Dimensional Warriors: Metudo's Story Chapter 3

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Quick note on the new schedule. Since at the moment I have enough free time to sustain a larger amount of writing. I do reserve the right to change the scheduling if life decides it needs to kick me in the face.

Sunday: D&D chapter
Monday: Fan Fiction Chapter
Tuesday: Neko Chapter
Thursday: Metudo Chapter

I also got confirmation from Ted, he wants to stay on a twice a month schedule, so every other Wednesday we will have art from him. This will probably increase to weekly when semester ends in a couple months. Enjoy the new chapter!

“I can't, I just can't.”

“Of course you can't, because you keep on saying it.”

“Lookit, if man was supposed to matter with his mind we'd all be flying around like idiots by now!” It had been a rough day, we had barely taken a break for lunch, and he had been trying to get me to move a pebble out of his hand since he woke me up. Before dawn. He sighed.

“It's the curse of our breed that we have these problems. Our power comes from the right side of the human brain, the imagination and the inner voices. Which is a generalization, but it is fairly accurate for your species.”

“Wait, yer not human?”

“Pfft, of course not. Yours is just the latest in a long line of races that have been enlisted into this. My people's just happened to look very similar.”

“Then why I am arguing with you on what I can and can't do! Yer not even the same species!”

“But you can. Levitation isn't your natural forte, but you have several of the other prominent gifts. Particularly foresight.”

“Bullshit.”

“Ah, but the day of the blast you knew something was wrong, maybe not consciously, but your subconscious and your body knew.”

“That was one time”

“Oh really, let me get the list.” He pulled an archaic looking roll out of his sleeve and started unfurling it.

“You know the act isn't appreciated.”

“But this one is a favorite of mine.”

“Shove it, I believe you. So why aren't we training my foresight then, wouldn't that be easier?”

“Yes, well if I had a year to train you, I would teach you foresight and prediction first and let you grow out from there.”

“Meaning...”

“We have a little less than a week, so I'm going to have to pull you by the bootstraps. You get down the levitation thing, you can figure the rest out easily on your own.”

“A week? Old age catching up to you?”

“In a sense. Foresight remember?”

“Nice of you to share, any other premonitions of doom you would like to enlighten upon us? Or are you tapped out until I insert another quarter?”

“Just one, when you see the blue haired boy, duck.” With that he shifted to one side as a young man came barreling straight at me, his short blue hair sparkled in the sun like water. I would have seen more, but he collided head first into my stomach sending both of us tumbling to the ground. Probably a good thing to as a dark shadow passed right over us.

“Okay, so less than a week.” Master said, sliding out from behind the tree he used for cover. He brandished his cane like it was a sword and stepped in front of us. The shadow coagulated in between two trees, an eye bulged out of the center and stared lustfully at us.

“What the hell is that thing?” I yelled, pushing the boy off me and getting up.

“Metudo?” I looked back at the boy, he was staring at me like I was a ghost. “Thank god you're alive!” He grabbed onto me, his grip was surprisingly strong. I looked a bit closer at him, the shape of his face, the unnatural thinness of his body. He looked a little different, aside from the hair, that was very different; but he was my brother.

“Anatos, what happened? Your hair? You were running?”

“We can talk about this later!” Master yelled at us. Already the shadow ahead of us was bulging grotesquely.

“What is it?” I asked, pushing against the tree. Master paced slowly, to keep himself between us and it.

“It's called a Beast. Its what happens when more than one soul gets strapped to a Solarus. It goes mad, eats anything it can find. They're mindless, but strong. I'd hoped I'd have more time; but well, foresight was never my specialty.” The Beast exploded in a mass of tentacles, Master cut several but two grazed his sides.

“I... I have to help.” Anatos said suddenly.

“Wait, you can't be...”

“I'll explain everything soon enough.” As he spoke he drew a half bo staff from a small sheath on his back.

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Dimensional Warriors: Neko's Story Chapter 2

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When I woke up we had moved again. Pahhur looked like she was setting up camp; in the remaining sunlight I could see deep red gashes on her arms.

“What happened?” I asked, sitting up. She jumped a good foot away.

“Y-You're awake!” She was breathing heavily.

“You're arms? What happened?” She quickly put both of them behind her back, giving me a look so innocent I could swear she was five.

“Nothing.”

“Bullshit.” I said, getting up. My legs gave a weak protest, but didn't give away.

“Look it's nothing. I'm just... weird.” She turned away and started unloading a tent.

“You got those wounds dragging me around, didn't you?” Nothing. “Let me see.” I touched her shoulder lightly, and was suddenly thrown off my feet.

“Don't!” She was crying. But she stopped. “Look...” She sat down slowly. “I'm just... a freak. You don't want to get too close. I don't know what will happen.” Her arms were in plain sight now, I could see where the rope burn had cut right through, it should have been bleeding, it looked like it had burned shut.

“How... Where... When did you seal these?” I said, coming closer, she shifted away again.

