Chapter 33
Xoshi, White Rose, and Leif were standing on the docks at the edge of Silicon. In the water before them were the three guys that helped them earlier along with their jet ski.

"So, where shall you be headed now?" White Rose asked.

"To Noki Bay," Marcelino replied. "This time, all three of us will be going together."

"Enjoy yourselves," White Rose said.

Marcelino nodded. "Good luck on your journey," he said.

"Thank you," the mysterious knight responded. The two groups waved to each other as one of them turned the jet ski around and began to drift away from Silicon. "Well, everyone," White Rose said, "back to the inn..." Xoshi and Leif agreed. The trio commenced walking away from the docks and back to the tavern they were at earlier. It was time to bring another portion of their adventure to a close...

Boshi still had his legs moving. He was in the Tree Zone. He was walking down a dirt path cutting through a large collection of strange trees. This combined with the fact that it was getting increasingly dark out was beginning to give the ill-fated Yoshi the creeps.

"Man," he grumbled, "I hope not all of Mario Land is like this..." He wasn't feeling particularly cheerful at the moment, but he kept going. He made sure his eyes were peeled at all times. Anything that was to his left, to his right, or right in front of him never went unnoticed. Turning his head frequently helped him accomplish this.

At one point, he was done looking to his right, so he looked to his left. Nothing but a bunch of trees there. Then he heard a strange noise. It was like someone was calling out to him.

The startled Yo'ster turned around and faced his left again. "Who's there?!" he blurted. Alas, upon doing this, he was able to find that no one was there. However, what he did see was a lone, feathered creature perched upon one of the branches of these trees. Beneath a single furled eyebrow, it glared at him with glowing yellow eyes. Boshi felt something cold jolt his spine. "Can it...read my mind?" Boshi wondered. The Yoshi gasped as the creature spread its wings and took to the skies, surprisingly doing so without a sound. Boshi watched as the owl disappeared. "Boy," he muttered, "looking for Yoshi, Xoshi, and Yazzee may not be as easy as I thought..." The spooked-out Yoshi continued looking for his friends as the owl became one with the stars in the sky...

Millions and millions of little lights were above their heads. This, Tessa noticed as she craned her head back. She stared at the stars for a moment before looking behind her. By doing this, she could see that Big Guy and Wario were engaged in making peculiar movements with their hands and fists. After a few seconds of this, Wario's right hand had begun to make a V with its fingers. Big Guy's fin was held out flatly. Wario grinned and Big Guy slapped his forehead. Wario laughed.

"Okay, okay, how about best ten out of nineteen?" Big Guy said. Waluigi and Laser Snifit snickered at this as their two teammates continued to play the game. Tessa smiled a little. She was intrigued by how quickly those four guys were able to form a brotherly bond with each other. This got the girl to start thinking about her own brother. She turned around and began to look at the stars some more.

I wonder what he's doing right now... She thought this and the five of her and her group went on with being carried across the ocean by their personal Nep-Enut...

"Good job today, Hyrg."

Two Death Sickles were standing in front of one of the doors of their hideout. The smaller one could still feel droplets of sweat streaming down his face. The taller one was saying goodnight to him.

"Just remember to read that book I gave you," he said.

Hyrg nodded. "Okay," he said. Soon, the wolf left. Having nothing better to do, the young boy twisted the doorknob before him and entered the room they gave him. He closed the door behind him and pushed a breath of air out of his lips. He looked down at the wooden floor. Then he reached inside his robe and pulled out the book in question: the Forgotten Legends. He stared at it a bit, then shrugged his shoulders. He walked up to his bed, flopped onto it, lay on his stomach, and turned to the first chapter.

A long time ago, twelve incredibly powerful beings known as the Twelve Gods of Chaos appeared and began to unleash their wrath upon the world. This caused an organization known as the Death Sickles to rise to power and challenge them. Battles were fought, lands were ravaged, and people were killed. Fortunately, the Twelve Gods of Chaos have since disappeared, and now the world is safe. But who were they? What did they want? And where are they now? These questions, you are about to find the answers to in this exclusive look at each of the members of the Twelve Gods of Chaos...

It's about time, Hyrg thought in satisfaction. He turned the page and immediately frowned a bit. It showed a picture of that demonic crystal he had seen earlier.

