Lavaring Story Chapter 4
Sonuke was really, really getting tired of these “EDOs”. At least, he thought they were called “EDOs.”
Beastland was normally a very serene place - sure, it represented the genre of Adventure, so it was never boring - but no one was sure when to fight or when to flee here, for Adventure was about great courage and marvelous feats more so than wandering from place to place and battling enemies. Contrary to its name (and reputation!) Beastland did not have an exclusively animalistic population - sure, it was certainly inhabited by nekonekos, furs, and several other beast-like Creations, but Pirates, Warriors of various kinds, and even a sizable superhero population wandered its savannah-like plains, cities, and magnificent landscapes all the same. For the lands did not exist to limit the Creators’ Imaginations - rather, they existed to give them a place to grow and flourish even further, and to inspire ideas that had not been thought up just yet.
Unfortunately, whomever had “created” these EDOs had gone a little too far. Although Sonuke was well-equipped to deal with them, armed with a powerful robotic suit his father had built for him, he was still a mere human, frail and vulnerable, without any of the special powers many other Creations had been given. He had a different story than them, after all.
“I’m not completely helpless, though.” Sonuke thought. “There’s still a chance I can -”
Sonuke ‘s thought was interrupted by a large cluster of EDOs coming straight for him. Although the Augmented human attempted to flee, something about that plan didn’t feel right. Sonuke was not a coward. His suit gave him the ability to supersonic speed, and as one wise man had once said, “With great power, comes great responsibility.”. Now was not the time for running away from a fight.
“No… now was the time for running towards it.” Sonuke thought with a grin.
Sonuke called upon his suit’s power and starting crashing through the army of EDOs. As the small, shrublike creatures began flying left and right, they shouted, “EDO! EDO!”; the Beastians had come to recognize this sound and as a result had named the small, fuzzy creatures after it. Sonuke actually started to laugh - individually, a single EDO was about as much of a threat as a bag of garbage. The only reason the current invasions had been a serious threat was because the EDOs gained power in numbers - large clusters of the creatures had an annoying tendency to devour, consume and destroy everything in their path.
As Sonuke continued to barge through the army of creatures before him, he heard a loud beeping noise coming from his armor - a critical component of his armor was in disrepair (likely bitten off by one of the EDOs he had crashed into). Although the speed in his suit was powered by a component called the ‘Speed Belt’, (which Sonuke did not have to worry about due to the fact that he always carried reserves with him), Sonuke didn’t have time to figure out what the actual broken component was, as he was in the midst of battle. Unfortunately, the EDOs were not courteous enough to allow Sonuke the time he needed to find and fix the problem (as the beeping red light is only meant to warn the armor’s wearer of danger and didn’t do anything about the issue). If anything, the beeping red light only served to distract Sonuke in his moment of crisis, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out that loud, blinking red lights were very, very bad. Sonuke hoped that no destructive power was associated with these EDOs in any way - if there wasn’t, he would simply be sent to the last spawn shrine he had accessed. But if there was…
Sonuke winced as an EDO sprang up directly in front of him, which interrupted his thought.
“Here’s hoping I don’t get Destroyed from this!” Sonuke whispered.
Suddenly, another, non-EDO voice let out a loud scream and smashed Sonuke’s attacker, knocking it away and whisking it off to places unknown.
“RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAU - oh, hi, Sonuke!” said the voice.
Sonuke looked up at his rescuer and smiled.
“Sup, Cat-Me.” he said, trying to contain the joy he felt when he looked up at her. Cat-Me was his closest friend, and his most trusted companion in the battles their small village of Beastians had fought against the EDOs. She was a Nekoneko (a human girl with cat-like features like feline ears and a tail), and wasn’t much of a fighter, although she was certainly capable of battling if the situation called for it.
“I think there are only a few more EDOs left in this horde.” Cat-Me told Sonuke, as she helped him get back on his feet. “Should we-”
“No.” said Sonuke. “We’re not leaving this village until we know that it’s safe.”
“I wasn’t going to say that.” said Cat-Me. “I was just going to make a bet on how many more EDOs you could defeat before I take out the whole squadron.”
Sonuke couldn’t help but grin again. “Is that a challenge, blue-eyes? Because if so… you are ON.”
Cat-Me based another EDO with her magic pencil and and started to charge at the few EDOs that were left, with Sonuke following directly behind her. Cat-Me possessed a magic pencil that allowed her to draw nearly anything she needed - it had its limitations, but was certainly a useful tool in the war against the shrublike squads of stinky sasquatches.
“Let’s do this.” said both members of the dynamic duo, as they began to finish off the approaching army of enemies.
...
“Let’s not do this.” Candaru groaned.
As the six members of the Lavaring Team continued their journey through Horrorland, the reverse half-werewolf girl was becoming increasingly tired and irritable. She would have just wanted to go home, but even that option seemed like a poor choice at this point.
“C’mon, Candaru.” X teased. “You’re always such a grumpy wolf.”
Candaru moaned again. “Yeah, well, you’re an idiot.”
“HEY! No name calling!” Foxichick shouted. “We’re hiking through these mountains to try to get to Beastland quicker. I spent a lot of time plotting out this route, so can you guys at least try to get along?”
Candaru grumbled. “Sorry, mom.” she said.
Foxichick sighed. Although she was the leader of her little ragtag bunch of misfits, sometimes she really did feel more like a team mom. Indigo and Fanwizard were closer to her age (and were much more mature than the others), so Foxichick connected better to them as peers, but between Candaru, X, and MCgamer she often felt like a babysitter. She had to break up fights all the time, and it was getting tiresome, considering that Candaru, X, and MCgamer were all already teenagers!
“Yeah, Candaru!” X shouted back, sticking out his tongue.
“Hmph.” Candaru pouted as she crossed her arms and shrugged.
X started to laugh a little. “Candaru, did I ever tell you how cute you look when you smile? Not that you do it much.” The electronic-looking boy said this in such a way that no one could tell whether or not he was teasing Candaru (and adding fuel to the fire), whether he was trying to hit on her, or whether he was genuinely trying to compliment her.
Whatever it was, Candaru was furious.
“Says the little kid in the teenage boy’s body.” Candaru grumbled once more.
“I take mild offense to that!” X said.
Candaru groaned. “Jerk.”
“Who’s a Jerk?” X replied, in his usual cheerful tone.
MCgamer could not resist participating in this ever-so-productive exchange of words any longer. “Guys, chill out.” remarked the robot. “You’re BOTH jerks!”
Foxichick sighed again. It had already been a few days since the group had left the Horrorland village where yet another Destroyer - The Magician - had been defeated, yet the group would probably not be in Beastland for quite a while yet. The group had recently discovered that whatever force had wiped X’s memory had also locked him out of using Spawn Shrines, which meant that the group had to make the entire journey to Cyberland on foot. Even if it was a possibility to use the regeneration/teleportation devices scattered across ImagiNation, the fact that very few Lavaring Team members even knew where to go was also a problematic nuisance. Although the Lavaring Team was making good progress on their journey regardless, their expedition was beginning to become tiresome, at least in comparison to what they were used to. However, despite this, Foxichick just knew that X’s memory would contain some clue on how to stop the Destroyers, and finally allow peace to return to ImagiNation. And if it didn’t… well, it was still the right thing to do. Although the mysterious young boy Candaru had found in the woods was a bit annoying at times, (not to mention a ginormous flirt), the anthropomorphic fox woman who led the Lavaring Team could tell that he had a good heart.
Candaru groaned for the millionth time, again. “This is getting us nowhere fast.”
“Aww, c’mon! Walking is fun! This is an adventure.” X replied enthusiastically.
“You don’t walk,” Indigo pointed out.
“Not you too!” Foxichick exclaimed.
Sensing the tension growing amongst the group, the noble dragon warrior Fanwizard decided to break the ice.
“Lady Foxichick, it is getting dark, wouldn’t you agree? Perhaps we should set up camp for the night.” he suggested.
Candaru sighed. “Yeah, sure, whatever.” replied the werewolf girl.
MCgamer pressed several buttons on his arm, opening up a miniturized compartment in his back containing several small packages. He then passed them around to each Lavaring Team member and instructed each of them to press a series of buttons.
“Since we’re pretty far out in the wilderness already, and we don’t have a comfortable place to sleep, I’ve prepared these miniaturized sleeping bags for our expedition! Pretty cool, huh?” he asked, holding his humanoid arm to his chest as a sign of his pride.
“That’s awesome!” shouted LavaringX, barely containing the glee in his voice.
Feeling a sense of achievement in his inventions, MCgamer stood upright and smiled. “I designed them myself!”
“...With a little help from me, of course.” Foxichick pointed out in a slightly teasing tone.
MCgamer lowered his head in embarrassment.
“Yes.” he admitted reluctantly. “With a little help from Foxichick.”
“And some from me,” Indigo mentioned.
