Storyline by- Everyone
Written by- LavaringX
Edited by- Candaru and Indigo
Contributions by- Fanwizard, MCgamer, and Foxichick
And now, without further ado, we present- the first installment in our grand project - Lavaring Story, Chapter One!
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Where am I?
There was a pause that lingered in the air after that phrase was spoken. Well, not really spoken, per se, but thought. Yes, a thought that was only audible for a moment in the vast, white space that surrounded it.
WHAT am I?
This time, the vast whiteness was interrupted by something. A small, barely visible blue gem floated in the white space. If any sort of entity was able to see it, they might have been able to describe a small, ring-like shape engraved in the translucent blue crystal. But no entity of any kind saw the crystal before it faded away, whispering it’s thoughts through the pale white nothingness it- however briefly- existed in. Only one thought remained as the crystal disappeared, leaving the infinite void.
Find me.
Then everything turned black.
...
Candaru was tired of walking.
Oh, sure, she knew her long and grueling trek would be totally worth it once she made it to the festival. After all, it was one of the rare events she could attend that was actually fun, instead of the boring, dressy, ‘practical’ tea-parties she was usually forced to attend. Even though she didn’t look it, she had a raging beast inside her, that she wanted nothing more than to let loose. See, Candaru was no ordinary girl.
She was a werewolf.
Well, technically she was a reverse half-werewolf. Actually, beings like her with unusual powers weren’t that uncommon in ImagiNation anyways, but it was still pretty impressive.
In a world of limitless creativity, having some identity was a must, especially when trying to make a good first impression at the Festival of Creativity. Candaru would hate to show up looking like some generic villager or NPC. The Reverse-Werewolf girl did a double take - although she was mostly proud of her physical demeanor (she was mostly human, but had long wolfish ears and claws and was dressed like a ruffian, the way she liked it), she still wanted to take time out to behave properly as well.
Still, as excited and proud as she was, the endless forests of Fantasyland were becoming very, very boring. Nothing really stood out here, except for…
A Spawn Shrine! Candaru loved these. ImagiNation was divided up into six regions, each representing a different genre of fiction, and Spawn Shrines allowed Creations to teleport between any of the six, provided that they were able to remember the location and appearance of the specific Spawn Shrine they wanted to go to. Spawn Shrines were also where Creations ended up if they were defeated in battle- Creations could not be killed under normal circumstances, they could only be “defeated” and returned to the nearest… well… Spawn Shrine. It would take a seriously destructive power to kill a Creation, and Candaru preferred not to think about that. Destruction was the enemy of Creation, and was the only force powerful enough to kill a Creation other than old age.
Something was odd about this Spawn Shrine, though… Candaru thought she’d be able to use it warp to another one closer to the festival and spare herself some extra walking, but this Shrine appeared to be in use already. She then noticed a strange blue crystal floating above it, and- it could have been her imagination (er, not the place) - but she thought she heard a faint voice emanating from it. She couldn’t hear what it was saying, but she got the odd feeling that she was supposed to… touch it. Suddenly-
“WHOA! Augh, ah, hello. That was weird. Who are you- or, who am I, actually? WHERE am I? Ackk, this feels pretty trippy…”
Candaru jumped back a few steps in surprise. A strange being had emerged from the crystal, apparently as a result of her touching it. The being was a male of a species Candaru didn’t recognize, and had electronic blue lines circulating his entire body. He had dark grey skin, raven hair, and a looked generally cheerful, although Candaru got the feeling that he probably always looked like that.
“Wh-what?” The werewolf stammered in response. It was really the only thing she could say.
“Hmmm… Well if you don’t know what my name is… I’m gonna call myself X! X is the coolest letter of the alphabet, don’t you agree? I agree. Plus, it sounds familiar enough. It’s too bad it’s not XX, ‘cuz then I’d be a girl. And I would SOOOO love to meet a pretty girl. Speaking of pretty girls… You’re not too bad looking yourself, babe.”
Candaru was stunned. “Are you… flirting with me?” she asked, a touch annoyed. The newly dubbed “X” laughed.
“I don’t see any other pretty girls nearby. Except for that one over your shoulder. Actually, come to think of it, there are lots of pretty girls over there! Hot dawg!” He shouted. Then he noticed for the first time that they were not walking towards him, they were walking past him.
“Hey, wait!” He cried. “Where are they all headed?”
Candaru turned to look where they were going. She could see a huge group of colored tents in the distance.
“THE FESTIVAL! FINALLY!” She exclaimed.
“The… festival? What festival?”
Candaru turned and looked at the boy she found. It would be wrong to just leave him there, she figured.
