Superhero Epic Ch. 9

Chapter 9: Destiny
Mindbender and company were still riding the airship back to Draco City. Shadowcaster, Dracosaur, and even Elemage were all asleep. Mindbender and Shikara, however, were wide awake, and deeply involved in their conversation.
"So dear, tell me more about yourself, we still have a while to go before we land," Mindbender said casually. His glance toward Shikara was incredibly warm and inviting, despite his twisted, evil-looking demeanor.
"As I have been telling you, I do not think it is appropriate to reveal so much about myself so soon after meeting you," Shikara replied, smirking at Mindbender playfully. Mindbender smiled back at her, just as playfully. "Oh, come on, not even for me?" Shikara began playing with her braided tress. Her eyes looked Mindbender up and down, observing his features intently for the first time since meeting him. Then she blushed at the realization of what she was doing. "Shikara my dear, do you find me attractive?" Mindbender said jokingly. She looked back at him, shocked that he would even suggest such a thing, even though her feelings deep inside were telling her something else. She shook her head, and laughed nervously. "You? Attractive? Please. This airship ride must be giving you brain damage." Mindbender smirked at her. "Now you've gone and hurt my feelings. Was that necessary?" Shikara blushed again. "Just shut up, you idiot," she said, averting his gaze. Mindbender smiled and put his hands on his knees. "Well you're not very friendly are you? You know you catch more wildflower flies with sugar than with oil."
"Will you two knock it off? Some of us are trying to sleep," Shadowcaster said irritably, due to being woken up. Mindbender looked at her nicely and gave a little smile, ever so warm and inviting. Shadowcaster rolled her eyes and turned her head away from him. His smile spread even larger across his face, and he shook his head slightly. "No need to be rude, dear. Shikara and I were just trading witticisms." Shadowcaster quickly turned her head back to Mindbender looking incredibly annoyed. "Witticisms? You call that witty? I've seen more wit from a brushback! Just knock it off!" She got up from her seat, and stormed into the washroom that lay on the airship, and locked the door. She looked in the mirror back at her reflection, seeing the anguish in her own eyes. She began holding back tears, and even managed to pull out a smirk. "Who does he think he's kidding? Acting like he doesn't like her, everyone can see it. The only reason she even came with us is 'cause she wants to fuck him! Damn dirty bitch!" She once again saw her reflection in the mirror, and it began speaking to her, just as the her in her imagination would. "Look at you! You're getting all worked up! And for what?! For some boy?" Shadowcaster looked at her reflection angrily. "I'm not getting worked up! Why should I? Me get worked up over some power hungry psycho? Please! I don't like him, if that's what you're trying to say. In fact, I hate him!" The reflection in the mirror smiled. "Really? Then why didn't you get mad until Shikara came into the picture?"
"Never say that name again! Damn dirty bitch, trying to step in and ruin all that we've got!" Once again, the Shadowcaster in the mirror smiled. "All that who's got? Do you mean you and Mindbender? Face it Lacey, you're jealous!" Shadowcaster let out a growl. "Of her?! Never!" At this, Shadowcaster began crying. "I can't like him! I just can't!" she said softly. She continued crying and sat down on the toilet. She heard a knock on the door, and Elemage's voice followed. "Hey, could you hurry up? I have to use the washroom!" Shadowcaster lifted her head, her long, flowing hair now tear-soaked. "You can wait a few more minutes!" she shouted, still teary eyed. Elemage bit his bottom lip, and sighed in frustration. "Not really! Could you get out of there please?!" Shadowcaster wiped the tears from her face, and stood up. She opened the door, and shot Elemage a nasty look. "You want in here? Fine!" She shoved him and briskly walked through the narrow hallway back to her seat. She sat down and crossed her arms. Mindbender glanced at her, and did a double take. "Shadowcaster, my dear, are you all right? You seem upset about something." Shadowcaster raised an eyebrow. Then she smirked slightly. "Me? I'm perfectly fine. Do you know how much longer we're gonna be riding in this thing?" Mindbender also raised an eyebrow, but with a shake of his head, it went back to its proper place. "We should only be on the airship for about twenty more minutes. Why are you in such a rush? Enjoy the scenery for a bit." Shadowcaster rolled her eyes, but looked out the window anyway. She saw a gigantic shadowy figure flying through the air. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be a dragon. She poked at Dracosaur and then let out a slight gasp. "Everybody! Look at this!" Dracosaur got up, as did Shikara and Mindbender, and Elemage even came out of the washroom to see what all the ruckus was about. Shikara looked at the large beast, and gasped. "Is that what I think it is?"