“I... I don't know. It just... was like this.” Turning to the sleigh I found the ends of the rope she had been using. The entire top part was a charred black color. “That's the fifth one today. They just, burn up.” She got up and returned to opening the tent. “So you see... I'm some sort of freak. Just don't touch me, I don't want to hurt you.” I watched her back for a while.

“You're not hurting the tent.” I said quietly.

“I.. I guess...” I watched her closely.

“So, you burnt the rope, but you aren't burning the tent; and your wounds were never even open. Like the moment you got them they were cauterized.” It was true, the most pronounced thing was the redness of her arms, the actual cuts were small, as if the blood had burned the second it touched the air.

“Yeah. So I'm a freak.”

“You also set fire to those woods when you were fighting.”

“That's... not the only time I set fire to things...” She said, I could see her ears turning the same color as her crimson hair.

“Sounds like you're not used to any of this.” She shook her head.

“I've only been like this for a week now, at the most. I wasn't even...” She stopped herself and continued setting camp.

“So you've been alone for a week, and you're body is completely different?”

“That's about right.”

“What happened?”

“Do you remember that strange light?”

“Yeah.”

“When I woke up, I was under a car. I was bleeding everywhere.” She turned to me, placing a few logs in a pile. They caught on fire immediately. “Then those things found me. Almost finished me, but an old guy saved me. I don't know how, but he used some sort of power, he gave me a new body. This one.” She started sobbing. “I'd almost have rather died. I don't understand anything like this...”

“Well, at least you are alive. And you can set fire to things, I think that's pretty cool.” She gave me a dark look.

“If I could control it, sure. But right now, I'm just a lit match. I don't know who I'm going to hurt, or how. Besides, that's not even the start of my problems...” I leaned in, and she gave me a strange look. “I... I was...” She stopped for a moment, her face a bright red. “Never mind.”

“What?”

“It's nothing, like I said, I've got a lot of problems. Like I can't touch water. Or I can't stop eating. I started eating tree branches today. Branches!” Indeed she had picked up a twig and was chewing on it quite furiously. “I mean, its not like I mind the taste. It actually tastes pretty good.” She mumbled a bit, then swallowed. “And... I'm not good at fighting. I mean, I've got abnormal strength suddenly, and I have a sword, but I'm just swinging wildly. The fact their bullets melt when they get close to me helps, but that's probably the only reason I'm alive still.” I could tell she was still hiding something, but I gave up on that.

“Well you saved me. And none of that sounds too bad. I mean, its not like you're thirsty right? And if those things taste good, then I'm sure the trees won't mind. You didn't set me on fire, and with practice you'll be a better fighter. Right?” She seemed intent on being depressed, and all I seemed to be doing was fueling it. I had enough of this girl's sulking finally and changed tactics. “Look, siting here pitying yourself isn't going to help anyone. In fact it might get the both of us dead. So, until we're out of this situation, why don't you focus on what you can do and leave the rest for later. If someone made you this way, I'm sure someone else can unmake you. We just have to deal with the hand we have for now.” I tried to keep my tone light, but as I spoke she seemed even more depressed. Then suddenly she started laughing.

“Haaa.... I forgot... Never mind. Thank you.” She smiled up at me, then reached into a pocket. “You're right, we've gotta do what we can now. I can sulk later. Here, I've got something to show you.”

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Dungeons and Dragons Travel Journal. Chapter 2: Portal part 1

Next chapter of our D&D campaign, remember its kinda hard to get everything right when there's like 8 people talking in different directions. Neko's chapter will be up Tuesday as promised, we may even have an extra chapter up this week. Depends on how much I get done.

We were moving down. Definitely an elevator. My tricorder was giving readings that we were already at a dangerously low depth, and that this elevator could go much further down. Suddenly the radiation spiked, and my tricorder went dead. At the same time the doors slid open and three thin red beams filtered in.

“Hello.” Aiden, myself, and Iona pushed the others to the wall as a spray of bullets entered the shaft. Jase acted quickly, activating some of his alchemy. Unfortunately it backfired, creating a pillar of metal from the floor of the elevator, and launching him through the ceiling. Fortunately this gave us some cover. Marcus moved next, using his own spell to shift the metal from the walls and create a low wall in the hallway.

“Are you still there?” The spray stopped, and we recovered Jase.

“What the hell was that!” Zeroe yelled.

“Looked like some sort of turret defense.” I said. “Using archaic bullets.” My tricorder was still on the fritz so I sighed and checked my pistol. It wasn't in the best of condition, but it was less effected by the background radiation. While I was checking this, Iona and Aiden had mounted the low wall and lept over the two turrets. There was a crunching sound and they waved back to us.

“Well, they're definitely some sort of turret, but they aren't that tough.” Iona said on the other side. There were two white egg-shaped things laying on the ground. Or at least they used to be egg-shaped, one was crumpled the other had a deep dent in one side. Aiden picked it up rolling it over in his hands.

