Chapter 1
An Odd Birthday Gift


His name is Mitch Hitt. He is your average kid, living in Anchorage, Alaska doing all the average kid stuff. Going to school, doing homework hanging with friends, the good stuff. Now our story starts on a unique day for Mitch, it is his 17th birthday. Now Mitch isn’t your most popular kid at school, actually he is kind of a loser in most people’s opinions. He has a few friends but almost everybody either doesn’t see him or just recognizes him as an oddball loser. Now this didn’t outright bother Mitch, by now he has gotten used to it and sometimes even appreciates it. Whenever he has a bad day or if he is in a bad mood he can just be quiet and everybody will just overlook him as if he were invisible. Yet there are times when his invisibility upset him. Like when he wants to be noticed by Sherry, the girl he has a huge crush on. Even when he tries really hard to be noticed it just doesn’t work. Sherry will be walking down the hall, a pen falls out of her bag and Mitch picks it up. He gathers his courage but all that manages to come out is a whisper of the words, “…..sh….sh..sherry…..yo..u..dropp..pp…ped…th…thh…is…” but she doesn’t hear him and continues down the hall. Well enough of that back to Mitch’s birthday. School had just gotten out and Mitch was walking and talking with his best friend Jimmy, the classic school weirdo. Mitch said to him, “So dude are you gonna come over to my house tonight? I know my folks are gonna order pizza.” Jimmy replied, “Of course dude, you know I wouldn’t miss your birthday and your totally gonna love the gift I got you.” Mitch gives Jimmy a funny look then said, “You got me that ninja game I wanted didn’t you?” Shocked Jimmy screamed, “WHO TOLD YOU!?!?!!?” Mitch laughed heartedly then said, “You did dummy!! You told me earlier without thinking after you chugged those two Mountain Dew’s and were on a caffeine buzz!!!” Jimmy chuckled to himself then said, “Oh yea I forgot hehehehe.” Mitch laughed harder and said, “I’m surprised you can remember it at all, you had the hardest caffeine crash I’ve ever seen!! I was almost certain when your head smacked your desk that you would bust it!”. The two continued walking, talking, laughing, and the lot. They then parted ways when Jimmy’s mom came and picked him up. Mitch continued on, he walked home everyday because he hated taking the bus it was just too much noise for him. The walk home wasn’t bad or anything either, all he had to do was walk to the crosswalk, then continue down the road for a short ways to his neighborhood. There was a bit more spring in his step this day because he couldn’t wait to get home and start his birthday and relaxing weekend. Yet this particular walk was not going to be like any other he had ever made before.
Fate was preparing to intervene. As he continued to walk down the sidewalk, meanwhile in a completely other dimension a dark army was mustering its strength. A world of pure darkness parallel to our world of light. The beings that existed in this realm were much like humans except that their skin was a dark shade of black, much like the night sky. Their skin was covered in fine velvet like fur. They had pointed ears, large read eyes, and long slender tails ending in arrow like points. Their body structure and heights were similar to ours except that their shape and outline was more like a shadow, with more rounded features and that all were incredibly slender. Their bodies being much skinnier then our both in depth and width, and the shape seemed a mix between human and cat. Their faces were truly peculiar though, their eyes were the only things truly visible. They had mouths but they were only noticeable if one of their semi-sharp white fangs poked out and there was only a slight outward dent to even hint at a nose, as if it were hidden behind a mask. Hundreds of thousands of these creatures were gathered around a blood-red throne. A much larger demon stood at the throne, he was a unique specimen. He stood an ominous ten feet tall, having the body structure of a gorilla on steroids. Even his face made him stand apart, he had a mouth littered with razor-sharp fangs, and his head was adorned with an array of menacing looking spikes and blades. He was obviously the leader of the other demons and he roared loudly. His beastly call rattled the very dimension they existed in. Then he said, “My dark brothers and sisters, too long has the light ruled over us!! Condemning us to this lowly existence while they are free to go anywhere and do whatever they choose!!! It is time that there was a change in the order of things!!!! We will rule the world of light and we will banish those light following fools to this horrid pit!!” As he spoke the demons around him shrieked, growled and roared in approval and rage. He motioned them to silence and they do so instantly. “I appreciate your eagerness but before we can send our armies to march on the palace of light we need to form an energy anchor at one of the energy points that cover the Earth, the midpoint between our two realms. One of you, our brave Shaakin warriors, will need to travel to the Earth and establish the anchor.” The ruling Shaakin looked around and grabbed one of his fellow Shaakin in his grip. He glared at him with an evil smile then said, “We have a volunteer”. Suddenly the ruler’s claws glowed bright red and got much longer, then he slashed at the air and ripped a hole in space. “Now warrior, go to Earth and set up an energy link or don’t come back at all!!!” He then hurled the held Shaakin through the hole.

Back with Mitch everything was going fine, he was enjoying his walk home when suddenly large black claw marks appeared in front of him. Soon the claw marks formed into a gash in space and out of it fell an odd black creature. Mitch stood their scared out of his mind at what was obviously some being not of earth. The creature then stood up and in some odd language, that sounded like a mix of screeching, and cat meows, it muttered something. The creature then turned towards Mitch and looked shocked to see him. Mitch jumped when he was seen by the creature. Suddenly it shrieked at him angrily and lunged forward. Mitch gasped as he felt claws tear through his body, he looked down to see a huge gash in his stomach then he fell over and passed out.
Mitch awakened suddenly in a foggy, white area. It didn’t look like a room or anything, just a white foggy plane of existence. Mitch had a feeling like he had been sleeping for an incredibly long time but before he could put much more thought into it he hears a loud voice, “Mitch….” Mitch looked up to see two figures standing before him one mostly white with a black face, the other is just the opposite being mostly black with a white face. The White one spoke first saying, “I am Yin” “And I am Yang. We are the gods who are charged with keeping balance in the universe.” says the other being. Mitch stood up quickly and asked “Whoa!?! Wait? What happened? What’s going on?” They then begin to speak simultaneously, “You were attacked by a Shaakin warrior, the Shaakin are the people of the shadows. They live in the darkness of your world, and in fact you see them everyday. Just in a form you are more used to seeing, they are your shadows, the shadows of everything in your world. The people opposite of them are the Lietan, they are the people of the light and they live in the light that fills your world. Since the beginning of your world’s existence the two tribes have existed harmoniously, accepting their place in order and not challenging it, but recently a rather unique being was born in the Shaakin world. His name is Wrath and he is not willing to accept the role fate has charged his people and seeks to conquer all. We cannot allow this else it will upset the balance and the universe will fall into chaos.”
