I Was Destined To Destroy the World But Chose to Sell Llamas Instead. (Original-Shounen Inspired.)

[TripleMRed]

Zetch wasn't what you would call the average bandit. Oh, sure, he looted, he pillaged, and ever so occasionally he torched and burned. But he was more than that: He had dreams! Aspirations! He wanted to be someone who did something that mattered, not being satisfied with the day in, day out drudgeries of normal looting and pillaging life. He wanted to be out there, changing lives and doing something that he would be remembered for!

Needless to say, being huddled against a shield wall as explosive cannon rounds and balls of burning tar were flung at him wasn't his idea of making a name for himself.

"Damn it, where is our support!?" Zetch demanded to know. The invasion of Shellfort had started the night before, an entire army of bandits, brigands, and neir-do-wells who were lured in from far and wide with the promises of riches and notoriety, with the added bonus that no Heroes or Adventurers ever came around to this region due to Shellfort's stubborn isolationism. The way it had been marketed to them, it sounded like an easy job.

Exactly 12 hours later with the full moon given way to the rising morning sun, hundreds, possibly thousands of their make shift brothers and sisters in arms were dead or dying, while the numerically smaller but entrenched and powerful Shellfort machine men had yet to lose any of their numbers. It was now the afternoon, and yet more bodies were added to the muddy pile. Metaphorically in a pile. Literally, they were spread all around, many in several pieces.

"What?!" A younger looking bandit next to Zetch yelled out, trying to hear what he had asked over the sounds of explosives drowning out everything els.e

"I said, 'where is our fucking support!?'" Zetch had to grab the younger bandit and yell in his ear to be understood. The younger man blinked.

"Didn't you hear, boss man? We are the support!" Zetch's blood turned to ice in his veins.

"WHAT!?"

"We're the distraction, ya see!" The younger man explained without actually going into further detail. Zetch slapped his hand over his face. Of course. He already knew it, but this just sealed the deal: It had been too good to be true. They were never meant to succeed or survive, much less get paid.

"Fuck this, I'm leaving!"

"I wouldn't do that, sir." The younger bandit told Zetch. The older bandit narrowed his eyes at the younger one.

"And why would that be?" As if to answer his question, another bandit lost her nerve and immediatly started to run towards the backline of the battlefield, intending to make a break for it. The rabbit woman was fast, but she didn't make it far when a sudden blast of energy came down from above and atomized her, leaving only a crater of smoldering glass in the muddy ground. Zetch's head snapped up to look at the origin of the blast, and his already frozen blood somehow grew colder still: There, looming over their battle lines where he hadn't been noticieable until now, was a wolf eared man wearing only a pair of long, baggy pants and an open sleeveless jacket. He hovered over the air, arms crossed behind his head in an almost bored manner, flat out ignoring the weapon's fire that was aimed at him.

A Fallen Hero. They had a Fallen Hero backing them up. Or rather, making sure they stuck to the plan.

"Why the hell isn't he doing anything!?" Zetch hissed in increasing agitation.

"Oh, didn't you know?" Zetch was already growing tired of this routine. "He's not here to distract anyone, he's here for after!"

"'After'?"

"Yup! No witnesses!" Zetch just stared at the younger man in a mixture of horror and disgust.

"Why are you so cheerful about this!?"

"Oh, well, I never got a chance to die before, so this whole thing sounds like an exciting new experience!" Zetch slid unto his backside and leaned against the shield wall, hands covering his face as he groaned. What a rotten day.

-

"So, since we had eggs for appetizers, we thought we should make something a little healthier for lunch proper!" Alyxia uttered as she showed off an assortment of salads, fruit medley's, and some sort of pie with a non sugary filling.

"Go ahead and give it a whirl, bud." Toyo stated.

"Whirling before or after eating isn't reccommended." Kevin piped up. "It makes you lose your lunch!"

"Er, yes, bud, it's just a figure of speech."

"I know!" Toyo blinked and it was then that he saw the mischivious grin on Kevin's face. He laughed before batting his hand towards him.

"Just get ta eating and tell us what'cha think." It didn't take long for Kevin to tear through the lunches. The salads were a bit of a slow start, but after he mixed them with the fruit medley's, they disappeared in short order. The not-pie, some sort of spinache, egg and cheese abomination against culinary heaven called a 'Quiche', was also quick to follow suit.

"s'good." Kevin declared matter o factually like he hadn't just eaten a meal for four twice over in the span of less than a half hour. Well, at least you couldn't argue he didn't have an appetite-wait, what?

"Kevin, er, what are you doing?" Alyxia asked in the most maternal tone she could muster.

"Dessert!"

"Kevin, that's your milk and Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwhich you normally eat."

"Yup, and now they're dessert!" Toyo had to laugh again before an idea came to mind. A sly grin of his own formed over his face.

"Oh, but you can't eat desert yet." Toyo declared.

"He/I can't?" Alyxia and Kevin's response came in near perfect stereo.

"Nope! Because I've got one more item for you to try!" With that, Toyo reached into his patened holding bag and took out.....A large bowl of some kind. Alyxia just raised an eyebrow while Kevin 'oooh'd as he quirked his head.

"What is that?" Alyxia almost sounded like she was demanding to know.

"Cup Noodles." Toyo launched into explaination. "They're this new thing in the big cities and are a big trend in the surrounding regions. They come in all kinds of varieties." He took out and balanced an additional two more in his arms. He smiled. "I figured we could all share a meal together, since 'lunch' was mostly just watching you eat, buddy." Kevin's dark skin suddenly fleshed a bright red as he realized he had left nothing for his friends to eat.

"I'm so, so sorry!" He declared, bowing at them so deeply, his head smacked against the ground. A perfect impression of his face was left in the dirt, much to the soil's honor.

"Think nothing of it, we made it for you to eat, remember?" The Goblin male declared as he handed out a chicken variant to Alyxia, kept a beef one for himself, and handed a spicy vegetarian one to Kevin. The younger, puppy faced male looked over the strange bowl he'd been given, wondering how it worked. He then noticed some sort of knob on the underside, with instructions saying 'turn twice and wait for steam. Wait 30 seconds and enjoy.' "Fancy, right? City folk have all sorts of inventive uses for magic these days." With that, everyone from the curious Kevin, to the skeptical Alyx, turned the knobs and waited as instructed. As steam poured out from the thin, ceramic covering on top of the bowls, Kevin's eyes widened with amazement at the incredible device in his hands.

Alyxia and Toyo both shared an amused look. The kid could probably turn the planet inside out with his mind, but something as smallscale and simple as this still left him with wonder. It was an adorable sight.

"Alright, that's thirty seconds." Toyo handed out a pair of stick like eating utensils to everyone. They opened their meals and dug in. Toyo used his eating sticks with experienced dexterity; Alyxia was clearly familiar with them, though not as used to them, eating more slowly and thoughtfully chewing on the meal. Kevin, meanwhile, stuck both sticks in at the same time and whirled them around like a fork, causing the noodles to ball around the sticks against the order of man and nature. He gave the noodle ball a test sniff, before taking a test bite. One chew. Two. His eyes lit up in a way that was unlike any reaction to any meal up until then. The young man practically exploded out of his floating sitting position and let out a whoop before floating back down, enjoying the meal with gusto and, to his friends surprise, taking his time with it the same way he took his time with his PB&J sandwhiches.

"This is amazing, Toyo! What's in it?"

"Oh, you know," Toyo glanced at the packaging for his own cup-bowl, reading the words that declared '500% more MSG than competeing brands!' "Good stuff." He said with a smile. Kevin just smiled as he ate before taking out his musical device and focusing on it.

The music that flowed out from it was unlike anything they had heard from Kevin yet, not the least of which because of the....Interesting lyrics.

'Damn cup noodles, you looking so fine, thinking about you all of the time!'

"Hope you guys like music with your lunch!"

"It's....Certainly appropriate." Alyxia laughed joyfully. "We should make this our themesong."

"Really?" Alyxia froze. She had meant it as a joke. She didn't actually intend, or even want, for their little group to have such an.....interesting song as their lietmotif. But as she looked at Kevin to let him down gently, the look in his eyes told her how excited he was for her to not be joking.

"....Yes." Alyxia blurted out quickly as to not have second thoughts and deny Kevin this. Kevin's eyes started to water as he sniffed and smiled at his friends.

"Best lunch ever!" What a wonderful day.

 

[TripleMRed]

36 hours. It had been thirty six hours since this….invasion began. Shellfort was no stranger to assault, it and it's inhabitants having seen their fair share of trouble over the centuries. But an assault of this scale, for this long? That was new. More than new, it was unexpected. As Brother-Captain Azriaha III studied the battlefield from his position, he found he and his fellow Battle-Brothers expending more ammunition during this short time frame alone than all the other centuries combined.

It was exillerating. Finally, a challenge worthy of their skills!

<Statement: Do not look so pleased, Battle Brother.> As Azriaha was finished loading in fresh shells into his cannon, he looked to his side to see the one who had spoken: Knight-Paladin Dancer. Compared to the other Shellfort Residents, even the Battle-Brothers, the Paladin stood tall, armored shell polished a gleaming silver. A set of tetrapod legs held up the Paladin instead of a hexapod set up, and his right manipulator clutched an ancient but functional halberd, his left buried under a claw like shield. The halberd and shield gleamed with the tell tale etchings of runes and script of power, making them much more potent than their age or simple designs would have one believe.

One could reasonably fight a mid level Adventuerer or low rank Hero with such arms.

<Apologetically: Forgive me, Brother-Paladin. I was lost in the rythem of battle.>

<Understanding: Of course. Cautiously: However, take care not to become too lost. Every moment these brigands fight us, another precious life is wasted.> Azriaha's facial plates molded themselves into a frown.

<Recicitation: 'Life is the currency of the Maker. Spend it if you must, but never waste it.'>

<Affirmation: Indeed. A lesson lost on these poor fools, I'm afraid.> As if to illustrate the point, the distinct golden flash of an energy blast from the Fallen Hero floating above the battlefield spoke of another unfortunate runner to try and make a break for it, only to be atomized. With this flash, however, the enemy forces immediately broke out of their defensive positions in a charge. The two Shellfort residence shared a look. This gruesome display of barbaric tactics was a death sentence. Suicidal. Still, if assisting with their doom was what would keep Shellfort safe, then so be it.

———

Zetch huffed and puffed as he charged the field behind the cover of a more powerful Bandit with a shield. He didn't recognize any of the other rogues around him. Whether his original crew was dead or just lost somewhere else on the battlefield, he didn't know.

"This is so exciting, isn't it?" Zetch's look of panic immediatly mutated into a scowl of annoyance as he glanced at the bandit running by his side. Great. Fantastic. That annoying kid was still alive and kicking. Just his rotten luck.

"Exciting my fucking as-" An explosion rocked them off their feet, Zetch landing on his back to the mud. He looked up in time to see the shielded bandit get skewered by a massive hulking Shellfort warrior with a shield and pole arm, dozens more like it filling the battlefield. Pulse pounding in his chest, Zetch decided to do the smart thing and just lay down and pretend to be dead. Eyes closed shut, he willed his breathing to slow down and to lie perfectly still, even as a he yelling around him grew louder and louder and flecks of liquid too warm to be water fell on him.

