List of fan fiction

Fan-fiction story page

These are the Fan-fiction stories that I found in the forums.

This Wiki page by: Dogbob (IGN: Grittle)

Let the flames begin (by N3cR0m4nS1r):

Hello everybody! Firstly, this is not a flames war thred. I have recently begun writing a story about SK (and me), and figured i should share it with everyone. Its Title is "Let the Flames Begin". it will not be a comedy, more like an epic. So, without furthur adue, here is chapter one!

LET THE FLAMES BEGIN

Chapter one 20:24, 1 August 2011 (UTC)20:24, 1 August 2011 (UTC)20:24, 1 August 2011 (UTC)20:24, 1 August 2011 (UTC)20:24, 1 August 2011 (UTC)20:24, 1 August 2011 (UTC)20:24, 1 August 2011 (UTC)20:24, 1 August 2011 (UTC)20:24, 1 August 2011 (UTC)20:24, 1 August 2011 (UTC)20:24, 1 August 2011 (UTC)20:24, 1 August 2011 (UTC)20:24, 1 August 2011 (UTC)~

Flames. People screaming. Soldiers lay dead on the streets. An army marching onto a palace. Someone runs outside of his home. He is instantly swarmed be a troop of giant horrors on fire. He attempts to fight back, and is decapitated. The flames grow, as does the heat. They grow to unbearable temperatures. They fill up your vision. A pair of red eyes glow through the flames. Screams and fighting can be heard in the distance. A mask is revealed to be the owner of the eyes. A mask that somewhat resembles a skull. Then, it speaks. “This kingdom is mine. No one will stand in my way. What was stolen from me will be soon rightfully returned!” The flames grow even bigger and hotter. The flames explode, engulfing you and burning you. A giant mace is raised. “I shall destroy your puny kingdom. This place is mine! Almire is mine! And no one shall stand in my way, for I… AM… LORD… VANADUKE!!!!!!!!!!!!”

20:24, 1 August 2011 (UTC)20:24, 1 August 2011 (UTC)20:24, 1 August 2011 (UTC)20:24, 1 August 2011 (UTC)20:24, 1 August 2011 (UTC)20:24, 1 August 2011 (UTC)20:24, 1 August 2011 (UTC)20:24, 1 August 2011 (UTC)20:24, 1 August 2011 (UTC)20:24, 1 August 2011 (UTC)20:24, 1 August 2011 (UTC)20:24, 1 August 2011 (UTC)20:24, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

I wake up in bed with a start sweating. The images of those eyes are still lingering in my vision. I sigh. It was the 5th time this week I had that nightmare. “Vanaduke…” I say quietly. Those words sound so familiar, but I can’t remember what they mean. Is it a place? A person? A weapon? I put the word out of my mind for now and open the curtains. Sunrise on Spirulus Prime is always so beautiful. Shades of red, purple, yellow, orange, and just about any color you can imagine. I take a big breath and head back in. I head downstairs and into my kitchen. I take a energy bar out of a shelf and slowly chew on it. As bio-mechanical creatures, we don’t need to eat much. However, we do need to keep up our energy, and hope our mechanical parts don’t break. I finish my food and head outside. I see people running around, knights practicing their sword- (and gun and bomb) play. Vendors selling food, weapons, armor, jewelry, and other random objects. I walk up a hill to my workplace. My name is Necro. I’m a scientist. I create inventions that can help the population of Spirulus Prime. However, I haven’t created anything yet. But I am on a major breakthrough. I am currently working on powering a giant spaceship called the “Skylark”, which would transport out people to distant worlds to colonize. Our home planet is running out of resources, so we need to find a new place to settle before we run out. I walk up to Kozma, a member of the Spiral Order, the military that protects our planet. So far, they haven’t seen any major action, just a few rebellions. She’s currently looking over the entire Skylark operation, making sure no one gets hurt and that no fights break out. “So, how goes the progress on the Skylark?” she asks me. “Slow. We still have yet to find an energy source that is big enough to power up this thing.” “You know, one of my friends, Brinks, had an interesting idea. “Yeah?” “You know about those energy storms we have?” I scowl. “Don’t mention those. One of my good friends, Nix, was hit by an energy bolt a few weeks ago. We still have yet to find his head.” “Oh. Sorry about your friend. Anyways, he was thinking that the energy storms could somehow power up the Skylark.” “How?” “Have you ever heard of an energy rod?” “Yeah… They attract the energy strikes, and turns it into power…” “Do you see where I’m going?” I consider what she says for a moment. Realization about what she just said hits me hard, and I suddenly dash off to find Brinks.

Chapter 2 2 days after the events in chapter one…

“ARE YOU SURE THISI A GOOD IDEA?!” Kozma screams at me over the wind. “NO!!!” I scream back. At the moment Kozma, Brinks, and me are in the middle of nowhere, directly under a whirling energy storm. After I had found Brinks two days ago, we had begun formulating a plan to power up the Skylark. It was actually quite simple. First, we had to get an energy rod. And about 200 miles worth of energy transferring cord. We had to get directly under an energy storm, and have some of the energy bolts strike the rod. The rod was connected to the Skylark a couple miles away by the cords. It was all really easy. The hard part was surviving the energy storm. With energy bolts striking the ground everywhere, we’d be lucky just to escape with 5-degree burns. “COME ON!” Brinks shouted. “WE STILL HAVE TO GET THE ENERGY ROD UNDER THE ENERGY BOLTS!” “ARE YOU CRAZY! WE’LL BE FRIED IF WE STAY ANY LONGER!” Kozma retorted. “DO YOU WANT TO POWER UP THE SKYLARK OR NOT?!” “YES, BUT THERE HAS TO BE A LESS DANGEROUS WAY!” “ACTUALLY,” I shout, “I DID THE CALCULATIONS AND CAME UP WITH THE ANSWER THAT THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO DO THIS, UNLESS YOU WANT TO SPEND THE REST OF YOUR LIFE FARMING ABOUT A TRILLION LIGHTNING SHARDS! WE ONLY HAVE A 5% CHANCE OF SURVIVING THIS STORM IF WE DON’T GET OUT IN THE NEXT 10 MINUTES. ACTUALLY, SINCE THE ENERGY BOLTS CAN CAUSE THE AIR AROUND THEM TO SUPER-HEAT TO ABOUT 1,000,000 DEGREES, WE ONLY HAVE A 1% CHANCE OF SURVIVING, AND-!” I decide to stop. Making calculations in the middle of a life-threatening storm isn’t such a good idea. Kozma stares at me weirdly. “SCIENTIST, REMEMBER?” I tell her. Brinks flails his arms around. “CAN WE JUST GET MOVING?! I’M NOTA PATIENT PERS-!” Just then, an energy bolt struck the rod, creating an explosion so loud that Brinks’ voice was drowned out. Not that we couldn’t really hear it anyways. “NEVER MIND!” he shouts. “NOW LETS GET OUT OF HERE!” “HOW? THE ENERGY STORM HAS US COMPLETELY SUROUNDED! THERE’S NO WAY OUT UNTIL IT ENDS!” I scream. “AND THE ENERGY BOLTS ARE COMING IN A LOT FASTER NOW!” “GREAT, NOW WE CAN SPEND THE NEXT 4 HOURS TRYING NOT TO GET KILLED! HOW FUN!” Kozma says sarcastically. So, true to what Kozma said, we spent the next 4 hours dodging energy bolts. Eventually, the storm cleared up. We all had black pits all over our armor, Brinks was on fire, and my new Defender shield had a hole in it. “Well, that certainly was fun.” Kozma grumbles. “At least the Skylark is super-charged now. About 48 energy bolts hit it, and each hit adds about 267.34% energy to the Skylark, so that means-.” Brinks hits me on my head with my shield. “Oh, shut up.” He tells me.

