[READ ONLY] Herocraft: The Futureverse

[victim130]

DISCLAIMER: This will hint at or even flat out use players from Herocraft. I use profanity in personality development. I also include myself as a main character (Deal with it ) but I am not the only one. With this out of the way, enjoy! I will have a discussion thread up soon! (Please do not post here!)
I'm using notepad to write this, there will be mistakes all over in some cases (I do make up words from time to time too, but this is done on purpose) Please be fair with this in mind.

DISCUSSION THREAD!

Chapter One, Man in Black

The sun rose the same as it did any other morning, highlighting the puddles of rain from the downpour yesterday night. A small log cabin barely caught the glimpse of light squeezing through the leaves of a dense forest. Rays shot through the cabin window to brighten the face of a young boy. This boy looked as if he was around the age of sixteen as he laid in bed lazily dressed in a brown cloak with nothing else but a pair of baize pants and an empty sheath.
The sudden sunlight startled the boy out of his sleep and off of his bed where he almost took his sword in the throat. The blade looked a shiney silver, but almost as if the color was fake. "Would you at least try to take care of us?" questioned an ominous voice. The sound seemed to originate from the discolored blade lying on the cabin floor.
"Yeah, yeah. Sorry," replied the boy in annoyance, "I may be a 'Victor', but I never agreed to take a talking blade from that old koot." Victor, a lonesome boy who lives on his own in the wilderness. He stumbled to his feet to kneel over the sword and place it in its rightful place at his side. "Just so we are clear, I'm going to town for food, just stay quiet."
The blade reacted with silence to Victor's request. Ignoring the shirtlessness, Victor figured the summer heat would feel better if he didn't wear one. The cabin door creaked open showing its poor craft with many holes. "Ouch, fuck a splinter!" cussed Victor in pain, "I really should fix this damn door." Disregarding his cabin craftsmanship, Victor slammed the door against the hinges.
The forest had a dense portion around the cabin, but nearer to the city, it became lighter and lighter. Overhead highways could be heard from below; cars rushing to work. "Man, I sure wish I lived up in those complexes," dreamed Victor as he walked up a staircase to one of the many roads. He continued along a walkway made of concrete until he hit a suburb. The trip brought him to a corner store just a little under an hour from when he left home.
"Welcome to Aphymart!" cheered an unenthusiastic worker. "Yeah, uh thanks," spoke Victor, hardly paying any attention to the man greeting him. He made his way through the isles looking for melon flavored bread. "What, twelve coins for a stack of melon bread!? That's up two coins from last week! Well lets see. Fuck, I can only play two games at the arcade now!" The furious boy walked to the counter to pay, but was interrupted by the woman's beauty behind the counter.
"Is that all sir?" asked the cashier. "Well I was also wondering how much your number would cost me?" questioned Victor in a smooth voice. "That'll be twelve C," continued the lady, completely ignoring Victor's advance.
"So then your number is free?" pushed Victor, who obviously couldn't take a hint. He smiled and whipped out his worn wallet to pull twelve gold coins, each with the face of Kain, a man revered as a god in the Multiverse.
"You don't even have a phone do you?" the lady closely examined Victor's pocket. "Woah, hey how did you-" Victor started to question the woman before he was cut off by his sword.
"Victor, behind you, that man in the black is stealing a magazine! Hurry stop him!" demanded the sword. "Woah hey, what did I say earlier?" asked Victor. "Oh cool! Are you a samurai?" The lady finally showed interest when the sword came into the picture. "Victor he's making a run for it!" shouted the katana. Victor took no more time to think, his crazy sword had a knack for wanting to save the day. "Here hold onto my wallet until I get back!" He forced the wallet down on the counter and ran off.
The chase made its way through the busy walkways leading into the heart of the city. They both pushed and squeezed through big crowds of people as they both ran. "Just fucking stop, eh, pardon me, excuse me, sorry about this!" shouted Victor after almost pushing a small boy and his father over. "Victor we are gaining on him, cut across the street and catch him when he takes the stairs farther up ahead. There should be a fast route to his location from that side," suggested his sword. "Uh, are you crazy? I'd rather not die for a damn magazine!" Victor contested. "I'm sure that girl would think you are brave if you did," the sword knew Victor well with its persuasive words.
Victor smirked cynically as he activated a samurai ability known as windwalking. With ease he matched the cars' speed and made it to the other side, but alas, Victor crashed head first into a crowd of people on the other side. To his luck, the tumble forced him to roll into the lower walkways where rail-trains run from one point to another. "Keep moving, he probably plans to lose you in the train!" guided the katana once more.
The man in black turned to see Victor was gone and slowed his pace while following the crowd into the rail-train station. The stairs both led to the same side of the station because the train would stop perpendicular to the road above. The man simply waited, releasing a sigh of relief as the train rolled in. He lifted his foot up to get on before being tackled by a cloaked, shirtless boy.
"Hand over the magazine!" policed the vigilante. Although, the boy was just Victor. "Fine, you caught me, now get off," surrendered the man. "What would a man dressed as nicely as you need to steal a magazine for?" Victor interrogated in confusion. By this point, the portion of the crowd not eager to get somewhere, was watching the crime bust. "How about I tell you over a cup of coffee?" offered the man. Victor just nodded and helped the man to his feet.
Just down the way the two were running was a coffee shop. The seats were cozy red bench styled chairs connected together just high enough for an adult to reach the floor with their feet. "You know I come here a lot," The man tried to create small talk, but Victor wasn't very interested, "Don't try to be my friend, aren't you like thirty? People might get the wrong idea." "Hey now, I'm only twenty three!" retaliated the man in defense. "Fine fine, but just tell me what you were doing." Victor gave a stern glare, he was certain this man was a pervert, the only explanation is that he was embarrassed!
"Well be quiet, but look." The man leaned in showed an envelope stashed in the middle of the racing magazine. "Damn, I thought it was some perverted fetish of yours," admitted Victor leaning back in his seat, "But still, you should return it and what could a love note really be worth if you got fined for petty theft? I don't think small time crooks get chicks."
The man gave a friendly glance back to Victor before laughing, "Well you see, I was afraid the scanner would pick up the ring inside. My fiance wanted me to refit it, but while I was out of town she needed to leave on business too so we arranged this little 'heist'. I really didn't plan to get caught."
"You are lying!" exclaimed the sword. "Woah now, Shh!" hushed Victor. "Hmm that's an interesting sword you have; you hardly see combat users anymore ever since the wars stopped two hundred years ago." The man began to ponder. "Yeah well it wasn't really my choice, my grandfather lost a leg and an arm to a slime and so I was sorta forced to learn the family trade," admitted Victor, "Oh, but the sword, it just has a voice box in the.. uh... hilt."
"That's an enchanted blade isn't it," The man began to pry. "Hey, not so loud!" hushed Victor in alarm. "That's really rare to come by with the banning of enchants," winked the man making a hint at his earlier criminal act.
"Hey, I said it isn't enchanted, ok?" Victor began to feel frustrated, could a sword be considered enchanted with a soul?
"Oh, it's you!" a voice could be heard approaching the table, "I see you found the thief." Victor gazed up to see a waitress outfit and the face of the girl from the corner store.
"Uh, hello again; wait I thought you worked at the store..." Victor was caught in a confused thought before snapping back to hear her speak, "Its normal for a girl to work two jobs! I don't have school until the end of Summer, so why not make extra money?" spoke the lady in defense. She held a mean look on her pale face that matched her blond hair.
"I didn't mean t-" Victor was cut off by the girl, "So, tell me more about being a samurai, I don't get to meet combat hardened guys who aren't in their forties and in the military!" Her face lit up as if her scowl had never existed.
"Wait wait wait, you ignored my advances, but you want me to acknowledge yours? Ok, being a Samurai is shit, I get a small inheritance check at the start of each month that I use on food and the arcade while I sleep in a shit shack in the middle of no where," explained Victor in sheer annoyance.
"That explains the smell and no shirt," snickered the man. "These abs get chicks man!" Victor tried to defend himself focusing on his muscles gained from training. "Yeah, but the smell sure cancels it out," the man burst out into a controlled laughter at this point.
"Shouldn't you take our order?" asked Victor as he turned to the lady again. "Oh, but wait," she reached into her pocket and brought out a worn wallet, "I have your bread in the back if you want that too."
"Oh, I forgot about leaving that there, my cloak pockets are too wavy, stuff never stays in them," explained Victor almost dumbfounded.
"Well I must be going," the man sat up and headed for the door. He still had the magazine he stole from earlier. "I'll go grab the bread," the lady rushed off.
"Hey wait," Victor tried to halt the man as he stuck his wallet into his pants pocket avoiding his cloak, "You still have th-" Men stood with automatic rifles aimed at the man in black. Victor froze for a moment, the sword was right wasn't he? Before Victor could fully register the situation bullets started to fly across the coffee shop.
Though once the shooting stopped it was apparent that no one was hurt and the man still stood in the door way unscathed. "W-who are you?" stuttered Victor in amazement as well as fear.
"They call me Left," answered the man. The armed men from before all laid on the floor, wounded, but very much alive; soon after Left ran off into the startled, crowded walkways.
"What was that all about, who was he?" asked the lady from before as she walked closer with a loaf of melon bread tied up in a bag. "I don't quite know," replied Victor without removing his gaze from the wrecked doorway.