“And some from Indigo...” MCgamer sighed
…
After all of the Lavaring Team members activated their sleeping bag pouches and dozed off, nighttime fell over Horrorland once again. Although the idea of being near alone in the mountains of the Land representing the genre of horror at night may have been frightening to some, sleep came relatively easily to Candary, Foxichick, Fanwizard, and Indigo (and it always came easily to MCgamer, considering all he needed to do to rest was to get Foxichick to flip his “off” switch). Despite this, X was wide awake, and it wasn’t because of fear, either. “Anxiety” was the better word.
Despite having lost his memory, X still had the ability to feel emotions, and could tell that many of the other Lavaring Team members were not exactly thrilled with his presence among them. Candaru seemed to express a constant irritation with him, and the other members of the Lavaring Team were near completely indifferent to his feelings, or so it seemed. For all of his happy mannerisms and cheerful attitude, X was hurt, confused, and disturbed by the fact that he couldn’t even remember who he was underneath it all. The quest to defeat the Dark Lord was an important one, but the quest to retrieve his own memory was what was really at the forefront of X’s mind. X still couldn’t stop thinking about all of the things that happened on even just the first day the six group members had been together. On that one, fateful day alone, X had majestically appeared in the woods with no idea of who he was or where he came from, an ancient conspiracy had been revealed through a legend told by the guardian Sagea, two Destroyers had been defeated by the combined efforts of X and his comrades, and the team had discovered that they would not be able to simply use a spawn shrine to shorten travel time (as X had been blocked from using them because of a mysterious barrier for an unknown reason).
“What in Imagination just happened?” MCgamer had said a few weeks ago, after X had discovered he could not return home.
“I can’t believe none of us thought of this sooner…” Candaru had said.
“It probably wouldn’t have mattered anyway.” Foxichick had replied. “It’s pretty obvious that X is being prevented from using Spawn Shrines somehow - but why?”
“It is likely that whatever wiped X’s mind also put up the barrier we’re looking at now.” Fanwizard answered.
Nobody else had said anything about the Spawn Shrine after that that day, at least for a while. Everyone was thinking something along the lines of Fanwizard - there probably wasn’t really any need to say anything else. No one was even entirely sure what had just happened - or if X would be able to return home at all, with or without a Spawn Shrine. Despite this, everybody knew they had to keep trying.
“Just because I can’t return home the easy way doesn’t mean we should stop trying,” X thought. “Even if it seems impossible, I just know that I have to get home, and I’m not going to abandon everything just because of something that I don’t even understand. Besides, there’s a lot of good we need to do on the way…”
X’s train of thought was brought to an abrupt halt when an all-too familiar sound began to ring through the six “Hero Creations’ ”ears. Candaru was the first to notice it - her enhanced wolfish senses also gave her enhanced hearing - but before she could alert the others, the sound grew louder, and a particularly disgusting creature entered the camp.
“EDO!!!! EDO!!!!” cried the monster, as it blared its teeth and ran straight for the Lavaring Team with its scruffy legs.
“WHAT IN IMAGINATION???” cried Fanwizard (although still retaining his formal tone of voice), before he turned and saw the creature running straight for the camp. “HORRORS!”
“What’s going on?” X yelled, tossing aside his sleeping bag just in time to see the EDO running straight at him.
At this point, everyone in camp was awake, startled by the unexpected arrival of an old adversary.
“It shouldn’t be too hard to drive this little guy back.” said Foxichick, immediately taking charge. “I’ll go switch MCgamer back on, get rid of this little guy in the meantime, alright?”
Suddenly, the sound of several more stomping feet interrupted Foxichick. Hundreds more EDOs began climbing their way over the mountain, making it appear as if the entire landscape was covered with dirt and sod.
As Foxichick rebooted MCgamer , Candaru, X, Indigo, and Fanwizard all assumed combative positions, preparing for an inevitable battle.
“I thought there was only one of these things!” said X. “We only encountered one in Fantasyland’s woods!”
“You learn something new every day!” said Candaru.
MCgamer booted up again with a sudden start, surprised at having been turned back on so soon.
“Who? What? Where? What’s going on?” shouted the robot, as he turned his head in the general direction of the EDO army’s onslaught. “And what in ImagiNation are THOSE?”
“They seem to be of the same species as that weird shrub-looking monster we encountered once in Fantasyland.” Fanwizard remarked. “But what are they doing here?”
MCgamer didn’t waste any time. He activated his gun arm and began blasting as many EDOs as he could to a pulp.
“Shoot now, ask questions later!” yelled the orange-and-black Machineland-made Creation.
“It’s not too bad.” said X. “We’ve taken on harder enemies than these before, right?”
As suddenly as they had appeared, the EDOs slowly began to back away. This behavior was extremely puzzling for all six of the Hero Creations, as it was highly improbable that a large mob of creatures would appear so suddenly just to run away.
“That… was really weird.” MCgamer finally admitted.
“An army of creatures like these appearing so suddenly, and then leaving without a trace…” Fanwizard pondered aloud.
The EDOs had vanished into the night, although the faint echo of their cry of “EDO!” could still be heard as they retreated. The situation was very bizarre, and left the Lavaring Team in a bewildered and confused state.
“OK, I think it’s safe to assume that these EDOs had a reason for attacking and fleeing so suddenly…” Foxhichick said. “But what?”
“What are we waiting for? Let’s follow them and get some answers!” said MCgamer in response.
“Hang on, guys.” Candaru stated in response. “We have little to no idea about what we’re being faced with… maybe we should do something else.”
“Since when were you the reasonable one?” MCgamer questioned sarcastically.
“I was tired!” yelled Candaru angrily, in defense.
“Let’s go with that!” said X, who was waving at the EDOs as they ran away.
The brewing argument was interrupted by a loud whooshing noise, followed by a blue blur. The next instant, a boy in blue armor was standing next to Candaru, tapping her on the shoulder (catching her off guard).
“WHAT THE…?” Candaru yelled.
“Hey, hey, hey, chill out!” Shouted the boy. “I’m only trying to help!” seeing the expression on Candaru’s face, however, he added, “plus, you look hilarious.”
Candaru was now really mad.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? WHAT DO YOU WANT?” she screamed.
“Whoa, chill out!” said the boy. “My name is Sonuke. In case you didn’t notice, a whole bunch of weird, shrub-looking monsters just passed through here, and I really need to know where they went so I can do something about them. They yell ‘EDO!’ all the time, and are pathetically weak individually, but gain power in groups. See anything like that?” Sonuke was talking really quickly and loudly. Foxichick knew from experience that that usually meant a sense of urgency - this boy needed help.
The leader of the Lavaring Team stepped forward.
“Wait, wait, wait, slow down there. Where did these creatures come from? Do you know?” Foxichick asked.
“Beastland. They all came from Beastland. But -”
“Beastland?” Candaru interrupted. “But the first one we encountered was all the way back in Fantasyland!”
Sonuke was a bit annoyed that the reverse half-werewolf girl was interrupting him, but he didn’t have time to worry about that.
“Well, my guess would be that some of the EDOs from my homeland leaked into other nearby lands. But that’s not the point - I really need to know if you’ve seen them pass through here,” Sonuke said. Then he paused. “You’ve encountered these creatures before, right? You know how they are always yelling EDO! EDO!”
“Yes. We saw an army of them pass through here just now - but they left as suddenly as they came.” said Fanwizard.
“If you need it, Sonuke, we’d be happy to give you our help! When the EDOs ran away from us, they went in that general direction,” X explained, while pointing to the East.
“That’s the direction Beastland is in!” Sonuke said, surprised. “But why would they attack the region all the way out here just to return home? It doesn’t make any sense!”
The group stood for a while in silence. Then, they all heard a rumbling in the distance.
“It sounds like it’s coming from Beastland!” said Foxichick.
The rumbling grew louder and louder, until it became more of an earthquake than a rumble.
“Something’s fishy about this…” remarked Candaru.
“Could this be related to the sudden disappearance of the EDOs?” asked Fanwizard.
“Don’t tell me they ran away just to come back!!!!” Sonuke cried out in frustration.
“Eh, they’re too stupid to come up with a strategy like that. What do you expect? They’re just a bunch of dumb plants.” said MCgamer.
Then, another sound could be heard along with the rumbling. It was faint at first, but it then became an unmistakable sound - “EDO! EDO!”
“YOU WERE SAYING?” Candaru barked at MC.
“They are upon us! Unsheath for combat!” said Fanwizard.
The heroes and Sonuke obeyed Fanwizard’s command and once more attempted to ward off the EDO horde.
“This doesn’t make any sense!” Sonuke pondered. “These EDOs are attacking in some sort of pattern. They’re coming at you, then leaving, then coming back! It’s like some bizarre attempt to do… something. Maybe throw us off their trails?”
“There’s only one way to find out.” said Foxichick. “We’re going to have to go to Beastland and try to find the source of the EDOs in order to have any hope of stopping them.”
Sonuke seemed pleased by this idea. “Sounds like a good plan to me. We could always use some extra hands when fighting these monstrosities, and with you six on our side we may actually have enough of a chance to take down this threat once and for all…”
“First, we have to take care of these EDOs, though.” said MCgamer.
Sonuke grinned unexpectedly. “No problem.”
“What is it? You have something that can help us?” asked MCgamer.