Later, at the Skylark, I was having a heated discussion with the ruler of Spirulus Prime, Nexus. “But the Skylark isn’t complete yet!” I whine. “We can’t have her take off now!” Nexus sighs. “We need to leave tomorrow. That energy storm you encountered today was only the beginning of the end of this world. Since we have used up pretty much all of the resources on this planet, a chain reaction has started. I don’t know how, but tomorrow, energy storms bigger than any we have had so far will erupt all over Spirulus Prime, terminating all life on this planet.” “But-!” “No. No more complaining. I expect the Skylark to be prepped and ready by tomorrow. If you value your people’s lives, you WILL obey my commands. “Yes, Sire.” Little did we know that this would cause a whole chain-reaction, causing events beyond our imaginations.

Chapter 3 1 day after the events in Chapter 2

“EVERYBODY MOVE IT!” “GET ABOARD THE SKYLARK!” “MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!” Today was the big day: the day where we all had to evacuate off Spirulus Prime. All of the denizens of the planet were being herded aboard the unfinished Skylark, but the energy storms were causing a bit of trouble. I was helping observe the evacuation, making sure no one was being left behind, when suddenly-. “LOOK OUT!” “OOF!” Someone had just tackled me from behind! I looked around and shouted at my assaulter. “What was that for?! I’m trying to ob-!” I faltered when I saw an energy bolt had fried the place where I had been 2 seconds earlier up. “Oh… thank you.” “It’s okay,” my savior replied. “Just doing my job. I recognized him as a member of the Spiral Order. He was wearing the pelt of a strange wolf-like animal I had never seen before. “Um… sorry for yelling at you. My names Necro.” “I’m Ranger.” “Well, thanks for saving my life, Ranger, but I gotta get back to my job now though.” “OK! See ya!” Ranger bounded away to assist someone else. I quickly ran back to the Skylark. One of my assistants, Zack, reported to me. “Sir! Everyone has evacuated onto the Skylark!” “Good. Prepare to takeoff.”

Soon, we were in orbit of Spirulus Prime, watching the energy storms wreck our planet. We had managed to take off without suffering much damage, but I was still afraid the Skylark would fall apart, due to her being unfinished. “Good job, Necro.” Said Nexus. “I’m proud of you.” “Thank you sire, but I still think that something bad will happen…” “Well, when it does, we’d better be ready. But enough of that. We have successfully managed to get of Spirulus Prime! This calls for celebration!” So for the next 20 hours, everyone was having a blast and celebrating. Everyone except me.

2 years later…

We are still traveling through space. However, not for the same reason as before. 6 weeks after the evacuation of our home planet, we had received a message from an unknown being, telling us to seek out the “Amulet of Flames,” an object of immense power able to... to... well, no one was sure what it did yet. The message had said that it was hidden on a distant planet, one that as filled with strange beings and peril, but we searched nonetheless. I, for one, was against abandoning our origional mission to find another planet to inhabitat, but Nexus was still the ruler of my people, and he said to search for the amulet. So far, we have had no success. We had landed on other planets before and sent out search squads, but they would always return empty-handed. If they returned at all. The disaster I had been dreading about the Skylark hadn’t happened yet, but I knew it was near. I just hoped that it wouldn’t be anything to bad. I walked out of my quarters and into the engine room. Rizu, one of the ship operators, was there. “Hello, Necro,” she said. “Watcha doing?” “Just checking out the engines. Seeing if anything’s wrong with them.” I looked at the chart indicating how the engines’ statuses were. They all looked fine, but then-. “Oh no. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh no. No no no no NO NO NO NO NO!” “Something wrong, Necro?” Rizu asked me, but I was already running out of the room. I barged into the hallway and quickly located an evac-button. I quickly pressed it, and a large siren started wailing, warning everyone to get to the escape pods. Rizu came up to me. “What are you doing?!” she shouted. “You’re only supposed to press that when there’s an emergency!” As a matter of fact there was, but I didn’t bother to answer her. People started charging down the halls towards the pods. I bumped into Shadow, a friend of mine and a member of the Spiral Order as well. “What’s going on?!” He asked me. “There’s been an... an event of dangerous matters. “Dangerous enough to have everyone evacuate?” “Yes. Do you know where Nexus is?” “I just saw him back there.” I ran off to find Nexus, but first made a stop at my quarters to see if my hinch was correct. It was. Then I ran to Nexus and quickly started talking with him. “Who pressed the evac-button?” he asked. “I did.” “Why?” “Follow me.” I lead him into my quarters, which had a huge window, allowing me to see outside into the infinity of space. I shoved him toward the window and told him to look outside. “What? I don’t see anything... Oh… my… gosh…” What did he see? Well, due the Skylark being unfinished, one of the motors had broke. And due the motor breaking, the engines had failed. And due to the engine failing, we were all about to experience what being smashed into a planet going 100000 miles per hour felt like. Uh oh.