God of Chaos #1: The Black Jewel

Gender: None
God of: Treasure
Element: Time

The Black Jewel was a being that got its power from feeding off of the negative energy emitting from large buildings like castles and temples. It would use that power to transform anything it wanted into anything it wanted. It could turn meadows into deserts and pieces of treasure into monsters.

Such a thing happened to one such place, the Sacred Forest. It would have happened to others as well had a few allies of the Death Sickles not have stepped in. They were the Spritelings, a race of people from the Sacred Forest. They spoke their own mystical language and possessed the very power needed to thwart the Black Jewel. In one vicious battle, they were able to do just that.

However, the Black Jewel was an immortal being and couldn't be defeated so easily, so the Spritelings sealed its body and spirit within a tomb in a temple of theirs and never spoke of it again...

In order to be revived, someone must free the Black Jewel from its tomb and bring it to a castle with lots of negative energy and treasure...

"Hmm..." Hyrg hummed as he looked at the book's picture of a rather large, but scary-looking castle as an example. He let the words and the pictures of this book sink in and he turned the page...

Castle Koopa was still under construction. The entrance to it was being guarded by two big, fat, oversized Para Troopas. One of them was a red-shelled Heavy Troopa. The one to his left a green-shelled Tub-O-Troopa. The one with the green shell was in the middle of telling the other one some story of his.

"...And then he told me, 'Look behind you!' Well, I did that, and it turned out my tail was still right behind me. The end!"

The Troopa in the green shell looked disgusted. "You're an idiot," he said.

"No, I'm Horf!" the other Troopa said, pointing his thumb to himself, a silly look on his face.

The one in the green shell rolled his eyes. "And I'm Torb. What's your point?"

"I like pointy things," Horf said.

"Hoy..." Having nothing better to do, Horf and Torb continued to be on the lookout. It was a boring job, but at least it brought moments without having to listen to someone as unintelligent as Horf. Unfortunately for Torb, these moments didn't last long.

"Hey, Torb, do you see what I see?" Horf said.

"I don't know," Torb groaned. Regardless, Torb took a look ahead of him anyway. Pretty soon, he was seeing it, too: three people walking away from what appeared to be a giant, stuffed doll of some sort and walking along the stone path leading to the entrance of the castle that these two Heavy Troopas were guarding. "Well, what do ya know," Torb said. "You're right."

"No, I'm Horf!"

"Hoy..." In spite of everything, Torb tensed up, stood up straight, and put on as serious a demeanor as possible once these three strangers approached him and Horf. Two of them were talking amongst themselves.

"Now, Guido, should things get ugly, you'll know what to do, right?" one of them said.

"Right," said the other.

"Good."

At last the three strangers had come close enough to Horf and Torb. The green one put on his extra tough guard act. "Hold it, you three! State your business!" he said.

"I'm Foreman Spike, and this is my associate, Guido," Foreman Spike said, not bothering to introduce the woman behind the two of them. "We're here to kick Kamek's ass." The foreman punched his palm.

"That's not very nice," Horf said.

"Yeah, and besides, he's not here," Torb added.

Foreman Spike and Guido looked surprised. "Yeah? Well then, where is he?" Foreman Spike said.

"Well, Spike, I'm afraid I can't tell you that," Torb replied.

"Is that so?" Spike snorted as he drew his hammer. "Well, I'm afraid you will!!"

"I wouldn't mess with us, if I were you," Torb elicited, folding his brutal arms and glaring at the man.

"Just tell us where he is and you won't get hurt." The foreman said this while repeatedly tapping his palm with his hammer. The massive Tub-O-Troopa still wasn't yielding.

"No."

"Alright, punk, you asked for it..." In a flash, Foreman Spike had tackled Torb, sending the two of them rolling around on the ground trying to beat the stuffing out of each other. All three of Guido, Oglian, and Horf were watching all this in shock.

"Oh, dear," Oglian commented.

Foreman Spike had gotten himself atop Torb's chest. He had his hammer upraised, ready to smash the Tub-O-Troopa's face in. Torb thought quickly. He punched the foreman right in the side of his face with his left fist. Foreman Spike flew off of him and started sprawling. Torb had gotten back onto his feet. He commenced charging towards the downed Foreman Spike with his fists flailing. The foreman saw this out of the corner of his eye as he lay on the ground. The Troopa didn't see this next one coming: Foreman Spike flung himself off the ground and slammed both of his feet directly into the gut of the giant turtle. Having gotten the wind knocked out of him, Torb groaned and fell to his stomach. Horf was horrified by the sight of this.

