[Alundra]

Two hours later...

       “Come on Meia. We have to find Akira, and fast,” I said running down the halls of a large castle.
       We had found ourselves on a star when we came into the Dream World. We noticed that the flames of the star weren’t harmful at all. We also noticed several aliens of some sort, hurrying off to somewhere. They were centaur-like creatures with blueish flames growing out of their skin. We followed a few of them to a large courtyard with some sort of ceremony, that looked like a marriage ceremony, going on.
       “Hey you,” I heard someone call.
       I turned to the direction of where the voice had come from and saw one of the aliens running toward us. This alien was wearing gold and silver armor.
       “You’re Human right?” the alien asked me.
       “Yes, I’m Alundra and this is Meia, she is a Newman,” I said. “Who are you?”
       “My name is Algor, an Ultimarian knight,” the alien said.
       “Hello Algor, can you tell me what’s going on?” I asked.
       “Prince Akira and Princess Ayeka are getting married,” Algor said.
       “Akira? We’ve been looking all over for him. Can you take us to him?” Meia asked.
       “Yes, I figured you may be friends of Akira, follow me,” Algor said.
       We ran as fast as we could, following Algor. When we caught up to Algor we took a moment to catch our breath. After I recovered I noticed that we were at some sort of marriage ceremony.
       “You both are really slow. I had to slow down tremendously for you to catch up,” Algor said.
       “You Ultimarians have four legs so you have better momentum. What do you expect since we only have two legs?” Meia asked.
       “We are late, the marriage ceremony is over. Prince Akira and Princess Ayeka, err...I mean King Akira and Queen Ayeka should be in the throne room by now,” Algor said. “I’ll take you two to the throne room, follow me.”
       We followed Algor, who was basically walking as we ran to catch up, down the hall to the throne room. When we arrived at the door to the throne room a male Ultimarian walked up to us.
       “Who are these people Algor?” the male Ultimarian asked.
       “These people are friends of King Akira, McCaro. They would like to see his majesty,” Algor said.
       “Okay, I shall tell the King,” the male Ultimarian said, and walked into the throne room, while we stood in the hall.
       “Is that Ultimarian’s name McCaro?” I asked Algor.
       “Yes it is,” Algor said.
       “Your majesty, two people have come to see you,” I heard McCaro say, from inside the throne room.
       “Send them in,” I heard Akira’s voice say.
       McCaro returned to the hall where we were standing and signaled us to follow him into the throne room. We walked into the throne room and found a male and a female Ultimarian sitting at the throne.
       “Your majesty, this is Alundra and Meia,” McCaro said, bowing.
       “Hey, what’s the big idea? Akira is human not an Ultimarian,” Meia said.
       “I am now. I was turned into an Ultimarian,” the male Ultimarian on the throne said in Akira’s voice.
       “How do you know these people, your majesty?” McCaro asked.
       “They most likely belong to the Destined like I do,” the male Ultimarian on the throne said in Akira’s voice.
       “Akira? Is that really you?” Meia asked.
       “Yes, it is me,” the male Ultimarian on the throne said in Akira’s voice.
       “Nice kingdom,” I commented.
       “Thank you, but how did you guys get here?” Akira asked.
       “We have the ability to enter a person’s dreams,” I said.       “How do you leave the dream world?” Akira asked.
       “Just close your eyes,” Meia said.
       “Who is this?” I asked Akira, referring to the female Ultimarian sitting beside him.
       “She is Ayeka,” Akira said.
       “While we are here, may we tour your kingdom?” I asked.
       “Sure,” Akira said, and we started t leave. “McCaro watch over Ayeka until I return.”
       “Yes your Majesty,” I heard McCaro say as we walked out of the throne room.
       Then we started to walk away from the throne room.