The two gods then said “This is where you come into play human.” Mitch looked at the two gods oddly, “Me? Are you sure you aren’t looking for the quarterback of the football team? He’s definitely got the grunt needed to take on an army.” Yin and Yang responded, “No, he is not who we are looking for.” Mitch says, “Yea you’re probably right, trusting the fate of the world to the hands of an idiot isn’t the greatest idea in retrospect.” Yin and Yang snapped, “Mitch this is no time for humor and sarcasm, you are the one needed to ensure balance is maintained.” Mitch looked at them with a sudden seriousness on his face, “Fine, but how do you expect me to stop an army of those things? Just one took me down in less then a few seconds!!!” Yin and Yang then said, “To keep balance in this universe you must represent balance.” Suddenly a Lietan warrior appears. He looked very similar to the Shaakin warrior Mitch had seen except his skin seemed metallic. It gleamed and reflected light brilliantly. Also his lower face seemed as though it had formed into a protective face mask, preventing anyone from seeing his mouth or nose. Aside from his skin and face he seemed to be identical to the Shaakin he had seen before. Yin said, “This is Prism, he is one of the light worlds mightiest warriors.” Then suddenly a Shaakin warrior appears. Mitch freaked out and yelled, “THAT’S THE THING THAT ATTACKED ME!!!!” The Shaakin growled and said, “Not like you’d be able to tell the difference between us shadow beings anyway you waste of flesh. Your sense of smell is too weak to recognize me as a unique being.” Yang then says, “Though the Shaakin is right in his statement about your senses you are right in his identification, this is the one that attacked you.” Mitch yelled, “Why would you let him near me again then?!” The two gods then began to speak in unison again. “Like we said to keep universal balance you must represent universal balance, you need to have both a warrior of the light and a warrior of the dark adding their powers to yours. Shade was the only being of the dark that we could trust anchoring to you.” Mitch gave them an odd look, “Why could he be trusted?” Shade growled and said, “Because I would be considered a failure and executed upon return to my dimension, and call me selfish but if being banished to your body to serve some universal good saves my life then I’ll role with it.” Mitch looked at Shade surprised feeling that he misunderstood what sounded like a hard life for this dark creature. Mitch then changed the expression on his face to concern, “Wait you said you were gonna anchor them to me, what does that mean?” Yin and Yang answered, “We will let you discover that for yourself human, it is now time to wake up…” Mitch looked at them oddly, “But I’m not asleep.” The two said again, “Wake up….Mitch…wake up.” Mitch looked at them angrily and said “I’m not asleep!!!” They said again, “Mitch….please wake up….please…”
Suddenly Mitch awoke in a hospital bed. His friend Jimmy, his parents, and Mitch’s parents were standing around him. Mitch’s mom said happily, “OH MITCH!!!!! Your ok!!!!” She hugged him tightly and he coughed a bit from how tightly she was holding him. Mitch looked down at his stomach and saw no cut, no scar, nothing. He then looked up at his mom and asked, “Why am I in the hospital?” She responded, “Sweetie you were found passed out on the sidewalk, you were quickly rushed here and they had no idea what was ailing you. They weren’t sure if you’d ever wake up.” Mitch looked at her then asked, “No…cuts?” Mitch’s mom looked at him and said, “No honey, no cuts…why?” Mitch thought for a second and said, “No reason, never mind.” Jimmy then walked up to Mitch, handed him his present and said, “Here you go dude happy birthday.”


Chapter 2
Choose Wisely
A few days passed by and Mitch had a pretty relaxing weekend, aside from the events of Friday. He was let out of the hospital a few hours after he woke up. He ended up getting lots of the stuff he was hoping for for his birthday. He spent the remainder of the weekend kicking back and being lazy, but he couldn’t help but remember what he saw and what those beings told him. He was trying to make sense of at that happened on that walk home. Why he was attacked on his walk home yet how he had no cuts when he arrived in the hospital. He was also trying to figure out if he had imagined the whole event, the attack and his talk with Yin and Yang. He felt that that could be a logical explanation, because he did randomly pass out on the sidewalk and was sent to the hospital for that. He told himself that obviously his mind was sick and that all of that stuff that happened was just some hallucination. The only thing that stopped him from accepting this answer was that every night since the incident he has had the same dream. He sees himself standing on a vast plain watching Prism and Shade fighting. Why they are fighting he isn’t sure but Mitch can’t help but watch their clash. As these two fight their true might is shown. Shade fights with a true savagery, not caring how he wins so long as he does so. He channels dark energy in his hands and throws hundreds of them at Prism in less then a few seconds. The first energy ball decimates the ground as it lands near Prism and it is closely followed by hundreds more, these ones more on target. Mitch stares forward, horrified that the light warrior has fallen leaving only this evil thing inside, but as the dust clears Mitch sees Prism standing there, unscathed, holding a shield. Mitch looks closer and sees that Prism isn’t holding the shield, but that the lower part of his left arm transformed into a shield. Suddenly Prism swings his right arm down quickly, it transforms, and then he points his new arm at Shade. It looks to Mitch like some kind of odd gun and when Prism fires it his suspicions are confirmed. His arm fired an odd energy beam at shade but just as it was about to hit him he vanished in a puff of smoke. He then reappeared behind Prism holding two large blades. The blades he held were curved and black but they look like they were made of some black fire that was burning in the shape of a sword. Shade swings at Prism, but just before he hits Prism swings around and blocks with a blade sticking out of his wrist and another sticking out of the other wrist. Prism’s blades looked different the Shades, they weren’t pointed they were straight and looked like short sword blades that he made on his hands for optimum control. Mitch stared on as these two continued to war, each using incredible power to fight the other. This dream always ended the same way though. Both Prism and Shade were preparing to unless their strongest attacks and just as they do, everything goes white and then he would wake up. Mitch didn’t know what to make of the dream and it continued to bother him. This reoccurring dream infuriated him because so long as he had it there was doubt in his mind that he was the only one existing within his body.
