Zodaccia: Realms of Chaos (preview)

If you would like a version that is color coded for thought and telepathic communication, then just get ahold of me.  It is a DOC and DOCX file, so make sure you have a working WORD reader, preferably updated, and I will send you the formatted version.  Its more appeaing to the eye, and a bit easier to follow since there are times when telepathy and conversations dont specifically advertise who is speaking and when.



Hope yall like it.. the full book should be available on Amazon by no later than June



1

June 2008-Las Vegas, NV  2:33 a.m.



“They’re getting stronger, Jaisen.  Both in numbers and individually”

  “Damn things!  Every time we get an edge up, they do too!”

  “Chill, little brother, just stick to the plan.”

  “I dunno Jaise, I think I’m with Corey on this one.”

  “See? Jason has a brain, that’s why we’re blood relatives.”

  “Please, Jaise and I have way more in common, especially the brain part.”

  “Agreed.  So what would you recommend then, little brother?”

  “Well honestly I’d recommend we made tracks in the other direction, but whatever survivors are in there, won’t last another five minutes.”

  “So what are we gonna do then?”

  “We’re gonna follow our training.”

  “Jason, stop!”

  The youngest of the three brothers then charges from his location in an alleyway adjacent to the target building, descending upon a rundown factory, followed by the other two moments later from separate locations to the east, moving to convene in back of the building, no footfalls can be heard.

  Clad in dark shrouding with armor plating forged by their own hands protect them under their dark clothes, reminiscent of the new age attire of the Shizoku, fused with a traditional Samurai appearance, a meld between the progression from the latter to former with a modern western spin; long black trench coats flailing behind them.

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  The dark clothing ruffles in the breeze as the three approach swiftly from their separate areas towards the factory, outside of which a large gathering of apparent mutations, former humans and what used to be docile house pets, as well as insects much larger than their orders would suggest in a modern time, Earth.  Although, still small in comparison to human beings, but larger nonetheless than they should be—uglier too.

  Nearly silent footfalls come rapidly in all directions as the brothers convene  at the fence behind the warehouse at the bottom of the abandoned site, a slight jingling of chain link perks the attention of one particularly ugly mutant, a human at one point, with a saggy eye.

  As Jaisen reaches his youngest brothers’ side, Corey hoots from behind them, letting the other two know that their cover was blown, having noticed the beast turn to spot his coat flailing behind the bricks of the warehouse, having hurdled the fence with impressive silence as well as the first two with record speed.

  “Oh great! We’re spotted!  Great plan Jason, we aren’t even INSIDE yet!” The eldest barks in as best a whisper as possible, while still asserting his aggravation, bringing his hands together near his brothers knee as Jason does the same.

  “We’re about to be!” He reassures the eldest as they catch Corey’s feet and catapult him upwards towards the roof nearly fifteen feet above, which he grips firmly and allows his brothers to scramble up him like a human ladder after they run up the wall in a short burst.

  As a small mob of mutations round the corner, expecting to find the intruders alerted to them by the short fat one with a droopy eye, stray hairs, and a massive growth in the left arm which offsets the waddle of the hideous former human, yet are met with nothing.



3

  Corey is yanked up to the roof swiftly, just before the creatures raise their gazes, and subsequently begin bickering amongst one another at the absence of prey.

“That was close.” Corey said through his cloth covered mouth.

  “Shut up, no more using your voice from this point on.  Speak astrally.”

  “Sounds like that ugly one is about to get ripped to shreds.”

  “Well what does he expect? Alerting all those goons for no reason, right? Haha”

  “Move as the air, let’s find those hostages.”

  “Haha, you sound like sensei.”

  “Does it creep either of you out that we learned ancient Japanese martial arts from a three foot china man that can lift a car with his mind?  Not to mention taught us to speak pretty much telepathically?”

  “Why would that creep you out?”

  “Yeah, what’s so abnormal about that?”

  “Nothing, I guess, seeing as we’re invading a colony of mutants to save a handful of people who may or may not already want to tear us apart like the other mutazoids…I guess…”

  “You said you guessed already, Corey.”

  “He’s an over achiever… let him be.  Check it, boys, ventilation shaft on the left.”

  “Peekaboo, I see you-u-u-u”



4

  The brothers separate within the shafts, careful not to allow the steel of their weapons to give away their locations against the metal shafting.

  After a few moments of silence between them, Corey announces the source of commotion within and confirms that only two survivors remain amongst the captives.  The brothers would have never known about the kidnapping had the youngest not overheard one of them gurgling about “waiting for the others and the converts.”

  Now here they are.  Seeing exactly what their sensei had foretold a few years previous.  Things were starting to become entirely too real.  Prophetic claims never occur on time anymore, but the little china man was right about mutations and sacrifices, to a tee.  Good thing he knows some really cool tricks that he passed along, then again, perhaps it wasn’t simply coincidence...