“I think we can use this.” He handed one end to Ceric and they pulled. A chunk of the metal came right off, it was oval and tough.

“Marcus, you think you could attach a strap to this?” Ceric asked. “I could use it as a shield.”

“Hmm, we still have some leather scraps right?” Zeroe nodded quickly.

“Here, donkey skin, but its what we have.” He handed it over and Marcus worked quickly to meld the metal over the leather. Meanwhile Iona focused on bandaging Jase up. I chose to move ahead with Dei, and we came to a blind corner.

“Send the donkey through.” She said quietly. I agreed and we ushered one of our two remaining donkeys through.

“There you are.” There was some machine gun fire and a whinny, then a thump as the poor thing hit the ground.

“Ok, new plan, how do we get past.” Thankfully the others were catching up.

“Well why don't we just make cover?” Jase said, approaching the wall, he scribbled a pattern quickly. This time it worked and a low wall shot out past the blind corner. Ceric peeked over.

“Three of them this time.” He said quietly.

“Well it doesn't seem to take too much to get rid of them. Maybe we should just shoot around the corner.” Riley said, aiming a pistol carefully. With a clean shot he knocked one over, it let out a spray and then was silent. I took the next shot, knocking over the one that was aimed at the door. At this point Ceric slipped out and moved around the corner of the room, knocking the other one over from behind.

With the path clear we moved out. However it wasn't long before we heard the sounds of combat. Iona took lead as we came close to the sound of gunfire. From what we could see there were Armors fighting against both the turrets and a couple of other people who seemed kind of cornered on a table in the middle of the room. One was a large guy in heavy green armor, he had a buster sword roughly the length of his body in one hand, and an ax with a blade roughly the width in the other. He was using one as a shield against the bullets, and the other to cleave through the oncoming ranks. Crouched behind him was a wispy looking girl wearing a white dress. She wasn't doing much more than keeping her hands on the man's legs.

“Let's get in there and help them out.” Iona said quickly, transforming into her panther form to claw at one of the Armors that was nearby. I didn't hesitate and took aim at the nearest turret while the others poured out to join the fray. Myself, Riley, and Zeroe hung around at the entryway taking shots at whatever we could get a clean hit on. Within a few minutes the last turret hit the ground, letting off its death spray. With the battle over, the man turned towards Iona.

“Thank ye kindly lass.” Iona returned to human form, but didn't look pleased.

“What'd you call me?” She growled, almost sounding inhuman. The man just laughed.

“Oh, yea remind me o' soma the girls back home. A true fighter. Name's Odin, this is Cassandra.” The small girl poked her head out from behind him and waved.

“So I take it you live here or something?” Aiden said, walking up.”

“No sir, just here on a mission. Got word that Solarus were around, and sure enough, here they are.” He saw us with blank expressions and gave out a full ringing laugh. “You wouldn't happen to be fighting these things without knowing what they are?”

“Actually, we're not sure how or why we got here.” Marcus said bluntly.

“Really now, Cassandra, can you give 'em a look over?” He said, sitting on the table. The girl hopped over to Iona first, giving her a look over, then moved to the others. When she reached Jase she gasped.

“Your kidney's shot.” She said. “And multiple bruises, some fractures... Hold still.” She quickly placed her hands on his shoulders, a white light surrounded him. “That should do it.” She said quietly, before moving on. “You're right Odin, not only are all of them not from this world, they're all from different worlds.”

“Well I'll be. Think its the same deal as what happened to us? Didja all see a bright light before waking up somewhere else?”

“No, not really. I was just checking my territory and fell through some sort of portal.” Iona said.

“Training in the park, Ceric fell through and I followed.” Aiden said. We continued to recount what happened, most of us had very similar stories.

“Sounds like ol' Avarus has a new trick.” Odin said, pondering. “Well, I'll see what I can do to get you all back, but that'll have to wait until we figure out what's going on here.”

“Hey check this out.” Marcus said suddenly, he was holding a notepad, and flipping through it. “It's notes on some sort of device. It's supposed to make portals.”

“Aren't these those guest passes that we heard about earlier.” Riley said, almost at the same time as he held out a bunch of cards on chains.

“Congratulations on finding the guest passes. Now allow me to escort you to the tour. For Cake.” The mechanical voice came online again, and as soon as it stopped talking the floor of the room gave way, and we all fell.

Ted Selden: D&D Concept art; Character Portrait, Ensign Ricky

Ensign Ricky Tucker Archer;
Starting equipment:
Phaser
Klingon Dagger (from the Black market)
Tricorder
1 weeks rations
Copy of the Rules of Acquisition
Holoplayer;
-1 disc, Orion slave girls gone wild.
Pack of condoms.

Ensign Ricky here is Ted Selden's first character in the campaign. As can be read in his comments he built the character, almost as a tribute to Star Trek. I, don't have nearly as much of a background in Trek, in fact when I was young I outright hated it. But I've been giving it a second chance, and am half way through the first season of the first series. I'll probably have a full review when I finish it. (However I'm currently consumed watching the original Doctor Who episodes, and am about to watch the mini-series containing the Doctor's first regeneration.)