“The Festival of Creativity,” she explained, “is a celebration held every year, and every year in a different land. This is my first time in five years I’ve been able to go to one, since it rotates clockwise. I’ve been too young to go outside my homeland- Horrorland- since I was just a pup… ‘Till this year! The festival honors Creativity and the Creators, who are like us, except they live in another universe. That’s actually all I know about them, although there are people who do all this research on them and stuff. Oh, they’re apparently really good with Creative energy too and…”
Unfortunately, X didn’t have the patience to listen to her monologue on the so-called “Creators.”
“Whoa, wait, so, back up. Are you saying that the Lands are, like, in a clockwise position or something? Like a circle! And you mentioned being a… pup? What’s that all about? What’s going on?”
Candaru stared at X for a few seconds. “Wait… So you really don’t remember anything?” she asked.
“Nope! Not really,” he said in a surprisingly cheerful manner. “Well, except for this one thing… I feel like I’m supposed to… help people? Can you help me do that, um…?”
She realized she’d never given him her name. “Candaru,” she muttered, trying to decide whether or not to answer the rest of his questions. However, her train of thought was interrupted by a loud explosion coming from the festival grounds.
“What was that?” X asked in bewilderment.
“No time for an explanation, and if there is one, I don’t know it.” Candaru paused a moment. “X, can you battle?”
X looked down at his left arm. It resembled a giant claw, with blue energy crackling and emanating from it.
“Uh… I guess?” He asked himself.
“Great. I get the feeling we’ll need to,” she said.
...
The Festival of Creativity was being held in the courtyard of a castle. Shops, stands, booths, and other assorted venues were scattered here and there like a bazaar. There were all sorts of attractions, ranging from magic tricks to dancing girls (the latter of which grabbed most of X’s attention.) There were also plenty of Creations walking around and browsing the shops.
Unfortunately, one grotesque-looking Creation stood above the rest, and it took one look from X and Candaru to discern that this monstrosity was most likely the cause of the explosion they’d heard. The Creation had a lumpy brownish hide, and had a huge pair of metal claws. His head was reminiscent of a lion, and stumpy legs stuck out of round hindquarters.
“WHOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOO, YEAAAA! NONE O’ YOU DUMB BABIES GONNA BE MESSIN’ WITH ME TO-NIGHT! IMMA BE KICKIN’ EVERY ONE OF YOU IN THE BUTTS, OH YEAH! YOU’RE GONNA BE BEGGIN’ FO MERCY WHEN I’M DONE WITH YOU, THA’S RIGHT! NYAHAHAHAHA!”
“What IS that?” X cried over the noise.
“I’m not sure, but we should probably stay away or he might defeat us!” Candaru shouted back.
Neither one of them had much time to think before the creature was tossing his detachable, blade-like fingers at everything in sight. The creature then curled up into a wheel shape and rammed through several by standing Creations, sending them all to nearby Spawn Shrines.
“NYA HA HA! THEY SEE ME ROLLIN’, DEY HATIN’!” screamed the monster.
Several creations at nearby booths attempted to fight back, but the foul being held nothing back.
“TRYIN’ TO CATCH ME RIDIN’ DIRTY?! WELL NONE O’ YOU ARE GONNA STOP SAVEDGE!”
Suddenly, like angels from above, four powerful-looking Creations appeared on the cliff “Savedge” had jumped down from.
“Savedge, huh?” came a female voice. “Well I don’t know what you think you are, but all I can see is some troll trying to be cool.” Candaru saw that the voice came from what appeared to be a woman in a somewhat revealing outfit and a heart-shaped pendant around her neck
“WHERE U AT?” was the only response he gave.
“Right here,” said a second, enigmatic Creation. This one wore purple and was wielding a very impressive sword.
“U WEAR PURPLE? THAT’S GIRLY!” Savedge screamed at him.
“Mm-hmm. I’m sure,” said the purple-clad Creation.
“YOU’RE NUTTIN’ BUT A MESSED UP-“
“W0000000W, seriously?” interrupted the third profile. He stepped forward, his appearance mainly that of a robot’s, but with a human head and arm. “He’s messed up just because he wears purple? YOU’RE the one who’s messed up!” And with that, he held up his other, robotic arm and launched a rocket blast from it at Savedge before he had a chance to react.
The last one, a robed Creation, stepped forward to show his approval of the blast. “This filthy beast has a horrible temper, and its looks are even worse to behold. What do you desire, you malicious vermin?” He brandished his weapon threateningly, a most curious pole with a fan attached to one end.
“Ay- AY!?? WE NEED ALL YO’ M-M-MON-AAAAY?” replied Savedge, slightly panicked in his tone of voice.
“I see.”, said the first, female Creation. “Anything else?”
“MON-AY, POWEH, DA’S ALL WE NEED, YO!” He screamed, as if his words were somehow a threat.
“Well, if you have nothing interesting to say, don’t say anything,” retorted the girl.