"Yep, it's Dracosaur's grandpa!" Elemage began laughing at his own comment, until Dracosaur shot a nasty look at him. "You're a real comedian, you know that? It's obviously a dragon, you twit." Elemage looked at him and scowled. His eyes returned to the dragon outside the airship, who has now curiously flying the same speed as they were. "I thought dragons went extinct like a thousand years ago." Mindbender looked at the dragon, astonished at the sight he was now seeing. "Well obviously they did not. Perhaps he is the last of his kind." The dragon's eyes then met Mindbender's, and the great beast let out a roar. He flew into the airship with a large thud, and then the airship began sputtering. The intercom for the airship was now audible for the first time during either flight, and buzzed with the pilot's voice.
"That damned thing damaged our engines! We're almost there, but I don't know if I can land it in time!" Mindbender looked at the beast, who was preparing for another charge on the airship. Elemage looked at the oncoming beast, and gave a frightened look. "Brace yourselves! This is gonna be bad." Everyone did as Elemage said, except for Mindbender, who merely smiled. "Do you forget? I am vast in ability. My telekinesis will prevent this creature from attacking us again." He created a telekinetic shield around the entire airship, as the dragon charged at it. The beast flew, straight through the telekinetic shield Mindbender had created, and knocked the airship a few yards away from the position it had previously been in. The airship began swaying back and forth, full of huge dents, rocking from the damage that had been done to it. Mindbender looked at the beast confusedly. "That should have worked. What makes this beast so special that even my abilities will not work?" Shikara looked at him and smiled. "Don't you know about Draconian Lore? In the Tome of Draconian Lore, passage 13:5 says that 'the dragon, whose blood runs with the magic of ages, shall be immune to any magic that may try to cause it harm.' You may be an intelligent person Mindbender, but you have a lot to learn about these things." Shadowcaster, Dracosaur and Elemage all snickered, and Mindbender furrowed his eyebrows. "So this beast will not respond to any of our abilities? That is just fantastic. How exactly are we supposed to get rid of this creature?" Shikara frowned at Mindbender, unsure of what to tell him. "I don't think we will. Much has been told about dragons, but any legends of how to defeat them are dead and gone."
"Um, guys, I hate to break up your little chat, but he's coming back again!" Elemage said, the fear audible in his voice. Mindbender looked at the beast charging at the airship. "Well, if he can't be affected by my abilities, then perhaps I can move the airship out of his way." As the beast began closing in, and tried charging at the airship, Mindbender held out a hand, and the airship dropped about twenty yards from its previous position. "What the hell was that?!" Dracosaur said, clutching his chest. Mindbender smiled, and let out a little chuckle. "It's just my way of ensuring our safety." Dracosaur sneered at him. "Safe?! You just dropped us out of the sky like fifty feet! This isn't the first time you've almost killed us either! Who're you really lookin out for?!" Mindbender's face contorted with anger, as though the very suggestion of his disloyalty made him burn with rage. "How dare you?! My sole concern is, and always will be, the well being of our kind. If you wish to think any different, then perhaps you'd like to leave us." Dracosaur looked at Mindbender, slightly angered, but he shook his head. "No, I'm stayin. I've put too much effort into all this 'Metahuman' junk to leave now." Mindbender smirked. "Wise decision." Shadowcaster was looking out the window, watching the great beast flap its wings irritably. It let out a huge roar, and began flying away. "I think your powers spooked him. That thing is getting out of here!" Shikara frowned at Shadowcaster's comment. "I highly doubt it, dragons are usually fiercely territorial. I believe he's marked this place as his territory, and he's going to defend it with everything he's got." Elemage looked at Shikara confusedly. "Then why is he flying away?" he said, his brow beading with sweat. Shikara shrugged her shoulders at him. Mindbender gave a little wave of his hand and the airship began to split open. Wind started rushing in, and nearly blew everyone out, but Mindbender used his telekinesis to catch them. "What the hell are you doing?!" Elemage shouted over the rush of wind. "Are you trying to kill us?!" Mindbender gave a slight look of concern. "We have to get out of here. That dragon is preparing for a final charge on this airship, and I highly doubt I can stop it this time. Hopefully we will be beneath his notice, because as Shikara so intelligently explained, none of us can harm that dragon. Anyone who cannot make themselves fly, I shall assist you. Shikara, I believe that means just you. Prepare yourselves everyone. On the count of three, we leave this ship." Elemage gave a look as though Mindbender had forgotten something.