[Meia]

       “Alundra, Meia, wait up,” Akira called, running up to us.
       “What Akira?” I asked.
       “I’m coming with you. It is nice to know someone who knows their way around the kingdom,” Akira said.
       “You have a point there, wouldn’t be good if we got lost,” Alundra said.
       We followed Akira until we came to a statue against the wall to our left. The statue had the infinity symbol on it and was white in color.
       “McCaro told me that if someone were to get a hold of all thirty amulets, that person will be able to get the treasure hidden behind this statue,” Akira said.
       “Can’t someone just destroy the statue to get behind it?” I asked,
       “No, it is made to prevent just anyone from getting the treasure,” Akira said.
       “It must be really valuable then,” I said.
       “I would assume it is,” Akira said.
       Then the ground begun to shake and I heard a crashing sound in the background. McCaro ran around the corner and nearly bumped into us, followed by Algor, Ayeka and another female Ultimarian that was wearing a lab coat.
       “Your majesty, we are being attacked by some sort of monsters,” McCaro said.
       “Great, here too” Akira said sarcastically. “Evacuate now.”
       “We are going with you, your majesty,” Algor said.
       “Fine then,” Akira said.
       Then he walked up to the opposite wall that the statue was, where there was a large red button on the ground and a sign that said “For Emergency Evacuation Press Button”. Akira the stomped on the button with his front right hoof. An alarm went of with a computerized voice saying “Emergency, please evacuate to the nearest escape pod”. Then Akira ran down the hall and we all followed.
       “Akira, I forgot to tell you this, Shaun is controlling the monsters. He stole the D.R.G. as well,” Alundra said.
       “What?” Akira asked in surprise but didn’t stop running.
       Then, right in front of us, the wall and ceiling collapsed in, blocking our way to the escape pods. Among the rubble stood a partially cybernetic monster with huge claws on both hands. I stood in fear and awe of the massive monster, who happened to be taller than any basketball player I’ve seen.
       “He’s tall,” I commented to Alundra.
       “And he looks dangerous,” Alundra said back to me.
       “I am TyRant, and I have come to destroy you Akira, the Chosen One,” the monster said in a course voice, that sounded like he was growling it.
       “Okay, come on and get me,” AKira said bravely, grabbing Algor’s sword from the sheath strapped around his waist. “I need to borrow this.”
       “But Akira -” I started.
       “GO,” Akira yelled, interrupting me. “Get out of here.”
       TyRant took this chance to swipe his left claw, but Akira blocked it with Algor’s sword. As Akira was blocking TyRant’s left claw, TyRant took his right claw and thrust his right clawed hand into Akira’s torso. Then TyRant slowly pulled his claw out, blood dripping and Akira collapsed to the ground.
       “NO!” Ayeka and I cried.
       Ayeka and I were about to run to Akira but Algor held Ayeka back and Alundra held me back. Then I clenched my eyes shut and appeared in the real world. I saw Alundra standing beside me, sill holding me back. I saw Akira in Ultimarian form, lying at our feet, bleeding profusely from his wound in his torso. Seeker, knelt down and used his index and middle finger against Akira’s throat to check for a pulse.
       “Is he?” I asked as Seeked pulled his hand away.
       Then Seeker lowered his head and knowing what that meant tears poured down my cheeks.
       “I-I-I thought he couldn’t die,” I yelled at Seeker, still crying.
       “These monsters are different. Shaun made them to specifically kill, no matter what,” Seeker said, head still lowered.
       “Akira...”I said sadly, looking at Akira’s body.
       “We had best prepare a burial for the three of them,” Jackie said sadly.
       “How can you be so heartless?” I asked him, pounding him on his chest, while he took the hits.
       “I’m sorry,” Jackie said, lowering his head.
       “We should bury them, it’s only appropriate,” Nabiki said.
       “But the monsters -” I started, looking toward the barricaded door.
       I saw that the barricade wasn’t moving even a little bit, which meant that the monsters weren’t trying to break in anymore. Scott, Vahn, Ranma, and Miyu removed the barricade and slowly opened the doors, to find the monsters weren’t there anymore.
       “I wonder where they went,” Nina said.
       “They probably left after knowing Akira is dead,” Moose said.
       I held onto Akira’s hand which had grown cold as we were talking and starred at his face. I hoped every second that he would just open his eyes and say “Hey”, but I knew deep inside that it wasn’t going to happen. I pulled his hand up to my chest with my right hand as he slowly turned into human again. I then used my left hand and ran it through his hair.
       “Come on Meia,” Ash said, putting his hand out to assist me up.
       I took his hand, letting go of Akira’s and stood up. Then Robert picked up Akira’s lifeless body as Taichi picked up Alan’s body and Yamato picked up Maurice’s body. Robert, Taichi, and Yamato walked out first and outside, while the rest of us followed. I noticed some of the other girls crying as well, and knew they missed Akira as much as I did. Jackie drove Akira’s truck out of the castle while the rest of us walked behind. After we got outside Miroku, Ryudo, and Tobias grabbed some shovels and began digging three graves.