It took a moment for Savedge to realize that while he was talking, he was being surrounded by Creations significantly stronger than him.
“Anything else you wanna say before we squish you to a pulp?” The robot asked, smirking.
“Uh… TIME FO ME TO GET OUTA HERE!!!” exclaimed Savedge, turning once more into his wheel-like shape.
“Ackk, no! He’s getting away!!” yelled the robot.
“Let him run. We’ll catch him eventually,” said the girl.
X and Candaru took a second to bask in the awesomeness of the moment.
“That was… pretty cool,” admitted Candaru.
“Are you crazy? That. Was. AWESOME!!!” Shouted X. “Who are you guys?!? You’re AMAZING!!!”
“Whoa… Um… You might wanna calm down a little, X,” Candaru said.
The other girl laughed. “Why, thank you, ‘X!’ Believe it or not, nasty scumbags like the one who just retreated have been plaguing other Lands in ImagiNation for a while now.” She paused.
“We’re part of a faction dedicated to protecting ImagiNation from rouge Creations like that guy. I’m actually the leader- you can call me Foxichick.”
The robot stepped up. “Yea, Foxi started this whole operation not too long ago. She’s a really powerful warrior, from…uh... Beastland or somethin’?” He glanced back at her and she nodded. “Anyways, I’m MCgamer. Nice to meet ya!”
“Ah-ha! Indeed! I am Fanwizard, martial artist and a student of the wise sensei Master Morshu. Formerly a soldier, then a mercenary, then a bodyguard for hire, I now travel with my allies around ImagiNation, protecting it from vile villains!”
X was overcome with glee. “AWESOME! So, who’s the guy in purple?”
“That,” explained Fanwizard “is Indigo. He prefers not to speak much, but he is a wise and powerful warrior. We sometimes refer to him as ‘The Silent Swordsman.’”
As he spoke, more bystanders stopped what they were doing to look at the warriors. One of the female Creations shouted something, and suddenly girls of all species were running up to them, squealing in delight.
“Ooh! Looks like I’m quite popular with the ladies…” X began.
“OH. MY. GOSH. IS THAT FANWIZARD?! EEEEEK!” One of the girls exclaimed in delight.
“Oh.” X said, abashed.
“Ah! Hide me!” Fanwizard shouted nervously, jumping onto Indigo’s back in fright.
“Lucky…” muttered X.
After the fan-girls had been shooed away, Foxichick and her team sat down for a discussion with X and Candaru.
“So yeah, we’ve been fending off chumps like that for a while now. We still have no lead on who they are or where they’re from, though,” Foxichick explained, clearly disappointed.
Candaru spoke up. “How do we stop this, then? The Festival means a lot to me, but I get a strong suspicion that, if what you said earlier is true, Creations like that aren’t just crashing parties. What was that guy after? Other than, y’ know, money.”
“I believe I can answer that question.” replied a mysterious voice.
“Who goes there?!” Exclaimed Fanwizard, in unanticipated shock.
The four “Hero Creations,” X, and Candaru all gazed at the mysterious figure that stood before them.
“My name is Sagea,” replied the figure. “I have overseen FantasyLand and all of its Creations for quite some time, serving as a sort of cross between a monk, a king, and an elder chief. I have many of the answers you seek, but if thou wish to obtain them, the six of you must follow me.”
Foxichick turned to her team. She had known MCgamer and Fanwizard for a while at this point, and she knew of Indigo, who was a mercenary. He shared a similar back story to Fanwizard; as they had both previously been in a “soldiers-for-hire” job position. And though she knew they were warriors with a code of honor, she did not trust them 100%. She did trust MCgamer, but as for why, she couldn’t really discern...
Foxichick was brought back to the matter at hand by Candaru, who looked at her new ally with a mixture of confusion and annoyance.
“So, uh… What are we going to do?” asked the reverse-werewolf.
Foxichick, being the leader of a ragtag group of vigilantes, was used to making quick decisions. She made her choice.
“Show us the way,” she replied to Sagea.
...
Sagea took the group of Creations to his “palace” at the center of the festival which had been interrupted by Savedge.
“Where are we going?” Asked X.
“To the innermost chambers of the FantasyLandian castle. Don’t touch anything,” Sagea replied, right after X had attempted to touch a statue mounted to the wall. He drew his hand back quickly.
Sagea stopped at a large door without a handle or lock. There were six mysterious elemental symbols surrounding a larger symbol with a small circle inside of it. Sagea tapped his staff six times on the floor and the door opened up to reveal a secret chamber.
X looked around and discovered that he had never seen anything like it. Realizing that that was probably due to his memory loss, he did a double-take and then decided that he still hadn’t seen anything like it, even in the portions of memory he’d forgotten.
Whatever it was, the chamber was pretty darn cool.