"What about the pilot? We can't just leave him here!" Mindbender looked toward the door that the cockpit lay behind. "He is expendable. Don't worry about it, all things happen for a reason, and his death will be no different." Elemage looked at Mindbender somberly. He gave a slow nod, and braced himself. Mindbender also nodded, and put up a finger. "One," he said frowning. Another finger came up, and the word two came out of Mindbender's mouth. Once the third finger came up, everyone dove out of the opening in the airship, nearly missing the dragon, who plowed into it just moments after they escaped. Elemage had conjured a disc of rock, on which, he was now floating through the air. Shadowcaster had a layer of shadow conjured around herself, and was using it at warp speed to fly through the air. Dracosaur was flapping his massive wings, going incredibly fast, soaring through the air. Mindbender, of course, was using his abilities to carry himself and Shikara. Mindbender looked up at the airship, falling down just past them. He looked again, trying to see the dragon, but it was nowhere to be found. "It appears we are home free, everyone. Once we land back at home, we can continue the next phase of my plan." Elemage looked at Mindbender with a frown. "How are we even supposed to make it home? The entire city is in lockdown mode." Mindbender smiled at Elemage. "My abilities will keep us shielded from any interference. We are nearly there. Luckily, the airship landed in the mountains, so no one will be suspicious. Once we get past the mountains, we will land on the docks, and use Elemage's influence as emperor to get in." Shikara laughed. "Emperor? This pompous gasbag? You've got to be joking!" They all continued to fly through the air, and Elemage's hands began glowing with flames encircling them. "I would change your tone if I were you. You don't have to join us, you know." Mindbender raised an eyebrow.
"Both of you, stop it, now! We do not need your constant bickering! We have nearly made it past the mountains; I can see the docks off in the distance. Now, when we land, I will have to shield you from the general public's view, Dracosaur." Dracosaur eyed Mindbender with an irritated look. "Ya know, I could just roast all the people in sight. What could they do against all of us?" Mindbender looked at Dracosaur, smiling slightly. "I would like for nothing more, but Elemage here still has to maintain his secrecy. However, if he doesn't mind, we can 'roast' all the civilians you like." Elemage smirked, and laughed a little. "Oh, trust me, I have no problem with that. Just make sure I'm not seen, and we can do whatever you'd like." The quintet of Mindbender, Shadowcaster, Dracosaur, Elemage, and Shikara were all closing in on the docks, and as they got there, they all landed behind a gigantic shipping container. Mindbender saw guards all around and pointed at Shadowcaster and Shikara and directed them to turn to the west of the container. He pointed at Dracosaur, and directed him to go east, and Mindbender began levitating forward, above the shipping container. He let out an evil cackle, and began levitating objects around him. "Behold, pathetic mortals, your doom awaits you!" He hurled an oil drum at the nearest police officer, who cringed in fear. It crushed him with virtually no effort. "It's those freaks! They're all around us! Take 'em out!" One of the officers said. They fired on Mindbender, who of course put up a telekinetic shield, and continued to throw oil drums at more officers. Shikara and Shadowcaster were putting their powers to good use against a slew of policemen. Shadowcaster continually lifted the officers off the ground, and slammed them back down into it with a ribbon of shadow. Shikara used her acrobatic skills to subdue her enemies, then cloned herself to perform multiple attacks at once, beating her opponents to death. Dracosaur was busy as well, flying through the air around a huge group of police. He opened his mouth, and let out a huge roar. Then came a jet of flame, burning all the officers to a crisp. Mindbender cackled again.