"Hey!! Don't do bad things, you meanie!!" he yelled. The overgrown tortoise began running towards Foreman Spike with his fists out. Alarmed by this, Guido thought fast and swung his hammer out. BANG!! The agonized turtle started groaning and clutching at his crotch. Like his partner, he was down on the ground as well. The other one was struggling to get up, but Foreman Spike slammed his foot down on top of his head, forcing him to stay there.

"Don't move," he ordered. "Guido, get over here."

"Yes, sir." The mustachioed man complied. He stood nearby both his superior and the big, green-shelled man. He held out his right hand. Teal sparks started to fly out of its palm.

"Now, listen here," Foreman Spike told Torb, "this guy here's a master of the Thunderhand." Through his peripheral vision, Torb could see the sparks in Guido's hand had been transformed into a perfect orb of teal electricity. It looked menacing. "Normally, it's just another way for him to hurt his enemies, but it can be deadly," the foreman explained. "Now, are you gonna tell us where Kamek is, or do you wanna know what 1,000 volts of electricity feels like?"

Torb clenched his teeth and began to sweat. He wasn't going to enjoy this, but he didn't feel like he had much of a choice. "The Koopas have a backup fortress," he rasped. "Monet's Mansion; it's in the Clattagin Woods of the Light World. If you want to meet Kamek, I suggest you head there..."

Foreman Spike smirked. "That's all I needed to know," he lifted his foot off of the Troopa's head and faced his two companions. "Guido, Oglian, let's go."

Guido and Oglian nodded. Making his ball of lightning dissipate, he, along with Oglian, began to follow the foreman back to the doll in the waters. Torb watched this in disgust as he brushed the dust off of him. He then walked up to Horf who was still in pain and struggling to stand up.

"You...told him...stuff..." the Heavy Troopa wheezed.

"I know," Torb grumbled.

"Kammeron's...gonna be mad..." Horf went on. Torb shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't think he'll be that mad," Torb said. "Besides, Doppel's there. If there's anyone who can take anyone, it's that guy." Horf was standing up again. He was still rubbing where he had gotten hit earlier. His teeth were clenched. "Come on, let's go," Torb said. "It's time for our break, anyway."

"Okay..."

Looking behind him on the sea camel doll, Guido watched as Horf and Torb walked back into the doors of the castle and disappeared. Then the entire castle itself disappeared. Both the sky and the sea had returned to their original colors. The three of him, Foreman Spike, and Oglian had crossed back over into the Light World.

"You know how to get to the Clattagin Woods, old lady?" Foreman Spike asked.

"Of course, dear. We'll be there in no time at all," the elderly woman replied.

"Alright." Foreman Spike kicked back and began to relax again. It was as though the fight he had gotten into with Torb hadn't even happened. Other things were on his mind, though.

Can't wait to get there, he thought. I've got a score to settle with that Kamek guy...

Here we are, Xoshi thought. He, White Rose, and Leif entered the inn. Once they did so, they could immediately notice Pixel scrubbing off some of the tables and Ion cleaning glasses behind the counter. Both seemed to be happy by the appearance of them.

"Xoshi! You're back!" Pixel said. Xoshi smiled and waved to her. She smiled back. Then she looked at Leif. "Who's your friend?" she asked.

"This is Leif," Xoshi replied. "He's amazing."

Leif waved his hand towards Xoshi a little. "Such words," he said modestly.

"Can I get you guys anything?" Pixel asked.

"Just some refreshments, please," White Rose said.

"Talk to Ion," Pixel said, gesturing towards her brother. White Rose nodded and began to walk over to him. Leif followed. Pixel watched them leave and then looked at Xoshi. "So, how was it?" she asked.

"It was crazy," Xoshi exclaimed. "The city was weird, there were these two Magikoopas there, and a giant Melon Bug."

"Oh my gosh," Pixel elicited. While she was listening to Xoshi go into more detail over it, White Rose and Leif were sitting themselves down before Ion and his counter.

"What can I get for you?" he asked.

"Just water, please," White Rose said.

"A Maple Syrup," Leif said.

"Yes, sir," Ion stated. He got to work on serving these things to his customers. During this, the two of them were talking to one another.

