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I awoke to the sun blasting into my face and squinted my eyes as the rays nearly blinded me. I was having a weird dream, but I decided to analyze it later. There were more pressing matters for me to worry about than some silly dream. As far as I knew, a few dreams have came true, but nothing this intense. I was just too unsure of the dream at that point. In short, I saw a couple of kids trying to fend for themselves against an unknown monster that I have never seen before. I didn't even know who the kids were for that matter, either. I began to wonder about that dream more, but the sun has been trying to blind me just as it rose over the distant hills.
Reluctantly, I sat up and rubbed my eyes, trying to get them adjusted to the intruding light that disturbed my sleep. I am, by no means a morning person and this was a rude awakening, yet my nagging thoughts about some things I have observed in the past 24 hours have been bugging me to no end. I tried to consider alternatives on how to approach discussing such things with my hosts, but I could find no real solution or approach, other than being direct and to the point.
I groaned as my thoughts accelerated and I hated it when they did that. "Oh, shut up, brain and let me awake up some," I muttered to myself, still rubbing my tired eyes.
I looked around the room, taking in how neat it looked and well kept for a guest room. The room itself had an off-white look and appeal to it, but what captured my attention was how the trim was set up. The trim appeared to look like a dark oak wood stain, accenting the room quite nicely. The window was also stained in the same color as the trim. The carpet appeared to also be a slightly darker shade of the off-white color that was on the walls. The room also appeared to be slightly spacious, with two dark oak dressers and a closet that had who knows what inside of it. I had to wonder how often the guest room was used, but I pushed that thought aside as I stood, stretched, and yawned at the same time.
I was about to head out the door, naked, when realization hit me: Not only I was naked, but I was repeating the same things in my vision. I gasped for breath and suddenly became wide-awake. There was no clock in the bedroom, so I scrambled searching for my watch. I had left it on the nightstand, or so I thought. I looked there and found nothing. I turned to look on the dresser and found them sitting there. 'Strange', I thought, but shrugged it off. I knew for sure that I shouldn't ignore simple things like this, but I still couldn't help but wonder what was happening differently. I only knew one thing for certain, I had a plan to execute and time was limited.
Pushing my thought aside, I quickly got dressed and headed to the bathroom, ignoring the fact that the house was empty and quiet. Still, I wondered where they all went. No one told me of anything and perhaps, maybe someone of a higher power was able to sneak in and secretly take everyone to be where they were supposed to be. But it couldn't be because I would sense it. However, I also drained myself using the black shield last night, so it could be one of the reasons why I slept heavily. Yet again, I ignored that thought and searched the house to confirm everyone was gone.
After a few minutes of searching, I decided to have a cup of coffee, but my parental instincts were in overdrive, worrying about my boys. It wasn't a good distraction, but at the same time, I somehow knew everything will work out ok in the end.
I had almost forgotten about my watch. I don't know why it was so important, but in my vision, I woke up at 8 and it should be 8am or around there. It was funny how I ignored everything and went about my usual self when I wake up in mornings. As I became more and more aware of everything, daylight was starting to dim. Puzzled, I searched for the clock and received a complete surprise when I saw what time it was.
"Holy shit! It's already noon and the battle is nearing!" I screamed. Panic was beginning to set in. I was starting to lose focus. I had lost several hours of time over sleep, but I do feel energized. Suddenly I had felt the ancient oracle's presence and somewhat calmed down. I knew what I had to do and it would take time to accomplish it. For the first time in my life, I felt confident. I smiled to myself and closed my eyes. I was using an ancient teleportation method that was my signature teleportation and only I was able to use it.
As Simon closed his eyes, a white and black aurora formed beneath him at his feet. It looked like the yin-yang symbol, only it cast two shadows instead of one. The normal shadow teleportation only casts a single shadow, but Simon's form of yin-yang teleportation casts two. He invented it when he was a teenager in the early days of the council. He thought it distracted people by making them think he split into two and teleported to two different places at once. It confused enemies greatly as they mostly followed the white side of the shadow's path. The only person to ever figure out where Simon truly went was the Founder Guardian himself.
Once the twin shadows formed, Simon's body split into two, merging with the shadows then disappeared into two different directions in rapid succession.
