"Are we there yet?" Twilight Prankster asked as he and Cobra leapt through the woods.
"No..." said Cobra for what felt like, and probably was, the thousandth time. "We'll get there when we get there!!!"
A white haired woman who was following them as they leapt and dashed between the trees sighed loudly. "You know, you boys are just so darn loud!"
"Well Angel, tell that to Ronald Mcloudmouth over here!" said Cobra. "I'm really tired of hearing him!"
"Hey! Cobra!" said Twilight Prankster. "Did anyone ever tell you that you have a very interesting hairstyle?"
"Yes, several times." said Cobra rolling his eyes. "As I recall, it was you every time."
"Well...I don't know if you know this...but, you look like somebody from Dragon Ball Z."
"For pete's sake! I don't know what heck is Dragon Ball!!" shouted Cobra. "Why anybody would want to make an animation about a dragon's junk is beyond me!!!!"
"Cobra..."
"WHAAAATTTT!!!!?"
"Can I call you Vegeta?"
"....mutter mutter.."
Angel shook her head. "How long is this stupid trip going to last?"1
Suddenly Cobra stopped in his tracks. His ears perked up. "Hold it."
The others stopped in their tracks as well.
"Oh boy Vegeta!" said Twilight Prankster. "Are we looking for a Seveneleven? Because I want a Gatorade!!"
"First of all...don't call me that...second of all...it looks like the enemy is on to us." said Cobra.
"How many?" asked Angel.
"Two." said Cobra. "From what I can hear...none of them are human. I don't know exactly how strong they are...but they sound skilled...we're going to need a different approach...we can't afford to get into a fight yet, not when we're so close. Yo' Prankster!"
"Yeeeeesss?" said Twilight Prankster jovially."
"We're going to need to play a little trick on the ones following us."
"But Cobra!" said Twilight Prankster. "Trix are for kids!"
Cobra and Angel just stared at Twilight Prankster for a second.
"Fine fine! I'm going!" said Twilight Prankster dissapearing in a puff of smoke and confetti.
Several miles away, Plasmoid and Slither were going through the forest, Slither was gliding along the floor while Plasmoid flew.
"Jeez, you're so slow...if it wasn't for you slowing me down, I would have caught them by now." said Slither.
"And then you'd be left a single snake going up against three high level mages." said Plasmoid as he cackled again. "You're always in such a rush Slither."
"Whatever...let's just catch up quickly." muttered the snake man.
Suddenly there was massive burst of smoke and confetti right in front of both Slither and Plasmoid, causing them to stop abruptly. Twilight Prankster jumped out, wearing a tie and glasses over his mask as well as a top hat.
"Night Reveler!?" said Plasmoid with a bit of shock.
"TREES TREES TREES!!" said Twilight Prankster spreading his hands out. "Welcome to the Prankster and Co. super tree blowout event!"
"Hello!! I'm Hank Hankerchief, local trees salesman!" said the harlequin grabbing Slither's hand and shaking it. "And as you can see! ALL THESE TREES MUST GO!!"
Twilight Prankster began pointing out all the random trees in the area. "WE've got BIG TREES, SMALL TREES, FAT TREES! We've even got HOT ROD TREES AND TREES WITH ANGER MANAGEMENT ISSUES!!"4
Twilight Prankster gestured at one tree that was painted over with hot rod flames and had a flaming motor and tires stuck to it. There was another tree next to it with an old knarled mouth that said. "HEY! ya wanna go bub?! I'll take you DOWN!!!!"
"This isn't Night Reveler..." said Slither. "But the two of them have the same strange attitude."
"Oh!" said the harlequin. "If you purchase a tree now, I'll be sure to include our special pet squirrel deal!"
Twilight Prankster gestured over to a 12 foot tall squirel that was foaming at the mouth and growling. It instantly leapt onto the surprised Slither and began trying to strangle him mercilessly.
As Slither yelled out in surprise, Twilight Prankster chuckled. "Awwwww...he likes you!!"