"Psst, hey buddy!" Zetch dared to open his eye to see that pest was laying down beside him, front to the ground and face turned towards him, a smile on it despite everything. "We're corpse friends!" Zetch's eye twitched. Damn. It.

———

He was bored. So damn bored. The bandits they had collected for this were all so *weak.* They were pathetic, unable to stand up to the mundane explosives and missile fire from the Shellfort machines.

The Shellforters were slightly more interesting, if only due to their novelty, but as he watched, he found they too were boring. Mostly because they had no challenge, no struggle against even the strongest of the bandits.

"So disappointing." He huffed as he blasted another bunch of runners. Most had learned by No there was no running, that he would erase them like some spiteful angry god. But every so often, those who lost their nerve and didn't just break down tried their luck to make a break for it. Unfortunately for them, he was Sol Wrathbane. A Hero with power over the element of the sun itself. We're they at least mid level Adventurers, or at least had decent gear, they could have survived the initial blast. But even if that were the case, they never would have survived to escape.

As he continued to watch the bandit armies desperate, mindless surge forwards to try and take the fortress, Sol took note of the Shellforters fighting. The normal soldiers were nothing special, using conventional weapons to slay the rogues. Their 'Paladins', however, held some promise. They wielded their weapons and shields with a skill and deftness belied by their hulking, psuedo crustacean forms, a level of ability wasted on the weak scum they were forced to spend their energy butchering. It was no question that Sol could defeat them, easily, but his sheer boredom meant that if given the chance, he would happily fight with a fraction of his full power if only to see just how skillful these fighters were on an even footing.

Gods, to think he was so desperate for action he would stoop to trading pointers with these things? Eh, screw it, not the worst thing he'd done.

"Challenge: You! Face me!" Speak of the devil, Sol blinked as he looked down to see most of his army cornered and forced to surrender, trapped by battalion of Shellfort soldiers. One of the Shellforters, a Paladin with a halberd and a claw shaped shield was pointing his weapon up at Sol, and was actually challenging him.

Sol scoffed and prepared a downscaled version of his signature attack, but paused. He had not yet received the signal to finish this place off, and that meant the Shellforters still needed a distraction. The army was captured, and all present were now looking to him and his challenger. A dark smile came over his features. Screw it, why not have a little bit of fun, eh?

With that, Sol began to float on down just as the rays of the morning sun began to wash over the battlefield, lighting up the smoke that washed over the place. This should be a fun little exercise before the end.

 

[TripleMRed]

(We are now up to date! Updates from here on out will be concurret with updating in other forums!)

 

[TripleMRed]

(Hey everyone, we're nearing the end of Chapter 3, so I think now's a good time to ask: What's everyone's thoughts on the story so far? The characters? The humor? Getting feedback is something I'm always looking out for, but I especially want to know if everyone is having fun reading the story.

One other thing, someone elsewhere helped me fix some major writing errors at the end of the latest update, so I'd like to say there is a blank check open for any reader to pipe up regarding writing errors and oddities that don't look intentional so I can go back and fix them. I'd greatly appreciate the help in improving the story in these little ways!)

 

[poyac]

I like the trio. This smug, cardboard cutout Fallen Hero can go get smited by Kevin though. Good writing!

Seems like they want to obscure the fact that a Fallen Hero killed them all by throwing a bunch of bandits at the Automatas.

 

[TripleMRed]

Knight-Paladin Dancer logically knew he was doomed. Logically, a Fallen Hero was likely to be too powerful for one such as himself. Logically, they would have no reason to answer his summons for a duel and could simply destroy him with a motion of their hand and a flex of their power. By all logical measurements, he was doomed beyond numerical calculation.

And yet, in his reactor, he had faith. Faith that his prayers for the safety of his people would be answered and that this wasteful expenditure of life would end. And so, the bandit army had been rounded up, surrounded and now pushed into a makeshift holding parameter, their wounded gathered and being given medical attention.

"Challenge: You! Face me!" And his prayer for a fateful duel were also answered, the Fallen Hero slowly floating down to face him.

The wolf eared man was floating, refusing to touch the ground like some sort of deity not wanting to sully their feet with the dirt. A look of amusement was over his face as he gazed on with his arms over his chest.

"Well, I'm here." The Fallen Hero declared. "Now, how do you want to do this?" In response, Knight-Paladin Dancer got into a defensive stance: Halberd at the ready and shield raised, his squat, helm like head peaking over the defensive stance to glare at the hero. His four mechanical legs tensed; actuators ready to move in an explosion of movement at the first sign of trouble, his back mounted thruster systems warming up. He was the perfect image of defiance. For his part, the Fallen Hero just smiled. It was like a parody of a friendly grin, all traces of warmth nonexistent and in their place was a cold, predatory savagery lying just below the surface. "Alright, guess I'll start us off.

The rest of the assembled onlookers kept themselves a fair distance away, those not busy with overseeing the captured bandits or tending to their wounded turning their optics to gaze on at the battle that would follow. They knew in their cores it was a doomed battle, that Dancer stood no chance. But that stopped none of them from silently wishing his victory all the same, impossible though it was.

For a long, drawn-out moment, nothing happened. One second passed. Two. For a brief moment, it seemed like nothing would happen. As soon as the third second passed, however, everything happened all at once. An explosion of movement, too fast for any of the bandits and most of the Shellforters to follow. For those that could follow the action, the wolf-eared man leaned forward and with a powerful back kick, as if his feet were slamming against an unseen wall despite being in the open air, he shot forward. He was fast, too fast. Dancer was doomed.

Until he wasn't. With a speed that his hulking metal form belied, Dancer reacted to the incoming Fallen Hero with a sidestep, the powerful relic shield used to glance off the incoming fist to the side before he used the body of his halberd to slam into the Fallen Hero's neck. He has done a clothesliner with a melee weapon.

Undeterred, the ex-Hero flipped around, impressed but uninjured by the displace as he rolled over himself, foot extending outward to slam on the top of Dancer's shield. The protective barrier was half buried into the soil, but Dancer's reaction proved itself more than a one off: In the split second before his shield was buried too deep to pull out, he activated his back thrusters, the jet of flame shooting out in a gout that flash fried the mud behind him into a glass furrow and shot him forward. Leaning forwards, with his head pointed directly at the Hero, Dancer slammed into the Hero's solar plexus with enough force to send him back several dozen meters before he stopped his momentum with a flare of his power. The Fallen one blinked. The bandits blinked. The Shellforter's optics refreshed themselves. Dancer, however, just got back in his original defensive stance, halberd ready, shield in position after being freed from the mud by the thrust forwards. Once more, he was defiance given form.

With that, the ex-Hero laughed out a bark of amusement.

"Let's dance!" He shouted before charging forwards, this time making sure not to overexert his momentum. Dancer braced and fired off his thrusters once more, and the ensuing impact of the shoulder charge from the villain was stopped only by the activation of his thrusters, though even with their power, Dancer still found himself being dragged a full five meters backwards, the shockwave of the impact sending a gust of wind that left their immediate area free of five inches of mud by a solid 10 meters.

A split second later, the two began to exchange a flurry of attacks: The shield ate up impacts from the villain's punches and kicks, while the Fallen Hero dodged the Halberd strikes, though the insane smiled on his face spoke of someone dodging the attacks for the hell of it rather than out of fear of damage. To an outsider looking in who could follow the battle, it seemed they were evenly matched. But Dancer's fellow Paladins could see the toll being taken: Each impact against the shield left it a little more dented and cracked, too small to be noticed by anyone without advanced optical suites. Dancer was fighting on borrowed time, and once the shield finally gave out, it would be all over. However, Dancer had proven himself full of surprises, and it was for that reason that despite the overwhelming odds, his Battle Brothers silently prayed all the same.

Blow after blow, each strike paired with a miss, man of metal against a godling. Eventually, however, the Fallen Hero grew tired of their exchange, and in one final kick that threw Dancer back, he threw back his hand as though he were preparing a haymaker. However, it was immediately clear what he was planning as a spike of solar energies began to pool in his reeled back hand. Dancer hid himself fully behind his shield and a moment later, the early morning darkness was split by an early sunrise.

The Sun Beam threw a violent, concentrated blast of plasma that washed over Dancer's shield, and kept going behind him. As soon as it ended, the damage was immediate: Dancer's shield held, but it was glowing, full of cracks. The ground behind him was outright molten, and the forest hundreds of meters back were now ablaze. A moment later, the Fallen Hero rushed forwards and, with his other arm now prepared for a real haymaker, punched the shield head on.

The relic shattered in a shower of shards and half-molten fragments, Dancer's left shield arm being torn in two....but in one final act of impossible agility, Dancer used his thrusters to juke out of the way in time before the deadly fist could impact his center, and he slashed one time at the Fallen Hero on the side his fist was still extended from.

Dancer stopped a dozen meters away, Halberd extended outwards in the slash he had made with it, and the Hero deathly still. A long moment passed before he reached out to slide his thumb across his cheek, finding a fresh cut oozing a streak of blood from it. The Hero's face was statuesque as he regarded the blood on his thumb tip. He lazily looked over to Dancer who, despite his shield and left arm now being gone, returned to his stance once more. Injured, thrusters heated a dangerous golden-orange, and molten fragments of his lost equipment splattering him like glowing dots of molten sunlight, Dancer's gaze remained steady and true, and in the cores of all of Shellfort, his new name was known to them all: Dancer the Defiant.

For a moment, it looked as though the Fallen Hero would break into a rage, a tantrum at this dishonor upon his form. What he did next, however, was infinitely worse: A psychotic, excited grin spread from ear to ear, eyes wide in a vicious predatory look.

"Right on!" Getting into what can only be described as a runner's stance, it seemed as though the Hero was going to perform one final rush forward.

Before the final blow could be struck, however, a new light flared over the battlefield: A green flare, shooting out from the forest opposite of the side that was now aflame. The Fallen Hero froze, before his face soured into a grimace.

"And like that, the fun's spoiled." He grumbled as he stood up in his floating stance. He cracked his neck before he began to float upwards. "Sorry metal man, but the fun's over. Time to do my job." Once he was over all of Shell Fort, he raised his hands above his head. Energy began to pool, and a small star began to form over him. The star began to grow, larger and larger, going from a dull red to a brilliant yellow. It continued to grow and grow until it ceased to be a distant star and was now a second early sun. As artificial daylight flooded the area, defeat settled in over all. It was all over now, the Fallen Hero's true power now revealed. He had been holding back, toying with them, and now he was about to destroy them all. As one, the Shellforter's prayed in silence. in thanks for the lives they had lived and for the peace that would soon over take them. The Bandits, defeated and scared, cried out in fear or grimly accepted the bright doom looming over them.

Dancer too prayed, to the Great Maker, to any who would listen. But his was not a prayer for salvation in the afterlife, but salvation for them in this life. He prayed for a miracle.

