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Earth

Day

In a flash of an instant, Joe found himself in the midst of a field, standing outside a colossal mansion. It loomed over him dauntingly, the black exterior combined with the red tinted windows giving off a terrifying aura.

"Where are we?" Joe inquired. Cheeta stretched her arms into the air.

"Home. Or the Headquarters of the Hell's Guard."

"What's that?"

"It's what my Yatoga group is called."

"Sounds kinda…"

"Evil?" Cheeta guessed. Joe nodded awkwardly. "I disagree. After all, Hell is the greatest punishment of evil."

"That makes sense," Joe considered.

"The Hell's Guard puts fear into the hearts of villainy!" Cheeta added, pumping her fist.

"So how far are we?" Joe wondered. He had never seen such a landscape before. Everywhere around him in Zircon City had been urban, dirty. Here there was grass and trees all around. The place was clean and rural.

"Very far from your place. How we got here…" Cheeta extended her hand and a white flame burned in it. Joe watched the flame. Pink and purple lightning crackled around it. It looked beautiful. Cheeta pivoted away from Joe and threw the flame towards a tree. The very instant the fire left her arm, the tree was alight. "The Cosmic Burner Flame is one that burns through all space, allowing instant travel." The tree had now been completely vaporised by the flame. "It burns other stuff too, if I want. By coating us both in it, I was able to bring you here."

"You have so many abilities…" Joe marvelled. "And they're all so powerful."

"That's from experience," Cheeta explained with a modest expression. "Though I might be a little advanced for how long I've had my ability, you'll definitely get there soon!"

"How long have you had your ability?" Joe wondered. He thought internally, ‘She must have been training for years…’

"Around three or four months," she replied. Joe's jaw dropped. "That's when I became a Yatoga."

"You're incredible!" Joe gasped.

"Thanks very much, Joe," Cheeta beamed. "Now, shall we go in and meet the rest of your group?" Joe nodded, and he followed her to the front door of the mansion. "The exterior of this place actually has a Core barricade set up around it. It prevents anything unauthorised from entering from outside. That's why I brought you out here first, to be safe." She placed her palm on the door and her hand glowed white. The door clicked and Cheeta pushed it open. Joe gaped as he entered the vast inside of the mansion.

In the doorway was the skeleton of something that looked very much larger than a human. The walls were amber, and looked exceedingly clean, as if they were polished daily. He walked into the corridor. Suits of blood red armour stood by the walls. Joe touched one in curiosity, running his hand over the cold metal. He pictured a matching blood red sword, and one materialised in his hand. He jumped back, almost dropping the weapon, then looked quickly at Cheeta, who was watching him with slight amusement. He composed himself, dropping the sword so it vanished and walked after her into what looked like a lounge.

The lounge area was massive, a huge, black chandelier hanging from the ceiling, which was many metres high. A huge fountain marked the centre of the lounge, a large statue of a man in what appeared to be glowing armour and a sword leaking water from gaps in the armour and back into the fountain. Laying on a couch, head resting on the bare thighs of a woman and surrounded by several others was a familiar face.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Oh, for heaven's sake…" Cheeta groaned.

"Hey! I remember you!" Joe shouted. The young man and the woman both started in surprise and turned to him and Cheeta. It was the guy at the store with the dirty blond hair.

"Hey, kid!" The guy waved. "So, you got in?"

"Fluxis," Cheeta said calmly. "Haven't I reminded you before not to bring strangers here?"

"What's the matter?" Fluxis asked. "Jealous?"

"Not in the slightest," Cheeta responded airly, snapping her fingers. All the girls around him vanished in a burst of white flames, to Fluxis' dismay.

"What did you do to them?!" Joe gasped.

"I sent them home. This is no place for regular humans, I've told you this so many times."

"Aw, come on!" Fluxis complained. "I didn't even get to show them my vibrating p-"

"Would you please refrain from using such language in front of my new Yatoga?" Cheeta requested.

"Oh, yeah." Fluxis had just remembered Joe was still there. "So how are you?"

"I'm fine-"

"No thanks to you, Fluxis," yet another familiar voice cut in. Joe's jaw dropped as the fair girl with white hair he had also seen earlier entered the lounge. "I see he hasn't changed either."