A yin-yang symbol formed in the middle of the Elder Guardian's chambers, startling the Elder as he had not foreseen this. He watched as the black-white figure slowly take shape to a young man of his late twenties. Once the shadow faded and Simon's features came into view, the Elder took a long hard look at him. He wasn't sure who he was as he remembered a much older guy using the yin-yang teleportation.
"How dare you enter my chambers unnoticed, unannounced, and unwelcome!" The Elder was feeling quite uneasy as he wondered how this man easily breached the glade, let alone his chambers. "Never mind that, prepare to defend yourself!"
The Elder raised his hands as if he was pushing on something, yet he was going to send a teleportation shockwave directly at Simon. The Elder's teleportation shockwave hits a person with such force, he or she is thrown to a wall, then disappears to wherever the Elder decides appropriate. Only this time the Elder wanted to send him into a live volcano. Before the Elder released the shockwave, Simon smiled and held his hand up.
"I am sorry for disappearing on you and everyone else after all these centuries, Max." Simon then lowered his head and knelt before the Elder, hoping he would remember. Simon continued when nothing happened, he didn't dare look at the expression on the Elder's face. He knew he had his complete attention. "I know I was much older than this when you were only but a boy. I remember that shockwave and I never told you how well it works. Honestly, I don't want to experience it again."
The Elder was completely speechless. His mouth was wide open, it looked like as if his jaw had hit the floor. He didn't know what to say, but to search Simon's memories and thoughts to see if he was telling the truth. One thing was for certain, Simon did have his mind shielded and the Elder tried to get past it and saw nothing but black. It was blank. He finally remembered trying this a long, long time ago, and he also remembered not being very successful at it. It was the same man who disappeared into the void and it was also the same man who was standing before him.
"It... it... it can't be!" The elder stuttered, trying to figure out the right choice of words. He was always one to have everything and anything lined up to his liking, but not now. He continued, "You should be dead! You disappeared into the white void, never to be returned again!"
Simon stood with a grin on his face. "Ah, but I did return, only as a child. I kinda over exerted myself in there by using the black shield to completely hide my presence."
The Elder laughed at this causing Simon to slowly lose his grin. "You fool! Once you enter the void, your presence disappears on all planes, no matter what! Only those who know it exists and are good of heart may enter it. Those who aren't good of heart will disrupt the void and cause all kinds of paradoxes within time and..."
Simon stopped the Elder before he could finish. "I know. This time frame and many others are on their last leg. I'm sure you've felt that at the moment some certain twins were supposed to be kidnapped. Whomever changed time brought something back with them. Something I can't hope to possibly defeat. I take it you already knew of this."
The Elder nodded, "Those twins are my great-grandsons. Some things I have foreseen are there and some things are not. Sometimes I see things you don't. Sometimes you see things I don't, but it only happens rarely and this is one of them. You came here on your own choice and free will, you..." The Elder's voice trailed off as he finally realized the reason for Simon's appearance. It wasn't a trip down memory lane or a reunion to catch up on things. Simon was there to relieve the Elder of his responsibilities to the Glade.
The Elder gasped in surprised at his own reasoning. "You... can't possibly..."
"I have to."
"For what?! You aren't..."
"No I'm not, but just enough. Do you really think you can defend this place by yourself? Do you really think anyone else could hope to?" Simon asked with a serious expression on his face. "I have been shown a way to create hope for your hope. The ancient oracle showed me or rather, hinted at what I can do."
The Elder wanted to say something but stopped himself to think. He knew very well he really wanted to help and yet at the same time, he just couldn't... till now.
"So be it." The Elder flatly spoke, knowing fully well he wouldn't win this argument.
Simon smiled, "Good. I'll relieve you at the last second. 'He' does not know I exist." Simon figured he was forgetting something, but couldn't figure out what.
The Elder simply nodded and returned to his chair. It was only a matter of minutes before it was time.
*Crash!*
*Bang!*
"BOYS!!!!!!" An angry sounding voice filled the air. Silence followed, then the sounding of thumping footsteps could be heard throughout the house.
The door to a very messy boy's bedroom swung open revealing an angry mother in her mid 30's with her hands at her hips. "How many times do I have to tell you NOT to play that game in this house?!" She flipped a part of her long brown hair back and continued in a softer tone, "This is why we have a YARD. I don't expect you two to simply change overnight, but please, take it outside."
