen! Are you up to my challenge?"

"It depends, first show me yourself then I will decide!"

"Ha-ha you expect me to show myself? That would take all the fun out of it!"

Deku and his brothers held their positions. I knew they weren't going to budge until someone fired.

"Why won't you show me? Are you afraid of me; or is it because…you took my friends!"

The figure gasped and replied, "What are you talking about? They weren't supposed to tell you that!"

"Oh I have my sources. My friends would never desert me no matter the situation!"

"Well that won't matter because in a few hours time the battle will expire and they shall be terminated!"

I signaled to Deku behind my back to get ready to charge.

"Well Deku, it's been a long time!"

"Same with you, Drexel I nearly didn't recognize you for a moment. I see you're up to your normal habits of taking over planets."

"Oh with pleasure; don't be negative, just because I will soon be the most powerful lord around doesn't mean you have to be a bad sport! I've had enough with this nonsense!"

He shut the door and there was silence for a moment. Soon a large boulder was fired from the cannon heading for Deku.

"Deku take cover!"

He nearly dodged it and yelled, "Attack!"

Soon the trees were stampeding towards the ship; I was ahead leading the charge. Tara had headed back towards the hut when the ship landed. I knew she wasn't ready for this yet.

"Brian takes this group and head up the platform to see if you can get in!"

I nodded and made my way towards the deck while slashing soldiers as I went up. One of them attempted to dive onto me from above but missed and got a tree instead who threw them into the ocean.

While I was attacking my heart was flowing with adrenaline and power. I knew nothing was going to stop me.

Deku and his group meanwhile were trying to tear the side of the ship apart so they could make a sneak attack.

They used their heads as battering rams to knock into the ship.

"On my count men, we go full force on it!" Deku shouted. "One, Two…"

Before he could finish a group of soldiers noticed what they were doing and jumped into the water. They weren't as tall as the trees and soon were cleared out.

"Ok one more time; three, two, one, now!"

There were six trees that slammed their branches into the ship making a twenty foot hole on the side.

"Everybody get inside right now and head for the deck above taking out anyone who gets in your way! This is our chance to show those bastards who's really in charge!"

By this time I had just arrived on the deck. With all the distractions of the soldiers and the cannons it seemed like they were doing this on purpose just too waste time. They weren't really trying to take control of the island. I tried finding Deku as soon as I could while making my way through all the fighting.

"Brian thank god I found you!"

"Deku listen they're not really trying to take over the island!"

"I've always known that, we have two missions right now! One is rescuing your friends; the other is taking down the lord! You go for the lord while I look for you friends!"

I don't know why he didn't tell me that part before this started. He was assuming that I already knew that.

I could see the lord at the end of the hall from where I was standing.

"You're fooling nobody with that stupid key Brian! If you cherish your life you shall not follow me any further!"

"The only thing you'll be cherishing is my ass by the time I beat it!"

"Now what's with the language? Don't you realize that you don't stand a chance against me!"
I started running towards him.

"What did I tell you? Now you're going to pay!"

I heard Tara scream beside him as he headed off up onto the main deck.

"Tara don't panic I'll get you back!" I yelled.

I hadn't counted on him having a lot of guards in this area seeing that most of the fighting was outside the ship.

"Brian let us assist you!" a group of trees said coming up behind me.

"Fine, two of you stay here and make sure no one passes through and I mean NO ONE! The rest follow me onto the deck."

Now I was sprinting down the hall towards the stairs that went up. The trees were somewhat slower then I but they made good timing seeing that the lord was now on top of the ship with Tara.

He announced for the soldiers to stop fighting, "Now that we've come to the end of another battle here it looks as though the humans have failed yet again to save another life!"

"Hold it!" I yelled making my way behind the lord. "If you want to take someone's life take mine! She's not worth it!"

"Brian! Don't even say that!" she yelled back.

"Both of you shut up! Listen here little girl if you think I'm going to spare your life because of your precious boy toy then you have something else coming at you! It has always been a tradition to take the most beautiful girl on the island and sacrifice her to the gods above!"

Tara didn't bother saying another word; instead she winked at me like she had some sort of plan.

I stood there still holding my key sword.

"So what's it going to be Brian?"

I got the hint of what she was going to do and went along with it, "Gee what do you mean? I thought you were going to kill her."

"I will as soon as I have your permission!"

"Why do you need my permission it's not like she means anything to me?"

Tara looked at me but realized that I was pretending and continued to wait until the lord didn't notice her.

"What are you talking about? I know she means everything to you! Now either confess up or prepare to…"

"What die, that means nothing to me as well."

"Well what means something to you then!" he asked confusingly.

"I've been thinking about that and at the moment nothing comes to mind. You know this ship means something to me, but I know how you feel about it."

"Oh you do eh?" he asked curiously.

"Oh sure, I wouldn't mind having a piece of this for myself! Did you know that earth has bigger ships that make this look like a toy?"

"Prove it!"

"And if I don't?"

"Then you'll be begging for me to have mercy on your soul!"

"Fine then, your loss, can't say I didn't warn you."

"Warn me about what!" he yelled.

I gave the signal to Tara who jumped as hard as she could onto his big toe.

"Aw damn it you stupid girl!" He got back up and hit her knocking her out onto the deck.

He didn't see me charging him when he did this. I picked him up off the floor and threw him overboard taking me down as well.

"Brian doesn't!" Deku yelled, but it was too late.

As we both landed in the water his suit began to deteriorate in the water until the only thing that was showing was his face.

"I warned you! Now you can bet you won't be coming out of the water."

"Ha-ha, how are you going to even swim without legs!"

"You fool, don't you see that our technology is far advanced to yours! I don't need legs, I can float!"

"Brian!" Deku yelled. "Take him out before he floats out and releases the sharks!"

I laughed for a second and didn't realize he said shark before I made my move to grab the head. He saw me doing this and floated a bit higher.

"What are you going to do now…weakling! Face it, you're finished and so is this island!"

"That may be true but you're forgetting one important thing!"

"Oh and what would that be, your life!"

"No…this!"

I took one swipe with the key and struck it through the middle of his head splitting it open.

"Brian get under water, the head is going to explode. I've got Tara with me!" Deku said running towards the forest.

I took a big breath and dove underneath before the impact could push me down even farther. The head was out of control spinning around in circles giving off beams of light. Finally it stopped in one motion and exploded. I was only so far down before I felt the water pushing me farther down. My eyes were popping and I could feel them bleeding now. The blast knocked me out, and that's all I remember.