  The boys rearrange themselves, finding vents which will allow them access into the shadows of the warehouse and quietly pry their way through the gating, hearing the poor bastards who were already mutating and changing as they wail and groan.

  Propane tanks, barrels of gasoline and oil.  The warehouse was apparently an old fuel storage, the smell of corrosive materials making a noxious cocktail which turned the stomach.

  The sound of Jaisen landing on the concrete makes a light clack, which peaks some attention from the outer ring of mutants, already transformed and busy initiating new transformations in the remaining two.

  Then Jason’s thud comes from another area, but softer than the eldest.

  A few moments later, a wild clatter echoes through the far end of the warehouse, announcing the thirds clumsy arrival, disrupting the gathering of mutants as they attempt to spread their infection into the two remaining humans; a very attractive young woman close to Jason’s age of seventeen, a latin tan and dark eyes and hair.

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  The other, a man of nearly sixty, white as a ghost and stammering lightly as his eyes seem to bulge and the flesh around them splits and tears to

announce the beginning of mutation, followed by a distorted wail and cry of his voice which causes his attractive company to wail and scream in terror, knowing she was next.

  The clatter breaks the commotion, silencing even the woman, leaving only the poor man mutating in throes of torment and screaming and the terrified girl in the small corner from where the youngest kept crouched behind crates and barrels, the open gating behind him on the wall about eight foot above the ground.

  The mutating man falls and strikes the ground with his body hard, knocking the wind out to silence himself as his body violently spasms and begins to convulse as his flesh tears and burns slowly under his clothing, beginning to shred the fabric in his back and thighs as his body gains mass.

  “That wasn’t exactly what I had in mind when it came to clearing the riffraff, but hey that works.  I’m in range, Jaisen, you go help Corey deal with his clumsiness and our new friends while I go get the survivor.”

  “Already heading to him, hope you didn’t break anything important Corey.”

  Hopping from one dark shadow along the wall to the next, while rolling and somersaulting across low, and medium leveled crates and keeping himself low as he closes the gap between himself and Corey, trying his damnedest to beat the mutants to him.

  “Smacked my nugget fairly well on the concrete after I slipped on whatever that cylindrical thing was.”

  He rubs his head, flinching a bit at the sore area above his neck, but hearing the groans and growls closing in around him.



6

  “Nope, nothing important.”

  “Bite me, you little ass-face!”

  “Six years of extensive martial arts training and you can’t even land on your feet.  Bite yourself.”

  Jason “psst’s” to get the girls attention, creeping back behind a crate as a nearly disabled cretin hobbles past, trying to join his buddies in the slaughter fest.

  “I couldn’t see the damn pipe! Shut up!”

  “Can we focus, ladies?”

  Corey strokes his temple with a palm as he pulls himself up off the floor to sit just when a mutant peers around the corner to spot him.

  “Intruders!” the beast hollers just before receiving a sturdy left heel to the face and nearly performing a full side flip before smacking the concrete with a sickening “THACK!” sound.

  “Time to work!” Jaisen shouts as he slides across the concrete in front of Corey in a low crouch with one leg extended, landing his aerial kick perfectly, drawing his short sword from under his trench coat as the other balances him through the slide.

  “Right!” says Corey while rolling back and then performing a swift kimp, projecting his body upward using his shoulders to upright himself, he draws a long blade from his back and readies in stance for battle as a he looks to the swarm.

  “You wanna dance, beautiful?  Come learn the ninja-two-step!”





7

As the swarm peels away from the remaining hostage, Jason emerges from behind his crate, hurrying in to the woman to cut her restraints with a small dagger from his shin, giving up on getting her attention quietly.

    “Stay calm, what’s your name?  We’re gonna getcha outa here.”

  “R-Rose… Rochelle Rose…what the hell is going on?! What are those things?”

  “Ugly.” He responds with a smirk and matter of fact tone.

  “No shit!”  She says as she stands after being freed from her binds.

  The beast at her feet begins to pull himself up, only to lose his head in a swift swipe of one of the twin short blades on Jason’s back.

  She hadn’t even noticed the swipe, only the fact that her apparent savior was returning the blade to its sheath as the beasts head rolls, spilling a dark blackish ooze of blood, more thick than it should be as if already coagulating.

  “That’s no way for a lady to speak.  Especially one with a name as sweet as her face.”

  “You don’t know anything about me, Romeo, okay?  This isn’t the time.”

  “A rose called by any other name would smell as sweet.”

  “Do you use Shakespeare on all the damsels you rescue from monsters?”

  “Only when it seems more personal and witty, come on.” He says, taking her hand and making for the vent he came through, only to be cut off by two especially hideous mutations, ones that had come in to find out what was going on.