"For what it's worth," The Fallen Hero shouted down, his disappointment bleeding into his voice, "That was fun while it lasted!" And with that, he motioned his hands downward, and the Sun began to fall. It was all over.

Until it wasn't. Nobody was quite sure what happened for a moment. One second the Death Sun was falling down on them. And then, a second later, it was suddenly going up. Very very high up, very very fast. It detonated high in orbit, and nobody quite knew what was the cause. It was as though an invisible force had reached out and grabbed the deathball before throwing it away. Even the Fallen Hero looked completely confused.

And that's when they heard it, drifting from the roads directly to the south of Shellfort, a strange sound both alien yet melodic. All turned their gaze, those with the ability too zooming in their vision to see the origin of the sound. There, coming down the road towards them all, were three small figures. And as the smallest of them began to float up into the air, the melody became married with an even stranger chorus:

'DAMN CUP NOODLES, YOU LOOKING SO FINE!'

Confusion washed over all as the little figure floated towards the Fallen Hero, but as strange as the whole thing was, Dancer knew in his heart of hearts who this was.

His prayers had been answered. Their Miracle had arrived.

 

[poyac]

Thank goodness those machines were saved! Since the Fallen Hero likes the sun so much, he can go get punted up there and see how it is.

 

[TripleMRed]

Breakfast had been a wonderful time that day, with whole new forms of food Kevin had never even dreamed of entering his newly growing catalog of meals. Even as they all walked down the road, Kevin found himself dining on a third cup of, well, cup noodles. The delectable substance tingled his senses and delighted his tongue. Even now, he could feel the umami flavored vegetable flavoring spark fireworks in his mouth and it made him feel at peace.

However, as they walked and as Toyo and Alyxia chatted away with one another, Kevin felt an unease enter his heart he couldn't quite place. It came suddenly and without warning and seemed to grow by small but notable increments the longer they all walked forwards, in the direction of Shellfort.

Brow furrowed, Kevin finished his meal as he wondered as to the cause of this. It could be any number of things, and could well be something on the road between their current location and Shellfort.

"Hey, something wrong, Kev?" Quickly snapping back to reality, Kevin realized he had made his discomfort known. Turning back, he offered a steady smile to reassure his friends, but it was clear by their looks of concern that they were not fooled.

"Yup!" His monosyllabic answer just confirmed their fears that something was wrong.

"Come on, little guy, you can tell us." Toyo stated.

"Toyo, we're the same height. We're both little guys." Kevin pointed out, trying to deflect the question, but Toyo didn't take the bait.

"You can tell us what's wrong." Alyxia stated. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, it's just…." He sighed, deciding to be up front with them. Kevin scrunched up his nose, trying to come up with a way to properly explain the odd feeling he was getting. "You ever get a bad feeling, like a weight on your heart, but you don't know what's wrong?"

"Heart burn?" Toyo offered. "Well, you did eat a lot of stuff to be fair."

"No, no, more like-"

"Like you feel something bad is happening or is about to happen but you have no idea what it is or where it's coming from?" Alyxia butted in. Kevin's eyes lit up.

"Yeah, exactly!"

"There's no proper term for it, but everyone in the Adventurer's Guild just called it the 'Danger Sense'. Because someone was in danger."

"Does it specify who is in danger?"

"Well, no." Alyxia admitted with a frown. "The sense is…..annoyingly vague like that."

"When did you start feeling this, uh, 'danger sense', Kev?"

"A little while ago, and it's been growing the more we have been walking towards Shellfort." Kevin admitted. He frowned as he looked at the dirt. "It's so weird, I've never felt something like this before." He kicked a rock two inches away. "What does it mean? Who is in danger?"

"It comes and goes and is both vague and unreliable." Alyxia admitted with a sigh. "Honestly, it could mean any number of things." Kevin looked at her with a concerned look.

"How's about we keep walking and if anything pops up, we deal with it." Alyxia and Kevin both looked at Toyo with surprise at his suggestion. For his part, Toyo was scratching at his chin scruff like he just finished talking about the weather. "The sooner we get going, the sooner we can figure this out, no?"

"You aren't wrong." Alyxia stated with a sigh. "To hell with it, let's get going! If we meet anything, we can handle it together!"

"Or at least Kevin can." Toyo piped up. When Alyxia have him a look, he just shrugged. "What, the guy can fly into space and destroy meteors, he's kinda our strongest card here." The Goblin male stated bluntly. Kevin just giggled as his friend wasn't wrong. Well, only one way to find out what this was and that was to keep going.

———

Night came as it always did and the team found themselves in Kevin's realm once more. After taking care of the nightly chores, everyone got settled in for bed and drifted off to sleep. Everyone, that is, except Kevin. After walking all day and finding nothing wrong along the way, the feeling of dread continued to mount all the while. Kevin found himself laying in his bed, staring up at his ceiling, unable to sleep. Even within his realm, the sense of dread in his heart refuses to leave him.

"What does it mean?" He asked to no one in particular. And thus he stayed that way, unable to fall asleep, unable to stop thinking of this strange, foreign feeling. It was frustrating. As the hours ticked away and the early morning approached, Kevin found himself increasingly tired, but also unable to dream. "Come on, give me something." He hissed.

As if answering his request, it happened: he heard voices. Too many to discern all at once, but the feeling they held was the same: desperation. Pleading. 'Help us.'

All at once, Kevin's eyes snapped open from his failed attempt at slumber. He got up, put on his cape-poncho thing, his hat, and then he went outside to find Alyxia and Toyo.

Up early due to their newfound routine of chores in Kevin's land, his friends only had enough time to spot him when he said, "I know what's wrong."

And in a flash, they were all teleported back to the normal world, miles off from where they had stopped.

"Kevin, what's-Is that the sun?!" Toyo's yell was matched by the unnaturally bright light in the early morning night time. Alyxia and Toyo gawked at the miniature sun above what seemed to be a fort built into a mountain, a battlefield and burning tree lines stretching beneath it, and in an instant they realized this was probably the bad feeling Kevin had been having.

Kevin himself, however, just stared with a look of determination as he heard in the back of his mind one voice asking above all the others: 'Save Us.'

The Death Sun started to descend, but Kevin just reached out, 'cupping' the bottom of the sun from his perspective. In an instant, the Star stopped moving. With a mighty grace, Kevin threw his hand up, and the Star followed, zooming off high into the atmosphere before detonating at the edge of space.

Silence filled the air as Kevin looked to his friends.

"We're going to help them." His face was of determination, but his voice was pleading. With looks of determination of their own, Alyxia and Toto nodded. With that, Kevin looked to the sky to spot a singular individual, floating in the air, and instantly knew who had been responsible for the Death Sun: It's magical signature was emanating off him.

Taking his music player, Kevin set it to play the last song it had played, and to his amusement it was a particular one involving cup noodles. With him and his friends cresting the hill, Kevin kicked himself off the ground and headed up to face the flying stranger. Time to see what this was all about…

 

[poyac]

Thanks for the update. its nice to see character interactions... But this felt like version 2.0 of the same cliffhanger

 

[TripleMRed]

Thanks for the update. its nice to see character interactions... But this felt like version 2.0 of the same cliffhanger

Click to shrink...

(It kinda is, and I apologize for that. This was meant to 'what was happening' from the perspective of Kevin that lead into his arrival at Shellfort. Don't worry, next update will be a proper continuation of events and will have Kevin interacting with the Fallen Hero.)

 

[poyac]

I'm just thankful that you're still pumping out good content. Are u posting this story anywhere else? Just wondering if you're getting much feedback or discussion.

 

[TripleMRed]

I'm just thankful that you're still pumping out good content. Are u posting this story anywhere else? Just wondering if you're getting much feedback or discussion.

Click to shrink...

(I'm cross posting this story on Spacebattles and Sufficient Velocity. As for feedback and discussion.....I get likes! Though, one recent reader has started giving feedback on SB, so that's nice. Other than them, not much feedback or discussion in my threads.)

 

[TripleMRed]

Sol watched with fascination and mounting amusement as the tiny dot coming towards him grew in size the closer it approached, to reveal a diminutive figure. It couldn't be more than 4 foot 2, 4'4 max, and looked like some sort of furless, black skinned puppy figured out how to cloth itself in bandages, stand upright, and dawned a hat and a cloak. It was an utterly amusing sight, one he was fascinated by as it stopped a dozen meters short of reaching him.

It hovered, cloak billowing, eyes level to his own as an odd, inscrutable look covered it's puppy like face. Crossing his arms, the Fallen Hero looked on in amusement, his original task forgotten in favor of seeing what delights this odd creature could bring about.

"Excuse me, sir." The voice that came out of it was distinctly scratchy and masculine. "What is going on here? What were you doing just now?" It suddenly dawned on Sol that this little figure was probably the messenger or minion of whatever force had grabbed the Death Ball and launched it into the upper atmosphere to explode. With a visciously mocking grin, a twisted parody of a kindly smile, Sol spoke up.

"Why, I was destroying this place and everyone in it. Was that not clear, little one?" The tiny figure blinked before frowning.

"Why?" It demanded to know. Sol was quick to decide it didn't matter what he told it as he would wind up killing it alongside everyone else once this was done and over with.

"Because it's my job."

"Someone is forcing you to do this then?"

"Forcing? Nah kid, I was hired to do this. I'm being paid good money to wipe this place out." The frowned deepened and the tell tale look of anger was now over his face.

"So you're doing this of your own free will?"

"Basically!" Sol laughed. "Boy, you should see the look on your face!" The tiny figure took a deep breath before letting it out, visibly calming himself down to just a normal frown.

"I am asking you, please don't do this. There are untold lives down there, you'd be killing so many people."

"That's the point, kid!" Soul's laugh was louder and stronger this time. "What's the point of having all this power if you don't flex it over the powerless?" Another sharp intake of breath to calm himself down. This little bugger was really getting riled up, how adorable.

"I am asking you this one time." He hissed through gritted teeth. "Stand. Down." The nerve of this little bastard, to demand he stand down? Someone needed to be taught a lesson.

"Or, and hear me out." Sol started as he unfolded his arms to gesticulate. "You kindly shut up and die." The round house kick that followed could sheer the top of a mountain with how much power has been put into it. A moderate display for one at his level, but a point needed to be made. Nothing would be left of the little brat.

So, imagine his surprise when not only did the little bastard not get erased into free floating atoms, but that Sol's kick had actually missed him entirely thanks to a swift dodge by it. Sol blinked. Huh, maybe this little guy has more Power to him than he was letting on. A flurry of kicks and punches followed, each being dodged as easily as the last. Slowly, surely, a twisted grin formed over Sol's face. Another fun distraction, like the Metal crab below. And a smaller target too, which made it all the more exhilarating to spar against. Just when it seemed like they had fallen into a pattern of hits and dodged, Sol put considerably more power into a surprise punch, that was stopped dead by a block from one of the little guy's arms. The look of fury on the tiny fighter's face was impressive, and it all suddenly dawned on Sol that maybe this little fighter wasn't an acolyte of the one who had stopped the Death Ball, but the one to do it themselves.