"You enjoy Maple Syrup?" White Rose asked.

"Yes," Leif said. "It helps me take on those blasted witches."

White Rose nodded. "If I may implore, what was it that began your campaign against witches?"

"Well," Leif began, "I've always despised witches. They've caused me large amounts of trouble in the past..."

White Rose nodded as he listened to Leif's story. The drinks were coming and Xoshi and Pixel were sitting at a table together. From there, he thought he could hear him say, "And what's weird is that I saw him in a dream once." Then the two of them glanced over at the Viking. Pixel looked slightly bewildered. Leif went on with his tale.

"But apparently, I wasn't the only one," he said. "Eventually I began to train under a man named Errip the Red. He taught me everything there was to know in the field of witch-hunting. Ever since, I've been using this mace and this power of mine to give those foul beings what they deserve..."

"I see," White Rose said. A few seconds later, the drinks had come. Ion placed a moist mug of ice water in front of White Rose and a green bottle of Maple Syrup in front of Leif.

"Enjoy," Ion said as he returned to his work. White Rose and Leif picked up their drinks and clinked them together as though they were performing a toast. While White Rose was lifting his drink closer to his face, Leif was twisting the cork off of his bottle. With his left hand clutching at the bottle and the thumb and forefinger of the other one, he worked hard to wriggle that thing out. One or two seconds later, a definitive POP sounded, and the cork was off, which was exactly when something completely unexpected happened...

TAH-DAHHH!! Fanfare started playing and confetti and balloons were everywhere. All five of Xoshi, White Rose, Leif, Pixel, and Ion were looking around at this phenomenon in utter confusion. Leif was especially confused. He bore witness to this bizarre spectacle while still holding his Maple Syrup and the cork that came off of it. "What is..."

"Congratulations, sir!" Leif jolted. He looked down and saw a bespectacled Bandit standing before him. His robe was green and there were purple stripes around the wrists of its sleeves as well as near the bottom of it, which was long enough to keep his feet covered. He looked at Leif with a smiling face. "Today's your lucky day! You've just opened up the winning Maple Syrup!"

Leif looked shocked. "I have??" he said.

"Yes, sir! Don't believe me? Go on. Reach in there and see for yourself," the Bandit instructed. Leif did so. He stuck his finger inside the bottle. Much to his surprise, what was inside was not sticky at all but rather very smooth and crinkly. He pulled it out, revealing it to be some sort of rolled up note. He unraveled it and took a gander at its fanciful contents. He read its message aloud to the other surprised people in the room.

"'Congratulations, Maple Syrup Drinker, you have won the sweepstakes. Your prize will be delivered to you shortly.'" Everyone was staring at Leif. They seemed to be filled with the same awe he was. He looked up at the Bandit.

"That's right, sir!" he said. "The name's Jammit. Me and my Maple Syrup company have been waiting a long time for this day! So here..." Jammit began to take crates out from behind him and place them before Leif's feet. "Fifty Honey Syrups..." He put one crate down. "Fifty Maple Syrups..." He put another one on top of it. "Fifty Royal Syrups..." Another one. "And fifty Jammin' Jellies..." Leif was astonished. However, this didn't look to be the end of it. "And, last, but not least, this." The Bandit whipped out a big, shiny, black club covered in spikes. "The Raven Mace," Jammit said, "a weapon made entirely of Raven Stone."

"Raven Stone??" Leif said. "That's a very rare substance!"

"Yes, it is," Jammit agreed, "but only certain people can unlock its powers. That, and it's pretty dang expensive." He handed the weapon to Leif. He gladly accepted it. "So be careful with it."

"Thank you," Leif obliged.

"Oh, yes," Jammit stated. He pulled something else out from behind him. They resembled some large tickets. "You've also won an all expenses paid trip to Carnival Alley. Just take these three passes with you and two friends."

What a lucky coincidence, Beel said.

Huh?

Leif took the tickets and thanked Jammit. The Bandit made one last congratulatory gesture to the man, smiled, and disappeared in a puff of white smoke. Everyone in the room was still in great surprise by what had happened here. After talking to Pixel a little more, Xoshi got up from his seat and walked up to his two confused teammates in front of the counter.

"White Rose? Leif?" he said, grabbing their attention. "The three people that will be going on that all expenses paid trip to Carnival Alley...is us..."

"Hm?" Leif grunted.

