Kids Next Door Gameverse: Down in the Negaverse

[Gamen Watch]

This is the beginning of a series parallel to the Nextgen Series, taking place in the Negaverse, a parallel dimension to the main universe. It will follow the adventures of the DNK, all of whom are parallels of the Nextgen KND, but with opposite personalities or characteristics. Unlike the main series, the writing and story flow will be much more faster-paced; it would take too long to flesh this out as much as the main series. That said, the adventure will still be pretty lengthy, full of character development, fun interactions, and exciting, action-filled plot-lines. This arc, in particular, will have relevance for the upcoming Seven Lights Saga.

Chapter -20: Meanwhile, Down Below


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Cleveland, Virginia… er-

It was a very peaceful day in Virginia. Children were playing, sun was shining, the Kids Next Door kept everything in place, and its operatives went on many wild adventures in many stories! …In other words: clicheeeeeee! Let's take a little look downstairs, in our favorite parallel dimension called the Negaverse.

Pitch-black nighttime in this world, but it didn't mean kids had to sleep, 'cause it was backwards. After the events of 20 years ago, things had changed to match the Posiverse, with adults having (minor) responsibilities and kids being kids, but a balance still had to be kept to differentiate this world: opposite personalities being one, leading to all sorts of chaos or harmony, depending on the person and their preferences, animals having more intelligence and rights, the "rich" having become "poor," and general contradicting times or seasons.

The outer yards of an army base were heavily guarded, searchlights, spiked yards, 10-foot walls, and monkey bars over toxic chasms. A young girl with puffy, dirty blonde hair, clear blue eyes, and brown ragged clothes peeped up from a bush and quietly scampered in the yard. She didn't make a sound with her bare feet, soiled by the earth, as were other parts of her otherwise clear skin. She was very quick and nimble, easily skipping over the spike yard in its small openings, sliding to the sides to avoid the searchlights, and as she ran straight at the imposing 10-foot wall, she performed a great jump partway up, and rushed up the rest of the way the moment her feet planted against it. Once she made it to the toxic chasm, instead of grapple across the monkey bars, she leaped into the chasm and landed softly on a small rock platform.

Making careful jumps across the footholds on her tippy-toes, she got to a pipe where the waste leaked out. Wide enough for the width of her body to fit, with careful precision, she dove in and forced her hands to the ceiling corners, with both feet against the outside of the toxic river. She progressed through in this pose until she finally got to the base's interior, to the wider river as she looked to the railing high above. She carefully kicked toward the right wall and Wall Jumped between them, 7 feet apart but still managing.

Once atop the walkway, she began navigating through the base, moving very swift and out of the guards' vision, and while running through the halls, she fell totally flat and slid beneath the security lasers, then made the leap over the remaining ones to reach the platform above. Two guards spotted her, but she leaped overhead and stood on the first one's shoulders, kicking his head back and forth with her left foot before he fell defeated. The second guard shot his gun, but she rolled and dodged between his legs, then kicked off the wall to shoot at his backside. Once he was down, she kicked his head against the floor and took him out.

She then swiped his ID card and scanned it in the terminal, allowing the vault to open. Inside were stacks of money "stolen" for "charity", charity which they wouldn't give it to. She stuffed all the money into an Infi-Cube she had procured, and once it was all collected, she skipped and hopped her way out of the base the same way she came in.

She made her way to her neighborhood park, where many kids were happy to see her. "Look, everyone! It's Lorac! Lorac's back!"

"Yes I am!" Lorac proclaimed with a joyous and loving expression. "And here: money for ALL of my friends, no debt required!" She grabbed the dollars from the Infi-Cube and threw them everywhere. For she was Lorac Nosretsam, the poorest, and most unselfish girl anyone ever knew.

"YAAAAAAYY!" The kids all scrambled to grab some.

Lorac smiled, rejoicing in the happiness she brought to these kids. But her look became quizzical once she heard a rustling in the bushes. Her face furrowing, she grabbed a pebble in her toes and tossed it straight to the bush, hitting her stalker perfectly between the eyes. "Ow!" The boy toppled out, a black-haired boy in a midnight-blue sweater and pants, with a blue water droplet image on the front of his shirt, and one on his right pants leg. He got to his feet, his eyes big hearts. "Oh, my lovely Lorac, only you could land a perfect shot!"

"Ugh, can't you leave me alone for -10 seconds, Nosam?"

"I have, but alas, I feel so lonely when you're gone." He approached her with a mock weepy expression. "Arorua has me on Aliehs watch all day. I've had to stop her from ramming grocery carts into propane cages five times already! You are so much more interesting, so kind and lovely and carefree, why can't I stay with YOU all the time, Lorac?"

"Because YOU are a CREEP!" Lorac kicked him in the face. "That -200$ I gave you was out of friendly generosity, everyone got some and I wasn't charging any debt, so just let it go." She walked away.

"But I practiced my waterbending just for you! I've created this gorgeous statue in your honor, see?" Using his bending, he grabbed water from a nearby fountain and mended it into a liquidy statue of Lorac.

"That's, um…very nice. Good-bye, Nosam." And she left.

Not wishing to let her go, he sprayed breath-freshener in his mouth and prepared to march after with a smooth smile. "What're you doing?"

"Ahh!" A boy in a black wizard's robe, shoes, and black hair with a purple stripe grabbed Nosam's hood.

"Come on, Nosam. Quit embarrassing yourself to her, it's not like she likes you."

"I will win her heart one day, Nollid, and you will bask in our cuteness!"

"Sure you will, Nosy. Come on." Nollid Kroy proceeded to drag Nosam by the hood, his butt dragging along the ground.

"I will return to you, my lovely Loraaac!"

Negative Sector V Treehouse

The living room of the metallic, heavily-armed treehouse was roaring with peaceful, classical music booming from Yrrah Nagillig's stereos. "Y-Y-Y-Yrrah, can you please turn that down?" Sirhc Onu stuttered. "I-It's just, you know…"

"Sirhc, you know how hard it isth to work on thisth sthuff?" Yrrah said with a nerdy voice, trying to fix a machine. He was a dark-skinned boy with black hair in dreadlocks, square glasses, buckteeth, vanilla jacket, and hat. "I need thisth music to soothe me. And to drown out Eelyah's consthant basthing."

His sister, Eelyah Nagillig, was bashing a wood board against the wall 'til it broke. "Huhuhuhu. Wood go break." Mirroring a Neanderthal, Eelyah had messy, short light-brown hair covering her big forehead, and a single long, left bang. She wore brown rags around her chest and hip, her fists and feet too bulbous for her limbs.

"Siiiiigh. When're Nollid and Nosam getting back?" Arorua asked, sitting on the couch with her head in her hand in boredom. The Nega-V leader wore a black top with a red skirt, laced with a black web design. She wore tall, red boots with black laces and a single, black teardrop on each.

"Right here, Boss." Nollid was still dragging Nosam by the hood. "Excuse the googly eyes."

"Siiiiigh when will my lovely Lorac join our fair sector so we may be together evermore?" Nosam said lovingly.

"Nosam, where's Aliehs?" Arorua asked.

"I froze her against a wall so she wouldn't be a problem. Ow!" A wad of gum hit the side of his eye.

"And Oi escaped, bitch." Aliehs Citnarf sat with her feet propped up on a school desk, tossing darts at a board with her mom's face. She was a Faunus raccoon with pale-tan skin, a gray T-shirt, black shorts, gray sandals, and pale-brown raccoon ears and tail. "I was aimin' for your throat." She smirked in a punkish demeanor.

"Oh GODS, Aliehs, you're like, always so DULL and GLOOMY." proclaimed Eirik Seltaeb. She had spiky light-blonde hair, mismatched green and violet eyes, and wore an oversized mint-green sweater with a guitar design. "If you stepped in the sun, would you like, crumble away like a vampire, 'cause you're just that BLEAK, so ugly!"

"I can only pray that day comes." Nosam remarked. "Siiiigh, I wonder what my Lorac is doing now?"

"Staying away from you, Weirdo." Nollid replied. "Speaking of staying away, what's Akurah doing?"

"Keh, keh, cougheh!" A little hamster stumbled out of the hallway and fell dead, a cloud of purple gas behind him.

"Awwww that's ashaaame." A pigtailed girl with black hair and a pitch-black dress with an upside-down Cross necklace, and black rose in her hair, walked out. "I was three seconds away from beating my record."

"AKURAH!" Stomping in behind her was a fairly muscular boy in a red hat, who spoke in a stern voice. "I ain't tolerating you stinkin' up this treehouse, y'all better get this poison cleared!"

"Go bark at a tree, Eitra." retorted Akurah Atnalamid, the older twin sister of Nosam. Although the daughter of a water and firebender, she was born with purple poisonbending.

"You KILL mah hamsters again, Ah'm gonna ram ya a new one!!"

"Siiiigh. Why musth my sthiblings be stho violent?" Yrrah asked.

"Man, whatevuh. We have any missions today?"

"I'd call and ask, but I think Supreme Leader went off to cause trouble in the Posiverse again…" Arorua said bored. "Not that he ever gives us any exciting missions, anyway."

"If Lorac were in our group, our lives would be full of excitement!" Nosam proclaimed. "Such a lovely, adventurous girl. Unlike some people…"

"Then go fuck off." Aliehs said, sticking a certain finger up at him.

"Not me." Arorua said, standing up. "I'm going downstairs. Don't call me if anything happens." And so, she left.

"D-Don't leave me with these people!" Sirhc cried.

"Go hang out with your girlfriend." she told him.

EiznekCm Household

Arorua walked into the living room and lied on the carpeted floor with her arms wrapped behind her head. Her father was reading a newspaper on the couch, reading a history section. "Oi… hard to believe -20 years have passed since that Gnaa fellow showed up outta nowhere."

"Oh yeah… What happened to him?"

"Oh, he just disappeared after some big explosion. No one knows where he went. Sad thing, really." He closed the paper. "'ey. What's wrong, Rora? You look more down than… ah, who'm I kidding, you're always this down! Still?"

"Sigh…I dunno, Dad… things just feel so… dull here. The sky's always dark, everyone sucks, we hardly do anything… I always wonder what it's like in the Positives' world."

"The Positives' world? Blech! If you ask me, those guys are WAY too happy. We're an important part in the grand scheme of the universe! We're the example that things always aren't too happy in this world, things aren't all love and joy. Be proud you're down here sulking in depression, instead of having the carefree cheesy lives those losers have. 'sides, they wouldn't have their cheesiness if it weren't for our misery, because Light can't exist without Darkness, so be happy you're lettin' them burn!"

"Great… I'm merely a pawn to better the life of someone more fortunate than me."

"Sigh, I don't know what to say, Aror. But you and your friends should just be happy you're alive. Don't matter if destiny has some important thing for you or not. But wowzie… Nerry's bein' one heck of a leader from what I heard. Resistin' that dictator's invites… he's got 'is mother's gutsiness alright."

"Yes… I just wish I had that gutsiness."

Aixalag; Planet Ainozama

Ainozama, the planet of very large, but fairly weak women. Although it was mainly female-dominated, they would always welcome men in their world to perhaps defend for them, and maybe become nice girlfriends. If these giants had anything to contribute, it was their smarts and technical know-how. A small army of child Nainozama (otherwise called Nega-Amazonians), with their leader in the front, stood before a group of humanoid alien kids with a flying saucer. The kids' leader was a girl with black and white hair, a blinding white tux and shoes, and black tie. Her yellow and black mismatched eyes were unsettling. "So please… join my empire, and submit your loyalty to me."

"Um… w-we don't want to." said the Nainozama leader, a very worried, frightful frown on her giant face. "But we would happily give you some of our stuff, if you want."

The brown-skinned child's eyes were wide and hypnotic, her toneless expression unchanging. "If you don't join… I will have to force you."

"W-W-We know what you, do… and, w-we got anti-psychic helmets." All of the frightened giants placed helmets over their heads.

"That's nice… if only that mattered." And so, the alien leader raised her hands and bent her fingers very tight and forcefully.

"AAAAHH!" The front group of Nainozama, including their leader, fell to their knees, feeling an unbearable searing of pain. They gripped their knees tight, feeling the bones may burst out of their legs, but the same pain was then felt in their shoulders.

"Please… join my empire."

"Y-Yes! We'll join!" cried the Nainozama leader, her large tears falling fast. "P-Please don't hurt us! Please! We'll do anything!"

She released them. "Perfect." With that, a purple-skinned alien girl marched up, and using her own strange power, carved 'DNKG' into the Nainozama leader's arm's flesh, red with her blood, without touching the child at all. Afterwards, the aliens returned to their saucer, with the dictator sparing a look back at the Nainozamas. "It's time you learned as well, that all species are inferior to us. For we are the Destructively Nefarious Kid Gods."

Ruler of the DNK Gods, Dictator of Kidkind



"Numbuh Nothing" ALUBEN .D MOTTOBEIKNIW


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The Nainozamas watched as the saucer left their atmosphere, still weeping in horror and fear. For the sake of their lives, they would follow and obey this ruler until the end.

Posiverse; Quahog, Rhode Island

The people frightfully ran from another street screaming as Cheren stood and smirked wickedly in their direction. "Hope you're having fun." At this, the rogue turned and found the REAL Cheren glaring at him, standing by Lin. "'Cause it ends here."

"Hm. It looks like you found me." he still smirked.

"Just who are you?!"

"Take a wild guess." With that, the imposter unleashed purple flames from his hands and made a fiery circle around him. "HUAAAHHH!" he cried as the flames exploded into a dark-fiery column that encased him. When the column cleared, Cheren and Lin gaped as the counterpart's white articles of his clothing now became pitch-black. The two were still shock-frozen as the counterpart was about to speak. But before he spoke, he realized something was missing. He growled in frustration as he yelled, "PABLO! Get over here and play my awesome theme music!"

The tired Mexican child immediately ran over, panting. "You move too fast, Señor Nerehc." The boy began playing his guitar. (Play the "Dark Pit Flight Theme" from Kid Icarus: Uprising!)

Lin and Cheren shook their heads at his name. "Nerehc??" Cheren exclaimed, their eyes wide.

"That's right. I'm your Negative." Nerehc smirked, pacing back-and-forth. "Nerehc EiznekCm Onu. The son of Lehcar and Eeballaw Seltaeb. But you can call me 'Negative Numbuh 3621.' I'm basically just like you, only a million times more fun."

"What are you doing here?" Cheren asked, glaring and gritting his teeth.

"Isn't it obvious?" Nerehc still kept his mischievous look. "I'm here to erase your good name. Or rather your BORING name. I'm setting up a brand new reputation for you. One that I find a lot more interesting. 'Course, the fact that you caught me sort of adds a wrench into the plan. Still, since no one is around to see us yet, I think now's the time to make my escape."

"You're not going anywhere!" Cheren yelled, drawing his small sword as he ran in attempt to strike him, but the Negative leapt several feet backwards. Cheren growled, running and dealing several quick swings at the Negative, who swiftly moved and dodged around. Cheren took swing at his legs, but Nerehc leapt high into the air and came down on Cheren, smirking down at the boy as he stood on him.

Nerehc gasped and was flung away when Lin kicked a rock chunk at him. Cheren passed her a nod before getting back to his feet and readying to battle the counterpart. Nerehc conjured flames in his hands and began shooting them at Cheren, who rolled and dodged as he made his way over, dealing several punches across Nerehc's face. Nerehc jumped behind and kicked him away, and Cheren looked back to see him doing a breakdance and create a fire shockwave. Cheren jumped the flames and performed a jump attack with his sword. Nerehc jumped away as Cheren ran forward, the two swiping several kicks at the other. Cheren was able to grab Nerehc in his legs and kick him away, smirking at the Negative. Nerehc gritted his teeth and stood up, rapidly tossing more purple flames at the Positive.

Cheren swiftly dodged the flames before making it over and spin-kicking Nerehc's legs, knocking him down. Nerehc looked up as Cheren's sword was pointed at his face, performing another breakdance to knock him down as well. Nerehc easily flipped back up afterwards as Cheren stood to glare at him. Cheren dashed forward and tried to whale on him, but Nerehc grabbed the arm with his sword before sliding him away. He looked over as Lin Beifong stomped and chucked more rock chunks at him, swiftly dodging the rocks before shooting flames at Lin's feet, knocking her down.

He looked as Cheren got back up and performed a spin attack, but Nerehc only leapt away again. The Negative kept his cocky look as he hurried down the street, shooting flames behind him as Cheren gave chase. The Positive raised his arm and sent his sword flying at the Negative, scraping the side of his hip and making Nerehc trip. Nerehc held himself up with his arms and looked up at Cheren. "I admit you are tough, Cheren, but here's one thing we don't have in common." With that, the cocky Negative kicked towards the ground and unleashed purple flames from his feet, using them like rockets to soar high in the air.

"What's wrong, Cheren? Don't know how to fly? I guess you can't do THIS either!" He then began zooming around side-to-side, making various movements with his legs as he still kept the flames running and remained his altitude. "Ha! Lookame! Can't do this! Haha!"

"Grrrr!" Cheren continued to grind his teeth.

"Hey, I gotta run now. Wait, scratch that: I need to FLY! Hahaha! Later, sucker!" With that, the Negative shot into the heavens and soon vanished from sight. (End song.)

Blood boiled in Cheren's form as he watched the Negative get away. His anger growing inside him, the boy erupted a powerful scream, and Lin shielded her eyes as a column of fire shot into the heavens. When the screaming stopped, the column disappeared, but flames still shone around his body as he panted in anger. Lin looked as a bunch of police cars were coming their way, parking as Joe Swanson and his cops came out with their guns raised. "Alright, kid, put your hands up in the air and get on the ground."

Cheren continued to pant as his back was turned toward them. Lin then looked up as a C.O.O.L.-B.U.S. suddenly came down for a landing beside them. Mason and Haruka leapt out and immediately swallowed the area where the cops stood in green and purple gas (respectively), making them cough. Aurora and Chris quickly grabbed Cheren's wrists and pulled him into the bus, followed by Lin as the ship lifted and took off. The touch of Aurora's hand also caused Cheren's flames to douse. By the time the cops blew the gas away, they found the kids long gone.


Ahhhhhh a universe is always complete with a Negaverse. In fact, back in 2011, me and a couple friends made this Season of Shadows thing, 'cause we were all making stories about Negatives 'round this time of year, and it was also a month before I began Eight Firstborn. Sigh, those were the times, but now we are bringing it back! I'll probably be the only one posting, but it don't matter! XDX 'Cause Negatives are upside-down balls of fun!

 

[Gamen Watch]

These starting chapters are pretty short, but they get longer in time.

Chapter -19: Of Stones and Sticks

Dnalhsa, West Ainigriv

Two 5-year-old girls sat politely at a park table, leisurely drinking tea. They were near identical cousins, one had blonde hair, the other had brown hair. But what really made them stand out were their cat ears and tails.

They were approached by a brown-haired girl in a red shirt, and horizontal blue stripe through its middle. She wore blue jeans and white shoes with their own blue stripes. "Hi, Calil. Hi, Yrreb. What're you guys doing today?" Yddam Yhprum asked with a modest expression.

"Having tea, SMARTY-PANTS." Calil remarked.

"Don't be rude, Cal." Yrreb told her.

"That's cool. But wouldn't you like… I dunno, running around and playing tag? You are werecats."

"Only 'cause our moms were stupid." Calil stated.

"What she means is, we don't wanna get too into it, we might start behaving like animals." Yrreb frowned.

"You two should explore your animal instincts more! You're lucky to be born with cool powers, you should be happy about them." Yddam smiled.

"Eh… I dunno…"

"YO YO LADEEEES! Gome 'ere and see my NEW AAAABS!" a boy's voice called across the park. He had blonde hair, wore a green camo vest, and black pants.

"Uck… it's Trepur." Calil hissed.

"Let's go, Cal." The girls grabbed their teapots and walked away slowly.

Yddam was about to walk away until she bumped into some- "DON'T HURT ME!" both exclaimed, shuddering with fear. When they saw who it was, they blushed and laughed embarrassedly.

"Oh, it's um… it's you, Sirhc." Yddam grinned.

"Hehe. Hi, Yddam." Sirhc Onu said goofily. He had combed blonde hair, jeans like Yddam's, and a lighter blue shirt. His matching shoes had untied white laces. "I thought you were… someone else."

"Hehe. Me too."

"… … …"

"So, um, what's the haps?" she asked.

"Um, just… nothing. Nerehc got caught for trying to frame his Positive yesterday. Glad that's over…"

"Hey, Sirhc… do you ever worry about our Positives? If we die the same time as they do, w-what if something happens to them?"

"Well, um, I think both of our deaths are by chance. I think if like, um, if my Positive walked off a cliff, I would get hit by a car, o-or something. It's just, b-based on coincidence, you know?"

"That sounds scary…"

"W-Well, as long as we stay in our world, I think it's usually safest."

"That's good… Sigh. I wonder what my Positive is like. I bet she's got really cool superpowers. A-And she's really tough."

"I'd be a little worried of meeting her… she might be pretty scary." Sirhc whimpered. "Not like you, Yddam. You're the only one that gets me." He smiled weakly.

"Gee. Thank you, Sirhc." Weak smile. "I'd really like to-"

"HEY HEEEEEY!" Trepur Noskcid popped up from between and wrapped arms around them. "WASSUP, chumpettes? Havin' one of your pansy chats?"

"W-Whaddyou want, Trepur?!" Sirhc exclaimed.

"I couldn't help but overhear, you big kids are a couple-o wimps, and I was reminded of someone ELSE who was like that. Right, Daaaaaad?"

His father, Dahc Noskcid, sat in the car as he trembled. "Y-Y-Yes, S-Son…"

"Yeah, my dad is a sissy, but that don' mean I can't bump YOU guys into shape. Which is why I've rented an old movie called Nalum."

"But I HATE Naluuum!" whined Yddam.

"TOO BAD!" Trepur tossed them some mops and pulled out a boombox. "The song/dance is on!" He switched it on and began to sing.

LET'S get down to busi-NESS!

To please… your meeen! The two were forced to mop the park grounds.

DID they send me SONS now

When I asked… for womeeeen!

You're the happiest bunch I never knew

But probly so: after we're through…

Missus, I'll… make a LADY… outta YOOOUU!

At the laundry mat, Yddam and Sirhc were collecting a lot of peoples' laundry and throwing them in washers.

VIOLENT as an OCEAN

'Til it fin…ally cooools.

ONCE you find your OUT, SIDE

No doubt… you'll looooose!

The two were then annoyedly fixing diapers on babies.

You've got guts—a colorful, envious lot

And clearly you got many a cluuuue.

This way I'LL… make a LADY… out of YOOOOUU!

And so, the duo performed a series of chores as the chorus sang.

(Be a LADY) Must be stiff as the standing mountain. They drove to the store to grab loads of groceries.

(A LADY!) The gentleness of the calmest breeze. They wore aprons and cooked food in the kitchen.

(A LADY!) All the weakness of the flickering candle. Vacuuming in the living room.

As opeeeen aaaas the brightneeeess oooof THE SUUUUUUN! And so, they passed out on bed, tired and worn.

"Ummmm…Trepur?" Sirhc spoke.

"Yeeeees?"

"WHAT DID THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING?!" His outburst blew Trepur away.

"What? Women are tough. And that's just what they do." He smirked. "So by whipping you ladies into shape like them, you'll have bulging muscles in no-" The mop bucket was suddenly shoved over his head.

"There you are, Yddam." Her brother, Hcaz stated. He wore a yellow shirt with a brown stripe, had smooth black hair, and green eyes behind glasses. "I thought you were talking to those catgirls again. Come on, let's ditch this creep. You can come too, Sirhc."

He took Yddam's hand and led her away, with Sirhc frightfully joining. Trepur just stood with the bucket over his head. "Sigh… so this is why the movie didn't sell well. Well, guess I'll just listen to Molten." He pushed the boombox again.

LEAVE IT IIIIIIN

Leave it iiiiin

Just come here and open the doooooor.

Down the sidewalk

"So what were you two doin' with Trepur again?" Hcaz asked.

"Well, h-he just showed up outta nowhere, and um, started teaching us how to do woman stuff."

"If you were gonna go out on your own anyway, I would expect you to handle yourself. I keep telling you, if someone's bullying you, it's below the belt, can't you ever remember that?"

"Y-You keep talking about all these ways to fight, I can't remember them all!! Why couldn't I have superpowers like everyone else…"

"'Cause I don't want you associating with those creeps." Hcaz jabbed a finger scoldingly. "When they aren't acting like snobs, they're acting like idiots. I don't wanna be related to anyone like that."

"You don't like me ANYWAY, Hcaz! You NEVER help me!"

"I saved you from Musclebod, but that's a once-a-moon generosity. I'm not giving you any sympathy, if you wanna succeed in this world, you have to do things on your own. And I'd keep an eye on Sirhc in that sense too, never know when he's gonna break." Sirhc gulped in fright. "Anyway, Mr. Yllej's captured a bunch of kids to test his cavitifyer, so Nerehc called me to go beat him up. Later, Sis." With that, he let them be.

"Stupid brother." Yddam huffed as they kept walking. "He's just a big dumb jerk."

"It's okay, Yddam." Sirhc smiled. "I would help you with a problem, but, well, I don't think I have the strength."

"Hmm… I guess you don't. Too bad you couldn't have your brother's powers. I don't even see how I got in DNK. What worth do I have next to those benders and metahumans? Why isn't the DNK run by them more than us… normals?"

"I-I guess it's along the lines of… a diversity thing. You know, having all sorts of different types makes us unique. That's one thing you have to admire about-" In that brief second, he fell through a hole in the sidewalk.

"SIRRRHC!" Yddam found the sewer lid was removed from its place, and Sirhc fell in its trap.

She climbed down the ladder and saw her friend flowing fast down the rapid water. "AAAAHH! YDDAM! HELP! HELP! I CAN'T SWIM! The shape and structure of water always scared me as a child, so I never took lessons!! PLEASE SAVE MEEEEE!"

"B-B-But you're going too fast, how'm I supposed to-"

"You can do it, Ydd!" Trepur told her from above. "Just remember: just stop walking, just stop walking, just stop walking, walking, walking, what, are ya s'posed to do heeeere, obviously it isn't WAAAALK!" He sang and danced.

As rare as she thought it would happen, Yddam felt a strange surge of courage and determination. "I'm coming, Sirhc!" She dove headfirst in the filthy river and swam after Sirhc with great speed. Several oil drums and huge trash pieces impeded her progress, but she either dodged underneath or leaped over, swimming as nimbly as a mermaid. Unfortunately, her friend was drawing closer to a waterfall, and was just seconds from plummeting to the bottom.