  “How many is that?” Rose quirks.

  The mutant on the left had a deformed arm by the wrist, they had taught short droopy eye a valuable lesson apparently.

8

  “You’re awfully jealous for a first date…” Jason smirks, taking stance with his blade aimed towards the lead mutant.  “Away from the wall, princess, I’ll cut ya.”

  “Some first date, you’re gonna get me killed. Did you just… say…”

  “Not you , Rosey, Princess…” He re-affirms, pulling the second of the twin blades from its sheath, taking a wide stance in front of the woman now.

  “Let’s make a bet out of it.  I get you out of here, alive and in one piece, and you let me take you to dinner…deal?”

  “Sure whatever, but you gotta get me out alive, and in one piece.  So let’s hope that fancy getup of yours isn’t just for show, huh?”

  “Oh it’s definitely more than show.  I’ll prove it.”

  As the larger mutant closes in, its gurgling voice emanates.

  “You smell like Oni scum!  I will devour you and use your strength to destroy Oblivion and this pathetic existence!”

  “That’s all very interesting, Mr. Monster-Man, but it doesn’t change the fact that I have no idea what you’re on about, and in all honesty I don’t care!” Jason responds with a smirk, twisting his right arm upward behind him, and his left front foot more towards the beast.  The shimmering sword tips aimed menacingly towards the offensive creatures.

  The beasts lurch in at him, receiving first a sharp stab in the chest, then two swift swipes across the chest, then as Jason spins before them he drops low and brings both blades up at the creature’s groin, slicing straight up and through the shoulders, leaping upwards and back into the air.

  As he arches himself away, into a backwards roll to avoid the swipe of the other, the beast connects the previous and sends it into three flying chunks which splatter against the wall.

9

  Before the creature can recover, the two blades plunge through its chest and rip apart from one another, dealing detrimental damage to its body, and before it can react Jason is spinning again and delivers both egdges to its side below the arm, lopping it apart furiously.

  Rochelle screams for her surprisingly exceptional savior as more beasts swarm in from behind them, having heard the commotion from the other mob, thirsty for action but held on the sidelines.

  “I don’t mean to be a complaining date, but could you do something about the catering staff please?!”

  “Sure, got a phone? We can complain to management.” Jason says, backing Rochelle towards the wall.  “Look, as much as I love the view, I’m gonna need you to get out of sight and stay there until these guys are put down, okay?”

  “You better not be looking at me when you have a job to do, mister!  Got any hints as to where I’m supposed to hide?”

  “The vent I came in through, it’s up there.. I’m gonna boost you up.”

  Jason lunges for the new group of six, slashing and lashing out with stylish fluidity and deadly precision.  A mutated hand rolls over towards her, twitching and making her feel squeamish.  She starts heading towards the vent, stepping over the hunk of mutant blocking the clear path like a tree branch blown off in a wind storm.  A disgustingly gooey mutated tree branch...

“Bleh, gross.  Hey look, I don’t mean to be skeptic here, but you’re a little preoccupied, stud.”

  “Yeah, so you’d probably better go fast… come on.”  He says dropping the blades after slashing twice more and tucking into the small corridor of crates and cupping his hands, then squatting in horse stance as she steps into the laced of fingers.

10

  “Up up and away!” he calls, hiking her up towards the edge, which she clutches and starts to pull herself up.  As she gets nearly half way, she suddenly drops as Jason is forced to let her go in order to dodge a ferocious swipe from one of the mutants in close range.  Swiping the forearm back behind him to protect her and then side kicking the beast square in its chest, knocking it down and the far edge of the crates.

  Rochelle scrambles upward, yelping as her feet are suddenly hoisted by his shoulders as he spins and backs into  the wall to grab the hilt of a sword and shove himself upward underneath her with it as a brace, into the vent she goes, and begins moving through it quickly, hearing the echoes of the battle behind her.

  Jason has the other hilt in an instant, plunging the swords one after another into the creatures trying to get back to their feet before running up the side of the wall and aerial flipping away from it to land in an impressive show of dexterity and agility.

  The two brothers at the center of the mob slash and twirl, sheathing their blades at times to swing the other around and deliver stronger strikes to the widening group around them.

  Finally it seems as if they have made some leeway in convincing the mutants that these are not the easy prey they were hoping for as the group separates to the sides, allowing the youngest to meet up with his brothers.

  It takes her about five minutes before she notices the light coming from the entry vent at the roof and makes her way for it quickly, and as she is pulling herself from the open gate a sudden explosion lights the night around the roof of the warehouse and tumbles her violently down the edge.