Murals coated the walls of the dark and cave-like corridor, and though she couldn’t be sure, Candaru noted that the drawings seemed to resemble- in pictorial form- the legend that every Creation knew well… The tale of how ImagiNation came to be what it was.
“This… this is the legend of the Lava Ring,” Sagea explained. “Long ago, the land of ImagiNation lived in harmony with the enigmatic ‘Real World,’ a place where the legendary Creators lived- the shapers of this world… Our world.”
X looked in awe as Sagea lit a torch, and the blaze of the flame gave the illusion that the pictures on the wall were dancing.
“The Creators blessed this world with beauty and gifts, and our people were happy. But their generosity came at a price. Although the Creators were kind and benevolent, they were still flawed beings, like you and I. Their darkest thoughts and evilest desires manifested this world as an Eldritch Abomination named the Dark Lord, a being with no true gender or form. It can only be described as an ‘it’.” Sagea explained. Suddenly, the fire burned brighter, and the pictograms on the wall became darker and more sinister looking.
“Well, that’s all fine and good, but is there a point here?” Asked MCgamer. “We kiiiiiinda wanna know more about this Savedge dude.”
“I’m getting there,” explained Sagea. He pointed at a picture on the wall, one which resembled a blazing ring.
“The Dark Lord’s powers came from the same artifact that the Creators’ creative energy came from… the Lava Ring. Using its influence, the Dark Lord sought to destroy everything the Creators had worked so hard to make. He corrupted innocent Creations and turned them into slaves of evil, as well as ‘creating’ monstrous beings of its own. All the Dark Lord’s minions were collectively known as ‘The Destroyers.’”
“And this is relevant how?” asked MCgamer once again. Although he refused to show it, he was intrigued.
Sagea started to look annoyed. “That… Savedge… he irradiated a strange and malevolent power I have not seen in a long time. For you see, the Dark Lord was never truly destroyed. The Creators and all of the remaining free Creations rose against it and managed to imprison it in the Lava Ring itself, but its power is still there, and it has the capacity to return. I fear that that time may finally have come, and that Savedge may be a destroyer,” he finished.
All six of the other Creations stared in shock at Sagea. They were all thinking the same thing- if this Savedge was truly a minion of the worst evil ImagiNation had ever faced, it would take some serious manpower and creative energy to stop what was coming next.
X decided to break the ice with his new idea. “Well, that Lava Ring thing sounds pretty awesome, if it’s, you know, the center of our universe. I’m going to name myself Lavaring after it! LavaringX! What do you guys think?”
Candaru, oddly, didn’t feel much fear towards the situation. In fact, she couldn’t stop herself from smiling.
“I guess the six of us have an agenda, then. Even though we just met today, I’ve got a feeling that we’ll be seeing each other often from here on out. If a truly evil force really is rising, it’s up to brave heroes to stop it, right?” she said.
“I couldn’t agree more!” LavaringX responded, as he looked at his five new allies with a sense of satisfaction. “But wait- if I really am amnesiac, we’ll have to recover my memory first, right?”
Sagea suddenly did a double-take as he looked at the newly dubbed “LavaringX.”
“Wait… The symbol within the crystal on your chest… it looks like the carving of the Lava Ring on this mural! Perhaps… Perhaps it was no coincidence that you decided to name yourself ‘LavaringX’ in honor of it,” he said slowly.
“Well, that seems important!” Was X’s reply.
“Young man… Where are you from?” Sagea asked him.
“Cyberland.” X paused. He wasn’t quite sure how he knew that.
“Very well, then. To discover your past, Cyberland is where you must go. Normally, I’d say the fastest route would be to go directly through MachineLand, which borders both Fantasyland and CyberLand, but…”
“There’s a war there, I know,” MCgamer spat. Foxichick looked at her cohort uncomfortably. If MCgamer was a robot, he was probably from MachineLand himself, and being reminded of a war in his home may not have been the best thing for him.
“Then it is decided!” Fanwizard spoke up. “We will take the longer path, through the remaining four lands- the rest of FantasyLand, HorrorLand, BeastLand, and FightingLand, before ultimately arriving at our destination! Upon regaining our new ally LavaringX’s memory, we will seek these poor ‘Destroyers’ and cure them of the Dark Lord’s influence!”
Sagea nodded. “You’d best go now, brave warriors. ImagiNation may be counting on you! I am glad I met you this day. Whether it be luck or fate, if it can save our world, it must be good.”
Sagea showed his six heroes out of the palace, and waved farewell before reentering his own kingdom. He hoped for the best- then abruptly got a strange feeling. His eyes turned red, and just for a moment, he said words which were not his own.
The fools… ah ha ha ha ha...
And for Sagea, once again, everything went black.