So Monday rolled around as it always must and Mitch headed back off to school. He decided to take the bus this time despite his feeling about it. He sat down and really just tried to ignore everyone and hope that he could have a peaceful ride to school, but just as he started to space out he heard a voice calling his name, he looked around very alert and asked, “Yes? Hello? What’s up?” No one responded to him and he let it go, but once again just as he started to space out he heard the same voice call his name. This time Mitch was sure he heard something but he also thought that the voice sounded odd, he couldn’t put his finger out it but it just didn’t sound human to him. Mitch was unable to relax for the rest of the ride to school, and when he got there Jimmy saw him and ran up to say, “Hi dude!! Man you took the bus? I thought you hated taking the bus to school?” Mitch replied, “I do, but I didn’t feel comfortable walking here today.” Jimmy then said, “Yea I understand dude, after what happened to you on Friday I don’t blame you. So what’s up for today?” Mitch replied, “Oh same old same old, I’ve gotta get through first hour dealing with that jerk Marvin.” Jimmy clenched his teeth and said, “Ohhhh…. Yea I forgot you gotta put up with him in two of your classes, and one right at the beginning of the day too! That’s a bummer man.”
Marvin was your classic school bully. Big football jock who thought he was super awesome, even though he thought fifty divided by five was zero. So obviously we were talking about a true scholar among the student body. Marvin hated school except for P.E., lunch and football, and he hated it when someone else, namely scrawny Mitch, made learning and understanding look so easy. Mitch shared two classes with Marvin 1st and 5th. 5th period was never bad for Mitch, it was history witch Mitch understood very well and Marvin always chose to sleep through the class so Mitch didn’t have to worry about him much. The same couldn’t be said about 1st period though, it was P.E. and Marvin loved to watch Mitch suffer in sports. Today the fates truly seemed against Mitch because the teacher said, “Ok you lot today we are going to play one of the greatest games of all time! FOOTBALL!” Marvin shouted a resounding, “YES!!!” and Mitch thought to himself “Well another trip to the hospital wouldn’t be too bad…. At lest this time we can sue if I do end up there.” The teacher decided to be “fair” and let the students pick captains who would then pick the teams. Marvin and another guy on the football team both got the captain positions, and as everyone lined up along the wall Mitch decided to sit instead of stand. The teacher yelled, “HITT!!! Get off your lazy ass and stand with the others!!!” Mitch replied, “Why? I’m gonna be picked last anyways, and the two captains are just going to argue who has to get stuck with me. So while all the other pickings take place, and while the dumb argument ensues I’ll sit.” The teacher gave Mitch an infuriated look, witch Mitch only felt he got because he proved his point, but then let it go. All the team pickings soon took place and sure enough Mitch was the last person to be picked. The two captains looked like they might try to kill each other over who wouldn’t get stuck with Mitch. Mitch watched their fight and in his head he was begging “Please break Marvin’s leg. PLEASE!!!” Soon enough they had decided and Mitch was assigned to the team opposite Marvin’s. The two teams played hard and Marvin continued to go out of his way to flatten Mitch even if he didn’t have the ball. Mitch soon got tired of it and wished he had to the power to fight back. He was shocked when he heard a voice say to him, “You do.” He looked around shocked then went back to playing.
Marvin continued to beat on Mitch and he was finally good and pissed off. He thought in his head, “UGH!!! If I had the power I’d show that fool what I can do!!!” The voice came back and said again, “You do. You have the power you are wishing for, it is buried within you.” Mitch thought back, “Well how do I use it then?” The voice replied, “Concentrate entirely on freeing the power within you, and you must believe that it is there or you are simply wasting your time.” Mitch felt a little stupid but decided to stop on the field and concentrate. At first he felt nothing, and felt incredibly stupid for just standing there appearing to space out in the middle of the game. Then suddenly he felt an amazing power come over him and heard a voice say “I am Prism, Lietan warrior and I lend you my strength.” Mitch felt more powerful then he ever had in his whole life. He suddenly, heard another kid in the class yell, “Mitch heads up!!!” He looked up and saw the ball coming down towards him, then he looked forward and saw Marvin on a collision coarse towards him. Mitch got focused, he waited until Marvin and the ball got closer. Then he jumped up caught the ball with one hand and used his other to spring over Marvin while he was in the air. He landed behind Marvin, looked back for a second, and then ran towards the other goal. Mitch couldn’t believe it, he was running faster then he ever had in his whole life. He was zooming by people and as he did so they looked like mere blurs to him. People felt a gust of wind as Mitch passed them. In no time at all he was in the other goal zone. Mitch felt incredible, he had never felt like a winner when it came to sports but this day he certainty did fell like one. He continued to dominate for the rest of the game, and he took an extra measure to shame Marvin. His team ended up not only wining but severally shaming the other team. They went back to the locker room at the end of class. He thought about all the power he had and everything he could do with it. He dreamt of showing off to Sherry to try and impress her. Then he thought about being a super hero, going around and saving people like the ones in the comic books. Mitch left the class feeling abnormally awesome and confident. This feeling lasted for the rest of the day, until school got out.
The last bell rang and the students started to head for home. Mitch was talking to Jimmy about what happened in P.E., not telling him about the voices in his head, just saying what he had done. “Dude that’s amazing!! How did you do all that?!”, Jimmy asked. Mitch replied, “Oh I just believed in myself and it all just happened.” Jimmy said, “Wow dude that’s incredible! Hahaha I wish I could have seen the look on Marvin’s face!” Mitch replied, “Yea it was pretty priceless, hahaha!!” The two continued to walk then Jimmy’s mom shows up. Jimmy asked, “Hey dude, are you gonna walk, or do you want a ride home?” Mitch replied, “Nah I’ll walk I’m feeling pretty good right now.” The two friends said good-bye to one another and Mitch started to head for home. He didn’t get incredibly far before he was ambushed by Marvin and some of his bully friends though. “What do you want Marvin?”, Mitch asked. Marvin replied, “That was a stupid stunt you pulled today in P.E. Mitch. I don’t know how you did the things you did but me and my friends are here to teach you not to do it again.” Mitch replied, “I proved today that I was stronger then you both mentally and physically and now you want to fight me? Why? Do you want to learn how they take care of people at the hospital?” Marvin growled then said, “You’ll pay for that wimp!!” He ran towards Mitch with his fists held high. Mitch looked deep within and concentrated hard on releasing the power within, again it worked but this time it felt different. The power that flowed over him felt odd and he heard a voice say, “I am Shade, warrior of the Shaakin and your body is mine for now!!!” Suddenly he fell to the ground and felt his body change. Mitch screamed in pain and Marvin stopped dead in his tracks as he watched Mitch’s body slowly transform into Shade’s Shaakin form. Marvin took a few steps back, shocked, and asked, “What are you?” Shade replied, “Your executioner.” Shade’s hands become covered in a black fire, he then grabbed Marvin’s head with one of his black fire hands. Marvin screamed loudly as Shade’s claws gripped his head. Marvin’s eyes dilated and he started to shout, “NO!! NOO!! STAY AWAY!!! NO NOT THE DARK!! NOT THE DARK!!!” Shade chuckled and glared evilly at Marvin then said, “You humans have such frail minds, they are easily destroyed from the inside out.” Marvin’s friends ran to help him but Shade kicked one hard in the chest and he flew far away and landed hard on the sidewalk, he the grabbed the other’s foot with his tail and tripped him. He then reshaped his tail into a much sharper dark blade, which he stabbed into his leg. The kid rolled around screaming in pain then Shade tossed Marvin aside and laughed maniacally. Mitch’s body returned to its normal state and he saw what he did to Marvin and his friends. He screamed, “WHAT HAPPENED!?!?! WHAT DID YOU DO!?!?!” Shade’s voice replied, “You asked for help, I provided it.” Mitch responded, “I didn’t want this!!!” Shade’s voice returned and he says, “Well maybe you should choose more carefully about when to use your powers human.” Mitch looked at what he did then ran off.