"You see? We are dominant and shall forever remain so!" No sooner than Mindbender finished his sentence, had the sky filled with thick, dense clouds. "Jeez Mindbender, you think you could tone it down on the speeches a bit?" Dracosaur said, looking at the darkening sky. Mindbender scowled. "It isn't me. Someone must've decided to crash our little party." The sky suddenly cleared, just as quickly as it had darkened. "Well that was creepy," Shadowcaster said with a shudder. Suddenly, a figure appeared. "You know, it's creeps like you that give us a bad name." Everyone turned to face the voice, but when they looked for the person behind it, it was nowhere to be found. A breeze suddenly went through the air, and they heard the voice again. "You guys honestly have no brains. Things were going fine, and then you had to go and ruin all that." Mindbender's eyes darkened with anger. "Show yourself! You cannot hide from me!" The voice they heard turned into a laugh. "Apparently I can. You just don't get it, do you? You may want a war, but what you don't realize is, humanity can accept people like us, in time." Mindbender attempted to pinpoint where the voice was coming from, but found that it had disappeared again. "The problem is," the voice said, once again out of nowhere, "people like you step in, and try to destroy everything that has been built for them. If you want a war, you've got one, but it won't be with whom you'd expect. You have been warned, murderers." The voice disappeared, and Mindbender waited for it to return, but after a few moments, he decided it wouldn't. "Everyone, let us get home, we have business to attend to." Dracosaur looked at Mindbender confusedly.
"So we're not even gonna talk about this? What just happened?" Mindbender shouted. "FORGET IT! ELEMAGE, WE WILL BE WALKING HOME! IF YOU WISH TO JOIN US, THEN MOVE!" Everyone cringed at Mindbender's voice, even Dracosaur. Elemage came out from behind the shipping container, and the five of them walked home.
The very same darkened and lightened sky that had plagued Mindbender and company now made its home above the Vermillion Archipelago. Artillery looked around the tent he was sleeping in, and rubbed his eyes. All his companions were still asleep, and of course, Knightbeast was snoring as loud as ever. Tech was still in his cyber suit, and Artillery continued to wonder how he was able to sleep in it. Pixie looked just as gorgeous as ever, even though she was curled up in a ball, as she often did when she slept. Twilight, being the bat-like thing that he was, was hanging from the top of the tent, his wings covering his body. Artillery stood up from his bedroll, and stretched out a bit. When he did, Knightbeast stirred and opened his eyes. He looked at artillery and frowned a bit.
"You're up kind of early, aren't you?" Knightbeast let out a yawn and rubbed his eyes. Artillery smiled at Knightbeast. "Not really, it's like the middle of the day. Hey, do me a favor, and get everyone else up for me. I want to walk for a bit." Knightbeast shrugged his shoulders as he sat up. "Fine by me. Just remember, apparently we've got a busy day ahead of us." Artillery smiled, his head buzzing with a million thoughts at once. He walked through a flap in the tent, and walked into Kahran's hut. "Ah, hello outsider, I have been expecting you," Kahran said mysteriously. Artillery looked at Kahran confusedly. "You were? Why?" Kahran smiled. "I assumed you would want to speak with me about your upcoming journey. However, before you ask me anything, I have something to confess to you. I knew who you were the moment I saw you. Your scepter gave it away. I just wasn't ready to believe that you had returned. Now I can see that I was wrong. You did indeed come, as he said you would those two thousand years ago." Artillery raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?" Kahran shook his head. "Everything you want to know will be told to you when you make your journey to the temple of the gods. Now go, your destiny awaits you, young one." Artillery bowed his head and left the hut. He made his way back into the tent that his friends were previously asleep in, but found them all awake.
"Oh, you're back now Frank?" Pixie said, smiling, but rubbing her eyes. Artillery nodded. "Now that you guys are all awake, we need to head out. I have a feeling that even though I need to see this, you'll want to." Artillery walked out of the tent and everyone followed him. "This is gonna be interesting," Twilight said, smiling slightly. They started walking, and made their way through the jungle, onset by mosquitoes and gnats. "Bleech! Damned bugs! Where are we even going anyway?" Pixie said rather irritably. Artillery shrugged. "I'm not completely sure. Kahran mentioned something about a temple, and that the scepter would guide me." Knightbeast gave a little laugh. "Oh, that's really specific. What else did he say?" Artillery looked at Knightbeast, thinking of what Kahran told him just before all of them had left. "Nothing," he said evasively. Twilight smirked at this. "I'm sure. It would be nice if we were clued in on what was going on."