 

[victim130]

Chapter Two, The Samurai and the Healer

Victor was required to stay after for questioning. The shop was cleared out of bystanders and was now very empty. Outside it was nearly becoming dark out with stars faintly showing in the disappearance of the sun.
An officer sat down across from Victor and the girl from earlier. "So how did you two meet this man?" interrogated the police man who was wearing a dark green uniform with a badge on his shoulder sporting an H. "Look, she was working at the corner store a little ways from here where I was trying to buy some bread when this guy tried to shop lift, I just chased him down and he offered me coffee. Which I never actually got; what a cheapskate," replied Victor trying his best to prove his innocence.
"Ok, ok. The story seems real enough for me, but did either of you see him shoot the two operatives?" The officer had a very humble, yet deep voice that matched his mustache and beard. "Well I didn't," confessed Victor. "I saw his shirt rustle slightly, but no flashes actually came from his side," explained the lady.
"Alright, well if you two see him again, report it to the police, he is a dangerous man," the officer was very serious in his tone, but quickly stood up after talking and walked out. Victor and the girl both decided to leave as well, picking up their belongings, they carefully walked past the men investigating.
Victor overheard one of the men talking as he passed by, "This sounds like paralysis sir, he may have modified poison bullets to do this instead of harming." He shrugged off hearing it, but it sounded like the man in black was a ranger, a rogue who wields guns. Historically they used bows, but with the invention of firearms, they began to learn how to apply their magic to bullets.
The two walked a bit from the shop making sure to stay in a well lit area. "Oh my god! That man was a combat master too!" the lady squeed. "Yeah, ok, but I'm willing to bet he's some terrorist, I don't care what you are into, that's just plain dangerous," Victor denied her the happy thoughts with his cold words, "Although those operatives caused more problems and he didn't even kill them; I think he's a good guy mixed up in something."
"Oh god, so mysterious! Uh.. but wait its getting really dark, I should be going home before pedestrian curfew sets in, I'm off an hour early so my parents won't be home yet to come pick me up," She switched in an instant from happy to realistic before walking away from Victor.
"Hey, wait! I can't go back into the forest at this time of night," shouted Victor after the girl. She turned to reply, "What do you want me to do? Offer you, a boy, a room? My parents would kill me!" "Just until morning, who knows how many monsters are out there already," begged Victor.
"You're a Samurai, you will be fine," the girl dragged her words as if to be persuading him with false information. "Hey, I may be a samurai, but I'm still afraid of those things!" retaliated Victor like a coward.
"Alright, fine, but when they say no, you will have to walk back even later," The girl decided to let Victor follow her back to her complex housing. Most people live in complexes or apartments. The population is over five hundred million leaving the more singular housing for richer members of society.
Victor and the lady walked off the walkway and opened a door to a complex building. Inside they made way through the lobby floor and took an elevator up to the twenty eighth level.
The two arrived just minutes before the girls parents. "Oh, Lori, you're home!" greeted the girl's mother. "You guys are home early?" replied Lori questioningly. "Yea- wait, oh my zo, is that... Harry, she finally brought a boy home!" Lori's mother dropped her groceries on the kitchen table and ran out the door to cheerfully hug her daughters new friend. "What really?!" Her father, Harry showed a very similar happiness with less physical contact. He walked into their view from a staircase at the end of the kitchen which led into the storage room. Each complex unit has two floors with four units to a level.
"He's not my boyfriend, so calm down, he helped me out at the store with a shop lifter so I told him I would let him stay here for a night since it was getting late," clarified Lori with a sigh and disappointed tone. "But Lori, you work at the coffee shop after that, how could it have gotten late before then?" wondered her mom in a nosy manner.
"Oh, the shop got shot up by the police, some terrorist was caught trying to make an order, but no one was hurt," replied Victor. Lori gave him a quick smack before irritably speaking back to him, "Why would you tell them that!?"
"I can tell that you are judged by them in the lack of men in your life, yet they care for you enough to care what you do, it would only worry them more to see it on the news." Victor spoke softly and in a convincing way, showing a responsible side to a kid. Lori stood in shock after seeing a new side of Victor and her parents only smiled.
"Well, since you two are ok, come on in!" her mother quickly changed her attitude from cheery to motherly and she hid her concern just to keep Lori happy. She then handed off the bag of groceries to her husband who carried them upstairs.
In the living den, Lori turned on the TV and flicked on channel forty eight; the news. "Today, a terrorist dressed in black was killed in a shooting at a local coffee shop. Police say he planned to hold hostages, but they were one step ahead of him. Others were unharmed-" spoke the news lady before Victor interjected over the TV and spoke to Lori, "They are lying to keep people safe, while still having them feel the fear of possible threat to control them. It sounds stupid to us kids, but my crazy old grandfather always spoke about the government like that ha ha, seems possible though."
Victor leaned over from behind the couch and rested his arms folded over one another against the top of it. "The Hollow has been a peaceful city for more than 200 years now, they won the war and killed those evil FC bastards," replied Lori, "They were known for wiping out entire towns of innocent people back 600 years ago and now they paid with their lives."
"I don't really pay close attention to history, isn't my thing," admitted Victor. He tossed himself over the couch and sat next to Lori. "Personally, I wonder what that guy wanted, he seemed like a nice guy with a dark past."
"Well I think for safety, I'm going to avoid meeting him again." Lori had an annoyed tone in her voice. "Don't get me wrong, I don't like the idea of meeting him again either, I'd much rather just keep living it up." Victor agreed just before Lori's mother walked into the room. "Well, since its so sudden and your brother came home today from soccer camp, the best we can offer your friend is the top bunk in your room." Lori's mother broke the news to her and her face lit up red. "Why are you blushing so hard?" asked Victor before ignoring it and continuing, "I'm gonna go off to bed then, thank you for having me." He stood up and followed Lori's mother's pointing gesture towards the next room where he climbed up onto the top bunk of Lori's bed.
The light flickered on to illuminate Lori in the doorway. Her room was pure white with a tv, a gaming console and pink blinds over her window. "You better not snore because I'm a light sleeper," she commanded before flicking the light off again and laying down under Victor. He was already asleep though making nothing, but breathing sounds.
The sun came up, barely shining through the blinds, yet still filling the room with light. Lori squinted, trying to adjust her eyes, but noticed the bed above her no longer had a crease in it. She got out of bed to check if Victor was still up there. He had gotten up before her. Lori walked out to the kitchen where she met her father reading a tablet with the news on screen.
"Hey, where did that boy run off to?" wondered Lori. Her father looked up at her as she leaned one hand against the door frame and answered, "He must have left early this morning before anyone woke up."
In the forest east of town, Victor stood peering through one of the many cracks in his wooden house. "So speak up, sword, what is he doing here?" asked Victor. "I do not know, it seems he was in need of a place to rest for the night same as you." the sword spoke with an ominous voice that gave a faint echo, which was the only determination that the sounds came from the katana.
Victor wiped his nose with an irritated look on his face followed by a sneeze. "Shit! The dust from the wood just got in my nose!" Victor quietly yelled under his breath to express his anger. "You may want to be quiet, this guy may be dangerous," warned the sword. If almost in sync, a bullet flew through the door just inches to the left of Victor. This made him cringe up for a moment before exclaiming, "Hey! Its just me, Victor the kid from yesterday!"
"What are you doing here? Just leave me, I'll only cause you trouble," spoke Left. Victor swung the door open and it snapped off the hinges falling to the forest floor. "Fuck, but no, I kinda live here." Victor looked back to his broken door and sighed, "Don't rangers use axes too for a weapon? How about you help me fix this door?"
Left changed his scowl into a grin as he stood up and shook the dust from his black hair. They cut down a thick tree and Victor took a saw from his workbench and went to work making planks. He then nailed them together with a few rusty nails he found on the ground near the bench. "Wow, this looks like a newer version of the piece of shit on the ground," said Victor in a sarcastic voice. "I told you to let me put it together..." interjected Left.
They both put the door up on the hinges. "So, uh, why are you called Left?" asked Victor. "Its more of a joke from friends, my family name got its fame from Leftern, a great Northern ranger who used the legendary Windshot bow. However, when I lost the use of my right hand in a fire, I was forced to train with my left hand. Then from there I was nicknamed Left." He seemed to be cold and distant, but almost open to Victor.
"You really seem to have a dark past, whatever I won't pry, thanks for the help." Victor was surprised by the man's change in attitude from the day before, but it was noticeable that the man had something bothering him.
Victor walked over and gave him a slap on Left's back before speaking again, "Cheer up, I don't know much about your past, but I'll take back what I said yesterday about not wanting to be your friend." Left became very concerned after Victor said the word friend and grabbed him by both shoulders. "No, you do not want to get mixed up with me!" shouted Left. "Did I interrupt something?" came a girls voice from behind.
Lori showed up holding a bag of moldy melon bread. "You left this behind, again. Seems you also didn't close it." She had a very cynical smile going before making an accusation, "You two getting all buddy buddy, or is this how two men kiss?"
"Woah, now, I'm not like that!" Victor's face lit up red as he forced Left's grip of his shoulders away. "Whatever, I'm leaving," snarled Left as he stepped away from the two. "Wait, how did you find this place?" questioned Victor. "Well I just asked around a bit-" Lori was cut off by gun shots and the katana's voice, "Victor, go now! I just figured it out, I know who he is!"
"What, your sword just spoke!" Lori was frozen with excitement, but Victor payed no attention before dashing after Left. He was against a tree, bleeding from his right shoulder.
"Get out of here!" screamed Left with an expression of anger, but Victor payed no attention. "Alright listen, Rangers with bows gave us a hard time 600 years ago, but with these new... guns? Whatever they are, they have a faster reload speed and projectile speed, a much faster of both," coached the sword. "Look, I know how a gun works!" argued Victor. "Fine, but just listen. A ranger usually opens up with ice arrow or ice bullet in this case. Hold me to your right so I can look around the tree for you." Victor poked the silver colored katana around the corner as it spoke once more, "Ok, one of them is a ranger, but the other two are a bloodmage and a paladin. Left, I need you to use a poison bullet on the bloodmage, Victor use your windwalk and just aim to crash into the ranger, then dodge the paladin's attack. I'm willing to bet they are not as well trained as you two are so we have this!"
"Uh, I don't understand all of this," admitted Victor with unease. "Trust your sword," muttered Left in pain. "Now!" commanded the sword. Victor dashed right and charged with his windwalk. Left quickly shot a bullet infused with poison magic at the bloodmage. The ranger was startled and fired random shots into the trees branches above, but the paladin had time to swing. Victor stepped back and braced to parry the attack. "No, dodge! Roll right!" the katana commanded once more. Victor made a very close call, but noticed an opening to land a strike on the warrior.
Meanwhile, the bloodmage had restricted movement with the poison running in his blood. Left took cover once more against another tree, just barely avoiding a life drain. He then decided to rush with a fire bullet. The first shot was engulfed in blood, losing its effect, but a second shot that seemed to fire out of no where planted itself into the mage's right shoulder, igniting him in flames.
Victor's slash only grazed the paladin's battle suit. Battle suits are made to withstand both ranged attacks and melee attacks, with a similar design to Kevlar vests, but built from diamond and iron being weaved together.
The paladin's sword lit up with flames as he came back with a stab at Victor. Again, Victor tumbled to the side. The burning sword was buried deep into a tree and became stuck leaving Victor's target wide open. "We are going to need some extra force to cut through the armor, do you remember how to use cleave?" asked the katana. Victor quickly replied with a nod, "Yeah I think so."
"Alright, don't try to do the 4-section style, just use one section, we don't need to kill him," guided the blade. Victor put his sword into its sheath and quickly drew it. The speed at which it came loose left a streak of light behind it in a half circle. The paladin fell in pain with a large wound across his side, clearly visible with part of his armor broken.
Victor ran to check on Left and met up with Lori, who was healing his wound. "Wait, what? How are you a healer Lori?" Victor was very confused that she knew a combat class. "My parents enrolled me in a few classes, I almost made it to disciple, but I dropped out of the extra classes once I became classification twenty. My older brother is a thirty five classification disciple though," answered Lori without losing concentration on the wound she was bandaging.
Disciples were men and women of discipline who used bo-staves and fists to combat foes, however, in modern times, it became a martial arts that people learned to defend themselves with.
"Well you two just lost your last glimpse of freedom. I guess I will have to bring you two with me to my base," sighed Left. "Wait, I can't just leave my family behind!" Lori almost fainted after realizing she had just helped a terrorist. Especially after vowing not to. "Why did I even come here!?" She was in tears on her knees just thinking about it. "Zo damn it, look Lori, lets just go with him for now. You saw those men from before, they didn't want to ask questions and I'm sure they will shoot first," explained Victor. "That's not helping." Left grabbed Lori and shook her forcing her head up to look into his eyes as he spoke softly, "Listen, the police and people of this city are good people, but the government are bad people. I know somewhere you will be safe."
"Holy shit you are a-" Left turned and stopped Victor from speaking. "Do not, I don't need any judgement and I can assure you we are not horrible people!" Victor just walked over and lifted Lori to her feet before making a dirty look towards Left. "I know what you are and I don't want anything to do with it," spoke Victor sternly. He had figured out what this man was and it changed his mind on the spot.
"Fine then, go get killed by your city! See if I care!" shouted Left before he stormed off into the forest. "Come on, lets go warn your family, we can come up with a story on the way and say he held us hostage," assured Victor as he helped Lori walk.
"Sir, its him. It has to be him, who else could take on three men with only two?" a voice echoed in a dark room only lit by a large, dim screen. "If he was living here the whole time, why was he not killed?" questioned another voice, this one deeper. "Well sir, it seems he was disguised, or I should say, his weapon was."