Chapter 3
Time to Work
Mitch ran home as quickly as he could, he couldn’t believe what he had just done to Marvin and his friends. He wanted to teach them a lesson yes but he didn’t want to put them in the hospital or in Marvin’s case give them a lobotomy. All the time while he was running home he was arguing with Shade. “I can’t believe you did that!!! Those guys could be in the hospital for weeks or worse!”, Mitch yelled in his head. Shade replied, “You were the one who needed help human. If you don’t like the consequences these powers might bring you then maybe you shouldn’t use them so recklessly!” Mitch growled then said, “I wasn’t the one who choose to use lethal force, if I had used Prism’s powers there wouldn’t have been a problem I would have just scared them off!” Shade snapped back, “Well human, as the great ones said, to keep balance you must represent balance. You can’t always transform into Prism otherwise you would upset the balance!” Mitch replied, “Well why do you fight so violently?” Shade growled deeply with anger, “You obviously have little understanding of the Shaakin people and their culture. Very well since I can’t blame you for not knowing about something your people didn’t know existed I’ll explain it to you. All Shaakin, Lietan, and Humans are connected in a way. Every time a human is born one Lietan and one Shaakin is born.” Mitch said, “Ok, what about when a human dies? What happens then?” Shade replied, “Nothing, human death has no affect on the Lietan or Shaakin, save for the fact that it means there is one less human on the planet to help make more humans. Neither we Shaakin or the Lietan understand why, but the two rulers of harmony decided that your race’s neutral existence would bring life to our races. Knowing them they did it to help ensure that neither the Lietan nor the Shaakin would try to use Earth as a bridge to the other race’s world for fear of mass human death.” Mitch then asked, “Well if that’s been one of the things keeping each of your races in your place why then has Wrath chosen to use Earth as a bridge?” Shade sighed, “Wrath has somehow found a way to disconnect the Shaakin from this birth cycle, and because of this the Shaakin population nearly doubles the Human’s and therefore the Lietan’s.” Mitch thought about it for a second then asked, “Well if the humans are no longer of any use to him what will Wrath and the Shaakin army do once they reach Earth?” Shade snickered a bit then said, “Knowing that maniac he’ll have the army purge the planet of your kind. That way the Lietan’s population would cease to rise and victory would be inevitable for him and his ideals of total conquest.” Mitch thought about the idea of humanity being erased from the Earth, then said “Wow…that’s pretty serious, I guess your right about not abusing my powers for fun..” Shade said, “Your damn right it’s serious!!!” Mitch replied, “I’m surprised you even care, you were part of the army that was going to conquer the Earth until Yin and Yang captured you.” Shade said, “Well I didn’t want to be part of that army. When Wrath took over our world everyone had to join the army or be killed. I didn’t have a lot of options, and the reason I fight the way I do is also because of Wrath. When he took over he looked at how our army trained people and considered it too weak. He remade it into basically a gladiatorial boot camp. Everyone who was enlisted was forced into huge walled off areas, and before you ask human no we couldn’t teleport out of them. We have thieves in our world too you know, we need to be able to make walls that can’t be teleported through. Anyway anyone enlisted was put in one of these areas and told the only way to get out was to kill one hundred other recruits. I was trapped in that pit for five years and I only survived by being cruel, deceitful, harsh, and deadly. I learned that all enemies must die, there is no middle ground, no balance, and no compromise. You either lived or died.” Mitch was going to respond but stopped himself. He felt as though he had learned more about Shade then he would have ever guessed he’d know, and he felt that Shade wasn’t as evil as he seemed at first glance. That he was just someone trying to survive like everyone else. Mitch decided he should say something though otherwise the mood of the conversation might become awkward, so he said, “Ok, after I get home we three need to talk about what needs to be done to stop Wrath.” Shade then said, “Very well human we will speak later then.”