Chapter 4

I quickly ran to the escape pods. The entire population of the Skylark was evacuating of the ship, since it was about to crash-land onto an unknown planet. When I arrived at the pod room, it was totally crowded up. People everywhere were screaming and shouting and generally panicking. They were all fighting to get into an escape pod. Sadly, we didn’t have enough for everyone, so some people would have to stay onboard and hope the crash wouldn’t kill them. Soon, most of the people had been evacuated, leaving me, Kozma, Shadow, and a couple of other friends behind. However, there was only one pod left. “So… how are 7 people going to fit into a pod with a capacity of only 1?” Rizu asked. “Some of us will have to stay behind.” Kozma replied. “So who’s going and who’s staying?” Zack questioned. “I honestly have no idea.” “First person inside the pod gets to keep it!” Shadow shouted. We all scrambled, but Kozma got in first. She saluted at us. “Well, it’s been an honor serving with you people. I hope you guys don’t die.” Then the pod door closed and it ejected out of the Skylark, leaving me, Shadow, Ranger, Rizu, and Zack behind. We stared at each other for a few seconds, then started running around screaming. “WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!” “AAAUUGGHH!” “WHY ME??!!” Fortunately, Ranger had a cool head and got everyone to quiet down. “EVERYBODY SHUT UP!” So we did. “Okay, now that I’ve got your attention, we need to prepare for the crash.” “What use is that?!” Zack shouted. “We’ll all probably going to die anyways.” “Probably,” Ranger said. “That means we still have a chance to survive. So, here’s what we should do. First, find an area that’s nice and tight. Or maybe spacey. I’m actually not to sure-.” “Um, but if you haven’t noticed,” Shadow interrupted. “We’re about to crash.” There was a moment of silence. Then I shouted. “BRACE FOR IMPACT!!!”

An unspecified amount of time later…

“Ugh…” I moaned. “I think my back is broken.” “I think my head is broken.” Said Shadow. “My arm fell off.” Said Rizu. “We all stared at her. “Hey, it’s okay. We’re part mechanic, so I can just reattach it. I hope.” She shoved it back into her arm socket and we heard a tiny pop as it snapped back into place. “So… how are we all alive?” asked Zack. “Who knows? Maybe it was just pure luck.” I said. “Well, we’re going to have t get out of this rubble.” We slowly began moving the rubble away, which took us a few hours, considering we were all lying flat on our backs squished by rubble. Eventually, we managed to get out. “Wow… we actually survived…” Rizu whispered. “Yes we did. Now be quiet. I heard someone behind us.” Ranger muttered. My hand immediately went for my Nightblade sheath, but it wasn’t there. I must have lost it in the crash. Fortunately, Ranger still had his Siversix, and he turned around, pointing it at the stranger. We all looked at him and saw that he was wearing a cloak of some kind and a blue jelloish hellmet. There was also a small green jelly-like creature at his side. “Hey, don’t point that at me!” he said, raising his arms up to show he wasn’t holding anything dangerous. “It’s only me. Only me.” He said with a strange smile. “Only poor old Grittle.”

Chapter 5 2 hours after meeting Grittle

So, after we met Grittle, he introduced himself as a member of the Spiral Order. Two years ago, when we had first evacuated off Spirulus Prime, he had been aboard the Skylark. However, due to the bad unfinished construction, his entire quarters fell off the ship and eventually landed on this planet, which he tells us is called “Cradle.” He also has a pet jelly or something called Sniffles. Also, Grittle’s entire squad was with him having that party about being able to get off Spirulus Prime when his room broke off. They all got killed when they landed on Cradle and were smashed into pieces by tree-like monsters called “Lumbers.” Sad. He eventually got Sniffles when he was walking and came upon him. Grittle tried to eat him at first, but realized Sniffles was a sentient being and kept him as a pet instead. Anyways, we were all sitting down and roasting this bird called a “Snipe” to eat, when we saw something falling out of the sky. “What’s that?” Shadow asked. “I dunno. It seems pretty shiny and big.” Said Zack. “It looks like a… an escape pod…” I muttered. “And it’s coming right towards us!” Grittle screamed. We all scrambled away just in time to prevent the pod from squishing us, but our food wasn’t as lucky. “Well, there goes our dinner.” Rizu muttered. “Shut up.” Ranger replied. “Someone’s coming out.” We watched as the door was blasted off and a figure stepped out into the light. She looked around and then saw us. “Why, hello,” she told us. “My names Icy.” “Well, nice to meet you, Icy.” Zack said. “I’m Zack, and these are…” So we spent the next 10 minutes introducing ourselves. Icy had evacuated on one of the pods and flew around the atmosphere of Cradle for some time, before crashing onto our food. Eventually, nighttime came, and we told Grittle we needed somewhere to stay for the night. “Well, I know just the place!” he exclaimed. “Follow me!” And so we did, following him over hills and valleys, rivers and forests, till we arrived at a small camp made out of other escape pods. There seemed to be a few other peoples ere too, but they didn’t pay much attention to us. “This here is a rescue camp.” Grittle said. “I built it some time ago when I received word that hundreds of people like me would crash onto the planet. This was to temporarily house them before their journey to Haven.” “Haven?” I said to Shadow. He just shrugged. “But how did you know that we would crash here?” Zack asked. “I just told you. I just received word.” “How?” Grittle’s face went blank for a moments. The he said, “Ohhhhhhhhh. I get what you mean. Well, I found this crystal here, you see. Inside it was an internal fire blazing. I always thought it was just a random rock that you could find all over this planet. Anyways, one day, I was walking when the rock started to shake. I put it on the ground and flames shot out of it. A pair of eyes appeared and tolp me that one day, people like me would appear and be in need of shelter. So I build this camp.” Muttering broke out between me and my friends. Could he be talking about the Amulet of Fire? He had broken off the Skylark before we were alerted about the amulet, so he wouldn’t know. And the voice that told him we would come. Could that be the same person who told us to search for the amulet? Grittle interrupted our thoughts and told us, “Well, you guys better get a good night’s sleep, cus you’re going to Haven tomorrow!”