"Sir Xoshi, why is this?" White Rose asked.

"Because...two more of the people we're to find...will be there," Xoshi explained.

"Hmm," Leif said.

"I see," said White Rose. He then gave a nod to the brown Yo'ster. "So it's decided," he said. "As soon as we're finished with these drinks, we'll rest for the night. In the morning, we'll head for Carnival Alley."

"Yes!" Xoshi and Leif said in unison. After reaching that agreement, Xoshi walked over to Pixel and sat down with her again while Leif cracked open one of the many crates he won and pulled out one of its bottles of Maple Syrup. In a few hours, the next chapter of the journey of him, Xoshi, and White Rose would begin...

Hyrg was on the second chapter of his book. This time, it showed a picture of a gigantic Centaur. His body was laced with intimidating muscles. His head was sporting a long, wavy mane of grey hair in spite of his youthful looks. His face was wrought with strict physical traits, almost making him look like a hawk. His eyes were grey as was his long, wavy goatee. The horse part of his body, similarly, was covered in grey fur. His tail was white.

Although he found this picture of him to be a bit interesting, Hyrg was still a bit disappointed by the fact that he had just come across another God of Chaos he had already become familiar with. Regardless, he read on.

God of Chaos #2: Bidden

Gender: Male
God of: Centaurs
Element: Energy

Bidden's idea of a perfect world was one where the usage of technology was strictly forbidden. Even houses, weapons, and tools were out of the question. He wanted the entire world to be covered in thousands and thousands of forests and jungles. He wanted every last sentient being in it to be forced to survive in the wild using only their wits like animals, for there was nothing he loved more than hunting, and there was nothing he found more satisfying than outsmarting the world's most intelligent beings and drinking their blood.

Aided by his army of Centaurs, he was able to destroy all kinds of cities and villages and replace each one with a field of buried seeds in hoping they'd all grow to become beautiful forests someday. Quite a bit of Sarasa Land was able to be destroyed this way and many were hunted down like dogs. Fortunately, the Death Sickles were eventually able to beat Bidden at his own game. Assisted by one of them, a woman named Shrell, they were able to set up a brilliant trap for the God of Chaos, serving as the perfect ironic punishment for him.

Hyrg looked at a picture in the book depicting an attractive young woman. She was small and was donning a red tunic, a black belt, black gloves, black boots, and dark grey stockings. Both her hair and her eyes were red. Her hair was spiky and she wore it slicked back. After getting a good look at this picture of the woman, Hyrg read on.

Using their magic powers, the Death Sickles managed to seal Bidden's spirit deep inside of a stone wall within a cave of Sarasa Land. Ever since, his Centaurs have been lingering there with little else on their minds besides how to revive their master...

In order to be revived, 1,000,000 virgin sacrifices must be fed to the Cemetaurs, a pack of bloodthirsty, undead Centaurs in a pit in Bidden's cave that were once his pets...

The next picture Hyrg saw was not a pretty one. As a result of looking at it, his eyes widened and he slapped a hand over his mouth. What he saw was a pack of centaur-like creatures, mostly black and grey in color, but they looked wrong in more ways than one. Some of them had too many arms. Others had too many legs. Some had arms growing out of the incorrect places. Some didn't even have any arms at all. Some of them had faces that looked as though they were going to melt right off. Everywhere Hyrg glanced at this picture, it proved to him that he hadn't seen everything, even though he would have sworn he had. Simply put, he just didn't like these things.

The first impressions had done their work. Hyrg winced one last time, stared forward, and blinked a few times. After shaking the heebie-jeebies away from himself, he turned the page and went on to the next chapter...

Horf and Torb had entered the cafeteria of Castle Koopa. It was loaded with a wide assortment of wooden tables. Not too many of them were being occupied at the moment. More specifically, one of them had three people sitting at it: a Magikoopa, a Goomba, and a green Koopa Troopa with an eyepatch. The Goomba and the Koopa Troopa were eating off of trays. The Magikoopa had a strange-looking flower in a pot in his hands. He was giving the other two a lecture on it.

"Right now, it's only a Warp Bud," he explained, "but eventually it'll turn into a Warp Flower."

"Wow," said the Koopa Troopa.

"How long will that take?" asked the Goomba.