Mitch continued home, when he got there he dropped his backpack in his room then sat down on his bed. He thought to himself for a moment about his powers. He told himself that these powers weren’t to be taken lightly. That all the plans he had made after P.E. of being a super hero, and using his powers to impress Sherry, were no longer important. That those things were what he wanted not why he was given these great powers. He clenched his fists and closed his eyes tightly, so angry that when he finally had something that made him stand out and be cool was something that he couldn’t use however he wanted. He cursed his luck and felt as though he would continue to be an invisible loser to the world, and Sherry. Mitch shook his head trying to get back on task, he knew he needed to talk with Shade and Prism about what needed to be done next, but he didn’t really know how. He sat on his bed for a few minutes thinking to himself, “How am I supposed to contact them?” When suddenly he heard both Prism’s and Shade’s voices. Prism said, “So you wish to speak with us about what needs to be done next do you?” Mitch replied, “Uhhh…yea… sorry I’m still getting used to this you guys are in my head, hearing my thoughts thing.” Prism said, “Yes I’d assume it would take some getting used to.” Shade adds, “Yea especially when you got Shiny over there blinding your brain cells. Hahahah!!” Prism replied with a growl, “Foolish Shaakin, this is a time of seriousness and here you are making jokes? Don’t you care at all about what is at stake?” Shade was about to respond but Mitch answered first saying, “Yes he does, he told me all about what Wrath did to his world, and how he wants to help restore balance.” Prism said, “Oh really? Is that what he said? I’m sure he left out the part about when he tried to assassinate Wrath so that he could be ruler of the Shaakin and decimate your planet.” Mitch felt a sense of shock role over him and he asked Shade, “Is this true?” Shade sighed sadly, “Unfortunately human the Lietan speaks the truth, I did try to take over the Shaakin throne, and if I had I would have continued with Wrath’s plan.” Mitch asked angrily, “Well then why have you had the change of heart? Why do you want to go against your people now?” Shade replied, “Because I’m not going up against my people, I’m going up against Wrath. I failed in my attempt to assassinate him. He laughed at my attempt and beat me easily, then as further embracement he sent me to your world to try and establish an anchor at one of the energy points on the planet.” Prism suddenly yelled, “THE ENERGY POINTS!?!? You can’t be serious!!! There is no way Wrath is planning to use those to travel to Earth!” Mitch, very confused, asked, “What are the energy points? Why would Wrath be such a fool to use them as an anchor to get to Earth?” Prism replied, “The energy points are areas on your planet where harmonic energy, at its purest, pours out of the planet. These points contain immense power and if the power is harnessed properly the wielder of that power could do almost anything. The only problem about that is that neither of our races has yet to discover how to harness harmonic energy from these points safely.” Shade looked at Prism sadly and said, “Guess again Shiny, Wrath found a way to do it.” Prism replied, “That’s impossible!!!” Shade said, “No one knows exactly how Wrath came to posses this knowledge but he has a spell that will allow a Shaakin warrior to convert the energy pouring from one of those points into an anchor that would like our world to this one allowing Wrath’s armies to march freely to this world and bring him take much closer to domination.” Prism asked, “But where did he get this knowledge? Someone must know!” Shade replied, “Rumor has it that the knowledge to harness the energy point’s power has always been apart of my race, but that the spells were lost to us long ago. Some believe Wrath managed to find this spell buried in some ancient archive of our people. There is some good news though.” Mitch said, “Well spill it!! This conversation has been kind of a downer.” Shade replied, “There is another rumor that the Lietan have the spell to seal the energy points blocking access to them and their grand power.” Prism replied, “That’s not true we have no such spells.” Shade said, “Well maybe they are buried deep in your archives or something, all I’m saying is that those spells are really our only hope in stopping Wrath’s Plan. If we had it then we could travel to the energy points, and seal them one by one before any Shaakin would be able to make an anchor.” Both Prism and Mitch looked at Shade impressed with how well that plan would work. Then Prism said, “Well Shade you have made a valid point, but even if it is true that my people posses the knowledge of this spell it could be days before I find it. Then there is the possibility that it doesn’t even exist then I would have wasted who knows how long looking for nothing.” Shade replied, “I won’t lie it is a risk we would be taking by stopping to find this spell, but it is the only chance we have if we want to survive and restore balance. It would be impossible for us to fight off the Shaakin army forever with just the three of us. The only way we can win is by stopping it before it can get here.” Prism sat quietly, thinking hard about the choice that needed to be made, then Mitch said, “I agree with Shade. It might be a risk but we are screwed if we don’t find the spell.” Prism said, “I do believe the two of you are right, finding that spell is our only option if we want to be successful on this mission. Very well then I’ll head back to my world of light and try my best to find the spell we seek.” Shade said, “Ohhhh I bet you can’t wait to see your sweety, hahahahaha!” Mitch asked, “Prism, you have a girlfriend?” Prism said, “She is my fiancée actually.” Mitch said in surprise, “Wow I never would have guessed you had a fiancé. Could you give me some pointers on getting girls? Prism said, “This really isn’t the proper time to discuss such things, but since I know you’re going to insist I would say be honest and kind. That’s how I won my ladies heart.” Shade said, “Oh barf!!! I’m gonna need an airsickness bag if this conversation is going to fly into the mushy airspace.” Mitch said, “Hey shade don’t be such a jackass. Besides I’m sure there is a girl in your world that you like.” Shade replied, “No not really human. The last girl I liked was named Demona. I met her in Wrath’s new training camp. At first everything was awesome, but then I started to suspect that she had something against me.” Mitch asked, “Well what lead you to think that?” Shade replied, “Oh I don’t know maybe it was that time when I showed up in the forest clearing we agreed to meet at and instead of meeting her I was welcomed by about fifty other Shaakin trainees. Then there was that time when she handed me some fruit and there was a toxic fanged serpent wrapped around it.” Mitch said, “Ok well, I’m sorry that all happened.” Shade replied, “Ahh don’t be, right before I got out of that hell hole I light her tail on fire. Hahahahahah!!! The look on her face was priceless!” Mitch giggled a bit then said, “Ok, well I’m glad you feel ok about all that.” Mitch thought back and remembered that shade was the one to mention prism’s fiancé. Mitch asked, “Shade how did you know about Prism’s fiancée?” Shade replied, “Oh that’s easy it’s cause…” Prism cut Shade off and said, “Mitch, it’s not important. You should be focusing on our current problems. Cause while I’m gone you two should try and locate the closest energy point.” Mitch said, “Ok that makes sense but how exactly do we find these energy points?” Shade said, “Don’t worry human I know the spell needed to do that but I’m going to need some unique ingredients first.” Mitch asked, “Ok what exactly do you need?” Shade replied, “I am going to make a magical compass which will lead us to the energy points, starting with the one closest to our current location. The first ingredient is easy enough. We need a pointer that was made from elements found in the Earth, a fork from your kitchen will suffice. The other two ingredients will be harder to find. They both involve getting human blood, but you need two different samples. One must be the blood of someone who has seen, or interacted with a Shaakin and the other sample must be the blood of someone who has seen or interacted with a Lietan. Before you ask we can’t use your blood because with us in your body now you are not completely human anymore.” Mitch looked at Shade with a defeated expression on his face then said, “If we can’t use my blood then how are we going to get the samples we need?!” Shade replied, “It is a lot more common then you think. There are plenty of Shaakin and Lietan living in your world because they were exiled from their worlds. Your good friend Marvin is a nice example of a human who has had contact with a Shaakin, his blood would do nicely. How you will manage to get away with a sample of his blood is the hard part. As for the other sample, I’m sure there is someone around here that has had contact with a Lietan.” Mitch asked, “Why are you so sure that someone has had contact with one?” Shade replied, “Because when Lietans are banished they choose to change their image so that they look like humans. When I was teleported to this area I could smell the presence of a Lietan but I’m not sure where or who it is. Banished Lietans are very good at hiding their sent from any Shaakin who would want to find them.” Mitch asked, “So you know there is a banished Lietan hiding in the area but you don’t know who it is or exactly where they are?” Shade replied, “Yeah that’s right, but I’m sure one is around here. Other then Shiny over there.” “I heard that”, said Prism. Shade laughed a bit then Mitch said, “Ok sounds like we have some work to do you guys, Prism you get to work on finding that spell and Shade and I will work on making that compass.” Prism said, “Sounds good to me. Try to stay out of trouble while I’m gone, ok you two?” The two nodded in agreement, then Prism vanished in a flash of light. Mitch turned to look at Shade and Mitch said, “Telling us to stay out of trouble, jeeze. What does he think we are gonna do?” Shade looked back at Mitch and an evil smile slowly appeared on his face.