Plasmoid pointed his pincer like hand at the harlequin. "Get the stupid squirrel off him now!"
"But sir! I haven't had a chance to talk to you about the company that just bought mine!...ACME!"
"ACME?"1
Suddenly a ginormous anvil with the logo for ACME fell out of the sky smashed Plasmoid to the ground.
"Meep meep!" said Twilight Prankster before he shot off at super speed, leaving behind a trail of dust and fire.1
The anvil exploded into glowing metal liquid as Plasmoid blasted out in a fury. "I am going to MURDER that clown!!"
Slither, who had just defeated the squirrel after much scratching flashed his eyes dangerously at Plasmoid. "Don't be too reckless! Ghost Slumberer is still on reconaissance and we don't know what this clown is capable of..."
"He seems pretty much like Night Reveler." said Plasmoid.
"And since when could we ever predict him?"
"Good point." said Plasmoid. "But that doesn't mean we aren't going to tear him apart!!"
Plasmoid and Slither shot after Twilight Prankster. After about 5 minutes however, something strange happened.
suddenly the sky turned dark red as what appeared to be a dome of some sort of energy covered the area for miles. Twilight Prankster suddenly appeared floating above the trees.
"Etherial World 1: La Distorsión." said Twilight Prankster in a lower more serious then normal tone. "I figured you chumps would come after me after that stunt I pulled back there. So I figured I would set a trap. Your magic energy already seems to be quite high...a fight with your two wouldn't be smart...however a fight with me...that's a completely different matter.
Twilight Prankster spread out his arms. "Welcome to my world. La Distorsión is a spell I myself invented. I already have somewhat of an ability to manipulate reality. But in this world, my imagination's limits fade by an immeasurable ammount. You could say it's like a boost to my hard drive.."
Twilight Prankster snapped his fingers, and instantly a multitude of ginormous tanks roared out of the forest, followed by several Tyrannosaurus's."
"You might get out of here." said Twilight Prankster. "You might not. All I know is that it looks like you're going to be looking at a pretty unhappy time in my world..."
50 miles away. Campsite at the edge of the forest.
Mikoto opened her eyes. It had been a long time since she had slept. Normally she wouldn't have been able to sleep, but thanks to her exhaustion of having fought both Jackal and Slither, she went out like a light bulb.2
Mikoto sat up to find herself in the bed of her dorm room. "Thank goodness...everything was just a dream."
"Yep it's just a dream!" Mikoto looked to see Natsu doing pushups in her room while the door turned blue and Happy's face emerged on it. Lucy was crawling over the cieling while spitting bubbles out of her mouth as Elli was dancing with Gekota all over the desk.1
Mikoto stuttered for a moment before Slither's head came out from under her blanket and said. "Would you like me to read you a bedtime story?"
"WHHHHHAAAAAAAA!!!!!" Mikoto bolted up from her sleeping bag inside the tent.
"Mikoto!" exclaimed Elli who was sitting next to her. "What's wrong!?"
Mikoto felt her hand over Elli's furry head quickly to check that she was real. "S-sorry Elli..I had a weird dream."
"Was it the super big Happy again?"
"No...you know I haven't had that dream in months."
"Oh yeah.."
Mikoto shook herself a little. "Elli. I think I might be going crazy."
"Don't say that Mikoto." said Elli. "You're just stressed, that's all."
"I wasn't like this during World War 4.." Mikoto muttered. "I went on against a bunch of Russian tanks and didn't even flinch...now look at me."1
"Well you were looking for Touma right?" said Elli. "Not fighting a war.."
"I guess.."
Mikoto sighed. She couldn't seem to shake the feeling that she was forgetting something...something really important. At that moment, the tent flap opened and a soldier who looked smaller then the rest and was wearing her helmet visor up came in and gave Mikoto a cup of water.
"Thanks.." said Mikoto. "Guess I slept until lunch...wait A SECOND!!"
Before the soldier could react, Mikoto ripped the helmet off the soldier to reveal a girl with long silver hair.
"INDEX!! So Touma was right!!"