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Don't Forget to submit your OC's and story ideas to our email, [email protected]! Your characters may show up in our story, and if not, they will be posted onto our website with summaries and added to the official website!
Written by- LavaringX
Edited by- Candaru and Indigo
Contributions by- Fanwizard, MCgamer, and Foxichick
And now, without further ado, we present- the first installment in our grand project - Lavaring Story, Chapter One!
---------------------
Where am I?
There was a pause that lingered in the air after that phrase was spoken. Well, not really spoken, per se, but thought. Yes, a thought that was only audible for a moment in the vast, white space that surrounded it.
WHAT am I?
This time, the vast whiteness was interrupted by something. A small, barely visible blue gem floated in the white space. If any sort of entity was able to see it, they might have been able to describe a small, ring-like shape engraved in the translucent blue crystal. But no entity of any kind saw the crystal before it faded away, whispering it’s thoughts through the pale white nothingness it- however briefly- existed in. Only one thought remained as the crystal disappeared, leaving the infinite void.
Find me.
Then everything turned black.
...
Candaru was tired of walking.
Oh, sure, she knew her long and grueling trek would be totally worth it once she made it to the festival. After all, it was one of the rare events she could attend that was actually fun, instead of the boring, dressy, ‘practical’ tea-parties she was usually forced to attend. Even though she didn’t look it, she had a raging beast inside her, that she wanted nothing more than to let loose. See, Candaru was no ordinary girl.
She was a werewolf.
Well, technically she was a reverse half-werewolf. Actually, beings like her with unusual powers weren’t that uncommon in ImagiNation anyways, but it was still pretty impressive.
In a world of limitless creativity, having some identity was a must, especially when trying to make a good first impression at the Festival of Creativity. Candaru would hate to show up looking like some generic villager or NPC. The Reverse-Werewolf girl did a double take - although she was mostly proud of her physical demeanor (she was mostly human, but had long wolfish ears and claws and was dressed like a ruffian, the way she liked it), she still wanted to take time out to behave properly as well.
Still, as excited and proud as she was, the endless forests of Fantasyland were becoming very, very boring. Nothing really stood out here, except for…
A Spawn Shrine! Candaru loved these. ImagiNation was divided up into six regions, each representing a different genre of fiction, and Spawn Shrines allowed Creations to teleport between any of the six, provided that they were able to remember the location and appearance of the specific Spawn Shrine they wanted to go to. Spawn Shrines were also where Creations ended up if they were defeated in battle- Creations could not be killed under normal circumstances, they could only be “defeated” and returned to the nearest… well… Spawn Shrine. It would take a seriously destructive power to kill a Creation, and Candaru preferred not to think about that. Destruction was the enemy of Creation, and was the only force powerful enough to kill a Creation other than old age.
Something was odd about this Spawn Shrine, though… Candaru thought she’d be able to use it warp to another one closer to the festival and spare herself some extra walking, but this Shrine appeared to be in use already. She then noticed a strange blue crystal floating above it, and- it could have been her imagination (er, not the place) - but she thought she heard a faint voice emanating from it. She couldn’t hear what it was saying, but she got the odd feeling that she was supposed to… touch it. Suddenly-
“WHOA! Augh, ah, hello. That was weird. Who are you- or, who am I, actually? WHERE am I? Ackk, this feels pretty trippy…”
Candaru jumped back a few steps in surprise. A strange being had emerged from the crystal, apparently as a result of her touching it. The being was a male of a species Candaru didn’t recognize, and had electronic blue lines circulating his entire body. He had dark grey skin, raven hair, and a looked generally cheerful, although Candaru got the feeling that he probably always looked like that.
“Wh-what?” The werewolf stammered in response. It was really the only thing she could say.
“Hmmm… Well if you don’t know what my name is… I’m gonna call myself X! X is the coolest letter of the alphabet, don’t you agree? I agree. Plus, it sounds familiar enough. It’s too bad it’s not XX, ‘cuz then I’d be a girl. And I would SOOOO love to meet a pretty girl. Speaking of pretty girls… You’re not too bad looking yourself, babe.”
Candaru was stunned. “Are you… flirting with me?” she asked, a touch annoyed. The newly dubbed “X” laughed.
“I don’t see any other pretty girls nearby. Except for that one over your shoulder. Actually, come to think of it, there are lots of pretty girls over there! Hot dawg!” He shouted. Then he noticed for the first time that they were not walking towards him, they were walking past him.
“Hey, wait!” He cried. “Where are they all headed?”
Candaru turned to look where they were going. She could see a huge group of colored tents in the distance.
“THE FESTIVAL! FINALLY!” She exclaimed.
“The… festival? What festival?”
Candaru turned and looked at the boy she found. It would be wrong to just leave him there, she figured.