The next day…

The entire group started toward Haven. Icy asked Grittle what Haven was, but he just laughed and told us that we would find out soon enough. Then he went away in search of others who needed help. However, I have a feeling that we will see him again soon. Anyways, the trip to Haven was quite uneventful, when suddenly-. “Hey! The ground’s rumbling!” “Something’s sticking its hand out of the ground!” “It’s a zombie!” Hearing the word “zombie,” Ranger blew it up with his gun. And another. And another. It seemed like they wouldn’t stop coming! We just kept running until they were far out of range. “What just happened?” Rizu asked, panting. “I have no idea.” Icy replied. “Maybe this journey won’t be as easy as we thought.” As we continued, we were attacked numerous times by other monsters, such as zombies, pink jellies like the one Grittle had, only bigger, and other various creatures. At the end of the journey, we were greeted by a giant being, possibly one of the natives of this planet. “Hello, friends. You may rest now. Your journey is over.” ”What do you mean?” Shadow asked? “I don’t see this Haven anywhere.” “Come with me. By the way, my name is Hailoh.” The giant lead us through a thin veil of leaves and vines. On the other side was a glittering city of epic proportions, protected by giant walls. Inside, we could see beings just like us running around, and giants just like Hailoh. “Welcome,” He said. “Welcome… to Haven.”

This chapter will in the view of Ranger.

Chapter 6

We slowly enter Haven, gazing at the wonders around us. There are snipes flitting around, vendors selling their wares, and Sprirulians like us walking around. “Amazing!” Necro exclaims! “Such fine architecture. And the fountain! Such amazing design!” “Now, this is a place I could love.” Zack says. Hailoh turns to us. “Well, here you are! I must leave now, to greet others who arrive.” As he slowly walks away, Rizu shouts at him. “Wait a minute! You can’t just leave us here! We don’t know the way around or anything!” Hailoh smiles and tells us, “I’m sure you’ll be able to discover the secrets of Haven by yourself.” And then he continues walking. We spend the next few minutes wandering around Haven. We eventually split up and agree to meet in front of the fountain in a few hours. I walk into a section of Haven called the “Bazaar,” where vendors sell their wares and such. I walk toward a tall being, just like Hailoh. “Hello, he says. “Would you be interested in buying one of my swords?” “No thanks,” I reply. “I’m just browsing.” I look at his wide array of swords when one of them catches my eye. “Where did you get this?” I ask him suspiciously. “It was in a huge box in the middle of a field.” “Huge box?” “A huge metal box that had fallen from the sky. It crashed into the grass fields and inside, there was a mound of weapons and armor. Me and by brother strangers went and scavenged anything we could from it.” “What’s a Stranger?” “Oh, that’s my speicies.” “Metal box… fell from the sky… sky… Skylark!” I say to myself. The “metal box” he was talking about must have been the 5th cargo section of the Skylark, where all our equipment was stored. It must have fallen off when the Skylark crashed. I look at all the other swords and see that they are of Spirulus Prime’s design. “I’m afraid this sword is mine,” I tell him. “It belongs to me.” “Of course it does,” he says. “After you have paid for it.” “What! This originally belonged to me!” “Well, when I found it, you didn’t come up to me and say it was yours.” After a bit of arguing and haggling, I eventually buy back my sword from him. “It’s been very nice doing business with you.” He tells me. If you ever want more swords, come find me. My name’s Quillion.” I scowl and walk away. I sling my Avenger over my back and look at the other merchants’ wares. I see lots of my own equipment in their stock, and to save time, I just buy them back. I head back to the fountain, where the rest of my friends are waiting. From their expressions, I can tell that they too had found out that the merchants were selling their equipment as well. “So, how goes the exploring?” I ask Shadow. “Lousy. Did you know that the m-!?” “I know. The merchants are selling our stuff.” “And it’s not just that, but did you know that they even sold my equipment to someone else?!” “That’s life, kid.” Icy tells him. “Deal with it.” “And you wouldn’t BELIEVE who I just saw in the Bazzar!” Necro says. “Who?” asks Icy. “2 words. Koz, and ma.” “Kozma!?” Zack shouts. “What’s she doing here?!” “I dunno. I went up to her to give her a piece of my mind, but she just turned to me and said, ‘Hello. I’m selling recipes. Would you like one?’” “What!? She asks you nicely if you’d like one of her stupid recipes after she leaves us for dead?!” Shadow exclaims. “It was your idea, you know.” I remind him. “First person to get in the pod gets to keep it.” He freezes for a moment, and tells me to shut up. “Anyways,” Necro says, “I asked her if she remembered me, and she told me that all she remembered was waking up in a pod and coming here.” “So… she lost her memory?” Zack asks. “Most likely. She probably hit her head pretty hard when her pod crashed.” “But… I crashed and I didn’t lose my memory…” Icy tells us. “Maybe you were just lucky.” Shadow tells her. Icy is about to retort when a giant explosion was heard, and then the screaming began. “What’s going on?!” I yell at Necro. “How should I know?!” We watch as Strangers and Sprirulians alike run in terror. Sudddenly, a giant laser shoots from over Haven’s defensive walls and shatters a building. “What the-!” Shadow exclaims. “What was that?!” “Whatever it was, it’s dangerous. And dangerous means that people are going to get hurt. Preferably not us.” We run through the paths in Haven and into a small, abandoned, building. Or so it seems. Two small figures step out of the shadows. I recognize them as Punch and Vise, the two “Gremlin” merchants in Bazaar. “It has begun.” Vise giggles. “Haven is doomed.” Says Punch. “Um… excuse me for asking,” Rizu says, “But what has begun?” They ignore her question. “Hee hee hee. These newcomers are so stupid.” “Yes, anyone else would have figured out what’s going on by now.” “The twins are hungry. They yearn for food.” “Twins?” I ask them. “Vise looks at me. “The Roarmulus Twins, obviously.” However, those words don’t mean a word to us. “Really,” Icy yells. “What’s happening!?” They two gremlins looks at us and say in perfect unison, “Our king’s invasion of Haven, of course.” Uh oh. That doesn’t sound good.

