As soon as we got halfway through though, something in my head was set off like all the frustration from before returned in a physically agonizing form.

“What the-!?”

The pain ignited throughout my body and burned my insides from my head, to my toes, and everywhere it could possibly find like the bed bugs had decided to make me their own personal buffer and they were starving rabbit dogs.

“Felix?” Hope asked.

Describing that pain was impossible, the only way to compare were the sounds of my screams. Nothing else could.

The doors I had just flung open smacked me down from behind. Helplessly, I was scooched forwards away from where I had just been.

This raging stinging continued to infect me with my heart racing so vividly. It felt like an orchestrated symphony was being played by what seemed like the sharpest knives in the torture chamber.

Thoughts, knowledge began flooding my brain as fast as the pain came to me. Things that I had never been a part of were remembered like it was yesterday. It gave me this over-infatuated need to kill some girl as long as that pain was gone.

So many tears. So many souls called out to me begging for her death, love, justice, or mercy.

The vision I held so dear was beyond repair in its mad state of blurred frenzy. It joined with that mysterious pain like they were old, best friends, dancing through space and life itself.

I could see a set of two blue eyes: a woman with tanned skin and exploding poofy hair that ran down the sides of her head.

Of course, that was the girl! Her name was Rylie Edens; one of the brightest cheerful girls in all of history! She was always there, I recalled with her funny way of speaking. That face of hers was so pleasing and young and her form appeared to be the purest thing anyone had ever seen. The inward beauty had leaked onto the outside, putting all its cards down in a perfect full house. You would want to do anything for her just so she would smile one more time.

Wait, didn't I just see her? Wasn't she after me? I thought I took care of her for good this time or which host was that?

“Khadir!” She yelled. Her bare feet bounded towards me. She was wearing her typical attire, the one that she wore day after day after day.

“Hearken unto me. Big Bangs have suddenly grown themselves by a church building and are starting to blossom which is really murderous like how in less than twenty moons Christmas will come branching into murdering throngs of trees. Really, why can’t humans just attain fake ones because that would be extremely better for the planet? If the planet perishes then I perish with it!” She said,

“Sounds fun. Can you handle it?” I asked.

“I’ve roamed the Earth since the beginning so I really can.” Rylie continued. “I have also rescued the planet with around-“

I got up, “Sh!” I commanded. As I walked, the grass turned into carpet. “We could actually go faster if you didn’t talk so much.”

“Khadir please stop this foolishness with Unknown Energy and spare nature. You are knowledgeable that it’ll take years to resume its grassy self once more.” She pleaded. Using her powers, the carpet was quickly eroded by growing grass.

“You are knowledgeable that you made me a Unknown Energy so it’s your responsibility if I turn grass into carpet or not. And besides, you can always grow it back.” I said.

“Well of course I have been completing that task, but can you at least restore it back to its original organic matter after you have passed it? Besides, the only reason you were called to a Unknown Energy was to stop big bangs from destroying the planet. Ever since mother made the universe by them they still reappear so it is our most eternal duty to halt each and every one from occurring again so we can live in peace and harmony which is really nice if you know what I mean.” Rylie said.

We arrived at the tree. “Don’t worry. You won’t have to worry about me forever. I’ll fade away like every other Unknown Energy.”

“Do not pay attention to that.” She took hold of my hand and the two of us passed through a tree into another side of the world.

When we left the new one, she waved at it, “Thanks, my brother! May Nature spread its blessings to you so you may become a better tree that others may look at you and behold your beauty.”

“Can you feel it, Khadir because it’s really strong. These are patterned. They were placed in the pattern of an ancient book I had gazed my eyes upon for long times which had a page of how to entangle and trap even the greatest of anything whether it be a human or an alien. These are in the same formation when me and the host of the Unknown Energy had to form this to trap Ares. We had to exterminate this parasite or all would be lost.” She walked around the new scenery, looking like some sort of deer looking for food.

“Duh, I can feel it. You don’t need to tell me that something is dangerous when I already know. I can take care of this.” Khadir said.

“The structure of this is unfathomable unlike anything I have ever encountered before as if someone made this to lure us here. Nevertheless, who could have grown such a power because it would be really hard to grow at this amount of speed?”

An energy of the purest metals grew out of one of the grounds, sticking to her leg. “The trap, it has sprung forth…You!”

Rylie’s inner animal regurgitated itself into her system. Her war system.

She broke out of the metal, dodging more metallic substances shooting up at her. I could feel my Unknown Energy leaving my body, I had to get out of here.

“Demon, it’s time for the world to be rid of you!” I yelled.