  Inside, the brothers are no longer separated, they have regrouped and remain back to back as they are cornered in by the swarm of angered and injured mutants, now a little more cautious about charging in on these

11

surprisingly resilient humans… Then the big double doors open, bringing with it a torrent of reinforcements.  Mutant reinforcements, at least two dozen more.

  “Bright ideas?” asks Jaisen.

  “Feeling slightly religious.” The youngest admits.

  “Amen.”  Corey agrees.

  Before the boys can react, a blinding magenta beam shoots in through the double doors,igniting barrels and crates in an explosion that sends the surprised boys to the ground, covering their heads as the mutants begin to scatter.

  Metal clangs and wails and shrieks as their weapons strike and slide across the ground, though quickly reclaimed despite the sudden chaos.

  “What the hell was that?!” One of them cries out.

  “You boys need a hand in here?” a figure says from the smoking debris, earning the attention of both villains and heroes, a gurgle and hiss in the voice.

  “That sounds like…” Jason says with a smirk.

  The figure steps out from the smoke, his body lined with scaled protrusions and growths, spines lining his arms and shoulders, three rows down his back with eyes shining brilliant gold flecked by black as if someone had splattered his face with paint.

  “Tybias!  What are you doing here?” Jason calls out excitedly, getting to his feet.



12

  “A certain crazy old Chinese codger made mention that there might be some kickass party entertainment here.  I never imagined it would be this much fun, though.” The reptilian man responds with a sharp-toothed grin across his slightly elongated face.

  He raises his hands into the air, incanting under his breath a few lines of an ancient language, which creates two spheres of energy above his shoulders.

  “Let’s party then.” Jaisen says with a wicked grin, releasing several shuriken towards the crowd of discombobulated mutants from under the sleaves of his coat, followed by his brothers doing the same in other directions and Tybias, firing rapid beams of heat from the spheres towards the barrels and crates around them.

  The explosions begin to swell throughout the warehouse, causing Rochelle to be thrown from the rooftop after dangling precariously from the rain gutter.

  She falls the few remaining feet, flumping against the asphalt uncomfortably, but not injured, as the clouds of smoke and firelight begin bellowing up from the warehouse her eyes widen and she scrambles for the surrounding fencing of the yard.

  Rochelle scrambles over it much less silently than the brothers had, running as hard as her legs can take her once she hits the concrete of the sidewalk, tears streaming from her eyes as the flight response drives her towards survival.

  Inside the flaming wreckage, howling grotesque creatures swarm in around the assailants in far less numbers, losing their limbs and lives to sharp steel and beams of burning magenta light from the hovering spheres.

  Barrels of gasoline pop and send flaming spray onto the outer ranks of the mutants, igniting them into a churning mess of clambering hatred and pain.   

13

  The brothers avoid the shower with impressive acrobatics, convening together around their reptilian friend.  All escape points blocked by flaming debris.

  “I think we need a way out Tybias!” Jaisen proclaims as he whips his blade out to pierce a brave mutant.  His eyes widening as the beast pulls him closer at the expense of furthering the pierce of his steel.

  “Wasn’t there a survivor?” The reptilian yells back as the four of them maintain their corner of the burning and now crumbling warehouse.

  Jaisen growls back at the beast plunging a dagger into its face and ripping it out the side, reciving a splatter of black goo across his mask and between his eyes, which narrow in anger.  “Bravery gets you killed, freak.”

  “She made the vent! She’s out! “ The youngest affirms.

  “Let’s get out of here, then.”

  Jaisen removes his blade by ripping backwards in a half twirl, then pushes himself into it hard to fully come around and kick the wound, sending the beast rolling backward towards its injured consorts.

  “Good thinking, for an overgrown iguana.” Corey grins.

  “You wanna stay here?” The reptilian retorts, extending his arms as he moves in front of the brothers and begins to change his spheres into a large transparent dome around them.

  “Tybias come on!” the youngest demands.

  “Please make sure your seats and trays are in their full upright, and locked positions, thank you for flying Draconic Expr…”

  “LET’S GO TYBIAS!” The three brothers interrupt in unison.



14

  A bright flash illuminates the sphere, before they vanish with it, leaving the howling wretches to burn and perish as the roof comes down, toppling the factory and setting off the last few barrels and crates.

  The sphere reappears nearly twenty feet above the ground nearly a quarter mile away, catching the eye of the fleeing Rochelle.

  She halts, hearing and feeling the rumble of the warehouse behind her, turning to see the plumes of smoke and burning orbs of rising flames, then back towards the glowing light in the sky beyond her.

  “Hurry and find that survivor, you guys…I can’t hold this thing stable for….very long….”  Tybias warns.  The chances of spotting her in the dense city area were slim, but against odds there came a:

  “I see her.” From Jaisen, pointing down towards the girl just before the sphere pops as if it were a bubble of soap, dropping the four beings to the ground in a quartet of screams.