“The Festival of Creativity,” she explained, “is a celebration held every year, and every year in a different land. This is my first time in five years I’ve been able to go to one, since it rotates clockwise. I’ve been too young to go outside my homeland- Horrorland- since I was just a pup… ‘Till this year! The festival honors Creativity and the Creators, who are like us, except they live in another universe. That’s actually all I know about them, although there are people who do all this research on them and stuff. Oh, they’re apparently really good with Creative energy too and…”
Unfortunately, X didn’t have the patience to listen to her monologue on the so-called “Creators.”
“Whoa, wait, so, back up. Are you saying that the Lands are, like, in a clockwise position or something? Like a circle! And you mentioned being a… pup? What’s that all about? What’s going on?”
Candaru stared at X for a few seconds. “Wait… So you really don’t remember anything?” she asked.
“Nope! Not really,” he said in a surprisingly cheerful manner. “Well, except for this one thing… I feel like I’m supposed to… help people? Can you help me do that, um…?”
She realized she’d never given him her name. “Candaru,” she muttered, trying to decide whether or not to answer the rest of his questions. However, her train of thought was interrupted by a loud explosion coming from the festival grounds.
“What was that?” X asked in bewilderment.
“No time for an explanation, and if there is one, I don’t know it.” Candaru paused a moment. “X, can you battle?”
X looked down at his left arm. It resembled a giant claw, with blue energy crackling and emanating from it.
“Uh… I guess?” He asked himself.
“Great. I get the feeling we’ll need to,” she said.
...
The Festival of Creativity was being held in the courtyard of a castle. Shops, stands, booths, and other assorted venues were scattered here and there like a bazaar. There were all sorts of attractions, ranging from magic tricks to dancing girls (the latter of which grabbed most of X’s attention.) There were also plenty of Creations walking around and browsing the shops.
Unfortunately, one grotesque-looking Creation stood above the rest, and it took one look from X and Candaru to discern that this monstrosity was most likely the cause of the explosion they’d heard. The Creation had a lumpy brownish hide, and had a huge pair of metal claws. His head was reminiscent of a lion, and stumpy legs stuck out of round hindquarters.
“WHOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOO, YEAAAA! NONE O’ YOU DUMB BABIES GONNA BE MESSIN’ WITH ME TO-NIGHT! IMMA BE KICKIN’ EVERY ONE OF YOU IN THE BUTTS, OH YEAH! YOU’RE GONNA BE BEGGIN’ FO MERCY WHEN I’M DONE WITH YOU, THA’S RIGHT! NYAHAHAHAHA!”
“What IS that?” X cried over the noise.
“I’m not sure, but we should probably stay away or he might defeat us!” Candaru shouted back.
Neither one of them had much time to think before the creature was tossing his detachable, blade-like fingers at everything in sight. The creature then curled up into a wheel shape and rammed through several by standing Creations, sending them all to nearby Spawn Shrines.
“NYA HA HA! THEY SEE ME ROLLIN’, DEY HATIN’!” screamed the monster.
Several creations at nearby booths attempted to fight back, but the foul being held nothing back.
“TRYIN’ TO CATCH ME RIDIN’ DIRTY?! WELL NONE O’ YOU ARE GONNA STOP SAVEDGE!”
Suddenly, like angels from above, four powerful-looking Creations appeared on the cliff “Savedge” had jumped down from.
“Savedge, huh?” came a female voice. “Well I don’t know what you think you are, but all I can see is some troll trying to be cool.” Candaru saw that the voice came from what appeared to be a woman in a somewhat revealing outfit and a heart-shaped pendant around her neck
“WHERE U AT?” was the only response he gave.
“Right here,” said a second, enigmatic Creation. This one wore purple and was wielding a very impressive sword.
“U WEAR PURPLE? THAT’S GIRLY!” Savedge screamed at him.
“Mm-hmm. I’m sure,” said the purple-clad Creation.
“YOU’RE NUTTIN’ BUT A MESSED UP-“
“W0000000W, seriously?” interrupted the third profile. He stepped forward, his appearance mainly that of a robot’s, but with a human head and arm. “He’s messed up just because he wears purple? YOU’RE the one who’s messed up!” And with that, he held up his other, robotic arm and launched a rocket blast from it at Savedge before he had a chance to react.
The last one, a robed Creation, stepped forward to show his approval of the blast. “This filthy beast has a horrible temper, and its looks are even worse to behold. What do you desire, you malicious vermin?” He brandished his weapon threateningly, a most curious pole with a fan attached to one end.
“Ay- AY!?? WE NEED ALL YO’ M-M-MON-AAAAY?” replied Savedge, slightly panicked in his tone of voice.
“I see.”, said the first, female Creation. “Anything else?”
“MON-AY, POWEH, DA’S ALL WE NEED, YO!” He screamed, as if his words were somehow a threat.