She directed her attention towards my weapon. Before she could move, the metal pierced her body, surrounding her completely and just like that, Rylie was nothing but a statue.

I walked up to her, panting.

“Nice game piece. You really play a good game, but your protection towards the Unknown Energy really made you lose it. If only you didn’t tell them to leave me, you could have won. Such a pity. Now, if you’ll excuse me I have to use my new found magic through your Unknown Energy to make a new world out of this one. Sadly, I don’t know where the ingredients are to do that. Guess I’d better get me the recipe. It’ll take a few years, but with you like this I should have no problem.” I said.

Nevertheless her body, blooming as a statue, was halted from a corruption that no human or creature could ever avoid. It was horrendously portentous.

I knew it. I had been so foolish to think she cared for someone like me. The thing never did, but for her Unknown Energy. Those things only existed to stop those stupid big bangs or so she called them. Why wouldn't she just shut up? Why couldn't she just leave everything and die?

What would happen if I failed? Why wouldn't she let me fail?

The girl would get so mad sometimes. I'd scream and scream but she'd beat me to the ground. To top it off, she'd reason it all out and make it appear like I was the one at fault. Her innocence was fruitful to her labors.

What was going on?

The plain wall in front of me looked deformed and seemed to blend with the drinking fountain built into it. It mixed together like a blend of silver, rust, and the whiteness to form her perfect, ageless body. She giggled and then reached out at me with a laugh; her features melting onto the ground. To somehow run from the disaster, I shut my eyes as if I was hiding under my blankets like a little kid. I couldn't even stand.

"Please no!" I cried out. The pain shot up further.

“Help!” Hope yelled.

There was a trickle of water, the sound of fire, and then a morph of the two. It was as if the sounds joined and eventually. The fire overpowered the water. The snow fell harder and the wall disappeared changing my entire serenity. A man was looking down into a pile of ash, crying with Rylie behind him.

"My family..." he said in some other language. "My city. All gone."

"Your sacrifice saved so many lives." Rylie comforted me. "Besides, they would have died either way if we didn't do something. Your loss saved more than you could imagine. How could you feel sorry about that? You won."

Electricity buzzed up ahead to the point of power failure. I could hear a shatter; glass falling, stabbing like little knives into my skin.

Another face appeared. It was of a woman, picking Rylie and and twirling her around, both heartily laughing like there was no tomorrow, "We did it!" she joyfully exclaimed. "Without us, there wouldn't have been anything but we did it! Look at all this!"

Around them were flowers, trees, and mountains. A wooden house was in the distance behind them with laundry on a string blowing in the wind. Quickly, she embraced her and whispered in her ear, "Thank you for choosing me, Rylie." Tears rolled down her face. "Thank you."

"I did nothing but what your destiny chose you to be. You had the power all along."

"Thank you." Was all she could manage to say.

The scene fell back into a haze. I heard a building crash behind me, joyful chants of a teenage girl to the left, sobs of an old man at a bus stop, cursing of a knight dueling an army, a young boy laughing in harmony, yelling of lost ones, talking of found lovers, every one continually dealing with Rylie. They kept coming with more and more voices, people, cultures, and times spinning, whirling, and fading from different areas. Regions and lands of all kinds were within my sight, many of which I did not recognize but somehow I understood all of it. They had so many expressions, I couldn't count them all. Around and around I saw each and every one go. It was like an endless time lapse.

I didn't understand. Why did I know them all? All these people I didn't know and I loved each and every one of them like they were me. Why did this have to happen? Why did it matter at all? Why did I know all the answers?

“Stay with me!" A boy's voice broke through the voices.

Then, a miracle happened.

When I was awaiting more turmoil, the pain subsided and I heard the most unexpected of noises.

Nothing. Absolute silence. The voices and bodies were flushed out of me completely. Was it too good to be true?

I paused. It must be true. It had to be true. I could hear nothing but my beating, drumming heart and panting, rapid breaths. My eyes had never been shut so hard in my life.

But if I opened them, would it come back? How could I be sure?

Holy cow, I was scared.

I'd only know if I opened my eyes. There was no other way.

Was there?

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Of course.

But...

Shut up Felix.

Slowly and hesitantly, I opened them just like the door.

Dang it.

It was as if my heart rose in a sinking ship. Sure the noise had stopped and the faces had vanished but I was not where I was not where I was.

Where was I? Camping?

Trees were gathered around the area with dirt at my feet and vines tangling the throng together. With glowing fruit on the stems, I appeared to be in some sort of forest, mountain, or garden? It was all swamped and connected by the plantation like a perfect family.