  Tybias pushes himself up slowly from the pile of brothers beneath him after they reintroduce themselves to the ground in a less than graceful manner.

  “Get your asses offa me!” Corey yells, muffled by the pile.

  Jason pulled free of the group, hurrying to meet up with the girl, sure that she saw the light and was fleeing in fear that they were not themselves, but mutants coming to reclaim her.

  He had been correct, she was trekking at high speed away from both the light and the burning remains of the warehouse, it would be nearly four blocks until he caught up to her as she neared the residential area of middle Vegas.

  She hears him call for her, but continues running hard, though after a moment she recognizes the voice and slows greatly.  Ducking behind a motel

15

into an alley, she gets half way in before leaning up against the brick wall and starting to cry between gasps, completely out of breath.

  A few moments later, Jason turns into the alley and stops as well, seeing her there, he pants a few times to reclaim his composure, then begins moving in towards her.

  As he approaches her slowly, she holds an index finger up at him, panting still a little bit.

  “Hey, Rose-petal, are…are you alright?” He asks, smiling as he notices she is in one piece…At least physically.

  “I just got kidnapped by monsters and rescued by fucking ninjas, while almost getting my backside cooked like a steak dinner.  I’m just peachy, just keep your distance, huh?  Okay?  I don’t even know what you look like.”

  “Oh… right, I forgot… sorry.”  He admonishes himself, removing the coverings from his face and easing his swords off his back and to the ground, he then unclips his shuriken belts and lets them fall before removing his daggers as well.

  “See?  I’m your friend.  My name is Jason, and I just wanted to make sure you’re alright.  I’m sorry you got mixed up in all of that…”

  “What’s happening? The world is going crazy, these things are taking over.  What are they?  Last week everything normal, but now…”

  “I don’t know, but they’re bad and that’s obvious.  It’s all pretty new for us too, but we’ve been training for it for a few years now.”

  “Is that how…how you learned all that nifty fighting stuff?  You’re still a baby, like me.”

  “Sensei says it is my destiny.  That this realm is set to be an important battleground and that my brothers and I are the keys to victory.”

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  “What like…Armageddon, or something?”

  Rochelle stares at him, attractive yes, but he really was just a kid…hell he was barely her age by the looks of his baby fresh face, there was no way this kid was for real…but those moves.

  She starts to chuckle, then laugh fully for a few minutes.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “I’m sorry, it’s just that…this sounds like a bad action movie, or a book or something is all.  You’re whack-a-doodle…aren’t you?  Did the blast knock you loopy?”  She continues to chuckle.

  He smiles, not disillusioned by her coarse taunting.

  “Yeah, I guess it kinda does, doesn’t it… haha…  So anyhow, about that date?”

  “Is that why you chased me down?  For my number?”

  “Well, a deal is a deal, right?”  He smiles sheepishly.

  “You are kinda cute without that mask, but you’re also wrapped up in some mucho crazy business… I’m really sorry sugar, but I can’t go out with you.”

  “It’s just a dinner, come on.  I’m not just cute, I’m charming and funny too, you already know I’m strong…and between you and me I’m not really the little brother if you get my drift.”

  “Pervert!”  She did smile, despite her harsh accusation.

  “I was only kidding! Jeez!  Come on, I saved your ass back there, the least you could do is let me take you out on a measly dinner!”



17

Rochelle grips her stomach as it growls deeply, making a sour face as she realizes she hasn’t had a meal in nearly 18 hours since kidnapped by those things, and she was nearly four miles from home without a dime on her.

  “Alright fine, the stomach has spoken, and there’s a restaurant I know of up the way on Owens that would be perfect if you don’t mind.”

  “Well, we have to stop by my house first, I don’t exactly go out hacking mutants with my wallet on me, you know?”

  “Where do you live?”

  “Nellis and Trop, but I have a bike a few blocks south of here.

  “Wait a minute here, Romeo, you expect me to go with you to your house after all of this?  I just got kidnapped by mutants for Christ’s sake!  Dios mio, un idioto!  I’ll eat at home, thank you.”

  “Aw come on, my mother is home, she will protect you from me I promise.”

  “I’m going home, Jason.  I’m going alone.  I am listed in the phone book, there are only a few of them, feel free to call me when you’re ready for that date.  Sometime next week would be best, alright?”

  “I’m not letting you walk home Rochelle, not after all of this, eat there if you want but I’m taking you.”

  “Look I’m fine, I’m just shaken up, I really appreciate what you did for me, but I have to go.”

  “Stop panhandling the poor girl for her naughty bits, Jason!  She’s had a traumatic experience.”  His older brothers’ voice echoes from the edge of the alley.  Jason turns to see the Corey, hunched over a bit and breathing hard.