“I was trying to find these EDOs. You didn’t think I would’ve come without some kind of plan on how to stop them, did you?” Sonuke continued to grin as he pulled out six long, flat objects with electronic-looking buttons on them. “My father built these for me, just in case. See, my suit gives me the ability to run at super-fast speeds because it has one of these built in. They’re called ‘Speed Belts’, and I always keep a whole stash of extras with me in case the one I have ever breaks down. I should really start doing that with the other parts of my suit… but that’s not important. I figure that it’ll be OK if I use them for something else!”
Seeing the confused looks on the Lavaring Team members’ faces, Sonuke sighed.
“These belts let you run really fast.”
“Wait, so we’re going to run to Beastland?” MCgamer asked.
“Yup!” Sonuke said, to his robotic ally. “But first, we’re going to get rid of all of these EDOs.”
As Sonuke distributed the Speed Belts to each member of the Lavaring Team (all while they were fending off the EDO attacks), Foxichick couldn’t help but make a comment or two.
“Sorry, MC, but if these Speed Belts work, they put your miniaturized sleeping bags to shame.” she teased.
“Ha ha, very funny. Weren’t you joking about how you helped design them, like, yesterday?” The robot remarked in return.
Before Foxi could come up with a clever comeback, everything became blurry, and all six members of the Lavaring Team found themselves involuntarily moving at an incredible speed. Only Sonuke was moving ahead of all of them, and he was jokingly commenting on how surprised they seemed (though not in a mean way).
“C’mon, slowpokes, pick up the pace!” shouted Sonuke from the front of the group.
“Slowpokes? We’re moving at, what, ten hundred m-”
Candaru was cut short when Sonuke pressed a button on his suit, which made all of the speed belts turn off. The Lavaring Team seemed dumbfounded.
“Yeah, I know.” Sonuke said. “It seems weird to add a ‘shut-off’ switch to a suit for belts which are only meant to be used if the suit is lost, but the button is fingerprint-activated so-”
Seeing as the Lavaring Team members weren’t laughing, Sonuke decided to more thoroughly explain what just happened. “I allowed the Speed Belts to activate almost immediately after you got them, so we wouldn’t have to deal with those EDOs anymore. Well, here we are! Beastland! Pretty sweet, huh?”
“That… was… AWESOME!!!!!” yelled LavaringX.
“I’m glad you think so!” said Sonuke, his voice filled with pride.
“So… what now?” asked Foxichick curiously.
“My friend has a theory on where the thing controlling the EDOs might be. We didn’t investigate before because all who attempted to venture down there never returned… but with your power, we may actually have a shot.” said Sonuke. “I’d like you to meet my friend - her name is Cat-Me. She and I have been fending off EDOs together for as long as I can remember, and even before that, she was a very good friend of mine.”
Sonuke took the Lavaring Team over to a girl whom was assumed to be Cat-Me.
“Nice to meet you, Cat-Me!” said X, cheerfully.
Cat-Me was in the process of sketching a mysterious emblem into the air with what appeared to be a giant pencil, which made Foxichick startled. She had no idea how to best ask Cat-Me everything she needed to know. Still, Foxichick was still curious about Cat-Me’s… weapon? It was hard to tell if that was what it was.
“Whoa… how are you doing that?” Foxichick finally asked.
“Cat-Me made a contract with a Creator to have the power of the magic pencil.” Sonuke explained. “See, anyone who lives in Real Life is technically a Creator, because all people there have the ability to use their Imaginations. However, there are six Creators in particular who were responsible for the Lava Ring, and the manifestation of ImagiNation as a place.”
“I see… said LavaringX. Having lost his memories for reasons currently unknown to him, X was not up to speed on information regarding the lore of the world he lived in. However, as he turned to look at his comrades, he noticed that they seemed just as intrigued as he was, especially Candaru and MCgamer.
Cat-Me, now having finished drawing what appeared to be an EDO-repelling symbol in the air, jumped to join Sonuke and his new allies.
“The Creator who granted Cat-Me her magic pencil wasn’t one of those six original Creators, but she was still pretty important! Anyone can be a Creator if they want to be. Of course, this is all according to legend, anyway, so -”
“It’s not according to legend, Sonuke.” Cat-Me said, as she rejoined Sonuke. “I would know if I talked to a Creator. She was my Creator, after all, and I know that I met her!”
Even as Cat-Me chastised Sonuke for his mistake, it was clear that there were no hard feelings. Cat-Me and Sonuke were close friends, and even if they bickered, they would not so easily be torn apart.
As Cat-Me continued to playfully tease an embarrassed Sonuke, Fanwizard expressed a desire to associate with his new ally.
“Ah! You must be Cat-Me.” Fanwizard inquired. “It is a most honorable pleasure to meet you! I am Fanwizard, a dragon warrior from Fightingland.”
“Well, pleased to meet you too, Fanwizard!” said Cat-Me.
“I’m Foxichick.” said Foxichick. “I’m the leader of this team. This is Candaru, LavaringX, MCgamer, and Indigo. You’ve already met Fanwizard!”
The Dragon Warrior turned, smiled, and nodded towards Foxichick, pleased with her introduction.
“The symbol I drew in the air is an EDO-repelling charm.” explained Cat-Me, deciding not to waste any more time. “They won’t bother us for a while, but the power of my magic pencil is limited. It will take only a short while for the EDOs to break through it and start attacking us again.”
As if on cue, a horde of the small, shrub-like creatures began to lunge at the small, Beastian village, attempting to tear it apart with no avail. Frustrated, the EDOs attempted to burrow underground, but were unable to do that, either. LavaringX could tell that this was likely the group of EDOs they had encountered right before they met Sonuke, and again after he appeared. There was something strange about them…
“I don’t understand!” said Foxichick. “Why didn’t you use this charm before, when you were facing the horde of EDOs in earlier battles?” As the leader of the Lavaring Team, it was Foxichick’s job to be suspicious - she did not want any harm to befall her teammates.
“Because this charm drains a lot of Cat-Me’s energy. To protect everyone in the entire village will cause her a lot of pain… as the charm wears off, it will start to protect less and less us of us, until eventually only Cat-Me is protected - and soon after that, not even her. The Magic Pencil gives Cat-Me some of her Creator’s power… but neither she nor her Creator are omnipotent. We all have our limits… but see, that’s why I’m so glad I found you! We need to stop this EDO attack on a more… permanent basis.” Sonuke said.
“How are we going to do that?” asked Candaru, speaking up at last.
“With you guys here, I think we’re powerful enough to take out this problem at the source.” said Cat-Me. “We’re going to take out the EDO king.”
…
Cat-Me and Sonuke led the Lavaring Team through a large, underground tunnel, as they explained their plan.
“We’ve known that something has been controlling the EDO army for many months.” Cat-Me said. “And new EDOs are constantly appearing from this chamber. The ‘EDO’ King - or whatever it is that’s controlling these monsters - must be down here, or at least have something interesting here… Watch your step.”
Again, as if on cue, a booming, ethereal voice that seemed to be coming from everywhere in the chamber moaned and laughed ominously.
“WaTcH yOUr sTep? WATCH YOUR STEP? yOu iNSOleNt fLEa… yOU beLiEVe yoU Can aVERt mY WRatH By WATCHING YOUR STEP?!”
Suddenly, several roots emerged from the soil in the tunnel, coiling around all members of the party except for Cat-Me. Her EDO repelling charm had mostly worn off at this point, but as Sonuke had explained earlier, Cat-Me’s charm still had enough power to protect her from being ensnared by the roots obviously belonging to the EDO Lord itself. Sonuke, meanwhile, suddenly realized why the EDOs came and went again so suddenly - it was simple. The EDOs were trying to lead Sonuke and the Lavaring Team into a trap. But why?
“This might have been a bad idea…” Sonuke thought to himself.
“Let my friends go RIGHT NOW!!!” Cat-Me hissed.
Not even bothering to respond, the EDO Lord dragged the other seven party members into the darkest depths of the tunnel complex. Laughing in a voice that would send a chill down the spines of even the bravest of warriors, the EDO Lord dragged Sonuke and the Lavaring Team through the seven new gaping holes in the tunnel where his roots had emerged from. Cat-Me, afraid but enraged, jumped into one of the holes (hoping to find the EDO Lord at the bottom), as the chasm behind her collapsed in on itself, unable to sustain the damege caused by the EDO Lord’s attack. Eventually, Cat-Me managed to follow the tunnel to its source, chasing after the roots of the EDO Lord as fast as she could, until finally, she found what she had been looking for - the EDO Lord itself.
The EDO Lord was an enormous, hideous monstrosity, resembling a regular EDO but much larger and creepier - with a long, eerie neck and several roots that extended from its lower body like tentacles. Where its mouth and eyes should have been, the EDO Lord had several holes that appeared to be cut into shapes, making its head look like a colossal Jack-O-Lantern. From within its “mouth” (which had apparently been cut so as to look like it was filled with spiky teeth, several more rotted roots portruded like a mass of tongues, and its eyes glowed bright red, making the EDO Lord look like something out of a nightmare. The seven Lavaring Team members were wrapped in the roots located on its lower body, but before Cat-Me could do anything that could free them, the EDO Lord once again spoke in a voice that sounded like it belonged as part of The Magician’s fear-inducing act.