"I'm still trying to figure that out," said the Magikoopa. He then pushed himself from his bench and stood up. "Well, Groob, Katsim," he said. "I'll talk to you later. Right now, I've got work to do." The Magikoopa's two friends said goodbye to him and continued eating. While he was walking away, the Magikoopa had managed to arrive in the middle of the path that Horf and Torb were walking down. They stopped once they had reached this Magikoopa. "Horf, Torb," the Magikoopa said. "How are things going?"

"They're going alright," Torb replied.

"No, they're not!" Horf blurted. "A little while ago, this guy came by, and he said he wanted to beat Kamek up, but Torb said he wasn't here, and he told him where he was, and now this guy's going there so he can beat Kamek up!"

The Magikoopa started looking seriously at Horf and Torb's faces. Horf was nervous and Torb had a hand over his eyes. "Is this true, Torb?" the Magikoopa said.

"Yes, Kammeron," Torb responded, "it is."

"Hmm," Kammeron hummed in an annoyed tone. "You do realize the blunder you have made, don't you?"

"Well, yes, sir," Torb admitted. Then he started holding his hands out in a pleading gesture. "But it's not that bad! Doppel's there, isn't he? He'll protect Kamek, won't he? If-"

"-I don't wanna hear it," Kammeron interrupted, waving at the Tub-O-Troopa with one hand to silence him while the other was still holding his potted flower. Kammeron looked at Torb. "What I want you to do," Kammeron stated, "is to find this man...and kill him."

Torb tilted his eyes upward. He shut them and shivered. "Yes, sir," he complied. Horf turned to him with an even more worried facial expression.

"Don't die, Torb!" he begged. "You're my best friend!"

"Ugh," Torb groaned.

"Horf, you're going with him," Kammeron ordered.

"Wha?" Horf said, dumbfounded.

"Just do it, you simpleton," Kammeron demanded. He started pointing at the two tortoises firmly. "And I don't want EITHER of you to foul up this time," he said. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir," said Torb.

"Yes, sir," said Horf.

"Good," Kammeron exclaimed. He began to walk past the two gigantic Para Troopas. "I'll meet you two out there," he said. "I'll open up the Light World for you..."

"Yes, sir," Horf and Torb said. They watched as he walked up to one of the doors of the Cafeteria, pushed it open, and disappeared behind it. Horf turned to Torb.

"See," he said, "I told you he was gonna be mad..."

"Hoy..."

Hyrg had made it to the third chapter. Much to his satisfaction, this one had finally introduced to him a God of Chaos he wasn't already familiar with. The book showed a picture of a 10 ft. tall vampire-like creature with completely white skin and huge, pointy ears. There was a long, pointy beard of slick, black hair hanging off of its face. Its face had very strict features, including thick lips, gigantic cheekbones, a broken nose, red eyes, a pair of constantly furled eyebrows, and, fittingly, a pair of fangs hanging from its mouth. It had a prominent widow's peak and its hair stuck out in three long, wavy spikes pointing upward and behind it. Its tremendous body was wearing a fancy-looking robe of black and red. Only its white hands along with their expensive rings and their long, pointy, black fingernails were exposed. Hyrg found them a bit similar to the hands of most of the Death Sickles. After taking this in, he read on.

God of Chaos #3: Count Dheos

Gender: Male
God of: Swoopers
Element: Shadow

Count Dheos, as some described him, was the incarnation of the Seven Deadly Sins. He was narcissistic, he was envious, he was vengeful, he only did things the fast way, he was greedy, he was addicted to drinking people's blood, and he was willing to kill himself just to gain what he wanted. What he wanted was a world where the only person that was allowed to have any money or any treasure was him. Everyone else would be forced to live in the slums and put themselves through torture day and night just to satisfy his needs.

He had the army to do this. It was an army of Swoompires, intelligent creatures that surpassed Swoopers and even Swoopulas on all levels imaginable. Together, they were able to inflict a serious amount of damage on the Clover Kingdom. His Swoompires may have been as reliable as they come, but there was one person Count Dheos himself could not handle. That was a member of the Death Sickles, a man named Glim.

This time, the book showed a picture of a tall man wearing a strange, black, tube-like garment that covered everything between his waist and whatever was beneath his droopy, yellow eyes. Hyrg couldn't see where his arms were, but he did notice that this man's hair was long and white, his skin was grey, and there were stitches going across his forehead. He wore a pair of shorts, exposing his powerful legs. His bare feet revealed his black toenails. In spite of all this, Hyrg still couldn't locate the man's arms. He found out why in a second.