A few hours later...


       I knelt down on one of my knees and put the flowers, which I had picked earlier, and put them atop Akira’s grave. Then I looked up to the grave stone, which Daniel cut out of raw stone and engraved, and decided to read it.
       It read “Akira. A close friend and family member, and also a great leader of the Destined. May he rest in peace. January 1, 1984 - August 18, 1999.”
       I then stood up and stared downwards to Akira’s grave. I lost track of time standing there, starring at Akira’s grave, remembering when he was still alive, and wishing he would come walking up behind me any second now. In the corner of my eyes I saw the other Destined walk up toward me. They stood there for a moment in silence.
       “Meia, what’s that?” Jackie asked, breaking the silence.
       I looked at Jackie to see what he was talking about and saw him pointing toward my waist. I looked down and saw something hanging out of my pocket, that I hadn’t put there. I pulled the rest of the object out of my pocket and found that it was the Fire Amulet that Akira had. Then I noticed a piece of paper fall out of my pocket and to the ground. I picked up the piece of paper and unfolded it. It was a note written in Akira’s handwriting.
       “I am not gone forever, I will always be with you all. There is a power residing in each and every one of you, which you should awaken and finish what I could not,” I read the note aloud, wiping a tear from my eye.
       “What?” Jackie asked, hearing what I read.
       “T-That’s Akira’s amulet,” Alundra said, stating something I already knew myself.
       “That is no ordinary amulet, that is one of the legendary amulets,” Seek said.
       “How did this get into my pocket?” I asked.

[Seeker]