"AAAAAHHH! HURRY, YDDAAAAMM!"

She couldn't brush her arms any faster, but Sirhc was already over the edge. "NO!" She dove underneath and spun like a torpedo, shooting down the falls like a drill through the ground. When Sirhc was seconds from hitting the bottom, Yddam clutched his hand tight and propelled the two of them out of the falls, kicked off the parallel wall, and back inside the fall as she Torpedo Spun her way back up. She flew several feet above the river once she made it, and pulled Sirhc along 'til they got back to safe land.

Posiverse

Chris Uno was walking casually down the sidewalk, passing a fire hydrant when- "WAAAAH!" he slipped on a banana peel, flew up in the air, and plopped on the ground, his head missing the hydrant by a few inches. He looked with fright at how shiny and pointy it was. "Hu…that coulda ended badly."

Negaverse

"Huff, huff… you saved my life, Yddam!" Sirhc grinned, heart still racing. "You were amazing!"

"Hehehe… thank you, Sirhc." She blushed. "It was no big deal."

"No big deal?! I'd almost say you were a MERMAID if not for those legs! I don't think I mentioned this, but, I've always had a thing for mermaids. They're just sooooooo pretty." He said with googly eyes.

"Mermaids are nice, but I prefer to be-" Trepur began before playing his stereo.

Above the sky

ABOVE THE SKY!

Above the sky

ABOVE THE SKY!

Up where it's cooler, up where it's bluer, take it from HE!

They eye-rolled. "Hehe… really, it was nothing. I like to swim, but, anyone can do it. Why should I gloat about it?"

"Because, Yddam, it's your special talent." Sirhc took her hands and looked with warming eyes. "Even if it's a skill anyone else can do, it's a talent you were born with. And, well… I like you much better this way than with some scary power. You shouldn't idolize them so much."

"But… Sirhc… don't you ever wish you had Nerehc's powers?"

"No way! I might accidentally shock myself, or set my bed on fire, and what if I get stuck in a Dark Portal?? Huhuhuhuhuhu! It's too scary to think about."

"I didn't think of it that way. But still… having a little power wouldn't hurt. I probably won't go for it, anyway…"

"Heh, at least we aren't as weak as Ahcom in Sector W7." Sirhc laughed as they climbed out of the sewer.

"Heh heh heh. Yeah, what a wimp."

Negative Sector W7 Treehouse

"Mmmmm, mmmm, mmmmmm!" Ahcom, the very short, feeble girl from -W7, couldn't for the life of her pick up this Aknow Bar. "Why is this so HEEEAAVYYYYY?"


Listen to "Leave It In" on tunesI now, along with many hit Yensid singles, such as "Same Half World" from Niddala, "Climb A Lot Higher" from Prince and the Fly, and "This Isn't Christmas" from The Dream After Halloween.

 

[Gamen Watch]

Yes, Fourze, Nosam is based off Edolas Gray from Fairy Tail. As a bit of trivia though, when I'm introducing or coming up with these Negatives for the first, I will admit that many of them feel like "one off gags" at first just because I'm so used to my main characters. But ultimately, I want these Negatives to become their own identity and their own people, even if they are rather quirky. Sometimes it's a matter of "how opposite do I wanna make them," and maybe they should have some traits in common with their Positives. And in the process of doing that, there are some Negatives in these beginning chapters I don't stick with as well as most of the others. It's just a lot of experiments and trial runs for now. All the same, the DNK will grow on us over time. Maybe even Nosam here.




Chapter -18: Nosam and the Hsinim Door

Dnalevelc Park

"Siiigh, what will I do to impress my lovely Lorac this time." Nosam thought aloud with a dreamy face, pulling Aliehs along as they walked down the sidewalk. "Perhaps I will serve her a plate of the finest fruits and veggies, or delight her with a glass of fresh spring water."

"Why're you takin' me, I don' wanna watch you do stuff…" Aliehs mumbled.

"And I do not want to be with you, but alas, Arorua's orders are Rora's orders. I will show kindness like Lorac's to win her heart!"

"Mmmmff…"

"Oh?" Nosam stopped, viewing something strange when they reached the park. It was a mysterious double-door with forest designs. When they both stepped a little closer, the door opened like an elevator, exposing a swirling green vortex. "Aliehs… do you know what this is?"

"Some kinda outhouse that fell from a spaceship?"

"It is the answer to my problem! Surely, within this swirling wonder, I will find the perfect gift to give to my sweet Lorac! It will be the present to make her understand, we are soul mates, bounded by love and fate. OHHHHH I CANNOT WAIT TO GET IN THERE AND SEE WHAT IT IS!" Fast as lightning, Nosam pulled Aliehs into the strange portal.

From behind some tiny pebbles, a group of mischievous Hsinim kids snickered evilly and high-fived. "Stupid humans! Okay, let's go put the beehive in that other kid's teddybear…" They snuck away to let their prank play out.

48 minutes later…

After successfully breaking into a bank, Lorac was on her way to give her spoils to anyone but her. She dreaded encountering her sneaky little stalker again, but at least he was easy to ditch. She watched as a little brown puppy scampered up from ahead, panting happily and licking Lorac around the legs. "Uck, get! Go away!" she yelled, trying to kick him. As kind as she was, she just wasn't an animal person, and was always annoyed when they drew a liking to her. "Stupid dog! …?" But when the puppy sat and panted with a smile, she noticed a couple strange dots on its little black nose. She loomed closer and squinted her eyes. The left dot was too dark to make out, but the right one had distinctly noticeable, big heart eyes.

"AAAAAHHH! AT LAST, MY DREAMS HAVE COME TRUE, FOR MY LOVELY LORAC HAS GROWN GIGANTIIIC!" screamed the tiny, ant-size Nosam, with Aliehs seated beside him. "AT LAST, I WILL NOW PLEASE YOU ON A MUCH GRANDER SCALE, MY LUSCIOUS BEAUTY OF PERFECTIOOOON!"

"This is actually kinda sick." Aliehs surveyed the giant world with a smirk. "We need to cross the street like this. Survive or get vaporized by tire rubber."

"…" With a furrowed face, Lorac flicked the bitesize stalker right off the dog's nose.

"YOUR STRENGTH IS INCREDULOUS, MY LOVELY-" he screamed before crashing.

And a couple more minutes later~

"Finally, my lovely Lorac has taken a form in my view most suiting to heeeerrr!"​ The itsy-bitsy Nosam was joyously hugging Lorac's toe, much to her disbelief. "Whatever you command, My Dearest, I am your humble servant and can never match up to your-"​ She quickly pinned him under her toe.

"Um…right. You mind telling me how this happened?" she asked Aliehs.

"We went in some kind of swirly door thingy."​

"'Twas fate it happened, for now I will show love to my Lorac like never before! Know that no size will disrupt me from being your Nosy!"​

Lorac eye-rolled and stepped off of Nosam, picking him and Aliehs up in her fingernails. "Well, as less annoying as you'd be this way, I can't just leave you like this. I'll help you two get back to normal."

"Just like my Lorac, to show kindness to all those in need, no matter who it'd be! Even this useless sap."​

"Dumbass."​ said Aliehs.

"I have a feeling who's responsible, too. Lemme take you to your treehouse first…?"

"RUFF, RUFF!" The little puppy was still panting happily.

"I taught him how to love and respect you!"​ Nosam said goofily. "But what creature wouldn't love someone so considerate?"​

"…" Lorac sent the dog flying yards away with a mighty kick. "Let's go." She began the walk to the treehouse.

"WHAT A LUCKY CREATURE TO RECEIVE SUCH AN EXUBERANT KICK!"​

Rehgallag Elementary

Rehgallag Elementary: a school with dark classrooms, cold-hearted teachers, and prune juice oiling grounds for a playground. But as gloomy as this school was… there was light in it. For a very important treaty was taking place. Between -1st-grade President, Eissej Yendis and -4th-grade President, Yllehs Nosnhoj. Both leaders marched up on stage, the 7-year-old who spoke very politely with appropriate language, and the modest 9-year-old who treated everyone with respect, and always dressed in winter clothing wherever she went; a purple coat with a hood, black pants, black shoes, and brown mittens.

Both presidents signed the paper before a -5th-grade boy took it away. "We, the Presidents of the Nega-First and Nega-Fourth Grades, hereby establish the Treaty of Playing Nice, promising to never pick on each other again!" Yllehs proclaimed.

"And let us also mark the beginning of a brand new friendship!" Eissej spoke happily before hugging Yllehs. "For as long as we belong to the same school, we must follow the same rule:"

"TEACHERS SUCK NUTS!!" his sister, Ydnas screamed, a very impolite, potty-mouthed girl.

"HEY! THAT'S NOT APPROPRIATE!"

"Yes, Ydnas, please do not say that." Eissej told her. "Though what she is saying has meaning, teachers are very unkind people and we must stick together to oppress them!"

"YAAAAAY!"

"And to celebrate this union, everyone is welcome to SKATE IN MY ICE RIIIINK!" And using her icebending, Yllehs turned the gym floor to solid ice.

The children joyfully skied around while Yllehs and Eissej sat on a bench, smiling at their happiness. "Best thing that could have happened to this school."

"I'm so glad we're all friends now!" Yllehs beamed. "But there's no president like you, Eissej."

"Why, nonsense, Yllehs, you were a terrific leader. Despite that you seem to slump in all of our contests. Namely soccer. Perhaps you'd play better without all that Winter wear."

"I can't help it, I just feel so cold, I feel like I'll freeze if I don't keep warm. I know I'm an icebender, but…"

"Pardon me, Miss." Yllehs was approached by her vice-president, Ednolal Notselgge. "But considering our newly expanded fighting force, perhaps we'd best take notice of those nasty DNK fellows."

"Oh, the DNK aren't hurting anyone—except each other—let's just leave 'em alone. I don't wanna get caught up in some war."

"…Hm." She looked smugly. "We don't always get what we wish for, Dearest." On that note, she walked away.

Nega-Sector V Treehouse

Still not much activity with all these lazy kids. Nollid was on the floor studying a book as Eirik came over. "Hey, NOLLID. Whatcha DOIN'?" she asked in her smug tone.

"Spell book my mom gave me. Looking for a good spell to shut that yap of yours."

"Know what ya REALLY need to shut?" She kicked the book away. "YOUR STUPID GLAND! Hyaaaaa ha haaaa!" She walked away.

"Siiiigh."

"Hup!" They looked to the window as Lorac climbed in very agilely. "Sorry for intruding, guys."

"Lorac, we keep telling you we don't like you barging in." Nollid stated. "What is it this time?"

"Excuse me for trying to help your friends. See for yourself." She approached him and held out both hands, revealing the two on her fingernails. Her left nails seemed fairly clean compared to the others. Nollid could see it was lovey-dovey Nosam who cleaned them.

"Now my lovely Lorac's nails can shine as bright as her heart! Then I shall proceed to her golden forest of hair!"​

"Oh geez." Nollid face-palmed. "I can't leave you alone without you embarrassing yourself."

"My embarrassment is worth it, for this lovely angel!"​ His face with heart eyes didn't change.

"Well, you can fix him, can't you?" Lorac asked. "You do practice magic."

"Yeah, but I'm only so good at it. Besides… I kinda like him as is."

"What does that mean?"

"I mean that Nosam's just annoying, and Aliehs doesn't bring life to this party. They're both just burdens."

"But they're your friends!"

"Not really. We're just a bunch of kids who were assigned the same, boring treehouse. Barely any of us like each other-" Eirik suddenly slapped the back of his head.

"KEEP YOUR GUARD UP, JEDI! Ha ha haaaaa!" She walked away.

"PSYCHICS are Jedi, I'M A WIZARD! Sigh…"

"But how can you even work together if you feel that way?" Lorac questioned.

"Not like we get much work. Heck, Arorua barely cares what we do, even. So if Nosy and Gloomy stay tiny, I'm alrighty."

"Uh-! You're the worst!" Lorac stomped off. She decided to approach Yrrah, who was still fixing a machine. "Yrrah?"

"Ah!" He bumped his head on its hood. "What isth it, Lorac, I'm trying to work!"

"Don't you have any grow rays or something?"

"Of coursthe not, you know we can never get thosthe to work. Why don't you do the inversthe of what got 'em that way, anyway?"

"Because I think they walked in a Hsinim Door, and Hsinim are always playing pranks on people. They never undo 'em easily either, I don't think they'll help."

"Then go visthit Sthipa in Sthector -W7. Sthe's magic, maybe sthe'll help."

"Can you take me to her?"

"I don't care any more than he does, I'm busthy." So, he went back to work.

"…Hmph." Finally taking the hint, she hopped out the window and climbed down the treehouse. "I guess I can just sneak on a boat and go there myself. But how can you two work with such jerks?"

"It does not matter, for I have you, Lorac!"​ Nosam proclaimed.

"They give me a place to crash, so I don't have to be home."​ Aliehs said.

"…Siiiigh." Lorac frowned sadly, finally understanding why they acted the way they do. They really were a troubled lot.

Dnalevelc Park

"Great to have you back, Master Nerehc!" stuttered Ininap Yksvolird as she and Nerehc walked to the park. She was Nerehc's assistant on Moonbase, and by 'assistant', she was more or less his servant. She wore an orange sweater, pink frilly bunny skirt, and had frizzy black hair in twin tails done like rabbit ears. "Just so ya know, Moonbase is still lookin' excellent, a baseball flew into yer office, so I cleaned up the glass, got cut a little, and Ay almost suffocated in space when the glass wall got broke, but all's worth it to keep yer work short, he he!"

"Yeah, whatever, I hope you got me that ice cream I ordered."

"R-R-Right here, Sir." She held up a cherry ice cream, arm shaking.

He smacked it to the ground. "That's CHERRY! I ordered BLURPLEBERRY! CAN'T YOU GET IT RIGHT?!"

"I, I-I, I, I'm sorry, Master!" Her legs turned wobbly.

"Well you're GONNA be." She turned away when Nerehc threatened to slap, "NEXT time you better-" But something caught both of their attention. A strange, double-door with forest designs just sitting in plain sight. "…Wonder what that is?"

The two curiously stepped closer as the door opened, a green portal spiraling before their eyes. "It-It's a… portal."

"Wow…"

"Where do you think it leads?"

"One way to find out… you go in."

She freaked, "B-B-But it's scary!"

"You got my ice cream wrong, it's the LEAST you could do."

"G-G-Go in with me!"

"Why should I?"

"B-Because yer the only one that could protect me. Please?"

"Sigh…alright. But you're not getting nuggets."

"Y-Yes, Sire." Her nervous grin came back.

Both kids walked in as the doors shut. "Woooohhhhh-ooOOOooohhh." It was a strange, wobbly sensation.

Rehgallag Elementary Library

The library was bustling with students chatting loudly amongst themselves. After all, in the Negaverse, the rule was to keep a library loud, and instead of books, they sold videogames. Well, until just a couple years ago, they suddenly began to sell books. The madness, I tell you, madness.

Lorac was able to sneak in through all this madness and seat herself at a computer, letting Nosam and Aliehs rest on the table. "Okay, we're going to see if any ships or something are heading to the Senippilihp, then we'll have to sneak on."

"My lovely Lorac devotes so much time and energy to those other than herself, it makes me absolutely gaga!"​ Nosam expressed.

"Uh-huh. Now, then…" She logged into Internet Explorer and entered any boat schedules from Ainigriv to Water -7. "Why boats, anyway?"​ Aliehs asked.

"'Cause they're easier to sneak on than planes."

"My lovely Lorac knows how to think ahead!"​

"Aaaaaaha! The Microscopic leaves in -45 minutes. I should be able to make it if I steal someone's bike, let's go!" She grabbed her companions and rushed outside.

"Yet engages in thievery if for the right reasons, you're marvelous, Lorac!"​

Lorac grabbed a fallen bike beside the bike rack and quickly sped downtown, much to the protests of Ekim Mragnorts, the bike's owner. "HEY, GIVE IT BACK- WHOOA!" He tripped on his untied shoelaces.

"Dude, she uses it better than you do." a boy said.

"Yeah… you're right."

Negative Sector V's neighborhood

"NYAAAAA!" Ininap screamed like a banshee as Nerehc carried her and flew over the neighborhood at great speed, hurriedly avoiding a swarm of giant butterflies. Well, the butterflies were normal, but the kids were just… really tiny. Also, butterflies are evil in this world.

Nerehc flew them to the ground and crouched in a sidewalk gap, successfully hiding from the bugs. They began to catch their breath as Ininap was still shaking. "YOU IDIOT!" Nerehc slapped Ininap. "I TOLD you we shouldn't have gone in that door!"

"B-B-B-But, I SAID we shouldn't go in, Sir!"

"Well, you should've STOPPED me if you were so sure. Be more persuasive next time!"

"Y-Y-Y-Yes, Master Nerehc. . ." She weakly saluted.

"Anyway, what are we supposed to do about this? Stupid door won't open."

"Sh-Sh-Shouldn't we get somebody's help? L-Like your mum?"

"What?! Heck no! My mom HATES bugs, she'll scorch me and eat me alive!"

"B-But you're her son."

"Yeah, so I know enough to know she'll crush me like a Hsinim. Heck, she kills BIRDS for dinner."

"B-But she loves ya… doesn't she?"

Nerehc looked down. "No. She doesn't love anyone. She's not like all those happy-go-lucky losers in the Posiverse. Heck, I don't think anyone here would…"

Ininap frowned. Nerehc looked so deep in thought. She's never seen that look on his face. Like he was wondering how to finish this sentence. Or contemplating how what he was gonna say would be true.

He shook, "What'm I saying, I'm Supreme Leader! We're flying to Sector V so they can do something about this. Nollid's a mage or something, a little tiny spark to the heart will convince him." He took Ininap's hand and flew for the distant treehouse.

Dnalevelc Harbor

Of all massive, imposing ships getting ready to sail from the harbor, none was smaller than the Microscopic, the cheapest cruise liner nega-money can buy. Of course, "cheap" is actually better in this world, that's why only a few people could get on. But small as it was, it released just as much toxic fumes into the air. Once all the passengers were onboard, it sailed off for Water -7. Lorac was hurriedly swimming after it from under the sea, having to keep her eyes shut from the trail of oil. She swam a good distance beneath the ship and swam up more quickly, shooting partway up the boat as she gripped its side tight. She arduously climbed onto the deck and avoided attention from the guards, hopping her way onto a roof beneath one of the chimneys.

"PLEH." She coughed Nosam and Aliehs, who were waiting inside her mouth, into her hand. "Sorry about that, you two. But it would be better than breathing oil."

"Your consideration makes it all worth it!"​ Nosam said lovingly. "And what sweet breath."​

She set the two down beside her. "It's not the best place we coulda slept… but it'll work." She then rolled on her side, lying her head on her folded hands. "We should be able to make it undiscovered until tomorrow. Good night, you two."

"But my lovely Lorac, how can I possibly sleep, when such a golden beauty lays before me!"​ Nosam expressed. "Please, allow me to sacrifice my sleep in ensuring yours is a peaceful one!"​

"I don't want you to, Nosam."

"Then perhaps I may serve as a 1/25 extra pillow! Your lovely head needs as much cushioning as possible, no matter how small! Or perhaps I shall rub your weary feet, so they may have all the rest they need for tomorrow-"​

She sat up, "For the last time, Nosam, I don't want your help, and I don't LOVE you. I care about you as a friend, but I don't wanna be with someone who thinks about me %-100 of the time! What is so great about me you have to worship me like a goddess?"

"B-Because you're so great and beautiful and perfect! I would do anything to be able to stay with you forever!"​

"Well, you can just stop it, because I'm NOT perfect and I will never love you that way. And as soon as we get you back to normal, I want you to just leave me alone. You're annoying and clingy and obsessive, and I want you to STOP it." She rolled back on her side, back facing them, and tried to force herself to sleep.

Even Nosam wasn't blind enough by these hearts to not understand. She was far too perfect for him… and she knew it. "…WAAAAAAAHHH-HA-HA-HAAAAAAA!"

"Good grief." eye-rolled Aliehs.

Nosam took a big breath and- "WAAAAAAAHHH!" let the stream of tears flow.

Rehgallag Elementary

School was dismissed, so President Yllehs's office was abandoned. Ednolal Notselgge searched around cautiously before confirming it safe to sneak in. She walked up to her computer and brought up a screen with a shadowed person. "Hello, Agent -α. What's the status of the Earth DNK?"

"Unfortunately, I couldn't get those foolish presidents to wage war against them. It may take some time, but I will have to improvise."

"Just do something soon! All we have to do is take Sector V hostage so their leader will be forced to surrender. Having a bunch of super-powered freaks like them in our team will make us invincible."

"You don't have to worry, Numbuh -4860. A few of the computer cool kids claim they saw that poor girl with a couple of… 'shrimps.' And another of my accomplices say they saw the Supreme Leader and his servant enter some magic door. I am looking into this, but I understand the poor girl intends to get to Water -7, on ship."

"Perfect. We'll call the Anaeco DNK and-" His finger was suddenly forced up his nose. "Wah!"

"Hm hm hm! Digging for gold, Brother?" a girl laughed.

"Annaira, stop bloodbending me! WAH!" He was forcibly spanking himself.

"You've been a bad, bad BOY, Atnort!"

"Stooooop!"

"I'll just… leave you be." Ednolal ended transmission.

Negative Sector V Treehouse

From the view of a normal-sized person, it would look like a purple firefly flew into the window and took land on the kitchen table. In reality, it was Nerehc and Ininap, who really needed to catch their breath. "Huff, huff… man, that took a lot outta me. Fighting Cheren was easier."

"I hope we can get somebody's attention." Ininap shuddered.

But it was then some giant footsteps caught their attention, and they saw Akurah walking in. "We just might." Nerehc smirked. "HEEEY! AKURAAAAH!"

As she walked by, Akurah could've sworn some bug was calling to her. "Hm?"

"YES! 'EY! AKURAH! HELP US OUT, WILL YA?"​ Ininap screamed, hopping like a rabbit.

"Wow, never heard you yell that loud before." Nerehc remarked.

"Hehe, it's all for your benefit, Nerry." She blushed.

"…" A wicked smile formed on Akurah's face. "Awww, what cute little bugs."

The Microscopic

Lorac's been asleep for who knows how long… even if she could afford a watch, telling time was impossible in this world. But when her eyes peeped open, she found a watery barrier above her, seeming to catch black snowflakes and toss them over the side. She glanced right and saw Nosam was controlling that water. "Nosam… You?…" She was still half-asleep.

"The smoke was dropping little ash, and, well, I didn't want any falling in your mouth."​ She couldn't see it, but his eyes were very red.

"Oh… well, that could've been bad. But where'd you get all this water?"

"My tears… it's okay… I'm over it now. Yaaaaawn."​

"Hm hm." Lorac chuckled. "You don't have to, anymore. I'll be fine."

"Yaaaaaaawn." He pulled the water back to him and stuffed some in his bottles.

"…" They were silent for a long time. Even if he was really tired, Nosam would be drooling over Lorac by now. He must've been pretty upset. She felt a little awkward about it, even. "Nosam… about last night… I'm sorry about what I said. You just… well, get on my nerve sometimes. You're a sweet guy and all, but I want you to have a better life than devoting your time and attention to one person ALL the time."

"I know, Lorac… I'm sorry."

"…" She smiled, "Hm hm, you'll have to speak up, you're so teeny. Here." She scooped him in her pinky nail and placed Nosam in her left ear.

"…Hehe. You have a lot of wax." His voice echoed in her cave-like ear. "Want me to clean it?"

"Hm-hm, okay. I guess I could hear you better."

Using the water from his bottles, he scooped small portions of earwax at a time and tossed them out the ear. "To be honest, Nosam, I think I understand why you like me so much."

"Hm?" He tossed another scoop out.

"Those friends of yours are awful. When one of their teammates is in trouble… they don't even care. How does your organization even function?"

"It just… does. It lasted for at least -5,000 years, 'course it got a little better -20 years ago."

"But still… I can't imagine why a team would hate each other so much. I feel like this whole world is nothing but darkness. People are mean to each other, and the sky's always so gloomy… when I give money to all those kids, I wonder if they're even grateful, or just mocking me behind my back."

"Why don't you just keep the money for yourself, Lorac?"

"Because I always thought that money makes people crazy. In those fairytales I used to read, those princes and princesses were mean to everyone, and they only loved each other because of their money. That's why I didn't wanna be like that. I wanted to feel like I was more… free. Free from that stuff that turns people evil."

"Mmm… well, I think you're a great person, Lorac." He was almost finished cleaning the ear. "And you know… maybe that is why I wanted you in our sector. Why I loved you so much. You were just so… nice. Even my sister would wanna poison me if she saw me like this."

"I know. …" She glanced to her ear, "You know, Nosam, after you're normal again, maybe I will go out with you."

"You will?!" His excitement was rising incredibly.

"But just… promise you won't try too hard. Okay? Just erase your mind of all desires trying to impress me, and just go on like I'm… just a really close friend. Okay?"

"Heheh… okay." But deep down, Nosam was shouting, YEEEEEES YESYESYESYEEEES, MY LOVELY LORAC WISHES TO BE WITH ME, I WILL NOT LET HER DOOOOOWN!

Meanwhile, Aliehs was merely sitting on the edge, looking at the sea with very little interest. "…Mm?" But if she did care in the least, a spot in the sea was bubbling.

The quiet was immediately disturbed when six columns of water rose around the small ship and launched at the trio. "AAAAAHH! What's happeniiiiing??"

Lorac, Nosam, and Aliehs were sealed inside a sphere of water as six merchildren plopped down on the roof. "So, you think these are the kids we were asked to find?" a mermaid with dark-red hair smirked.

"Unless some other poor girl with smallified humans is laying around here, they might be." a merboy replied.

"Whaddo you guys WANT?!" demanded Lorac, voice staticky thanks to the spinning water sphere.

"Nothing personal, toots, but we're not lookin' to have our organs rearranged." a nasal-voiced merman replied.

"Let's go, you fools." The merkids dove back in the sea, pulling their hostages along. In the distance, that nightmarish aquatic realm came into view: Anaeco.

Dnalhsa, West Ainigriv

The sun was over West Ainigriv, but the sky was too filled with clouds for sun to be seen. Regardless, one particular -7-year-old made it a very sunny day. Ynohtna EiznekCm kicked his front door open with his big white sneakers and joyously marched outside. "YAAAAY! WednesDAY, WednesDAY, whaaat a HAPPY DAY TODAAAY! It's nooo different from eeevery daaaay, 'cause it's ALL A HAP-PY day, YAAAAY!"