Chapter 4
A Fork, Some Blood, and the Secret Spell
Mitch sat down for a second after Prism left then said to Shade, “Well I guess we’d better get to work.” Mitch then got up and walked down stairs to his kitchen and snagged a fork from the silverware drawer. Then he walked back up to his bedroom and sat down. Mitch then said, “Ok that first part was easy, but now I have to got get those blood samples. Why do we need blood samples? How do they help the spell?” Shade replied, “Since what we are looking for are energy points, which over flow with the essence of harmonic energy, we need a balanced set of ingredients. The mineral from your Earth represents pure neutrality, and the two blood samples represent light and dark. When the blood is put on the fork and the spell is cast, it will be able to seek out any source of harmonic energy on this planet.” Mitch replied, “Ok that makes sense, I guess.” Mitch sat and thought for awhile about the two blood samples and how he was going to get them then he stopped in thought and asked, “Hey Shade?” Shade replied, “Yes human?” Mitch asked, “Why haven’t the cops come to my house to try and arrest me for what I did to Marvin and his buddies? I’m sure one of them was well enough by now to be able to say that it was my fault.” Shade thought for a minute then replied, “Well I’d say the most logical reason why they haven’t considered you a major suspect is because their story isn’t very believable. Think about it, if one of them had awakened and had told the police exactly what happened, he would have told them that they were going to beat you up but right before they were able to you transformed into a demon and beat them up. I doubt the cops are buying their story. Then on top of that if they decided to look at your criminal history they’d find no prior offences, as opposed to those guys who I’m sure have a small list of misdemeanors. The cops will probably determine that the three of them were doing some incredibly dangerous drug right when they were talking about beating you up. Then the drug made one mentally break down, and one beat himself up and stab the third guy in the leg. Leading all of them to think it was you because that was the last real thought they had in their minds.” Mitch thought about that then said, “Wow yea that does all make sense. Ok well now that I’m not super worried about that anymore, how am I going to get some blood from Marvin?” Shade replied, “I don’t know, but at least you know he isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. He is going to be in that hospital for awhile.” Mitch replied, “That’s true. Ok well since Marvin is already found I think we should focus on trying to find the banished Lietan and the people it is associating with.” Shade replied, “That sounds good to me. Tomorrow when you go to school I’ll lend you my power of smell. You will then be able to find a person who smells like a Lietan.” Mitch replied, “But I’ve never really smelled a Lietan before, how will I know the scent?” Shade said, “Ahhhhh, but you have smelled one. While Prism has been around you have smelled his scent and therefore the scent of a Lietan, your nose just isn’t powerful enough to recognize it.” Mitch replied, “Oh ok, well when I go to school tomorrow I’ll try to see if anyone smells like a Lietan.” Shade said, “Very good, well I’m gonna do some sleeping. I’ll talk to you tomorrow human.” And with that there is a sudden silence in Mitch’s mind. He found it odd that there was no talking going on within his head, and that simply hearing only his own voice felt strange. Mitch just sat motionless for a few moments like he didn’t know what to do. Then he decided to watch some TV until dinner was ready.
Meanwhile back with Prism in the world of light, he was busy combing the archives for anything on the spell he was looking for. He had already gone through hundreds of scrolls. Most of them simply not being about spells at all, and were quickly tossed aside. He spent some time reading the ones that were about spells but not a single one mentioned anything about a spell that could seal the Energy Points. After another five hours of searching and reading he decided to consult the ruler of the Lietan. Prism felt that if anyone in the world knew about the spell, and where it would be, that it would be Solaris. Prism approached the palace and told the guards, “Please move, I need to speak with the queen about something of the utmost importance.” They replied, “Of course Prism you know you are always welcome here. What has you so worried?” Prism said, “I’m sorry there isn’t time for me to explain I need to speak with Solaris.” The guards stood aside and let Prism into the halls. The inside of the palace was beautiful. It seemed to be entirely made of some clear crystal and light shown and reflected through it magnificently. Prism walked hurriedly towards the throne and as he passed some guards they began to bow in his presence. Prism reached the throne and upon it sat Queen Solaris, She looked similar to Prism save for the fact that she was a female. Her body seemed a bit more slender then his and her ears ended with a slight curve. Her tail was unique because the blade at the end of it, instead of being a sharp spike, was shaped into a crescent like blade. Also she didn’t have a metal mask over her face like Prism did. This allowed everyone to see her soft lips and a small fang that stuck out on the far left side of her mouth. Prism bowed then said, “Hello my queen.” Solaris replied, “Come now Prism, you know you need not show such pleasantries to me. After all I’m not only your queen, I’m your fiancé.” Prism stood up then said, “I know my dear, but I like to show such respect to the kingdom I love, and the woman I love. Though it pains me, I did not come here today to talk of my love to you. I came here because of a very urgent matter.” Solaris’s face turned more serious then she said, “Very well, what is this matter?” Prism said “The Shaakin are much stronger now then we ever could have guessed. They are no longer chained to the birth cycle, and they know of a spell that would allow them to anchor their world to the Earth.” Solaris’s face grows concerned, “This is dreadful news, I hope that this is not all you have come to talk to me about.” Prism replied, “No it is not, I have been chosen along with a Shaakin warrior to help defend the balance of this universe. The Shaakin I am partnered with is named Shade and he believes that we Lietan posses the knowledge of a spell that could seal the energy points on the Earth. I came to ask you if you knew the location of this spell.” Solaris sat in her throne and thought long and hard, then she said, “I do know of such a spell, but it is buried deep in the catacombs. Back when my father was king he told me of a peace movement between our two races that took place when he was a young boy. Each of our races agreed to bury these spells with the current king when his time came. Each of our races did as we said and those spells are buried with my great-grandfather in the catacombs. By the sounds of it Wrath already went and dug his races spells up, so we need to do the same.” Solaris pointed at one of her guards then pointed at the wall to her right. The guard ran over there and as Prism watched he opened a secret door to the catacombs below. Solaris then said, “Be careful Prism, there are many dangers in those caves. Find my great-grandfathers tomb, get the spell we need, and come back alive.” Prism walked towards the door of the catacombs then turned to face Solaris and said, “I love you.” Solaris replied, “I love you too.” Then Prism walked through into the darkness of the caves.