"It is rather disconcerting to have no clue where we are going," Tech said irritably. Pixie rolled her eyes. "Oh relax, will you Tech? This is kind of exciting, don't you think? We're gonna find out why we even came here, and why Frank has that scepter thing." Artillery smiled, and began walking faster. "It's not far now, I can feel it!" Tech made a sudden noise, like a shiver, as if something had given him a chill. "I can feel it too. I cannot place it, but I can feel a sort of aura around this place." Everyone else made a shudder too, and gave a nod of agreement. They all made their way to a clearing where Artillery began running. Everyone else followed him, until Artillery suddenly stopped and pulled out his scepter. The scepter began glowing, and suddenly, a large stone building appeared out of nowhere. It was indeed a temple, just as Kahran said. There were huge stone pillars holding up the porch-like awning that lay above the great stone steps. A sealed doorway presumably led to the wonders that Artillery had imagined.
"Well, it looks like there's a huge door. How we gonna get past that?" Pixie asked, smiling at Artillery. Artillery smiled right back. "Well, it occurs to me that this temple was built in part due to Draguardium's help. If that's the case, then the scepter should be able to open it." He walked up to the door, followed by his team, and held up his scepter. It began glowing again, but nothing happened. Suddenly, the door began glowing, and a small hole appeared. Artillery put his scepter inside the hole and turned it to the right. The door sprang to life, opening through a slit in the middle of it. Artillery smiled from ear to ear and then looked at his team. "Well guys, here we go." Artillery walked into the door, followed by his friends, and found the way lit by several torches along the wall, held up by statues that resembled the natives of the very island they were on.
"Kinda creepy lookin', huh?" Knightbeast said, looking at the statues. Twilight smiled at Knightbeast. "Not as creepy lookin' as you, furball." Knightbeast growled at Twilight. "You wanna run that by me again, blue boy?" Twilight smirked. "I said—" Artillery put up a hand to silence him. "I thought I heard something. Keep your eyes peeled for anything strange." Tech let out a chuckle, sounding odd, considering his suit made him sound mechanical. "Strange? All of this is strange. All this 'destiny' gobbledygook is just ... nonsensical." Tech looked around, and a rumbling behind them made him quiver inside his cyber-suit. A chill filled the air as Artillery braced himself. He suddenly found himself on a battlefield, surrounded by armored soldiers.
"What the hell is going on?" he said confusedly. He changed his scepter into a sword, and readied himself for an attack, in case one indeed came. A shadowy figure appeared as all the soldiers began charging it. Artillery could hear the clang of the soldiers' armor as they ran. A pulse shot through the air, causing the soldiers to fly in every direction. One of them landed right where Artillery was standing, but instead of crushing him, it passed straight through him. Looking incredibly confused, Artillery shouted at the top of his lungs, "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" He looked around to see if the soldiers, or even the shadowy figure would react, but none did. Artillery found himself getting quite frustrated. He was suddenly in a place where not only no one could hear him, but apparently no one could see him either. He couldn't react with anything. Not only that, now his scepter was behaving strangely. The sword retreated and the scepter returned. Suddenly a wisp of smoke issued from the very scepter he was holding, and formed into someone looking very much like himself. The shadowy figure that appeared previously uttered a laugh as he began walking into view.
"So, you decided to show up after all Draguardium? All the better. Now I can dismantle you personally!" The air became incredibly cold, and dense with fog. The figure that was called Draguardium pulled something from his waist. Artillery watched in amazement as the object "Draguardium" pulled from his waist became an enormous sword, and the shadowy figure pulled out a sword of his own. A huge smile spread across his face. "This has to be another vision," Artillery thought, still smiling intensely.
"Khylor, your reign is at an end! End this tyranny now and I will let you go!" Khylor laughed, and flailed his sword around. "You are a fool. End your futile efforts to try and stop me; I cannot be stopped!" Khylor grinned at him, and his brown teeth were bared. Draguardium raised his sword and readied himself for an attack. Khylor laughed at him. "You honestly think you stand a chance against me? Your little friends aren't here to save you this time!" Draguardium looked at Khylor with rage, as if doubting his skills was the worst possible thing Khylor could do. He charged Khylor, and then everything went dark. Artillery found himself spinning into another room, perhaps another scene. He found himself in a circular room, not unlike the one back in the tower he called home, only everything in this room was carved from stone. Artillery recognized the person who had just sat down at the table from the scene he had just witnessed. As Draguardium sat down, a figure began speaking from behind a chair, in a gruff voice Artillery knew he'd heard before.