Of note, Ricky has picked up a few more things since starting including the Bat'leth he is seen holding in the image above.

Since this character's creation, Ted has acquired two more characters; Zul Len a solider from the planet Krypton; and Zephos who we will meet soon in Dimensional Warriors.

Ted Selden's Comments:

This is my Original Character (OC) from the Star Trek universe made for the D&D campaign. Ensign Ricky Archer Tucker is a red shirt, a disposable one shot extra for those of you unfamiliar with Star Trek, who found himself stranded from the federation and embarking on an adventure. I don’t want to say much more about his character or story because I don’t want to spoil too much and I don’t know exactly what direction David plans on tacking the Ricky.

Ricky’s name is one giant star trek in joke. The name, Ricky, is lifted from a demotivational poster which bears the text, “Expendability: Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Ensign Ricky are beaming down to the planet. Guess who’s not coming back.” Archer, is in reference to Captain Jonathan Archer. This is the man who, in Star Trek history, captained Starfleet’s first deep space exploration ship in the late 2100’s. His adventures were covered in the show “Star Trek Enterprise” which aired in 2001 and lasted four seasons. The show was poorly written and Archer came off as an ass hole. The last name, Tucker, also reference to the show “Star Trek Enterprise.” Commander Charles Tucker the Third was the chief engineer of Captain Archer’s Star Ship; he was also written as an asshole. Charles Tucker also had a southern twang in his accent, which is not a bad thing, except for the fact that he was written as a stereotype hillbilly who had only recently been extracted from the mountains to work on a newfangled spaceship. Okay, that was harsh, but like many Trek fans I’m still bitter about the idiotic writing that series showcased. I intended my character’s name to be a joke, but in case anyone tries craft a youi fan fiction about Jonathan Archer and Charles Tucker’s unholy love child to justify the name in cannon: don’t. Here’s your explanation: it’s a coincidence, now move on. Though admittedly, Archer and Tucker were best-friends-forever so the story of their genetic material being fused would probably be the story arch of season 6 had the show gotten that far…

Ricky Tucker Archer was supposedly active in Starfleet fifty years after Jonathan Archer’s ten year exploration, and fifty years before James T. Kirks five year adventure. This period in between is virtually unexplored by the cannon continuity, so I wanted to create a uniform that provided speculation of this time. “Star Trek Enterprise” area uniforms were grey-blue NASA jumpsuits with a thin colored stripe just under the shoulder to indicate the officer’s concentration; red was operation and security while blue was medical and sciences, ect. In Kirk’s early years, the uniforms had been drastically changed to black pants and boots and full colored shirts that indicated the concentration. I wanted to make a uniform that closed the gap: grey jumpsuit with more color. I also wanted the outfit to resemble the “Star Trek Voyager” uniforms because they look like they could be one of the transition stages, in addition to the fact that I grew up watching that particular series. The belt is barrowed from the uniforms used during Kirk’s later career: the suits used from Star Trek II until Star Trek VI. The under shirt provides the specialization color, a concept borrowed from The late “Deep Space Nine” uniforms. Something I love about that particular design is that if you remove the over shirt, you are left with an original series uniform. That is why I have used that formula: I would like to think that Ricky’s fictional area of uniform was simplified sometime after he left the serves, leading to the original series costumes.

Over his standardized Starfleet wear and backpack, he holds a Bat’leth and he has acquired some form of leather armor. Again, I don’t want to give away too much of the story, but the character finds himself in a situation where he must embrace a semi medieval form of hand to hand combat. The backpack is for travel on planet surfaces. The Leather armor is simply him adapting to this new fighting style. The Bat’leth is a kind of Klingon sword. Starfleet officers are use to coexisting with alien races, but Ricky is now in a situation where he is learning whole new universes instead of expanding on the galaxy he was born in. He is immersed with cultures that have little or no connection to his former universe. Because of this, his melee weapon of choice is a Bat’leth: it’s not native to his planet, but it is from his universe. And that is the little comfort he has.

Dungeons and Dragons Travel Journal. Chapter 1: Barren World

Alright, this is more for fun, and to keep track of what our group has been up to. I do have to say a few things though.

1: This is definitely Fan Fiction. We draw from many sources that already exist, it is all in the name of fun. So please do not sue.

2: The writing is probably not going to be my best, since I'm trying to make sense of 8-9 people talking at the same time...

Enjoy!

A simple teleporter malfunction has separated me from my team. We were to gather readings on an uninhabited desert world in hopes of finding a new source of Dilithium Crystals. However I ended up on a flourishing world.

When I woke, my back was rested against a tree, and my uniform had somehow beamed down a good foot away from me. As embarrassing as the situation was I did not have much time to rectify it, as no sooner had I woken then the sound of archaic gunfire filled the air. Quietly I gathered my belongings, searching for my phaser. None too soon as I was just barely able to take cover behind a tree with a rain of bullets following close behind me.