 

[victim130]

Chapter 3, Escape The Hollow!
The sun was high in the sky beating down towards Victor and Lori walking through the forest. "It alright, Victor, I can walk on my own now," said Lori. Victor eased up on her arm and stepped to the side to give her room. "Listen, they don't know what happened here in the forest yet, so if we hurry we can make it to your house before they come looking." Victor tried his best to assure her of his plan, but she still looked dazed after realizing what had happened. Victor waved her on and they set off past the treeline into the stone underbelly of the city. Above them they could see all the towering skyscrapers and the large tree way off in the distance marking the center of The Hollow; their home.

They made their way up a staircase and onto one of the suspended walkways that was attached to a road. "Hmm, something is wrong..." Victor walked ahead a bit halting Lori. The outlying streets usually are empty with very little traffic, but no noise of bustling could be heard from farther in. "Come on, lets hurry." Victor turned and grabbed Lori's hand before sprinting along the concrete walkway. They turned left up a road and headed towards the city center. They kept moving until they got to a railtrain station.

Railtrains run fully automatically with the help of a reactive substance known as red dust. A substance found deep underground.

Victor eyed the station to see a few homeless people, however, the same as above, it was relatively empty. They ignored that and hoped on the train. "Victor, why do you think everyone is gone? I'm worried," asked Lori. Victor replied from a sigh of annoyance, "I don't know, but it bothers me, don't th-" He was abruptly interrupted by the launching of the train, "Don't think too much about it for now."