"Draguardium, why have you called us here?" the voice said, sounding slightly annoyed. Draguardium did not smile; there was no friendly tone, no kind demeanor. "Lykourgos, everyone, welcome. I have called you here—Trophos, we're trying to have a meeting here, please try to have a little decorum and not get food all over the table." Artillery heard a raspy cough that he thought had to have been Twilight's, but he looked and saw a creature bigger than Twilight, although he was the same color, and he had slightly different features, such as a tuft of black hair on his head, as opposed to the long jet-black hair Twilight possessed. The creature gulped down his food, and frowned a little.
"I was hungry. Is that a crime?" A female voice giggled a bit, and sighed. Artillery looked at her and she was beautiful. She had bright blonde hair, slightly darkening as it went down, at its darkest (light brown) past her elbows. Her face had absolutely no blemishes other than the few freckles that were scattered among it. She gave another sigh, and frowned. "No, it's not a crime, but it would be nice if we could sit at the table without getting sprayed with whatever miscellaneous food you happen to be eating." A man sitting across the table from her found this funny. He was completely covered in a deep silver armor that gave his voice a metallic quality. He pointed at the girl and continued laughing.
"Luminara, you're one to talk. You dribble pudding down your chin every time you eat it. Not very ladylike if it you ask me." The woman now referred to as "Luminara" smirked, and then frowned just as quickly. "Well, Phanes, at least I can eat. When was the last time you took off that contraption to eat something?" The armored man, now known as "Phanes" scoffed at her, and Draguardium frowned. "Do you think you could stop the bickering for just a moment so we can discuss the issues at hand?" and without waiting for any reply, he said "Thank you." He took a deep breath in and began talking again. "Now, you have all been called because I need counsel. Our supporters continue to diminish, and Khylor's followers continue to grow. If we do not act soon, I fear all shall be lost. How can we continue to fight him?"
"By being as fierce and vigilant as ever! He won't stop in his efforts to destroy us, so we must be as unrelenting in our efforts to stop him. He presents himself as all powerful and invincible, but everyone has a weakness. Everyone," Lykourgos said with a growl. Artillery got a better look at him, and gasped. He looked almost identical to Knightbeast, only much larger. He had the same cream-colored fur, only thicker. His eyes were just as intense, just as focused, and his mouth was the same canine snout he was used to seeing in Knightbeast. "Besides," Lykourgos began again, "when you have the strength that we do—" The room began to spin, and a bright light blinded Artillery. He suddenly found himself lying on the temple floor surrounded by his team.
"What the hell happened?" Knightbeast said, panting. Artillery sat up slowly, with help from Pixie. "I was hoping you could tell me," he said rubbing his eyes with his fists, as his scepter was still in his hand. Pixie looked at him, seeming quite worried. "Well, we were walking down this corridor, and you like suddenly passed out. We tried to wake you up, but nothing worked." Artillery looked at Pixie confusedly. "How long was I out?" Knightbeast gave a small growl, and frowned. "Damn near twenty minutes. Scared the crap out of all of us," Knightbeast said, the worry still clear in his voice. Artillery frowned, but suddenly remembered why he was unconscious in the first place, and a huge smile spread across his face. "Guys, I've got a lot to tell you. I'm having visions from the scepter again." At this, Tech scoffed. "Visions? Nonsense! The intense heat and humidity of this place was probably the reason for your unconsciousness." Artillery's smile still didn't fade, even at Tech's skepticism. "Tech, for someone so smart, you're very narrow-minded, you know that? I had a vision, accept it. Anyway, it started out on a battlefield, and I was surrounded by soldiers, right? So a shadow just appears, the soldiers charge it, and a pulse shoots through the air and knocks them all out. Then, another dude appears, and the big shadow starts talking to him. He blurs into view, and he's Draguardium!" Everyone seemed intensely focused on Artillery's story at this point, except for Tech. He gave a sigh, and put his chin in his hands. "Which figure was Draguardium? The large shadow or the smaller one?" Artillery cleared his throat and gave a small shake of his head. "The smaller one," he began irritably, "because the other shadow was Khylor. Anyway, they started trash talking, and then started running toward each other, then everything went dark. After that, I was in a room, and four people were sitting at a stone table, and Draguardium walked in. He was asking the four people for help. A bat-like thing looking a lot like you, Twilight, except bigger, was stuffing his face. A girl sitting next to him laughed at him. She looked like you a little, Trixie, except you're better looking than she is. Then a guy in a soldier's battle armor scoffed and laughed at the girl for laughing at the bat-thing, saying that she dribbles pudding down her chin or something. But the one that shocked me the most was the big Knightbeast-like guy. He looked almost exactly like you, man, except his fur was thicker. Other than that, I don't remember much."