He approached his teammates, Yllas and Yevrah Reprah, who were playing with their favorite toys, ball-in-the-cup, in which Yevrah was much better at catching his ball in the cup. "Hello, Yllas! HELLO, Yevrah! Isn't it a wonderful day today?"

"Moderately." Yllas replied tonelessly.

"Not sweet."

"Come on! It's a happy day!" He wrapped arms around them. "Turn those frowns upside-down and let's be HAPPYYYY!"

"Hey, you're right, Ynohtna!" Yevrah beamed. "It IS a good day today! You should go spread the joy to EVERYONE else!"

"YAAAAY! Dah, dah, daaaah!" He marched away, "Wednesdaaay!" Yllas and Yevrah went back to boredly playing their toys.

"Finally, just go away…" Yllas mumbled. Like any DNK sector, the teammates didn't like each other, and they were really annoyed with Ynohtna. Although he was oblivious to their dislike to him, he was always so happy.

"Dah, daaaaah!" He skipped his way to Aenara Thgirbluf, a girl a few inches taller than him. "Heeey, Naraaaa! How's the weather up theeeere? I bet it's FIIIINE! Dah, daaaah!"

"Sigh," she rolled her eyes, "YES, Ynohtna, bright and fine like EVERY other day."

"Huhuhu, I know it is, silly!" He hugged her waist. "I wish I was tall as you, taking in all that warmth and sunlight, well there's no sunlight, but I bet you feel it better than everyone else!"

"Well, Ibyf could feel it, too… speakin' of which, why don't you go pester her?" She winked.

"Good IDEA! La, la, la laaaa!" He skipped to his treehouse, Aenara shaking her head in disbelief. Even though she was annoyed with his positive spirit, she had to admit she sort of liked him.

"HEY, Iby!" the boy cheered, barging into her dark room in the treehouse. Sitting in the corner, with only a faint desk lamp, a frizzy-haired angel girl with heart-shaped wings, and a very withered face, was doing homework. "How's your shiny day??"

"…Siiiiigh." She couldn't sound more aggravated. "What… Ynohtna?"

"Why are you in heeeere! It's a great day today, and GREAT for flying! Why don't you ever fly, Ibyf?"

"Sigh, because in case you forgot, we have tons of homework for school, and I don't see our future getting any brighter if we neglect to do it."

"Awwww what's the worst that can happen, Ibyf, take a little break! Let's go flying through the clouds and enjoy this wonderful-"

She looked at him with terrifying, half-closed emerald eyes. "You want to know what could happen?" And at that moment, Ynohtna saw himself as an adult, torn-up clothes and in need of a shave as he lie in the street and held a cup up in the hopes people would drop money in.

Ynohtna shook out of this trance as Ibyf turned back to her work. "Now if you don't mind… I have work."

"…" Ynohtna left her to her work and returned home.

Ynohtna's House

Ynohtna's father, Yevrah EiznekCm (not to be confused with Ynohtna's friend) was lain back on the couch and happily humming to a merry tune. He saw his son walk by with his head down. "Afternoon, Son! Back from enjoying this wonderful day already? You oughta try going without shoes, it makes your spirit more open!"

"No thanks, I… don't really like dirt. …Hey, Dad… do you ever think we act… TOO happy sometimes?"

"Why ya think so, Son!" He sat up, still wearing a happy smile.

"Well, none of the others are ever happy and it's not like we ever SEE a sun… you ever think we should try to look to our futures?"

"Son, did Ibyf fearbend you again?"

"…Yes."

"Son, when all those people try to see the future, they're blind in the present. Since they're gonna act like that, it's our job to remind them there's fun and happiness in the present world! Heh, h-and it's obvious the women of this house aren't gonna do that. The point is, the future's gonna turn out fine 'long as you keep yourself happy!"

"Yeah, you're right, Dad! And it's better than acting mean like Aunt Lehcar, or sour like Ibyf. She's worse than Miss Akim. I'm gonna see if Little Sis wants to play! HEY, ELLEHCIM!"

"Don't wanna, Big Brother."

"Ahhhh, you silly sourpuss!"

"Just like her mum." Yevrah smiled.

Anaeco

Anaeco: the darkest, reddest metropolis in the Negative Sea. An eerie red glow shone from the city lights and reflected off the bubble encasing the town. The constant pollution released into the sea has created more poisonbending merpeople than waterbending, and those that could waterbend studied more than their share of bloodbending. 'Course, it wasn't like the art was illegal, what would be the harm in it?

In a DNK treehouse, Lorac was still held in the water sphere while Nosam and Aliehs were placed in air bubbles. "Well, that job wasn't too hard." said Nera, a merman with dark-red hair and orange skin. "Girl too poor to afford footwear and a couple pint-sized rodents, Her Excellency is being generous today."

"Why did you guys kidnap us?!" Lorac questioned. "I know mermen don't like humans very much, but that doesn't give you any right to-"

"Pipe down, Girly." the nasally-voiced merboy, Elyk said. "We're just following the boss's orders. More like the boss's boss."

"Do you mean that galactic dictator?" Nosam asked.

"Yes, that one." Aras replied, a pink-haired mergirl. "A couple years ago, she found our city and forced us to join her empire. But in return, that friend of hers taught us bloodbending, which only the adults are allowed to learn to discipline us. So naturally, we've been enjoying our payback."

"But that's terrible!" Lorac proclaimed. "Neither of you should be using bloodbending! It's a cruel power that only drives people-" One of the merkids forced her hand over her mouth with bloodbending.

"Yeah, well psychic's pretty much the same way, yet no one does anything about THAT." Elyk said. "Just how that dictator controls everyone, anyway. So, who's keeping us from doing the same?"

Lorac used her other hand to pull the former away from her mouth. "Because it's the wrong way to treat people, and just because that dictator does it, why do YOU all have to act the same?"

"Because that's how the world is, Girly." Aras stated. "Who reaches the top first wins, who possesses the greatest powers will be the victor. Aluben learned that, and she's short from reaching there. And there's certainly no time for friendships along the way."

"…" Lorac only glared.

Nemas, a purple-haired merboy with light-purple skin, hurriedly swam over. "Hey, Supreme Leader's coming! And that purple alien is with her."

"Says the purple merman?" Nosam remarked.

"She's the bloodbender." he replied. "And you two would be easy to bend as water drops, so don't think about running."

A submarine designed like a fish with a water bubble windshield docked in their hideout as Amiak, the Merkid Leader, and Annaira, DNKG interrogation agent, and currently munching a turkey leg, stepped off and entered their living room. "Good afternoon, Sector -FIN. Assuming it's… then, so where're the prisoners?" Amiak asked.

"Right here, Your Unambience." Elyk said, presenting Nosam and Aliehs's bubbles.

"Please! Take me, but don't take Lorac!" Nosam wept. "And take Aliehs, too."

"Whatever…" Aliehs sighed.

Annaira observed closely. "…He's not the Supreme Leader."

"Who?" Amiak asked.

"Why would they be here?" Lorac questioned.

"Our info stated that the Earth DNK Leader and his servant walked into a strange door, which we've deduced as a Hsinim Door, and the 'poor' child was aiding a couple of shrimps. I take it to mean the four of you were affected."

"So, Nerehc and Ininap went in there, too?" Nosam asked.

"Yes. Then we heard the poor one was bringing you to Water -7, so we called the mermutants to ambush you. Of course, if you were Nerehc, forcing you to submit to the Galactic Child Empire would be no hassle. Hmmm… but I guess I am on a wild goose chase coming here." She bit another piece out of her turkey. "That's okay, though… I don't mind a little torture." She grinned wickedly.

Negative Sector V Treehouse

"NYAAAAAAAAA!" Ininap was once again screaming as Nerehc flew her around the living room like little flies. Reason was, a crazy pigtailed girl was chasing them with a great purple cloud of poison. "WHY IS SHE DOING THIIIIIS!"

"I dunno! HEY, AKURAH! Get a GRIP, it's US! Supreme Leader and Coward Ears!"

"Now now, little bugs, no need to be afwaaaaaid." Akurah mocked with a smiling, sadistic face. "I just wanna see what happens when a wittle GAS hits your luuuuungs." She continued aimlessly blasting it everywhere.

It was then that Eirik curiously walked in, baffled at the sight of all the gas in the room. "Yo Urah, you having a one-person FARTING contest?"

"No, I'm having a one-person murder-some-shrimps contest."

"Oh yeah? Well I'M having it, TOO!" Inhaling a huge gust of air, Eirik "AAAAAAAIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAA!" It was the most horribly loudest sound they've ever heard. Akurah couldn't press her hands any harder to her ears, and to Nerehc and Ininap, it was so ear-splittingly painful, it was slightly quiet, but that could be because their drums already broke.

"Ahh… I'm gonna need a minute." Eirik said hoarsely, but her evil smile stayed.

"…" Akurah merely shrugged and approached the fallen bugs. Nerehc and Ininap looked up with pure dizziness as her giant Mary-Jane came down.

Anaeco

"Now, then…" Annaira began, her devious smirk unchanging. "What would happen if I did THIS?" She opened a window and forced the shrunken duo outside of the water barrier that gave the room oxygen.

From a certain viewpoint, they were like two ants thousands of meters below the surface, so the billions of pounds of pressure would no doubt be overwhelming. 'Cause that's exactly how they felt. "HMMmmmpp." Nosam absolutely struggled to blow an air bubble. "Hmmmmp." He just couldn't make it come out. G… If only I could… move my arms!…

"Oh… and just for fun's sake, I'm bloodbending you in place so you can't swim!" Annaira beamed. "People say I expend too much energy on simple little rodents, but I say we shouldn't discriminate!… on who receives punishment!"

"HEY, LET THEM GO!" Lorac screamed. "THEY DON'T DESERVE THIS, they never did ANY thing to you! Huuu-uuk!" Annaira squeezed the blood in Lorac's neck.

"Yeah… you're right. Perhaps I'll let them go. Let them go down your contorted neck-"

As if out of nowhere, the wall nearest Lorac was blown down, freeing the girl from her watery sphere and knocking everyone off their feet, or fins. A small fleet of ships with angel wings, surrounded in spinning water bubbles, was flying around outside. "Numbuh -10,000 Leagues!" a merboy called, swimming up frantically. "The Nimbi are attacking us again!"

"Ready the swordwhales and initialize a counterattack!" Amiak yelled.

"Ugh, that stupid Atnort!" Annaira proclaimed. "He told us he had those batfreaks under contr-"

Lorac flipped at her nimbly and laid a storm of rapid punches along Annaira's body, blocking her chi. She then wrapped both arms and legs around Ira's head and kept her mouth closed 'til she was down. She then looked at the water barrier as Nosam was able to regain himself, fighting the unbearable water pressure with his bending and landing in Lorac's hand once he made it inside. "Let's steal one of their subs and get out of here, my dearest!"​

"Where'd Aliehs go??"

"I lost sight of her when the torpedo came, who cares! Let's just leave her be and get out of here!"​

"Get back out there and FIND her!!"

"At what expense?? She must be LOST by now, her wish for death finally come true, and my burden to watch over her finally-"​

"FIND HER." Darkness engulfed this realm, and Lorac had the form of a dark, imposing demon that would see that simple little Nosam suffers his whole life.

". . . . .;" Nosam couldn't be any quicker to zip back in that water and start swimming around at flawless, unparalleled speed. The torpedoes released by Nimbi and mermen alike were easy to dodge, but created so many bubbles that made everything totally foggy. In all of this chaos, he would never find Aliehs, let alone find her alive.

But out of the corner of his eye, something gray and limp was floating up inside one of the bubbles created by a missile. It was Aliehs. Nosam hurriedly swam up after, taking her in his arms when her bubble popped after a few seconds of rising. Like a dolphin, he swam his way back to the barrier, evasively dodging bubble clouds before he finally passed into fresh air and rolled to a halt along the ground. "HUUUFF."

Lorac bent over above them with a worried face. "Is she okay??"

"Y-Yeah… hold on."​ With gentle, careful movement, Nosam pulled the water in Aliehs's throat out of her mouth, throwing it to the side.

"Keh, heh…"​ She only took a few breaths before her usual half-open expression returned. "Oh… was I dead?"​

"Yes, and we sadly couldn't leave you that way."​

"Sigh, come on, you two." Lorac scooped the two in her fingernails and slid them down her pocket.

Lorac stylishly leaped over the brawling merkids and Nimbi and slipped inside the submarine brought by Amiak. "Hokay, first time driving a mersub, but that's okay, 'cause it's just like driving an Earth sub. Just calibrate the tailfin and we're good to…"

The submarine backed out and- "WHOA! Sorry!" bumped another one- "OUCH! My bad!" and wobbled as she tried to drive it- "Yowchie! Uhhh, I need some room here."

"My dearest Lorac, how you bashfully apologize for your mishaps is so beautifully-"

"I wouldn't mind accidentally rolling over on you."

"The joke of you performing a cruel act is both humorous, yet thrilling!"

Nega-Sector V Treehouse

Nerehc recovered just in time to dodge Akurah's stomp with a Rocket Boost, pulling Ininap with him. After grabbing a drink of water, Eirik began chasing and screaming smaller, but still reasonably deadly, soundwaves. Nerehc narrowly dodged them, but panicked when a Poison Whip lashed up before them and knocked them to the floor. Akurah blasted a poison cloud directly down, but Nerehc shot straight up to jab lightning in her eye.

Eirik leaped high above and blasted a soundwave that broke a hole in the floor, but Nerehc still avoided and flew Ininap to the window. Akurah inhaled and burped a Gas Bomb straight to them, exploding the floor beneath and making Nerehc lose balance. "GYAAAAAAH!" Ininap fell to the floor, while Nerehc went flying out the window. She weakly and frightfully looked up as both girls came with wicked expressions, ready to stomp her. Her cowardly instincts gave her the rush to zip around like little lightning, avoiding their stomps as she dashed across the living room. Akurah and Eirik blasted after her with gas and sound rockets, and once they caught up, they released a furious storm of their elements.

Outside, Sirhc was just returning home after his visit to Dnalhsa. Tiny Nerehc awoke on the sidewalk to his house just in time to see Sirhc come. "AAAAH!" He immediately dodged his boot and flew up to Sirhc's face. "SIRHC! It's me!"​

"AAAAH! Buuug!" Sirhc braced himself and shuddered for his life.

"What? No, Sirhc, it's me, Nerehc!"​

"D-D-D-D-Dooooon't hurt meeeeeee."

"Oh, Brother…"​

Team Lorac; middle of the sea

After managing to escape from that war-filled city, Lorac parked the sub above the surface, the water shield having dispelled to give them fresh(ish) air. The seas were calm and free of any other boats. "Siiiigh." Lorac lied across the pilot's seat while Nosam and Aliehs sat on her chest. "Well, at least we're out of that mess. I need to catch my breath."

"Ahhhh and I will gladly enjoy this swaying as your body recovers."​ Nosam said as her chest puffed up and down. "To know my Lorac has a sense of relaxation. Perhaps it will help if I-…"​ He stopped himself.

"Huuh? …" Lorac was too tired to pull her head up.

"Um… never mind."​

She spared a light smile. "Well, Aliehs is the one who almost drowned, why don't you offer her some comfort?"

"I could give her all the comfort in the world, she'll always stay the same! That's why I reserve it for you."​ He winked.

"But Nosam, you and Aliehs are teammates, you should try to be friends with each other. I mean… why make you a team if you guys aren't even FRIENDS?!" She screamed suddenly and abruptly.

"M-M-My Lorac, if it'll give you peace, I will gladly-"​

"No… forget about it. It won't work if I make you be friends. I just…sigh, I guess I'm just thinking too much."

"About what?"​

"About…" Lorac sat up, the two slipping to her lap, "About everything. Do you remember those Nimbi who showed up out of nowhere and attacked? I read somewhere that they always hated each other, and they always attacked one another, the same way Hsinim play pranks on humans, and humans like to catch mermen for dinner, and everyone just… Hohhhh!" She buried her face in her hands.

"W…What's wrong, Lorac?"​

She sniffled. "Why does everybody HATE each other so much?! The army steals from kids, races fight each other… you and your friends don't even care enough for each other to even save them from drowning!"

"…" Nosam looked away, feeling a strand of guilt.

"It's just… This world is a MESS because everybody hates each other! Why can't people just be happy, instead of all this HATE that goes around. I know we're supposed to be opposites, but…but why do we have to live this way?"

Nosam climbed up to her arm and lightly rubbed it (yeah, she'll definitely feel that). "I'm sorry we're like that Lorac, but… not everyone is. There're as many good people in the world as bad people… like Innus. She's ​real​ nice. Her sister's nuts, but, Innus is really talented and helpful. Just like you, Lorac. And I know things will get better, don't worry about it."​

She uncovered her eyes. "Well… I guess you're right, Nosam. It'd just be nice if there was something I could do. …But Nosam? If I hang out with you later, can you promise you and Aliehs will try to be friends? It'd be nice for you to have someone else to enjoy spending time with."

"But Looooraaaaac!"​

She gave him a pouty look of shame that some moms or older sisters would. "…Okay."​

"Good boy!" She gently patted his little head. "Now only problem is, where the heck Water -7 is. It doesn't look like this junk heap has a compass, and we still have no idea-"

"It's over there."​ Aliehs said, pointing to a distant island with a giant flashy sign. Welcome to WATER -7. Renowned for our big flashy signs. ('Cause who needs lighthouses in this universe?)

"Um…good eye, Aliehs. Let's go!" Lorac started up the sub again and drove to the island.

EiznekCm Household

Lehcar was in the kitchen reading a newspaper while Arorua sat with her and read a magazine. "M-Mom?" They looked up when Sirhc walked in, shuddering with slight fear, holding up his pinky finger. "Th-There's something you need to see."

"Oh, quit stuttering, Sirhc, what is it?" Lehcar angrily asked. Both she and Arorua approached the boy and squinted closely at the tip of his finger. Standing at the tip of Sirhc's pinky was a very tiny Nerehc, cowering in total fear. "…Nerehc?" she whispered with shock.

"What happened?" Arorua asked.

"H-He walked into some kinda magic door." Sirhc stuttered. "He's been like this for hours."

"Hours?! Well, why didn't you tell me earlier?!"

"W-Well, I-I didn't find him 'til, well, after Akurah and Eirik tried to kill him and Ininap. 'Course, he thinks Inap is dead by now. Then, well, he didn't want me to bring you here at first, 'c-cause he thought you were g-going to squish him, Mother."

"Why not? He is a bug, after all." Arorua smirked. "Don't bugs deserve to be squished, Mother?"

"Still that tongue, both of you! I would never do that!"

"B-But I thought we squish small creatures, Mother." Sirhc said. "They don't deserve to live, right?"

"Well, this case is different. Nerehc is my son." Lehcar released a sigh. "When I was little, my father always treated me like I was nothing. He made me feel as small as Nerehc is right now. I don't wanna be like that. I wish to treat my kids with the same respect I desire from them. And when my son is at his smallest and weakest, I'll do everything in my power to help him."

The tiny Nerehc was touched by his mother's words. His fear had vanished as a warm feeling in his heart took over.

Water -7

A black-winged Nimbi patrolled the shores of the island. She had dark-red hair, a green sweater, and baggy black pants with white shoes. Soaring over a dock, Asia cocked a brow, seeing a strange girl waving at her. Asia was a tad disgusted by her dirty apparel, but she flew down regardless. "You need something? Did you come from the ocean or something?"

"Um, kind of…" Lorac panted. "Listen, you're Asia, right? I need you to get Sipa to help these two." Asia bent down to see the tiny Nosam and Aliehs in her fingers.

"Aliehs?? What the heck happened to you, girl?"

"This idiot, who else?"

"So, do you think Sipa can do something?"

"I don't know if she will, but I'll call her." She did so, and-

"REJECT ARCEUS!" A girl in a black priestess robe and white pointed hat poofed out of red smoke. "What's goin' on?"

"This." Lorac showed her the tinies and explained the situation.

"A Hsinim Door, huh? Ooo, I've always wanted to find one of those. Still… are you sure you wanna help them?" Sipa stroked her chin with a smirk. "They'll make pretty fun test subjects."

"Come on, Sipa." Asia glared.

"Fine, fine. Where's the Hsinim Door, anyway?"

Dnalevelc

Sipa uttered an incantation to reopen the Hsinim Door. Nosam and Aliehs walked inside, and the girls watched as it expanded back to normal size. "Whoa!" The two stumbled out.

Sipa uttered an incantation to reopen the Hsinim Door. Nosam and Aliehs walked inside, and the girls watched as it expanded back to normal size. "Whoa!" The two stumbled out. "Hey, it worked!"

"Finally…" Aliehs sighed.

"For that, I'll accept your eternal souls~" Sipa said.

"Piss off."

"Ugh, fine. If you don't mind, I'm gonna stay and study this a bit."

With their business done, Team Lorac was headed to the town. "Well, Nosam… despite the craziness, you were pretty fun to hang out with." She smiled.

"I would like our next shrink date to go without evil merkids." he said with a cool grin.

"Hehe, mine, too. But I'm worried about what that girl said about your leader. Do you have a communicator; you should call your sector and warn them. Wouldn't hurt to test if they care…"

"Sigh, I suppose." Nosam switched on his wristwatch communicator and dialed Yrrah. "Hello? Yrrah? Remember when I was, well, shrunk earlier? Apparently the same thing happened to Nerehc, so he-"

"Yesth yesth, I know, Nollid already took care of it. Thank goodnessth, I thought thosthe two would never sthop."

"Huh?"

Nega-Sector V Treehouse; earlier

"I wanna squish it-" Akurah stated, shoving Eirik.

"No I wanna squish it!" Eirik screamed, pushing back.

"I found it first."

"Well I broke its EARS."

"You had the LAST kill."

"No, YOU DID!"

Ininap merely sat and shuddered in place, wondering which girl would be the one to administer her fate. 'Course, she could take this time to make a break for it, but the situation was much more terrifying.

"Stupefy."

"EEEK!" Both girls were hit by a magic blast that froze them in place.

Nollid walked in from the hallway, wand aimed and spell book in hand. "For crud's sake, can't you girls be left alone once without getting in a murder contest?"

Their stiff expressions exchanged glances.

Nollid picked Ininap up on his finger. "Nerehc!" The Supreme Leader waited on the palm.

"Hey, you're still alive! Not bad, Ininap."

"Yeah, Sirhc brought him." Nollid clarified. "I'll take you down to the Hsinim Door and get you fixed up."

"Hy, bt yu di'n't hlp Nsm erlier." Eirik said through stiff teeth.

"I know, and…" Nollid looked down, "I don't know why, but… something inside me wanted to help them now. But… I guess I can only rely on Lorac for that. Hopefully she can…"

EiznekCm House, after the fact

Lehcar and Yllaw were asleep in their room when Nerehc excitedly ran in and shook his mom by the arm. "Mom, Mom! I'm big again, look!"

"Huh. Wh-What?" Lehcar barely awakened, her eyes still heavy from tiredness.

"I'm back to normal! I don't know how, but I'm back!"

"Oh… I guess you are." Lehcar yawned, too tired to be excited, even though she was joyous deep down. "Let's celebrate in the morning, Nerry…" She fell back asleep.

"Hehe… okay." Nerehc was about to head out the door, but stopped and turned around. "M-Mom?"

Lehcar mumbled, her eyes still closed. "Yes, Nerry?"

Nerehc was extremely grateful for what his mother said earlier, and was unable to find words to express it. Instead, he just walked up and hugged her sleeping form. "I love you, Mom." Nerehc calmly walked out and closed the door.

Lehcar shifted around in her bed as her voice muffled, "I love you, too… Nerry…"

 

[Gamen Watch]

This chapter used to be two separate one-shots written for the Onu Family. I've combined them into a single chapter for this story.

Chapter -17: The Life of Nerehc and Arorua
​

Age 0

Lehcar EiznekCm-Seltaeb calmly sat in her rocking chair, smiling down at the tiny baby in her arms. The small infant was comfily wrapped in an orange bundle, a tiny strand of brown hair dangling between the yellow eyes of his smiling visage. Lehcar's husband, Yllaw peeked overhead to get a look at their newborn son. "Awww. He has your eyes, Sweetie."

"I know, Yllaw." Lehcar replied, still looking happily at her baby. "Who'd've thought a couple misfits like us could make something so precious?"

"Heh, we've already made two of them, eh?"

"I know… but there's something special about this one…"

"So, what should we name him? Eilrahc or something?"

"Nah…I'm thinking more of 'Nerehc.'"

"Nerehc?"

"Yes…"

Yllaw smiled. "That's a nice name."

"Yeah… an evil name… Nerehc EiznekCm Onu."

"Your mind works great, Lehcar. I'll go get dinner ready." The goateed husband let them be.

Lehcar gently held a finger above the baby's face. The newly-named Nerehc giggled and reached his arms, trying to take her finger. Lehcar lowered her finger down and allowed the child to suck on it. She then turned her hand over and watched as the mark of the Triforce of Power appeared on the back of her hand. "Awww. My sweet, sweet Nerry." The infant slowly drifted to sleep after, feeling some kind of dark energy flow into his form. A smirk appeared on Lehcar's face. "You're going to be a wonderful killer someday…"

Age 2

"What's this word say?" Lehcar asked, touching a stick to a board with a phrase written on.

"Kkk-wwww…EEE-buh-buh." The two-year-old Nerehc tried to pronounce.

"And this next one?"

"Iiiiissss-AH!"

"Keep going…" Lehcar smiled assuringly.

"Aaaaaa… BUUUUuuug."

"So what does it say?"

"Kweeeeb, is a… BUG!"

"Yeees! Kweeb is a bug!"

"Yaaaay!"

"And what do we do with bugs?"

"Squish them!"

"Aww, good, Nerry!" Lehcar joyfully ruffled up her son's hair.

"Mama?" A 3-year-old girl barged into the room. She had dark-blonde hair and a red dress. "Will you play with-"

"Arorua, I told you not to interrupt us! Don't interrupt your brother's reading lesson!"

"S-Sorry!" The child timidly backed out. Nerehc seemed to stick his tongue in her direction.

Age 3

"Mommy… I had a nightmawe." Nerehc sadly spoke, lying under the covers of his bed.

"Awe, what happened, Sweetie?" Lehcar asked, sitting on the bed.

"I dweamed I was beat up by a bunch of big kids. I was too little to beat them. Do you think I'm little, Mommy?"