THE SPIRAL EMPIRE: THE RISE OF NECROPOLIS (by N3cR0m4nS1r):

THE SPIRAL EMPIRE: THE RISE OF NECROPOLIS Written by Lordofnecromancers, AKA Necro, AKA N3cR0m4nS1r, AKA Lord Exodius

Prologue

Night. The time when guards are the most alert. The slightest sound snaps them into action, preparing themselves for a possible invasion. But not tonight. Tonight, all the guards are in the Great Hall of the Citadel, feasting and having a party. Tonight is the 13th anniversary of the defeat of the traitor Lord Exodius, who had used black magic to call upon tens upon hundreds upon thousands of Dark Warriors from the underworld, to make the Spiral Empire his own. He was defeated by the neighboring kingdoms, but managed to sneak away into the underground, vowing revenge. The anniversary calls for a truce between the 3 warring factions of Cradle: The Spiral Empire, the Nova Kingdom, and Almire. But that doesn’t count for vengeful ex-lords. The guards are partying, eating and drinking, dancing and singing. However, it’s about to end. At Lord Exodius’s command, thousands of his Dark Warriors burst into the Great Hall, slashing away at the partying guards, all caught unaware. They are all immediately slaughtered, but one guard manages to sound the alarm before he is decapitated. All throughout the Citadel, servants, lords, and rulers all run around in a panic, trying to escape. Their efforts are in vain. Soon, Lord Exodius walks through the halls of the Citadel, treading around dead bodies. He marches to the throne room of the Citadel, where survivors of the attack are being held, and speaks. “I am Lord Exodius,” he tells them, “ former advisor of King Antur, now Lord of the Dead. I tried to rule the Spiral Empire, seeking only to make it stronger. But my army was destroyed and I banished. And YOU!-, the Alimarians, helped to defeat me. Now I will have my revenge.” Lord Exodius walks up to the Throne of Almire, and sits down on it. “I am now the ruler of Almire, and the Spiral Empire and Nova Kingdom will be mine soon.” He smirks and turns to his Dark Warriors. “Execute them.” The screams of nobles fill the throne room, and are silenced. Lord Exodis walks onto a balcony, looking at the horizon. “Tomorrow,” he tells his warriors, “We march.”

Chapter 1

Ranger, Nova Kingdom, Valley of the Blessed

I was having an uneventful day. Not much to do. After the last invasion of the Almirians, things had quieted down. Yesterday was the 13th anniversary of the defeat of the treacherous Lord Exodius. He doesn’t sound so tough though. I bet I could easily take him on with my Avenger. Anyways, I was walking down to the river when I apparently saw the ground move. I dismissed this as a trick my eyes were playing on me. Eventually, I reached the river. Then, I saw the ground shake again. And again. And again! I slowly un-slung my Avenger from my back. The ground stopped moving. Then, a NightMare burst out of the trees, with the Dark Lancer riding it about to gut me with his lance! I used my quick reflexes and decapitated both horse and warrior. They sank to the ground. I stood, staring at the bodies. This didn’t make any sense. The Dark Lancers were supposed to be gone, along with Lord Exodius. Unless the rumors about Almire were true…

Death, Underworld

Another boring day in the land down under. Another dreadful day full of killing, killing, and more killing. As a Phantom, I’m supposed to find this fun, but after a few millennium, it gets boring. I was just finishing off a couple of Dark Axers in a duel when my Shadow-Fire Stone started glowing. That meant that… no… could it be? I held up the stone to my face and said, “Speak.” Six words emerged from the stone: “I have a job for you.” I grinned. Soon, my life would become much, MUCH, more fun.

Red, Almire, Eastern Forest

One word rung through my head. RUN! My village had been recently run over by a troop of Dark Lancers, one of the many monsters the necromancer Lord Exodius had summoned to be his army. He had returned from exile, gathering the remains of his army and summoning new warriors. He had taken over the Citadel last night, striking when there were no guards protecting the kingdom. Then, he had unleashed his fury across the land, turning Almire into a land of the dead. I was one of the few escapees, all my friends dead. I was slowly working my way to the Spiral Empire, seeking help.

Shadow, Almire, The Citadel

I joined my brother Death in the Great Hall. We had just been summoned by our… acquaintance, Lord Exodius. Of course, Death had asked why he could summon us if he was only an acquaintance. He had a good point. I will have to ask myself that question later. We arrived in the Throne Room, finding Lord Exodius waiting for us. “Why have you summoned us?” I asked. “Lets just say… I have some rivals for you to take care of.” “Who?” Death asked? Lord Exodius flipped two coins at us. One was the token of the Nova Kingdom, with a picture of King Radel, and the other belonging to the Spiral Empire, bearing the face of Emperor Seltian, successor of Emperor Antur. “You know what to do.” He told us. I smirked. “Yes. Yes, we do.”

Ryhim, Spiral Empire, Castle Armory.

News of Lord Exodius return had reached the Spiral Empire fasted than a quicksilver moves. The entire kingdom was under high alert, seeing that we were the ones the Lord Exodius had attacked first 13 years ago. I quickly grabbed my Cold Iron Vanquisher. I smiled. It only seemed like yesterday that I was smashing Dark Warriors into bits with it. Then the smile disappeared. This was no time to be daydreaming! Almire had already fallen before Lord Exodius, and the Spiral Empire might be next. Suddenly, I heard alarms ring all over the castle. That meant Lord Exodius’ forces had attacked! Armed with only a sword and shield, I got ready to defend my home.

Gerry, Spiral Empire, Castle Courtyard.

As I led my army into battle, I felt a surge of pride. It had been 13 years since I had lead my brothers-in-arms into a fight, and it felt good to kill again. A knight tried to intercept me, but I quickly stabbed him and cut him in half. I watched as he fell to the ground, dying. I absorbed his life essence, making me stronger. Yes, it truly felt good to kill again.

Jen, Nova Kingdom, Southern Frost

I am the commander of one of the many thousands called to battle the forces of the evil Lord Exodius. Last night, Almire had been attacked, so the Nova Kingdom had to prepare itself, in case of attack. I slowly trudged through the snow and sleet, making sure none of my equipment fell behind. It was going to be a long march. As we slowly marched through the snow, I noticed the snow moving. Uh oh. I knew what that meant. I quickly shouted a warning to the rest of the troops. “Incoming Cobras! Watch out!” Suddenly, Shadow Cobras leapt out of the snow, striking at my troops. Soldiers fell all around me, poison flowing through their body. The march was already hard enough, and now, with Shadow Cobras attacking, it was about to become a lot harder.