As he reared back a fist for a punch, Sol could only let out one, singular word: "Alright."
———

The ensuing shockwave of the hit could be felt from the ground as the Fallen Hero was sent flying away into the forests below. Alyxia and Toyo were making their way across the war torn battlefield to reach Shellfort proper when they stumbled from the shockwave reaching them. The earth shake from the crash as an explosion of dirt and flying trees in the section of forest the enemy had been punched down to only further made them nearly collapse to the muddy ground, but the duo were quick to pick themselves up and continue on their mad dash towards the fortress town.

As they approached, they found numerous Shellforters and what looked like bandits hogtied in a massive pile all staring towards where the fight was now ongoing. One of the Shellfort soldiers noticed them however, and raised his weaponry in response.

"Command: Halt!" As the two friends skidded to a stop, one particularly battle worn Shellfort soldier wielding a halberd and missing an arm stepped forth between the soldier and them.

"Statement: Be at ease, Brother Sophus, I do not think these are enemies." The larger war machine rumbled our before turning his optics towards them. "Query: Tell me, small ones, are you with the Blessed One who has come to save us all?"

"'Blessed One?'" Toyo said as if to feel the words in his mouth. "You mean Kevin? We're his friends."

"Statement: Then it would seem our miracle has thrice blessed us." The Shellforters rumbled. "Request: Please, friends of Kevin, what can you tell us about our savior?" The other Shellforters crowded around them even as the battle literally boomed mere miles away, eager to hear their tale.

"We, well," Alyxia cleared her throat before awkwardly smiling at the Crustacean machines. "I'm Alyxia, this is Toyo, and Kevin is…..Kevin. It all began a few weeks ago-"

 

[Dukem]

When I found this story I expected many things, what I got was not among them and has only left me with more questions.

I love it.

 

[TripleMRed]

Anger is a funny thing. It simultaneously focuses and blinds those it affects, it dulls the senses yet makes them sharper than ever. It was a popular theory for a time on Terra that the size of a person was directly proportional to what emotions they could feel at a given time, the theory positing that the smaller the person, the less emotion they could feel at any one time due to a lack of space for more than a few at a time. As Kevin body slammed the Fallen Hero through a set of trees and left a furrow into the ground, a small part of his mind was wondering if maybe, just maybe, that theory held any weight.

The rest of his mind was too busy kicking the Fallen Hero in the ribs with round-house kicks at the rate reserved for machine guns to bother caring about what that little rational part thought or cared for. For his part, Sol was having the time of his life, his laughter intercut with violent coughs and grunts as this tiny creature was beating the snot out of him.

Kevin found the Fallen Hero's lack of attempts to defend himself even more infuriating, so he grabbed him by the leg and spun him around before lobbing him at a bolder hard enough to shatter it, and the two trees behind it.

"HA!" Sol howled out. "HAHA, OH, THIS IS GREAT!"

"Stay down!" Kevin yelled out.

"Nah!" Before Kevin could continue his assault, the Fallen one flashed forward and kneed the smaller male in the jaw, sending him flying into the air, before flashing again to a position over Kevin and high kicking him back down to the ground hard enough to crater the ground. He followed it up with a falling elbow, only to be stopped midair by Kevin erupting from the dirt with an uppercut to Sol's face that left him flipping through the air. He found himself grabbed before he could stop spinning and the next thing he knew, he was being piledrived into the dirt. The force of the impact flattened several nearby trees, and left Kevin growling in frustration as his enemy just laughed and started to pick himself up again.

"Oh, this is great!" The wolf-eared man declared as he cracked his neck and snorted out bloody phlegm. "I don't know who or what you are, kid, but this is the best fight I've had in years! I'm Sol Wrathbane." He declared as he jabbed himself with his thumb. "Sun Fighter. I'm rank Hardened Topaz, what about you?" Kevin blinked. On the one hand, this 'Sol Wrathbane' was not a good person. A very, very bad guy, in fact. On the other hand, he had stopped fighting to introduce himself, so it was only right he did the same. With a grunt, Kevin acquiesced to an introduction.

"I'm Kevin." He grunted out. "I sell Llamas." He didn't bother giving Sol a career title or Rank of Power. He didn't have either to his name, unless you counted 'Llama Seller' as a title, not that the Adventurer's or Hero's Guild did. Now it was Sol's turn to blink.

"Stop messing around, you don't sell Llamas." Rather than argue with him, Kevin just took out one of his premade business card's and politely tossed it at Sol like a throwing blade, who caught it before it could hit him. He inspected the item in question and his eyes widened.

'Hello, I'm Llamapalooza Employee #001, Kevin!

I am an authorized seller of Llamas and Llama accessories of the Llamapalooza Llamaglomorate brand!

'

"....Yo, what the fuck?"
"Tier 1 swearing is impolite!" Kevin gasped out before performing a leaping dropkick to Sol's face for daring to sully the polite conversation they were having with such foul dialogue!"

"Aight, we back at it." Grunted Sol as he reached to the nearest tree before yanking the trunk out of the ground and using it to smash Kevin away, before tossing a pair of solar blasts at him for good measure. For his part, Kevin kicked the incoming plasma balls away, one harmlessly detonating in the air, the other landing several dozen meters away and turning a patch of forest into a glass monument. Kevin stopped as he heard the distinct cries of wildlife being spooked by the violent explosion, and his stomach sank.

"Here I come!" Sol shouted as he rushed in and began to furiously kick and jab at his smaller opponent. Kevin, however, just blocked all the incoming attacks as he considered what to do. If they continued their fight here, as he had foolishly allowed to happen, the forest, its creatures, and the people in the fort nearby would be in danger of the fight spilling out further and causing damage, possibly claiming lives. If he took it to the air, or another destination, that wasn't really solving the problem because at their level of power, vast stretches of distance was one solid kick away from one another.

He could take this to the upper atmosphere, but that only magnified the problem as one solid hit could result in them spilling the fight over who knows where across the horizon. With his options narrowed down, that left only one viable thing left.

"Alright, we'll do that." He muttered to himself as he reached deep to activate his power.

"You say some-whoa, glowing eyes!" Sol said before Kevin rushed in and wrapped his arms around Sol's waist. "What th-get off!" He started to hammer down on Kevin, not noticing the portal opening up behind him before Kevin kicked the air hard enough push the two of them forwards, zooming past the forest and into the portal at Mach speed.

Which made the resulting impact to the solid rock that was the ground of Kevin's first dimensional border world powerful enough to result in a mushroom cloud of dust. Coughing, Sol got up and looked around as the dust cleared, quickly assessing his new local. He looked up in time to see the final remnants of the portal shutting above them, leaving him staring at a black, starless sky, the horizon a border of mountains and a dim glow like an evening twilight all over the place.

"Okay, hold up, time out." Sol said, motioning for a pause. Kevin, who was in the middle of throwing a roundhouse kicked, politely erased his momentum mere inches away from Sol's head. "Where are we?"

"Oh, this is my border world!"

"....I beg your pardon?"

"Yeah, it's the first dimensional layer I made between the normal dimension of our native reality and my Infinite Llama Plane." Sol slowly, painfully blinked.

"....First?"
"Yeah, I was fine with just the one, but Pappou insisted on making several dimensional layers, for safety's sake." Kevin explained as if he was talking about common weather. Now, Sol wasn't what you would call a scholar. Indeed, his fight-junkie attitude was enough to easily have him be written off as a typical meathead. However, even he was knowledgeable enough on the concept of pocket dimensions for the sheer implications of what was just said to settle and weigh on his mind.

".....Okay.....What the actual fu-"

"NO SWEAR!" And with that, the momentum Kevin had eliminated from his foot not only returned, but actually came back with triple the force, sending Sol flying into a mountain and cracking it in half. What would knock the senses out of someone instead knocked Sol back into the game, and whatever despair he might have had evaporated as the opportunity to fight a being as powerful as this was too good for him to pass up. Grinning a vicious, evil grin, blood dripping from between his teeth, eyes wide in a feral look, he uttered his next words loudly enough to be clearly heard from the mile's separating the two of them.

"Fuck it, we ball!"

 

[poyac]

Hmmm I slightly like Sol here, and I like the protag's considerations for their environment. Perhaps they'll become frenemies. Sure he's not going all out but it's cool too see him trying much more than he usually does. Thanks for the chapter!!

 

[TripleMRed]

The buffer realms that Kevin had created between his Llama Plane and regular reality were rather peaceful places. No life, no will, nothing but the calmness and tranquility of silence and the still forms of their respective surroundings.

"Is that all you got!?"

The peace in the first buffer realm had been shattered first when Kevin kicked an asteroid into it, and now it once again was torn asunder as he and his enemy fought across its desolate, mountain rich wastelands. Mountains crack open, hills were blown apart, and on more than one occasion there was an impact on the ground so potent, it split open to create a new valley. By all appearances, Kevin was dominating the fight, but by dint of an unwillingness to go all out and through his opponents sheer dogged determination, the pair found themselves at an impasse.

"Stop fighting!"

Kevin didn't want to risk killing his enemy, while Sol was in no way afraid of a glorious death in battle. And so, they fought on.

"Come on, do it with feeling!" Sol laughed as he blocked a kick that sent him sheering through a mountain top, before he kicked back, sending a blast of solar energy that sent him head first into Kevin's midsection as the smaller male flew after Sol, a rare turn-around that saw the two plunging into the mountain they had just flown past, its tip still flying apart and its first debris not hitting the ground yet when they found themselves tearing through its heart.

Piercing through to the other side and leaving a crater, the mountain falling apart behind them. Kevin coughed out the dust in his lungs, giving Sol the opportunity to hammer fist the young man in the chest had enough to knock the air out of him. A vicious kick to the jaw sent Sol flying away, with Kevin not following only so he could catch his breath.

"Alright, this is getting really fun now." Sol laughed as he stopped to float above his foe. Crossing his arms, the wolf-eared man smiled cruelly down at his opponent. "How's about we turn up the heat?" With that, he spread his arms and summoned forth orbs of solar energy, before launching the explosive plasma projectiles at a rate of fire that was flat out impossible for anyone not at his level of power. Kevin shielded himself with his arms over his uncovered face, his ears flexing to keep his hat firmly on his head and not blown away as the detonations rang out all around him.

The heat instantly jumped from a balmy temperature to tens of thousands of degrees centigrade, the ground for over a hundred meters being reduced to molten lava and glass that quickly shattered from the shockwaves of follow up detonations. For his part, Kevin found himself breaking a sweat, which quickly evaporated almost as soon as the moisture left his body. His skin was heating up, but he and his clothing both remained intact despite the ludicrous temperatures thanks to sheer durability and reinforcement charms respectively.

"THINK FAST!" Kevin reacted instantly. He grabbed hold of Sol's arm and started moving it to the side as soon as the Sun Fighter reached through the still expanding solar field in order to palm Kevin in the chest.

Only, it wasn't a palm strike: In a flash of light, the open palm shot out another blast of plasma, but this one was different. This was no explosive orb, but rather a concentrated, focused spear of solar energies, so focused that the temperature was no longer in the tens of thousands centigrade and now well over a 5 million. Kevin yelped in pain as the spear struck him in his cheek and left a tangible effect on him. Black skin burnt red and raw from the focused beam at such a close range. Sol's seemingly permanent grin took on an even greater sadistic glee than before as he used the brief opportunity of Kevin's surprise to jab out his other hand in a similar palming motion, the ensuing Sun Spear attack striking Kevin directly in his right side without any deflection.