Trying to catch sight of my assailant while also trying to clothe myself, I only caught a glimpse of a man in what looked like middle aged armor. As I finished clothing myself I made a quick check from my scanner. The planet was supposedly uninhabited, and no life readings were coming from the man on the other side of the tree.

The mass of bullets stopped, and I heard a low clunking sound. He was approaching. Sheathing my scanner and gripping my phaser I rounded the corner and called out to the man.

“I am Ensign Ricky...” I was stopped dead as another round of bullets flew past my ear. I decided to call out from behind the tree. “I am Ensign Ricky Archer Tucker of the USS Potemkin, United Federation of Planets. I do not wish you harm!” The bullets stopped again, and the sound of footsteps began again.

I rounded the tree to find the man very close, his weapon still pointed. I saw his finger tighten on the trigger and realized I was about to breathe my last when a separate gunshot landed heavily against the other man. Given the spray I assumed it was a shotgun class.

Turning towards my savior I saw a young man, thin, clutching his gun. I leveled my phaser at him for a moment, but was distracted when I spotted the hole in the armor beside me. There was no flesh inside. I quickly sheathed my phaser for my scanner. The armor to my side read has having no gaseous anomalies, nor did the metal read as anything other than common steel.

I looked up at the man who shot, he was watching the area carefully.

“I am...”

“I heard you the first time. Name is Riley. You have any idea where we are?”

“No, no I do not. Do you know what that thing was?”

“Not a clue. All I know is it looks exactly like this other one I shot when it tried to do me in.” There were sounds of others fighting nearby.

“Come, I think there are more of these things out here.” Riley nodded and followed me.

It didn't take us long to come to a small stream, where it looked like a child, maybe just before a preteen, was fighting off against three of those armored creatures. As I watched I heard someone call out behind me.

“Now Ceric! Zakeru!” Immediately the child pointed his hand towards the creatures, and electricity flew out, electrifying all three of them. As I watched another man entered the clearing, holding a bow. He fired two arrows behind him, taking out another approaching foe. It did not take long for more people to appear out of the woods. The sounds of combat dying down. In total there were nine of us. We all held onto our weapons closely, eying each other carefully.

After a tense moment I sheathed my phaser. “I am Ensign Ricky Archer Tucker of the USS Potemkin, United Federation of Planets. I had a teleporter malfunction and found myself here. I do not wish to cause any harm.”

“Riley, Riley Donovan. I dunno how the hell I got here, but it beats the heck outta where I was.” Then the child spoke up.

“I'm Ceric, this is Aiden; my partner.” Next was the bowman.

“Zeroe. How're any of you sure we can trust each other?”

“I don't think we have any choice in the matter. My name's Iona Grey” Said one of the two women. Next was a younger man, with short cut blond hair.

“Jase, and I agree with Iona. I don't think any of us know how we wound up here.” Next up an elfin lady who hadn't moved from her tree branch spoke up.

“Daera. Any of you have some mead?”

“M... My name is Marcus.” A mousier boy said from behind a larger rock.

“And none of you know what happened to bring us here right?” Iona said suddenly. Looking around, it seemed like it was a resounding no. “Well, whatever those things were, they definitely are trying to kill us.”

“We should probably stick together then.” Aiden said. “We all also seem to be from very different places. There's a nice open ground over there. Let's all sit and learn a bit about each other.”

“Agreed, if we're going to be stuck traveling together we're going to have to know what each of us can do.” Iona said.

We broke camp and sat around a campfire. Fortunately most of us had some form of supplies.

“I'll start.” Iona said. “I worked at a Renn Fair almost all my life, so I'm pretty good with swords and daggers, I also know a little bit of magic, but my strongest power is this.” As she finished speaking her body suddenly changed form, black fur sprouted up all over her and in seconds a large black panther was sitting at the fireside. A few moments later she changed back.

“So... magic is real in yer world?” Riley said suddenly.”

“Oh, I guess it was too much to expect all of you to come from a magical knowledge base.” Iona said. “Yeah, I kinda grew up with it. What about you?”

“Me, well... I can say one thing, I'm damn good with a shotgun. Ever since the goddamn zombie apocalypse, well I had to get good or die.” Aiden spoke up next.

“I'm just a college student, but Ceric comes from the Mamoto world, apparently its this sort of contest that happens every thousand years where a hundred of these mamotos come to our world, find human partners, and battle to see who will become king. It sounds a little weird, but I'm going to help Ceric become king, no matter what.” Zeroe was next.

“I'm just a hunter. I'm good with my bow, but I really just spent most of my time in the woods.” Daera spoke next.

“I'm an elf, I'm good with my swords and I've got a strong stomach for mead.” Jase talked next.

“I'm just a soldier, I'm pretty handy with this rifle, but I was training to become a state alchemist. So I can preform a few transmutations.” I chose to speak next.