"Victor, this seems to be a set up, I should have spoke sooner, I know, although you guys need to get off this train!" The sword raised its tone and showed its concern. The train broke through the tunnel of the station and was moving along a suspended rail over a lake that ran through the city. From the window, the blue sky could be seen hovering over the large office buildings.

The distance towards the next tunnel was not for at least another minute. "Well, sword, I don't think your timing is right," stated Victor with frustration in his voice. Lori cut off the two and changed the mood, "So, why does your sword talk?"

"I'm not too sure myself, it was passed down to me from my father who chose to run away from the family name. Literally." Victor stared at the sword before it replied to the two, "I don't really have the time to explain, nor do I have the permission, if you two jump now the water will catch you!" Victor ignored the sword and watched the train enter the tunnel.

The train wobbled abnormally before the trains lights flickered off. "Victor what's happening?!" Lori curled up on one of the seats and closed her eyes tight. "Don't panic, pay attention to sounds and wait for your eyes to adjust," coached the sword.

Foot steps could be heard above on the roof, nearing the hatch. "Lori, stay calm," whispered Victor. Her breathing was heavy and almost synced with the steps coming from above. "Focus," spoke the sword in a stern tone. Electricity started to spark at the seams of the hatch as it was blown inwards landing at Victor's feet. Smoke billowed off the metal and entered Victor's nose causing him to sneeze.

A man jumped through the open hole and landed in front of Victor. His appearance was masked in the dark, but illuminated by his metallic staff giving off lightning. The electricity danced into a bolt that shot directly towards Victor. He tried to move his feet, but the train's floor grew roots that gripped his shins. Victor's muscles tensed in pain as the lightning shot through him.

"Dodge the fireball, then the icebolt!" The katana was shouting out commands to Victor trying to get him to focus again. The roots had burned away in the previous attack, however, a fireball came quickly after. He managed to dodge it and take the sharp icebolt in the chest. It shattered leaving blood trickling down from the wound.

Victor knelt down in pain, breathing in heavily before coughing up some blood. He peered up to see the silhouette of his attacker. Things went quiet for Victor, another bolt started to from the man's staff. Lori was still curled up, panicking with tears running down her face. A grin of pure white teeth showed some light from the man's face before he lifted his staff up to end the fight.

"Victor! Snap out of it, bash him and stop the charge!" The sword finally broke the dead silence in Victor's ears. Without hesitation, Victor lifted himself up into a charge and tackled the attacker. The electricity shot forth out of the train's hole in the roof. Victor took the opportunity to draw his weapon. He pulled back into a swing at the man, but missed as he teleported back through his hole.

"Chase him! We can't give him time to recharge!" commanded the sword once more. Victor opened the back door and reached for the ladder. As he climbed up the train entered more open tracks. At the far end was the man, dressed in a suit that resembled a tree. He looked to be in his thirties with greying hair. "Who are you!?" questioned Victor, trying to shout above the high winds.

With no reply, the man charged yet another bolt. No time was wasted, Victor dashed forwards with windwalk, bashing into the man. He stepped back and raised his katana into another swing, this time ready to create a mortal wound. The swing came down and clashed with the steel rod of the man. From the hand of the man a fire appeared. He unleashed a powerful fireblast, knocking Victor back, just barely digging his sword into the train to stop his momentum.

His wound started to ache once more; the adrenaline was almost gone. This time, the bolt being formed was giving off much more electricity, the man was forming a megabolt.

The tree suit man had a large grin as he raised his staff up, however, his chest lit up in a burst of white flame that sent him flying off in front of the train. Victor turned himself over to see Lori standing behind him. She was panting heavily with a very shocked look on her face. "D-did I j-just k... kill him?" she muttered. Her legs gave out and she almost fell off the train, but Victor grabbed her and slowly lowered them into the train from the ruined hatch.

The train stopped and opened to a crowd of people who piled in. Some covered their noses to the scent of burning metal and others pointed out the destroyed roof. Victor managed to squeeze past the people, while helping Lori walk. "Listen you two, that man is still out there, I didn't see any blood on the tracks so be careful," admitted the sword. Victor continued to walk out of the station and back out onto open walkway. Cars and people were once again moving around. "Something is up, they cleared town for all of that didn't they...?" worried Victor. "I think you two are labeled accomplices by the law now, I think its best we leave town for a while," spoke the katana.

Victor looked up towards the Great Hollow. "What is it we don't know about this world?" asked Victor. "Not this world, but this Multiverse," answered his sword.

Lori broke down into tears again, quietly sniffling to herself. People passing by glanced with minor concern, but kept their forward pace. "Hey, it'll be ok." Victor attempted to comfort her, but she tossed his arm away. "How will it be ok!? I can't see my family ever again now! All because you had to play the hero!" screamed Lori through her tears. She pushed Victor to the ground before dashing off into the crowds of people.

"Victor, she won't be able to last on her own, we need to stop her!" the blade showed human concern again. "Sometimes I think you may not even be a sword, y'know?" replied Victor while weaving his way through the crowds. His search took him forty five minutes and still was unable to locate her. He found himself located in a park.

The park was elevated from the ground like most things in the city with planted trees and flowers in artificial dirt. Victor sat on one of the many benches that lined the gravel pathways. "I have no clue where she went," realized Victor. "She may have went home," the sword spoke, "That would be bad, they are probably expecting that."

"Hmm, I'm not sure, why did the town start up again around the same time we got off the train? Something tells me they expected to end us there." Victor was unsure of his deduction, but he had to be hopeful. "Lets forget that for now. How is your wound?" wondered the katana. "It stings a lot, but I fear for Lori more at the moment." Victor pressed his wound with his left hand. "Its not really that deep, I'll be ok."

"How about being shocked a few times?" the sword chuckled. "I think I'll be fine, the metal on the train was channeling it a little bit which I think is why I'm not so bad off." Victor answered the sword while glancing at some burn marks on his arm. "Heads up." The sword warned Victor of a cell phone soaring straight towards them.

Victor stood up into the cell phone letting it land into his hands. He took a look at the front of the touch screen and saw symbols above a red and a green button. "Should I hit the green button?" wondered Victor. "Your judgement is better here, I'm not too familiar with the new age technology," admitted the sword. Victor shrugged and answered the phone.

"Hello?" Victor heard cars driving in the background of the phone as a young sounding male spoke, "I'll make this brief, if you want your girl back, you're gonna need to die." The phone hung up and returned to a home screen. He looked around him trying to spot something out of the ordinary.

A sharp blade shot down from above in a tree and planted itself in the gravel near Victor. "Ready me!" commanded the katana. Without another thought, the sword was drawn. In the same instant, a man who looked to be in his twenties with black hair landed near the sword from before. "Wow, I sure wish they taught us how to use ranged weapons, did you see that fail?" asked the man, "Also, you're gonna die here, no hard feelings."

"Is this guy serious?" the sword asked in a sarcastic tone. Victor was about to answer before he had to brace an attack from the weird man. They both pushed against their swords with Victor slowly losing ground. "By the way, they call me Tor or Weirdo sometimes." The man spoke with little regard for the situation.

Victor shoved against his parry and jumped back a step, jabbing his katana at Tor. The blade bounced off of a force field that seemed to surround him. "Victor look at his weapon, its glowing with runes!" The Katana pointed out green glowing runes written in the old language down the middle of Weirdo's blade. "Oh this? I'm a runeblade, yeah I know, its pretty awesome!" bragged Tor, "Watch this!" His steel sword started to glow with dark red runes now.

Tor stepped into a charge, bringing his right arm across his left and swung horizontally at Victor. Victor braced the attack and was sent flying about five feet to his left. He impacted with a tree and reopened the wound from before.

Victor dug his silver colored katana into the dirt and lifted himself up. A large gash could be seen on the blade where he used it to defend. "Wait a minute, Woah woah woah now now, is that a diamond sword? Wait that's an enchanted sword at that! Wow-o-wow that's fantastic! I'm sure the boss will let me keep this as a gift!" Tor pointed out that the gash was merely the scuffing of grey paint used to cover up the original material of the weapon.

"Looks like we can go ahead now Victor, the final technique that your grandfather taught you. Lets use bladegrasp." The Diamond Forged Sword revealed Victor's last learned technique. "Alright, well you guys don't get to feel like the bad ass duo, I got two swords!" Tor pulled a second sword from a sheath hidden under his steel padded leather armor. His first sword gave a white glow now and the second glowed a bright red.