An ensuing flash of survival instincts overtook Kevin, and in a single motion, he kicked out, catching Sol in the solar plexus and sending him flying away to give himself breathing room.

All at once, the world seemed to slow as the pain in his cheek and his side caught up with him. As his perception accelerated to new heights, the explosions of the final Sun Grenades still expanding around him, Kevin reached up to his cheek with his left hand and flinched with a his as his still-suit covered hand came back with blood on its fingertips. With his right hand, he reached for the area where the second Sun Spear had pierced into his right side, bellow his ribs and into the side of his abdomen. The reinforced still-suit had helped mitigate the damage, but there was still an active trickling flow of crimson as the skin was burnt to the point of bleeding.

Looking up to where Sol's form had been kicked to, the larger Sun Fighter's body piercing through one of the Sun Grenade detonations, Kevin realized just how grave things were: Sol had a way to hurt him now. Maybe not defeat, since now that Kevin was aware of this fact he could work around it.....but that didn't change the fact that, prepared or not, he could be hurt, and that meant his chance of victory had gone from 'certainty' to 'likely'. And if there was one thing he knew, it was that this was an unacceptable risk.

He needed to finish this, but any attack that could do it quickly would be certain death for the Sun Fighter, and as despicable and deranged as he was, Kevin couldn't find it in his heart to allow himself to be the one to kill him. That left only one, imperfect option left to him. He would have to rely on a Magi technique Pappou had taught him, one tailored for his own abilities to work with.

As the world began to pick up speed again, Kevin took a deep, calming breath. He willed his wounds to heal enough to stop bleeding, for the pain to ebb and go away so as to not distract him. With that taken care of, he closed his eyes and reached out with a hand towards Sol, who was preparing another rush down.

"What's the matter, shortstack?" The delighted Fallen Hero asked mockingly. "Are you going to ask me to spare you? Hurt and wanting it to stop?" Sol's legs flexed as he prepared to kick himself towards Kevin. "Well tough luck, kid, because I've got a chance to win this now, and there's no way I'm gonna give it up with a fucking throwing in the towel!" Sol kicked out, closing the distance with Kevin.

Only for the young man to open his eyes and an unseen flash spark between them.

All at once, Sol's ability to maintain his form as he rapidly approached Kevin fell apart and he found himself suddenly face-planting into the molten dirt. Spitting out some magma from his mouth, Sol stood up, eyes wide and confusion in his face. He looked around himself before hopping up into the air, failing to achieve flight. He kicked the ground, which shifted the molten earth but didn't so much as cause a crater, however small, or split it open. Slowly, he leveled his eyes at Kevin, who now had a look on his face. This was not a silly expression of friendly whimsy, nor was it a blinding enraged anger. This was a look of focus, of serious determination.

"What," Sol began, "Did you do."

"It's called 'Tangle'." Kevin kicked the dirt, causing a same reaction as when Sol had kicked it. "I used my powers to tangle up yours. So now, neither of us have any special tricks." Sol, eyes wide, flicked his hands and a layer of low level solar energy covered them. "Well, mostly." Sol tried to launch a blast at Kevin, only for a truly pathetic burst of flame to expand less than a foot outwards. Sol's eyes narrowed before his most viscious grin yet crossed his face.

"Alright then. I guess we do this the old fashioned way." Simultaneously, the two parties took on fighting stances, fists up and legs in combat ready positions. "Hey, shortstack. You somehow had music playing the last time we fought. Why don't you set the mood for when I kick your ass into the rock." Without a word, Kevin willed his music player into his hand and focused on it to play something appropriate for the battle. The music started to play, and Sol bopped his head to the beat.

"Alright, you little bastard." He grinned. "We die like men, let's go."

 

[poyac]

Nice work! The first paragraph is accidentally in quotation marks.

 

[TripleMRed]

Nice work! The first paragraph is accidentally in quotation marks.

Click to shrink...

(Thanks, fixed)

 

[TripleMRed]

The sounds of combat had died down just as quickly as they had started, and Alyxia couldn't help but wonder what that could mean for Kevin and his opponent. She had little doubt her small friend could, and would, win. But that didn't mean she wasn't concerned about the sudden disappearance of the intense action that had been present just scant minutes prior. There was little she could do about it, however, as after she and Toyo had regaled the Shellforters with the details of who their savior was, they had been asked to take on a responsibility of great importance.

"Ouch, watch it that stings!"

Namely, providing basic first aid to the various captured bandits who had been caught at the end of the siege against Shellfort. There was a lot that Alyxia wasn't expecting when she woke up today, but between Kevin's supernatural sense for danger and the devastation around them, this was up there.

"Just hold still and you won't have to worry about an infection." She stated calmly.

"Infection?! Why would I worry about a bloody infection, my bloody hand is gone!"

"Sardonic Statement: Yes, that tends to happen when you try to fight a heavily armed and armored defensive position filled with high caliber cannons." Alyxia glanced up from her work bandaging up the injured bandit to see a hulking, crab legged machine man missing his left arm settle down next to her, his optical suite staring down at the bandit in question. "Sarcastically: Take this as a lesson: Don't fight heavily armed positions filled with high caliber cannons."

"You metal bastard!" The bandit raged, only for the machine to ignore him to look at Alyxia instead.

"Gratefully: You have our thanks in your arrival and aid, Miss Alyxia. We can never repay the debt we owe you." The machine stated.

"Your words are kind, sir-?"

"Humbly: Knight-Paladin Dancer, at your service." Dancer uttered with a bow of his head.

"You are too kind, Sir Dancer, but really it is Kevin who deserves the praise. We are just along for the ride." Alyxia said.

"Don't be so modest, Alyx." Toyo uttered as he moved to feed a healing potion to another bandit near by. "We're doin' our part to help the little guy. He needs the company." A frown came over the Goblin male's face. "I sure hope the little guy is alright, I'm starting to get worried about him."

"It has been a while since we heard from him, hasn't it?" Alyxia sighed.

"With Confidence: Do not worry, if you friend is as powerful as you say, he will be fine." Dancer stated with a nod.

"I know, it's just easy to worry." Alyxia said with a soft smile.

"Well, iffin' this ain't just a heartwarming sight. Still missin' me freakin' hand!" The bandit yelled. Alyxia rolled her eyes and fed him a vial of pain killers, which immediately caused him to slip into a peaceful high.

"Though, one thing does bother me: Why where they out here attacking you all anyway?" Alyxia asked, a frown taking over her features. "I mean no offense when I say this, but Shellfort isn't exactly known for being a very important site."

"Concerned Admittance: I have been wondering that same question ever since this whole mess began, and the possible answers all trouble me."

"Let me guess," Toyo uttered as he scratched his scruffy chin. "You've got artifacts under lock and key?"

"Impressed Affirmation: An astute observation." Dancer admitted. "However, few people know of this. Fewer still know there is anything worth taking from our collection. An army of bandits with a Fallen Hero to make sure there are no witnesses indicates several possibilities. Again, all of them trouble me."

"Well, at least they didn't take anything, right?" Toyo said with a hopeful tone.

"Hopeful: We can only pray this is so."

"Saddened statement: I'm afraid the prayers would come too late." The trio turned their heads at the new arrival, a Shellforter draped in what could only be described as clerical attire.

"Alarmed: Brother-Cleric Sirius, what do you mean by this?" The smaller machine man's optics dimmed as he gazed down at the floor in defeat.

"Resigned revelation: It would seem this siege was but a diversion. Some sort of infiltration team was able to slip through our defenses while we were focused on the bandits and were able to claim an object of high value."

"Hold on, just the one?" Toyo asked, face frowning. "Nothin' else?"

"Affirmation: That is correct."

"Rising concern: What object did they take, Brother Sirius?"

"Object 42." Alyxia noted the lack of any presentational prefixes in this Sirius' sentence, which told her all she needed to know how serious this was. Indeed, the way Dancer froze up only highlighted the unfortunate situation.

"I take it that is bad?" Toyo asked.

"Grim explanation: Object 42 is a fragment of a key that was torn apart and hidden away at various points around the world. This key is one that unlocks a prison holding within it a powerful, terrifying force of destruction, one that if unleashed will lead to the end of your world." Alyxia and Toyo both stared in wide-eyed silence.

"....Yeeeeah, that's bad."

"Logically, if one fragment of the key was stolen, doesn't that mean whoever took it wants the other parts as well?" Alyxia noted out loud.

"With extreme concern: That is most likely exactly it, yes." A sigh escaped Toyo.

"Well....I don't know about all of you, but I kinda like the world? I live in it, would be pretty bad to have to move out." Alyxia couldn't help but chuckle at her friend's concern.

"Well, as soon as Kevin is back, we'll have to report this if the Shellforters haven't already."

"Statement: We had launched an alert flare the day before, but we do not know when the Hero's Guild will send someone to investigate." Dancer explained. "However, the Fallen Hero was quite dangerous. If your friend cannot defeat him, then we will all still be in danger, and there is no telling if we will survive long enough for aid to arrive." With that, Alyxia couldn't help but let out another sigh.

"Kevin, wherever you are, whatever is going on, please....Please win this...."

 

[TripleMRed]

The dimensional border world of mountains, dry plains, and empty skies had been this way since their creation several years prior. Its aesthetics were more for appearance's sake than any actual functionality: The point of the plane was existing itself, to act as but one of several defensive layers on a dimensional scale, separating the Infinite Llama Plane from 'regular' reality, a defensive measure that its creator had originally thought overkill before being convinced for such a level of thoroughness.

In all of that time, it had remained static, idle, without change or alteration to its composition or landscape since its founding. Everything changed, however, when but weeks prior, a colossal comet of iron and ice was sent into this reality at relativistic speeds. The results were immediate: A massive detonation that saw the empty void of a sky filled with clouds of dust and, for the first time in its history, instantly evaporated water molecules. As hours turned into days, and days turned into weeks, the first water to grace this land in years was now in the atmosphere in aerosolized particles, slowly but surely doing what all water vapor eventually does and began the formation of proper cloud formations. There was no sun to block, so the light levels given off by the lighting from the horizons' perpetual twilight continued unabated.

The second massive change to happen was that, in the span of under an hour, the landscape once against saw change as the creator of the plane and his enemy entered it and began to fight a battle only seen in times where demi-god like Heroes did war against one another. The land was shifted, mountains raised and felled from the impact of bodies, and ravines and craters now dotted the land, all coming to a stop as the pair stood against one another for one final fight.

As Kevin stared down his enemy, both of their powers diminished down to something, nowhere near mortal but still roughly approximate by their standards. The battle of godly might had ended on a draw, Sol taking every hit that had him spitting blood with eager glee for more, and Kevin having gone this route at realizing that his foe had a way to harm him with his concentrated solar energies. Sol demanded to know what he had done, to which Kevin obliged him with the abridged answer. To his frustration with this man, all this did get him ready for the final bout. A true fight junkie. Some would say there was something to respect in that, but Kevin was more focused on strategizing how to defeat this foe.