"Yes mom." The twins chorused feeling a tad downcast. They had been playing a game of hide-n-seek in their bedroom, using some of their powers to cleverly hide from one another. Trish had been teaching them ever since they started to realize they could use them, whether it was by telepathy or telekinesis. Trish's precognitive abilities weren't as great as her Grandfather's, but that didn't stop her from trying to figure out how old they'd be when they started using their powers. Trish and Jerry had taken it upon themselves to home school the boys, as Trish foresaw their growing powers would only cause problems in public school. More than once, she had to warn the boys about using their powers in public. Thankfully, they weren't all that shy about meeting new kids their own age which both Trish and Jerry had feared they might be, due to them being home schooled. While both boys had few close friends their happy outgoing personalities helped keep them in good standing with the local kids.
"Can we invite Jason over?" The dusty blond-brown hair and green-eyed boy piped up in an eagerness to invite his best friend to play a game of hide-n-seek. The blue-eyed boy just rolled his eyes at his brother's eagerness.
"You always invite him over, why can't you invite anyone else?"
"Because..."
"...Eric loves Jason, Eric loves Jason, Eric Loves Jason!"
Eric blushed as his brother taunted him. He quickly elbowed his twin in the ribs, "I do not! He is my best friend! Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you!"
"Sure you would!"
"Shut up, Matt!" Eric retorted as he realized his brother could read his mind. He had tried to create barriers so his brother couldn't pry into his thoughts, but just as it had failed countless times in the past it failed this time. It had seemed that Matt's telepathy was slightly better than Eric's, except when Jason is there. Matt could never figure out why he couldn't hear his brother's thoughts when Jason was around, but Trish knew the reason and kept it to herself.
"Alright boys, that's enough. If you two don't behave, I'll make sure you get to spend the afternoon with your brothers tagging along.
Upon hearing this, their eyes widened in horror and both boys were about to protest but Trish held up her hand. As if on cue, their younger brothers had entered the room from their afternoon nap. Like Eric and Matt, they were twins of about 3 years old with blond hair. One had bright blue eyes and the other twin had a darker shade of blue eyes.
Both boys looked up towards Trish. The light blue-eyed boy spoke first, "Mommy, what was that?"
Trish understood what her son was asking. She was sure the noise had woken them up, but it had also saved her a trip to their room to wake them up. She knew it took a while for them to finally wake up and that she usually had to try several times. Both boys loved playing possum, or so Trish assumed. For all she knew, they could be faking it or they were really asleep.
Trish smiled and looked down at the younger twins, "That was your brothers wrestling, Andy." Trish spoke as she knew who had asked the question, but she also knew Ryan had thought of it at the same time Andy did. Her twins never ceased to amaze her. They were above average in growth, weight, intelligence, and almost everything else the doctors told her. They appeared to be 5 years of age, but they were really 3. The doctors called it a miracle birth. Trish was well past full term for the normal time when twins are born and slightly past full term when a single baby is born. To Trish, she was just happy to have given birth to such beautiful boys and happy to be alive.
"Ok boys, Dinner is at 5, I expect each one of you to have washed your faces and hands before sitting at the table." Trish spoke as she arose from her crouched position addressing all 4 of her sons. She was about to say something when her husband walked in. She turned to look at him and smiled. "Just in time."
"Oh no no no, not this time, not now!" The husband whined as he knew what was about to happen.
Trish kept smiling, only this time, her eyes were starting to plead with the wicked grin only women know how to do. "Oh Jerry, you know you love doing it. I'm a bit tired and it's your turn!"
Jerry smiled, "I know, just givin' you a hard time." Jerry and Trish moved in for a kiss, which caused the boys to jeer and shout catcalls. This earned the boys dirty looks from their parents, but they ignored them and told them to get a room.
Trish shook her head and Jerry simply grinned. "All right, go and get ready, we leave in 5 minutes." Jerry spoke first to get the boys moving along before he leaned in to Trish, to share one last kiss before leaving. As the younger twins left the room scrambling, Matt and Eric followed in a much slower fashion. Eric stopped as if to ask a question, but Jerry beat him to it. "Yes, son, you can ask Jason to come along if you want."