Lehcar gave an assuring smile and touched her son's shoulder. "Son… have I ever told you about the proud alien race, known as Kateenians?"

"No."

"The Kateenians are a tribe of really tiny aliens. Even tinier than your little footsies. The Kateenians get picked on a lot because of it. But you know what? They don't really care. They're proud of who they are. They like being really tiny. They don't believe you have to be big to be strong. Can you imagine anyone DUMBER?"

Nerehc gave a happy giggle.

"Son, you should never feel bad about your height. Because if anyone should, it's the Kateenians. They're no bigger than bugs on the floor! Sure, they may ACT tough… but once we catch them between our fingers, they're completely submitted to our rule! Then we can do whatever we want with 'em."

"Are they tasty, Mommy?"

"Oh, of course! In fact, here's one right now!" Lehcar held up a bag of Kateenian Gummies and took a piece out. "Try and get it!" Nerehc kept trying to grab the squishy candy as Lehcar kept pulling it away from his reach.

Finally, Lehcar decided to drop it and let him catch it. Nerehc happily chewed the tiny candy. "Mmm! They're tasty, Mommy!"

"Ha ha ha. They sure are, Nerry." Lehcar ruffled her son's hair again.

Age 5

"Have fun at your first day of kindergarten, Nerehc!" Lehcar smiled, watching her son walk toward the small building.

Upon his way, the 5-year-old ran into a small Mexican boy with a sombrero and guitar. "Hola! My name is Pablo! Would you like to be my friend?"

"Pfft. Get lost, Loser." Nerehc angrily walked by the frowning child.

"W-Wait! I can play guitar! Watch!" Pablo proceeded to play a catchy tune.

Nerehc's eyes widened at the music. "Huh…not bad." Nerehc smirked. "Hey, if you play that as my theme music, I'll let you be my minion."

"What's a minion?"

"It's, um, er… a 'friend.'"

"Oh! Okay! I'll be your minion!" Pablo continued to strum the strings of his guitar.

Nerehc nodded his head to the catchy theme as Pablo followed him into the building, watched by a smiling proud Lehcar. "Awww. My son's first minion…"

Age 6

Nerehc and many other children his age impatiently stood in an empty field area. Nerehc looked up as his parents approached him. "I dunno, Mom. What if I'm not good enough for DNK?"

Lehcar knelt down and placed a hand on her son's shoulder. "Nerehc EiznekCm Onu… you're one of the most evil children I've ever raised. You've gotten great at your bending. If anyone can show these fools who deserves to be leader, it's you. One day, you might even rule the universe."

"Will I get to shock people with lightning, and step on Kateenians?" he asked excitedly.

"Sure, Son. Whenever you like."

Age 8

Nerehc was put under the command of Supreme DNK Leader, Marba. Marba was a twisted, despicable boy who threatened to lead his comrades to their doom, but when Nerehc decided to revolt against him, very few operatives expressed protest.

"GUESS WHAT, everybody?! I'M in charge now! Nerehc EiznekCm Onu! Son of former Supreme Leader Lehcar and grandson of Ganondorf!"

His announcement was met with gasps. Some of them already knew who he was, but to think such an infamous child was now their leader. The grandson of Ganondorf, the King of Evil… How would this boy be any better than Marba?

…

Nerehc himself asked that same question. That's what his mother wanted of him… to rule in the name of evil. This was only the beginning. But somewhere inside, Nerehc asked himself… is that what he wanted?

During the announcement, his older sister merely scowled at him. Just as she did for years… when Nerehc got the special treatment. This boy… didn't deserve to lead.

The Diary of Arorua
​

My name is Arorua EiznekCm Onu. You may have heard of me. Daughter of Lehcar A. EiznekCm, and granddaughter of Ganondorf A. Dragmire. The man who some know as the reincarnation of the Devil. Everyone remembers Ganondorf as the Dark Lord who once tried to destroy the world with demonic hordes. But no one expected him to have a daughter. And because my mom was Ganondorf's daughter, she inherited part of his dark powers. And when my mother slayed Ganondorf a little around 20 years ago, she absorbed his full powers. And then she married and had kids. So, you'd think the same thing would happen again, right? Well, it did. Unfortunately…

My older brother and I were really young at the time, so we didn't really care much. We heard we were about to get another younger brother. But when we got a little older, and our mom told us about our family history, I never begun to hate anyone more than Nerehc EiznekCm Onu. My little brother, whom our mother favorited and cared for more than me or Sirhc. My little brother, who was granted the gifts of darkness by the one who stole them from her own father.

My mother was the first born of Ganondorf's two children, so it's only logical that she would be granted his powers, right? So why was it, even when Sirhc and I were here first, my "adorable" little brother got to be our mother's favorite? Well, my older brother, Sirhc is too much of a wimp as it is, but I'm no coward like him, and I have more competence than either of them. So, why did my mom miraculously decide that Nerehc would inherit her fortune and not me? It's always "My Sweet Nerehc" this and "Little Nerry" that! And all he does with his power is goof around and set things on fire for the fun of it.

Our mom always told us that Ganondorf always treated her badly and she didn't want to be anything like him. She said she wanted to give her kids the respect she wanted from them. But does she? No. Not really. I'm always getting in trouble for being mean to wittle Nerry. She never cared about her kids equally, she cares about Nerehc far more than me or Sirhc. Why did he get to be the favorite? Why did my mom decide to love him so much? Because I wasn't a complete lunatic like him? Whatever. I've always dreamed of crushing my brother. Then my mom would HAVE to give me her power. There's no one else that could fulfill her place when she was gone. We all know Sirhc didn't have the brawn to do so.

But she probably wouldn't. She'd probably slit me for killing her sweet little devil. Nerehc will always be our mom's favorite. No matter what he does, no matter what excuse she has, she'll take him over us. …And I will always hate him for it.

But one day… I met someone who can help me. A girl with soulless eyes, dressed like a ghost…

 

[Gamen Watch]

We'll meet Nega-IC in this chapter! Hah, but they're anything but icy!

Chapter -16: The Cataclysm of Lava and Ice
​

Dnaleci (won't bother spelling the city backwards )

Even though the land was "Ice" spelled backwards, it was anything but. Well, I guess it's why it's backwards. The sky was filled with black smog like usual, except this originated from volcano ash. For their town was built around the base of volcanoes, but although they never erupt, lava was still a problem. Especially now, when the students were unable to go into school because of the pits of lava surrounding it. "Sigh, okay, class, Ikus is throwing one of her tantrums again, so we'll proceed learning out here." The teacher said. "Stay a reasonable distance away so you don't get squirted by magma drips, we'll be fine."

"Hya ha ha ha!" laughed Ikuyim Latsyrc, running to the river's edge, a vibrant smile on her face. She had messy, long white hair and orange and white-gradient eyes like a sunrise. She wore a gray sweater with a white bowtie, light-orange skirt, and gray socks into matching shoes. "Hey, Ikus! Quit being a sourhead and come learn with us!"

Sitting lonely on an isle on the lava, Ikus Latsyrc glared at her sister with a grumpy face. "GO AWAY, Sister-chan." She folded her arms and turned away. She had short orange hair and brownish-red shirt, with eyes similar to Ikuyim.

"But whyyy! Why don't you ever come here and PLAY with uuuus!"

"Because I HATE you! And I hate EVERYTHING! I wish you'd all just BURN!" Her rage made some lava geysers burst.

"Why did Ikuyim's sister have to be born a lavabender of all things?" AlyakAm Gnik said with an emotionless face. She was thin with mint-green clothes.

"To represent her utter annoyance. And how no one wants to play with her." Her brother, Egroeg replied with a just-as-emotionless tone. He wore a gray shirt and white pants and shoes.

"Well, class, since we're already on the subject, who can tell me how magma forms?" the teacher asked.

"Ooo-ooo-ooo." Alol Krots, a girl with a pink shirt and butterfly wings, raised her hand. "It's formed when rocks melt in the Earth's lithosphere, which is the outermost shell of the earth, made of the crust and upper part of the mantle, and the asthenosphere, which is the layer below the lithosphere."

"Very good. I also would've accepted 'little girls who can't control their selves.' You'd get a sticker, if you can brave the magma rivers to the classroom to get one."

"I'LL get one!" Ikuyim joyously skipped her way across the magma platforms, stopping for brief seconds to wait out sudden magma geysers, until she made it inside the dark, flaming school and found the box of stickers. She took one, skipped her way back out, and planted it on Alol's pink shirt.

"Very good." The teacher said, not caring. "Now who can tell me what 'igneous' is?"

After that boring, hot school day…

Negative Sector IC left the boiling pit behind them, Ikuyim happily skipping ahead of her group. "You know, someone should do something about her." AlyakAm suggested.

"Yes. But who could possibly be interested enough?" Egroeg asked.

"I wish we knew why she was so upset." Yrret said with a sad face. "I'd like to help her." He had brown hair and wore a dark-blue shirt with cyan-colored sleeves.

"Ahhhh that's just Ikus!" Ikuyim said bubbly. "She's always so frumpy! I learn to just deal with it."

"You learn to deal with living on a boiling magma pit that threatens to sink your house?" Alol asked.

"Yep! It's just her way of venting. So who's up for ice cream?" She grinned widely.

"Ice… hold on!" Alol perked. "I have a pen pal in like, Dnalevelc that says the Fourth Grade President's an icebender, so maybe we can like, bring her over and do something 'bout this crazy hothead."

"Perhaps all Ikus needs is to cool down, being surrounded by so much heat all the time." Yrret agreed.

"I don't mind all this heat." AlyakAm said. "It feels like… death. Our life force steadily melting away…"

"Hehe, I'm up for it!" Ikuyim perked. "Come on! Let's go on an adventure!"

"It's not much of an adventure, just flying to Dnalevelc to grab someone and bring them here to do something for us." Yrret replied.

"Life's an adventure! So come on, let's go!" Ikuyim joyously ran to the treehouse first.

"Gee, climb many trees, much?" Egroeg remarked as they followed her.

"Gotta love the healthy spirit." Yrret said.

Dnalevelc; Onion River

"The biggest mystery in life, Aliehs, is why the heck a bunch of onions flow down this river on a daily basis." Nosam inquired as he moved onions out of the river with his bending. "I guess it'd be the ideal paradise if you liked that sort of thing. But I prefer to keep my liquids healthy."

Aliehs held a pickup stick in one hand and stood soaking her feet in the water, dull-faced and not looking the least bit interested in picking up trash. But it didn't really matter as Nosam got the job done twice as effectively, the purified river flowing beautifully. "Perfect! This river's clean enough for my lovely Lorac to bathe in. Then I shall clean it again of the filth she acquired in her daily selfless struggles! Let us celebrate our victory with bananas, Aliehs!" He marched off proudly.

Aliehs waited a few seconds after he was gone, still uninterested. She hated bananas. Eventually, she found the strength in her legs to walk forward. But after stepping out of the river, she turned to look at its quiet ripples and gentle flow. It seemed to flow a lot faster with the trash all cleared out. A very rare instance happened when the sun poked through the clouds, making its ripples sparkle. Aliehs walked closer, and her mopey, gray, droopy self reflected in the pool. She never once saw a reflection… let alone one in water. It looked so weird… almost like a parallel world she could dive into.

Aliehs knelt down and reached her hand into the ripples. She reached in closer, not seeming to feel a bottom. "…WHOA!" She splashed in fast as dust into a vacuum.

Her body spun and spun as she plummeted down a watery vortex. Unable to get her bearings, unable to swim, just a sea of bubbles and ripples spinning in her vision. "HUUU!" She was suddenly standing straight on her feet, back above the river. But something looked drastically out of place: the sky was blue, with few fluffy white clouds, and a big, bright, shiny thing in the sky that made the whole land light. Aliehs couldn't look at it without keeping a hand by her face. How could anyone live under a thing like that. And where was she, anyway…

She heard light splashes in the river and looked right, seeing someone approach, her footsteps trudging across the ripples. It was a girl that looked just like her, raccoon ears, tail and all, but her T-shirt and sandals were green, and her tan skin looked much brighter and colorful. A merry smile was on her face as she picked nuggets out of the river. "Blimey. One of life's biggest mysteries is where these nuggets come from. None may ever find out the answer, and hopefully none ever will. Because constantly wonderin' a crazy thing like this is an adventure! And if ya don't wonder, ya can't adventure! Er, or was it 'wander.' Over yonder?" She pointed that way, baffled. "Eh, EITHER WAY!" Her excited face returned. "Why, even marchin' to the end of this thing will lead me to a whole new-" Not watching her path, she bumped into someone.

Sheila shook back to her senses and wore a look more quizzical. There stood a girl with grayish-tan skin, droopy blue eyes, a gray T-shirt and sandals, black hair and shorts, and brown raccoon ears and a tail.

Sheila studied the girl closely. She looked awfully familiar… but couldn't put her tail on it. She loomed her eyes toward hers, then moved back, beginning to walk around the girl sideways. Sheila raised a strand of hair on Aliehs's head, then lifted her tail to feel it. She got back in front and stretched Aliehs's mouth, seeing those pale teeth, then pulled her nose up to peep inside. … … It took a lot more observing, but slowly but surely, the conclusion would reach Sheila. …She cried to the heavens-

"OH, BLIMEY! IT'S MY LONG-LOST IDENTICAL TWIN SISTER!" She embraced the grayer raccoon in a hug and cried. "OH-HO-HO, my baaaabyyyy! I thought I'd never see you again, where 'ave you BEEN all this time?!" D,:

Aliehs shoved her away. "You idiot, I'm your Negative, not your sister…"

Her look became quizzical. "Moy NEGATIVE? But that's bloomin' crazy! You don't look a thing like me! I mean, you LOOK like me, but you're all GLOOMY and WITHERY and, EAUCH!"

"Duh, I'm not supposed to be like you…"

"WELL, WHY NOT? You look like you've NEVER seen the SUN! And do ya ever go on any adVENTURES?"

"None that I enjoy…"

"Well, THAT'S just rubbish! SURELY you musta been on SOME adventah. Like ME, for instance, goin' through all that shrinking rubbish. You ever been shrunk? 'Cause I have, and that was a wild ride."

"Yeah. I have once. Almost died. That was pretty fun."

"Oi, there's some spirit! But 'ave I got more for you, yet. Come on, bloke, we're goin' to the ocean!" She grabbed the dimmer girl's arm and ran off hurriedly.

"Huh, that's where I almost died."

Rehgallag Elementary

To everyone's happiness, the salad oil and prune juice mining grounds were shut down thanks to an inexplicably early Winter, the outside covered with snow and machines frozen. Even gym was a joy, as children skated around on the new, remodeled floor that was now an ice rink. "Oh, Yllehs. What you did for these children knows no amount of gratitude." Eissej smiled, sat beside his coated friend on a bench.

"Well, it was no trouble." She smiled. "I like to help people. I know I can't help everyone, but I wanna do the best I can."

"Well, I think you're wonderful for doing so." He leaned his head on her side. "For someone with so much ice, your center is warm."

"Hee hee hee. I don't know why, but I always feel like my ice is a symbol of insecurity. That's why I like to, well, let it go, then I feel less insecure."

"Let it go…" Eissej looked up thoughtfully, "Somebody should write a song about that. I bet it'd sell for nega-millions."

"Heehee, maybe. I still can't believe how big a hit Venus Needs Dads was. Came out in -2011 and people still can't stop talking about it."

"Ho, I know. If only there was some… backwards universe where movies like that weren't so overrated."

"Hee hee hee! Only in our dreams."

But the gym room erupted in screams when a R.E.P.M.A.C.S. (please don't make me come up with backwards acronyms X() crashed through the ceiling. Sector -IC tumbled out, dizzy. "Uhhhh… should've let Ikuyim drive, since I ain't know how to pilot." Alol said.

"Ha ha ha! That was FUN, though! Good work, Alol!" Ikuyim barely looked fazed as she jumped up and skipped in the room- "WHOA!" and slipped on the ice. "Ha ha ha! Live and learn, get surprised by things like that!"

Eissej and Yllehs looked with worry as the five approached them. "So, um, what's with all the ice?" AlyakAm asked. "Is there um, an icebender around?"

They exchanged nervous glances. "U-Um… I-I…I am…" Yllehs very carefully rose her hand.

"Sweet, dude! You can like, help us out with a PROBLEM or something!" Alol beamed.

"P-Problem?"

"The truth is, we heard there was an icebender here, and well, this friend of ours is a lavabender who's turning the school into a lava pit, so we thought maybe you could, um reason with her?" Yrret spoke sheepishly.

Yllehs looked down. "Reason with a-, lavabender? I dunno… it sounds kinda scary."

"Well, um, we just thought, if you were an icebender, your personality would be opposite of hers, so you could talk to her, and maybe cool her down, b-both literally and…"

"It would be awfully nice of you to try." Eissej told her comfortingly. "You just said you love to help people."

"I-I'd love to, but… w-what if I get burned-?"

"Oh JUST SHUT THE *** up and let's just so FREEZE this chick already!" Ydnas stated impatiently as she stomped toward the wrecked ship. "HURRY UP!"

The duo grinned blushingly. "Hehe… I guess we're a-go." Eissej said.

"We'll fix it up quickly." Egroeg mentioned.

Posiverse

"YAAAAAAAH!" The song "A New Venture" was playing loudly as Sheila did a series of fast-paced, exciting activities with Aliehs along for the ride. Sheila's face was very bright and wide, but Aliehs's half-awake droopy look didn't change one bit. Sheila stood high on her waterbike and rode the waves off the shore, zooming around and around in circles and catching the wind in her hair. Aliehs sat along the side and let her feet skip across the water, looking as though she'd fall asleep any minute. Sheila changed course toward the beach and wore a smirk of excitement, her foot pressing the gas pedal with full force. The beach goers scurried away when the bike smashed along the shore, and Sheila and Aliehs ended up with their heads in the sand.

"WOOHOOOO!" Sheila popped out first. "That was TIGHT, eh? Come on, let's go do MORE!" She grabbed her opposite's foot and dragged her off.

She was soon strapping rollerblades and protective padding on hers and her Negative's body. "Now a sport that REALLY keeps you on yer toes is old-fashioned roller-skating! And when I say old-fashioned, I mean RIDING DOWN THE GRIM RAMP AT A JILLION MILES PER HOUR BEFORE WE ZOOM INTO SPACE!" Her voice echoed from her perch as high as the clouds, at the very top of this colossal thousand-meter ramp. "Here weeeeeee GO!"

Pulling Aliehs along, the two raccoons shot down like flaming comets. Their bodies were truly on fire as their speed was unparalleled by any other force. Sheila's skin was steadily pulling away from her body, distinctly noticeable from her eyes and teeth. And for Aliehs, this was pretty noticeable since her flesh was already so droopy. "WoooooooooooooOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO!" They finally launched off the bottom ramp, scorched with their trail of fire, and flew straight into the stars above.

A Moonbase operative was doing patrol along the moon's surface when he saw two raccoons on rollerblades gliding overhead, upside-down with one's arms up in excitement. He said in his communicator, "Houston, we have a problem."

"Albert, I swear to Arceus, just because I was named that, you make that joke one more time and I'm blowing your brains out."

Sheila and Aliehs were at the top of a mountain next as both slid down on separate skis and equal speed. Sheila swiftly avoided rocks and trees coming her way while Aliehs didn't use her sticks at all, but her limp feet shifted weight on their own so the skis maneuvered away from the obstacles. When Sheila launched off a ramp and landed perfectly, Aliehs tripped so now her right ski was keeping along, and her left leg stuck straight in the air. "That's a good idea!" Sheila mimicked this pose, and both top legs ended up catching branches and swirling them around before they went flying onto a higher route.

Sheila wrapped her legs around Aliehs's head and rode her like a skiing horsie, her wide grin unchanging as she maneuvered Aliehs's body and avoided hazards (she was still wearing her skis as well, so they formed an 'X' in front of Aliehs). She shifted Aliehs's weight to the left to go along a sideways slope, then rightward when the slope shifted that way. They ended up going straight up a loop-di-loop and shooting down the long vertical slope that followed. As they shot down like a rocket, Sheila flipped Aliehs onto her shoulders so she could be the one skiing. Aliehs, not hanging on tight at all, flew away from Sheila's grasp like that, and as the Positive looked back in confusion, she plopped into the snow and left a perfect shape of herself. Aliehs drifted down upside-down like a measly feather and softly buried her head in the softness.

Sheila was dashing through a thick, vast jungle as swarms of angry apes chased with the desire to tear their limbs to pieces. Her speed proved far superior even with Aliehs along, but they had to zip directions several times to avoid surprising snakes, dart traps, and the usual skeleton-filled pitfall. They eventually dashed into an ancient temple and easily ran across the traps with Sheila's speed, finally making it to the center where the Crystal Skull rested. But the moment Sheila took it, a giant ***king boulder came rolling out, chasing the two all the way back to the exit. Aliehs slipped from her grasp as Sheila slid out of the closing door, but reached back and pulled her opposite out just in time. The boulder crashed, and bore the logo of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Sheila and Aliehs were now seated on something like a horsy, with the former sparing a look back at her grayer self and giving an assuring nod. The wind brushed past their hair as they were thousands of meters in the sky again, under some flying metal craft. The craft released the missile they were sitting on, and fell faster and faster to the fortress below. The speed was even greater than on the Grim Ramp, and the heat would surely burn the flesh and bone off their bodies. It would only be a matter of time before the missile made impact. That time… was right now, actually. (End song.)

The building was swallowed in a storm of fire and ash, steadily collapsing it in a million pieces of roaring rubble. The cloud of ash grew wider and wider, for no remnants of this doomed fortress would remain. "… … THIS WAS THE GREATEST DAY OF MY LOIIIIIIIFFFFFE!"

Dnaleci; Rutsua Elementary

Negative Sector IC returned to Dnaleci with Team Yllehs in tow and cautiously approached the boiling pit around the school. Ikus Latsyrc kept her perch on the lone island with her back facing them. "There she is! Heeeey, Ikus!" Ikuyim waved.

"GO away, Sister-chan." She turned for that brief moment, then faced forward.

"Wellll, like, guess it's up to you now." Alol told Yllehs.

With a very nervous gulp, Yllehs threw her ice into the magma and froze it solid. She climbed down and very carefully stepped across to approach Ikus. She stopped before her tall island and spoke to her. "H-Hey… Ikus?"

"WHAAAT." She turned with her mouth wide open as she yelled that.

"H-Hey…" She was grinning nervously, "I was wondering… why are you so mad?"

"Because I AM! THAT'S why!" Turned away.

"W-Well there must be a reason." Yllehs walked a bit closer. "You can't just be… angry. Is it insecurity? 'Cause uh, I kinda feel the same way, and I also-"

"Aren't you listening? I said GO AWAY!" She forced a lava geyser up from below, Yllehs jumping back.

She froze it quickly. "P-Please, just listen first. I only want you to-"

"NO!" 'nother geyser.

She froze, "W-Would you just-"

"Nuh-uh." Geyser.

Froze. "Please-"

Geyser.

Froze, "J-"

Geyser.

Froze.

Geyser.

Froze.

Geyser.

"WILL YOU JUST STOP IIIIIT?!" Yllehs unleashed a mighty beam of ice that made Ikus's platform frosty. The 7-year-old already jumped off and sent a magma quake along the ground that made Yllehs dodge. Ikus stomped a series of magma rocks from the ground and hurled at Yllehs, but the icebender was quick to dodge and zip a road of ice along the ground, causing Ikus to slip.

Yllehs blasted a storm of ice beams, but Ikus regained her ground and burned parallel paths of magma that curved and connected at Yllehs, who jumped back, but the magma continued and burned a row of 8's, with little islands in the 'holes'. Yllehs carefully jumped the islands as Ikus came for her, tossing ice blasts that Ikus ducked before grabbing magma from the side and chucking it at her. Yllehs flipped back and froze a road of ice along the islands, skiing over to Ikus and jumping to kick, but Ikus ducked and started flinging a round of magma streams.

Yllehs hurriedly tossed an ice beam at each stream, alternating left and right, left and right, before Ikus finally thrusted herself toward Yllehs on a magma wave, the latter dodging right to throw a quick beam that froze Ikus's wave and caused her to fly forward and crash. She recovered and burned a magma pool around her before making her platform rise with a lava geyser, which she then spun like a tornado toward Yllehs. The fourth-grade leader ran away and tried to throw ice back, but the cyclone stayed burning as a trail of lava was left in its wake.

Tired of running, Yllehs created a trail of ice through the air and surfed away, skiing around and at level with Ikus as the angry child threw more lava rocks. Yllehs kept the ice road going with her right hand and sent a steady beam of ice with her left at the top of the cyclone, but before it could freeze completely, a magma rock hit the ice path and caused Yllehs to fall. The cyclone was still drilling toward her, but Yllehs spun back to her feet and released a double ray of ice that froze the cyclone and flew Ikus off.

"RRRRRAAAAAAH!" Ikus threw both arms down and burned a wide pit of magma around her perch. Yllehs slid back and froze a great deal of ground into ice, hurriedly waving her arms as a bunch of snow spiraled and bunched above her. Ikus also whirled her arms in a fluid motion to gather and bunch several streams of lava, a massive ball of ice or lava forming on either side. Yllehs's side was blue and freezing, Ikus's was red and molting, and both elemental spheres grew brighter and larger. Once both were at maximum height, Yllehs spun and twirled, and Ikus spun and twirled, before both girls thrusted arms forward and launched the powerful beams of clashing temperatures. Heat met cold, fire met ice, lava met snow, both elements clashed and mixed into a force greater than they ever saw. It was almost like a mini sun was created, for the clash grew bright enough to force the viewers to cover their eyes.

A gentle snow fell over the school grounds. A great statue, depicting Yllehs and Ikus's fight, stood over the playground. "Huff, huu, huff, huu…" After Ikus caught her breath, she viewed the statue in its wonder.

"Siiigh, huff, siiigh, huff…" Yllehs tried to stand straight. "Are you… better, yet?"

"…Y…Yeah… I think I am!" Ikus stood straight and smiled wide. "Now I know why I was so angry! I've always loved getting into fights at school… but because of my lavabending, nobody wanted to fight! You were the first one brave enough to fight me in ages. Now that all my steam is let out, I feel AAAAALL better! Thank you, Ice-chan! I hope we get to FIGHT again!"

Now more joyous than ever, Ikus skipped away.