Tor pushed back into battle opening with hit white enchanted sword. It moved with the power of wind making it move fast and precise. Victor tensed up with his hands clasping his sword's hilt as tight as possible. He moved with the wind at his back and was now able to sense the attacks coming towards him. The white sword was deflected while Tor moved back with the red one into a slash from the left. Victor leaned into the sword and let it bounce off his katana. Flames sparked from the red sword as Tor was left wide open. His eyes grew large and so did his grin. Victor sheathed his sword and let is loose. His motion stopped on his right side and 4 streaks of wind were left behind: vertical, both diagonals and horizontal. Each cutting the surface of Tor. As the cuts were made, Victor also fell into a black out state.

"Victor, stay with me!" A voice echoed through the abyss of darkness. "Shit, you've lost a lot of blood!" Foot steps started to chime as the voice stopped giving the same echo effect as before. "Victor, thank you."

A street lamp slowly flickered its light into Victor's eyes. "He's awake," spoke a girl who was covered in dirt. ""L-Lori?" Victor coughed up a large amount of saliva which grossed him out and made him jolt up to spit it on the ground. "Fuck, wait... my wound is gone," spoke Victor while scurrying his hands across his chest. He stood up fully and turned to see Tor dead on the ground.

"Sword, what exactly happened?" asked Victor. "Well after you used bladegrasp, you lost a portion of your consciousness and just ran on instincts. Tor was too cocky and then boom, you wasted the rest of your stamina using four cleaves and almost drifted into a coma. Then Lori saved you," explained Victor's katana. "But how did you escape?" wondered Victor as he turned to face Lori. "I was tied up around my wrists and left in that tree," Lori paused and pointed to the tree where Tor had jumped down from, "I just used smite on the rope and it burned away."

"Alright well we should get going, its been nearly twenty minutes since you passed out and if you haven't noticed, we started to attract attention of people," The sword pointed out. Victor looked around to see at least a hundred startled citizens.

Sirens started to fill the air and caused panic to Victor, Lori and the sword. "Yeah lets go," agreed Victor before being stopped by Lori, "Should we really just leave him there? He's still breathing." Victor turned and noticed his chest expanding. "We could end up dead if we stay, I'm sure a cleric will make it in time before he bleeds out." Victor took no time to drag her away.

The group made their way down the road from the park, heading towards the highway. As they ran farther, more and more sirens could be heard. "We should hurry, it won't stay light out for much longer, the sun is already on the horizon," pointed out the katana. They came to an intersection. The road on the right led up onto the highway which led out of town.

They stuck close to the side of the road now, the walkways don't line the highways, but they are wide enough for cars to dodge pedestrians. "Victor, I hear something coming..." stated Lori. "Its alright, cars will be rushing to pass at this time of da-" Victor was cut off by his sword, "No she's right, I hear wind being pushed."

"What do you mean?" questioned Victor as he turned around while walking backwards now. In the distance a large aircraft could be seen with massive propellers on top carrying it and smaller ones propelling it on its side. The front held two rotating machine guns and several missiles lines the wings.

"Shit, a military craft? What do we do now!?" Victor collapsed feeling pain as well as defeat. "Stand up, you are a Samurai, we fight until our last breath!" shouted the sword in anger. "You might be a 'Samurai', but I'm a teenager who wants to live normally."

"Stop whining, I've seen many a man die wishing he had a peaceful life, instead fight for it!" The sword was furious, emulating a blue pulse that dissolved the paint completely. Victor stood up with tears rolling down his face. "I may share the title, but I'm doing things my way," admitted Victor while wiping his wet cheeks and eyes. "Get on my back Lori."

"wait why?" asked Lori in confusion. Her words were cut off by the sound of grinding steel. The guns started to rotate. "Hurry!" screamed Victor. She gave no more thought and climbed onto his back. "Alright hold on." Victor braced and launched off into a strong sprint carried by his windwalking ability. Narrowly, he dodged bullets that rained down upon the highway, shredding cars and pavement alike. A missile flew down aimed in front of Victor, but he sidestepped between two cars and avoided the shock. He moved forwards, barely dodging the car's remains. "Hey! What are they doing! Those people are innocent!" yelled Lori over he large amount of wind that was passing by.

Victor didn't hear her though, his focus was on dodging obstacles and avoiding harm. Two more missiles came forth and shook the highway. They landed farther ahead of Victor and blocked his path. "Victor, use cleave!" spoke the sword. Again, he heard nothing, but acted on instinct. He cleaved the two cars in half, down the middle so to avoid any seats. He pressed onwards again, feeling exhausted, but keeping pace. However, one last missile landed about a meter behind him, sending him and Lori to the ground.

Victor just closed his eyes and waited, but an explosion could be heard in the distance. He opened his eyes and knelt up. The aircraft had blown an engine and was struggling to stay afloat. "Victor look!" Lori shook Victor and pointed ahead. A jeep sat in the middle of the highway with Left sitting in the passenger seat and a woman driving. "Get in." said the woman smiling.

Victor looked at Lori and received a nod of approval. They got in the back and were off. "Don't think this means I like your group," pouted Victor. "Don't worry, I'm sure your father can talk you into it," taunted the woman. "What about my father!?" Victor shot forwards in his seat and clenched his teeth. "Calm down, I don't mean to come off as a bitch, but your father works with us. That's all I meant."

"So, Victor figured it out I guess, but who are you guys really?" asked Lori. The woman looked over and smirked at Left before replying, "Oh, well we are the terrorist group that the news spoke of." Lori was unsatisfied by the answer and pried more, "No really, who are you guys?" "Ok fine, but don't go doing anything rash! We're the FC."

 

[victim130]

Chapter 4, Life Outside The Walls

Lori sat back in her chair and stared off in a startled look as Victor clenched his sword and closed his eyes. The jeep was now driving down empty highways leading to Exchange City. A city once owned by the Zo, high class souls who ruled as gods. It is used now as a trade city with the largest variety of goods found anywhere in the world.

Victor sighed and relaxed in his seat before speaking, "Well I guess its too late now to really worry. Although I wanna know about my dad. The last I saw, he left me in the arms of my grandfather before stepping out." The woman driving chuckled and answered him, "Well he's a good man, but he's no samurai like you. He took up necromancy. And before you go being all 'What a traitor' your family was known for being samurai, wizards and necromancers."

"Well I'd have no clue, my grandfather was so ashamed of his son that I was fed nothing, but samurai tactics," admitted Victor, "So I don't know much about my past. I even have this talking sword that gets me in shit from time to time that I 'inherited' yet have no fucking clue about!" Victor slammed his fist against the side of the jeep. "Well hey kid, don't worry too much, your father didn't abandon you because of anything he could have helped and he always talks about how much he wishes you and your mother could live together again," said the woman. "My mother!?" Victor had tears brimming his eyes, "I never got to meet her, what is she like?"

"Oops, I said too much. I'll leave that up to him to tell you," realized the woman, "On another topic though, my names Deanna, I'm a descendant of Dils who was a once great warrior for the FC kingdom a while back ha ha."

"Why would you bring my mother up and... just never mind I guess I'll just wait for now..." detestably spoke Victor.

Lori snapped to and cut the others off, "You all have proud, strong roots to your families, where my ancestry can't even be found." Deanna smiled before replying to Lori, "Don't think too much about it, if you have no past to be found, make a good future!" The jeep kept on its straight route, although it wasn't Exchange City that they headed for.

Left sat with his arm resting on the door of the jeep where his head perched on his hand looking out into the dark forest that surrounded the roads. "Hmm, seems I kept the phone from earlier," stated Victor. His sword replied, "You probably pocketed it without realizing, is that a bad thing?" Deanna sighed and Left answered the sword, "Get ready, we are in for a rough car ride."

"Shit, do you think there is a tracking chip in this?" wondered Victor. "That would explain the weak opponent they sent after you." Left cocked his pistol, but was interrupted by Deanna handing him an automatic rifle. "I'm sure this will do you better ha ha ha," laughed Deanna.