Chapter 2

Ranger, Nova Kingdom, Valley of the Blessed

I quickly ran back to my village. I was about to shouts a warning to the others that Lord Exodius was really back when a terrible sight befell my eyes. Everyone was dead. I ran through the village, searching for survivors. There were none. But, there were signs of Dark Lancers riding through. They must have cut down my neighbors in a hit-and-run attack. I felt anger surging through my body. Those Dark Lancers were going to pay! I quickly grabbed every weapon I could hold and marched into the forest, searching for signs of where the Dark Lancers had gone. Eventually, I found a clearing, where the Dark Lancers were gathered. They were apparently resting their NightMares, letting them graze on the grass. Hopefully, they were unprepared for an attack. I yelled and charged into the crowd, slashing away with my Avenger. In two seconds, I had taken one out by stabbing it, and injured another. However, Dark Warriors don't let something little like dying stop them. The only real way to kill them was to slice their head clean off. The ensuing battle lasted only few minutes. When I was done, 29 heads were lying on the grass. I quickly took care of the NightMares and then turned away. Vengeance burning in my heart, I marched into the Northern Wastelands, toward the Spiral Empire. It was time to assemble the Beta Team again.

Death, Nova Kingdom, Castle Throne Room

The dead bodies of King Radel's guards littered the floor. I had just been sent to assassinate the King to cause even more fear and disorder in the Nova Kingdom. Not that there wasn't enough already. The King stood on the other side of the room, armed only with a Leviathan Blade. "You'll never destroy me kingdom!" he hissed at me. "Maybe not. But Lord Exodius will." I leaped across the room, bringing my Gran Fausts down for the final blow. King Radel managed parried, but at the price of his sword. He stared at the broken pieces of his sword, looking up just in time to see me swing my twin blades toward his neck.

I walked out of the palace and into the valley. I was going to check on a cavalry unit I had positioned there. However, when I reached the rendezvous point, all of the were there, minus their heads. They must have been attacked bye a surviving vengeful villager. But who? I looked around the clearing and found tracks of their attacker leading into the Northern Wastelands. I began to follow them, hunting down the idiot who had dared to challenge me.

Red, Almire, Eastern Forest

I was still walking to the Spiral Empire when my foot motors gave out. I decided to rest for the rest of the night, fixing my motors in the morning. However, during he middle of the night, I woke up. I don’t know exactly why, but over the years I had developed a sixth sense that alerted me to dangers, so maybe there was something wrong. I quickly whipped out my Nitronome, preparing to throw it at whatever had alerted my sixth sense. I heard nothing. But, then I heard a branch snap behind me. I turned around, throwing my bomb without thinking. There was a big explosion and a screech. After the dust had settled, I lit a torch and looked at what I had just blown up. Lying on the ground was the mangled body of a Dark Assassin. I let out my breath, which I didn’t notice I was holding. Now the danger was past, I could continue on with my sleeping… no, it was better to fix my foot motors now, and continue. In the morning, I was ready, and continued on my way to the Spiral Empire.

Shadow, Spiral Empire, Castle Courtyards

I had just been sent to assassinate King Seltian, emperor of the Spiral Empire. However, I hadn’t been told that I would appear in the middle of a battle. I quickly slid past the guards, ignoring them. Killing Emperor Seltian was first priority. Killing puny knights could come later. Eventually, I arrived in the throne room, where 20 guards were keeping the emperor under… well… guard. I engaged them in battle, and soon they were all dead. The emperor was nowhere to be seen, though. I walked slowly around the throne room, calling out softly, “Come out and play, little emperor. I just want to slice your head into 5 pieces, won’t that be so fun?” Then, I spun around, slicing my swords into the emperor’s waist. He didn’t die immediately, so I took this time to taunt him a bit. “Don’t you know you’re not supposed to sneak up on death? Well, technically, my brother death. But still. Don’t you know that death is supposed o sneak up on you?” I walked away, leaving the ruler to die where he lay.

Ryhim, Spiral Empire, Castle Courtyards

I charged down the stairs leading to the castle courtyards into the ray below. We were being attacked by Dark Warriors, and it was not fun. I dodged the blow of a Dark Axer and quickly sliced his head off, and tough task against someone whose head was only a small mound of flesh. I slashed and hacked away at Dark Warriors, and gave the enemy lots to worry about. But t wasn’t enough. Everywhere, comrades were dropping and the enemy screeching in triumph. We were going to lose. Then the final blow came. A Phantom emerged out of the Great Hall and shouted over the noise. “Stop fighting. Your emperor is dead. If you continue to resist, you will die long, painful deaths. Surrender and you will get a fast and painless one.” His message shot through my comrades quickly. “The emperor is dead?” “The emperor is dead?” “THE EMPORER IS DEAD!!!” Most of us put down our weapons. A few tried to resist, and they were dragged away to a who-knows-what fate. Reluctantly, I put my sword down too, but made plans to escape later. “Thank you.” The Phantom said. “Now, lock them in the dungeons until further command.” Gerry, Spiral Empire, Castle Courtyards

I marched up to the Phantom who had just ended all the fighting. “What are you doing?!” I asked him. “I was just starting to have some fun!” He frowned at me. “Why use up all your fun now when you can save some for later?” “Because I’m not an patient man.” “Very well. You may resume your killing.” I smiled and turned to my troops. “Resume fighting.” “What?!” on of the knights exclaimed. “You said that we would-!” “I said that you would die quick and painless deaths. And you will. Now.” My warriors began to slice away at the knights. What I said was true. They all died quick and painless deaths. Most of them anyways. I don’t think having your arms sliced off and your legs snapped in half and then take an axe to the head quick and painless. However, I saw one knight drop to the ground and grab his weapons, roll out of the massacre, and out the castle gates. “One escaped.” The Phantom told me. “I noticed.” I retorted. But that didn’t matter. One knight couldn’t make a difference, right?