Cleveland; Nugget River

"Blimey, I can't believe we came outta that missile launch with only minor nosebleeds." Sheila said as she and Aliehs walked across the river, arms and heads in bandages. "But then we tripped on that banana peel and got in THIS mess. All in all though, I had a really fun day with you, Backwards Me! I hope I can say the same for you?"

"Yeah, it was pretty sick, actually."

"Ah'll bet that's 'Negaverse' for ripper! Say, how'd you get in this world, anyway?" She turned to Aliehs.

"Well, a Positive or Negative can mainly enter the other's world if both are standing in front of the same reflective source, otherwise you need a spell or something. It probably happened when you were walking in the river the same time we cleaned it and the sun started shining. That's how Nerehc got to Cheren, when he was looking in his dresser mirror."

"Ahh, well that's a handy explanation! So I guess you'll be going back then?"

"Guess so. I won't fit in in this world, much too bright."

"Well, that's crikey. But just make me a promise then, will ya, Me?"

"Hmm?"

Sheila held her unwrapped arm out. "Promise me that… you'll live your life full of excitement and thrills. Have tons of adventures and make every event exciting!"

"I was already doin' that before you took your first steps, mate." Aliehs reached her free hand and lightly smacked Sheila's. With that, Sheila saluted, and Aliehs insipidly mimicked the motion. Aliehs then turned around and jumped in the river, splashing back to her dimension.

Aliehs resurfaced in the Negaverse just in time for the patch of sun to fade away. She heard footsteps in the river and saw Nosam and Lorac walking over. "Isn't this water most refreshing for your lovely tootsies?" Nosam asked her.

"Hm hm hm. Well, at least it's clean enough to walk in." She smiled. "…! ALIEHS!" Lorac saw the sight of the bandaged girl and ran over. "What happened to you?! You look like you've spent the day with some MASOCHIST!"

"I'm fine… Hey, um… you blokes wanna find a giant ice cube and slide down a volcano?"

They exchanged the most baffled, utterly confused expressions. "'BLOKES'?"

"Eh…never mind."

"Why don't we just go get ice cream, Aliehs?" Lorac suggested as both took her hand and led her away.

"Can we walk around in a giant freezer and get lost?"

"You've been out in the sun too long, dearest…" Nosam thought as the tiniest bit of sun shone in the clouds.

Dnaleci

The teams of -IC and Team Yllehs casually walked away from the school grounds with the chaos long behind them. "So like, to keep Ikus from melting the school, we basically gotta FIGHT 'er now?" Alol questioned.

"Goodness, I almost prefer it if she just stay angry." Yrret moaned.

"He ha ha! Ikus is such a silly face!" Ikuyim laughed, skipping along.

"Regardless, we appreciate you coming to help us, Yllehs."

"Yah, thanks…" AlyakAm said uncaringly.

"Hehe… I don't usually get so violent… but I'm glad to help." Yllehs blushed.

"It is truly a blessing Ikus doesn't go to our school." Eissej commented.

"Would really make things ***kin' exciting." Ydnas snapped.

"Well, I guess we'll just take you home now." Egroeg figured.

"Better leave Ikuyim here to walk Ikus home." AlyakAm said.

"He he ha! Kus-Kus just never changes!" Ikuyim laughed.

And so, the school stood happily ever after for the rest of that day. The sun poked through the clouds, illuminating the statue of Ikus and Yllehs that would stand for eons.

So yeah, Ikus has issues, and the only way to work them out is to beat people up. Bet you don't wanna live in the same house as her.

 

[Gamen Watch]

When I was first writing some of these Negatives, some of their default personalities came off pretty bland and simple, but I improve on some of them later.

Chapter -15: Ynohtna's Happy School
​

Ynohtna's House

"Iiiiiit's YADNOM!" sang Ynohtna EiznekCm, skipping down the stairs. His buckteeth were pronounced on his joyous smile. He had dirty blonde hair, a green T-shirt, and khaki pants. "Da, da, da, Yadnooooom!" He greeted his mom in the kitchen. "Hey, Mom! It's Yadnom! No schoooool! You wanna go play?"

The slim, groggy woman sipped a cup of coffee before returning to her newspaper. "Honey, this is the one day I get to myself. Yadseuts, I work at homeless shelter, then it's back to work, I prefer to enjoy it." Eigna told him.

"Who says you WON'T enjoy it! We'll have FUN together! Don't you want fun?"

"Why don't you go ask your sister, darling?"

"Okay!" He skipped back upstairs and into his sister's boring room. "Hello, Ellehcim! Would you like to go play?"

She appeared to be on a computer at her kid-size table. "No, Ynohtna. Mom taught me about stocks and bonds and stuff. Getting started early."

"Awwwww but you're five years oooooold." Ynohtna frowned. "Why don't you ever wanna plaaaaaay?"

"Planning for my future. Starting now. Take some hints from Ibyf. Good to get started early."

His head down, Ynohtna shut her door and returned downstairs. He approached his father, who was lied back on the couch with a smile on his face. "This stinks, Dad. Why doesn't anybody ever want to play with me?"

"Because we were unfortunate enough to be born in a world of blind people, Son. But hey! I know someone you can play with!"

Ynohtna gasped widely. "You mean! …?"

"Get in the car, Son." Yevrah said with an assuring smile.

Startsville

Yevrah drove his son to Startsville, one of the happiest, sunniest places on Nega-Earth. He parked in front of a house and watched his son walk up to the door. With a bright smile, Ynohtna knocked and waited for an answer. The door creaked open, unveiling the orange frizzy-haired girl with black eyes, no nose, pink dress with pink strap-on shoes, white leggings, and very wide smile. Her eyes filled with delight, and many teeth were shown, for both kids were happy to see each other. "COUSIIIIN!" She embraced Ynohtna in a hug.

"Ydniiiiic!" Ynohtna hugged back.

"I haven't seen you in ages!"

"Hehe, it was only weeks."

"But it felt like yeeeeeeears."

"HUHUHUHUHU- snort!" laughed both cousins, until Ydnic snorted.

"So how've things been going for you?" Ydnic asked as they walked down the road.

"Bright and shiny! …I wish. My friends are so boring. Nobody wants to do anything, they keep worrying about their future."

"Those poor guuuuys." She frowned sadly and made bulbous teary eyes. "But my mom says it's a real problem everywhere. Everyone so MOPEY and SAAAAD."

"I know, Ydnic. I wish there was something we could do for everyone. If only annoying school wasn't so in the way."

"Huuuuuu!" Her mouth widened to a smile again. "That's it, Ynohtna! We'll start a school! A FUN School!"

"A Fun School? Whaddyou mean?"

"We'll have a class that teaches people to have fun, and invite EVERYONE we know, and tell 'em to invite everyone THEY know that's saaaad and gloomy. And it'll all be right here in Startsville! Where they can start a BRAND new life of happiness and smiles!"

"That's a great idea, Ydnic! But how will we get everyone?"

"My mom has a private plane! She'll fly to all our friends' houses and we'll get everyone here!"

"Yeah! And maybe we'll get Innus from Senippilihp to help us run classes. I bet she'd be great at it!"

"It's gonna be so much fun, Ynohtna! I can't wait to get started! Let's go get my mom right now! Uh, assuming she's not looking for Dad again. He's always wandering off."

Somewhere in Notgnihsaw

A tall, slim man in a white shirt with blue stripe, orange hair, big pink nose, and wide eyes and buckteeth wandered lost on this strange planet he had no idea what was. "ARK! ARK!" he barked exactly like a seal. For he was Yllib, father of Ydnic, whose very humanity and possession of a brain was questioned.

At the same time, a blonde girl with big square glasses and white lab coat wandered mindlessly downtown. Don't let the lab coat fool you, for she was Ylime Yelrag, and her head was hollow as a chocolate Easter bunny. She couldn't even walk right as her arms hung limp, her body wobbled back and forth, but she still had a carefree smile on her face. When she bumped into someone, she fell on her behind. "Duhuhu. I fell."

"ARK. ARK." barked Yllib.

"Hiya, Bignose Guy. Are you an ostrich?"

"ARK. ARK."

"Duhuhuuuu! YAAAY! An ostrich!" Ylime embraced him in a hug.

"ARK."

"What are you doing out here in Wisconsin, little fella? Or, um, wait, is this Washington? All of this backwards writing is really confusing. But den why are we talking frontwards? Unless… we are actually speaking backwards but seems like frontwards to our view! OHHHH, DOG! WHAT KIND OF FREAKY PARALLEL UNIVERSE IS THIS?"

"ARK! ARK."

"What's that, little fella? You got separated from your family? Awwwww, it's okay. I'll help you find your home." She patted his back. "Which way is it?"

Yllib stood very thoughtfully and contemplatively. "…ARK! ARK!…"

"Sure, buddy! I'll take you home to Backwards Antarctica! Huhuhu! You'll be reunited with your platypus family in no time!"

Yllib looked at the camera with his wide, clueless face. "!"

Startsville

"Ladiiiieeees and gentlemen!" Ydnic announced cheerfully.

"Welcome to the grand opening of Ynohtna's School for Smiles!" Innus beamed.

"Where we work to turn ALL your frowns UPSIDE-DOWN!" Ynohtna smiled widely. "So let's let today's shiny faces introduce their selves!"

Seated on small dinner chairs with gray, glum faces were Aleakim Notirahc, Aliehs Citnarf, Ibyf Thgirbluf, Yllas and Yevrah Reprah, Ellehcim EiznekCm, Egroeg and AlyakAm Gnik, and Arorua Onu. "I know a few faceeeees!" Innus grinned playfully. "MOMMYYYYY!" She raised her mother's arm.

"… How long is this going to take." Akim asked boredly.

"As long as the DAY IS wide!" Ynohtna grinned. "And we will not rest until all of your days are bright and full of sunshine! No sad face left behind!"

"And like, how do you plan to do so?" Egroeg asked.

"That I… did not quite think of. But if ANYONE has any ideas…"

Aliehs raised her hand, smirking. "I wrote down some things."

She walked up and handed Ynohtna a slip of paper. The boy skimmed what was on it and reached the conclusion. "These are… FANTASTIC ideas! Way to go, Aliehs! You get extra credit!" He patted her head. He then raised the list high and proclaimed, "CLASS IS OFFICIALLY IN SESSIOOOON! Let's get started NASA (Now Approximately Soon Anyways)!"

Innus and Ydnic peeked at the paper and gulped at its contents. They exchanged worried glances.

Dnaleci; Salt Rock Volcano

The glum, uninterested faces of the students turned to ones of horror as they sat at the top of the volcano, each seated on large ice cubes. "Our first test will be a test of balance and stability!" Ynohtna smiled brightly. "Just race to the bottom of this volcano with these specially made box sleds, first one to the bottom is the winner! This test requires you to keep a steady balance on your ice cube, for if you can balance yourselves on ice slowly melting down a volcano, you can stable the balance in your hearts!"

"Ehhhhh Ynohtna, is this really the right way to cure sadness?" Innus asked.

"Well, it gets your blood pumpin'." He shrugged. "That's a step. So everybody READY?!"

Their eyes stayed wide as they exchanged another glance.

"Ooooon your mark. Get set-"

"Wah-wah-WAAAAAH!" Yevrah already began sliding, having lost balance on his cube.

"Hey, no cheatsies! GO!"

The others began sliding down the volcano at frightening speed, each racer clutching the ends of their slippery cube for dear life and narrowly swerving to avoid lava pits and erupting geysers. "Aaaaand AKIM takes the lead, followed by Yllas, OH! Scratch that, folks, Egroeg makes a sudden pass, and Aliehs is keeping steady behind him, but AlyakAm gives a quick boost and is now SURFING by her brother!"

Egroeg's and AlyakAm's faces were stiff with teeth clenched tight. "Wht d' you s'pose wll be th rsult 'f ths, Brothr?" the latter asked.

"Nthing gd, Nn am crtn."

The path became very narrow and snaky, but while the others slid across just fine, Akim and Ibyf ended up going down the slope to the boiling pit. "HUUUU! They're going to burn!" Ydnic panicked.

"MOM, QUICK! WARP OUT OF THERE WITH YOUR PSYCHIC!" Innus screamed

"You too, Ibyf!" Ynohtna shouted.

"That won't do anything!" Akim argued.

"I REFUSE to use these wings." Ibyf declared.

"WHY THE HECK NOT?! What's more important, your future or your LIFE?"

"If I fly, I will become too lightheaded and therefore be distracted!"

"And Innus, you have GOT to understand that leaving your mind in the clouds all day will NOT-"

"IF YOU GUYS DON'T FLOAT, I'LL GO INTO BOTH YOUR ROOMS AND FILL THEM WITH FLOWERS AND SUPER SWEET CANDY!" Ydnic screamed with blank white eyes and venomous teeth.

"!" In a flash, Ibyf's wings flapped, and Akim went flying in the air, their ice cubes dissolving into a rock platform while the girls floated weightless. It was the strangest feeling they've experienced. "Whoa…"

Ynohtna, Innus, and Ydnic hurried down. "Are you two okay?" Ynohtna asked.

"I…I feel so… weird." Akim spoke.

"I…I know." spoke Ibyf quietly. Seeing the earth meters below their dangling feet, their bodies touching nothing but the air… feeling absolutely lightheaded, like a feather… it was the strangest sensation they ever knew.

"Hee hee hee! Okay, Mom, you can come down!" Innus laughed.

Akim and Ibyf carefully took land beside the other students at the base of the volcano. "Not to be helpful, but can we take any tests that aren't, y'know, death-insured?" Yllas questioned.

"A nice, gentle test would be pretty soothing right now." Ydnic figured.

"Hehehe. Okay." Ynohtna blushed. "I know something we can do."

Senippilihp; Notirahc Household

Ylime guided Yllib across the seas, all the way to Akim's house. "Duuuh… Is this Backwards Antarctica? I think that aardvark gave us a misleading cookie book."

"ARK. ARK."

"Let's enter this moon tree and ask the turtle for directions!" With that, Ylime approached the doorbell, raised her finger, and: BANG BANG BANG!'ed her head against the door.

"DADDY WHAT IS THAT, DADDY WHAT IS THAT, IS INNUS HOME, IS INNUS HOME?"

"Nnn, DOWN girl, staaaaay!" Reiniar opened the door a crack, struggling to keep his daughter back. "Can I help you?"

"Hiya, guy with circle glasses!" Ylime greeted. "Would you direct us to the ointment factory?"

"The ointment factory? We don't have anything like that around-"

"INNUUUUUUS! WHY YOU NO DIRECT ME TO HAPPY SCHOOOOL!" Ycrad came shooting out the door and zipping to the city. "INNUUUUS! Innuuuuus! Innuuuuuuus! …"

"Augh! You SEE what you make me do?!" Reiniar stated. "YCRAAAAD! COME BACK HERE!" He hightailed after his insane daughter.

Ylime charged after them with her upper body and arms hanging back (similar to Ed when he runs). "I smell a BUTTERNUT chase, guuuuys!"

Yllib ran after her on all fours. "ARK! ARK!"

Startsville; Ydnic's House

"It's time for arts & crafts, YAAAAAAY!" cheered Ydnic with joy.

The gloomy-faced students were at a colorful table with many colored papers, scissors, markers, any of the sort. "Your next test will be making something BEAUTIFUL and creative, and secretly mailing to one of your classmates, to show them how HAPPY and cuddly you make them feel!"

"Everybody in this room detests me." AlyakAm stated.

"I am under no obligation to show gratification to anyone." Egroeg followed.

"Not sweet." Yevrah commented.

"Just try it, guuuys! It'll be fun!"

The students begrudgingly started cutting, drawing, doing whatever they felt like for whichever individual they had no care for. Meanwhile, Ydnic was walking around, observing them with her shiny face. She decided to go up and stalk Yllas. "And what are you making?"

"A Hanging Tree. Where people get hanged. And they die."

"Oh, darn. I was making that, too." AlyakAm frowned.

"Heeheehee! Silly minds think alike! One of you oughta change! And a Hanging Tree sounds too sad."

"I'm not changing." Yllas said. "It's a song I'm quite fascinated with. So… mysterious." She then spoke in a gentle, sing-song voice. "Are you…Are you… coming to the tree. Where they strung up a man, they say murdered three. Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be. If we met at midnight, underneath that tree."

"And then it's several other verses that repeat it, but other things happen on the tree, like a dead man calls for his love, where he tells her to run, and then they hang their selves." Yevrah explained. "I'd like to do so with our ball-in-cups. Sweet…"

"Okay, um… let's just focus on our work." Ydnic frowned, half frightfully.

The arts & crafts went for 20 minutes before they crafted their own boxes and placed the items within. After they annoyedly marked the addresses-which-were-right-there-anyway, they put them on a table. Ydnic happily grabbed an orange one and shook it by her ear. "This one's for Egroeg! Heeeeeere you go!"

She handed him the box which he unwrapped, pulling out a paper dolly of himself, frowning. "I made it for you." AlyakAm stated. "If you pluck your hair off and put it on it, I'll be able to control you with it."

"I am touched that I give you such pleasure in control."

"Next one's for Ellehcim!" Ydnic handed her a pink box. "Open it!"

Inside was a colorful folder with many slots. "It's for you." Akim said. "I heard your mom was teaching you business, that's good for organizing files."

"Thank you, Miss."

"Next, we have Alyak!" Ydnic gave her a blue box. "I wonder what it is?"

She unwrapped, finding a necklace of blue beads. "It's from me." Yevrah told her. "They're meant to represent poison berries. Try one."

"For dinner."

"Yevraaaaah! You're next!" Ydnic have him a yellow present.

Inside was a paper-made gun. "It has one bullet." Ellehcim said. "Use it wisely."

"Hehehe! Neeext is for…" Ydnic gasped at this red box. "MMMEEEEEEE!" She joyously unwrapped and found… a doll of herself hanging from a stick.

"Put that on a tree." Yllas told her.

"Uhhh… okay!" She tossed it away casually. "Next is a package for… Nerehc?" She observed the black package with red ribbon curiously.

"I made a beetle out of beads." Arorua confirmed. "To symbolize how I feel about him."

"That's beauuutifuuuul! Well, I hope he enjoys! And last, but not least, it's for… Ynohtna!" Ydnic handed a green box to her cousin. "Oooooo the suspension is murder!"

Ynohtna curiously unwrapped. "Oh, it's a picture! I wonder who…"

EXTREEEEEEEEEME. It was one of all of them on fire, zipping downtown on a tiny bucket.

Ynohtna spared a curious glance to the one he believed made this. "Aliehs?"

She raised a brow slightly.

"This is a TERRIFIC activity to do next! Quick, find some mop-buckets and let's get started!" He ran off, very eager to do this.

"Uh-! Why are you even IN this class?" Innus questioned.

"To fast-forward my lifespan. And you guys could use it, too." Aliehs replied.

Ainigriv; Nega-Sector V Treehouse

Things were calm as usual in the Sector V Treehouse. Nollid heard a knock at their balcony door and went to answer. "Hi, hate to have to speak to you," Reiniar began, "but my daughter escaped and, for Lord knows what reason, we ended up in this town, and I was wondering if she ran by here."

"We got plenty o' loonies, but none by that stature. She could be at Sane Reboog's if you haven't looked there."

"Sigh, I just need to find her fast because the people I'm accompanied with-"

"WHERE IS SHE?!" Ycrad pounced on her father's head, gripping it tight and searching around frantically. "INNUS?! ARE YOU IN THERE? COME BAAAAACK!" She shot in like a bullet.

"ROOTY-TOOTY TUESDAYS?! O-KAY!" Ylime cheered, riding Yllib into the treehouse.

Ycrad began making chaos down the hall, causing tons of hamsters to dash out. Ylime's eyes grew wide at the creatures. "MICE-CAAAAAATS!"

"Aaaaah!" The furry creatures skittered away in fear.

"COME BACK, little dickens!" Ylime got on all fours, trying to pounce them. "Let me brush your BUNIONS!" She and Yllib chased as they hopped off the balcony and windows.

"HEEEEY! GET BACK HERE WITH MAH HAMSTERS, YOU LITTLE TWERP!" Eitra was on the warpath, kicking down the couch with Eirik and Akurah on it and bursting down the wall. "I'm gonna RAM YOUR HEAD in two if you think about stompin' them!"

Eelyah peeked out. "Yaaaay! Breakfeeeest!" She chopped the chair in two before jumping after.

"EEEEEEEEEEEE." Ycrad shot out as well.

"Augh… Dog blast it!" Reiniar was on the move again.

Dnalhsa outskirts

Their worried faces were back as Egroeg, Akim, Yevrah, Ydnic, and Aliehs were stuffed in a mop-bucket, buttfirst, while AlyakAm, Ibyf, Yllas, Ellehcim, and Arorua sat on the back handle of each respective one, legs wrapped around it and hands clutched tight. "We're gonna have a mop-bucket race downtown!" Ynohtna announced. "Like go-karts, except this takes more careful maneuvering. First one to Sane Reboog's is the winner, everyone ready?"

Another fright-glance.

Taking that as a 'yes,' Innus used her psychic to pull each bucket back along rubber slingshots. "On your maaaaark: get see-"

The racers went flying like bullets toward the city. "Uhhh… I blinked." Innus blushed.

They felt like the flesh would fly off their heads like hoods, mouths first, as the world blurred on their way to Dnalhsa. They swerved and wobbled as they sped between many lines of cars, the only sounds being the whirring of wind and honking of horns. "YAAH!" AlyakAm's head scratched against a mirror, flinging her hat off. "Watch where you're steering!"

"I thought YOU were in command!" Egroeg freaked.

Meanwhile, on Arorua and Aliehs's end, it really seemed like the former was doing the steering. "Nnnnnn!" Missed a Stop sign, "Nnnnnn!" Dodged a bus. "Aaaaaalieeeeehs! I can use help he-e-e-e-e-ere!"

The raccoon was merely a dead weight stashed in the bucket, arms and legs hanging limp. "I did this before. Usually plays out fine."

Ibyf and Akim almost hit multiple cars, so both hurriedly used their flight and psychic to raise the bucket, and drop back on the road to catch breath. "This is exactly why I don't want my daughter getting involved in such things!" the adult exclaimed.

"I second that. No decent future can come of this!"

The duo of Ellehcim and Ydnic were fairing okay. "Hey, Ydnic? How do you put up with my brother, anyway?"

"He's usually pretty fun… most of the time." Dodged a truck. "Now I question his intellect."

But eventually, all paths would connect, as each pair was en route to the veggie-themed restaurant. Tons of shattered glass, crushed tables, and cries of agony were the grand result of this race. "…I say it's a pretty even tie." Ynohtna said before a car exploded.

EiznekCm Household

Nerehc kicked back on the couch with a cool smile on his face, happily playing Sin City SD for the Odnetnin SD. He, LIL-DVL2; and a female avatar, DVL-LVR3, grabbed a couple guns and began blasting a daycare to pieces, blood and tears everywhere. The two avatars grinned and high-fived before moving to the hospital.

Nerehc gave a small chuckle. Playing with his online friend filled him with delight. His mother walked in and said, "Well, I have your beetle costume for Halloween. Though I don't see what's so wrong about dressing as a devil."

"Because, it's cliché. And devils aren't even scary to us, bugs are a whole 'nother story."

"Well, I suppose. I still worry about that galactic dictator, Nerehc. I hear her agent was recently in Anaeco, and they're steadily working to recruit the Nimbi. Before long, all Earthly races may be trying to attack you."

"Pssh, what can they do to me, Mom? Even that dictator, her psychic powers didn't even work on me."

"Only because your will is stronger. Just be careful, Nerehc. I wouldn't wanna have to bail you out. Now do me a favor and go find Arorua, she's been out pretty late."

"Yeah yeah, 'soon as I finish killing the pope."

"Hm hm, don't get too attached by that girlfriend of yours." She smirked. "You'll make Inin jealous." On that, she walked away.

"Pssh… Sipa isn't my girlfriend." Nerehc focused on the game as they began to invade the church. The girl avatar was excitedly attacking the pianist while Nerehc chuckled peacefully.

Dnalhsa Park

Ynohtna's nine students were on the park benches, covered in bruises and bandages. "Okaaay, okaaay, so maybe things got a weeee bit too extreme." Ynohtna admitted. "But I feel like we made some progress today, and your spirits got a little more uplifted. Tomorrow, I think it would be nice if we-"

"Look, Ynohtna, this was fun and all, but I don't think we're coming back." Arorua stated.

"I was kind enough to try this for my daughter, but I missed a whole day of work, and I need to get back on it." Akim followed.

"If this was to shorten our lifespan, I am disappointed." Alyak said.

"Enduring time with these people was no enjoyment, either." Egroeg noted.

"So, if you mind… we'll be going now." Yllas said, so with that, they began to head home.

"Excruciatingly not sweet…" Yevrah concluded.

Hearing these dissatisfied statements brought a frown to Ynohtna's face. "Siiiiigh."

"Don't worry, Ynohtna." Ydnic smiled, taking his hand. "You tried your best."

"Yeah… But I just wish I reminded them about joy in life."

"I think Aliehs found some joy…" Innus commented.

"Aaaaaaahh! Aaaaaahh!"

The trio and students looked around. "What was that?" Ynohtna asked.

A cloud of dust was zooming toward them, created by a dashing Ycrad with sharp teeth. "IIIIIIINNUUUUUUUUUS!"

"Y-Y-Ycrad?!" freaked both Innus and Akim.

"MICE-CAAAAAATS!" Ylime came riding like a horsy after the hamsters.

"OOOOOO YOU BETTER NOT!" Eitra charged after her with Eelyah on his shoulders.

Innus panicked and levitated to avoid her charging sister, and the others dodged the other crazies as they were headed for the town. "Oh no! Those guys'll turn that whole city to rubble!" Innus exclaimed.

"I am NOT bailing my daughter out of a loony penitentiary again!" Akim proclaimed.

"But how can we stop them?" asked Ydnic.

"With a LITTLE fun." Ynohtna replied seriously. "TO THE MOP-BUCKETS!"

The mop-bucket groups hopped back on their buckets as Innus stretched back the slingshot and launched them forward. Ibyf flew Akim high above Ycrad before spinning and launching the woman full force. Ycrad whipped around and blasted the bucket away, but Akim already teleported behind and slapped psychic in her face, knocking Ycrad out clean. Yllas and Yevrah were after Yllib and Ylime, the duo twirling their ball-in-cups and launching at the walrus man's legs, catching him while Ylime flew off.