"Right on time!" Deanna smiled with joy as the headlights illuminated a road block of heavy armored tanks. "Oh, please don't Deanna..." pleaded Left showing much more concern for her than the explosive cannons aimed at them just meters down the road. "Wait what's going on!?" Victor was panicking, "Are we going to die!?" Before he could speak anymore, the tanks fired off their cannons and two explosive shells shot right beneath the jeep. "Yeeehaaaw!" shouted Deanna with joy. The jeep shot high pressure air and launched over the tanks' shot and right over them. As they flew over, Deanna lobbed over a charge that landed on the tanks and blew them both up.

"You are fucking nuts!" exclaimed Victor. "Why thank you!" grinned Deanna. "Be careful, the road block wasn't all they sent," explained Left. As he said that, he shot a man who was trying to jump to the front of the jeep.

"Lori, take the wheel for me." Deanna didn't even stop to think if she could drive or not. "Oh and Victor can you get that ninja off our back before he cuts the gasoline?" asked Deanna. He only nodded before standing up in the roofless jeep to see a man dressed in similar tree like clothing as the wizard from before. He jabbed him with his sword, sending the guy into the pavement.

Victor lost his footing when the jeep started to swerve. Lori jumped up front awkwardly, catching herself on the steering wheel and sending the vehicle to the side before stabilizing it again when she got comfortable. Deanna was standing on the hood of the jeep holding a blue rod with a gem fastened to its top. "Careful!" shouted Victor. "This is my first time! Leave me alone!" retaliated Lori.

"Victor, duck!" commanded Left. He jumped back into the seats and Left shot back at three cars closing in on them. Victor noticed Left's pistol sitting on the center part of the two front seats and got an idea. "Hmm, Grandpa said samurai used to use bows as well as swords... wonder if I can get the hang of this." Victor thought to himself as he analyzed the gun.

Left took out one car leaving it with flat tires and a dead driver. Victor leaned over to help him, but quickly ducked back from the returned fire the remaining cars gave. "Shit," complained Victor before reaching up again. This time he fired off a few rounds that shattered against the glass of one car. "What the hell!?" questioned Left confused about Victor's actions. "Don't worry," assured Victor. He then shot again at the other car, missing two shots and breaking one head light.

"This is fucking hard to do." Victor sat down again to take cover. He then looked up to see Deanna burning more men trying to board the jeep with white flames similar to Lori's. Left kept up fire on the flank, finally sending one car into the other and crashing them into the guard rails.

The Jeep abruptly was pushed from the side almost lifting up on two wheels. Another car pulled up from ahead. "That car has a disciple in it! Lori we need more speed, floor it!" commanded Deanna as she shot a bolt of white light at the car. The hood flew off, but they kept coming. The jeep was pulled in forcefully and two men in the back seat jumped onto the jeep. Deanna lost her footing and almost fell off from the shove, but Left managed to pull her back up. Victor was attacked by a man with a sword. He was forced onto his back, bracing the attack as the man tried to go for his throat.

"Ahhh fuck it!" screamed Lori with tears of fear. She rammed into the other car, crushing the other man who tried to board them and sending the other car spinning wildly until it flipped on its side. Victor's attacker also fell out the side. The jeep was now moving forwards again without any attackers.

Victor breathed in heavily, in and out as he noticed the phone was on the floor of the jeep still. He grabbed it and threw it out the back. "Are we safe now?" asked Lori who was also breathing in heavily. "I think they got more fight in em ha ha ha ha," replied Deanna as she climbed from Left's lap onto the hood again, "I got a trick though, something new us clerics developed!"

Four paladins set up a shield wall in front of them with many rangers and wizards ready to blast their jeep just about fifty feet from them. Deanna charged up waiting. They neared the group quickly. "Hurry Deanna what are you waiting for!?" rushed Victor in panic. Gun fire and fireballs rained forwards towards them. Just an inch from them, the jeep along with Lori, Left, Deanna and Victor turned a bright gold. As they collided with the paladins, a large shock of holy energy bursted and jumped across all the men. The jeep simply pushed forwards without any further harm or obstacles until the gold color dissipated.

"What the fuck was that?" asked Victor in awe. "That was Holy Invulnerability, a step up from our Guardian Angel spell," explained Deanna. "Turn here," spoke Left pointing out to an exit from the highway. Lori struggled, but managed to get the car to turn into the off ramp. After a bit of driving on dirt roads, they ended up at a mansion sitting in a clearing.

"So, Victor, may I ask why you are not wearing a shirt?" wondered Deanna. Victor was examining the jeep, bullet holes lined the back with graze marks on the side and claw like gashes on the front. "Uh, just forgot I guess, was going to put one on before we got attacked at my place the first time, but other things were more important," answered Victor.

Deanna giggled and handed him a change of clothing. "On the second floor, down the left hallway second door on your right, you can get changed in the bathroom there," instructed Left, pointing to the top half of the building. "Uh, thanks," awkwardly thanked Victor. He opened the doors to a wide open marble floor with stairs leading up to an overhang that surrounded the entire room. As he walked up the stairs, he peered over at paintings of historic men that covered the walls of the upper portion of the pain room. One picture contained a hooded man wearing a similar cloak to Victor and beside it was a man wearing diamond crested armor.

Victor kept moving down the second floor's hallway to the room he was pointed towards. Back outside, Lori was sitting in the driver seat still with her eyes closed and her head leaned back against the seat. "You know, you can get out now right?" asked Deanna. "I just want... to stay here," she replied. Deanna ignored her and opened the door. She then flung Lori onto her shoulder and marched towards the mansion.

"Hey! Let me down!" screamed Lori in frustration. "Ok ok, fine ha ha!" laughed Deanna. She let Lori down easy and led the rest of the way to the front doors. Left and Deanna bypassed the stair case and activated a switch that opened the floor to an elevator. "Woah, what is this?" questioned Lori. "Well well, we got the best engineers in the world under our belt." Deanna winked at Lori as she yanked her into the elevator. "Left go meet Victor after his shower please and show him the way down."

Left sat down at the bottom of the stairs waiting. He sighed, leaning back watching the chandelier shining bright with glowing stones. "Wonder if this will actually help, having two new members..." spoke Left aloud to himself. "What happened to that nice thief I met at the coffee shop?" wondered Victor from behind. He was walking down the stairs with a light brown shirt and pants on, his sword in its sheath on his waist and his cloak folded up in his arms.

"I'm sorry for being so distant as of late, its just I feel guilty for dragging you all into this." Victor shook his black hair, spraying Left with water. "Don't worry about it now, I'm more than glad to help after watching them mercilessly murder innocent citizens. Not to mention, I'm curious about my mother and I want to pay my dad back now," explained Victor.

Left chuckled with a happy smile on his face. "Alright then, lets get going, the others are waiting to meet you." Left led him down the elevator where they were met by a large complex of soldiers. "Welcome! This is the Freedom Forge! You must be Victor, yes?" A large man, tall and built like an ox, swung his arm around Victor and walked him over to a stool. "What can I get ya?" asked the barman. Victor smirked with evil thoughts, "I'll have your strongest drink!"

"Not you, kid, I meant Eve there beside you. Aren't you like thirteen?" the barkeep laughed loudly before setting down a lightly spiked orange juice. "I'm not your mother, but you keep it calm now, k?"

Across from the bar was a stage and to the right was a window that showed the mechanic wonders that the base held. Lori and Deanna joined Eve, the big burly man and Victor by the bar. "So whatcha think?" asked Deanna as she slapped Victor in the back. "That hurts you know? Though this is over the top, that mansion was pristine, but down here its all gloomy and dark." Victor turned to look out the window and continued, "Its wonderful I guess, but this bar is too small to hold an army..."

Deanna dragged him off his seat and over tot he window. "Down there, we have around one hundred thousand men running around making preparations to fight back against The Hollow. Like I said, we got some pretty bad ass engineers in our ranks!" "You told Lori that actually ha ha!" snapped Left cynically. "There's my boy back in high spirits!" Deanna jumped over giving Left a kiss on the cheek.

"Wait that ring from before..." Victor grinned evily with sharp eyes aimed at Left before stating, "You and Deanna are a thing, ha ha ha! HA HA HA!" "What! With that crazy bitch!?" Left defended himself until Deanna smashed him in the head and stomped off towards Victor. "Oh shit.." Victor then suffered the same fate.