Kevin stood a little over 4 feet tall, while Sol stood over 6 feet tall easily. Even if they were brought to an even playing field and Kevin still held an advantage in raw durability, the fact remained that Sol had advantage in reach, experience, and unwavering fanatical drive to fighting. That meant that Kevin would have to-

"Hey, shortstack. You somehow had music playing the last time we fought. Why don't you set the mood for when I kick your ass into the rock." Kevin blinked before silently obliging him once more. Summoning his music player, Kevin only briefly paused to note that a droplet of rain fell upon his hand. Glancing up, he saw that the water vapor from the comet had, at long last, formed full rain clouds. More and more droplets began to fall, to which Kevin took as his cue to activate his music player, willing it to play a song that he thought would be fitting for this battle.

As the first beats of the extra-dimensional song began to play, Sol's face broke into an approving, feral grin.

"Alright, you little bastard." He grinned. "We die like men, let's go." As aggressive as his first encounter had indicated, Sol rushed forwards in a dead sprint, feet kicking up dirt as he rushed down Kevin. Kevin remained in his combat stance as he watched, waiting for the first attack in order to respond. He got his desire when Sol's fist came sauring in, aimed at his head.

Responding by leaning out of the way to the side where Sol's other fist could not lash out, Kevin's own arm shot out with a calculated block that pushed Sol's fist out of the way before Kevin kicked the ground hard enough to launch his knee into Sol's stomach.

Despite getting the wind knocked out of him, Sol refused to let something as little as a knee to be belly stop him from changing the direction of his extended arm in order to perform an impromptu elbow to Kevin's face. The smaller male briefly left the ground before Sol's hand caught his foot and the puppy faced fighter found himself spitting out dirt for the second, and then third and fourth, time that day as the larger man swung him around too and fro into the ground.

Adapting quickly to the unexpected tactic, Kevin's free foot shot out, hitting its target by slamming his paw like foot unto Sol's wrist, causing his hand to reflexively let go. Flipping into a crouch as he landed, Kevin's feet kicked under him to send him into a direct headbutt with his enemy, snapping Sol's face back. Rather than allow himself to continue his upward motion, Kevin's quick legs wrapped around Sol's chest, hooking him in place to begin a series of bunches and elbows unto the Fallen Hero's face.

Not to be outdone even with the hammering blows directly striking his face, Sol was just as quick to adapt as his enemy. His hands snaked beneath Kevin's extended arms as he came down with a double fist, Sol's hands batting them aside to give him an opening to wrap around Kevin's midsection. His feral smile never leaving his face, Sol leaned forwards for a brief moment before tossing his upper body backwards, legs remaining planted on the ground.

Kevin realized too late what his enemy was doing: A demented suplex with the opponents facing one another. Kevin found his head impacting the soil hard enough to breach the rocky surface. His head wasn't buried for long, however, as Sol was quick to yank him out, using the moment to break yank Kevin's legs off his torso before he leveled the young man in front of him for a vicious drop kick that struck the young man right in the jaw. Dazed, Kevin found himself groggily standing up, blinking the rain away when he realized that rain was directly falling on his head.

Sure enough, his hat had remained where it had been planted into the soil behind Sol. For his part, Sol was still grinning like a lunatic as he stared down Kevin, fists punching out into the air in an almost mocking manner. Spitting out phlegm, Kevin acknowledged that there wasn't a scenario where he would be able to out-muscle Sol without using his powers, which would weaken the Tangle between them and allow Sol to use his own abilities. That meant he had to switch tactics.

Once again, Sol ran forwards, grinning as he launched the same fist that Kevin had batted away, clearly goading him into repeating the process all over again.

Not this time.

As Sol over extended into the punch, Kevin dodged rather than blocked and batted, twirling out of the fist's path. Spinning like an acrobatic dancer clinging to unseen strings, Kevin lowered himself before launching his foot out in a kick that struck Sol in the place he least expected it: In the back of his knee.

Bent leg bending even further, Sol found himself slamming his knee to the ground where he had intended to take another step, before Kevin once more spun on unseen strings to deliver a viscious round-house kick directly into Sol's grinning mouth. The resulting eruption of blood and teeth flew out to mix with the falling and pooling rain as Sol was sent unto his back. Kevin had to restrain himself from leaping unto Sol to wail on him, knowing that would only play to Sol's strengths by playing his game of raw power.

Flipping in place until he was back unto his knee, Sol licked his bloody teeth, his smile never leaving as he stared at Kevin. A display for intimidation. All it did was affirm what Kevin already knew: This guy was a fight addicted maniac. He rushed forwards again, hands scooping up dirt before tossing the increasingly muddy soil towards Kevin's face. Rather than move to either side, Kevin kicked himself forwards into a slide, going beneath the rising mud before his leg lanced out to sweep Sol's legs from beneath him. But he didn't stop his motion: As Sol fell, Kevin spun as he slid so that his still extended leg once more smashed into Sol's face.

More blood. More teeth. Now coughing up his own dentation, Sol quickly went from coughing to a dark chuckling sound. He seemed to finally realize what Kevin's tactics were, as he side-eyed the young man from his position laying in the mud. Bloody, muddy, but not quite defeated, Sol's eye continued to stare at Kevin, who was still standing in place awaiting for Sol's next move. Kevin didn't have to wait for long, but to say the next move was predictable was a gross inaccuracy.

Sitting up, cupping his hands together, Sol pushed his hands forwards to reveal a coalescing bundle of solar energy that grew brighter and brighter until, in a snapping bang, it exploded in a flash of light so bright, Kevin had look away to avoid being blinded. Indeed, this 'Flare' continued to beam at him. Kevin grit his teeth, ears catching Sol's feet slamming into the mud as he rand at him for an attack that Kevin wouldn't see coming.

Or so the Fallen Hero thought. His Flare technique was brilliant, an ingenious application of his sun related powers. However, he had miscalculated with whom he was fighting against: As Kevin was looking away, eyes glued to the ground, he could see the shadows of Sol's movement coming towards him. As the shadows grew darker and more focused, Kevin's mind was quick to calculate how much closer his enemy was getting, until finally he found the shadow falling over him, blocking the light and taking that as his cue.

Kevin's back leg shot forwards in a round-house kick. Sol, his arms raised for a double-hammer blow, quickly changed strategy as he clamped one hand down to his side, catching Kevin's foot as it impacted high on his chest and keeping him in place. His other fist descended and caught Kevin in the head, but adrenaline and supernatural focus allowed him to overtake the disruption in concentration long enough to execute the final part of his hastily made plan.

Kevin's foot that was still on the ground hopped, sending him up and, using the unique quality of his foot's rounded shape, he twisted his leg and body around its place in Sol's grip. The Fallen Hero realized too late what was happening when Kevin's free foot shot out and, with full force, slammed into the side of Sol's head, right in his temple.

Sol dropped Kevin, who twisted like a falling cat to land in a crouched position, his feline like eyes narrowed as the larger man stumbled to the side from the vicious impact. A mild relief came over him as he saw that Sol was both still standing and yet barely able to stay on his feet as he swayed from the attack. It looked like it was finally over.

And thus it caused Kevin's heart to fall when the shaking, slumping Fallen Hero slowly raised his arms up in a barely functional stance, his eyes narrowed in pain but his grin still on his face.

"Come on!" He growled through blood and broken teeth. "Come on!" This man would keep fighting until he was dead, or he somehow won. There was no way he was losing this alive.

No way....Except for perhaps one.

With a burdened sigh, Kevin sadly looked at Sol not with anger or disgust, but pity. Pity for what was about to happen.

"I'm so, so sorry." Kevin uttered as he dropped the Tangle, his full power coming to him as he got into the proper stance for his final attack. Sol's smile somehow got wider as he opened arms wide as if inviting Kevin in for a hug.

"DO IT!" He yelled extatically, believing in rapturous joy that he would die in glorious battle. A false joy, built on ignorance of what was to come. Kevin closed his eyes, unwilling to witness what had to be done to end this without a death, though perhaps in some ways, death would be a kindness.

"Alright." And with that, Kevin launched himself forward, his rear leg bending as it moved forwards, knee filled with cosmic power raising towards its unsuspecting target.

---

As Toyo and Alyxia watched as the last of the Bandits were counted and given medical attention, the Goblin looked up to his taller female counterpart.

"You look worried." Alyxia sighed.

"I'm am worried. It's been a while since they disappeared. Do....Do you think Kevin won?" Toyo smiled a calming, friendly smile as he placed a hand on her arm. He opened his mouth to give words of encouragement when....it happened.

Toyo's eyes widened-indeed, all eyes that could were wide open-and the sound that left his throat was not one of soft spoken kindness, but a mounting yell of abject agony. Alyxia was horrified as she heard and watched as every male around her began to scream in pain.

"WhaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-" Alyxia's words morphed into an agonized scream along with all of the other women.

"Query: What is going oooooo-OOOOOH MY HOLY GOD HAVE MERCY!" Not even the machine men escaped as soon, they too felt a pain that was completely impossible for them. Alyxia and Toyo fell to their knees holding onto one another for support, tears streaming down their faces as the shadow pain in their loins abated.

"I.....Oh God.....I think Kevin won." Toyo murmured as he joined the rest of those present in collapsing from the worst groin pain ever inflicted by proxy.

 

[poyac]

Ah that was fun. I missed the last chapter but its cool that the confrontation ended. Do you enjoy writing this or benefit from it in some way? Do what you want to do, whether you want to continue or leave it for some undetermined time. Thanks for the chapter.

 

[TripleMRed]

Ah that was fun. I missed the last chapter but its cool that the confrontation ended. Do you enjoy writing this or benefit from it in some way? Do what you want to do, whether you want to continue or leave it for some undetermined time. Thanks for the chapter.

Click to shrink...

(I get a fair bit from writing this, namely practicing my story telling and getting experience with telling a non-quest based story. I also very much enjoy writing Kevin, as he is just plain fun to write. I hope you enjoyed the fight scenes, I was afraid I wrote them in a boring manner.)

 

[poyac]

The fights were cool, the end was funny, characters good.

 

[TripleMRed]

(Hey all, just wanted to ask a question: Do you guys think this story is actually any good, at all? I dunno, I guess I'm scared that I've been writing this story all of this time, and it's not actually all that great or fun.)

 

[TJG]

(Hey all, just wanted to ask a question: Do you guys think this story is actually any good, at all? I dunno, I guess I'm scared that I've been writing this story all of this time, and it's not actually all that great or fun.)

Click to shrink...

It is an entertaining story. I would say it is a good story. I would define good here as someone else did along the lines of "While individual tastes are different from person to person, does the general intended audience care about what the main characters do or what happens to them? If so, then it is a good story no matter what else happens in the story or what genre or anything else. If the intended audience do not care what happens to the main characters or even if they die or disappear, then it is a bad story no matter what else happens."

Well that is my opinion.