“So YoU hAVe CoME, cAt-Me…” moaned the EDO Lord. “YeS, I knOw WhO yOu ArE, I hAve BEen WatCHinG yOU... yOUR EDO-RePEllINg ChArm mAy HaVe pROtectED yOU unTil Now… but sOOn iT wILl WeAr oFF, aND I wIlL fEASt on YOur aLLiEs aS I shAlL soOn FEaST oN yOU!!!”
Cat-Me, as frightened as she was, did not back down.
“Let them go RIGHT NOW!” she exclaimed. “And while you’re at it, call of your hordes of monsters that are terrorizing my home!”
The EDO Lord once again laughed in its horrific voice, as he wrapped his roots around all of his prisoners even more tightly (forming what appeared to be cocoon-like shapes around them).
“My EDOs? My DeAR CaT-Me… hOW daRE yOU InsuLt Me So? I Am EDO, the EnERgy-DesTRoYing ORganISm. THe cREATures yOU have beeN fIGHtING arE My MinIons… the SODs - SemI-OrGanIC DesTRoyERs. They, AlOng WiTH MysELf, wERe gENetiCAlly EngiNEered For bUt One PuRPose… to DEstrOy tHE MasTER ProGRAm and AlL its KiN. My SODs CaLL FoR Me wHen TheY ARe THreaTEned… and wHen TheY dO, tHEy Are BRoUGht BaCK tO mE ThrOUgh mY RooTS, so THAt theY mAy Be BoRN aNew. ThUS, my ARMy iS FoREVEr STrONg!” EDO explained.
LavaringX, though still trapped within his root-cocoon, was suddenly reinvigorated at the words “Master Program”. However, he could not remember why they sounded so familiar to him. That was not important now, he decided - what was important was getting out of the trap he was in.
Cat-Me, meanwhile, had a dawning moment of realization about why the EDOs - or SODs, as they were rightfully called - were seemingly endless, (as well as why they kept shouting “EDO!”) but there was no time to worry about that now. Her SOD/EDO repelling charm had worn off, and she was now vulnerable. Since she knew it was only a matter of time before EDO noticed this, she had to act fast. Cat-Me quickly drew a small knife with her magic pencil, and the power of the Creator imbued within it had brought the knife to life. Although she was hoping she could use it to free her companions, she was well aware that this would not go ignored by the EDO Lord, and it was likely going to merely be a diversion while she carried out her real plan. Sonuke still had the Speed Belt installed into his suit, and Cat-Me was hoping she could use that fact to everyone’s advantage. Without skipping a beat, Cat-Me ran towards Sonuke’s root-cocoon, and was hoping she could use her knife to loosen it ever so slightly...
“aND JusT WHEre Do YoU thINK YoU’RE gOInG?” moaned EDO, as it extended another root in an attempt to ensnare Cat-Me. Although it was successful this time, Cat-Me had managed to throw her magically created dagger at Sonuke’s root-cocoon, which cut it just enough so that Sonuke once again had room to move.
“Save yourself, Sonuke!” Cat-Me shouted, as the EDO Lord wrapped her up in its mess of enormous roots, making a cocoon around her just like it had done to all the others. While the EDO Lord was doing this, however, it did not notice that Sonuke had managed to break free and was using his super-speed to free all of his other allies.
Unfortunately, EDO was not so easily fooled. Extending a root to a random spot in the room, EDO waited until Sonuke (moving at supersonic speed) tripped over it and flew across the room, crashing into one of the tunnel’s walls. Groaning in pain, Sonuke was tied up in a root-cocoon once again, as the EDO Lord began to extend its roots (and its prisoners along with them) into the cavern’s ceiling so that its prey appeared to be hanging from the roof of the tunnel.
Now having captured all eight trespassers, the EDO Lord roared with horrible laughter once more (sending chills down the spines of all of its prisoners). Not bothering to mince words, the EDO Lord began to weave new EDOs out of ones that had previously been defeated, spawning new monsters that would plague the world above soon enough. The roots that it had trapped its prisoners in coiled around them even tighter, and it was clear that EDO wasn’t saving its prey for any special purpose - it just wanted it to die. While hanging from her root-cocoon, Candaru remembered something she had learned long ago.
It would take seriously destructive power to kill a Creation…
Could a destructive power be something beyond the physical - something beyond the Dark Lord’s power? What if a “destructive power” could be something like animosity, or hatred, or selfish desires? Was hunger a destructive power? Was fear? Candaru realized she probably wouldn’t have to wait long to find out. The EDO Lord was squeezing the life out of her and her comrades, and if something didn’t happen soon, everything they had worked towards would ultimately be for naught.
LavaringX was coming to a similar realization in his root-cocoon. Sonuke and Cat-Me were here risking their lives for each other, while MCgamer, Candaru, and himself argued over who the biggest jerk was in their group. If the EDO Lord wasn’t squeezing the life out of them, they probably would have given each other some embarassed glances, but for the time being they just needed a way out of this mess.
No more fighting. No more pain.
Suddenly, as if something had whispered into his ear, MCgamer realized that he was still wearing the speed-belt Sonuke had given him earlier, and assumed that that would be the case for his teammates. Being made of metal, MCgamer wiggled his way around through his trap more fluidly than the other Lavaring Team members, and began to make casual gestures towards his waist so that the EDO Lord wouldn’t notice. Candaru (who was hanging in the cocoon closest to him), realized what the robot was trying to get across to her, and nodded her head swiftly. Being partially a werewolf, Candaru was physically stronger than the average girl in her early teens, even though she didn’t look like that would be the case. Combined with one last burst of determination, Candaru was able to burst her way out of her prison, running to MCgamer’s cocoon to free him with a swipe of her claws. The two then began to swiftly free the other Lavaring Team members, much to the EDO Lord’s chargin.
“YES!” LavaringX exclaimed happily, as Candaru freed him from his prison.
“C’mon.” Said Candaru. “Let’s take this jerk down.” After he had been set loose, X immediately began using his own speed belt to do as much damage to the EDO Lord as possible (while helping his other comrades escape). Candaru and MC soon began to do the same.
“WhAT aRE you DOINg?” screeched EDO.
“Kicking your sorry butt!” MCgamer replied, with a smirk on his face.
Before the EDO Lord could attack again, MCgamer rocketed himself up into the air and fired a rocket blast directly at the EDO Lord, right into one of the holes in its Jack-O-Lantern styled head. In a loud “SCRAGHAKKK!” followed by a “BOOOOOOOM!”, EDO’s head had been blown into several pieces. The rest of EDO’s body began to shrivel up with it, and soon, the threat of EDO and the SODs had been put to rest.
MCgamer looked around to survey the scene. Seeds and plant gunk now covered the entire chamber (along with the scattered pieces of what was once the EDO Lord’s head). However, there wasn’t any time to worry about it - without the EDO Lord’s various roots to hold up the chamber, it began to collapse, and if the eight new heroes didn’t escape in time, they, too, would be toast, technically speaking.
“Hang on!” Said Sonuke, as he grabbed Cat-Me’s hand and activated the speed belts worn by everyone else present. Powering on his own suit’s speed belt so he and Cat-Me would be safe too, Sonuke and his comrades dashed out of the chamber and into the sunlight of Beastland, where they saw the withered remains of several SODs sinking into the soil. The battle was over. They had won!
…
“Thank you again for all your help!” Cat-Me exclaimed, as she and her magic pencil helped repair parts of the damaged Beastian village.
“It was no problem at all.” said Foxichick, who was also assisted in repairs to much of the unfortunate damage that had befallen Beastland during the invasion of the SODs and their leader, EDO.
A few hours had passed since the group had escaped the tunnel of the EDO Lord, but they were already making amends and helping with repairs. As Sonuke collected the speed belts he had lent to the Lavaring Team members (and subsequently repaired entire sections of Beastland in mere minutes thanks to his own super-speed), MCgamer, Candaru, and LavaringX celebrated their victory over the EDO Lord, with Fanwizard laughing along with them. Indigo, as always, remained quiet.
“And I was like, BOOOM! And the EDO chump was like, KABLOOSH! And I went, WHOOO!” MCgamer exclaimed excitedly.
“Your help was invaluable. Where are you headed next?” Cat-Me asked.
“We shall travel to Fightingland - which is my homeland - on our quest to restore X’s memory. We will not forget you, brave Sonuke and Cat-Me.” said Fanwizard.
“Speaking of forgetting…” X thought. “When the EDO Lord talked about destroying the Master Program, I felt a sense of familiarity. It’s too bad I can’t remember…
But there was no time for pondering at that moment. As the six Lavaring Team members said their good-byes and headed off to Fightingland, the Team now laughed happily as they went on their way. Foxichick couldn’t help but notice the change in attitude her team had had on this adventure. Although she didn’t say anything, it filled her heart with good emotions. However, it was doubtful that this adventure would be their last. They still needed to find X’s memory, stop Destroyers they encountered on their way, and find a way to stop the Dark Lord. More, much more, had yet to come...