Thinking to himself before speaking out loud, 'IF I WANT?! Is he nuts?! Of course I WANT Jason to come!' Eric hesitated before continuing, "Daaaad, you should know by now that Jason doesn't need to be asked to come... err I mean he doesn't mind coming with us, even when we ask!"
Before Jerry could reply, the sound of running footsteps filled the air. Matt popped his head through the entrance to their room, "Bro, I HEARD that!"
This caught him off-guard and he looked towards his mom, who was nodding and smiling at the same time, making matters worse for him. He blushed and took off after his brother, but Matt already had a step head start as he darted down the steps from Eric, who was in hot pursuit.
"No running in the house!" Jerry half shouted before attempting a second shout which Trish stopped him from doing so. She pulled him into a deeper kiss before she spoke again. "Mmmm, you should know better with these boys. Most of what we say in regards to rules seems to fall on deaf ears."
Jerry chuckled and returned the kiss. "I'd better get going before the boys start getting impatient. Have a nice nap, honey."
"I'll try. Thanks, I could use one and some peace to go with it, too."
Jerry smiled and turned to leave the room. Trish had spent quite some time staring at the mess in the twins' room, her mind drifting, thinking of the happy memories she has had with her family. She knew the time of training the boys were drawing near as she was told to do so by the guardian, her grandfather. The sudden sound of their family car departing brought her senses back to reality.
Jerry felt bad for leaving his wife alone in the house. He knew she was under stress lately, but she wouldn't tell him what or why. Jerry continued to think these thoughts as he drove his rowdy boys to the park to play. He loved his boys so much, they all meant the world to him, yet after finding out that his Wife and sons have abilities, he somewhat felt helpless should something happen to them. He looked in the rear-view mirror and smiled at his boys having the time of their lives. They all seemed like normal boys, even Jason. Underneath all that boyishness, he was afraid for them and their own power. Yet he was also wondering if he was underestimating their ability to control such power.
The drive to the park wasn't too far and should have taken a lot less time than it normally had. Traffic was insanely high; it was just a normal day, nothing special. Sure, there might have been a sale or event somewhere, but at a time like this, something was definitely up and Jerry didn't know what. All he cared about was giving Trish some time to herself and spending some quality time with his boys.
Once Jerry pulled the mini-van into the park, the boys all piled out and started for the playgrounds when they suddenly felt a twinge of sharp pain in their stomachs. It was only for a second, but it stopped them dead in their tracks. They exchanged looks, wondering what was up, but said nothing at all. Jerry didn't see this, as he was busy gathering baseball gloves and bats from the back of the van. Once the boys shrugged the feeling off, they ran off to play.
After an hour of playing in the playground, they all decided to play a game of ball before it was time to go. Before everyone ran off to the field, Matt decided to hang back, causing Eric to stop and look questionably at his brother.
"What's wrong, bro?"
"That feeling earlier..." Matt wondered.
"We all thought it was nothing, ya know..." Eric replied, feeling a tad annoyed that Matt had to bring this up now.
Matt sighed and looked up into the sky. "Something is coming, I can feel it. You should too. Something...bad."
Eric was puzzled now. He felt no such thing in the surrounding area, yet thought back to that sharp pain. He hummed to himself and turned his glaze towards the sky. It was sudden, but the feeling was there. That same bad feeling Matt was currently feeling, made itself known in Eric.
Eric gasped, "Bro, I feel it, too! What should we do?" Panic was starting to set in. Eric was never the calm one and always panicked when situations started to get bad.
Matt rolled his eyes, "Calm down! Hopefully someone will take care of this before it gets here. I don't think we can defeat whatever's coming." Matt stopped looking at the sky and shifted his gaze towards his family in the park waiting for them. "Com'on dude, we've gotta play ball before dad gets mad!"
Eric's excitement returned and he smiled as he started running towards the field, causing Matt to shake his head. "'Kay bro! Last one there is a rotten egg!"
Matt then took off after his brother shouting, "Hey! That's not fair...!" Both boys sprinted towards the field, while their dad and younger siblings watched. Jason was the only one that seemed concerned for them. He was wondering what was going on as a feeling had told him that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. There was nothing he could do however. He just wanted to hang with his best friends, so he tried his best to ignore the bad feelings.