 

[TripleMRed]

As the dust began to settle in Shellfort, not all were at the former battle site as a captured bandit. Indeed, as his crew made their way through the forests and mountains at breakneck speed on their air-dingy, the Captain could not help but laugh at their success. As the distraction that had been promised assailed Shellfort, it had been easy for him and his crew to sneak in through the back as all of the mechanical men's attention was focused on the visible threat attacking them. His elite team of seasoned Pirates had been able to get in, find the exact item their client had hired them to get, and gotten out without issue.

In a way, it had been too easy, so distracted the Shellforters' had been with the obvious threat before them, with little in the way of guards to get in the way as they got into the vault. The temptation to take more treasure for themselves was great, their pirate heritage both of sea and sky demanding they take their share of plunder. But the Captain considered him and his mates nothing if not professional when hired for a job. You don't get hired for commissions like this if you don't have a reputation for reliability and professionalism on the clock, after all.

Still, as disappointing as not taking anything except their target had been, the prize was in their hands and with it was a payday, and Flynt could already picture what he would take from his sizable captain's cut of the rewards. Indeed, as he inspected the strange metal fragment in his hands, trying and failing to read the runic tongue carved into its surface, he could hear his crewmates chattering away as they talked about what they would do with their cut. Everyone except one.

"Somethin' the matter, Ursala?" The shark man asked as he looked over to his biggest, most imposing crew member, a colorfully befeathered Gryphon woman whose eyes were glued to the piece in his hands with a scowl on her face. Her cat like pupils narrowed as she glared at it, the gears in her head working to try and decipher it.

"I don't like this, Cap'n." She uttered. She growled as she crossed her taloned arms over her wrapping bound bosom. "There was somethin' about that weirdo who hired us. Really bad feelin' about that one." Flynt frowned, but not because he disagreed with her. Quite the contrary, she spoke sense: There had been something off about the one who had hired them. The Contractor. The Hiring Hand. The Benefactor. All of these names and more were those used to refer to whatever that had been by the crew, and none of them felt quite at ease discussing it.

"You're not wrong, Urs, but we took t' job, and we completed it. Now, we jus' deliver this fancy bobble and get our loot and we'll not have ta deal with that critter no more." The Captain assuaged his second, but he knew he was saying that more for his own benefit than hers. It was simple, take the job, do the job, deliver the goods, get paid, and fekk off to spend the earnings. It was simple. Wasn't it? Yes, of course it was, it would be. Turning her head to look back at the Fort, Ursula's frown deepened, the stumps of the wings on her back shifting uncomfortably as she looked in the direction they had come from.

"Maybe your ri-Ah!" At once, everyone on the air-dingy cutting through the forest yelped as a distinct jolt passed through their respective loins. Nothing cripplingly painful, but the sort of pain that left one ill for a few moments. "What was dat!?"

"I dunno, lass." Captain Flynt growled. "But whatever it was, I hope it's the last we've dealt with it...."

---

As everyone at Shellfort recovered from the agony that had visited them scant moments ago, Alyxia and Toyo found themselves some of the first to completely recover. As the two friends brushed themselves off, a golden light washed over them as from above, Kevin returned to their world through a shimmering portal. The tiny young man floated out of it, carrying in an unseen telekinetic grip the body of the Fallen Hero he had disappeared fighting against.

As he got to ground level, the conflicted look in his eyes switched to confusion as he looked around at the assortment of individuals in the area still clutching their respective nethers. Just as suddenly had the confusion come, it was replaced in his eyes by a look of epiphany and then sheepish shame as he winced while looking at his friends whose legs still shook despite mostly having recovered otherwise.

"Did....Did I do that?" Kevin asked softly.

"Well....That depends, Kev." Toyo uttered as he cautiously approached the body of the Fallen Hero as it was laid on the ground. "What did you do?"

"I.....Did what I had to." Kevin said, turning his head to not look at them as he glued his eyes to the muddy ground. Alyxia joined Toyo in cautiously approaching the still form of the Fallen Hero.

"Who was he?" Toyo asked.

"He said his name was Sol." Kevin mumbled.

"Sol? A Fallen Hero named Sol?" Alyxia asked as she stopped just short of the body and inspected it: The dark-skinned wolf-eared and tailed man was still breathing, alive as ever, but he was deathly still. His thin-lipped mouth was in a parody of a grin, the lips stuck exposing the teeth halfway between a feral smile the gritting mouth of a man in agony. His golden eyes were wide open, cloudy with spilled tears, staring blankly into the sky in the way only the most broken of souls could manage to do, a sort of lifeless distant stare at the crossroads between technically being alive and being, well-

"I think you broke him." Toyo muttered as he took a stick and poked at this 'Sol' in the side with it. The Fallen Hero didn't so much as twitch in response.

"Toyo, be careful, I think I've heard of this man." Alyxia hissed at her Goblin friend. "Sol Wrathbane of the Sun Fighter school made headlines when he went rogue! He wiped an entire town off the map!"

"I, uh, don't think he's going to be hurting anyone anymore, Alyx." Her Goblin friend stated, though he at least dropped the stick to his side as soon as he heard about this guy's deeds. "Kev, buddy, what did you do, little man?"

"What I had to." Kevin repeated, causing Alyxia and Toyo to share a look. Ultimately, they nodded in silent understanding before moving to stand beside Kevin, Alyxia getting down on one knee, and both placing a hand on his shoulders.

"Kevin, you very well have saved every soul here from being murdered by a certified madman." Alyxia soothed in the same voice she reserved for bedside manner. She may have been the bard of her old parties, but more often then not as the only one lucky enough to avoid severe injury, she had wound up having to be the one to tend to her wounded party-mates, both for physical injuries and for those unseen. "Whatever you did to stop him, know this, you did the right thing."

"I don't know about you, Kev, but I for one enjoy living." Toyo joked with a smile as he rustled Kevin's shoulder. "All of my friends are here!" That caused Alyxia to snort and Kevin to sniff as he rubbed his eye, a small smile of his own forming at Toyo's dumb jest.

"Thanks, guys." He uttered. "I.....Thank you. For being here." He said as he turned to them. His arms started to raise from his sides, but stopped half way up before he forced them to his sides, like he had started to go for a hug before deciding against it part way through. Alyxia and Toyo shared another look and Toyo nodded before he wrapped one arm around Kevin's shoulders and giving him a firm, but friendly full body shake.

"Come on, Kev. Let's get our new robo-pals here. I think they'll want to see and deal with this guy as soon as possible."

"Actually, I think they know already." Kevin said.

"Huh?" Kevin raised a hand to point out of their little circle, causing Toyo and Alyxia to look out.....and see they were surrounded by Shellforters, the mechanical crab-men all down on their equivalent of knees, bowing deeply.

"What are they doing? Is this how they say hi?" Kevin asked before getting down on his knees and bowing even deeper than the Shellforters in their direction.

"RAPTUROUS EXCLAMATION: WE HAVE BEEN BLESSED BY OUR LORD-SENT MIRACLE!!!" With that, cheers erupted from the crowd, leaving Kevin more confused to the point where he just bowed even deeper while Alyxia and Toyo looked on with a mixture of bemusement and amusement. In a surge, the Shellforters rushed in and took hold of Kevin, lifting him up into the air as they shouted prayer hymns in joyous tones.

"Guys, I think they're friendly!"

 

[dogbertcarroll]

Quick! See if they want to buy some lamas while they're in a good mood!

 

[TripleMRed]

"They have done it!" Cried the mayor of the small town of.....what was it's name again? Nosbrook? No Brogue? Something like that. "We are saved! All hail our savior!" And so with the mayor leading them on, the people cheered as they were saved from the crisis of what would have been a lethal landslide were it not for the timely arrival of the Hero, Ling Moonsong.

They had heard it all before. The cheering. The accolades. The reverence. It was all part of the job. Whether it was slaying a giant monster, or beating back an army of criminals, or something as simple as now in preventing a natural disaster, the results in the life of a Hero always ended the same. In all honesty, Ling had grown accustomed to the job, and where once they bathed in the reverence of the common folk whose lives they had saved, they now felt.....no, apathy wasn't the correct word. It was a feeling closer to.....Boredom. It was the kind of feeling one got from doing what was expected of them and then going by the numbers.

This wasn't to say the Moon Rabbit wasn't glad the people were saved by their hand, but after going through the motions so many times before, it was just another job to them.

"There is no need to thank me, kind people of-" The resulting pause was too infinitesimally small for any of the Mortals before them to notice as they stopped to glance at the sign at the town entrance. To them, it was as if there was no pause at all. "-Noosborche. I am simply performing my duty." The silver and grey colored Moon Rabbit bowed deeply to them, white and silver dress-robe like uniform of their order immaculate despite averting a landslide as the gold bangles of her rank clanged against one another as they pressed their hands together. They did mean what they said, but it was just another part of the role. Another check on the list to go through.

They already knew what would follow next, too. A feast in their honor, perhaps even a parade of some kind. Festivities, food, all of that. Even if the rest of the procedures had become mundane, Ling freely admitted to themself that 9/10, at least the food that followed was good. The last 1/10 revealed to them that they had an allergy to certain kinds of shellfish, so that had been unpleasant.

"Please, mighty Hero, would you honor us with your presence at a feast?" A rumble in their empty stomach got Ling's attention and set their decision in stone. With a smile on their face, Ling opened their mouth to respond with a hearty 'yes'.

Only to stopped by the buzzing of their Vox Gem from within their robes. In a flash, it was out and in their hand, their silver eyes locked to it as they read the message received within it, the words appearing in their minds eye as they gazed at the gem.

[ASSISTANCE REQUIRED, STOP.

ASSAULT AT SHELLFORT BY MASS BANDIT ARMY, STOP.

APPEARS TO BE LED BY FALLEN HERO OF SUN FIGHTER ORIGIN, STOP.

PLEASE HELP US, STOP.]

Another job already, but the second to last part of the message set them at an unease. There were only a handful of Fallen Heroes Ling could think of belonging to the Sun Fighter school, fewer of them still alive in the modern day. None of them were weak or to be trifled with, with Ling at best being at the same rank of power if they were the one they were thinking of.

All other thoughts left their mind, however, when they saw the timestamp that followed the message. Heart skipping a beat and blood freezing in their veins, Ling didn't even so much as glance back at the mayor let alone respond to his invitation to breakfast before they leapt into the air and, with a solid kick as if bouncing off the air itself, launched themselves into the direction of Shellfort. How had the message been delayed so long? Shellfort was not that far off from where they had just been, by Hero standards. How had this gone unnoticed until now? Questions for later. If Ling was lucky, Shellfort was still standing and there would still be something left to save. Who knew what harrowing experience the Shellforters were facing at that very moment. If they were unlucky.....

Well, there was always avenging the dead.

---

Alyxia laughed as she watched the assembled parties dance in the court-yard of Shellfort. Toyo and Kevin were locked elbow to elbow in an odd foreign jig that Kevin claimed his 'Pappou' had taught him; Locked arm in arm at one elbow, facing two different directions, Toyo and Kevin were kicking their feet out in a synchronized beat set to the rhythm of Alyxia's guitar playing, having to do so in perfect unison in order to avoid one bringing the other into the dirt with a fall. That had happened twice now, before they had gotten into the beat.