  “Seriously, I live around the corner.  I’ll be fine.”



18

  “Look, you’re not walking home alone.  You can’t outrun me and I insist.”

  She stares at him, seeing the stubborn will of her dad, which brings a smile to her face.

  “Alright, fine, let’s go get your bike.”

  “Corey can you bring my effects home for me?” Jason asks, turning back to his brother.

  “Aw man.  Fine, but you owe me.  Jaise ran off to see the sensei, he was thinking about what that one said to you about Oni stink before he bolted.”

  “Yeah that was weird.”

  “I’ll meet you at home?”

  “No meet me at the dojo, call it a hunch.”

  “Right on bro, see you soon.”

  “Yeah.  Let’s get you home Ms. Rose”

  “Wait till my mother hears about this.” She says with a sigh, walking with Jason towards the alley entrance again.













Destiny or fate

Chapter 2

  After speaking with Tybias briefly about the situation, he is instructed to contact his sensei, as Tybias apparently does not have permission to speak of such matters…

         “Master Chang, can you hear me?  … Sifu, please, I require guidance.”

  “Jaisen, you seem distressed.”

    “One of the dark-ones…they spoke of Oni.”

  “Your dreams have led you well, my student.”

  “Then they aren’t just dreams?  Please sensei, lead me further.”

  “This road will force us to separate, Jaisen.”

  “The confusion is going to get me killed, please, I know you can answer my questions.”

  “Very well, Chylde of Oblivion.  Your final training begins.  Gather your brothers and join me in the south, upon the dry lakes and away from civilization.  There your answers will be found.”

  “Hai, sensei.”

  Jaisen stares at the pavement as he mounts his own bike, pulling his helmet over his head.

  “Child of Oblivion?  … I remember that name…. Oblivion…”

         Ever since I turned thirteen, I have been having visions and dreams, the same is true for my brothers—whom share a blood bond between each other, but not with me—which is pretty much how we met.

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  We each had the calling to find Master Chang, and when I arrived he knew me.  The same was true for Corey and Jason, I remember the day they joined the training like it was yesterday.  That was nearly six years ago.  Jason hadn’t even had his first vision yet, he still lived in Ohio with his mother.  Connie is a sweet lady, but I don’t think she approves of me since his joining the training, however.  Then again it could be that she knows we have had to partake in questionable activities like methamphetamines for some of the longer missions under cover of dark.

  That could just be me feeling guilty about introducing it to JJ, though, probably so.  Even though we haven’t touched the stuff in weeks, it still messes with me.  I wish we could say the same for Corey…I wonder if he will ever be willing to admit he’s addicted, and not just afflicted anymore.

  It’s really starting to affect his performance.  Not to mention our friendship.

  The bike revs suddenly after a quick turnover, and then the tires squeal before the bike jets from the alleyway with a trail of debris, the screech of the rubber from the back tire is even sharper than the turn as Jaisen brings the front end down and rockets into the street completely oblivious to traffic laws.

  I’ve seen Oblivion before.  I remember now, the blue haired being in my dreams, Turbulance…he made a machine named Oblivion, I remember hearing it speak to him in a vision a few months ago.

  Something about a negative energy source detected in some part of a galaxy, it was giving him a report about the progress made by his troops in reclaiming the positive structure of the realm.  It’s weird but I almost understand what they were talking about and much of it was quantum mechanics that haven’t even been discovered by science yet.



21

  Those mutants, they have something to do with Oblivion and Turbulance…but that would mean that they aren’t just dreams like Sensei said a few years ago… What’s really going on here?

  The stare of the mutants feels like it warps space around you, like its circling you towards an event horizon, but only in a spiritual manner.  The physical body seems to be unaffected unlike the normal people that come in contact with it…the mutants…dark-ones…

  Normal people…Corey would run me rampant if he heard me say that, wigging out as if I called us freaks or something.  It’s been harder on him with his visions, that evil thing…Azrael…yet my visions claim he is on our side…or Turbulance’s side rather, I’m pretty sure it’s the same team, though.

  At least I hope so anyway, the things I’ve seen Turbulance do are unreal.

___                    ___                    ___

  “When I was still a baby, my mom ran away from my father in Mexico, but when I was a little older he found us in Idaho and tried to steal me off.”

  “He was abusive?”

  “Oh…he ‘s a monster.  I can’t say I have any respect for him, but I’m thankful for him because without him I wouldn’t be here.  Anyways, Mom slipped through his fingers with me just barely, and we ran to Vegas.  That’s where Mom met Ken, he’s my dad.  We had some rough patches, but all in all no one else is a better father-figure, especially not the original design.”

  “You still live with him, then?”

  “Mom too, I’ve struck out on my own a few times, but I always end up coming back to make sure things are running smoothly.”