"Boys will be boys ha ha" Eve cackled with his deep burly voice. "I guess ha ha." The Barkeep joined him with a lighter laugh. "Peter, that's not funny." Left uttered those words as he lifted himself up with the help of the bar.

Lori let out a cheerful giggle. "Oh and besides these two, Lori, your driving was awesome back there!" congratulated Deanna. "But I only drove straight besides the one turn..." replied Lori. "What! That ram was awesome! Why not learn to be an engineer? Being a merchant won't help you now ha ha."

"She's right I'm afraid," spoke a man wearing a scary mask covered in painted flames. He wore a large red cape that floated behind him with steel studded leather armor on. "Oh, hey Pit," Eve greeted him with a friendly wave. "Who's that?" whispered Victor over to Eve. "He's our leader, we call him Pit after his ancestor Sigpit because he follows in his footsteps," answered Eve.

"So this is Victor and Lori?" asked Pit with his authority filled voice. "Yes, they joined up under Left's decision. Victor is a well trained samurai without the experience, but Lori is only a healer for now," replied Deanna assertively. "What about their jobs?" continued Pit. "I will be training Lori to be an engineer so she can help pilot vehicles in the new team you had me set up. As for Victor I-" Deanna was cut off by Victor interjecting.

"I'm nothing, my grandfather didn't see a reason for it so I never learned. Outside of what I learned in the basics of job classifications and such from school." Victor gave a cold look at Pit. "I like you; you are angry at how Deanna replies to me, are you not?" asked Pit. Victor gave back a surprised look. "So you could tell? Yeah, you're just a man, why should she drop the cheery smile to recap stuff you couldn't be bothered to figure out on your own?!" Victor let his feelings out towards this man.

"Fine then, follow me." Pit simply waved him on and walked out. Victor walked after him and kept pace with him. They walked along a suspended metal platform to an open elevator that lowered them down a floor. On the floor was another room that led into a destroyed environment of stone, sand and dirt. "What the hell is this?" questioned Victor. "This is our battle training room. Look around, your friends and more are gathering to watch us fight," Pit spoke with great confidence.

"Alright, lets do this then!" Victor pulled out his katana and took up his stance. Pit simply picked up a wooden sword from the rack against the wall and held it loosely. He then lifted his mask to show his blond hair and brown eyes.

"I hope you're ready!" Victor charged into a windwalk, dashing straight in. He slashed from the right, aiming to land a quick blow, but Pit sidestepped and tapped him on the head with his sword. "Come on! ha ha ha ha!" taunted Pit. "ArrrghhhAhhhhh!" Victor braced his foot and came around with a high cleave. Pit ducked under it and tapped his hand. He then jumped back a step readying for Victor's next attack. Victor followed into a stab, going straight for Pit's stomach. Pit pushed down on his katana with the wooden sword and sent Victor's momentum behind him. Victor rolled into the ground, quickly catching himself and standing up with the same motion.

"Stop toying with me!" demanded Victor. The crowd of people watching from a distance could be heard cheering, giving boastful comments towards Pit, taunting Victor further. Victor's blue eyes started to glow red, similar to the blood dripping down his lip from biting his gums. "Ah ha ha! That's what I like to see, now land one hit and we can call it a day!" cheered Pit in awe.

"I SAID SHUT IT!" Victor's shout shook the entire room and forced the crowd into a disturbed silence. He was off again though, dashing forwards into the wind. Pit went to sidestep the same attack Victor started with, but this time five blades, four of them wind, grazed against him. He managed to block all the damage with the wooden sword, though it shattered into many different splinters.

Victor started to violently swing his katana, using the wind to extend his attacks. Pit was forced to go on the defensive, focusing on dodging the attacks. As they neared the wall, Pit put his foot against the wall and pushed off away from Victor. He picked up a wooden staff from another training match and ran back towards Victor.

The wind attacks grazed by, cutting Pit's armor, however not marking his skin. Victor grasped his blade like he did before and tried to deflect Pit's attack, but was unable to match his speed. The staff Pit picked up jabbed him in the forehead, knocking him out cold.

Deanna and Lori gathered in a bedroom above ground in the mansion. Pit sat in a corner while Victor's sword rested beside him on the bed. "What happened out there?" wondered Deanna. "He tapped into an old samurai power, he simply did not fear the outcome of that battle, though he lost because he was unable to control his will to live. I'm sure the sword can give more insight," explained Pit. "Yeah, I should have stopped him. I haven't been able to figure out this kid yet, though, it was amazing to see him inherit so much power," spoke the sword, "However, the ability to not have fear is a dangerous one. His bloodline has risked much in the past because of it."

"Will he be ok!?" worried Lori. "Yes, the ability itself is not dangerous, just the fact it makes him much weaker, but able to strike much harder," answered the katana. "He's waking up!" Lori pointed out Victor's eyes twitching open. "What happened?" Victor leaned up slowly into an aching headache. He grasped his forehead in pain.

"Yeah, that's my fault." Pit lobbed over a few pain killers to Victor. "Shit, the fight! I lost didn't I..." "Yes, but don't worry about it, I got to see what I needed for now." Pit waved to the group and just walked out. "I'm going to get going too, its pretty late, you two should sleep soon," stated Deanna. Just as she was exiting the room, Left dashed in.

"We just got word from Lance!" exclaimed Left. "Well what he say?" asked Deanna. "Father..." uttered Victor before the pain killers knocked him out again.

 

[victim130]

Chapter 5, The Beginning in a Dream

A war torn grasslands laid burning. In its wake, an army bearing a pink and baize flag sporting the initials 'OS'. They held ground in a charred portion of the land, peering over its landscape towards a large castle sitting a top a cliff side in the very far distance. Among the men was Victor The First, a great master samurai who led the forces of Newerth, a peaceful trading town forced to take up arms in the constant waring times of their era, Bastion.

"Victor, we managed to wipe out the small forces to the west, a camp of LO scum hid well, but Umbra spies led us straight to them," spoke a paladin soldier. On his armor was a similar plaque to the flags that flew. "Good work, we need to take victory tonight, the stars just came out to greet this madness and we shall not let them fall to it." Victor gave him a pat on the shoulder and shoved him off towards their campfire. "So what now Victor, we are down to twenty five thousand men and only ten thousand are trained, can we really win?" asked a man with black hair, golden glasses and a white suit.

"No need to worry, we have Umbra to help us, they have proven great allies. I hear they gathered their best here tonight, along with one hundred thousand men," replied Victor, "Just follow my lead Sym, I promise we can win." He handed Sym an apple and a steel sword.

Victor walked away and sat on a tree stump just outside of camp. The sky was lit a red, almost like a morning with pink clouds, but the ash and fire spoke more of death then such peaceful colors. The ground a pitch black, darkness gave it light. Through the scorn, a wizard approached Victor and pulled his hood back.

"You only need ask me to show my face friend, ha ha!" cackled Victor in a friendly rumble. His face sported a scar between his eyes that left his nose with a pink scar. Among that, he had stubble and pale eyes of an old war veteran on the edge of his time, though he only aged forty one. "You wear it too often, ha ha." A purple furred suit wearing wizard sat down on the ground, he shook his head free to show his face, a small beard upon a young twenty year old boy.

"So Piney, what brings you here, you seemed fine on your own," questioned Victor with a grin. "You know I'm not here to fight your war. More because I can't, but I did want to wish you luck, that face of yours is no longer a friendly one," laughed Piney.

"So what have you been doing?" asked Victor eagerly. "Just resting," answered Piney in boredom. "Learn any new spells?" "Nope." Piney took his staff and waved it at Victor.

"I know you died those years ago, you and Tom, figure I'm going mad at this point ha ha," admitted Victor to Piney's image fading away with a few tears rolling down his cheek.

"Don't dwell on your past mistakes, Kaos taught you well, use your skills to make this right. We can't be brought back." Piney spoke words of wisdom as his last gift to an old friend. Victor shed tears of sorrow as he clasped his face. "I will make sure you get the revenge you deserve!" cried Victor.

A few minutes passed by. Victor stood up and shook the soot off his cloak and wiped his face with his dirty, ash covered hands. He marched back towards camp and waved over a messenger wizard. "I need you to teleport to Umbra's second camp, tell Delf to send his men in and then to have Ellron flank them with the wizard squad they have." The boy nodded and began casting a spell. In ten seconds he shot off into the sky where he was transported to another war camp farther west.