“Well, if you have nothing interesting to say, don’t say anything,” retorted the girl.
It took a moment for Savedge to realize that while he was talking, he was being surrounded by Creations significantly stronger than him.
“Anything else you wanna say before we squish you to a pulp?” The robot asked, smirking.
“Uh… TIME FO ME TO GET OUTA HERE!!!” exclaimed Savedge, turning once more into his wheel-like shape.
“Ackk, no! He’s getting away!!” yelled the robot.
“Let him run. We’ll catch him eventually,” said the girl.
X and Candaru took a second to bask in the awesomeness of the moment.
“That was… pretty cool,” admitted Candaru.
“Are you crazy? That. Was. AWESOME!!!” Shouted X. “Who are you guys?!? You’re AMAZING!!!”
“Whoa… Um… You might wanna calm down a little, X,” Candaru said.
The other girl laughed. “Why, thank you, ‘X!’ Believe it or not, nasty scumbags like the one who just retreated have been plaguing other Lands in ImagiNation for a while now.” She paused.
“We’re part of a faction dedicated to protecting ImagiNation from rouge Creations like that guy. I’m actually the leader- you can call me Foxichick.”
The robot stepped up. “Yea, Foxi started this whole operation not too long ago. She’s a really powerful warrior, from…uh... Beastland or somethin’?” He glanced back at her and she nodded. “Anyways, I’m MCgamer. Nice to meet ya!”
“Ah-ha! Indeed! I am Fanwizard, martial artist and a student of the wise sensei Master Morshu. Formerly a soldier, then a mercenary, then a bodyguard for hire, I now travel with my allies around ImagiNation, protecting it from vile villains!”
X was overcome with glee. “AWESOME! So, who’s the guy in purple?”
“That,” explained Fanwizard “is Indigo. He prefers not to speak much, but he is a wise and powerful warrior. We sometimes refer to him as ‘The Silent Swordsman.’”
As he spoke, more bystanders stopped what they were doing to look at the warriors. One of the female Creations shouted something, and suddenly girls of all species were running up to them, squealing in delight.
“Ooh! Looks like I’m quite popular with the ladies…” X began.
“OH. MY. GOSH. IS THAT FANWIZARD?! EEEEEK!” One of the girls exclaimed in delight.
“Oh.” X said, abashed.
“Ah! Hide me!” Fanwizard shouted nervously, jumping onto Indigo’s back in fright.
“Lucky…” muttered X.
After the fan-girls had been shooed away, Foxichick and her team sat down for a discussion with X and Candaru.
“So yeah, we’ve been fending off chumps like that for a while now. We still have no lead on who they are or where they’re from, though,” Foxichick explained, clearly disappointed.
Candaru spoke up. “How do we stop this, then? The Festival means a lot to me, but I get a strong suspicion that, if what you said earlier is true, Creations like that aren’t just crashing parties. What was that guy after? Other than, y’ know, money.”
“I believe I can answer that question.” replied a mysterious voice.
“Who goes there?!” Exclaimed Fanwizard, in unanticipated shock.
The four “Hero Creations,” X, and Candaru all gazed at the mysterious figure that stood before them.
“My name is Sagea,” replied the figure. “I have overseen FantasyLand and all of its Creations for quite some time, serving as a sort of cross between a monk, a king, and an elder chief. I have many of the answers you seek, but if thou wish to obtain them, the six of you must follow me.”
Foxichick turned to her team. She had known MCgamer and Fanwizard for a while at this point, and she knew of Indigo, who was a mercenary. He shared a similar back story to Fanwizard; as they had both previously been in a “soldiers-for-hire” job position. And though she knew they were warriors with a code of honor, she did not trust them 100%. She did trust MCgamer, but as for why, she couldn’t really discern...
Foxichick was brought back to the matter at hand by Candaru, who looked at her new ally with a mixture of confusion and annoyance.
“So, uh… What are we going to do?” asked the reverse-werewolf.
Foxichick, being the leader of a ragtag group of vigilantes, was used to making quick decisions. She made her choice.
“Show us the way,” she replied to Sagea.
...
Sagea took the group of Creations to his “palace” at the center of the festival which had been interrupted by Savedge.
“Where are we going?” Asked X.
“To the innermost chambers of the FantasyLandian castle. Don’t touch anything,” Sagea replied, right after X had attempted to touch a statue mounted to the wall. He drew his hand back quickly.
Sagea stopped at a large door without a handle or lock. There were six mysterious elemental symbols surrounding a larger symbol with a small circle inside of it. Sagea tapped his staff six times on the floor and the door opened up to reveal a secret chamber.
X looked around and discovered that he had never seen anything like it. Realizing that that was probably due to his memory loss, he did a double-take and then decided that he still hadn’t seen anything like it, even in the portions of memory he’d forgotten.