As they danced, the Shellforters observing lifted their fists into the air in tune to the beat, shouting words of encouragement as they watched their savior and said savior's friend dance a victory dance before their eyes. Several had paired off to dance a similar jig in honor of their hero, while yet more added to the music through various forms of instrumentation they had pulled out just for the situation of celebrating their victory. Strange instruments that made use of electrical mechanisms to amplify or assist in their music making, but instruments all the same. It was a testament to their skill in music craft that they were able to play in harmonious synch with Alyxia's own guitar playing.

As the celebrations went underway, she couldn't help but make note of the assorted bandit survivors who had been captured and currently found themselves tied up in one corner of the courtyard, under watch by several heavily armed guards. It was amusing to see many of them looking defeated or annoyed by their circumstances. It was funnier still to see so many of them bopping their heads to the beat.

"Statement: This is a delightful day." Alyxia didn't stop playing, but she did turn her head to acknowledge who had spoken. A Shellforter with priestly garments and a tall hat stood beside her, his optics set to a calm coloration as he observed the proceedings. "Clarification: We survived certain doom and have been blessed with the presence of a glorious one sent by the heavens." Alyxia couldn't help but smile at that.

"That's Kevin for you. He's a bit of an odd one at times, but his heart is in the right place and he won't stop until everyone is safe and sound." The she-dog said with no small amount of pride in her friend in her tone.

"Reverently: Then we have truly been blessed to have such a kind heart reside in one so powerful." The Shellforter let out a synthesized chuckle at that. "Amused: I may have to double our prayers in thanks after this. But that can wait until after the celebrations have concluded." Alyxia chuckled to herself at that as she turned her eyes to watch the dancing go down, when her eyes caught something.

Or rather, someone.

"Pardon me for saying this, but was that monkey always there?" Alyxia asked. Her words caused the Shellforter next to her to set his optics to where she was looking at, his gaze falling down upon a monkey man who has somehow joined the cheering crowd unnoticed as he pumped his fists into the air alongside the Shellforters around him. The one next to her let out a burst of static, which caused the Shellforters around the area to suddenly stop their merrymaking all at once and turn their gaze in near-unison towards the monkey man in their midst.

"WOOOOOO!" He yelled, not immediately noticing the sudden stop in the festivities, though this quickly changed. "WOOOOOooooooooooo-.....What?" The Shellforthers stared him down with iron gazes. ".....Is it because I forgot to bring the booze to the party? It's because I forgot to bring the booze to the party, isn't it?" The monkey joked with a piss-drinking grin and a shrug to his shoulders.

"Oh hey, uncle Han! When did you get here?" Kevin blurted out as he too finally noticed the monkey man, 'Han', causing everyone present to stop and look at him in confusion.

"Confusion: The Monkey's your uncle? I did not know canids and primates were so closely related." Came the confused words of one of the Shellforters. Alyxia had to suppress a snicker while the priestly Shellforter next to her rubbed the spot between his optics as if he were pinching the bridge of a non-existent nose.

"Statement: God is testing me."

 

[TripleMRed]

Captain Flynt wasn't the most fond of mercenary work, preferring the good old days of swashbuckling thievery, but he had to admit as he looked at the open chest of riches before him, this line of work paid well.

"We thank you for your services, Captain." Flynt narrowed his eyes at the creature before him. He still had no idea what species the one who had hired them for the job was, but if he didn't know any better, he was certain that there were subtle changes to their appearance. At the present, they resembled something closer to a feline more than anything, though with enough mismatched differences that what kind of feline remained unanswered. Shapeshifter? Wouldn't be the oddest thing he's worked with.
"I take it ya got what'cha wanted, den?"

"Indeed, this is exactly what we requested." The creature stated as they inspected the odd metal item in their hand. Seemingly satisfied with their inspection, they pocketed it into their overly formal attire before delivering a chillingly tooth filled smile to the Captain. "Enjoy your spoils, Captain. We will call you when we need you again." Flynt narrowed his eyes. When, not if. And it didn't sound like it was an offer for more work.

Still, the rewards spoke for themselves.

"We'll keep an ear out." Flynt stated as he looked back to his crew, who were already dividing up the payment amongst themselves, while being careful to make sure that the lion's share remained for their captain. "Oh, by th' way, what ha-" Before he could ask his question, however, he turned to find the strange creature was already gone. "I hate it when people do that."

---

Alyxia had her fair share of odd family members. There was Cousin Annie, who believed herself an artist with a bow. Literally. Then there was her oldest nephew, Morty, who had joined the Adventurer's Guild with the inventive new 'class' of 'Juggler'. The Clown School had embraced him as one of their own in a heart beat, if only to give their own miniscule Adventurer line much needed new blood.

But she could safely say that an Brewmaster monkey-man from the Far East who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and who was now the focus of the party by doing tricks on his flying cloud for an uncle was a bit new in terms of oddities that Alyxia had seen to date.

"Go, Uncle Han, go!" Kevin cheered as his 'uncle' flipped from his handstand to his feet to surf the air overhead, much to the entertainment of those watching. Toyo in particular was well into the whole thing, cheering on the newcomer as he went about putting on a show.

"Kevin, is it alright if I ask a question?" Alyxia looked to her younger friend. Kevin looked to her with his head quirk.

"You just asked a question, though, so if it wasn't alright then you will have already asked the question when it wouldn't have been alright." Alyxia's lidded stare at Kevin's innocent face caused her to forcibly remind herself that she should have seen that coming when conversing with him.

"May I ask another two questions?" She politely inquired.

"Yissim." He nodded.

"Is Han your honorary uncle?"

"Yush." Kevin nodded again. "He's been a friend of Pappou and Cousin since forever, I think. He always brought me gifts whenever he visited!"

"I see. Well, about your family, how far does it extend?" For a brief moment, almost too small to catch, Kevin's eye flickered from side to side as if he considered what to say before he decided on an answer as he refocused his vision on her.

"Well, there's Pappou, and Cousin, and Uncle Han, and the Great Llama Supreme." The way he trailed off made Alyxia think for a moment that he was going to keep going, but his voice died off as soon as he mentioned the Great Llama Supreme, who or whatever that was.

"What about your mother and father?" She politely asked. Kevin just kept staring at her with a cheerful smile on his face, though the way the light in his eye seemed to dim told her this was starting to become uncomfortable for him. When he didn't answer for a few seconds, she quickly decided this wasn't working and switched tracks. "Soooo....Uncle Han brought you gifts?" The effect was instantaneous, possibly literally given who she was talking to, as Kevin immediately lit up with excitement at this new line of conversation.

"Yeah, like this." Alyxia was not in the slightest bit surprised when Kevin reached into his cloak and somehow pulled out what seemed to be a bottle she had never seen on his person before. She was, however, somewhat concerned that it seemed to be alcohol, but what she managed to find more concerning than gifting a bottle of booze to a minor was the fact that the top had been replaced by piece of cloth.

".....Is.....Is that a firebomb?"

"Don't worry, it's not alcohol." Kevin cheerfully declared, as if the alcohol was the problem at this point anymore. "It's a stable form of Nitroglycern crossed with Napalm!" Oh, good. It wasn't a firebomb. It was some kind of unholy super-firebomb.

"Kevin, why on Terra would your uncle think it's safe to give you a firebomb as a gift?!"

"What? Ohhhh, no!" Kevin laughed as he reached into his cloak again. "He didn't give me this as a gift, he got me this!" He pulled out what seemed to be a well-read tome. Alyxia, half curious and half full of dread, reached out and took the book before looking at its cover.

".....'The Terran Anarchist's Cookbook, 12th Edition'!?"

"Yeah, Han gave me it so I could make fire works!"

"Kevin, that's not fireworks!" Alyxia cried, jabbing a finger at the direction of the lethal concoction Kevin had in his grasp.

"Of course it isn't, Alyx." Kevin said with a gentle, genuine smile. "It's my cologne!"

It had been over a month since she started her journey with Kevin. In that time, Alyxia had somehow come to believe that she truly had gotten used to the madness that followed the small but incredibly powerful hero.

"Kevin....Kevin...." Alyxia was literally grasping at the air as if physically trying to find the words. "Why.....Is your cologne.....A firebomb?"

"Because it kills all of the stink germs and leaves behind a smell people find pleasant!" Kevin declared that as matter-o-factually as someone declaring that today was Tuesday, or that it was now lunch time.

With the benefit of hindsight, it made perfect sense that a Hero at Kevin's level could make use of such utterly deranged methods of self-care without worry about their own health. But even with that perspective, it now dawned on Alyxia that she was not truly prepared for all of the eccentricities that this tiny creature held in store for her.

And so, as he flicked his thumb to summon some fire and lit up the cloth of the firebomb, Kevin looked at her with a friendly smile as he lifted it up in the air. "Here, I'll show you!"

"Wooo, Kevin bonfire, let's go!" The voice of the newcomer, Han, pierced through the air above them.

"Haha, wait what?" Toyo's voice reached Alyxia's ears as she realized Kevin was actually waiting for her go ahead.

Alyxia paused for but a moment as she gave it a thought. She had been unprepared for this despite knowing Kevin was not normal in the slightest, and she knew now that much more madness awaited her in the future. She had two options: Politely drop out now and return to her old life as a mediocre Bard surviving mostly on a twisted version of luck......Or embrace the chaos of this little creature completely and go with the flow, no matter how deranged, that awaited for her in the future.

And so, with her decision made, Alyxia just sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "Kevin bonfire it is then." The sound of breaking glass and the roar of a small firestorm being borne filled the air, as did the cheers of the Shellforters.

"THE HOLY FLAME HAS BEEN LIT!" Embracing the Chaos it was, then.

---

To say the speed Ling reached was 'breakneck' was an understatement. They doubted any unprotected Mortal could survive the velocity they had reached to arrive at Shellfort as fast as they could manage. A thousand thoughts roared through their mind: Where they too late? Was Shellfort still standing? Could they beat the rogue Sunfighter? All these and more churned in their head before they came to a sudden stop in the air. They had arrived over the region Shellfort called home, and an enormous sense of relief crashed down on them like a wave of refreshing rain.

Aside from the obvious scars of recent battle, Shellfort remained standing, mostly intact at that. Movement of countless beings on the ground told them that there were many, many survivors, and so it seemed that something had happened to save this place from certain destruction. A less scrupulous Hero would have just taken the sight at face value and have left at that without further inquiry, but Ling did not reach their rank on combat skill alone. A methodical and thorough investigation to report to Hero Central was their duty as much as protecting the innocent was.

As they made their descent down, however, they quickly began to notice many oddities.

Countless individuals in the rag-tag outfits and colors of bandit clans were stockpiled in a corner, tied up and hapless, while Shellforters played instruments and danced wildly. The strangest, however, was near the center of the courtyard, where hundreds of Shellforthers and a trio of organic beings were standing around and cheering on what seemed to be a tiny wizard who was dancing......While being completely set ablaze.

"......What in the Goddamn.....?"