Ydnic and Ellehcim launched farther than Eitra and Eelyah, with Ellehcim kicking Ydnic back to shove Eelyah off her brother's shoulders. The muscular Nagillig was still charging like a rhino, but AlyakAm plucked a hair off her brother's head and stuck it on the doll. "WHOOOOA!" She hurled the doll like a football, thereby hurling her brother as he swirled in the air and crashed the boy like a missile. They both lay dizzy as AlyakAm smiled, made the doll clap, and made Egroeg clap.

"Huhuhuhu! Catch meeee, catch meeee!" Ylime still ran like a half-limp person. Catching up to her on their mop-bucket, Arorua and Aliehs leaped, twirled in the air, arms wrapped around the other, and caught Ylime perfectly between them. "Aww-hawwwwww. I woulda joined you in this kissing booth if you said so."

"SIIIIGH."

The team met back with Reiniar on the outskirts of town with Ycrad in a straightjacket, Eelyah in a crib with Eitra rocking her, Ylime distracted with a piece of buttercheese above her head, tied by a string on a fishing rod held by Egroeg, an Yllib with a leash around his neck held by Ydnam. "There, there, Yllib." The woman patted his nose. "We'll get you a nice bowl of fish peas."

"ARK. ARK."

Ylime sniffled. "I'm gonna MISS you, Little Buddy! I'm glad you found your frogfish."

A remorseful tear dropped from Yllib's blank eye. "…ARK!"

"Siiiigh. I just want to be away from all these fools." Reiniar stated. "Let's go, dears." He lifted Ycrad in his left arm and walked off.

"Coming, Reiny." Akim followed him with Innus accompanying.

With that, Ydnam and Ydnic guided Yllib home, Rora and Aliehs took Eitra and Eelyah, and Yllas and Yevrah took Ylime. "Well, 'guess I better go, too." Ibyf sighed, beginning to fly off. "But, um… thanks for the afternoon… Ynohtna." She spared her friend a smile before continuing the flight, using her wings.

The only ones left, Ynohtna and Ellehcim saw their mom's car pull up beside the sidewalk. "Alright, kids, come on."

The two climbed in the back seat before Eigna began the drive home. "So how did the fun class go?"

"Oh… it was all right. But I'm not sure if I even helped them at all… more than injure them."

"Well, regardless of the outcome, Ynohtna, hearing you do all those things, it… reminded me why I married your father."

"What's that?" He looked up.

"It's because I felt like… I needed balance in my life. I was so buried in my work to try and have fun… but Yevrah was so set on having fun, he couldn't do any work. So I married him… to have a spark in my life. And to dim down his spark a little. Then our kids could be a mix of both… and they would turn out better than we did." She smiled.

"Oh… You really think so, Mom?" He smiled lightly.

"Mm-hm… so Ynohtna, you need to focus on school more. And Ellehcim, you need to find some friends to play with. After almost seeing you maim yourselves, I realize the future isn't so far off. So it's only fair you kids make the best of your lives. And you don't need to ride ice cubes to find a good balance. But I think you helped these people find theirs."

"Heheh… maybe you're right, Mom. But you gotta admit, Aliehs has one messed-up mind."

"She sure does. Next time you host a Fun School, just rent some Yensid movies…" After a day like this, the kids couldn't wait to get home and eat some brussel sprouts.

Lesson learned, don't attend school with Aliehs. And stay away from Ylime, Yllib… all those nutjobs. The Hanging Tree song comes from Hunger Games, and spoiler, it will have importance here. Next time, more randomness.

 

[Gamen Watch]

Seventh chapter, let's have a little look at our bad guys.

Chapter -14: This Universe Has No Gods
​

DNKG H.Q.

"Hm hm hm, okay! Who wants to see the Tpyge Dance?" Annaira laughed, raising her brother in the air via bloodbending to make him do 'The Robot', earning many laughs from the alien children. "And now ballet style." Atnort forcibly performed a series of distorted movements, as was ballet in this world. "Trapstyle!" Atnort spun around and around and around like on a torture wheel.

"Grrrrrrr STOP IT, ANNAIRA!" Atnort unleashed a storm of lightning and singed Annaira with soot, the boy landing back on his feet. "Now all of you get outta here or I'll STOP whatever excuse for hearts you have!"

Atnort possessed green skin and magenta hair and wore a black and yellow shirt whose stripes shaped like lightning bolts. Annaira had purple skin and grass-colored hair, and her shirt had peach and blood-colored stripes.

Still snickering, the aliens piled away. "What were you THINKING, Nort?!" shouted Anna. "You KNOW lightning is dangerous on waterbenders!"

"Yeah well you know BLOODbending's dangerous for EVERYBODY, it don't stop you from that!"

"Hey, I never kill you with my bending, but YOU'RE dangerously close to killing me, and if YOU kill me, I HOPE THAT Mom kills you!"

"Yeah, well I would rather die of a-" A bullet whizzed by his arm, silencing him.

Avakam blew the smoke from her pistol before sheathing it, approaching. "I'd be happy to kill both of you. Just like my brother." She had yellow skin, black hair, and a purple dress.

"Yeah, well keep dreamin', Needlebrain." remarked Beewv, scampering his way toward them. He was an inch tall alien with white skin, black hair, and a blue jumpsuit. "'Cause one day while yer sleepin', I'll climb up on that trigger and-" Avakam began shooting the floor where he stood as Beewv hopped around. "Nn- Stop it! Stop it! Hey!"

Annaira yanked him to her hand with her bloodbending. "I would like it if you don't shoot up my future dinner. Beewv has untapped potential, and I'm waiting for it to make him spicy." She floated him by her nose so she could sniff. "Sniiiiiff… smells cookin' already."

Beewv sliced her lips with a sword, making him drop by her feet. "Well, the bakery's closed, I'm just staking in this deal for Hell knows whatever."

"Um, hey, guys?…" They looked as Emorej, younger brother of Aluben, approached them with a nervous face. His left half was white while the right was black. "I-I just, Aluben wants everyone to gather on Kri, f-for an announcement, so uh…"

Avakam joyously shot the floor by his feet, making Emorej dance around as the four giggled. The black-and-white boy flushed red before running away. "Siiigh, wonder what Her Royal Highness has now." She said as they proceeded to the hangar.

"The toilets adapted to her creepiness, they're not spiraling?" Beewv guessed.

"She's announcing how they'll sort the meat at this year's Anti-Christmas barbeque?" Annaira followed.

"If she is, you would be aware of that." said Atnort.

"Hopefully, she'll kill one of us already." concluded Beewv.

Nega-Sector V Treehouse

"Siiiigh… are you as bored as I am?" Akurah asked as she and Eirik sat before their dresser mirror, brushing her pigtails while Eirik did her own hair.

"NO, I'm having LOOOADS of fun. WHADDYOU THINK, Sherlock?"

"I KNOW. Too bad we didn't get to kill Ininap earlier, we need somethin' FUN to do."

"Wanna break the mirror and see if that 'seven years of good luck' thing is true?"

"No way, this is my mirror."

"Well, if you break it, you'll come across a million dollars. Unless you'd like ME to break it and keep ALL the money myself."

"Fine. But if it doesn't work, I'm forcing you to pay me back."

"Then the test is in motion." Eirik climbed on the desk and smirked into the mirror. "COME AT ME, you worthless piece of—GAAH!" She threw her fist and sunk into the mirror like liquid.

"Huh? Eirik?" Akurah climbed on and stared close at the mirror, leaning forward slowly. "…AAAAH!" She fell forward and fell in.

Posiverse; Haruka's Room

Haruka kicked back on her chair and read a magazine, her right leg over her left, while Kirie brushed her pigtails with a smile on her face. "Well, whaddya know. Jennifer Toad has a twin sister. I always said she looked the type."

It don't surprise me. These celebrities are always doing crazy stuff. signed Kirie.

"Mm-hm. Do you ever wish you had a twin, Kirie?"

Well, since Mom's always busy all the time, I'd like someone besides Joey to share my interests. But what about Mason?

"I mean like a twin sister. Mason's my twin, but he's a boy, he helps me with poisonbending, but we just don't share any of the same interests. I wouldn't've minded a nice girl twin to, wanna copy my every move and stuff. And we could bug Mason together, heh heh."

That reminds me, didn't Sheila discover her twin sister?

"That wasn't her twin, that was-"

The girls were shocked when two figures suddenly came rolling out of the dresser mirror to the floor before them. The figures got to their feet and shook their heads, staring with surprise at their reflections. Of course, there were no mirrors and Akurah's wasn't standing, and Eirik's was holding hers' hair, but they were reflections nonetheless. They had the very same looks, and wore the same looks of shock, eyes half wide and mouths in tiny o's. Akurah was the first to break the silence. "Who're YOU?"

"…!" Haruka blinked, "Oh. My. Gosh… It's my Negative… MY TWIN!" She jumped and embraced Akurah in a hug. "Oh my wishes came TRUE! How I've LONGED for you, my precious double!" She went from lovey smile to disgusted frown at her black dress. "We'll have to do something about the dress, though. But this is a BEAUTIFUL moment!" She hugged her tight again.

Akurah shoved her off. "Get off me. We may've been born at the same time, but I assume we're nothing alike. For example, that midnight dress, purple rose, definitely ew, and that Cross should be upside-down. I bet you're not even a poisonbender."

"Ah ah." Haruka smirked and puffed a small poison cloud. Akurah raised her brow. "I can assume you are, too?"

Akurah put her hands together and stretched them apart, pulling a poison cloud in-between. "Hm, perhaps I judged too soon. Maybe we could… exchange views on poisonbending." Her frown and half-furrowed eyes had a sort of hinting aura.

"That would be great! Let's go to the forest and I'll show you what I'm all about." She was excited to jog out of her room.

"This I'd like to see. But please, don't move like that." She followed her half-interestedly.

With that, Eirik was left to look at her opposite, whose mismatched eyes were in switched places. "So what now? I suppose YER one of those POLITE types."

Well, mostly polite in a matter of speaking, but you know how some people…

"What? What are you doing?" Kirie signed something else. "Can you not speak? You deaf, Deafo? Well THIS is just GREAT. What'm I supposed to do with some DEAF reflection? HEEEEEY! MUTE GIRLLLL! CAN YOU HEAR MEEEEE?"

The shrill sound of her voice made Kirie's hair stand. …I wish I didn't.

"Oh, so you CAN hear me. Well SPEAK UP! Whaddid a DOG take your tongue or something?"

Kirie opened her mouth to reveal her tongue.

"Ugh, you really are a hopeless girl. HEEEY." She flicked her nasal bridge. "SAY SOMETHING."

With a wide grin, Kirie took her opposite's hand and merrily skipped away. "You better not be leading me to a lily garden…"

Planet Kri; Galactic Empire Audience Chamber

Hundreds of alien kids sat on individual platforms facing a center of three platforms. The ghostly, white-clothed Supreme Dictator, Aluben marched up a stairway to this center, her frightened brother behind her. Her face bore no emotion and wide, eerie eyes, and a majority of the aliens weren't happy to see her. She stood still on the center platform and addressed her subjects with her toneless voice.

"Good morning, subjects. I am blind to the respective times on your individual planets, and I don't care. For my mornings… may just as well be your mornings. First, I must address… how proud I am of each of you, for submitting to my empire and acknowledging your own futility, as separate planets. Some of you… needed some pushing… but all's well in the end." Her cold eyes narrowed to the Nainozama leader, Ardnusyrhc, the giantess shrinking in fear. "With 200 DNKs under the watch and rule of the DNKG, the Galactic Child Empire will thrive beyond the galaxy's boundaries. But I feel my empire is… too small. Too small, precisely, within a certain planet. Earth…"

"B-B-But, we thought you took Earth months ago." shuddered Ardnusyrhc.

She crouched immediately when Aluben looked at her. "No. Only the merpeople are under my rule. The Nimbi are still a problem, for one, but I will steadily have them in line. My primary concern… is the humans."

Everyone exchanged confused, worried glances.

"Yes… it seems my great power… is just not great enough for the humans' great leader. Nerehc EiznekCm Onu. Who has single-handedly resisted my impenetrable grasp." She raised her right hand, fingers bent forward, and stared blankly at her palm. "So it seems I am with a dilemma."

Silence for a few seconds as she viewed around at her subordinates. "I know what you're all thinking… just kill Nerehc. Let a new leader take his place… and grasp them. The truth is… I feel I am being incredibly.. wasteful in disposing of Nerehc. I am losing… a reliable source of offensive. One that has such powers to resist me… would be a shame to throw away. But I am constantly working… planning… and steadily reaching a conclusion. You see, there is something on Earth I am eager to find. A particular tree, if you will. It's called… the Tree of Ending."

There were very quiet murmurs of conversation or confusion. "Yes… the Tree of Ending. Where the souls of the dead are said to wander… in peace. After all, with all the deaths happening in that other world, twice as many happen here. But since there is only one Underworld, they cannot possibly handle all these souls. So the ones in this one… are stored there. Until further inspection. It's a legend… true… but a divine legend I am so fond of. It is said that that tree… will be a core part in the very end of existence."

"So why are you trying to find it?" questioned a distant alien.

She stood silent. "…Because I wish to harness its power. Its souls of the dead… brimming with a kind of energy… Energy that which has been abandoned by those that oversee our afterlife… Energy that is for the taking… and will help in making my empire strong."

"And what does this have to do with Nerehc?" a gargoyle alien asked.

"…Because if Dear Nerehc can resist my hold… it is clear that he, as the Demon Prince, is the key."

Posiverse; Virginian Forest

"Ahhhh, can't you just smell that forest air?" sighed Haruka as she and her frumpy-faced Negative marched through the forest, with Haru kicking her legs high with each step. "All the photosynthesis, breathing life into the earth?"

"I thought you were a poisonbender, when did Air and Earth get into the situation?"

"Actually, air is a gas, too, but it contains so very little of the Gas Chi that it's almost impossible for a poisonbender to bend it. I don't know any bender that could, but then we'd be able to fly around, too!"

"Okay, you're acting way too bubbly, get to the poisoning already."

"Sheesh, rushy-rushy. Don't you just wanna look at the trees?" smiled Haruka innocently.

Akurah perked with realization. "Oh, I get it." She smirked evilly. "You wanna look at 'em like THIS!" She unleashed a cloud of gas and shriveled three unfortunate trees to withered, sad, squiggly sticks.

"Akiiiii! What'd you do THAT for?"

"The best kinda plant is a dead plant, them and their sticky sap."

"Well, you realize that some plants have medicinal herbs used for, uh… medicine."

"So what?"

"So those kinds of plants can save lives! Like…Like that bird over there!" She hurried to an injured baby bird that fell from the nest of one of the trees, and was coughing from the poison. "Poor little guy… don't you think he misses his home?" She pulled the poison away and stuck her nails in its body, transferring her healing poisons. She smiled when the bird flapped its wings and fluttered away. "See! Now he's free and happy!"

Akurah looked over at a wandering deer, and thrusted her arms forward to blast purple gas at its face, scaring the coughing animal off. "So is he. But happiness don't last."

"Will you STOP doing that?!"

"Is that all you use poison for? Helping people? Silly animals? You have got to be the WORST type of person. Isn't it so much more enticing to watch them die… suffocate and beg for mercy as their last teeny inches of breath slowly fade away? Remind them that life is short, and it certainly, isn't, KIND!" She thrusted a toxic cloud to a group of butterflies, dropping to the ground immediately. "It's just so annoying to watch things flit around like nothing's going to happen." She stomped toward the butterflies, their wings weakly twitching. "Well, in case you didn't know, YOUR LIFE MEANS NOTHING!" Akurah raised her foot to grind a helpless butterfly under her heel-

'Til Haruka pushed her away. "WHAT is your DEAL?!"

"My deal is people who act so happy and carefree, they look like idiots. Let alone poisonbenders who hold the power of death in their hand but deliberately ignore it. You're only fooling yourself if you think you'll be able to save people with your cruddy powers. So just accept who you are and start turning this forest to ash."

Haruka approached one of the butterflies and gently took it in her hands. "That's what I used to think… but if fire can burn skin, can't it also warm people from dreaded blizzards? If water can drown people, doesn't it refresh them? If the shadows make people afraid, can't they also shade them from a hot sunny day? So who says poison can't fix a person's illnesses and give them a greater chance at life?" She gently pulled the gas away to let the butterfly flutter.

"True…" Hands folded behind her, Akurah slowly walked forward. "But can they fix THIS?" She squished one of them hard beneath the heel of her shoe. "Or THIS?" Jumped and squished another. "Or THIS?"

"STOP IT!" Akurah was freely skipping about and covering her Mary-Janes with sticky butterfly intestines, Haruka panicking as she tried to pull her away.

Akurah finally conceded, "You can save all the lives you want, but everything's going to die. A hospital patient's been in a coma for years, and the day he gets out, some random mugger comes and shoots his pitiful dreams to pieces. So any idiot that tries to save all these lives is wasting her time—yes I mean you, deal with it—so that person should better spend her life just putting those people out of their misery."

Haruka stomped, "Well maybe I should put you out of YOUR misery!"

"Go ahead. End your own misery while you're at it."

"I was thinking more like THIS!" She threw her fist at Akurah's face, pushing her back. Akurah punched across her face before both girls started thrusting poison puffs at each other. Akurah twirled away and launched her gas up a tree, letting it shrivel as birds fell out. Haruka hurriedly tried to remove their poisons, but Akurah was happily dancing about and throwing more gas up trees, causing many squirrels, owls, and a bear trying to score some honey to fall out.

Haruka was merely welling with tears by the time Akurah was bored. "It's a fool's game for anyone trying to save as many lives as they can. You'll never be able to save everyone, and you'll forever feel the hate from all their fallen souls because you didn't save them first. Those same souls will also seek revenge on the people who were lucky enough to be your first pick. So do yourself a favor and don't save anyone. Poisonbenders are only known for destruction, so just keep that tradition." So she marched off and left Haruka sulking in depression. She stopped for a moment and said, "And DON'T call me Aki…" then continued.

The girl with the purple hair rose sat with her back against a dead tree, pulling the poison out of a bird while tears still streamed her face. "I wonder if Kirie's having as much fun with her Negative…"

Near Gallagher Elementary

"Oh I cannot WAIT to see what you have planned for US today!" Eirik proclaimed with sarcasm, while Kirie wore a casual smile as she pulled a wagon of water balloons along. "WATER BALLOONS of paint, NIIICE. Oh I wonder what we're going to do with them, is it bomb the science geeks?, or perhaps PAINTING THE FREAKING SCHOOL SO IT LOOKS GOOD AS NEW. Ohhh what nice volunteer work," she put on a happy, but mocking smile, "you kids are very nice girls, lemme get you a lollipop for your hard work, no that's okay it was ALL OUR PLEASURE! Ugh, you have got to be the WORST type of person, and one of the most AGGRAVATING people I can EVER hope to KNOW! Denying ME a fucking lollipop, I'll pop you in the fucking FACE you little shit! AUGH I cannot be-LIEVE this…" They finally stopped beside the school's playground, where many young graders were playing. "What're we doing, anyway?"

Kirie tossed a red balloon up and down in her sleeved hand, facing Eirik with her innocent smile and up-closed eyes. She unveiled her rows of sharp venomous teeth in a grin, and opened her furrowed, lustful eyes. Eirik could immediately read that look, mirroring it as she took her own balloon. (Cue extreme rock-n-roll music.)

The park was stormed with paint balloons as the unsuspecting children were swamped with colorful substance, screaming and running for their very lives. Eirik and Kirie charged in like little devils, making sure they didn't miss an uncolored spot on the playground. Later, they had ketchup and mustard packs lined up beside cars, skateboarding across to squirt the toppings all over the nicely-clean cars. Afterwards, Kirie was gliding over the restaurant block with her butterfly suit while Eirik dropped a bunch of glue bombs onto them, followed by strings of toilet paper to make the eateries appear haunted and ghostly. Next, they were at a baseball stadium with piles of priceless items, in which Eirik pitched them, and Kirie smashed a painting, a porcelain doll, a glass dolphin, and a koala vase to a million pieces with her baseball bat.

Finally, they were back at the school to proceed with their painting the outside. PARENTS SUCK BALLS was what everybody read as they drove past the school.

DNKG H.Q.

The aliens returned to the treehouse as Team Beewv looked less than enthusiastic. "So Aluben's looking for some kind of mystic tree. Niiiice." moaned Beewv.

"Well, she wants me to head down to Aipyks to try again at those Nimbis." Atnort mentioned. "And she might actually join me this time. What a fun trip that'll be, right?"

"Actually." The four flinched when the girl in question showed up behind them. "I have tasks for each of you."

"Do you even have eyelids?!" blurted Beewv.

"Atnort… the two of us will be flying to Aipyks once my errands are complete. Annaira… you will oversee the Nainozama in constructing a dimension-hopping device. I have given them the blueprints… you will make sure there is no slacking. Avakam… you will speak with the leader of your homeworld and have them collect as many corpses as they can on their planet, and stash them inside cargo transports. And Beewv…" Her eyes narrowed at the tiny Kateenian last, "You and the Naineetak… will conduct an expedition on Earth… in search for this Tree of Ending. I believe… the Minish, beings of nature, will have a clue as to where it is. Your kind should be able to negotiate… being of the same size. I expect you gone within an hour." Her head shifted straight again. "Do not… betray my relatively low expectations." On that, she walked away with her quivering brother.

"Weeeell, isn't THAT great? Not only is she hooked on some DREAM tree, she's forcing me to FIND it!" Beewv exclaimed. "Watta way to get rid-a me."

"If you make it back, keep a couple of Naineetak or Minish with you." Anna commented, munching a steak.

"So, I guess it's a game then: seeing who survives doing which thing they hate first." Avakam declared.

"I hope to see all of you in Hell." Atnort nodded.

"O-KAY." After their simultaneous nod, they left separate ways.

Cleveland, Virginia; Hunger Burger pavilion

"So you met your Negative and she turned out to be a royal bitch?" Leanne asked as she and Haruka feasted on salads at an outdoor table, shaded from the sun by an umbrella.

"Pretty much." Haruka still looked glum as she half-interestedly ate.

"Well, whaddo you expect from them? You saw what Nerehc did last week. They're all messed up, I wouldn't be surprised if their whole lifestyle was burning forests."

"I know they're like that. It's just what Akurah says is true. I really can't save everyone. How do doctors know which patients should come first and which ones should be held off and, die? It just doesn't seem fair, but… what can we do about it?"

"Don't search me." Leanne ate a tomato slice. "I didn't know you WANTED to try and save everyone."

"Not everyone exactly, but-"

"So don't. No one marked you as the Angel of Life, so it's not your job to save all the lives in the universe. Just save all the lives you can, no one's asking you to be Arceus."

"So if you were dying under a burning support beam, and Mason was choking on a hotdog-"

"SAVE ME! I WANNA LIVE!"

"PHA HA HA HA ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

"Hehe, okay, you're right." Haruka smiled, zipping an onion ring into a cup of light-brown substance. "I shouldn't push myself too hard. Hmm, but now that I think about it, I should find my Negative before she poisons a chilidog factory." She ate the onion.

"Well, when you hear any cries for help, you'll know." Leanne zipped a French fry into some ketchup and ate. "Hey, Haruka, did you ever notice we sound alike?"

"Really?" Haruka listened for a moment. "We kind of do, but it's just off by a little- ueck!" Haruka choked, falling off her seat.

"What's wrong?!" Leanne ran over frantically. She watched as Haruka's throat swelled red, then looked at the brown substance. "Haruka, that's peanut butter, you're ALLERGIC to peanuts!"

"Whaaat?" Haruka struggled to climb up. "Since when do they use peanut butter, as a dipping sauce?"

"Ugh, restaurants are always doing stupid things, we gotta get you help!"

The duo looked across the street when an explosion was heard, seeing a few villains rush out of their supermarket across the expansive parking lot. "Something's up. Let's go." Haruka began to limp over quickly.

"But Harukaaaa! If we don't take you to help, you'll-"

"I'm a poisonbender, it takes a while. B'sides, there's probably medicine over there."

Supervillain Supermarket & Deli

Akurah trekked the parking lot of supervillain ships and vehicles and barged into the front doors. "Wattup, Mac." She blasted some gas that dissolved Shogun Roquefort's mini cheese palace. "Hey, Toothface." She forced a string of toothpaste out of Knightbrace's tube with her bending and tied it around his body. "Yo Peestain, breathe your own filth." She grabbed the Toiletnator's stinkbombs in her bending and exploded them around him.

"HEEEY!" Akurah turned when an angry Father approached her. "Just what're YOU doing here, Ruka?! This market is for VILLAINS only, and BEING villain-born, but good, does NOT make you qualified."

"Look, relax, Sunburn, I'm not that tree-hugging sissy, I happen to make better use of gas, which is more than I can say for your Negative. You know, if he turns into an ant, I bet all you can change in to is some sniveling little hamster trying to score his next soda off some retarded Australian boy, 'cause really, you got nothing better to eat than that."

"THAT'S IT! RRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAA-AAAHH!" The furious demon grew into a flaming dragon, burning with the brightest fires of Hell. A shining flame brimmed in his mouth, ready to burn the girl to a skeleton, but Akurah released a huge poison puff at his mouth, creating an explosion that blew the dragon to the check-out lines, crushing them flat, and blowing Akurah to the opposite end of the aisle.

She collided with a shelf of Shrimp Puffs, the dead meat falling onto her. "Aaaahh! I'm allergic to—uuooock." She tried to run away, but her body was already swelling.

Haruka and Leanne were shocked to see a giant shadow dragon lying on the row of check-out lines, hurrying around the colossus and following the trail of ruin it created. They saw a pile of fallen Shrimp Puffs in the distance, and close beside it, a black-clothed figure that looked ready to pop. They hurried and turned the figure over, and only Haruka could recognize her despite her swollen face. "Akurah?"

"Ooooouuuuh. Have you ever tasted… Shrimp Puffs? …They're not good."

"SHRIMP PUFFS!" screamed Denzel Crocker, frantic to scoop them up. "IIIII want 'em." With that, he bounced his way to the exit like a slinky. "FAIRY GODPARENTS, FAIRY GODPARENTS, FAIRY GODPARENTS!"

"Quick, look for some medicine with quercetin and get it in her." With mixed feelings, Leanne and some background villains ran to do so. "And bring her some broccoli or something, that has some. I'll help you out until then."

Haruka knelt down and dug her fingers into Akurah's waist, carefully channeling her Healing Poison through her bloodstream. "Me… shouldn't you worry about yourself first?…"

"I can tough it out… but I won't take the same chance with you. The patient comes first."