Jen, Nova Kingdom, Southern Frost

My men were falling all around me. It was a hopeless situation. If we kept trying to hold of the Shadow Cobras, we would all die. I made a final decision that might cost many of my men their lives, but not as much as if we stayed and fought. “Keep marching!” And so we did, marching through the sleet while being plagued by Shadow Cobras. Every now and then I would hear a scream, signaling that one of my men had lost their life. Eventually, we reached a cave. “Everyone head inside!” I ordered my troops. Soon, we were all out of the cold, but not the snakes. We kept them at bay by placing bombs at the cave entrance, blowing up and Shadow Cobra that came near. I went up to my lieutenant, and asked him the question I had been dreading. “How many did we loose?” “37 dead, another 49 injured, and 13 missing.” “That’s almost a hundred men…” “I know. This march has been to costly.” We sat in silence for a while around a fire I had created, when we heard a shout. “Dark assassins! Dark assassins are in the cave!” Sure enough, coming out of the shadows at the far side of the cave were the dreaded assassins. We were trapped. With Shadow Cobras to the front of us and Dark Assassins behind us, we had really stepped out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Chapter 3

Ranger, Nova Kingdom, Northern Wastelands

The heat is finally getting to me. I have been only wandering for a few hours, but I am already ready to quit. I am heading toward the Spiral Empire to reunite with my fellow Beta Knights, but the journey is much harder than I expected. I have also been having the feeling that someone, or something , is hunting me. I climbed over the top of the fifth sand dune I’ve come across. Or maybe it was the seventh. Or twentieth. I’ve lost track. Anyways, I hope to see the Border of the Spiral Empire in front of me. Nothing. Just miles and miles of more sand. I sit down, taking a rest. This has been the worst day in my life. My fellow villagers are killed, I’m lost in an endless sea of sand, and I’m about to pass out from the heat. I look around for my water canteen, and then realize I didn’t bring one. Stupid me. I start to slowly black out, my vision disappearing. Then, from behind me, I hear a scratchy voice, a voice that should belong to someone with serious breathing problems. “Oh, I wouldn’t recommend doing that. Fainting in the wastelands is very dangerous. Especially for someone I'm hunting.” But it was to late. Before I could turn around and see who was behind me, I blacked out.

Death, Nova Kingdom, Northern Wastelands

Just my luck! I had found the fool who had dared destroy my troops. I was prepared to fight him to the death (well, his death anyways. I can’t die) when he blacked out. I grinned. This wouldn’t be so hard. I raised by Gran Fausts and was about to strike when I was suddenly forcibly knocked backwards. I got up again and scowled. There was another idiot around here wanting to die, and he was going to get his wish granted. I looked around and was suddenly knocked back again. And again. And again. Then, I fell off the sand dune. I spit sand out of my mouth and prepared to fight. I finally saw my attacker. Or, maybe I should say, attackers . “Stay back,” I told them. “You don’t want to get me angry. You won’t like me when I’m angry.” “Oh, shaddup!” One of them told me. Then, he pointed a gun at me and said, “Now, leave. Or face the consequences.” “Yeah? What are you going to do to me? I can’t die.” “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you can’t feel pain.” “I feed on pain.” “Wanna bet?” I shrugged. “Why not? It’s been a while since I’ve had some fun.” “Alright then. Valkyrie Knights, attack!” All of them opened fire from me. Some jumped out of the sand and leapt at me with their swords. I parried all of their blows easily, but I was blown backwards into the dune by the gun blasts. I climbed out of the small hole I made and addressed them. “Not bad, not bad. But, can you do is?” I literally made one of their heads explode. Steel and brains flew everywhere. “And there’s more from where that came from.” I was about to kill all of them when I felt great surge of pain explode through my head. Normally, I would have just absorbed my pain and use it against the attackers, but they Valkyrie Knights shot me again and I lost my concentration. “Leave, now.” Their apparent leader told me. “Or face the consequences. Again.” I hissed. “This is not the end! I will get my prey, and you too!” And with those parting words, I disappeared.

Lancer, Nova Kingdom, Northern Wastelands

I watched as the Phantom disappeared. I would have too, if I had a sword sticking out of my face and a hundred knights pointing their guns at me. I turned to the knight we had just rescued. He looked strangely familiar. “Well, you’re safe.” I told him. “Thanks for helping. I would be dead now if you hadn’t arrived.” “It was very creative of you to stick your Avenger into his head like that.” “Yeah, except he took it with him when he teleported.” “Say, you look slightly familiar. What’s your name?” “Ranger.” I browsed my memory for a few seconds. Could I have met this knight before? I doubt it. But he looked so familiar… “Anyways,” he continued. “I’m sorry about your friend. You know, the on who got blown up?” “Well, the danger of death comes with the job.” ”What’s you’re job?” “I’m a mercenary.” “Ah. Who hired you?” “Well, if I told you, I would have to kill you.” “Oh. Okay. Well, I’ll need to keep going in the morning. Is it okay if I stay with you and your men for the night?” “Sure. Where are you headed?” Ranger smiled. “If I told you that, I would have to kill you .” I grinned back at him. “You know, Ranger, I think we’ll get along pretty well.”

Rise of the heroes (by Shadownox):