"So you're saying that there was a doppelganger for each of us back in those days? Unlikely," Tech said skeptically. Artillery looked at him, getting more and more annoyed, and grunted in frustration. "Just everyone follow me, and no more questions or anything." They all did as he said, (Tech did so reluctantly) and followed him deeper into the temple. He made it to another stone doorway and did the same thing he did with the one at the entrance. The door opened, and there was a large chasm, leading down into a tiny orb of light. "That's where we've gotta go," Artillery said excitedly.
"Are you serious?! We're going down there?!" Pixie said, the fear clear in her voice. "Relax," Artillery said reassuringly. "Everything's gonna be fine. All we have to do is jump down there, and we'll land safely. Trust me, have I been wrong about anything yet?" Pixie looked at him like a dog eyeing something it didn't understand. "Well no, but—" Artillery held up a hand. "But nothing. You'll be fine, trust me. Take my hand." She did as he said and locked her fingers with his. "Okay, on the count of three, everybody jump! One!" He put up a finger, "two," he put up another, "three!" He jumped, hand in hand with Pixie, and everyone else jumped after them. They flew faster and faster down the well-looking tube, and just before hitting the ground, they all hovered for a moment, and gently touched down on the grassy ground. They found themselves in a circular room, the very center of which was covered in bright green grass and moss. At the very center of the grass and moss was a pedestal at about waist level, with a hole in it; Artillery assumed he was to put his scepter inside it. Knightbeast gave a look around and bared his teeth. "What is this place? It looks like some kinda shrine." Artillery gave a gasp of excitement. "If it is, then the answer will come from that pedestal." He walked up to the marble pedestal, and put his scepter in the hole that lay in it. When nothing happened, he turned it to the right. When that did nothing, he turned it to the left. That did nothing either. He began to get frustrated. Everything else he'd done with the scepter worked perfectly, but for some reason, this wasn't. Artillery shoved the scepter deeper in the hole, and a great rumbling began shifting rocks around the entire room. Everyone jerked their heads around anxiously. When the rumbling stopped, the floor began moving. Pixie looked at Artillery, then at the room. "Is it just me, or is the ceiling getting higher up?" Tech turned his head to her and laughed slightly.
"What an astute observation, Pixie," he said sarcastically. Pixie rolled her eyes at his comment. "You know, you don't have to be an asshole about everything. Just because you don't believe any of this stuff, doesn't mean you have to give everyone an attitude." Artillery glared at the two of them, and neither of them said anything further.The platform continued to lower down, and when it finally stopped and hit the ground, there were four statues, all turned to a much larger statue, holding a scepter, and pointing it up toward the hole they just came down from. Knightbeast walked up to a statue, and gasped. "Hey, Artillery, you said you saw a guy that looked like me in your vision thing right?" he said anxiously. Artillery glanced over at Knightbeast and a confused expression spread across his face. "Yeah, why?" Knightbeast's eyes continued to bulge out of his head. "Did he look like this?" Knightbeast said, pointing at the statue. Artillery looked over, and smiled. "Yeah, that'd be him." Twilight was gazing intensely at the large bat-human creature's statue, and Artillery smiled at him. "Before you ask Twilight, that's your 'doppelganger'." Artillery has held up his hands and used his fingers to indicate that "Doppelganger" had intended to be in quotations. There's one for each of you, and even though you don't wanna believe it, Tech, there is one for you too. Now, what's the meaning of these statues?" Artillery walked up to the statue of who he assumed to be Draguardium, and examined it more closely. He saw nothing out of the ordinary, other than the way the statue was standing. Artillery readjusted his position, walking a couple of paces backward. He shifted his right leg out in front, just like the statue's leg was, and he held his scepter in the air at the same angle that the stone Draguardium did. A beam of light issued from both Artillery's scepter and the stone Draguardium's. Artillery suddenly felt an intense vibrating come from the scepter, and had to tighten his grip. The beams crossed over each other, and began wrapping around each other. They twisted straight up, and they hit the ceiling maybe 75 meters above them. Five beams then shot from that, hitting each one of the statues. Suddenly the stone peeled away from the statues as though it were a hard shell coating on the outside of a nut. The beings inside the statues sprang to life, and everyone jumped. The statue that was Draguardium was now a real person, much smaller, of course, than his statue. Lykourgos gave a growl, as did Trophos. Luminara tousled her hair, and Phanes just stood there looking regal. Draguardium gave a bit of a yawn and looked right at Artillery.