Glim was a man who was born with no arms. However, his leg power was the strongest this world has ever known. They say he could even fly all the way around the world just by jumping off of the ground. For reasons that have escaped people for ages, this was simply too much for even Count Dheos to handle. Thus, it was ensured that he was able to leave his mark on the world in the form of the Ring of Dheos and the Forest of Dheos, but nothing more.

In order to be revived, seven different people must gather; one for each of the seven deadly sins, and one for each of the seven bases built on the Ring of Dheos. Together, they must cast a spell in unison, using their own blood. If this is successful, Count Dheos himself will rise from the center of the Ring of Dheos...

Hyrg scratched his chin for a bit. He was still letting all this new information he had acquired of the Twelve Gods of Chaos sink in. Interesting stuff, he thought. The boy closed the book up, put it away, and started getting himself ready to hit the sack...

Horf and Torb were standing in front of the entrance to Castle Koopa once again. Right behind them was the Magikoopa, Kammeron. All three of them were looking out at the vast sea that the castle was surrounded by. Kammeron started talking to these two enormous Para Troopas.

"Horf, Torb," he said, "don't fail me."

"Don't worry," Torb reassured.

"We'll do good!" Horf added.

"Alright then," Kammeron nodded. "Now go." The Para Troopas turned their heads and saluted the Magikoopa. They turned back around, spread their wings, and FWOOMP! They were in the air. Each flapping movement their wings made got them further and further away from the castle. Behind their backs, Kammeron was holding one of his fists out before him. He flicked it open and the spell was complete.

Horf and Torb noticed it as they were flying. The wave of magic engulfed them and made the sky go from pitch black to what appeared to be more of a deep shade of blue. The waves beneath them seemed to have undergone similar changes. They were in the Light World now and there was a certain man they had to kill.

"Horf," Torb said, "you'd better not slow me down."

"I like slow things!"

"Hoy..."

The night was over for Xoshi, White Rose, and Leif. They each got out of their seats and started getting led up the stairs by Pixel.

"This is your room," the girl said to Leif. She had led him to the door right next to that of Xoshi and White Rose. "If you need anything just give me a call."

"Thank you," Leif said. Before entering, he looked at his two companions. "Xoshi, White Rose," he said, "rest well."

"We will," White Rose said. Then Leif entered his room, leaving only the three of Xoshi, White Rose, and Pixel standing in the hall.

"Well, goodnight, Xoshi," Pixel said.

"Goodnight, Pixel," Xoshi returned. The two people smiled to one another and went their separate ways. Soon enough, all three of Xoshi, White Rose, and Leif were in their respective beds. As Xoshi made himself comfortable beneath the sheets, he and Beel started exchanging some more thoughts.

It's gonna be another crazy day, huh, Beel? Xoshi thought.

Most likely, the Star Warrior thought back.

Xoshi chuckled to himself. Well, goodnight, Beel.

Goodnight, Xoshi...

Somewhere on a mountain, a man was lying down. Some of his hair had turned dark red from dried blood. He wasn't conscious. Underneath the stars and on top of this rough ground, all he could do was dream away...

He was a young boy. He lived in a world where the ground and the buildings were made of knives and the sky was made of a sea of dark grey clouds, rushing through it like there was no tomorrow. Inside one of these buildings was a dojo. At this dojo was a handful of kids, all of them looking to be of the same race as this boy. One of them was a little taller than the others. His hair was short. With a few expertly executed techniques, he had been able to send another one of the kids crashing to the ground with his sword pointed at his throat.

"Well, well, I win again," the taller boy gloated. He let the downed one get up off the floor, pick up his sword, and return to the crowd. The taller boy looked at all the other kids with a boastful look on his face. "Who's next?" he asked. The kids all gulped. It didn't look as though anyone wanted to oppose this kid. He let a smile of grim satisfaction creep its way onto his face. Then one young boy with long hair and a sword stepped forward. The taller one just scoffed. "You, huh?" he said. The boy didn't say anything. The taller one readied his sword. "Let's do this." The smaller one did the same. They stared at each other for a few seconds. In the blink of an eye, it had begun.