Judging by the looks of things, I wasn't clear if it was night or day. It looked more like night and the fruit looked like stars: some kind of subspace or the afterlife. It was strikingly amazing.

There was a cleared space ahead that had some sort of ancient belonging. Those same overgrown plants clung onto it. Here was where everything was much more lively and I could see the glow of the fruit was a pure white unlike the other colored fruits elsewhere.

Then, I realized something. This wasn't a forest. This was a city, an old broken down city. Bits and pieces of rubble were in the trees. They had been broken down so badly that it was no longer noticeable. It was hidden by the vines as if it didn't want to be found.

That wall must have been part of something, but of what?

What exactly was this and why was I here?

A clue was in its cracked center. The source...the life? As black veins beat its fumes on the light, it kept it chained and bound. Why was darkness trying to stop the light? Wouldn't it be the other way around? What was this place?

By now, I had completely forgotten the earlier pain. It had subsided with the rest of my thoughts. These unreal ruins had me so engulfed, I didn't even think of where I had been before.

"It's gorgeous." I marveled.

“Daddy?" A little girl's voice next to me said. “Daddy!"

She was an interesting figure. Her face was somewhat pinkish with a small dark nose that shrunk on itself before sticking out a little. Her beautiful brown eyes were obtusely large. It complimented her poofy blonde hair. Covering herself was a thin long sleeved dress that went down to her ankles, white fluffy mittens, and black boots. A fuzzy white jacket was tied up around her waist.

Hey, get off of me!

"What the-?" I started, but was interrupted again before I could say anything else. Falling over, my vision again went out.

More silence. It was dark again.

Wait, my eyes were closed. Duh.

"Please...don't..." Something whispered into my ear.

I opened my eyes and found myself held tight by a girl with shoulder-long dark red hair and big ears: Hope Kristy Aaron. Of course it was her. She was there with me all along

Oh yeah, I was still on the floor like an idiot.

She was calling out, frantically, like I was dead. When I inhaled, (How long had I been holding it?), I was enwrapped in a massive tight embrace even further with people all around us. She didn't even need to look at me; she was just grateful I was alive.

Her sobs stuck my heart like glass. I didn't want to hear her cry. Not ever.

I hated the new crowd that had surrounded us too. Honestly, that was way too many people for me to be comfortable with. My best friend, Truman, was right next to Hope and had obviously beaten everyone else to me. I assumed it was probably one of his gut instincts. He always had that sense to him to know before the event happened. His exquisite sense was unnatural and incredibly intuitive. I loved it.

His face too was wet with tears. It hurt seeing him cry just as much as the girl in my chest. That familiar somewhat tanned face was flushed with the red. His forehead was sweating into his brown curly hair and I couldn't help but feel like this hurt him more than it looked like.

“Hope, Truman?" I barely made the words out.

It was no whirlpool of endless voices, but the sound of Hope and Truman made those seem like nothing. "Please don't cry." I managed to say. "I'm okay."

Truman's big body gave me a massive hug as well. In that moment, I was enwrapped in ten folds of love and relief. I couldn't help but tear up. Cry in sorrow for the pain of my friends and they cried for mine. You aren't the same after something like that. It bonds people together to realize how much you are loved and cherished by them.

When he let go, I was somewhat relieved.

There was no more fire, but there were burned marks everywhere. I was bleeding from the glass and my skin was badly burned. Not to mention we were soaked, not cool.

"Please... don't do that!" The girl continued dragging me away from the water. "I couldn't bear it if you...and when we couldn't feel a pulse..!" Her voice halted at the thought and she proceeded to sob more. “I don’t want you to!”

Had I died!?

As she spoke, Truman gently pushed his thick fingers onto my neck. After a couple seconds he said, "He’s all good.”

Another lady looked down at me. "It's okay. Your mom is calling the hospital to check you in."

What!? I didn't want to go to the hospital!

"I understand." I said. "I feel fine, but I understand."

"You are bleeding all over." Hope glared. "You aren't ‘fine’ at all!"

Fair enough, but still...

"I...." I was reassured. "I think..!"

"Felix!" Hope yelled at me. "You died!"

"Did you pee your pants?" A little girl giggled at my drenched clothing before I could respond.

"Sh!" Truman hushed her.

Hope whipped away snot from her nose."We don't want you to do it. We couldn't bear it."

"I could!" The little girl continued giggling.

"Hey, knock it off!" Truman commanded, but was responded to by her tongue sticking out at him.