Everyone was all smiles and quite exhausted after having fun playing a game of catch and some baseball here and there. Jerry was relieved and happy that everyone had a good time. He was the first to arrive at their mini-van to load it up so they could get going. Suddenly, some clouds started to appear and grow slightly faster than normal and it was going to get dark. Jerry stopped to look at the sky and muttered something about a thunderstorm and hurriedly loaded the van while the boys were still horsing around. He wondered where they all got their energy to still play after all the fun they had in the park for 2 hours.
Just as it started getting darker, Eric stopped horsing around as did Matt. The older twins knew an evil presence was drawing closer and this wasn't any normal storm. For the first time, Matt started getting worried, but rarely showed any fear of it. It was pride that prevented him from doing so and he wanted to appear to be the strong one for everyone. He had tried contacting his mom telepathically, but had no luck. He let out a soft groan, as he didn't know what else to do but watch the events unfold. He looked over at his brother to see what his reaction was. Surely enough, Eric was scared, very scared. Eric appeared to be visibly trembling. Matt wanted to comfort his brother, but his younger brothers suddenly clung to him as they, too, sensed the same feelings. Matt then looked over at Jason. Jason was barely able to sense anything, yet he was somewhat trembling. Perhaps he felt cold as the wind started picking up, but it wasn't anywhere cool enough to cause the trembling, so Matt wondered if Jason had powers of some sort or not. Matt wasn't too worried about that right now as the feeling started getting stronger.
Suddenly, the skies changed color from black to eerie red. The wind started picking up, it felt like as if a tornado was going to touch down. Instead of a tornado, the boys gasped as they saw a huge space craft emerge from the clouds on its way down at an incredible speed. Jerry only caught a glimpse of this and once his eyes saw the craft, he fainted.
'SHIT! Dad's fainted!' Matt thought to himself. He somehow had to get him to a safe place as he felt the area was going to become a battlefield.
**Bro! Stay here! I've gotta get dad to a safe place!** Matt sent his thoughts to Eric, causing him to quickly turn his head in his dad's direction. He rolled his eyes as if it wasn't anything new and started back at Matt.
**Hurry back!** The worry lines on Eric's face were evident as he replied to Matt's thoughts with some of his own.
Matt grinned and ran to his dad. He placed a hand on his back and another hand on their mini-van and disappeared in the blink of an eye. He was only gone for a second and when he returned, he continued to watch the space craft make it's way towards the ground.
The spacecraft was dark red with a large amount of grey in areas that looked like little guns. It was huge and shaped almost like the Red-Wings hockey team's logo, but it was more round up front, followed by several large spiked tails in the back. The size of the craft appeared to be three football fields wide, 20 football fields long and 5 football fields high. In other words, it was huge.
Suddenly, the craft stopped in mid-air and multiple lights and areas could then be seen throughout the sky. More of the same spacecrafts appeared in the same manner and this wasn't just one location. It was happening all over the world, causing mass hysteria among the entire planet.
As the boys watched, a lone man suddenly appeared directly in front of the spacecraft. The boys didn't notice this till they felt a huge wave of evil coming directly from the ship above them. When they finally noticed this, a huge laser beam shot down towards them!
"It is time." Simon opened his eyes and stared at the Elder. The Elder simply nodded slowly and Simon walked towards his seat. A huge, blinding white light filled the room and suddenly, the Elder and Simon switched places. Simon rose from the chair at which the Elder has always sat. He slowly walked towards the Elder and held out his hand.
"You won't be needing that anymore, Max." Simon spoke of the locket, which the Elder clearly knew. The Elder was also a bit surprised to hear his name being spoken twice in the same day. Simon continued, "You are no longer Elder Guardian, but your powers will remain with you... and then some." Simon smiled as Max's locket suddenly appeared in his hand then evaporated.
Max didn't feel any different, but he has felt as if he had accumulated several more years of knowledge. "So I can use the most I want without any limits?" Max carefully asked, wondering if it would cause problems. He knew that unlocking a locket is forbidden, unless someone like Simon comes along and releases the lockets.