Sonuke was really, really getting tired of these “EDOs”. At least, he thought they were called “EDOs.”
Beastland was normally a very serene place - sure, it represented the genre of Adventure, so it was never boring - but no one was sure when to fight or when to flee here, for Adventure was about great courage and marvelous feats more so than wandering from place to place and battling enemies. Contrary to its name (and reputation!) Beastland did not have an exclusively animalistic population - sure, it was certainly inhabited by nekonekos, furs, and several other beast-like Creations, but Pirates, Warriors of various kinds, and even a sizable superhero population wandered its savannah-like plains, cities, and magnificent landscapes all the same. For the lands did not exist to limit the Creators’ Imaginations - rather, they existed to give them a place to grow and flourish even further, and to inspire ideas that had not been thought up just yet.
Unfortunately, whomever had “created” these EDOs had gone a little too far. Although Sonuke was well-equipped to deal with them, armed with a powerful robotic suit his father had built for him, he was still a mere human, frail and vulnerable, without any of the special powers many other Creations had been given. He had a different story than them, after all.
“I’m not completely helpless, though.” Sonuke thought. “There’s still a chance I can -”
Sonuke ‘s thought was interrupted by a large cluster of EDOs coming straight for him. Although the Augmented human attempted to flee, something about that plan didn’t feel right. Sonuke was not a coward. His suit gave him the ability to supersonic speed, and as one wise man had once said, “With great power, comes great responsibility.”. Now was not the time for running away from a fight.
“No… now was the time for running towards it.” Sonuke thought with a grin.
Sonuke called upon his suit’s power and starting crashing through the army of EDOs. As the small, shrublike creatures began flying left and right, they shouted, “EDO! EDO!”; the Beastians had come to recognize this sound and as a result had named the small, fuzzy creatures after it. Sonuke actually started to laugh - individually, a single EDO was about as much of a threat as a bag of garbage. The only reason the current invasions had been a serious threat was because the EDOs gained power in numbers - large clusters of the creatures had an annoying tendency to devour, consume and destroy everything in their path.
As Sonuke continued to barge through the army of creatures before him, he heard a loud beeping noise coming from his armor - a critical component of his armor was in disrepair (likely bitten off by one of the EDOs he had crashed into). Although the speed in his suit was powered by a component called the ‘Speed Belt’, (which Sonuke did not have to worry about due to the fact that he always carried reserves with him), Sonuke didn’t have time to figure out what the actual broken component was, as he was in the midst of battle. Unfortunately, the EDOs were not courteous enough to allow Sonuke the time he needed to find and fix the problem (as the beeping red light is only meant to warn the armor’s wearer of danger and didn’t do anything about the issue). If anything, the beeping red light only served to distract Sonuke in his moment of crisis, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out that loud, blinking red lights were very, very bad. Sonuke hoped that no destructive power was associated with these EDOs in any way - if there wasn’t, he would simply be sent to the last spawn shrine he had accessed. But if there was…
Sonuke winced as an EDO sprang up directly in front of him, which interrupted his thought.
“Here’s hoping I don’t get Destroyed from this!” Sonuke whispered.
Suddenly, another, non-EDO voice let out a loud scream and smashed Sonuke’s attacker, knocking it away and whisking it off to places unknown.
“RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAU - oh, hi, Sonuke!” said the voice.
Sonuke looked up at his rescuer and smiled.
“Sup, Cat-Me.” he said, trying to contain the joy he felt when he looked up at her. Cat-Me was his closest friend, and his most trusted companion in the battles their small village of Beastians had fought against the EDOs. She was a Nekoneko (a human girl with cat-like features like feline ears and a tail), and wasn’t much of a fighter, although she was certainly capable of battling if the situation called for it.
“I think there are only a few more EDOs left in this horde.” Cat-Me told Sonuke, as she helped him get back on his feet. “Should we-”
“No.” said Sonuke. “We’re not leaving this village until we know that it’s safe.”
“I wasn’t going to say that.” said Cat-Me. “I was just going to make a bet on how many more EDOs you could defeat before I take out the whole squadron.”
Sonuke couldn’t help but grin again. “Is that a challenge, blue-eyes? Because if so… you are ON.”
Cat-Me based another EDO with her magic pencil and and started to charge at the few EDOs that were left, with Sonuke following directly behind her. Cat-Me possessed a magic pencil that allowed her to draw nearly anything she needed - it had its limitations, but was certainly a useful tool in the war against the shrublike squads of stinky sasquatches.
“Let’s do this.” said both members of the dynamic duo, as they began to finish off the approaching army of enemies.
...
“Let’s not do this.” Candaru groaned.
As the six members of the Lavaring Team continued their journey through Horrorland, the reverse half-werewolf girl was becoming increasingly tired and irritable. She would have just wanted to go home, but even that option seemed like a poor choice at this point.
“C’mon, Candaru.” X teased. “You’re always such a grumpy wolf.”
Candaru moaned again. “Yeah, well, you’re an idiot.”
“HEY! No name calling!” Foxichick shouted. “We’re hiking through these mountains to try to get to Beastland quicker. I spent a lot of time plotting out this route, so can you guys at least try to get along?”
Candaru grumbled. “Sorry, mom.” she said.
Foxichick sighed. Although she was the leader of her little ragtag bunch of misfits, sometimes she really did feel more like a team mom. Indigo and Fanwizard were closer to her age (and were much more mature than the others), so Foxichick connected better to them as peers, but between Candaru, X, and MCgamer she often felt like a babysitter. She had to break up fights all the time, and it was getting tiresome, considering that Candaru, X, and MCgamer were all already teenagers!
“Yeah, Candaru!” X shouted back, sticking out his tongue.
“Hmph.” Candaru pouted as she crossed her arms and shrugged.
X started to laugh a little. “Candaru, did I ever tell you how cute you look when you smile? Not that you do it much.” The electronic-looking boy said this in such a way that no one could tell whether or not he was teasing Candaru (and adding fuel to the fire), whether he was trying to hit on her, or whether he was genuinely trying to compliment her.
Whatever it was, Candaru was furious.
“Says the little kid in the teenage boy’s body.” Candaru grumbled once more.
“I take mild offense to that!” X said.
Candaru groaned. “Jerk.”
“Who’s a Jerk?” X replied, in his usual cheerful tone.
MCgamer could not resist participating in this ever-so-productive exchange of words any longer. “Guys, chill out.” remarked the robot. “You’re BOTH jerks!”
Foxichick sighed again. It had already been a few days since the group had left the Horrorland village where yet another Destroyer - The Magician - had been defeated, yet the group would probably not be in Beastland for quite a while yet. The group had recently discovered that whatever force had wiped X’s memory had also locked him out of using Spawn Shrines, which meant that the group had to make the entire journey to Cyberland on foot. Even if it was a possibility to use the regeneration/teleportation devices scattered across ImagiNation, the fact that very few Lavaring Team members even knew where to go was also a problematic nuisance. Although the Lavaring Team was making good progress on their journey regardless, their expedition was beginning to become tiresome, at least in comparison to what they were used to. However, despite this, Foxichick just knew that X’s memory would contain some clue on how to stop the Destroyers, and finally allow peace to return to ImagiNation. And if it didn’t… well, it was still the right thing to do. Although the mysterious young boy Candaru had found in the woods was a bit annoying at times, (not to mention a ginormous flirt), the anthropomorphic fox woman who led the Lavaring Team could tell that he had a good heart.
Candaru groaned for the millionth time, again. “This is getting us nowhere fast.”
“Aww, c’mon! Walking is fun! This is an adventure.” X replied enthusiastically.
“You don’t walk,” Indigo pointed out.
“Not you too!” Foxichick exclaimed.
Sensing the tension growing amongst the group, the noble dragon warrior Fanwizard decided to break the ice.
“Lady Foxichick, it is getting dark, wouldn’t you agree? Perhaps we should set up camp for the night.” he suggested.
Candaru sighed. “Yeah, sure, whatever.” replied the werewolf girl.
MCgamer pressed several buttons on his arm, opening up a miniturized compartment in his back containing several small packages. He then passed them around to each Lavaring Team member and instructed each of them to press a series of buttons.
“Since we’re pretty far out in the wilderness already, and we don’t have a comfortable place to sleep, I’ve prepared these miniaturized sleeping bags for our expedition! Pretty cool, huh?” he asked, holding his humanoid arm to his chest as a sign of his pride.
“That’s awesome!” shouted LavaringX, barely containing the glee in his voice.
Feeling a sense of achievement in his inventions, MCgamer stood upright and smiled. “I designed them myself!”
“...With a little help from me, of course.” Foxichick pointed out in a slightly teasing tone.
MCgamer lowered his head in embarrassment.
“Yes.” he admitted reluctantly. “With a little help from Foxichick.”
“And some from me,” Indigo mentioned.
“And some from Indigo...” MCgamer sighed
…
After all of the Lavaring Team members activated their sleeping bag pouches and dozed off, nighttime fell over Horrorland once again. Although the idea of being near alone in the mountains of the Land representing the genre of horror at night may have been frightening to some, sleep came relatively easily to Candary, Foxichick, Fanwizard, and Indigo (and it always came easily to MCgamer, considering all he needed to do to rest was to get Foxichick to flip his “off” switch). Despite this, X was wide awake, and it wasn’t because of fear, either. “Anxiety” was the better word.