Whatever it was, the chamber was pretty darn cool.
Murals coated the walls of the dark and cave-like corridor, and though she couldn’t be sure, Candaru noted that the drawings seemed to resemble- in pictorial form- the legend that every Creation knew well… The tale of how ImagiNation came to be what it was.
“This… this is the legend of the Lava Ring,” Sagea explained. “Long ago, the land of ImagiNation lived in harmony with the enigmatic ‘Real World,’ a place where the legendary Creators lived- the shapers of this world… Our world.”
X looked in awe as Sagea lit a torch, and the blaze of the flame gave the illusion that the pictures on the wall were dancing.
“The Creators blessed this world with beauty and gifts, and our people were happy. But their generosity came at a price. Although the Creators were kind and benevolent, they were still flawed beings, like you and I. Their darkest thoughts and evilest desires manifested this world as an Eldritch Abomination named the Dark Lord, a being with no true gender or form. It can only be described as an ‘it’.” Sagea explained. Suddenly, the fire burned brighter, and the pictograms on the wall became darker and more sinister looking.
“Well, that’s all fine and good, but is there a point here?” Asked MCgamer. “We kiiiiiinda wanna know more about this Savedge dude.”
“I’m getting there,” explained Sagea. He pointed at a picture on the wall, one which resembled a blazing ring.
“The Dark Lord’s powers came from the same artifact that the Creators’ creative energy came from… the Lava Ring. Using its influence, the Dark Lord sought to destroy everything the Creators had worked so hard to make. He corrupted innocent Creations and turned them into slaves of evil, as well as ‘creating’ monstrous beings of its own. All the Dark Lord’s minions were collectively known as ‘The Destroyers.’”
“And this is relevant how?” asked MCgamer once again. Although he refused to show it, he was intrigued.
Sagea started to look annoyed. “That… Savedge… he irradiated a strange and malevolent power I have not seen in a long time. For you see, the Dark Lord was never truly destroyed. The Creators and all of the remaining free Creations rose against it and managed to imprison it in the Lava Ring itself, but its power is still there, and it has the capacity to return. I fear that that time may finally have come, and that Savedge may be a destroyer,” he finished.
All six of the other Creations stared in shock at Sagea. They were all thinking the same thing- if this Savedge was truly a minion of the worst evil ImagiNation had ever faced, it would take some serious manpower and creative energy to stop what was coming next.
X decided to break the ice with his new idea. “Well, that Lava Ring thing sounds pretty awesome, if it’s, you know, the center of our universe. I’m going to name myself Lavaring after it! LavaringX! What do you guys think?”
Candaru, oddly, didn’t feel much fear towards the situation. In fact, she couldn’t stop herself from smiling.
“I guess the six of us have an agenda, then. Even though we just met today, I’ve got a feeling that we’ll be seeing each other often from here on out. If a truly evil force really is rising, it’s up to brave heroes to stop it, right?” she said.
“I couldn’t agree more!” LavaringX responded, as he looked at his five new allies with a sense of satisfaction. “But wait- if I really am amnesiac, we’ll have to recover my memory first, right?”
Sagea suddenly did a double-take as he looked at the newly dubbed “LavaringX.”
“Wait… The symbol within the crystal on your chest… it looks like the carving of the Lava Ring on this mural! Perhaps… Perhaps it was no coincidence that you decided to name yourself ‘LavaringX’ in honor of it,” he said slowly.
“Well, that seems important!” Was X’s reply.
“Young man… Where are you from?” Sagea asked him.
“Cyberland.” X paused. He wasn’t quite sure how he knew that.
“Very well, then. To discover your past, Cyberland is where you must go. Normally, I’d say the fastest route would be to go directly through MachineLand, which borders both Fantasyland and CyberLand, but…”
“There’s a war there, I know,” MCgamer spat. Foxichick looked at her cohort uncomfortably. If MCgamer was a robot, he was probably from MachineLand himself, and being reminded of a war in his home may not have been the best thing for him.
“Then it is decided!” Fanwizard spoke up. “We will take the longer path, through the remaining four lands- the rest of FantasyLand, HorrorLand, BeastLand, and FightingLand, before ultimately arriving at our destination! Upon regaining our new ally LavaringX’s memory, we will seek these poor ‘Destroyers’ and cure them of the Dark Lord’s influence!”
Sagea nodded. “You’d best go now, brave warriors. ImagiNation may be counting on you! I am glad I met you this day. Whether it be luck or fate, if it can save our world, it must be good.”
Sagea showed his six heroes out of the palace, and waved farewell before reentering his own kingdom. He hoped for the best- then abruptly got a strange feeling. His eyes turned red, and just for a moment, he said words which were not his own.
The fools… ah ha ha ha ha...
And for Sagea, once again, everything went black.
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