“The Federation is not a big fan of war, but I do have the standard issue phaser just in case. I also have this Klingon dagger I got on the black market. It's a good build, so it should hold up well in close combat.” Marcus went last.

“I'm not really much of a fighter, but I do know a good spell. It allows me to change the form of metals.”

“Alright, well we're not too badly off. Me, Jase, and Zeroe will take first watch tonight, the rest of you get some sleep.” Iona said. No one really knew when she became the leader, but we all seemed to be fine with it.

The next few days were rather peaceful, we found this planet was well populated with basic earth lifeforms. Mostly deer. As we traveled we encountered the armored creatures multiple times, there were several who took bad bullets. Thankfully several of us had medical supplies.

One day, my scanner suddenly began reading severe energy levels pulsating from nearby. When we investigated we located a green crystal, that glowed with an unearthly light. Deciding to hold onto it, Zeroe stored it in his pack, and we moved on, following the river.

Eventually we reached a mountain, and located another high source of power. A golden ball, roughly the size of my hand, with four red stars suspended in the middle. The instant we put it in the pack with the crystal, there was a bright light. The two had come together, now it was a much larger green crystal with four stars in its center. Cautiously I lifted it back out of the pack. Immediately my body felt like it was overflowing with power. Almost as if I could leap several feet into the air if I wanted. I passed the stone around, each of the others basked in it's power for a moment, but once it left a person's hands they seemed to wear out. In some cases old wounds even reopened after the crystal left their possession. So we determined to save it in case of a last minute need.

Once again we traveled onwards, improving ourselves as we went. While we had been high up, Zeroe had spotted what looked like an installation in the distance. We had decided to head for it. However that night, myself and Zeroe were on first watch, when I heard a noise coming from where he had gone to practice something. I decided to check it out, and saw him feeding what looked like a small lizard with wings. It was white as pure snow.

“Ahh! What are you doing! Put that thing away!” He yelled, the second he spotted me. I had pulled my scanner out instinctual. I had, like most of us, forgotten Zeroe's discomfort with technology. Then again he had been very reserved around all of us.

“What kind of creature is that? Is it native to your world?”

“You see nothing. I swear if you tell the others it will be the last thing you do!” He was nearly screaming now, so the others were almost bound to wake up.

“I won't tell, just calm down.”

“Don't use that box thing either. I don't trust it.” I sighed and put the scanner away.

“So why is it so important to keep this little guy a secret?” I asked.

“Well, where I come from there is a group looking to exterminate dragons and those that keep them. They succeeded in destroying the order of Dragon Riders, and now it is simply a hunt for them. I happened to find her egg before appearing here. Her name is Menolly. She's probably the last of her kind by now.”

“I sincerely doubt anyone in our group would wish to do you, or Menolly harm.” I said, sitting down next to him.

“I... I know. I just can't risk it. Please don't tell anyone.” Sighing again I nodded.

This was however, a fruitless endeavor, as not two days later Menolly had already grown too large to hide in the pack. Thus Zeroe was forced to introduce her. I was proven correct as nobody seemed to mind the new acquisition to the party.

We took to taming animals that we found, at least those that were tamable. Eventually we had managed to get three mules to follow us, and carry some of our supplies.

Soon enough we reached the encampment Zeroe had spotted. Outside was a strong number of the Armors as we had taken to calling them, however whatever force allowed them motion was quick to remove, they would go down with fair speed.

With a couple of quick shots we took out the guards, and entered the complex. Inside was a large circular room, there were stairs leading down in both directions and below was a mass of Armors. We quickly used the ground as cover, Riley tossed a bottle down, which erupted into flames below. This scattered the Armors, allowing Ceric to hop down.

“Rashirudo!” A large wall appeared on the ground in front of Ceric. All of the bullets that hit it bounced right back, wiping out several more Armors. Myself and Zeroe provided back up, taking shots from above with our weapons. Jase, however, had gotten shot in the kidney, and was steadily bleeding out. Iona cleaned up the remaining Armors as we went over to help patch up Jase. As we did, the back wall lit up. One of the Armors seemed to be standing at a control panel. At the center of the wall a hole appeared, only darkness existed on the other side, but the Armor quickly fled through.

Once Jase was able to stand again, we examined the hole.

“Send a donkey through.” Daera said quickly. We generally agreed and pushed one of the mules through. Nothing seemed to happen.

“Send another one through.” Marcus said. The first one grunted in discomfort. Curious we all slipped through to find ourselves a little cramped. It was very dark, and we barely all fit. Suddenly the hole closed behind us, and we were moving downwards. Suddenly a mechanical voice sounded into the small chamber.

“Welcome, intruders. Black Mesa personnel are not welcome in the facility. Please be patient, an assistant will be by shortly to escort you.”

Dimensional Warriors: Neko's Story Chapter 1

Next 

This is the second main character I'm going to be focusing on. Since Metudo and Master have a very different route than Neko does. I'll probably be jumping between Neko and Metudo often. Enjoy the new chapter, next week is Ted Art!