"Eh!?" said the nun. "How did you know Miss Shorthair!?"
"Nevermind that!" said Mikoto. "What the heck do you think you're doing!? This whole place is a battle zone!"
"Hmph!" said Index pouting. "Who else!? I came here because of YOU!"
"M-Me!?" said Mikoto taken aback. "Since when have ever cared about my well being!?"
"Since stupid Touma won't stop talking about you!!" said Index. "It's always 'oh I hope Biribiri is okay' and 'Oh I wonder how Biribiri is right now'! Well somebody has to keep an eye on you to make sure you don't die and make Touma go all sad!!"
Mikoto groaned. This was just like Index, thinking she was the one who would be able to solve everything. "You....I don't even know what to say....at least you didn't bring-"
Before Mikoto could finish her sentence she heard a small mewing sound and the calico kitten known as sphinx peeked it's head out of Index's collar.
Mikoto just stared. "You actually....oh my god...REALLY!?"
"Well what would you have done Miss Shorthair!?" said Index.
"I would've called a pet sitter!"
"Well you didn't do that with Elli!"
"Elli isn't my pet! She's my friend!" said Mikoto. "Anyways!! What do you think Erza's going to think when she finds out!?"
"E-Erza?" said Index in a small voice. "Y-you wouldn't tell her..."
"Well it's not like I have a choice." said Mikoto. "You're not a soldier Index."
"Well neither are you!" said Index as she ran from the tent in a huff.
Mikoto didn't follow Index, she didn't even say anything. What Index had just said really hit home for her. She wasn't a soldier. She was a fighter yes...someone who longed to protect her friends...but a soldier?"
Mikoto hugged her knees. She couldn't even handle killing one enemy. She was no soldier. She was just an ordinary 15 yr old girl stuck in the middle of a warzone she didn't belong in.
True, you are not a soldier...But you are so much more... The voice of Elanis echoed from within Mikoto.
"...But how many people must I drag down before I reach that destiny?" Mikoto murmured.
Mikoto's eyes dimmed as she began to fall asleep again. Her exhaustion still hadn't thinned out apparently. As her lids closed, she felt Elli curl up on her chest and sleep as well.
Mikoto was walking through a volcanic wasteland. Magma shifted around everywhere. The molten rock beneath her feet felt warm with the intense power of the earth.
"As she walked through the world of fire...she could see that the entire sky was obscured by black volcanic ash, the light from the area all came from the molten heat of the land. In the sky, she could see the slight shapes of Etherial Wyrms hunting for humans and other animals...though she knew they wouldn't find what they were looking for. This land was too harsh for any normal human being.
In fact, Mikoto was sure that had this not been a dream, she wouldn't have survived this environment either.
Mikoto looked up as a massive shadow crossed across the molten ground and a tremendous red dragon landed in front of her, it's glowing orange eyes burned with a flaming power.
"Igneel." Mikoto said.
The dragon nodded, but did not speak, instead he gestured behind him with his head and lumbered off. Apparently Mikoto was supposed to follow him.
Mikoto walked after Igneel, all the while feeling a combination of foreboding and excitement. What could the greatest of all Fire Dragons want to show her?
Igneel stopped in front of what appeared to be a dark cave in the side of a large mountain. "In there...tread carefully young one...This is not a world for the faint of heart."
"I already know..." said Mikoto. "I've been living it...."
As she walked into the cave and left Igneel far behind, she could feel the heat increase. The ground trembled with more power as she went further and further in. Eventually she came into a chamber that was brightly lit by the completely orange moleten earth.
In the center of the chamber was a rocky alter with a giant book sitting on it Mikoto stared at the book fr a moment. She didn't know why, but something felt ominous about that book. Terribly ominous indeed.
It was as if her body was moving on it's own, she couldn't stop her hands as they shakilly moved towards the book cover and opened it to the first page.
On the first page of the book were several simple words. Words that had been haunting Mikoto ever since she had discovered the ttruth about the prophecy back in Fulmen. Three simple words:
You will die....at the end of all things, you will die".