Mr. Boss arrived with some broccoli and slipped small pieces down Akurah's throat, the Negative weakly chewing. "What does it matter, anyway. You and I… have the same lifespan. If you saved me, you would choke, and we'd both die. Don't you understand… you really can't save everyone."

"I'm not trying… to save everyone. But I know… you can learn a thing or two from me. So in our last moments of breath… you would finally understand."

"Eeeeerr…. Your universe really is… full of idiots."

"Aaaaand one pill of quercetin for you." Leanne slipped the pill down Akurah's throat, followed by water, and her swelling slowly went down. "And one injection of epinephrine for you."

"HUUUU!" Haruka gasped for air once Leanne forced the shot into her neck. "Huff, huff. Ho, thank Hexxus. I hated sounding like I had a refrigerator crushing my pelvis."

Akurah stood and brushed herself, "Let's get outta this sick house." Haruka and Leanne joined as they casually left out the front gates, past the still-fallen dragon and the destroyed lines.

"Uhhhhh isn't anyone gonna buy anything?" the Bag-Headed Cashier asked.

Father Dragon recovered and turned to face him, shaking the market each step. "Yes, I wanted to buy these macaroons and Sunseed Muffins?" He held up a tiny (to him) bag with said items.

With that, Cashier had the items scanned and handed Father the receipt. "Here you go."

"Thanks." And so the dragon stomped out of the exit, smashing a hole in the wall and- "AAAAH!" flinging Dr. Light away with his flappy tail.

Away from the market

"Well, I suppose you want a thank you for saving my life." said Akurah scornly. "But I could've cared less what happened."

"Man, why are you so sour? Why is killing things your only focus?"

"I've grown only accustomed to seeing things die. It makes things more… peaceful. What reason do they have to live, anyway?"

"Everyone has a reason to live! Like you, for example. Not everyone can save everyone from dying… but if certain people are chosen to survive instead of others… well, I like to think Arceus has some great big plan for them."

"Okay ifyou'rebringingArceusintothis, leave me out, 'cause I'm no Arceist." She was quick to walk away.

"Well I'm not a DIEHARD Arceist if that's what you mean." Akurah stopped after a few feet of walking. "I mean, I don't go to church. What're you, Ganonist?"

"Not necessarily. But I don't believe in the gods. In fact, the Negaverse has no gods."

"What about Giratina?"

"He's only a Guardian Spirit that watches the shadows, he wouldn't set foot in our world until some whiny 7-year-old and his bearded dwarf came crying and begging to him. In reality, all those gods and spirits prefer to ignore our existence, just toss in elements every now and then for good will. Whether we live or die, our existence will be plain and boring."

"Well, that's… kinda sad. If that's true, you oughta spend more time in our world. Well, we don't really know how much the gods do in our… daily lives, but we have loads of fun together."

"Look, what you kids have for, 'sissy fun,' our style is totally opposite, therefore on NO occasion has ANY Positive with their Negative had as much fun as-"

"YEEEEEEEEEE!" The wild rock-n-roll music started up as Kirie and Eirik boosted down the street on rocket rollerblades. Clutching many markers, they drew a series of lines along the sides of many cars they passed, and were on the way to miscolor many stoplights.

The blares of police sirens echoed across the city. "Weeee should probly help them." Haruka said before the three began to chase.

Juvy; a few hours later

Both girls were quietly escorted from the building by Kirie's mother, Kuki Beatles, who appeared as gray and humorless as any Negative. "Look, Kirie, I'm not gonna begin to question how you managed to clone yourself, or why you two went on some crime spree, because this took a huge amount of time out of my work. I'll trust your friends to walk you home, but don't bother me with this again, n'kay?" So with nothing else, she walked away.

"MAN. That lady's glummier than Akim. Is that your MOM or somethin'?, man I feel sorry for you." Eirik proclaimed.

Um… to tell the truth, Eirik… the main reason I did all these things with you was for my mom's attention. She's always busy and working, and she never pays attention to me. I thought getting myself in trouble with some mean girl would make her spend more time with me. But I really had a lot of fun with you, Eirik, and hanging out with you, I think we found a bond I could've had with my mom. Even though we're from two different worlds, I feel like I actually found someone to call my twin sister. And the two of us, well, we can have so much fun together, and bond closer than Brayden Rainbow Monkey and Eden Rainbow Monkey. Because, well… we understand each other… that well.

She held Eirik's hand and looked at her with warm, loving eyes. "Uck, I can't understand a word you're not saying!" She pulled away. "Look, just stick with the rocket shoes and graffitiing cars, you and me are all right."

She grinned wide and held two thumbs up.

"Maybe it's time for you two to get back to your world." Haruka suggested.

"Finally. I can't stand all these plant smells any longer." Akurah agreed.

They found a fountain outside the building as Akurah splashed in first. Kirie and Eirik exchanged simultaneous nods before the latter jumped in. "Well, there goes our twins." Haruka sighed as she and Kirie began the walk home. "But who needs 'em, right? We got two annoying little brothers."

I think me and Eirik left Joey glued to the Big Boy statue.

"Ha ha, yeah…"

DNKG H.Q.

Everyone in DNKG had orders, and everyone was carrying out. The staring, looming face of their Supreme Dictator appeared on every big screen in the fortress. "Good time-of-day, my loyal subjects. This is Numbuh Nothing, your beloved dictator, for a daily announcement." It felt like her echoing, eerie voice was directly in their ears. "We have conquered a great number of planets in the span of 2 years, going 3… and you have all submitted so dutifully. It's important to remind you… why our cause is just… is needed. As you know, this universe… is one without gods. Without those to protect us. Leaving us to wallow around in our own sadness. That is why, it is upon us to carry out that duty. We must become the gods that this universe lacks… we must be the ones to give everyone order. Unite all species… all worlds… into one supreme superpower. While those above us may bask in the warmth the gods provide them… we are becoming strong. We are becoming whole. We are… ascending…"

Speaketh her… the Goddess. And speaketh I, who's glad to get another chapter done. I actually like this one, too.

 

[Gamen Watch]

We're gonna show you why, there's more than meets the eye, the b-b-briiiight side of the dark side. Oh ya think you oughta, no you really oughta, the b-b-briiight side of the dark side. –Ruby Gloom

Chapter -13: Secret Keeper
​

Sol Selegna

Sol Selegna. A beachside town, though a very dirty beach. The sky was dark here like everywhere else, and the sea was polluted. A metallic DNK treehouse was perched atop an ordinary house, so it was easy to find. A suspicious-looking boy peeked out from behind a fence and rushed his way to the treehouse, moving swift and quiet, hoping nobody would catch him. It appeared the coast was clear, and he was able to make it behind the house, where three other kids were already in line.

"I took Yllas's wallet and never gave it back." whispered a girl into a green bag as yellow magic energy flowed into it from her mouth. She quickly ran away as someone in the window sealed the bag, then put a new one in its place.

"I still soil myself." whispered a boy, then making his escape.

"I…er… do things in bed I-…" The next boy stuck his head into the bag and said something no one could definitely hear, safely sealing it.

Finally was the boy who just came. "I, er…I, errr…I saw Naitsirhc kill her friend's dog!" And the secret went inside.

Seeing no more customers outside, the bags were taken by an invisible force back up to the treehouse. Once there, Ynnad Noskcaj threw off his Invisible Cloak, throwing the four bags near a pile of empty ones. Then, slowly slithering up to them was a shadow as misshapen as a lava lamp, and Ydolem Noskcaj emerged from it, a girl with raven-black hair, black T-shirt, ghostly white pants, black shoes, and white eyes with black outline. Her shadow flew to the four new bags, carefully pulled them open, and let the magic flow into her mouth, then swallowed. "Is that all?" asked Ydolem quietly, petting her shadow, Hsa's head.

"Yeah." replied Ynnad.

"Good." And that was all there was to it. Nothing more had to be said. Because their duty was done. Okay, you guys prob'ly don't know, so I'll explain. They were Sector -L, the most silent, secret-keeping crew known to nega-kidkind. Kids everywhere with embarrassing or shameful secrets come to them to let the secret out of their lungs, to a safe, secure home. Using Ynnad's magic Secret Sacks, he contains the secrets, then feeds them to Ydolem's shadow, Hsa, so only she and her master will know them. Only the secret-owner could tell the secret, otherwise anyone else who tried to speak it or write it would only utter silence. And as for Ydolem herself, she was the one girl in the whole world they could trust. She was always hiding, so no one could get their hands on her secret container, and she would never speak a word.

"Sapphire Happy is on." Ydolem said. "Let's go watch." So she and Ynnad went to sit on the couch and turn on the TV. Sapphire Happy was a show about a blue-haired angel girl who, despite the name, was always really depressed, and spoke loudly. But Ydolem was fascinated with its lively aura for some reason.

"RRRRRAAAAAAH!" Sort of like this guy: Cire Ztivroh, a handsome muscular boy who also had a secret Ydolem was keeping, and was still kind of insecure about it. The only reason he was in her sector was because he didn't trust Ydolem one bit. After kicking open the door, he stomped inside furiously. "So Ydolem, you finally CRACK, yet?!"

"Of course not, Cire." smiled Ydol. "You know I would never tell anyone."

"You gonna BLOW IT sometime, and I'M gonna be there WHEN IT HAPPENS!"

"Keh…keh…" Hsa coughed.

"You really must not be so diffident." Ydolem indicated her coughing shadow. "Your secret might just release itself if you're so unbalanced."

"Yeah-heah, THAT'S the reason it's gonna happen," Cire proclaimed with sarcasm, "use my OWN words against me, make it seem like I got the problem, WELL I DON'T, SO YOU BETTER SHUT IT!"

"Of course you don't, Cire." Ydolem said with a trustful voice. "It's your secret. You'll tell everyone when you're ready to. And I'm sure they'll like you just the same."

But Cire wasn't entirely convinced. The blood-boiling rage was visible on his face. Knock-knock-knock-knock.

"Oh? Is that one more customer? Could you please get that, Ynnad?" Her brother complied and walked downstairs in his Invisible Cloak, only his head visible as he opened the hatch.

"Is this Sector -L Secret-Keepers?" asked the hooded girl in a low voice.

"Say nothing if you don't. Secret, please." Ynnad held a sack open.

"No. I wish mine to go to Ydolem directly."

Ynnad took his sack back and returned upstairs. "Ydolem, she… wants you."

"Oh, a secret STRAIGHT to the BOSS!" Cire proclaimed as Ydolem left downstairs. "Hope your HEAD DON'T EXPLODE!"

"Hi there." Ydolem greeted the girl once downstairs. "You had something for me?"

"Yes… a secret. One that I don't trust the sacks to hide."

"Your secret will be at risk of being spoken then. But if it's your wish."

So she leaned her head forward, the hooded girl touching her mouth with Ydol's ear. ".. . . .. . . .."

"Oh!" Her eyes perked. "That's, um… very interesting. …Well, okay. I won't tell-" But the customer was already gone. The neighborhood was totally empty and quiet, so with no more business, she shut the hatch.

As Ydolem returned upstairs and passed the living room, "Oh-ho, so the SECRET'S IN, huh?" Cire was quick to proclaim. "And WHAT IS IT, pray tell?"

"Nothing, really." was the last Ydolem said before going to her room.

She closed the door, plopped down on her bed, and went to sleep for the night. She hoped the sleep would clear her head of what she just heard. It couldn't have been THAT big a deal… right?…

The next day; Retnek Elementary

The next day at school was pretty ordinary like it always was. Ydolem and Ynnad spent the whole day without talking to a soul. Ynnad spent most of the day under his Invisible Cloak, and Ydolem crept within the shadows. Even at recess, when children set to work on the prune juice mine, they lay hidden. 'Cause THEY don't wanna do all that work! But the secret Ydolem was entrusted with was definitely a curious one. How could anyone possibly know that? And which of these kids was the one who knew?

"It's probably best you don't hold it for me, Hsa…" Ydolem petted her shadow gently. "You do so much for me… I should take this one. Hmmm… but I wonder how many else she planned to tell. …?"

She saw a gang of kids marching over to her from the workcamp. They were in fact, the school's nerds, and in the Negaverse, nerds are bullies and bullies are car salesmen. Nah just kidding, they're nerds. They had purple juice stains and their bods were strong as ever from their day of work. Ydolem got to her feet, masking her nervousness. "Hello. What may I do for you?"

"Word 'round the school is YOU got a hot new secret!" a nerd grinned maliciously.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh yeah, then how come I was just able to detect your LIE?!" a nerd girl with bare feet proclaimed. "A few of us are earthbenders, and we've been feelin' yer heart racin' ALL DAY."

"If my heart weren't racing, I would die."

"Don't matter, 'long as we've felt you, your heart never beats faster than 15.5 thumps-per-minute, which means YOU got somethin' on your mind you're dying to tell, and WE wanna hear it FIRST." proclaimed an earthbender boy.

"If the secret doesn't belong to you, it's not yours to hear. I'll respect the person's privacy as long as they wish. That is no secret."

"Well, you know what also ain't a secret? Ytram's a psychicbender. And he knows how to probe a mind for information, so he'll dig that secret RIGHT outta you. Have to rifle a few others on the way, but THAT'S the kicks." He stepped aside when a slimmer nerd stepped over.

"My business is closed now. You will have to see our Human Resources for any non-complaints." She sunk into her shadow.

"The HELL you will!" The earthbenders stomped the ground and forced out several rock-jabs, but Ydolem slithered away to evade. After emerging around a wall, she attempted to run, but the psychic kid managed to grab and pull her over. "'Soon as your secrets're out, you going outta business. Let 'er have it, Ytram—" In a sudden puff of smoke, all of the bullies turned into chickens.

Ynnad pulled off the head of his cloak. "I guess the secret's already out."

"It would appear so." Ydol helped herself up. "I wonder how many else know."

"What kind of secret were you given, anyway?"

"I…I shouldn't say. The person must have trusted me for a reason. But not using a Secret Sack…"

"Recess is almost over. Can we last the rest of the day without being harassed?"

"No… why don't we leave. We'll get extra credit for following our hearts and disobeying school rules." So Ydolem Veiled and slithered over the fence while Ynnad wore his cloak to find his own exit. Since this school supports students following their own instincts, they would be applauded for ditching.

DNK Moonbase

Moonbase was, to put it simply, a total mess, horribly disorganized. Well it was supposed to be, but a lot of the kids managed to maintain good manners and didn't make too much a mess of things, though the guards were less than reliable. And Supreme Leader, Nerehc Onu, was in his office with his piles of paperwork. Relaxed on his seat with his feet on his desk, folding each paper into a plane and tossing it mindlessly. A pile of planes took up the space before the office door. The papers were scattered when Sicnarf Yksvolird barged in. "Sir, I have a report."

"What up, Sic?" He chucked a plane at Sicnarf's right eye.

Annoyed, Sic continued, "Well, we have intel that the DNKG is attempting to persuade the Nimbi over to their ranks. Since the mermen are already under their control, it'd be kind of negative on our end, Sir."

"Well, isn't that a good thing?"

"Of COURSE it isn't! If the seas and skies are DNKG territory, that means less territory on Earth for US! And Arceus knows the Minish will be kissing their shoes before getting stomped, it's time that we make some arrangements."

"You're right." Nerehc sat up straight, his aura having switched to Leader Mode. "Build more factories and smog the skies 'til those Nimbis drop, and burn all the forests 'til every last Minish is dead."

"That's not what I had in mind." He pinched his nasal bridge. "If we're sharing one planet with those guys, then we can't just keep fighting them. Before Aluben does, we have to persuade the Nimbi over to our side, the Minish too if we can."

"Why bother, they're never gonna listen." Nerehc kicked back again. "Aluben's got a million armies, whaddoes Earth got? I'd pick the winning side too, if I were them."

"Aluben's mission is to unite all races into one power. From a certain viewpoint, her mission is a just one, but she's doing it entirely the wrong way: for her benefit. The DNKs will never be at peace, that's why you have to make the Nimbi understand. That if our armies continue to fight, it'll get us nowhere, so we need to put our differences aside and understand that all we want is what's good for our kidkind. And I know you think we should, too."

"…" Nerehc leaned there half-scowling for five seconds. "Well, even if I do, THEY won't think so. Even THEY know this world is godless, kids everywhere will live in misery the rest of their lives no matter what we do."

"If nothing is going to change anyway, it doesn't mean we can't make it a little less painful."

"… … All right." Nerehc got up and walked around his desk. "I'll talk to the Nimbi… after Halloween." He passed a witty smirk to Sicnarf as he left. "Going as a beetle. Just 'cause Sipa dared me. Knows I'm scared of them. Seeya, Sic!" He skied away with rocket shoes.

"Siiiigh… Well, at least he's trying harder than Sucram." Sicnarf sighed.

Sol Selegna

Having ditched school, Ydolem and Ynnad decided to hit the town for boring stuff to do. They had nothing to do at home and wouldn't have customers 'til after school, so what to do… "Maybe you can become an Animagus." Ydol told her brother. "Becoming a rat or bat might be easier than carrying your cloak everywhere. I wouldn't tell anyone."

"Ehh… too much work."

"I wonder if the Break-a-Bear Workshop has any Sapphire Happy dolls that haven't been ruined, yet. Let's go visit."

They headed to Sol Selegna Mall, where teenage girls absolutely hated to visit, unfortunately their parents insisted on taking them, and it was the worst place to hang out with friends. Even school-ditchers hoped they would be caught and taken back to school. Of course, the guards didn't care. A slightly quiet, though vibrant jingle rang throughout the dark, empty store, and getting to the Break-a-Bear Workshop was without hassle. Scrapped, discarded bits of toys lay everywhere, except the toys on the shelves that were awaiting destruction.

"It's sad that so many toys have to be broken for children's amusement." Ydolem frowned, collecting a few pieces. "Oh well. Maybe I can make something out of these."

So, the next 10 minutes were spent finding the right scattered pieces to form her ideal Sapphire Happy. A lovely angel with a white dress and white wings, pale-peach skin, leggings of blue and cyan stripes, into white Mary-Janes with red hearts, and of course that beautiful blue hair where her name originates. Certainly not her face, which was not at all happy, very sad eyes with a sewed-in waterfall of tears. Ydol reckoned she was sad because her wings were unnaturally white, while the normal Nimbi had black wings. The creation still looked beautiful in Ydolem's hands.

"There… that was fun." She spoke softly. "Making my own doll. Why doesn't this shop have that? Why can't we just… destroy our old toys and make something new out of the scraps? Yes… that seems like a marvelous idea." She stood up to ease the soreness in her knees, having been seated on them all this time. "Maybe I should talk to Nerehc, and we can make something like that. I'll go talk to him now. Ynnad, ready-…"

Her brother seemed to have vanished. "Ynnad? Are you invisible?" She used Shadow Sense in attempt to see him. Nothing. "Hmmm… maybe he's in the Magic Store after all. Come, Sapphire Doll." She took her toy out of the store and trekked down the second-floor walkway, her footsteps against the marble floor echoing throughout the vacant store.

She saw a few kids walk out of the arcade and toward her, so Ydolem would casually walk between them, nothing more said. "So, what's the secret."

Her heart skipped a beat when the nerds aimed to grab her, but she Shadow Glided over the railing and landed on the parallel walkway. Some nerds ran across the nearby bridge to catch her, while some leapt over using airbending, Ydolem rushing down the walkway. The waterbending nerds grabbed water from a fountain below, chucking a huge wave at Ydolem, who jumped onto the railing before the wave froze, then dropped onto the soft roof of a stand and to the first floor. The nerds jumped down after as Ydolem sunk in a Veil, going under the bars of a dark closed store, but a waterbender used Water Arms to yank the bars open as they moved inside, searching intently for the Keeper in the darkness.

Ydolem's shadow was already sneaking behind them, out of the store as she reemerged and began another sprint. "Hey!" Hearing her footsteps, the nerds bolted after her, hurriedly throwing their powers as she was headed for the exit. But she slammed against a particular door that was sealed, and couldn't regain her mentality quick enough to perform a Veil and go underneath, for the nerds were seconds from catching her. But at that second, a puff of smoke turned them all into rats, scampering frantically all around her feet as she tried to stay still and keep from stepping on them.

Ynnad unhooded his cloak. "Sorry about that. I was looking at new cloaks when I saw them chasing you."

"It's all right. Maybe we should head home." So with that, the siblings headed out of a door that was actually opened, letting the many rats scamper free. "In the Negaverse, more nerds have bending, and they're bullies." She configured. "But shouldn't you change them back?"

"It's a temporary spell, it'll wear off. Doing it a little more than I expected to."

"I just don't understand how so many of them know I know something. I've only known it since last night… was this person running from them, too? And she told me to make them direct attention at me?"

"Well, they would still try to catch her anyway, I'm sure."

"Wait… You don't think Cire has anything to do with this?"

"What? Why?"

"Why else would those guys at school decide to be on me to begin with, and back at the store… I recognized a few of them as operatives. Cire's friends, no less… is he trying to make me crack or something?"

"Well, he is a little… violent. Whaddyou think?"

"…I think I should talk to him. School should be clearing out, let's meet him there."

DNK Moonbase

Things were still calm on Moonbase as Ininap manned her post at the Global Tactical Station. 'Cause it's wise for a leader's servant to take their incoming calls, so it was a great post for her. 'Course, she always stood there shaking, wondering when the TV would boom to life, and always make her heart jump. "Numbuh -860—"

"YEEEEEEK!" Her hair stood on end when Hcaz snuck up from behind.

"You're worse than my sister. Look, I looked over a security camera recording from the last gathering, I noticed one of the audience had the 'DNKG' marking on their arm. I think we might have a spy. I'm doing a thorough scan, so if I could see your arm."

"O-Okay." Ininap shudderingly held her arms out as Hcaz rolled up the sleeves and viewed them.

"Hmm… didn't think it was you, this person had a bulkier arm. Next time you see Nerehc, give him this, it's the photo." He gave Inap a paper with a gray photo. "Gonna scan the mess hall now. 'Lot of chubbos there. See you." He waved good-bye.

Ininap checked the photo and indeed saw a very faint 'DNKG' on a dark, bulkier arm.

Retnek Elementary

School was clearing out as students were rushing to the school buses. Cire was a little slow to joining them, for he couldn't help but wonder where Ydolem had disappeared to all day. "Cire!" His question would be answered when he saw them both running over from his left. "Cire, how…how's your day been?"

"Just fine, thanks. How've YOU been, sneakin' out and tellin' EVERYONE my secret when I ain't there to catch you?"

"For your information," Ydolem kept her quiet tone as she spoke aggravatingly, "I was harassed twice today because of the secret I was told last night, and-"

"AND you cracked, GREAT."

She shook her head, "I'm starting to think YOU'RE the one who got them on me."

"Oh-hohohoho right," he dropped his backpack, "BLAME the guy you're holdin' captive, yeah REAL logical."

"What do you mean holding you captive? I told you, I'm not going to tell anyone-"

"Yeah but you're already accusing ME of sickin' some NERDS on you!"

"In my defense, I have the right evidence, and you've been acting more hardheaded than normal." Their squabble was attracting viewers.

"Only 'cause YOU keep waggin' my PRIVACY in my FACE!"

"Okay—that's worded a little awkwardly-"

"OKAY, THAT'S IT!" Cire finally snapped. "YOU SHUTTIN' UP FOR GOOD!" His fist came flying across Ydolem's face.

Some blood flew out of her mouth, and after absorbing the fact her teammate just punched her, she Veiled and dodged a following punch, appearing behind to punch Cire down with Hsa's fist. He got back up and lunged at Ydolem again, grabbing and throwing her several feet as she sunk in a Veil, slid to him, and pulled him underneath to lay quick punches against his face. They both came up and both threw punches, while Hsa flew behind to punch Cire's back. Cire bumped the shadow with his elbow before swinging a kick at Ydolem, who spun around him before a Shadow Punch came around and hit the right of Cire's head.

He threw another punch at Ydolem, who ducked and blew Shadow Breath into his face, then had Hsa tie his shoelaces together so the boy tripped. Furious, he threw an arm forward to grab Ydolem's leg and pull her down, throwing a round of punches at her chest. Hsa grabbed him from behind and struggled to pull him off, Ydolem escaping and getting up as Hsa returned to join her. Cire decided to pull off his tied shoes and chuck them at Ydol, the laces successfully wrapping around her neck, and as she choked, Cire dashed and punched her painfully in the nose, Ydolem stumbling backward and into her brother, both of them falling down.

Cire grabbed Ydolem tight around the neck and raised her upward, the rage clear in his face as ever. "I'm tired of your happy, smiley, hushie-hushie attitude, I AIN'T buyin' it, and I'm NOT lettin' you blow the secret that I like starin' at boys in speedos—" He froze.

Their audience was still watching them. The sudden cease in action took them by surprise. And Cire had no idea what move to make now. "…Uuuuuhh."

"THAT'S why you're bein' such a dick?" a boy remarked. "Dude, nobody cares."

"…Oh." He dropped Ydolem. All that anger wasted for nothing.

"Mmp-mmp-mmp…BWAUK." Hsa hacked out a cloud of yellow magic. The secret was out.

"Weeeell… this is pretty awkward." Cire said.

"I won't tell anyone." Ydolem smiled.

"Sigh, what a crazy story this will make." Ynnad said as he got up, brushing off his wrinkled cloak. "Wonder how many others have dumb secrets."

"…" Ydolem glanced at his exposed left arm, the sleeve having been rolled up when they fell. "Ynnad, what's that tattoo?"

"…" Ynnad looked at it with slight panic. "Oh, that, uh…"

Ydolem raced closer and examined it better. "'DNKG'?…"

"…" Now, Ynnad had no next move.

"Oh gods, YOU'RE ONE OF-" Cire pointed accusingly.

"Indefino Duro!" Ynnad flicked his wand, and in a split second, Cire stood frozen with a finger aimed as solid stone.

"CIRE!" Ydol cried.

"Nobody move!" Ynnad proclaimed when the students attempted to retreat. "This coulda gone so much more smoothly… if you just told me your secret."

"You…You had those nerds attack me?" Ydolem asked with hurt in her voice. "Are THEY with them, TOO?"

"They were, but I planned to keep appearances with you a little longer, so I had to save you from them. So, why don't you tell me what our late-night customer told you and everyone can go home safely?"

"But why…why would you care?"

"The fact that they wanted to speak to you directly, must mean they know who I am. Which means you have information highly vital to the DNKG. So, if you don't mind…" He held his wand ready.

"Why would you work for them, anyway?"

"Our organization is doomed, and Nerehc is doing nothing to improve it. He's a failure of a leader, and everyone is following his example. Aluben is the only one we can follow, she's the only one who will lead us to victory. If you cared at all about your fellow operatives, you'd fork over what you know."