Despite having lost his memory, X still had the ability to feel emotions, and could tell that many of the other Lavaring Team members were not exactly thrilled with his presence among them. Candaru seemed to express a constant irritation with him, and the other members of the Lavaring Team were near completely indifferent to his feelings, or so it seemed. For all of his happy mannerisms and cheerful attitude, X was hurt, confused, and disturbed by the fact that he couldn’t even remember who he was underneath it all. The quest to defeat the Dark Lord was an important one, but the quest to retrieve his own memory was what was really at the forefront of X’s mind. X still couldn’t stop thinking about all of the things that happened on even just the first day the six group members had been together. On that one, fateful day alone, X had majestically appeared in the woods with no idea of who he was or where he came from, an ancient conspiracy had been revealed through a legend told by the guardian Sagea, two Destroyers had been defeated by the combined efforts of X and his comrades, and the team had discovered that they would not be able to simply use a spawn shrine to shorten travel time (as X had been blocked from using them because of a mysterious barrier for an unknown reason).
“What in Imagination just happened?” MCgamer had said a few weeks ago, after X had discovered he could not return home.
“I can’t believe none of us thought of this sooner…” Candaru had said.
“It probably wouldn’t have mattered anyway.” Foxichick had replied. “It’s pretty obvious that X is being prevented from using Spawn Shrines somehow - but why?”
“It is likely that whatever wiped X’s mind also put up the barrier we’re looking at now.” Fanwizard answered.
Nobody else had said anything about the Spawn Shrine after that that day, at least for a while. Everyone was thinking something along the lines of Fanwizard - there probably wasn’t really any need to say anything else. No one was even entirely sure what had just happened - or if X would be able to return home at all, with or without a Spawn Shrine. Despite this, everybody knew they had to keep trying.
“Just because I can’t return home the easy way doesn’t mean we should stop trying,” X thought. “Even if it seems impossible, I just know that I have to get home, and I’m not going to abandon everything just because of something that I don’t even understand. Besides, there’s a lot of good we need to do on the way…”
X’s train of thought was brought to an abrupt halt when an all-too familiar sound began to ring through the six “Hero Creations’ ”ears. Candaru was the first to notice it - her enhanced wolfish senses also gave her enhanced hearing - but before she could alert the others, the sound grew louder, and a particularly disgusting creature entered the camp.
“EDO!!!! EDO!!!!” cried the monster, as it blared its teeth and ran straight for the Lavaring Team with its scruffy legs.
“WHAT IN IMAGINATION???” cried Fanwizard (although still retaining his formal tone of voice), before he turned and saw the creature running straight for the camp. “HORRORS!”
“What’s going on?” X yelled, tossing aside his sleeping bag just in time to see the EDO running straight at him.
At this point, everyone in camp was awake, startled by the unexpected arrival of an old adversary.
“It shouldn’t be too hard to drive this little guy back.” said Foxichick, immediately taking charge. “I’ll go switch MCgamer back on, get rid of this little guy in the meantime, alright?”
Suddenly, the sound of several more stomping feet interrupted Foxichick. Hundreds more EDOs began climbing their way over the mountain, making it appear as if the entire landscape was covered with dirt and sod.
As Foxichick rebooted MCgamer , Candaru, X, Indigo, and Fanwizard all assumed combative positions, preparing for an inevitable battle.
“I thought there was only one of these things!” said X. “We only encountered one in Fantasyland’s woods!”
“You learn something new every day!” said Candaru.
MCgamer booted up again with a sudden start, surprised at having been turned back on so soon.
“Who? What? Where? What’s going on?” shouted the robot, as he turned his head in the general direction of the EDO army’s onslaught. “And what in ImagiNation are THOSE?”
“They seem to be of the same species as that weird shrub-looking monster we encountered once in Fantasyland.” Fanwizard remarked. “But what are they doing here?”
MCgamer didn’t waste any time. He activated his gun arm and began blasting as many EDOs as he could to a pulp.
“Shoot now, ask questions later!” yelled the orange-and-black Machineland-made Creation.
“It’s not too bad.” said X. “We’ve taken on harder enemies than these before, right?”
As suddenly as they had appeared, the EDOs slowly began to back away. This behavior was extremely puzzling for all six of the Hero Creations, as it was highly improbable that a large mob of creatures would appear so suddenly just to run away.
“That… was really weird.” MCgamer finally admitted.
“An army of creatures like these appearing so suddenly, and then leaving without a trace…” Fanwizard pondered aloud.
The EDOs had vanished into the night, although the faint echo of their cry of “EDO!” could still be heard as they retreated. The situation was very bizarre, and left the Lavaring Team in a bewildered and confused state.
“OK, I think it’s safe to assume that these EDOs had a reason for attacking and fleeing so suddenly…” Foxhichick said. “But what?”
“What are we waiting for? Let’s follow them and get some answers!” said MCgamer in response.
“Hang on, guys.” Candaru stated in response. “We have little to no idea about what we’re being faced with… maybe we should do something else.”
“Since when were you the reasonable one?” MCgamer questioned sarcastically.
“I was tired!” yelled Candaru angrily, in defense.
“Let’s go with that!” said X, who was waving at the EDOs as they ran away.
The brewing argument was interrupted by a loud whooshing noise, followed by a blue blur. The next instant, a boy in blue armor was standing next to Candaru, tapping her on the shoulder (catching her off guard).
“WHAT THE…?” Candaru yelled.
“Hey, hey, hey, chill out!” Shouted the boy. “I’m only trying to help!” seeing the expression on Candaru’s face, however, he added, “plus, you look hilarious.”
Candaru was now really mad.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? WHAT DO YOU WANT?” she screamed.
“Whoa, chill out!” said the boy. “My name is Sonuke. In case you didn’t notice, a whole bunch of weird, shrub-looking monsters just passed through here, and I really need to know where they went so I can do something about them. They yell ‘EDO!’ all the time, and are pathetically weak individually, but gain power in groups. See anything like that?” Sonuke was talking really quickly and loudly. Foxichick knew from experience that that usually meant a sense of urgency - this boy needed help.
The leader of the Lavaring Team stepped forward.
“Wait, wait, wait, slow down there. Where did these creatures come from? Do you know?” Foxichick asked.
“Beastland. They all came from Beastland. But -”
“Beastland?” Candaru interrupted. “But the first one we encountered was all the way back in Fantasyland!”
Sonuke was a bit annoyed that the reverse half-werewolf girl was interrupting him, but he didn’t have time to worry about that.
“Well, my guess would be that some of the EDOs from my homeland leaked into other nearby lands. But that’s not the point - I really need to know if you’ve seen them pass through here,” Sonuke said. Then he paused. “You’ve encountered these creatures before, right? You know how they are always yelling EDO! EDO!”
“Yes. We saw an army of them pass through here just now - but they left as suddenly as they came.” said Fanwizard.
“If you need it, Sonuke, we’d be happy to give you our help! When the EDOs ran away from us, they went in that general direction,” X explained, while pointing to the East.
“That’s the direction Beastland is in!” Sonuke said, surprised. “But why would they attack the region all the way out here just to return home? It doesn’t make any sense!”
The group stood for a while in silence. Then, they all heard a rumbling in the distance.
“It sounds like it’s coming from Beastland!” said Foxichick.
The rumbling grew louder and louder, until it became more of an earthquake than a rumble.
“Something’s fishy about this…” remarked Candaru.
“Could this be related to the sudden disappearance of the EDOs?” asked Fanwizard.
“Don’t tell me they ran away just to come back!!!!” Sonuke cried out in frustration.
“Eh, they’re too stupid to come up with a strategy like that. What do you expect? They’re just a bunch of dumb plants.” said MCgamer.
Then, another sound could be heard along with the rumbling. It was faint at first, but it then became an unmistakable sound - “EDO! EDO!”
“YOU WERE SAYING?” Candaru barked at MC.
“They are upon us! Unsheath for combat!” said Fanwizard.
The heroes and Sonuke obeyed Fanwizard’s command and once more attempted to ward off the EDO horde.
“This doesn’t make any sense!” Sonuke pondered. “These EDOs are attacking in some sort of pattern. They’re coming at you, then leaving, then coming back! It’s like some bizarre attempt to do… something. Maybe throw us off their trails?”
“There’s only one way to find out.” said Foxichick. “We’re going to have to go to Beastland and try to find the source of the EDOs in order to have any hope of stopping them.”
Sonuke seemed pleased by this idea. “Sounds like a good plan to me. We could always use some extra hands when fighting these monstrosities, and with you six on our side we may actually have enough of a chance to take down this threat once and for all…”
“First, we have to take care of these EDOs, though.” said MCgamer.
Sonuke grinned unexpectedly. “No problem.”
“What is it? You have something that can help us?” asked MCgamer.