  “Is one of them sick?”

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  “No, it’s just, you never forget the past, you know?”

  “Rochelle, the dark-ones have your scent now.  If you stay there very long they will find you and your parents might get hurt.”

  “How did you get involved in all of this?”

  “I’ve been having visions like my brothers since I was thirteen, some ancient history where this race of super beings controlled and policed existence, from what I can tell.  I don’t have many details, cause the visions are very patchy, and they only seem to revolve around one being and his direct family, father and mother, siblings, though most of the time the visions seem to be while he is somewhere beyond them.  It’s weird, it’s like he knows I’m watching him sometimes, but I can never hear anything when it feels like he’s trying to contact me.”

  “So that destiny crap, that wasn’t just a load of hokey pokey you’re trying to blow my skirt up, with?”

  “Hah, I wish…I don’t know anymore, it’s getting pretty convincing.  The things my sensei, brothers and I, and a few beings that, for all realty purposes shouldn’t exist, can do are out of this world.”

  “Shouldn’t exist?”

  “That ball of light was created by a draconic we know who calls himself Tybias.  He can look like a normal person and usually does, but he’s really a scaly lizard guy with psychokinetic abilities.  That sphere was a teleportation.”

  “That’s how you got out of that gateway to Infierno?”

  “Huh?”

  “Hell…”



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  “Oh the fire.  That’s not Hell, I’ve seen Hell… the brother you saw in the alley sees it all the time.  His visions always put him into panic attacks and screaming fits of terror.  It was pretty disrupting as a child, that’s why he moved to Vegas when I was still a kid.”

  “You don’t seem that ancient.”

  “Round a couple decades…that’s a long time when sleeping and dreaming can keep you away for what seems like decades in themselves.”

  “Your dreams last for decades…” Skepticism in her voice, as she releases her grip on his sides, though feeling less uncomfortable than she might have expected...Jason seemed charming and level headed, other than his astronomically bizarre claims.

  “Sometimes they seem like it, yes.”

  “So why don’t you know more about the people in your visions?”

  “Well, they aren’t people like us…I mean, they appear that way to my subconscious, so it’s easier to comprehend…according to sensei, anyhow, but they are energy beings that lived for thousands of their own years, which is like hundreds of thousands of years to us.  So a few decades here and there doesn’t exactly fill in much of the patches.”

  “That’s pretty interesting.  You’re absolutely flipping crazy Jason, you know that?”

  “I’m cute, though, so it makes up for it.”  He says, smiling as they pull onto her street.

  “It’s down at the end, on the left.  You really did know where it is.”

  “As freaky as it seems, I’m not in the habit of telling fibs of any nature.”

  “That’s actually extremely frightening considering what you’ve told me.”

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  “Welcome to my world, but you don’t know the half of it, I’m sorry it had to encroach on such a beautiful young woman’s life, but it’s unfortunately your reality now too.”

  “You really think they’re going to come find me?”

  “Anyone can be a dark-one Rochelle.  I’m going to give you my number, and if you ever need me you call me immediately, alright?”

  “Boy you sure go all out when you decide you want to impress a girl and get her attention, don’t you?”

  “It takes a lot of work, but I think it was worth it, this time, hehe.”

  “Oh so you admit that all of this was just hooey-phooey, then?”

  “Don’t I wish.  I just never understood what the point of all this was until I saw you crying in that factory.”  He says, pulling the bike into the parking lot of the apartments.

  “Oh yeah, so what’s the point, then?” She smiles softly, a complexion arising on her cheeks to resemble her last name.

  “If I’m right, you’ll figure it out pretty soon as well, I think.  Destiny has a way of doing creepy stuff like that.  Either her or her sister Fate, but I don’t trust that bitch, she’s a sheister.”

  Rochelle giggles softly, holding her hand out to him and averting her eyes.

  “Thank you for everything Jason, I’m sorry I was a little crude earlier.”

  “I liked it in all honesty, quite attractive.  Besides, you had good reason.”

  “I’ll call you if I need you, I promise.”

  “Even if you don’t, I’d love to hear from you.”

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  “That…might be nice…”

  “Hey, I have to go, my brother says we have to meet our sensei for some important new training or something.  Something about a final lesson, so it must be pretty important?”

  “I don’t remember you checking a text.”

  “I don’t need technology to communicate with my brothers…just focus.”

  “You’re telepathic, too?”

  “Not exactly, but yeah…kinda.”

  “You’re right.  You are definitely lucky you have a cute face to counteract all that crazy going on…stay safe Jason.”  She leans in, kissing his cheek, hugging him softly as well.  “I appreciate meeting you, even if you are a whack-a-doodle.”

  “Oh I’m far more than just a whack-a-doodle…I’m a whack-a-doodle-nutcake.”