"It's not my fault you left me to watch him, Priona!" Fluxis countered.

"Watch me?" Joe repeated.

"Well, since I was going out, I had Priona keep an eye on you in public in case you'd accidentally awakened your Parabone ability." Cheeta explained. "But for some reason…" She gave a glance at Priona. "Priona here decided to delegate the job to Fluxis."

"Who utterly failed," Priona added.

"Don’t act like this isn't your fault too!"

"I actually informed Cheeta of my refusal of service to which she asked you. What's your excuse?"

"I had to send off some food!" Fluxis explained. Priona snorted. "So what was the issue with you? Why couldn't you stay and do your job?"

"Cause the little freak was staring me down!"

"Are you serious?! That's just a perk of looking attractive, idiot! You're eighteen now, right? Why are you complaining?! This is why you're never going to get a boyfriend!"

"Shut your mouth!" Priona yelled. She rose up to her feet, as did Fluxis. Joe looked at Cheeta, expecting her to intervene, but she simply observed them with a resigned look visible on her features.

"Both of you shut the fuck up!" A booming voice racketed across the room. Joe jumped in shock, forming a blood red sword in his hand. However, no one else reacted, as if this was normal. Fluxis and Priona glared at each other and seated themselves as far from each other as possible. An enormous man of hulking stature entered, his bald head nearly scraping the doorframe. He was clad in a pure black tuxedo with a red tie. He had strangely matching red eyes. Strapped to his back was a colossal battleaxe, nearly as tall as he was.

"Ah, there you are, Egg," Cheeta waved. "Joe, this is my second-in-command, Egg. He's the oldest here." Joe raised a shaky hand in greeting. Egg didn't return the gesture. Joe turned to Cheeta, still feeling Egg's glare on him. "Now, Egg's here, I'll explain your first mission, Joe.”

“Already?” Joe frowned.

“Yes. The best way to train is through experience. We've located one of the campuses of the Prionaca Militia. They're the gang you stole the rib from. All of the higher ups are claw Parabone users of some type of shark. Like Priona's younger brother, Mako. He had the claw of the Mako shark."

"So, these claw Parabones…they…"

"They gift the wielder unimaginable strength as well as the attributes of a certain creature," Cheeta informed. "The user can also mutate, obtaining useful parts of their creature far more potent than that of the original." Joe thought back and remembered Mako growing fins and gills.

"I see."

"Great. Now, this campus has three of them. Two of them are ones you need to be worried about." Cheeta held out her palm, it glowed white and a hologram of a woman with dark hair, wearing a golden leopard print leotard appeared. "This is Leopard. She has the Leopard shark bone. She's incredibly dangerous." The woman vanished, and was replaced by the figure of a white haired, extremely muscular man, wearing sunglasses. He had on a grey vest and black shorts. "This is Bull. He has the Bull shark bone. We don't know much about him, except he's extremely brutal, devastatingly strong-"

"And my father," Priona said bitterly. Cheeta paused for a moment, before continuing.

"Your job, Joe, is to neutralise these three."

"What?!" Joe gasped. "But…I barely beat Mako! How can I-"

"You won't be alone," she reassured. "Egg will be with, as will Aka."

"I don't need them," Egg interjected.

"I know you don't, Egg. But Joe and Aka need the experience."

"Aka? Who's that?" Joe frowned. All of a sudden, a face appeared in front of him, suspended upside-down, red hair hanging down.

"Boo!" A girl's voice said sharply. Joe jumped back, falling backwards. He heard a loud snap and peals of hysterical laughter. He sat up. A girl with bright red hair stared back up at him, lying on the ground, her face alive with mirth, her body shaking. She had on a black one-piece tracksuit, with matching boots. Her eyes were a bright sky blue and she had fair skin, though not as light as Priona's.

"Your face…you looked like a disabled duck!" She laughed even harder, tears streaming from her eyes. Joe stood there in embarrassment, wondering what to do.

"This is Aka," Cheeta told him.

"She honestly makes me wonder how we're the same age," Priona scoffed.

"Enough chatting," Egg commanded. Aka fell silent, sitting up. He gestured to Joe and her. "Let's get this mission done."