"It won't. There is only one left that controls all. They are looking for the Founder Guardian himself as we speak. But it will be too late or perhaps... maybe not. We shall see."
Max's eyes widened some. He was aware of the Founder Guardian, but didn't think he still lived. He wasn't sure if the rumors were true about the ones being able to find him were still alive, even though he had requested their presence. The last thing Max noticed about himself was his physical appearance and body strength. He felt younger and stronger, yet he wondered if he also looked younger. It wasn't the time for that now and he had to go.
"Better watch for the time traps you set. Even I cannot disable those, but I managed to sneak past them. You should be able to use the same teleportation method as I did, it's a lot faster that way... and safer too." Simon spoke with a slight grin on his face.
Max nodded, "Very well. I don't expect this to be still standing when I next return. In fact, this place will be no more. I wish you luck on your plan."
Simons' grin faded somewhat. "How in the world did you..."
"It's better to not ask. We have a long battle ahead of us."
Simon nodded, "Good luck."
Max grinned, "And you also." He suddenly disappeared in a slightly faster version of the yin-yang teleportation than Simon did.
Simon smiled to himself then returned to his chair and closed his eyes as soon as he sat down. He let his mind search for the two boys traveling through the universe and was barely able to send them a message. He had hoped they receive it in time, but he also sensed they were troubled by other thoughts. He began to wonder if it was the right thing to ask them for help when they were also looking for help.
Trish was having one of her moments with Chad, a new brother that she had recently discovered. She was quite happy that she has a younger brother, and at the same time, mad at her dad for hiding this from their family while the silent woman looked on.
As Trish disconnected herself from Chad, he was about to say something but the woman's body stiffened up and started speaking in a monotone voice. This immediately caused Trish to worry, but Chad knew what was coming.
"All members of the council and those that have lockets, are to report to the Elder Guardian's glade in person and immediately after this announcement. Everyone is to avoid confrontation with these dark creatures as much as possible. Evil has returned."
Chad stared at this woman who obviously contains great power and watched her eyes return to normal, as they were white when the message was announced. "Big sis, we need to go, but the creature is coming with us as well." Chad spoke softly as he walked towards the creature pulling out a device that looked like a remote starter for a vehicle. When he pressed the button, the creature was quickly shrunk, before quickly being transported into the device. The device acted like a prison, but it had a limit as to how long someone could stay in it.
Chad turned to Trish and nodded his readiness to go. The woman nodded in approval then turned her attention to Trish, "We must go."
"Not without my family" Trish replied sternly. She wasn't about to abandon them just for some urgent meeting when there were creatures out there as well as her family. When Trish realized this, her concerns and worries grew tenfold, yet she tried to remain in control of her composure.
"Your family is included... as well as Jason and your husband."
"Your home is our first stop before the glade. Chad can go first, he doesn't need to escort us."
Chad wanted to protest, but again, the woman beat him to it, "Chad comes. Do not worry about him, he can take care of himself."
Trish stared at the silent woman, searching for anything that could be a lie, but found nothing. The woman gave her a nod of approval and turned her attention towards the window. A sudden pang of concern washed over Trish as she became increasingly aware that her family was in some sort of danger. As the trio prepared to leave, a huge explosion was set off in the distance, in the same direction as the park!
Trish screamed at the top of her lungs then suddenly teleported herself in the same direction as the explosion. Chad and the silent woman quickly followed suit.
The spacecraft shooting a laser beam at Eric and Matt caused the explosion in the park. It barely missed the boys as Matt thought fast and was barely able to teleport everyone to a safe distance from the blast. As they began to recover, the man hovering in air under the spacecraft began to lower himself towards them. He had a huge grin on his face as if he had found what he was looking for.
"Well, well, well, it is the chosen ones. You don't look all that tough to me. This should be an easy victory for me and my alliance."
Matt growled, "That's what you think!" He leapt into the air directly at the man.
The man half laughed, "Futile." He slapped Matt in the face, sending him flying towards the ground. "You dare challenge the Lord Sid in a battle?! By my own rules it's death to you and all who oppose me!"