Back with Shade and Mitch, tomorrow had arrived and they were heading off to the school. Mitch was walking towards school and asking Shade, “So I’m going to have your sense of smell?” Shade replied, “Yep.” Mitch responded, “Wow cool. What’s it like to have such a powerful sense of smell?” Shade replied, “Well I’m not sure how to describe it to you, I’ve never had a human’s sense of smell so it would be hard for me to compare the two senses. You will have your answer soon enough when you get the chance to use it for yourself though.” Mitch replied, “Ok, I can’t wait to see what it is like to have that kind of sense of smell.” Mitch continued to walk to school, he laughed to himself noting how this was the first normal walk to school he has had since he got his powers. Soon enough he was standing outside the gate of the school. Shade then said, “Ok, here you go. Hope you enjoy this stronger sense of smell while you have it.” Mitch felt an interesting feeling flow over him. This feeling wasn’t like the other times he used his powers, he didn’t feel like he was getting stronger. Instead he felt as though he was more aware of everything around him. He looked around and saw some of the other students on the campus. When he looked at them he not only saw them but he saw and odd aura floating around them. Each aura was a slightly different color. He looked at his hand and saw that he too had an aura but his was very different from the other students. While most other people he looked had had simple colors like reds or blues, Mitch’s aura was almost chameleon like, it would first show a dark green, then it would change to a black, then it would change to a white, then it would go back to the green. In his head Mitch heard Shade’s voice, “You sent is a mix of a Humans, a Lietan’s, and a Shaakin’s. The color you are looking for is a mix of a Human’s and a Lietan’s color. Look for someone who has an aura that switches between an ordinary color and white.” Mitch started to look around him, he almost felt blinded by all the smells swimming around him. As he looked around he saw mostly reds, greens, blues, a few yellows, and some oranges. Yet he couldn’t see anyone who had a mix of Human and Lietan scent. Suddenly Jimmy ran up to Mitch and yelled, “HI DUDE!!” Mitch jumped in shock from being awoken from his trace like state. Then he said, “Ugh… hey dude. What’s up?” Jimmy replied, “Oh nothing much. What were you looking for dude? You seemed really spacey.” Mitch replied, “Oh nothing special, I’ll look for it later.” Mitch looked at Jimmy and saw that his scent aura was a light blue, then he looked around one more time to see if he could spot anyone with the scent aura he sought. Unable to spot anyone, Mitch walked off with Jimmy. Mitch went through the rest of the school day seeing so many color auras, but not a single part white one. It was sixth period, the last class of the day, and Mitch felt as though he had failed his mission. Shade, being the caring being that he is, said to Mitch, “YOU FAILURE!!! I can’t believe you’ve managed to go the whole day without finding one person who has had contact with a Lietan!!” Mitch said in a defeated manner, “Thanks for your words of confidence and enthusiasm. There is still one class period left in the day, I could still find someone.” Shade said, “Yes with your outstanding success you’ve had with the other six hours you’ve spent here I feel very confident that you’ll succeed.” Mitch said, “Ugh…You ever considered being a motivational speaker?” Shade asked confusedly, “Huh? I don’t understand what you mean.” Mitch replied, “Oh never mind. I got to get out of this classroom if I plan to find anyone because everyone is here and no one has the aura we are looking for.” Mitch raised his hand and the teacher said, “Yes Mitch?” Mitch responded, “I need to use the restroom, may I please be excused?” The teacher replied, “Ok, come back soon please.” Mitch leaves the classroom and just as he exited the room he heard Shade’s voice yell, “You can’t seriously have to go to the bathroom at a time like this!?!?! You have got work to do!!!” Mitch replied, “Dummy, that’s just what I told the teacher to get out of the classroom. Man for someone who can read my you do a fine job of being not with the plan.” Shade, a little embarrassed, said, “Well…uhh..You humans just seem so simple. I thought you had simply forgotten the mission.” Mitch replied, “Again I thank you for your confidence in me.” Mitch walked off down the hall in hopes of running into the person he was looking for. He walked through hall after hall but found nobody. Mitch felt discouraged and he was about to give up when he realized that he hadn’t checked the library yet. He felt a bit stupid for not doing so and headed off towards the library. Mitch quickly arrived at the library and went in. He looked around and saw that there was an assortment of people sitting in there doing homework or just reading some literature. At first glance he just saw the ordinary colors but just as he was about to turn around he saw a flash of white walk between the book shelves. He hurried towards the self hoping he found the person he was looking for. He turned the corner and all he could say was, “Ohh no….” “Mitch what’s wrong?”, asked Sherry, who was glowing with a vibrant red and white aura.