The two boys lunged at each other. CLANG! Both had sent their swords swinging downward as though to deal some damage to each other's heads, but both blows were blocked. CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! Using similar maneuvers, they had done this three more times. The small one swung his sword horizontally at his opponent, but he jumped back in the nick of time. The larger one ran forward with his sword pointing directly at his opponent. The smaller one showed no sign of emotion on his face. Once his enemy drew close enough, he swung his right arm up and karate chopped his wrist. This slammed a stinging sensation into the boy's wrist and made his sword fly out of his hands behind him. The crowd that had been watching this gasped and jumped back once the sword landed and stuck itself in the ground before him. BANG!! Their attention went back to the fight. The smaller boy had kicked his adversary harshly in the gut. It immediately made him fall onto his back, clutching at the sore spot. The smaller boy strut up to him and slammed one of his feet onto both of the other boy's hands, making him yelp in pain. SHING!! The smaller boy struck his target. Fear had overcome one of them. Shaking, the other boy slowly looked to his left and saw that the sword had hit the space right by his head. His opponent had spared him.

The smaller boy pulled his sword from the ground and stepped away from the one that had been defeated. Everyone in the room was in awe. They couldn't believe what had come to transpire here.

"Cutlass has defeated Rapier," one of them said.

"Yeah, well..." Rapier was struggling to get himself off the ground. He was still in pain from the fight. "That's just because he's the son of Cutthroat, so he keeps getting all the lucky breaks."

"Yeah, that's it, you spoiled brat!" One of the other kids had joined in. "It's not good enough that you have to have the best clothes. You have to be the best swordsman, too?!"

"You're making the rest of us look bad!!"

"How are we supposed to get better when you're around?!"

Cutlass watched all these kids as they continued to point fingers at him and slander him. All he did was scowl.

"The fact that you can't compare to me," he said, "is not my fault."

"Yes, it is, you jerk," Rapier spat. "Just get out of here. We don't want you here anyway."

The kids all began to glare at Cutlass. The only thing he could do in return was maintain that frown on his face. "Fine," he said. "I wasn't planning on staying any longer anyway," he added under his breath. He walked past the crowd and started heading for the exit. Even with his back turned towards them, he could feel their eyes boring into him. It made him feel as though there was a flame raging inside of him, just waiting to burst through his stomach wall.

"So," he heard Rapier's voice say, "who's next?"

Cutlass scowled and clenched his fist even tighter around the hilt of his sword. Everywhere I go, people are like this, he thought bitterly. It's not easy being me...

This whole experience had been a less than pleasant one for the man lying on the ground. Fortunately, it had all been just a dream. It was over and the sun was already rising. He could feel its heat landing on his head and the cool air of the morning was sweeping over his body.

His entire form was in pain, his head especially. He groaned a bit and pried his eyes open. Looking beyond himself, he could see he was in a place he didn't recognize. It was all very confusing for him. He groaned and grunted some more, and began to push his way back onto his feet. He twisted and turned his body around with his eyes shut tightly, trying to get it back into alignment. Once he stopped, he was facing forward with his weary eyes open and his hands on his hips.

The sun hit something shiny right beside him. He could see its blinding light shining through the corner of his right eye. He looked in that direction and found out what it was. It was his sword, lying right by his feet. He stared at it for a second, then decided to bend down and pick it up. He held it with both hands. He examined it a bit as though it were the first time he had ever seen it. Looking down, he located the scabbard on his right hip. He slid the sword right into it.

Then he looked ahead of himself. He was still on a mountain somewhere, and it still wasn't a place he recognized. Regardless, he began to walk away and draw closer to the rising sun. Things had definitely gotten a little more interesting for Cutlass...

 

 

Morning had also reached Silicon. Throughout it, people were getting out of their beds, eating their breakfasts, and heading out the door to attack the new day. Xoshi, White Rose, and Leif were three of these people. After their meal, they had found themselves beside the door to the inn. Pixel was in front of them.

"Bye, boys," she said. "Good luck in Carnival Alley!"

"Thank you, miss," White Rose said to the girl. Then he began addressing his other two partners. "Xoshi, Leif," he said, "to Carnival Alley..."

The Yoshi and the Viking nodded. White Rose pushed the door open and the other two guys started following him. Before leaving completely, Xoshi gave one last wave to Pixel. The girl returned the gesture. She watched the three of them walk away from the inn. There was a dreamy look on her face. I can't wait to hear how this'll turn out...