Eric, ignoring Sid's words, rushed to Matt with Jason and his brothers in tow. Matt looked to be in horrible shape from the one slap to his face. He was bleeding everywhere, but barely breathing. As Eric approached, he slowed down feeling scared, but found some courage to come closer, hoping his brother was still alive. Matt coughed, causing Eric to gasp, then tears started flowing. In what seemed like minutes, but was only seconds, something snapped within Eric. All the fear disappeared. He gained confidence, something he never had. With the last of the tears falling down from his cheeks, Eric looked up and turned to face Sid. He measured him up, no, he sized him up and compared himself to Sid then decided what to do. This was something Matt had always done, but now, it was Eric's turn to take care of his brothers.
Sid appeared to be human, but he was suddenly growling a large razor talon shaped claw at the tips of his fingers. It wasn't anything like Wolverine of the X-men, but it was some sort of transformation. When it stopped growling, Sid's whole right hand was a talon that appeared to have razor sharp claws. Sid's appearance also changed. He had spiky hair before the transformation and normal brown eyes. Now, his hair had spikes of steel and was longer too, while his eyes transformed to something that looked cat like. Sid then smiled when he saw his next opponent getting ready to make a move on him.
Eric wasn't the same as Matt, he didn't blindly charge at Sid. Instead, he vanished, causing Sid to gasp and look around, but Sid knew where he was coming from and stopped Eric dead in his tracks with his left hand blocking a punch and his right talon-claw swinging at his mid-section. Eric saw it coming and moved away quickly, leaving an after-image of himself that appeared to show him getting sliced, but Sid also saw the dodge as well.
'Shit! He's too fast!' Eric thought to himself. Sid just grinned and suddenly disappeared.
Eric frantically looked for Sid but couldn't find him, till the last second when he suddenly appeared behind him as Eric was falling through the sky.
"This time... you die." Sid brought his razor-claw forward and was about to pierce Eric when something else showed up at the last second, swiping Eric from the blades of death.
Sid didn't see this coming. His grin slowly became a frown as he searched the area for Eric after a second went by.
A Flash of white lightning filled the air as Max dropped Eric next to his brother on the ground. He smiled at the boys then looked at the other three. "You stay with them. I'll handle him." Max stood and turned to face Sid. He walked towards him, watching Sid's expression change.
"IMPOSSIBLE!" Sid shouted.
"Not really, but sheer luck by the 'fool' who got lost in the void."
"NO! HOW?! I SEE ALL! I KNOW ALL!"
"Apparently Simon was a little more special than you thought. Think..." Max said with a knowing grin.
Sid began to think. After a moment, he finally realized why he was seeing a void in one house. "DAMN HIM! Damn that old hag as well! She should know that crossing me means a certain death! I will deal with her later! But first... YOU!"
Sid increased his power and charged directly at Max, but avoided him to simply go after the boys. Max saw this and was slightly too slow to keep up, even with teleportation, he wouldn't get there fast enough. Max watched as Sid formed a huge swirling grey-white ball of energy and launching it at the boys.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Max shouted at the top of his lungs as the flash of an explosion in the area the boys were took place.
Trish suddenly showed up at the Park, just as she saw a strange man hurling a grey-white ball of energy at her family. She shouted at the top of her lungs, getting Max's attention, as Max feared she would be next. In the next second, Chad and the silent woman showed up just as Max was almost there, Sid launched another grey-white ball at them. Within seconds, Max managed to get a hold of all three and instantly use the yin-yang teleportation to take them to safety.
Now it was Sid's turn to shout, but knowing he had missed killing the former Elder, he had already accomplished his goals. He destroyed his primary targets: Trish's sons. When the dust settled, there was nothing but dirt, no bodies could be found anywhere.
"Hell, might have over-done it, but it got the job done! This planet is mine!" Sid mused himself as he vanished into thin air.
In the Glade, Simon remained seated as he was concentrating heavily on the events at hand. Some things seemed too close of a call, but he wasn't totally sure if everything happening went in his favor. The next second was the hardest for him to do.
Simon opened his eyes and relaxed, as the area began to vibrate and shake. 'I see he wasted no time in coming here.' Simon smiled to himself knowing fully well that destroying the glade could mean total destruction of all lockets. The place was the only tie to all things related, which was why the Elder Guardian cannot leave. Simon slowly stood amid the rumbling. When it finally stopped, Sid had appeared before him across the chambers from Simon.