       “Akira must have put it in your pocket,” I said.
       “But why?” Meia asked.
       “I don’t really know, but with it’s power of fire, I can forge a more powerful version of the D.R.G.,” I said. “I just need the D.R.G. or at least a part of it and a metal alloy.”
       “Is this it?” Ranma asked, stepping forward.
       Ranma reached into his pocket and pulled out something that I couldn’t quite see. Then he handed it to me, and I saw that it was approximately half of the D.R.G. with the Powerhedron attached to it.
       “Where did you get this?” I asked him.
       “Well...Shaun dropped it as he entered the portal, and I picked it up on our way outside,” Ranma said.
       “By the looks of it, the closing portal cut the D.R.G. in half,” I said. “This will do perfectly, now all I need is a metal alloy. Perhaps a rifle will do.”
       Daniel walked toward Akira’s truck and came back with a rifle in his hands.
       “Here you go,” Daniel said, handing me the rifle.
       “Thank you Daniel, now I can forge a more powerful version of the D.R.G.,” I said. “I’ll need your assistance Ash and Vahn.”
       “Ok,” Ash and Vahn said.
       Then I held the Fire Amulet away from me, and focused the flames on the space in between the rifle and the piece of the D.R.G., while I had Ash use his pyrokinesis. We continued to direct the flames until some of the rifle melted and connected to the D.R.G.. I stopped using the Fire Amulet, had Ash stop using his pyrokinesis, and had Vahn use his hydrokinesis to cool down the metal. After the metal cooled down, the Powerhedron glowed and changed the rifle’s metal to that of the same metal on the D.R.G. The rifle now had the power to make dimensional portals.
       “There, I call it the Dimensional-Rift Rifle or D.R.G. for short,” I said.
       Suddenly the ground erupted where Akira, Maurice, and Alan’s graves were. Standing there, holding all three of their corpses in his left arm, was the one named TyRant.
       “You’re next,” TyRant said, pointing to me with his right clawed hand.
       As he swung his right hand to grab me, I ducked and used to D.R.G. to open a portal.
       “Let’s go,” I said to the others.
       I quickly jumped into the driver’s seat of what used to be Akira’s truck and drove through the portal. Then the other Destined jumped into the portal after me, leaving TyRant behind.
       We found ourselves back in the dimension that Akira was born in, his Home Dimension, so to speak. I slammed my foot on the brake as I was about to crash into a couple cars parked along the curb. I noticed that we were even at the very restaurant that Akira found the D.R.G.
       “They’re still here,” Jackie said, surprised.
       “What do you mean?” I asked, parking the truck in the middle of the road.
       “Those cars belong to Albert, Aaron, Scott, Doug, Sam, Roy, Alan, Michael, Thomas, and Euan,” Jackie said.
       “Oh,” I said. “Then let’s take the vehicles with us.”
       Then four Destined got into each car. So there were 4 people in each of the 4 vehicles, making it 16 people in vehicles. That left 24 out of the 42 members to walk, so we drove slowly as we looked around town. We didn’t find anything special, there wasn’t a single monster in site, just lot’s of corpses all over the place. It was very disturbing to know that Shaun was behind all this death, and I wondered why he did it. The I used the D.R.G. to open another portal and we all went through it, to get away from all the corpses. As we emerged from the other side of the portal, me and the three driving the other vehicles stopped. The ones in vehicles got out and we found ourselves being stared at by a crowd of people.
       “Where did they come from?” a man in the crowd asked.
       Then I spotted Shaun among the crowd of people.
       “There’s Shaun,” I said, pointing to Shaun, to show the other Destined.
       Shaun saw me pointing at him and began running in the opposite direction, knocking people down as he ran through.
       “Shit!” I said, and bolted through the crowd after him.
       “Hey, watch it!” someone yelled at Shaun as he knocked the person down.
       When I finally got through the crowd of people, I saw Shaun pull out somesort of device that resembled the D.R.G. in a way, but there were some major differences. Then he pulled the trigger on the device and to my surprise formed a dimensional portal and jumped in. I ran as fast as I could to get to the portal before it closed, but I failed.
       “Damn it!” I yelled and kicked at the air.
       “You seem to be cursing an awful lot lately,” Jackie observed.
       “Ever since Akira died I don’t give a damn if I curse,” I said angrily.
       I was angry at myself, I had failed to catch Shaun and avenge Akira, and the others that had died because of him. I blamed myself for Akira’s death since I had said that he couldn’t die, and yet he did.
       “Does anyone else notice that the crowd is no longer moving?” Ranma asked.
       “What are you talking about?” I asked, looking at the crowd of people, and noticed that Ranma was right.
       “Let’s look around,” Dan suggested.
       We walked around town for a bit and left the vehicles where the were while we looked. I saw a flock of birds stopped in mid-air, a few kids playing basket ball with one of the kids in mid-air about to make a basket, and several other people just standing still.
       “What is going on?” Jackie asked, but none of us answered him because we didn’t even know the answer.
       “Hey guys, come look at this,” Moose yelled from down the road.
       We walked up to where Moose was standing, looked down the alley he was pointing to, and saw a dark green-brown statue sitting there.
       “The Earth Statue,” I said. “What is it doing in an alley like this?”
       Jackie walked around to the opposite side, becoming hidden from view.
       “What’s this?” I heard Jackie ask.
       Jessica walked around the statue to meet Jackie, and I followed her. I noticed Jackie was pointing to something in a socket on the statue.
       “I can’t believe it, that is the Earth Amulet, but by the looks of it, it has been placed into the socket backwards,” I said.
       I pulled out the Earth Amulet by a sort of string attached to it, and placed it back into the statue the correct way. The Earth Statue then glowed and crumbled, among the rubble of the statue were a pile of pendants.
       “Could these be?” I asked, while picking up the pendants. “They are, these pendants represent each different characteristic of man.”
       “Huh?” Jackie asked, with a clueless look on his face.
       “Like courage, generosity, friendship, sincerity, hope, love, reliability, knowledge, and so on,” I said.
       “Oh,” Jackie said, “so what do they do?”
       “That I do not know,” I said.
       “At least he’s not cursing anymore,” I heard Ursula whisper to Ranma.
       “Anyway, we have to find the other Elemental Amulets,” I said, while picking up the Earth Amulet.
       “How many are there?” Nikki asked.
       “I don’t know,” I said.
       “You don’t seem to know much at all,” Kiri said.
       “Sorry,” I said, rubbing the back of my head.
       “To the next dimension then,” Dan said.
       We all walked back to where we had left the vehicles and the ones that were in the vehicles before got into the same vehicles again. I then used the D.R.R. opening a portal to the next dimension, and we all went through the portal, leaving the people frozen in time where they were.