"Daddy?" I heard the girl's voice echoed out into who knows where. "Where are you? I miss you. Please, where are you? Daddy? Big brother? Mister Maurl? Dad!?" The loudness of the last word shot out like a megaphone. Quite loud of one as small as her.

"Who?" I asked.

Whatever it was, it made my head hurt again. Who was her big brother anyways and this Mister Maurl she was talking about?

"You." Hope shot back. "You died! Not me, not Truman, but you!"

Wait, I remembered Daisy. Rylie had mentioned her one time. We would have danced more but she insisted we continued our mission. Rylie always prefered to get the job done, more than to have fun; of course that was depending on the host she was guiding.

I was too embarrassed to speak. Never in my life I had seen Hope or Truman panic so much. Especially not Hope. Something had triggered inside of her like she was having a panic attack.

With my emotions and vision swimming, I felt trapped as if I was some TV and somebody kept switching the channels. They must have been very bored if that was the case for them to switch all those channels.

Hope cried even harder. She clasped onto the silver locket around her neck tightly, but had sunk her face into my chest. No matter where we were or where we went nevertheless, she always wore that. It was in the designer shape of the side of a woman's head and contained a picture of her mother.

"It's going to be okay." Truman repeated.

The pain intensified, making its way toward the rest of my body. "Please stop..."

"We need to get him out of here." Truman swiftly told the blue set of eyes next to him.

Quickly, he lifted me up and darted through the hallway as the redhead fell to her knees, frozen in fear. I had never seen her so terrified in my life.

At least I could leave that stupid picture now.

"Daddy?" The girl's voice weakened. "I don't hear you? I won't bite. Please, come out. I was with my brother and now I don't smell him at all."

I could vaguely see her wandering the forest. She was obviously getting herself lost. Stay at the wall; dang it!

Suddenly, she turned around. "Mister Maurl? Is that you? Brother?"

My sight was shot. Truman was gripping tight onto my body now, hurrying along the hallway. It was just him now, panicked as ever.

I didn't want this. I didn't want to be a burden. What was happening and more importantly, why not someone else who actually could handle the situation better like a police officer, a psychic, or something?

"Dad!" the girl shouted louder.

"Hang in there, buddy." Truman whispered under his breath down to me. "You'll be okay."

I could barely feel my shoulder digging into his stomach. It was warm like clothes straight from the dryer: just the right amount of heat, but so unfamiliar. How could something right next to me be so distant as if it were a dream? What was this life? Was it a dream or reality? Which one was the truth?

"Felix." Rylie's voice smiled at me. "My pride had never been so full in you for we shall cleanse this world of its darkness. Nothing shall be able to touch you. For you, salvation is nigh."

My vision cleared. I was once again in that same forest except this time the robot girl wasn't there.

Somehow, I was floating right next to where she had been as if I had been with her the entire time. What the heck was going on?

Inside the ancient civilization, I could hear only my breath rising with the agitation of my heart. Boom, boom, boom. My body was hastily moving along, curled in the same previous position as it was in Truman's arms.

"What is happening!? Little girl!?" I cried out like it had done with me. "You were just here right? I could see you. Are you next to me? We need to get back to that wall, but I can't control myself! Come back! Help me!"

My eyes widened as I saw myself in full speed towards a tree. Passing through it, it suddenly dawned on me that this place wasn't real. It was a vision.

"Hero of your lands." Rylie mystically sung. "You have been chosen to-"

Get another hero! I was no one's hero, certainly not one of my ‘lands’. They weren't even-

"...of peace." She went on. "Only you can hinder the destruction that will-"

Have brought me back to Truman already! Normally I'd listen to the voice inside my heart-

"...speedily making haste to where you lay even now to slay you in your slumber. Heed my warning and-"

I didn't want to be here. Tears formed in my eyes. I wasn't any of this. It was impossible-

"If you insist."

Huh?

And with that an engine turned on in a car. I appeared to be moving away from it now.

Truman was driving us away, he never said a word to me. He just kept his focus on the road in utter silence.

"Where are we going?" I asked him.

Chuckling in my head, he flinched from my sudden awakening, "To the hospital." he stated sternly

Yeah, he wasn't going to be hearing about my vision anytime soon. I needed to tell the other two.

"Where's Truman?" I asked him.

"They stayed back." He answered, still not taking his attention off the road.

"Why?"

"This was the fastest."

That was true. It was something he would do. I still wished Hope came regardless. She always had this motherly sense to her so why was this so difficult? Did it have something to do with her mother?

But that girl, where was she? Rylie said something about something I couldn't honestly remember anymore. I was too startled to remember anything at that moment.