"At last, we finally meet." Sid snorted as he looked around. "It's nice to be back here after all these years. Yes, it took forever and then some, but it was well worth the wait. That and merging with one of the creatures that are my allies is even a bigger plus!" He raised his right arm and watched it transform from a human hand into a large razor sharp talon-like claw. He studied it for a few moments as did Simon. When Sid returned his sights back to Simon, he transformed the talon back to his normal hand and began walking forward.
"I was really looking forward to fighting the other one and defeating him here, but no, you had to take over and free him! WHYYYY????? It throws a wedge in all my plans!"
"Good, you should thank the ancient oracle for that. All she had to do was show me a little image and all I had to do was form my own little yellow brick road and here we are." Simon chuckled as he finished his statement. He didn't stop there, so he continued at Sid's expense, as he appeared to be losing his cool. "I'm sure you're fuming right now, don't worry, the former Elder will be back. I..."
"I don't think so. I made sure he and everyone else had died! There is no one faster than me!" Sid gloated as he started pushing his energy out.
Simon watched as Sid's aurora began to grow. "We shall see. I'm sure you've seen this move before, so let me show you what else it can do." Simon focused his energy and brought fourth the yin-yang teleportation, but instead of forming the seal, he formed a new seal he recently had learned. Suddenly, several shadows began appearing at the center of the room, then merging with Simon. One by one, this happened for a few moments. Each shadow was a part of Simon he had lost over the years and he was collecting his shadows back. He had lost his shadows upon pulling that little stunt eons ago while in the void, but every part of him had remained behind, as if the shadows somehow knew they will be needed once again.
Sid started getting nervous, so he decided to do the total transformation. He growled and let loose everything he had to being the vilest creature to life: The Trimetamorph. It was black all over, with razor sharp talon like claws, which replaced the hands. The feet became something like a dinosaur's raptor's feet, only the claws were bigger and longer. The rest of his body had scales all over it and three heads with cat-like eyes.
"Ugh, you merged with that ugly thing? Just what the hell were you smoking when you decided that?" Simon grunted as the last of his shadows merged with him. He was now ready and at his fullest. Simon thought he was ready, that is till he missed seeing just how fast Sid had become after the transformation. He gasped as the razor claws pierced his stomach, all the way through, with another 10 inches sticking out past his back. Simon started coughing up blood as he turned to look at Sid in one of his ugly faces.
"I thank you for this." Simon then disappeared in a flash. This caused Sid to look around frantically and furiously, searching for where he went, yet he felt no presence. It was his moment of triumph and he let out a yell of happiness. At that time, the Glade trembled violently, collapsing everything. It took a matter of minutes before it was no more than a pile of dust. Sid remained floating in the air, transforming back to his normal self.
"Victory is MINE!" He took one last look and teleported back to the main ship.
Somewhere... out there...
Simon emerged in the white void as did Max. He was severely hurt and in need of medical assistance. Max hurriedly rushed to Simon as he collapsed, barely catching him.
"Hang in there!" Max called out to Simon, but Simon didn't hear him. He was out of it. The last thing Simon managed to accomplish was transferring his thoughts to Max on what information he had gathered.
Max nodded and gently placed Simon on the ground. His body disappeared on its own. Max didn't know where it went, but he knew Simon would be back. For now, he had to lead an army against Sid's, yet it might not be enough.
Max sighed and looked around the void. 'Its sooo white in here, it's kinda hard to see. I wonder if I could schedule meetings here...hmmm. Ahhh yes, that information would be good, but I fear it might be too late by the time they are done. For some reason, this conflict with him... ah, to hell with it... Sid, seems to be messing with my being able to look into the future.'
Max closed his eyes and smiled, 'Someday, sometime soon, Sid will meet his maker, I hope.' With that, Max disappeared from the void and it was now empty as it had always been.
So...this marks the end of book one! I think I did pretty well considering =) Don't worry... there WILL be a book 2, just not anytime soon. Some of it has been written, there's a good chance you'll be in for a good ride! Completing this one allows for me to be able to work on my other stories, hopefully that one will be a success. Anyways, let me know if you liked it or hated it or want to kill me for how I left things. Till then! See ya on the forums!
~Hammy