It began with a tremor. Like a shiver running down the circular spine of the planet. The ground shook, I assume everywhere, briefly. Then a moment of dead silence, as if an eye passed overhead. Not even the wind moved, as if the elements themselves paused, waiting. A scream broke the silence, somewhere between human and animal, grief and despair. Then everything went dark.

I had been walking when it happened. It had been a bright day, a rarity in the middle of a Jersey summer. When I woke up, I felt a wave of nausea hit. Choking back bile, I tried to get up, but my body refused to respond. A dull throbbing flowed into my brain and receded, only to come back seconds later. My left arm found strength, and I used it to push myself up, my head brushed soft leather. My eyes quickly registered broken glass in front of me, and a chunk of car a few feet away. I turned my head and saw a long spear of glass running through me, just above the elbow joint. Blood was slowly oozing from the base, and seemed to have been pooling for a while. Turning more, I saw the shredded top of the car seat, wedged into me at the base of my spine. At this my stomach relieved itself, violently. My mind jumped rapidly, I couldn't feel much of anything, meaning shock. Which was not going to matter soon, due to the amount of blood I was loosing. Even as I pieced this together in my mind I began to loose it, my vision began to fade and blur, like looking down a tunnel. I registered voices from outside, my hearing hadn't quite given out yet. So I laid back down and closed my eyes, praying that there was rescue coming.

“Is that all of them?” A low hollow tone filled my aching head.

“There’s supposed to be one more here, but I can’t see it. Maybe it got squished?” A second voice, a little slower than the first replied.

“It wouldn’t show up if it was still alive. Upturn the debris, make sure it’s dead.”

Were they talking about me? My senses seemed to sharpen suddenly, probably draining the last strength my body had to give. I had a strong urge, something told me whatever they were planning, it would be worse than bleeding to death under this car.

“Hey! There’s a lotta blood coming out from under here.”

“Flip it, let’s see the victim.” The other one said. The car shifted and suddenly a shiver of cool air hit my backside. I still couldn't move my legs, my spine was probably severed. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the remains of the car land a few feet away. Using my good arm I started to turn, standing over me was a tall male, much more than that I couldn't gather since he was wearing thick black plate armor and a matching helm that covered his face. He seemed to be a demon from hell, come to take my soul. Suddenly I was lifted into the air, the cold metal making my hyper sensitive body shiver.

“Well well, look at this. This one’s already awake.”

“It must have a strong will, perhaps it’s my lucky day.”

“Hey hey, I found it. Shouldn’t I be the one to corrupt it?”

“I am your supervisor, therefore I go first.”

“To hell with that, I can beat you down any day of the week.” I felt my mind slowly sipping away as the two argued; the urge took hold again, and I found myself praying that I bled out before they concluding their disagreement.

“Well let’s hurry and do something before it dies, otherwise neither of us will get it.”

“Fine I’ll take it.”

“Fine.” My eyes fixed on the man holding me up, darkness seemed to seep out of the plates and began crawling towards me. Instinctively I used my good arm to try and dislodge its grip. I struggled, but his monstrous strength held me firm, I tried pulling my arm away, but it was already encased in that darkness. As I struggled a blazing light hit the man, and he fell to the ground, or at least half of him did. The other half of the armor was vaporized instantly. As I fell back to the ground I saw an empty husk where there should be seared flesh and half a person. An old man entered my vision; he stood with his back to me, wearing a long brown cloak, a sword drawn. As if this was safety, my spent body shut down, I blacked out.

When I woke the second time I could see stars shining through branches overhead. Was I dead? I tried to get up, and was greeted with a surge of pain. Either I wasn't dead, or death sucks. I looked around, there was a campfire nearby. The old man I had seen had his hood up against the breeze, and was gently feeding the fire. I moved my good arm and saw where my hand had gripped that creature the skin looked gray and rotting. As I used it to gain a better view I spotted my other arm. The glass had been removed, and the would seemed to have been cauterized. I pushed the furs covering me off slowly. Almost dreading what I was going to see. Where my intestinal track should be was really just a large hole. The only reason I was even alive was it too had been cauterized. Though given the organs that should be missing I did not give myself good odds on living for more than a day at best. Nauseated again I laid back down and heard my companion move towards me.

“So you are awake? Interesting.” He stepped forward, through the fire which flared as he walked. “I would suggest getting some more rest. When the sun is strong I will try to fix those limbs of yours.” He waved at me, like saying good bye, and I felt warmth surround me, then I was out like a light.

I awoke what felt like minutes later, this time the campfire was roaring; more than that it was everywhere. I thought we had started a forest fire, but the old man stood there, cloak removed, his chiseled body glistening with sweat. He seemed perfectly calm, and somehow that calmed me down as well. I looked at the flames, realizing they were burning the ground into a pattern. I pushed myself up and he looked at me.