  “Oh my mistake, I hadn’t realized I was in the presence of greatness.” She smiles.

  “I relieve you of your necessity to curtsey or kneel…this time.”

  “How gracious, my liege…” she says, smiling wider as she backs away from him, still blushing.

  “Stay safe, Ms. Rose, we’ll meet again.”

  He speeds off, hooting excitedly as he turns the corner, leaving her to watch him fade and hear the engine drift into the distance.

  He obeyed the street laws with me on the bike…I really do feel weird about how much I’d like to see him again.  Especially with his situation, but

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somehow I actually believe all of that.  It’s like he said, I feel destined to have met him…

  Is this truly your handy-work, Destiny, or another cruel trick of Fate?  Which sister is meddling in my life this time?”

  Rochelle finally goes into her apartment, riddled by this most emotionally exhausting past day.































Revelation

Arise ye’ Chyldren of Oblivion

Chapter 3



  “So where is he?” Corey asks in a slightly disgruntled tone.

  “I can’t sense him.”  Jaisen responds.

  “Maybe dark-ones got to him before he could?  He’s pretty old, you know.”

  The heavy accent of an old china man comes from all around them.

  “Older than you know, boy, but I can still take you down with or without your brothers to assist you, you realize this truth, yes?  Perhaps I shall demonstrate.”

  “Sensei?” Jason asks, turning to scan the blank horizon slowly with his near black eyes.

  “A guardian must be pure, unselfish, and focused on their duties.”

  “Where are you?” Jaisen says aloud, turning in place to scan the empty surroundings.

  “A true guardian is everywhere, at all times, while nowhere for his adversary to find.”

  “Cool trick.” The youngest smiles.

  Jason’s feet are suddenly yanked from him, and his body is then projected backwards forcefully to skip along the desert crust, sending clogs of the crisp cracking surface whipping into the air, dust marking his contact points.

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  “Jeebus!” The eldest proclaims, leaping back and taking a formidable stance while still looking in all directions.

  “Tricks are the tools of darkness, true power comes from within.  A Guardian must walk the path of parallel to existence, borrowing his or her power only in servitude!”

  A heavy pressure suddenly bears down on Jaisen, forcing him to groan deeply and waver in his stance.  He grunts in response as the pressure suddenly increases, forcing him to the ground as the gravity around him seems to quadruple.  “Wh…what is…this?”

  “Jaise?” Corey asks intrepidly, concern moving over him as he notices the ground around his brother seeming to compress down into a crater with him at the center, but before he can move to his aid, Corey is suddenly flung into the air, suspended there and stretched out as if on an invisible rack.

  “What’s happening?!  AAAAHHHHHH!!! It burns!!!”

  “A guardian must not falter! Must not relent! Must not subside until his life is gone from his vessel!”

  “Sensei!  Stop this!” Jason pleads, but suddenly is met with what feels like hard blows from every direction, the torrent seems to crack thunder each time his body takes a shot.

  The brothers are then rushed towards each other, being dragged through the dirt by the unseen force.  They collide and lose consciousness simultaneously, their bodies forming a perfectly spaced inverted triangle, heads contacting with feet pointed out.

  The darkness fades slightly, revealing a mist of energy around them in their separate unconscious minds.

  “Corey?  Jason? ...Sensei?”

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  “A guardian must feel no fear, no doubt in his heart.”

  “Sensei… Why? Why are you attacking us?  Why does your voice sound so different, yet so familiar?”

  The mist suddenly produces a female voice, synthetic and multi toned, nearly a dozen separate entities seeming to speak as one.



...Activating Oblivion Archives…

...Initiating connection with host…



Welcome, possible Oblivion Chylde.

In order to initiate your upgrade sequence, first you must be educated with preliminary information in which to understand the purpose for your involvement with the Order of Light and Power.



Should you choose to complete your registration after your introduction is presented and understood, you will be offered further use of the archives in order to expand your bio-energetic properties and enhancements, which will be explained to you throughout your education.

…Accessing database… Initiating introductory categories…

Scanning user…please be patient…COMPLETE.



Your bio-patterns suggest an insufficient understanding of Relic Archive entries, please proceed to the culmination of your education…

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…Introduction loading complete, awaiting user initiation… 





….Activating Archives….

-Relic Archives: Elantro Vam’paero: User identified as Entropion

Initiating Turbulant Chaos protocols…Education commensing.

In times prelude to the existence which born all that you know, there was a powerful family dedicated to keeping peace and tranquility throughout existence. Such was their purpose for millions of your own years, yet merely a few thousand of theirs.

  The family roughly translates in your language from: Vam’paero (Vah’m-pay-roh) a Zodaccian terminology, the language of the Zodaccians, to: ”light power” or “power of light”.