"You sure attacking so soon is wise?" asked Sym. "Yes, we should push on. I have a feeling the Legion of Oblivion will make its final attack before long and I want to be there to kill both their leader and that TC king." Victor hit the war table to his side, knocking small colored sticks loose. "We got LO on one side, Umbra and us on another. Then we got the TC in the middle, so lets take them both out," planned Victor, "Though I fear those FC bastards, we haven't seen any movement in weeks from them and now, such a time they will want their piece."

"Then we march, but what do we do if LO marches on us before the TC?" wondered Sym. "Then we kill them first, we are not allied to them and they came to battle with the same ideals as us," answered Victor, "Though I want you on our flank, no need getting our prince killed."

Hooves digging into the ground suddenly could be heard, galloping near by the hundreds. Victor clenched his sword and turned to face their direction. "Halt!" commanded a deep grumbling voice. A king sat upon his ebony steed with a thousand men behind him wearing capes with the initials 'OS' yet with the colors of blue and white. "My liege!" Victor stood straight and saluted before smiling.

Beside the king was the other prince of the OS kingdom, Wolever Entun. "Where is Sym Lite?" asked Wolever as he demounted and approached Victor. "He's right here, but what is this? Though I am glad to see back up, who will guard the kingdom?" interrogated Victor. "A king does not need to defend from the enemies who are besieged, nor does our great Order of the Stars, for we are one. If a brother of ours marches in and dies this day, so do we," explained the king. "Understood, King Xexo." Victor helped him down and walked over to the grand campfire where the men sat waiting.

"Well might you speak for us then?" asked Victor. Xexo simply nodded.

"Today, we move forward. We finally will destroy the threat or be over taken by it. Not only do we plan to take the tyrannical and evil Thornhollow, but we aim to take out the Legion's king as well! Let the masons and the architects build monuments to our sins so that we may let our families live in the peace they bring! Let the bards and the scribes tell our tales and most of all, let the blood of our enemies stain the land! For our kingdom! For our future empire! For Order of the Stars! We march now to victory!" Xexo through his hands up and sent the armies forth as Victor stood by with a hearty grin on his face.

The crowds of men chanted their kingdom name in pride and glory for their deaths. "Order of the Stars!" could be heard far and wide as they marched on.

Xexo turned to Victor and spoke, "So friend, may I borrow your blade once more?" Victor simply replied, "I never asked for it back." They laughed and were off with the cavalry. Xexo now had his paladin gear on with Wolever wearing a very similar style and Victor and Sym wore chain-mail armor beneath their clothing. The wind left them gleaming valiantly as they charged under the night highlighted in flames.

"So the plan is this: Sym you lead your men in from the East. Wolever, you will back up the West and make sure Umbra is alright. Xexo, I need you to lead the rest to cover our men at the gates, I have a feeling LO will flank them, when they do, slaughter them all. As for me I'm going to meet up with an Umbra general to hit from the North," explained Victor. They each nodded and split off.

Victor rode on past the fighting barely dodging arrows and spells flying around. He bolted it through to an Umbra camp. As he slowed down, he noticed the Northern camp was destroyed, dead bodies laid under toppled tents. "What is going on?" thought Victor to himself. He got off the horse and went to examine further. "Victor duck!" shouted a man's voice. A dead sheep was flung at him and he managed to roll out of the way. As the rotting sheep hit his horse, it exploded, taking the entire front half of the animal off in a violent shredding.

A fireball followed up and was dissipated by a slash when Victor unsheathed his Crystal Katana. "Show yourself," stated Victor calmly. Another sheep came flying from behind a tree. Victor sliced it in half to move into his windwalk. He rolled up on the tree into a cleave that went through the tree, slicing it in clean in two, to meet the staff of a beguiler. "Ah an illusionist, cute."

Victor let up the parry and moved in to kill the man, but found his feet stuck strapped to the side of a pig. "I got you man," spoke the same warning voice from before. A bolt of lighting shot from the tents and directly hit the aggressor, sending him over the toppled trunk. "Lumont?" wondered Victor. "Yes its me!" confirmed Lumont. He then shot another bolt for good measure.

"What happened here?" pried Victor out of curiosity. Lumont sighed and pointed down the cliff side that lined from the camp to the castle and further down passed. Boats landed in the bay below with red and orange flags with giant M's. "Damn, I was afraid they might ambush our assault, I only hoped it would be against the LO scum."

"It would seem so, though we can beat the bulk of their forces to the castle throne room, we need to leave now," spoke Lumont, urging Victor to move. They ran to the castle. From behind the throne room could be seen partially from the glass dome that encased its roof. They made their way down a path that hugged the cliff side and passed under into a ravine that ran under Thornhollow.

Lumont gave Victor a slap on the back. "Get him good for us all, I'll hold the FC back for now, go win this war in our name." Victor acknowledged the effort and entered the castle.

The secret entrance he was promised was more of a garbage disposal for food scraps they dumped. The tight squeeze led into their grand kitchen. The entire room was spotless, pristine and empty of life. The table was set perfectly upon a checkered marble floor, well lit with candle chandeliers. Though the spectacle was not his goal, he made way through the halls lined in red, gold trimmed carpets. He found himself on the main level before long and noticed odd decorations lining the main halls upper balcony wall.

Heads, heads of famous warriors and civilians that died. There were hundreds upon hundreds just resting pined, lifeless to picture frames. "What the fuck is this?" questioned Victor in disgust. He even recognized some OS members and simply turned to face away from the disgrace. "I'll avenge you all." Victor gripped his sword and closed his eyes. It was nearly time he left. As he walked down to the throne entrance, voices could be heard. In a panic, Victor jumped behind a decorative vase and peeked from the side.

Leftern, the Legion's King stood with two men. They entered the main hall for only a minute before storming the throne room. Victor made haste now to catch his adversaries now. He kicked the doors that had just freshly shut sending them wide open. He then witnessed the nameless men get vaporized by two bolts of lightning.

"Good work!" clapped a king figure sitting in a throne surrounded by two other smaller thrones. "Leave these two to me Macura." "As you wish, my king," complied Macura who sat to the king's right. The two wore robes that resembled trees, yet unlike their many underlings, they had masks. Though they did not wear them, but instead left them as a display of their confidence.

"Wait, Victor," halted Leftern. His iron helmet crumbled to dust as he sank to his knees in pain. "What happened in the mere seconds you were in here?" frantically asked Victor in hopes to avoid the same outcome.

"Don't worry, this wound is from before, though I ask you aid me where you might otherwise kill me. You see he has other plans, he doesn't even need to win here today, he plans to lose in fact," mumbled Leftern in obvious pain.

Victor helped him up and handed him his bow. "Fine, but this changes nothing of our fight." "You show this great northerner honor, I promise you we will fight after this!" Leftern gave a very stoic aura, one that proved he truly must have lost a few battles to this point, though his resolve is worth it in his eyes. His beard covered in blood and his bow showing cracks with only a few arrows in his quiver.

"Are you done?" asked the kingly man in his stern voice, "Good, because I have a surprise for you both." Chains materialized from the sides of the room's walls and then as they loomed down they ensnared the silhouette of souls. "So lets just guess what this is."

"How can a dragoon, a warrior meant for the combat of dragons ensnare life?" spoke Leftern curiously. "Look closer," instructed the evil king. The souls began to form their original forms. They became the forms of living beings.

"How, just how!?" Victor unsheathed his katana and was off, but was struck by a tangling chain snare that tightened around his wrist, forcing him to drop his weapon. He struggled to break free, but it was no use. "Calm down, they are still alive," assured the TC King. The manifested forms were the bodies of the Zo, a race of beings revered as gods. Apher and Kain, the two Elder Zo, both left lifeless in the air.

Leftern tried to pull back his bow, but collapsed again before apologizing, "I am sorry Victor, I just do not have the strength currently." Victor had a scowl on his face, cheated out of his victory and left humiliated as well as in shock. "So what is it you plan?" he poked. "I shall not tell you yet, I'm going to let you and the ranger live I think. Oh, but take some information with you, let my new subjects know I wish to be called CT now! ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Victor clenched his teeth in anger, but quickly faded into a blackout. The last he saw were the pale faces of enslaved gods.