“Awake again? You should sleep, especially for this part.”

“This part?” He lifted a blade. It almost looked like it was on fire in the light.

“When you wake, take this with you. I also give you a name of power, Pahhur. It is yours, do with it what you will.” With that he planted the blade in the center of the pattern. Everything shook. The trees fell around us, catching fire. The grass burned, and then the dirt beneath it caught flame too. The inferno built and surrounded us. He stood up, staring at me.

“Stand!” He yelled. I felt smoke clog my throat. “Stand!” Strength filled my body; shakily, I placed my right arm on the ground and lifted myself. I stood up and looked at him. I looked down and noticed blood rushing out of my wounds. “Do not fall, do not falter. The flame will save you. Let the fire consume you, and in turn consume the flame. I pass this burden to you now, and by passing it I preserve your life for another day. I call thee by thy name, Pahhur. You will continue the circle.” With those last words he turned from me, and walked into the blaze. His body vanished into ash. The inferno grew with his passing, surrounding me, the heat pressed in on all sides. I stood, I stood and I waited, I challenged the fire to take me; I felt my skin start to crack, any hope I had of getting out of the blaze laid with his words. Then I felt myself become weightless, as if I was falling. The flames licked at my body, consuming me, devouring me, the pain intensified and vanished all at once. Did I go into shock? Or did I just die? All at once I was surrounded by darkness. I faced what I thought was the sky, and as if someone hit the fast-forward on life I saw a tree grow out above me. The roots reached deep into my body. It flourished. Animals fed from the tree, as did people. Then in an instant it all burned down; back into the ash. A forest grew where there had once been ash, I felt myself being picked up by an invisible force. At the base of the tree lay a girl, naked in the sunlight. She was beautiful, her long red hair hung over her shoulders, just reaching over her nipples. She slept there, unaware of the world. I felt myself turn and fly backwards, hitting something solid. It felt like my back was lying uncovered against a rough surface.

I opened my eyes, and was greeted with the sight of long slim legs stretching out from my body, somewhat obscured by two large breasts. In one motion I stood up; lifting my hands to my face. They were small, slender, I brushed red hair back from my neck. My body went limp, I felt numb. When I regained control I screamed. I cursed at the now dead man, I cursed at the tree, the air, flinging my anger to the growing shadows. The sun set on my rage, and I felt cold. Nearby the old man's sword glimmered in the fading light, asking me to take it. Next to it lay the old man's cloak, grayed with age, I wrapped the cloak around me for warmth and pulled the blade from the ground, it felt heavy in my hands. Much like a wave events of the last few hours hit me. I had lost everything. I do not remember when I fell asleep that night. But I do remember my last thought before sleep took me. I have lost everything. But I am still alive.

Next

Dungeons and Dragons

For those un-initiated Dungeons and Dragons is many things, a game, a Roleplay, and a social hangout. I however use it primarily as a storytelling tool.

Now for the blasphemy. I do not use a pre-printed rule book. I have seen the regular D&D guides, they are overpriced and thick. Instead I have cobbled together a working system by combining rules I have found in the myriad of other games I have seen and/or played. Thus my campaign is always changing around. I will be posting Sunday on the happening within the group that I play with. But to start off I will be putting down some of the back stored information I have made over time; as well as keeping an up-to-date rule book posted, both for people to look at and for my players to have a solid copy.

1st: The setting.
Make a character from any universe of your choosing, (Can be a self-made world, but it has to have enough material to sustain itself.) The character must be sentient, with a language. (No pure animals, like dogs. Intelligent animals and shape-shifters are fine.) Cannot be a cannon character. (You may make a Jedi from Star Wars, but you cannot play as Luke Skywalker for example.)

Your character wakes up in the middle of a forest, and large men in black plated armor with machine guns are shooting at you. (The premise)

When I started, only two other people in my group had even seen a D&D game before. But they caught on pretty quick as to what to do. The starting group consisted of:
-A mamoto from Zatch Bell and his Book User. (Played as a pet class)
-A Dragon Rider from Eragon. (Another pet class)
-A self-made character (She had written a full novella on the character, so it was more than acceptable)
-An Elf from AD&D (Advanced Dungeons and Dragons)
-An Elf from Lord of the Rings
-A survivor from Left 4 Dead
-A book owner from El Goonish Shive
and an Ensign from Star Trek (Who has since been promoted to Lieutenant to prevent me from killing him.)

Most of the players have taken on extra characters since then, some cannon, some created.

And before someone says something, yes most of this stuff is copyright infringement, thus I am labeling this under a separate section and considering it somewhere between parody and fan-fiction (Full blown Fan-Fiction may follow, dunno.) On top of that, I'm not selling this for anything, so no one needs to get sued. Besides, you could and you'd get 50 cents. That's all I got. :D

The aforementioned rules will be given their own page, as will the Character Sheets.

Now, I have a lot of catching up to do so next week I will be posting some of what happened in the past D&D games.