“I was trying to find these EDOs. You didn’t think I would’ve come without some kind of plan on how to stop them, did you?” Sonuke continued to grin as he pulled out six long, flat objects with electronic-looking buttons on them. “My father built these for me, just in case. See, my suit gives me the ability to run at super-fast speeds because it has one of these built in. They’re called ‘Speed Belts’, and I always keep a whole stash of extras with me in case the one I have ever breaks down. I should really start doing that with the other parts of my suit… but that’s not important. I figure that it’ll be OK if I use them for something else!”
Seeing the confused looks on the Lavaring Team members’ faces, Sonuke sighed.
“These belts let you run really fast.”
“Wait, so we’re going to run to Beastland?” MCgamer asked.
“Yup!” Sonuke said, to his robotic ally. “But first, we’re going to get rid of all of these EDOs.”
As Sonuke distributed the Speed Belts to each member of the Lavaring Team (all while they were fending off the EDO attacks), Foxichick couldn’t help but make a comment or two.
“Sorry, MC, but if these Speed Belts work, they put your miniaturized sleeping bags to shame.” she teased.
“Ha ha, very funny. Weren’t you joking about how you helped design them, like, yesterday?” The robot remarked in return.
Before Foxi could come up with a clever comeback, everything became blurry, and all six members of the Lavaring Team found themselves involuntarily moving at an incredible speed. Only Sonuke was moving ahead of all of them, and he was jokingly commenting on how surprised they seemed (though not in a mean way).
“C’mon, slowpokes, pick up the pace!” shouted Sonuke from the front of the group.
“Slowpokes? We’re moving at, what, ten hundred m-”
Candaru was cut short when Sonuke pressed a button on his suit, which made all of the speed belts turn off. The Lavaring Team seemed dumbfounded.
“Yeah, I know.” Sonuke said. “It seems weird to add a ‘shut-off’ switch to a suit for belts which are only meant to be used if the suit is lost, but the button is fingerprint-activated so-”
Seeing as the Lavaring Team members weren’t laughing, Sonuke decided to more thoroughly explain what just happened. “I allowed the Speed Belts to activate almost immediately after you got them, so we wouldn’t have to deal with those EDOs anymore. Well, here we are! Beastland! Pretty sweet, huh?”
“That… was… AWESOME!!!!!” yelled LavaringX.
“I’m glad you think so!” said Sonuke, his voice filled with pride.
“So… what now?” asked Foxichick curiously.
“My friend has a theory on where the thing controlling the EDOs might be. We didn’t investigate before because all who attempted to venture down there never returned… but with your power, we may actually have a shot.” said Sonuke. “I’d like you to meet my friend - her name is Cat-Me. She and I have been fending off EDOs together for as long as I can remember, and even before that, she was a very good friend of mine.”
Sonuke took the Lavaring Team over to a girl whom was assumed to be Cat-Me.
“Nice to meet you, Cat-Me!” said X, cheerfully.
Cat-Me was in the process of sketching a mysterious emblem into the air with what appeared to be a giant pencil, which made Foxichick startled. She had no idea how to best ask Cat-Me everything she needed to know. Still, Foxichick was still curious about Cat-Me’s… weapon? It was hard to tell if that was what it was.
“Whoa… how are you doing that?” Foxichick finally asked.
“Cat-Me made a contract with a Creator to have the power of the magic pencil.” Sonuke explained. “See, anyone who lives in Real Life is technically a Creator, because all people there have the ability to use their Imaginations. However, there are six Creators in particular who were responsible for the Lava Ring, and the manifestation of ImagiNation as a place.”
“I see… said LavaringX. Having lost his memories for reasons currently unknown to him, X was not up to speed on information regarding the lore of the world he lived in. However, as he turned to look at his comrades, he noticed that they seemed just as intrigued as he was, especially Candaru and MCgamer.
Cat-Me, now having finished drawing what appeared to be an EDO-repelling symbol in the air, jumped to join Sonuke and his new allies.
“The Creator who granted Cat-Me her magic pencil wasn’t one of those six original Creators, but she was still pretty important! Anyone can be a Creator if they want to be. Of course, this is all according to legend, anyway, so -”
“It’s not according to legend, Sonuke.” Cat-Me said, as she rejoined Sonuke. “I would know if I talked to a Creator. She was my Creator, after all, and I know that I met her!”
Even as Cat-Me chastised Sonuke for his mistake, it was clear that there were no hard feelings. Cat-Me and Sonuke were close friends, and even if they bickered, they would not so easily be torn apart.
As Cat-Me continued to playfully tease an embarrassed Sonuke, Fanwizard expressed a desire to associate with his new ally.
“Ah! You must be Cat-Me.” Fanwizard inquired. “It is a most honorable pleasure to meet you! I am Fanwizard, a dragon warrior from Fightingland.”
“Well, pleased to meet you too, Fanwizard!” said Cat-Me.
“I’m Foxichick.” said Foxichick. “I’m the leader of this team. This is Candaru, LavaringX, MCgamer, and Indigo. You’ve already met Fanwizard!”
The Dragon Warrior turned, smiled, and nodded towards Foxichick, pleased with her introduction.
“The symbol I drew in the air is an EDO-repelling charm.” explained Cat-Me, deciding not to waste any more time. “They won’t bother us for a while, but the power of my magic pencil is limited. It will take only a short while for the EDOs to break through it and start attacking us again.”
As if on cue, a horde of the small, shrub-like creatures began to lunge at the small, Beastian village, attempting to tear it apart with no avail. Frustrated, the EDOs attempted to burrow underground, but were unable to do that, either. LavaringX could tell that this was likely the group of EDOs they had encountered right before they met Sonuke, and again after he appeared. There was something strange about them…
“I don’t understand!” said Foxichick. “Why didn’t you use this charm before, when you were facing the horde of EDOs in earlier battles?” As the leader of the Lavaring Team, it was Foxichick’s job to be suspicious - she did not want any harm to befall her teammates.
“Because this charm drains a lot of Cat-Me’s energy. To protect everyone in the entire village will cause her a lot of pain… as the charm wears off, it will start to protect less and less us of us, until eventually only Cat-Me is protected - and soon after that, not even her. The Magic Pencil gives Cat-Me some of her Creator’s power… but neither she nor her Creator are omnipotent. We all have our limits… but see, that’s why I’m so glad I found you! We need to stop this EDO attack on a more… permanent basis.” Sonuke said.
“How are we going to do that?” asked Candaru, speaking up at last.
“With you guys here, I think we’re powerful enough to take out this problem at the source.” said Cat-Me. “We’re going to take out the EDO king.”
…
Cat-Me and Sonuke led the Lavaring Team through a large, underground tunnel, as they explained their plan.
“We’ve known that something has been controlling the EDO army for many months.” Cat-Me said. “And new EDOs are constantly appearing from this chamber. The ‘EDO’ King - or whatever it is that’s controlling these monsters - must be down here, or at least have something interesting here… Watch your step.”
Again, as if on cue, a booming, ethereal voice that seemed to be coming from everywhere in the chamber moaned and laughed ominously.
“WaTcH yOUr sTep? WATCH YOUR STEP? yOu iNSOleNt fLEa… yOU beLiEVe yoU Can aVERt mY WRatH By WATCHING YOUR STEP?!”
Suddenly, several roots emerged from the soil in the tunnel, coiling around all members of the party except for Cat-Me. Her EDO repelling charm had mostly worn off at this point, but as Sonuke had explained earlier, Cat-Me’s charm still had enough power to protect her from being ensnared by the roots obviously belonging to the EDO Lord itself. Sonuke, meanwhile, suddenly realized why the EDOs came and went again so suddenly - it was simple. The EDOs were trying to lead Sonuke and the Lavaring Team into a trap. But why?
“This might have been a bad idea…” Sonuke thought to himself.
“Let my friends go RIGHT NOW!!!” Cat-Me hissed.
Not even bothering to respond, the EDO Lord dragged the other seven party members into the darkest depths of the tunnel complex. Laughing in a voice that would send a chill down the spines of even the bravest of warriors, the EDO Lord dragged Sonuke and the Lavaring Team through the seven new gaping holes in the tunnel where his roots had emerged from. Cat-Me, afraid but enraged, jumped into one of the holes (hoping to find the EDO Lord at the bottom), as the chasm behind her collapsed in on itself, unable to sustain the damege caused by the EDO Lord’s attack. Eventually, Cat-Me managed to follow the tunnel to its source, chasing after the roots of the EDO Lord as fast as she could, until finally, she found what she had been looking for - the EDO Lord itself.
The EDO Lord was an enormous, hideous monstrosity, resembling a regular EDO but much larger and creepier - with a long, eerie neck and several roots that extended from its lower body like tentacles. Where its mouth and eyes should have been, the EDO Lord had several holes that appeared to be cut into shapes, making its head look like a colossal Jack-O-Lantern. From within its “mouth” (which had apparently been cut so as to look like it was filled with spiky teeth, several more rotted roots portruded like a mass of tongues, and its eyes glowed bright red, making the EDO Lord look like something out of a nightmare. The seven Lavaring Team members were wrapped in the roots located on its lower body, but before Cat-Me could do anything that could free them, the EDO Lord once again spoke in a voice that sounded like it belonged as part of The Magician’s fear-inducing act.