Chapter 1

Nexon was having a great day. In fact, an awesome day. He was on the verge of beating his record. So far, his record was 53 wins in a row before his friend Kozma who had knocked his sword out of his hand and had defeated him had forced him to surrender. Both of them were part of the Spiral Order, an organization created thousands of years ago by his ancestors to maintain peace on their home planet Spirulus Prime. It was their job to make sure that everyone on the planet was safe from who-knows-what kind of monsters lurking in the shadows. Everyday, they sword-practiced to fine-tune their skills and this was one of those days when Nexon kept beating and beating the other members of the Spiral Order. He had gotten 52 wins in a row so far. “2 more, and I’ve got a new record!” Nexon said to himself. He quickly charged up his Ascended Calibur and gave it a 360-twirl, sending his opponent 5 feet away, crashing into the dirt. Nexon walked over to the knight and said, “Surrender”. The other knight threw up his arms and Nexon walked away. “All right, you weaklings”, he smirked. “Who’s up next?” The other knights just stared at each other until a familiar voice spoke up behind him. “I am”. Nexon gave a sigh and looked behind him at his next opponent. It was Kozma. Of course, he thought. Kozma would do anything to keep him from his old record. They were friends, yes, but they were also old-school rivals. From the day they had looked upon each other in training school, they had competed against each other in almost everything. They competed so much, they even tried to see who could finish 10 energy bars first. Nexon had won but he had a stomachache for the rest of the entire day. Nexon’s mentor said that he was the best knight he had ever trained when he had graduated to the Spiral Order. Compared to the other knights, anyone would say he was better. Nexon hated to admit this, but when compared to Kozma, Kozma was better. Only a bit better, but still better to be noticeable. Nexon had never beat Kozma before, but this time, he was determined that he could. “Okay Kozma. Let’s do this”. The other knights smiled. They knew that Nexon had never defeated Kozma before and they were looking forward to seeing her beat him again. They got into fighting position and one of the knights rang the bell. The fight had begun. Kozma took out her Leviathan Blade (yes, she even had the better sword) and swung a blow at Nexon. Nexon dodged and parried the blow. Kozma tried to knock his sword away, but she had done this so many times, Nexon was ready for it. He shielded the blow this time and felt as his Wise Owlite Shield was crushed under the blow. Kozma was surprised at this as he expected Nexon to try to parry the blow like always. She hesitated for a moment and Nexon saw that as a chance. He kicked Kozma in the stomach and knocked her blade away. Everyone who had been watching had been cheering for Kozma but they stopped cheering and as they saw her hesitate. A couple of people winced as they saw Nexon kick her and the knock her blade away. The crowd had gone silent. Kozma was on her knees puking up what looked like her morning’s breakfast as Nexon slowly placed his sword under her chin. “Surrender”. He said quietly. A smile slowly lit up on his face as he said those words. “You cheated!” she said with a snarl. “There are no rules when fighting, Kozma. I thought you learned that in training school”. Nexon said to Kozma. Kozma just glared at him. Wow, Nexon thought. This really is an awesome day. He had defeated Kozma and his reputation had probably just gone up a couple of notches. He had even defeated his old record. As for Kozma’s reputation, it had probably gone down a couple of notches. Kozma had never been defeated, until now. The crowd watched, most of them walking away, probably to spread the word. Nexon’s smile brightened. “Nexon, you cheating bastard!” Kozma shouted at me. Nexon was about to explain what he had said earlier about the “there are no rules while fighting” concept to her when he felt his feet give away. The remaining crowd who were still watching looked in dismay as Kozma kicked Nexon’s feet out from under him. She stood up and went to get her sword. Then suddenly, she slipped too! Nexon looked at her feet and saw that she had slipped on her own puke. The crowd looked in disgust but a couple started cheering for me. “Go Nexon!” “Nexon, you can do it! “Show her who’s the real master!” “Yeah, c’mon!” Kozma snarled “SHUT UP!!!” at the crowd. She lunged for her sword but Nexon hit her on the head with his shield, which knocked her out. “Take her away”. He said. The crowd had been drawn back to the fight, including even more people. A couple people dragged her away while Nexon sat down. He sighed. Now everyone would know her as a ruthless cheater. After the fight is over, there is no fighting back unless the opponent challenges you again. Kozma hadn’t challenged him again and from the look in her eyes, Nexon thought that she was actually going to try to kill her. Nexon was glad that she was gone, but he didn’t want her to be known as the “bad guy”. Suddenly, Nexon’s old friend Feron ran up to Nexon. “Nexon!” he panted, “I have something very urgent to tell you.” Nexon looked at Feron. “What is it?” Nexon asked Feron. Feron was still catching his breath. Nexon heard him say something but he didn’t quite catch it. “Here, drink this”. Nexon reached into his bag and gave him a water bottle. Feron drank deeply, drinking almost half the bottle. “Thanks” he said. “No problem” Nexon said. “Now what is this news that you’re bursting to tell me?” Feron stared at Nexon. “The Skylark is taking off”.

Chapter 2

“C’mon people, lets move it!” Alamar shouted. “We don’t have all day you know! Go, go, go!” Alamar pushed a couple of people onto the Skylark Alamar sighed. He hated his job. He really, really heated it. Well actually, he hated everything. Everything except his bombs. He smiled at the thought of blowing up all his enemies. And he had quite a lot of enemies. Alamar was a member of the Spiral Order. He hated everyone. Almost anyone would take him as a person to stay away from. His worst enemies were known to perish from his various bombs. He was the strong, silent type. Even the best warriors would be cautious around him. But despite his behavior, he did have a few friends such as Nexon and Feron. They had learned how not to flare up his quick temper. A person in the crowd had the courage to stand up for himself. “Hey, what gives?! Don’t you know…” He slowly stopped talking as he noticed Alamar was glaring at him. “Don’t. You. Ever. Talk to me like that again.” The person found a Nightblade at the side of his neck before he even registered what had even happened. “Y-yes sir. R-right a-away sir.” Alamar sheathed his sword and pushed him onto the Skylark. “Move it”, he growled. The person he was talking to quickly nodded his head and ran away. “Idiot” Alamar mumbled. The people who had just witnessed this quickly ran onto the Skylark in fear of encountering a similar confrontation. Alamar looked at the huge crowd of people who still needed to get into the Skylark. “Ughh” Alamar said to himself. “This is going to be a long day”. After 5 more hours of shouting and threatening, everyone was aboard the Skylark. Everyone inside the gigantic ship was at the same time, excited yet scared. In the entire history of the people of Spirulus Prime, never had they left their home planet. But the day had come and they would never see it again. Alamar was threatening a group of people with his Fiery Vaporizer when Nexon came up to him. “Hi, Alamar” Nexon said. “How goes business?” Alamar sighed. “The same. Stupid people, stupid people, and more stupid people. You’d think they’d learn something by now…” Alamar walked away grumbling about stupid people. Nexon smiled. Something about Alamar threatening people always made him warm inside. Or maybe that was just his heat generators. Nexon frowned and walked away muttering something. The engineers who were doing a last minute check on the engines gave a thumbs-up sign to the pilot. The pilot turned the engines on and the engineers jumped on right after the doors closed. As the Skylark took off, the citizens of Spirulus Prime looked down on it as they left the planet. They could all hear the sounds of the distant rumbling of the energy storms. As the Skylark left the atmosphere, they thought of their life on Spirulus Prime and their new life ahead.