Chapter 5
The Catacombs
Prism arrived at the bottom of the stair well and stood in the opening of a dark hall deep underneath the palace of light. Prism looked into the darkness before him. He muttered to himself, “Ugh I can’t see the walls in front of my face!!” He reshaped his metal shoulder to have a light mounted on it. The light turned on and it brilliantly illuminated the hall in front of him. Happily he said, “Ahhh that’s better. Well I’d better start looking for that tomb.” Prism walked to the end of the hall and stopped dead in his tracks. In front of him he saw a large circular room with over twenty different passageways. Prism growled and said angrily, “Ugh…I’d better get started then” Prism walked to the center of the circular room, sat down, and closed his eyes. Suddenly from where he was sitting, liquid metal began to trail down each path. The trails traveled down every hallway, went through every door. Prism thought to himself, “Even though I’m using the metal to search instead of actually walking down all these paths it could still take quite a time to find what I’m looking for.” While sitting there Prism began to think back. Back when he first met Solaris. They were both kids when they met. Solaris was just a young princess then and Prism had not started his warrior training yet. They had met by accident really. He happened to be walking by the palace on the way home from the market when Solaris hoped over the palace wall. They stopped and started at each other for a second, then Solaris vanished around the corner. She was probably worried Prism would turn her in. Prism didn’t really think much about that encounter with Solaris nor did he ever once think that he would end up being her fiancée. Prism became focused again to check on his scouts and how much of the catacombs they had explored. He could feel that the metal trails had spread far out and away but that they were still spreading. Prism decided he would check back later and was once again lost in thought about Solaris. Fifteen years passed between that first meeting of theirs and their next one. Their second meeting however was not under such pleasant circumstances. This time Solaris had been captured by a group of rebel Lietans who felt that the monarchy was an unjust way to rule. Perhaps they are right in seeking a democracy but the world of light has not had a single tyrannical ruler. All that have sat on the throne have made law and spread ideals that have helped their world to flourish. Anywho Solaris had been kidnapped and her father entrusted her safe return to be handled by the finest Lietan warrior. Prism was the best warrior in the entire light world. He was sent out to rescue her and if necessary kill the rebels. Prism left the palace and the city to find the rebels. Prism again stopped his daydreaming to check on how his scouts were doing. They had spread out incredibly far and he had finally found the tomb he was looking for, there was only one problem. A Shaakin war beast was asleep in front of the tomb. These beasts are incredibly large animals, standing round ten to twelve feet high. They are covered in a black fur similar to the Shaakin’s. Their body is like that of an ape’s, walking on their hands and feet, but their head is very reptilian. It has a large flat part covered in spikes, which it uses to impale anyone who gets in this thing’s way. These beasts are also incredibly strong. One alone can throw boulders twice their size. Exactly how it got there Prism wasn’t sure but it was something he was going to have to deal with. He recalled all his scouts except for the one that found the tomb. His metallic body then melted and combined with the solid metal line leading to the tomb. His essence traveled the line all the way to the end. He could see walls rushing past him, he was taking lefts and rights every few seconds, and then all of a sudden he stopped. He was at the end of the metal trail, his melted body pooled at the end of the trail then he reformed into his normal state. Then the last metal trail went back into his body. He stared at the sleeping creature hoping he could find away around it. Killing it wouldn’t be too much of a hassle for him but he really didn’t want to kill this creature if all it was doing was living down here in peace. Unfortunately the beast was blocking the entire hallway that lead to the tomb, and if he woke it up it would attack. Prism felt sadness in his heart knowing that he would have to kill the animal but decided that it had to be done if he was going to get the spell. Prism concentrated and a handle materialized on his back. He grabbed hold of it and pulled out of his back a large two handed blade. He rested the blade on his shoulder and once again became lost in thought about his past. He had to make his way through the forest outside of the city. He knew the rebels were hiding inside it somewhere. As he walked through the silent woods he suddenly stopped. Then, in an instant, he turned around and fired his energy gun up towards the tree line. At first it seemed as though he had just randomly fired for no reason but a few seconds later one of the rebels fell from the sky and landed on the ground. Prism pulled out his wrist blade and finished the rebel with a stab to the neck. He then looked back up at the tree line. After staring at the canopy for a few seconds he jumped high into the air and stabbed another rebel in the face. One of the rebels then appeared behind him and tried to stab him, but they missed and stabbed the tree instead. Then Prism transformed his gun hand into a clamp like claw and closed it tightly oh the rebel’s head. He then pulled him away from the tree and threw him. As the rebel flew though the air Prism then shot his chain mounted clamp claw towards the rebel. He caught him and pulled him back towards himself while he held his blade hand outward. The rebel was impaled on the blade, then Prism retracted it and he fell to the ground below. Prism then turned around and jumped down to the ground. He then continued to walk deeper into the forest. Soon enough he found the clearing that the rebels were camping at. He hid in the bushes and examined how many enemies he had left. He surveyed the camp and saw that there were about five rebels still alive. While in the bushes he transformed his shoulder to have a harpoon gun mounted on it, and he turned one of his hands back to normal. He snuck up behind one of the rebels and grabbed him, and stabbed him through the chest. Another rebel saw this and was about to sound the alarm, when Prism fired the harpoon at him. It nailed him in the face, and pinned him to a tree. After that Prism changed both his arms into energy guns and started firing at the remaining three rebels. Two of them were gunned down almost instantly, because they were unaware, and the third one died not long after. Prism then changed his arms back to normal and walked towards Solaris, but before he could get to her he felt a blade press against the back of his neck. Then he heard a rebel say, “Ok pal, that’s enough from you. You may have killed all my buddies but you got careless and now you’re as good as dead.” Then Prism hears, “You got careless too.” He hears a stabbing sound and the rebels dying breaths. Prism turns around to see that Solaris had managed to escape and save Prism’s life. He asks, “How did you escape?” Solaris replied, “Well it wasn’t hard after most of my guards were killed. I see I have you to thank for that. Who are you?” “My name is Prism and your father sent me to rescue you from the rebels.” Solaris replied, “Well Prism, you certainly did a good job. Let’s head back to the city now.” When they arrived back in the city Prism was heralded as a hero and the king declared that Prism will always be allowed access to the palace. Remembering that he had a spell to find Prism pulled himself back from his dream and decided that he should kill the war beast quickly. He gave the beast a solid stab to the chest with his large sword. The beast screamed in rage and pain then died. Prism then climbed over the body and opened the tomb of Solaris’s great-grandfather. Inside there was a scroll and upon reading it Prism knew it was the spell he was looking for.


Chapter 6
Blood and Broken Hearts
Mitch felt broken inside as he looked at Sherry. He told himself, “No this isn’t right. This can’t be right!” Shade responded, “No human, she is definitely the one we are looking for. Is there a reason why you don’t want this particular human to be the one we need?” Mitch replied, “Shade I have a huge crush on this girl!! I’ve never really even managed to speak a whole sentence to her, and now I have to get some of her blood!! How the hell am I supposed to do that