“So YoU hAVe CoME, cAt-Me…” moaned the EDO Lord. “YeS, I knOw WhO yOu ArE, I hAve BEen WatCHinG yOU... yOUR EDO-RePEllINg ChArm mAy HaVe pROtectED yOU unTil Now… but sOOn iT wILl WeAr oFF, aND I wIlL fEASt on YOur aLLiEs aS I shAlL soOn FEaST oN yOU!!!”
Cat-Me, as frightened as she was, did not back down.
“Let them go RIGHT NOW!” she exclaimed. “And while you’re at it, call of your hordes of monsters that are terrorizing my home!”
The EDO Lord once again laughed in its horrific voice, as he wrapped his roots around all of his prisoners even more tightly (forming what appeared to be cocoon-like shapes around them).
“My EDOs? My DeAR CaT-Me… hOW daRE yOU InsuLt Me So? I Am EDO, the EnERgy-DesTRoYing ORganISm. THe cREATures yOU have beeN fIGHtING arE My MinIons… the SODs - SemI-OrGanIC DesTRoyERs. They, AlOng WiTH MysELf, wERe gENetiCAlly EngiNEered For bUt One PuRPose… to DEstrOy tHE MasTER ProGRAm and AlL its KiN. My SODs CaLL FoR Me wHen TheY ARe THreaTEned… and wHen TheY dO, tHEy Are BRoUGht BaCK tO mE ThrOUgh mY RooTS, so THAt theY mAy Be BoRN aNew. ThUS, my ARMy iS FoREVEr STrONg!” EDO explained.
LavaringX, though still trapped within his root-cocoon, was suddenly reinvigorated at the words “Master Program”. However, he could not remember why they sounded so familiar to him. That was not important now, he decided - what was important was getting out of the trap he was in.
Cat-Me, meanwhile, had a dawning moment of realization about why the EDOs - or SODs, as they were rightfully called - were seemingly endless, (as well as why they kept shouting “EDO!”) but there was no time to worry about that now. Her SOD/EDO repelling charm had worn off, and she was now vulnerable. Since she knew it was only a matter of time before EDO noticed this, she had to act fast. Cat-Me quickly drew a small knife with her magic pencil, and the power of the Creator imbued within it had brought the knife to life. Although she was hoping she could use it to free her companions, she was well aware that this would not go ignored by the EDO Lord, and it was likely going to merely be a diversion while she carried out her real plan. Sonuke still had the Speed Belt installed into his suit, and Cat-Me was hoping she could use that fact to everyone’s advantage. Without skipping a beat, Cat-Me ran towards Sonuke’s root-cocoon, and was hoping she could use her knife to loosen it ever so slightly...
“aND JusT WHEre Do YoU thINK YoU’RE gOInG?” moaned EDO, as it extended another root in an attempt to ensnare Cat-Me. Although it was successful this time, Cat-Me had managed to throw her magically created dagger at Sonuke’s root-cocoon, which cut it just enough so that Sonuke once again had room to move.
“Save yourself, Sonuke!” Cat-Me shouted, as the EDO Lord wrapped her up in its mess of enormous roots, making a cocoon around her just like it had done to all the others. While the EDO Lord was doing this, however, it did not notice that Sonuke had managed to break free and was using his super-speed to free all of his other allies.
Unfortunately, EDO was not so easily fooled. Extending a root to a random spot in the room, EDO waited until Sonuke (moving at supersonic speed) tripped over it and flew across the room, crashing into one of the tunnel’s walls. Groaning in pain, Sonuke was tied up in a root-cocoon once again, as the EDO Lord began to extend its roots (and its prisoners along with them) into the cavern’s ceiling so that its prey appeared to be hanging from the roof of the tunnel.
Now having captured all eight trespassers, the EDO Lord roared with horrible laughter once more (sending chills down the spines of all of its prisoners). Not bothering to mince words, the EDO Lord began to weave new EDOs out of ones that had previously been defeated, spawning new monsters that would plague the world above soon enough. The roots that it had trapped its prisoners in coiled around them even tighter, and it was clear that EDO wasn’t saving its prey for any special purpose - it just wanted it to die. While hanging from her root-cocoon, Candaru remembered something she had learned long ago.
It would take seriously destructive power to kill a Creation…
Could a destructive power be something beyond the physical - something beyond the Dark Lord’s power? What if a “destructive power” could be something like animosity, or hatred, or selfish desires? Was hunger a destructive power? Was fear? Candaru realized she probably wouldn’t have to wait long to find out. The EDO Lord was squeezing the life out of her and her comrades, and if something didn’t happen soon, everything they had worked towards would ultimately be for naught.
LavaringX was coming to a similar realization in his root-cocoon. Sonuke and Cat-Me were here risking their lives for each other, while MCgamer, Candaru, and himself argued over who the biggest jerk was in their group. If the EDO Lord wasn’t squeezing the life out of them, they probably would have given each other some embarassed glances, but for the time being they just needed a way out of this mess.
No more fighting. No more pain.
Suddenly, as if something had whispered into his ear, MCgamer realized that he was still wearing the speed-belt Sonuke had given him earlier, and assumed that that would be the case for his teammates. Being made of metal, MCgamer wiggled his way around through his trap more fluidly than the other Lavaring Team members, and began to make casual gestures towards his waist so that the EDO Lord wouldn’t notice. Candaru (who was hanging in the cocoon closest to him), realized what the robot was trying to get across to her, and nodded her head swiftly. Being partially a werewolf, Candaru was physically stronger than the average girl in her early teens, even though she didn’t look like that would be the case. Combined with one last burst of determination, Candaru was able to burst her way out of her prison, running to MCgamer’s cocoon to free him with a swipe of her claws. The two then began to swiftly free the other Lavaring Team members, much to the EDO Lord’s chargin.
“YES!” LavaringX exclaimed happily, as Candaru freed him from his prison.
“C’mon.” Said Candaru. “Let’s take this jerk down.” After he had been set loose, X immediately began using his own speed belt to do as much damage to the EDO Lord as possible (while helping his other comrades escape). Candaru and MC soon began to do the same.
“WhAT aRE you DOINg?” screeched EDO.
“Kicking your sorry butt!” MCgamer replied, with a smirk on his face.
Before the EDO Lord could attack again, MCgamer rocketed himself up into the air and fired a rocket blast directly at the EDO Lord, right into one of the holes in its Jack-O-Lantern styled head. In a loud “SCRAGHAKKK!” followed by a “BOOOOOOOM!”, EDO’s head had been blown into several pieces. The rest of EDO’s body began to shrivel up with it, and soon, the threat of EDO and the SODs had been put to rest.
MCgamer looked around to survey the scene. Seeds and plant gunk now covered the entire chamber (along with the scattered pieces of what was once the EDO Lord’s head). However, there wasn’t any time to worry about it - without the EDO Lord’s various roots to hold up the chamber, it began to collapse, and if the eight new heroes didn’t escape in time, they, too, would be toast, technically speaking.
“Hang on!” Said Sonuke, as he grabbed Cat-Me’s hand and activated the speed belts worn by everyone else present. Powering on his own suit’s speed belt so he and Cat-Me would be safe too, Sonuke and his comrades dashed out of the chamber and into the sunlight of Beastland, where they saw the withered remains of several SODs sinking into the soil. The battle was over. They had won!
…
“Thank you again for all your help!” Cat-Me exclaimed, as she and her magic pencil helped repair parts of the damaged Beastian village.
“It was no problem at all.” said Foxichick, who was also assisted in repairs to much of the unfortunate damage that had befallen Beastland during the invasion of the SODs and their leader, EDO.
A few hours had passed since the group had escaped the tunnel of the EDO Lord, but they were already making amends and helping with repairs. As Sonuke collected the speed belts he had lent to the Lavaring Team members (and subsequently repaired entire sections of Beastland in mere minutes thanks to his own super-speed), MCgamer, Candaru, and LavaringX celebrated their victory over the EDO Lord, with Fanwizard laughing along with them. Indigo, as always, remained quiet.
“And I was like, BOOOM! And the EDO chump was like, KABLOOSH! And I went, WHOOO!” MCgamer exclaimed excitedly.
“Your help was invaluable. Where are you headed next?” Cat-Me asked.
“We shall travel to Fightingland - which is my homeland - on our quest to restore X’s memory. We will not forget you, brave Sonuke and Cat-Me.” said Fanwizard.
“Speaking of forgetting…” X thought. “When the EDO Lord talked about destroying the Master Program, I felt a sense of familiarity. It’s too bad I can’t remember…
But there was no time for pondering at that moment. As the six Lavaring Team members said their good-byes and headed off to Fightingland, the Team now laughed happily as they went on their way. Foxichick couldn’t help but notice the change in attitude her team had had on this adventure. Although she didn’t say anything, it filled her heart with good emotions. However, it was doubtful that this adventure would be their last. They still needed to find X’s memory, stop Destroyers they encountered on their way, and find a way to stop the Dark Lord. More, much more, had yet to come...