"Finally, he's here! And he's brought friends! I will admit that part I was not expecting." Artillery looked at the sight before his bulged eyeballs. He could not believe what he was seeing. He very bravely walked up to Draguardium, but very timidly spoke. "Excuse me, are you Draguardium?" even as he spoke it, he knew it sounded timid. Draguardium simply smiled. "Yes, Franklin, I am. Well, at least the spirit of Draguardium." He noticed the confused expression that ran across Artillery's face, and began speaking again. "Perhaps I should explain. After the long-fought war with Khylor, I sealed a portion of my soul away, along with portions of the souls of my most trusted soldiers, so that the next possessor of my scepter may call on us again." Artillery became really intrigued now. "Why would you need to lock your souls away? Wasn't there some other work you had to do?" he looked up at Draguardium with the greatest adoration a person could have for another person without being in love. Draguardium looked down at Artillery with a small smile. "There wasn't anything else we could do. Khylor was defeated, and our destinies had been fulfilled. It was our time. Now we are here to help you." Tech scoffed at Draguardium, and started to turn around to walk away. Phanes looked at him and laughed. "What's your problem?" he said, still laughing. Tech turned back around and looked at the spirit. "May I ask why you are laughing?" Phanes looked at him and smiled. "You are still skeptical? I would've thought that all this would've been enough to make you a believer. You really are stubborn, Stephen." Tech's heart began beating rapidly in his chest. "How do you know my name?" he said anxiously. Phanes laughed and shook his head. "What's the point of telling you? You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Tech looked at him and crossed his arms, which everyone thought was odd, due to the fact they didn't know how unrestricting his armor was. "Try me," Tech said irritably. Phanes looked at him with a smirk, and he put his helmet on.
"We are gods. You are our successors. Once you complete the task you were put here for, you all will take our places, just as we took the places of the gods before us." Artillery looked at Phanes, and he was shaking from the excitement of this newest bit of information. "You're gods?! How did that happen?" Draguardium looked at him with squinty eyes, and a wide smile. "Simple. The gods saw fit to grant us their powers in order to defeat Khylor, who had become too powerful to defeat by regular means. Then when the job was done, our souls ascended, and we became godly beings. I left a portion of our souls behind, as I explained before." Tech took off his helmet and a tear fell from his right eye. "You are gods? How can that be? I mean, I've gone my whole life always being told that all that religious stuff is crap, and never to believe it, because I'd just be wasting my time. Now that all of this is… I just can't believe… wow." Tech could no longer put words together. He began crying more intensely now. Pixie looked shocked, Knightbeast looked as though he was going to laugh, and Twilight didn't seem to care at all. Draguardium looked at tech, and smiled. "It's ok Stephen. I understand how you are feeling. You will find peace with your duty. Do not let your duty consume you, but allow your duty be one of your main focuses. Now, down to business. You, Franklin, have much to do. The menace known as Mindbender is a threat that not even your team can defeat. You must begin creating an army. Mindbender will begin doing so in a short time. He has his companions, yes, but with his powers of persuasion, he could recruit millions. Gather an army, and you will be instructed further. You may go now." Artillery looked at him confusedly, and began to speak, but the spirit portion of Draguardium held up a hand to stop him. "There is one more thing before you go. You presumably wanted to know more about us. Well I can help all of you with that. I had a hidden reason for sealing away portions of all of our souls. We will be transferred to you." Artillery had an excited but confused look on his face. "Transferred? I don't understand." Draguardium looked at him, very seriously. "The spirit portions I placed here will be merged with each of you, and you will have the knowledge of each of us. For example, Jacob will have the memories and knowledge of Lykourgos, and Jeffrey will have the memories and knowledge of Trophos. Get the picture?" Artillery looked at Draguardium, and nodded. Draguardium smiled, and also nodded. "Very well, everyone ready?" He did not wait for a response. "Good." A flash of light flew through the air, and Artillery and his team found themselves outside the temple walls. The starry sky twinkled above them.