Why did she refer to me as her dad? Like herself, those memories weren't mine Now that I thought of it, I did not remember them anymore.

It was unbearably hard to not tell Truman. He just sat there, driving the car in earnest, and careful not to go over the speed limit. Occasionally, I'd speak up and tell him about why I wasn't at the meeting today, but besides that we were just quiet the whole way through. Truman wasn't a very talkative friend to have especially when he was focused. It showed he cared and I loved that about him. I had never seen him so freaked out in my life.

"You alright?" he asked, never looking away from the road.

I shook my head. Dying did not make me nearly qualified to be alright.

Hold on, where did my wounds go?

"We’ll be okay." He continued. “We will get to the hospital soon"

I shook my head again.

Suddenly, a voice appeared in the back of the car making me gasp and flinch at the same time. "Holy moly! I remember these things were just pumpin’ out! Awesome!" and before I could turn around a hand grabbed my shoulder.

In a flash of a moment in time the scene moved itself. Instead of lying back on that gray cushion of the seat, I had toppled onto the mysterious figure. The whole area had moved off the road. With the wind intensely picking up from cars jetting by, I had landed right next to it. I expected Truman to be with me, yet when I turned to my left, he was not there. "Truman?" I gasped.

Before I could even know what was going on, I was pulled away by the same hand that had grabbed me mere seconds ago just as I saw a figure leap through the air.

Like before, I was taken away from the scene. We were moved away down a hill in the blink of an eye. Without hesitation, he started running with his hand still tight on my arm.

"Wait!" I cried strongly, resisting the pull. "What about Truman!? How did I get here!?"

"Don't worry Mr. Ghost! The river will lead you to the party. It's easier to move with the groove." The man told me, his light green shirt waving behind him.

What!?

So now I was running with some sort of weird man along who knew where. I had no idea what happened to Truman and what was going on with his car. That figure terrified me completely and I felt as if I was going to pass out from all the stress.

Without thinking, I continued to run. I could make out the back of wavy red hair, forest green pants and pretty high-up shoes. This guy had bad fashion taste.

Naturally, I tripped.

That stupid headache came back right away as I collided into his back.

A man appeared: he looked like an older version of me with short bleached blonde hair. He was flying in front of a woman also with short blond hair. She was shooting beams of light at him as they were in a brutal brawl, but he wasn't fighting back, only shouting desperately. “Miley, you can do it! Come back to us! Come back to me!” His body was heavily armored by a white protective suit that seemed all too familiar.

The scenery was demolished from the violence. “It’s too late!” she shrieked. “You cannot stop me! Fool!”

Hold on, another vision? For Pete's sake!

He looked like me grown up, same brown eyes, same voice, and skin tone. The only difference was he was taller, buff, and his aura was pure power. The wind blew across the landscape, not an object in sight. It was just the two of them facing down like mortal enemies. She wasn't his enemy though. She was his friend.

He believed in her. He loved her. She was the daughter of a bad, bad man and made into his perfect weapon. Together, they and some of their friends had been teleported to another land where they knew not of what would happen or why they were there. All he knew was she was struggling to keep her humanity. Ruby had told him to leave her. Many of his allies warned him of her, but they didn’t see her like he did. He knew her soul all so well. That was his power after all. Part ghost and could revive the recent dead like his father, part speedster and healer like his mother.

Miley’s soul wasn’t evil like her father’s. The madman had found a way to control her completely. She was his perfect trap for the heroes.

A massive blast of ice from behind an adult me hit Miley, as a blast of water from the same direction smashed her backwards. They were from two women. One was wearing a simple blue dress, black hat, and blue tennis shoes. The other was fully decked in a thick uniform with a black bulletproof vest, black pants and boots, and a long sleeved shirt with gloves. Others were behind them, but I couldn’t make out the figures.

“Idiot!” the woman in black yelled, dodging blasts of energy from Miley. “This is far beyond our abilities! Retreat!”

“I can get through to her!” he yelled. “She’s still in there! Sara, Rouge, cover me!”

He vanished, as a massive wave of water washed over us. It was like a tornado, but pure liquid, before getting frozen solid alongside their opponent, and with that. That was it.

Miley stood, trapped inside the massive ice wave. She shook, like something was taking over her body.

Everyone held their breath.

The girl in black’s eyes jetted open. “Jacob!” She leaped forwards. “No!”

But it was too late, he flew back out of the woman, the sculpture breaking into a thousand pieces. A bright light was shot out, and swallowed him whole.

Something shattered.

What the f-