"But… Ynnad… I trusted you… I…I thought you were my brother."

"I am your brother. That's why I'm asking you to join. We, the greatest secret-keeping team, Nerehc will never suspect us. …Or are you against me?"

"If that's really how you feel, then… I am NOT betraying Nerehc!" The passion was clear in her eyes and voice. "He's the one who gave us our post, ever since he trusted us with his own secret. He put his deepest trust in us himself, and I…I will NEVER betray anyone's trust!"

"Then I hope you'll see where your trust leads you. CRUCIO!"

"AAAAAHHHH!" Ydolem fell and wriggled on the ground with unimaginable pain.

"Now tell me the secret."

"N-N N. . . No! AAAAAHHH!" Ynnad focused more energy.

"If you insist on defending him, I'll force you to come to Aluben's side. Say good-bye to your free will. Imperi-" He lost concentration when a book hit him in the head. "Who threw that?!"

Many kids' glares were fixed on Ynnad, all holding books, rocks, and uneaten lunch. Ynnad recognized them all: every one of Sector -L's customers. They all put their trust in him and Ydolem… but it's clear he was the wrong choice. Ydolem was the only one they could trust, Ynnad was a traitor. Ydolem was their friend… and they wouldn't let anyone attack their friend.

The array of objects came flying at him like he were an overweight principal that abused her children. The amount of objects they managed to bring was uncanny, and far too many to raise his wand against. "DAH, I don't need to put up with this! Kiss up to Nerehc all you want, Sis, but it won't do you good in the end! YOU'LL ALL SEE!" He whipped out a tiny bottle of red potion and smashed it to the ground. In a blinding puff of red smoke, Ynnad was gone.

A girl came over to help Ydolem stand. "You okay?"

"I'm… fine." Ydol looked at Cire's stone statue. "Poor Cire. I better bring him to DNK Moonbase. I hope they'll be able to save him. Thank you for protecting me, guys."

"Yeah, well… we kinda owed it to you." A boy from yesterday smiled. "And if Ynnad shows up again, we'll give him the old Western Witch!"

"Hmhmhm!" she smiled. "Thanks. Still… I wonder how many other spies Aluben has hidden among us. I need to tell Nerehc soon. …But first…"

Sector -L Treehouse

Ydolem invited Nollid Kroy over, and after confirming the latter had no 'DNKG' mark, he touched his wand to Ydol's head and pulled a string of silver light from her mind, and placed it into a jar. "Thanks, Nollid. That secret was nothing but trouble. But at least it exposed Ynnad for what he was…"

"Yeah, well… I had a feeling this business would flop someway. Figured you'd need me when it happened. But are you sure you shouldn't tell Nerehc about… this?"

"I still haven't figured out who told it to me in the first place. Until then… maybe I shouldn't say anything about it."

"Well then… I won't tell anyone."

"Thanks, Nollid. You're still the only other one I can trust."

"Heheh…" Nollid blushed. "Say, that's a nice doll you have. You like the show?"

"Yes."

"It's on now, we could… watch it."

"That would be great."

Ydolem first brought the jar of silver to her closet, moved some stuff away, and opened a small compartment in the left corner. She taped a sticky note on the glass, wrote Location of the Octogan in purple pen, and sealed the jar away.

Little bit of trivia, the characters in this story are actually speaking backwards of their respective language, 'cause that's how it is in the Negaverse, obviously it's not written in the actual dialogue because Lord knows YOU don't wanna translate. But they also know frontwards talk 'cause, as the opposites, they can understand both languages while Positives only know one. Soooo yeah. Next time, a little SCARY throwback.

 

[Gamen Watch]

So, here's the weakest chapter in the story, but I'll say it introduces an unexpectedly powerful character. ;|

Chapter -12: One Kcajed-up Halloween
​

Dnalevelc, Ainigriv

Once upon a time, there lived a man named Kcaj Nretnal'O, who lived in Startsville, whose goal in life was to help people with his magical abilities. Everywhere he went, he examined those around him and cast a special charm on anyone who'd look like they needed it. Everyone in Startsville was happy… in his opinion. Actually, his spells were horribly inconvenient and ruined almost everyone's lives. He planted a curse that prevented a married couple from leaving each other, aged a 7-year-old 30 years so he could get onto a ride he was too short for, and turned a girl into a flower when he wondered dreamily what it would be like to be one. Kcaj caused so much chaos throughout the town, the President of Startsville had him beheaded on -31 Rebotco.

They figured he was trying to copy from the legendary Anti-Fairy, Adnicul Nizlat, who lived on Planet Ralava and granted the most wonderful gifts to all her citizens, and everyone loved her. An Elfin named Lepmur became her apprentice sometime before her death 20 years ago, and while he mimicked her gift-giving talents to excellent respectability, Kcaj did not. He was a pain to deal with every Halloween, and they couldn't imagine anyone like him.

Yet by some divine prank, Kcaj's body had survived, and using a spell, he carved a face into a pumpkin, placed it on his body, and let it serve as his new head. It was on the same day as the time when Nightmares and demons were at their strongest, and people honored them. Kcaj took that as a sign from those above him, that on every Halloween, he may roam the streets in his immortal body and grant the gifts he's always given. His mission was a just one.

Now Halloween was a far more celebrated holiday than Christmas, since Negative Land had no gods and were treated as monsters, they felt it fun to actually dress as and honor their fellow demons, or whatever the heck they felt like dressing up as. But this Halloween, Kcaj was planning another return, and has found a rather curious book in the ruins of some mountain in West Ainigriv: a Book of Shadows, which had written some very ancient, powerful spells, and Kcaj could feel the magical energy resonating from it. One spell was called the 'Curse of Monsters,' invented by Nightmare King Darkrai I himself. And with this spell, he knew the perfect gift to give the celebrators of Halloween this year.

Down in the suburbs, Nerehc and Ininap were walking the streets as a beetle and mouse, and kids in costumes all around were going to houses and delivering candies, 'cause that's what Halloween was about. "I must admit, I-I'm a wee bit, surprised you, dressed as a beetle, Sir." Ininap stuttered. "Yer usually, uh, scared of 'em."

"Yeah, Sipa plans to ask me if I wet my pants while I'm in it, and if I didn't, 'said she'd turn me into a beetle for real."

"W-Will she be meetin' with us, today?"

"Nah, she usually spends Halloween performing rituals, the evil energy's at its strongest this time of year, she never likes to waste it 'Says she's inching closer and closer to eternal damnation."

"Well I-I hope she gets there soon, 'cause um… you know, that's her religion then."

They passed plenty of their other friends who were wearing costumes, too. Lorac sewed together a costume of Robin Hood—not his good-for-nothing Negaverse counterpart, the Positive Lorac suspected him to be, and a man to really admire. Nosam dressed as a chameleon and desired to lick Lorac to "change himself back to normal"… but we know Lorac was having none of that. Nollid dressed as Yrrah Rettop.

But little did they know the evil that was climbing onto Dnalevelc's highest tower. He had the book, he had his wand, and the sun was nowhere in sight in this dark, cloudy sky. The spell requires that the sun can't be present during spelltime, so he wondered if that qualified for cloudy skies. He would soon find out.

Spirit of Darkrai, ghost of Dragmire

Make them the creations they so desire

Let the daytime suns never rise again

Let Halloween night be UNTIL world's end!

His wish would come true as he unleashed his powerful beam of magic into the sky. The monsters they honored and worship, they would surely have the highest honor when they became those monsters themselves. And Kcaj would be thanked for bringing this gift upon them. The sky turned a ghastly green as the magic flew all over the world. Little green particles rained everywhere, and every person wearing a costume began to glow green. …You probably know what happens next.

Dnalezor, Ainigriv; Sector ZR Treehouse

The streets were suddenly filled with zombies trying to give people brains, werewolves trying to bite others and rid them of their own curse, and gods forbid if there aren't any vampires trying to donate blood to the nearest hospital. Yes, it should be total mayhem, yet it wasn't, but the very sight of it looked weird and had to be stopped. Not that one particular famed DNK sector had anything to do with it.

"So uh, everyone in town turned into monsters." Eel Nosyarg said, lying on the couch. He wore a rust-colored sweater and pants with steel-colored boots. His dirty-blonde hair was bowl-cut.

"Whaddya know." his sister, Ennael replied with no interest. She had long brown hair with bangs over her eyes and a black sweater with a red utility sash.

"I've seen better things happen." Ulul followed, steaming vegetables over in the kitchen. "This'll just blow over, too." She was a skinny, dark-skinned girl with a thin green shirt and blue jeans.

"Probably." Ynned agreed. He wore a white baseball shirt and red shorts. "ZR" was inscribed on his shirt.

To put it simply, this sector didn't care for Halloween or its traditions. They didn't like candy themselves, much preferred vegetables, so they wouldn't waste time giving it to people, either. Sector ZR also happened to be a talented and rather renowned sector, the only problem was they were so lazy most of the time, so even though they could easily complete a mission, it was only if they felt like it.

"Unfortunately," began Atawid Onu, "I surmise we're the only unaffected sector left to answer the call of duty." She had blonde hair, a green sweater with a brown utility sash, and khaki shorts.

Their serene laziness was disturbed when someone knocked at their window. So, Eel had to take time out of his day to go and answer it. Yrrah Rettop appeared to be floating on a broomstick just outside. "Huh, didn't know Jedi flew on brooms."

"I'm NOT a Jedi!" replied Nollid with aggravation.

"Then why did you dress as one for Halloween?" Ennael asked.

"Irony." It should be noted Yrrah Rettop was a famous psychicbender, and starred in such films like Yrrah Rettop and the Phantom Friend, Yrrah Rettop and the Good-tidings of the Sith, and also Yrrah Rettop and the Slumping Empire. …His films didn't sell as well as that series about a magic boy, Ekul Reklawyks, who goes to a planet of wizards. To put it simply, fantasy is better than sci-fi in any universe. "Anyway, did you see the mess that's going on out there?"

"Yeah, so what?"

"So we have to stop it, and I saw who was causing it, too: Kcaj Nretnal'O. I saw him on my flight here."

"That guy from that old Startsville story?" Ennael asked.

"Exactly. And since the pilots at my treehouse are, eh, incapacitated at the moment, you're the closest sector I know that can fly us to Ralava so we can speak to Lepmur Nikstlits."

"Okay, Z) why do you care, Y) why do WE care, and X) why will Lemur Nikslits care?" questioned Eel.

"Because W) my crappy world's crappy enough without crappy Nacixem princesses roaming the streets, V) you're the only dumbheads I can rely on, and U) Lepmur was Adnicul Nizlat's apprentice, she usually fixed his problems, but now that she's gone, we have to rely on HIM now. And if you do this thing, I promise I'll convince Nerehc to give you two months free of missions, how's that?"

"SIIIIIIGH." They soooo did not want to.

"Well, you know that Planet Ralava is all the way in Aixalag, right?" Ennael asked. "We're gonna go there and risk running into those DNKG?"

"I'll put a Concealment Charm on the ship so they won't detect us, we'll be fine. But I'm also gonna keep pestering you with Prank Spells if you refuse to help me."

"Okay." They chorused boredly.

"Siiiigh." Nollid eye-rolled. "Great. Let's get on your R.E.P.M.A.C.S. and get going." He stepped inside their window and walked first to the hangar.

"Can we at least eat dinner first?" Eel asked.

"Don't worry, I still have my canned bean casserole, we can eat it on the way." Ulul assured.

"YAAAAY."

Dnalhsa, West Ainigriv

Sirhc braved the night and made his way to Dnalhsa in the hopes of meeting his friend. He had no intention of going truth-or-giving with all the scary costumes, and this was the very reason why. So if he had to endure a Halloween of real monsters, he and Yddam could endure it together. "H-Helloooo? Yddam?" Sirhc called nervously when he arrived at the park. "AAAAAAHHHHH!" When that sudden gush of water struck him in the chest, he shot up to the nearest tree's branches and held tight like a scared kitty.

"HEY, Sirhc!" A green, scaly, fishlike creature with a familiar voice and brown hair called out. "How do I look?"

"Y-Y-Y…Yddam?" He still didn't let go of the branch.

"I was gonna dress as one of those fishpeople from Anaeco, and look what happens!" She never looked more joyous. "People keep saying there's no stars in the sky, well GUESS what just came down and GAVE me my WISH!"

"Umm-m-m.." Sirhc nervously climbed down, "that's great and all, Yddam, but how long are you st-staying like this?"

"I dunno. Hopefully forever, 'cause I NEVER wanna change back! I was over at the pool earlier, I stayed under for five whole minutes and didn't get tired at all! I can live in the ocean and be friends with the merpeople, and I can visit YOU on land whenever I want, this is a dream come true!"

"Y-You're-You're, you're not gonna LIVE in the ocean, are you?"

"Not REALLY, Sirhc—what, with all those scary sharks down there?—but I wonder if I can put on other costumes and try MORE powers? Oh, I gotta check it out!" And she went dashing down the street on her webbed feet.

"W-Wait, Yddam!" Sirhc toddled after. "Th-That might be dangerous! Oh boy…"

Planet Ralava

The fairytale world of magic and wonder was still as it was even in this dreaded universe. As you might expect, people endure sad endings instead of happy, but on the brighter side, couples of princes and princesses take the time to develop their relationships and decide whether or not they like each other, and a majority of the dragons wield Dark Elements. It's also rumored that most of the Yensid movie plots originate from Ralava's history. The thing about Ralava compared to whatever its opposite had to offer was that it was more evolved, with planes, giant village buildings, and of course factories that made the sky appear red.

Nollid and Sector ZR soared through smogging green clouds on their R.E.P.M.A.C.S. and viewed the shabby-looking landscape. "So where does Lepmur live?" Eel asked, piloting the craft.

"I can't imagine the Elfin Forest is very inhabitable… let's visit the Gold River." Nollid suggested. "Definitely the freshest water source around here, I dunno WHERE else he'd wanna live. I think it's just over that—"

"AAAARR." A dark dragon shaded by the clouds swooped by and whacked their ship with its tail.

"Statistics show that 97% of the time someone's trying to finish a sentence while passing a planet's atmosphere, they get shot down." Atawid said.

"We need a test to prove that theorem." Ynned mentioned. Immediately, the dragon latched atop the roof, its head hanging upside down before their windshield. "That should work."

"In the pods!" cried Nollid, so Ynned uninterestedly pressed a button, sealed the six inside pods, and shot down to the planet below before the dragon liquefied their ship in a cloud of toxic gas.

They crashed on scorched, barren ground as they climbed out of their pods, but soon found their selves surrounded by dragons with gargoyles on their backs, sitting on saddles and having ropes around the dragons' mouths like horses. "Well, if we don't have a couple of Earthlings in our atmosphere." spoke a yellow-haired gargoyle, Ecatcurtse, on a long-necked Shadow Dragon. "No doubt spies for those wannabe conquerors."

"Was only a matter of time before Earth finally caved in." a gargoyle with green spiky hair – Nojid – riding a fat Gas Dragon, replied. "I almost wanted to ask for his autograph. Do me a favor and send your dead bodies to him for me. THAT'S my new opinion of him." he said to the humans.

"You have it all wrong, we came here 'cause our planet is in trouble and we need Lepmur Nikstlits to come and help fix it." Nollid told them. "Just help us get to the Gold River Forest and we'll leave you guys alone, okay? …Unless, of course, we're unable to return to Earth by our own means."

"THAT'S the easiest trick in the book." a female magenta-haired gargoyle, Yrdnic Emad, retorted. "Everyone KNOWS the water from the Gold River restores life-force, and its core can prob'ly make someone live forever. Well, go 'head and try, dorks, 'cause you'll only get more lost the more you look for it."

"Still, this could be our chance to grab some info off their dictator." Ecat figured. "Take them to the boss so we can sweep out their minds. We don't find anything important, we'll still take them hostage. If they aren't EVEN important… our dragons dine tonight."

Nojid's dragon blasted a cloud of pink gas and put the six humans to sleep.

Sol Selegna

The semi-chaos was still going on even in this town, but since monsters weren't generally as feared compared to the Posiverse, well, things didn't go so bad for anyone. But one particular Nimbi would take advantage of this commotion, an angel with sapphire blue hair taking flight to the dark clouds above. Ydolem Noskcaj had dressed as Sapphire Happy and taken her form. With a beautiful pair of white feathered wings, Ydolem soared beyond the heavens, to the lovely realm of Aipyks. It was a very weird sight for all the local Nimbi to see. One with oddly-colored hair, and such unnaturally white wings, soaring among their kind. How could such a creature exist, such an… anomaly?

Within the skies were giant trees made of clouds, and Ydolem was flying to the biggest tree of all. Flying to the highest window of the highest room, and landing on the floor like some everyday citizen. "Hello, you all!" But her friendly greeting was repaid with spears aimed at her neck.

"It takes a Nimbi a lot of wingbone to fly in here dressed that way." spoke Supreme Nimbi Leader, Ibsej, floating down from her throne. "That show was just some human's mock interpretation of our kind, and any Nimbi that takes any liking to such nonsense is a disgrace to our kind. The moment we saw you come in, in that form… we knew you were not one of us."

"No, I don't think it's a disgrace at all." Ydolem said honestly. "I think it's a rather lovely show, and only the humans' way of trying to understand this culture."

"The humans MOCK us because angels are said to be closer to the gods than any other race. But you know as well as I do, the Negaverse has no such thing. The humans can NEVER come to respect us."

"That's not true." Ydolem replied sadly. "Humans can respect you. Because… I am a human."

"You are… an airbender?" one of the female guards asked.

"No. A shadowbender. It's Halloween down below, and some strange thing happened where we all took the form of our costumes. I chose to dress as Sapphire Happy, so…"

"So you've come to mock us." a boy accused.

"No. My wish is to try and understand your people… and maybe make friends."

"We've heard of no Nimbi becoming friends with humans. Let alone one that tries to hide among our kind." Ibsej stated.

"But don't you know? Nimbis exist within our DNK, too: Ibyf and Asia… and Ibyf's mother. If they live among the humans, why can't humans be with your kind, too?"

"People like them are traitors to our kind. Much like the Naidnahs who lived on the humans' land long ago… they don't belong with us if they want to exist below us."

"Living above, or below someone… isn't that the way Aluben wishes to live? Are you deciding to align with her?" Ydolem asked earnestly.

"Why, pray tell, is the human-playing-dress-up so interested?" the boy guard, Ibram inquired.

"After how my leader stood up to Aluben, I wasn't very worried about them much… but then my brother betrayed us to work for them." Ydolem looked down. "Now my secret wish is to do anything to stop them. And I know you don't want to fall under their rule, either. I would like for our two organizations… to work together."

"Assuming that we would… how can you guarantee our safety?"

"I can't. But will any being be safe with Aluben ruling us? That's why we should unite against her. And maybe our example will inspire the others to join, too."

"Hang on, I see what you're doing." Ibram glared. "Your boss, Nerehc's trying to become the new dictator, and 'e sent YOU here to get us to join HIS side!"

"And using clever voodoo magic for a disguise, even?" a girl named Ibnus asked. "Did you really think you could convince us?"

"No, it's not true." If Ydolem's tone could change, she would sound very desperate. "Nerehc never told us anything about that, I came here myself. I just… think it'd be good for both of us."

"I should've known." Ibsej stated. "No human can be trusted. Seize her!"

The guards all blasted Fear Screams, but Ydolem shot up with a forceful flap of her wings and out the window. Swarms of Nimbi flew after her like fighter planes, blasting round after round of bullets from machineguns. 'Cause what reasonable Nimbi uses bows-and-arrows anymore? "Hmph, and to think." Ibsej said to herself. "I almost believed her."

Ralava; Supreme Leader's treehouse

Perhaps not-so-coincidentally, the team of Nollid and Sector ZR were brought to Supreme Ralava Leader, Niffirg Latsyrcerif, who wore square glasses and was reading a book while five other gargoyles at the base of the stairway to his throne did the same. They all lowered their books when they heard the six humans being led in. "Well, this is an interesting surprise." the leader spoke with a nerdy voice.

"We caught these spies flying close to the Gold River Forest." Nojid explained. "We think they're DNKG spies. Earth finally caved in. I say we scan their minds for information."

"Hmmmm." Niffirg flapped forward to study the humans more closely. "…Looks like someone's into sci-fi." he said to Nollid.

"I AM NOT A JEDI!" he screamed, his head throbbing.

"Something doesn't really sit right." Niffirg said, folding his arms. "Why would the Earth Leader suddenly give in so easily?"

"Because he didn't," Atawid spoke quickly, "your cohorts are merely basing their makeshift information off of biased and predetermined knowledge in order to achieve a means to an end, a natural notion as they generally dislike both parties and therefore will wish to link them together so they may extinguish two birds with one stone."

"Yeah, she's sort of a know-it-all." Ynned mentioned. "Go on and search us, but in all fairness, Nollid's the only one who gives a crud, he just pulled us along."

Assuming the Yrrah Rettop boy was Nollid, Niffirg approached him casually. "Then let us find out." Nollid closed his eyes and let Niffirg plant his hand on his forehead.

He saw images in Nollid's mind from his childhood, his lazy drunk father slumped on his couch and chucking beer bottles (not just empty ones) which barely missed his son's head. Nollid turned to his mother, who wiped her son's mind of anything having to do with science and logic and introduced him to the wizarding arts, an art which Nollid found to enjoy. She taught him not to care for or trust anyone but himself, but all across Nollid's life, Niffirg saw him bailing Nosam out of embarrassing situations with Lorac, zapping a bully into a frog when he was picking on a girl, zapping Ininap and Nerehc back to their normal sizes, and later speaking with the uninterested Sector ZR about trying to stop this Monster Curse.

Niffirg pulled away. "…These guys are clean. You guys can go."

"Siiiiiigh." Nojid sighed as they left. "'Guess the dragons are eating butterfly again. Ressag's not gonna like this.."

Niffirg led the humans to an alternate room while his fellow psychics returned to reading upside-down books. "Sorry about the mess, my guys've been doing this with everybody that visits our planet." he told them. "We learned how to tame dragons recently and make them work for us. I preferred if we didn't, but it was either that or get eaten, I guess."

"Aren't you all made of stone?" Ennael asked.

"You seen the teeth on those guys? Anyway, I'll help you guys look for Lepmur and give you a ride back home if you want; I heard that too many people wanted Lepmur's help with things, so that's why he made a hideout near the core of the Gold River."

"Is it true the Gold River can really make someone immortal?" Nollid asked.

"Yes, but there's a kind of spell in place where you can only go there IF you aren't intending to use the river. So you should have no problem getting in."

"Hey, Boss!" a yellow-haired gargoyle flew in. "Nylesoj just got back from the forest collecting jellyflies. He said Lepmur wasn't there!"

"What? Then where is he, we need him for something!"

"Is there any other place he likes to hang out?" Eel asked.

"Beats me… listen, Eilrahc, get more guys and look around for him. I'll take these guys back to Earth."

"For what?" Nollid asked.

"We can still catch this Kcaj guy and make him fix all this, can't we? If we can't find Lepmur, that's our next best option."

"But we aren't even sure—"

"Like the typical criminal, prankster, or general Henry Handy," Atawid spoke quickly, "Kcaj would love to observe the results of his actions from afar, but not too far as to not see, nor too close as to be discovered, and judging by his already-odd appearance, he would take shelter inside the Nainigriv Forest which he probably called his base before choosing Ainigriv in particular to be the source point for his worldwide spell. Also judging by his obsession over something hopeless for a great number of years, even so being immortal, he is probably trying to fight some inner turmoil and is crying his little waxy eyes out in the forest where no one will hear him bawling like a whiny little brat."

"…" They only stared amazed. "Are you really sure-" Niffirg began.

"Positive let'sgetonit." Nollid said quickly.

Nainigriv Forest

The man behind the scenes, Kcaj Nretnal'O himself had retreated to the edge of the near-dead forest. Pressing the Book of Shadows to his chest with his left hand, and holding his wand in his right, the pumpkin-headed man was sobbing. "It's over Kcajy." He jumped with a start and looked to the branches. Nollid, Sector ZR, and Niffirg were perched in the trees. "Your days of gift-giving are over."

Kcaj quickly backed away. "No! I'm not giving up, yet! NOT UNTIL HE UNDERSTANDS!"

"Until who understands?" Ulul asked.

"Look, Kcaj, just change everyone back and this can all go so much more smoothly." Niffirg told him.

"NnnnnNEVER!" Kcaj raised his wand. "You'll undo this spell over MY dead juice! Ascendio!" He propelled high above the branches like a rocket.

"Let's get 'im!" Nollid yelled as Niffirg raised him by the arms and flew after the pumpkin-head. As Kcaj leaped across the trees using his spell, Nollid held his wand in his teeth and spat spells at him, though missing was easy with his being unable to aim. Kcaj stopped for a while and blasted spells back at them, but Niffirg was a little slow in dodging with Nollid weighing him down. Both mages whirled their wands and blasted simultaneous red spheres, and both struck their opponents as Kcaj fell from the treetops while Nollid and Niffirg hit the ground, stunned stiff. "Nnn, ZR! Hurry an' catch him!" the former grunted.

"Sigh, we don't get paid enough." Ennael moaned, surfing an earth-wave she created to catch up and propel herself before a startled Kcaj. He whipped around and saw Eel hurl his own rock-cuffs toward him, swiftly flipping aside to evade. He threw spells at Ennael which she blocked with rock walls, then soon found his legs being tied with vines. Ulul's plantbending was the source of this, and as she tried to pull him upside-down, he blasted a fire spell and destroyed the vines to drop free and escape.

Meanwhile, Atawid and Ynned had stayed behind while the former finished drawing a schematic. "Judging by the trajectory by which the others chased Kcaj, mixed with the likely pattern of attacks to alter such course, our target is now approximately 30.5 cubic meters southwest of here, which means you will have to hit this rock 40 cubic meters that way as well, are you ready?"

"Uh-huh." Ynned had his bat ready.

"Which such distance will only be accurate on my count of 3. One. Two. Three." She chucked the hand-size rock with full force, and Ynned swung with all the strength in his back.

Kcaj was escaping fast through the forest, and with the sticky substance Kcaj had trapped the earthbenders in with his wand, there seemed to be no way of catching him. "OOF!" That is, until the rock came and flung the pumpkin off his body with perfect precision. His head rolled along the ground while his body fell defeated. "Boo hoo hoo hoo." His candlelit eyes wept wax. "All I wanted, sniff… was to show him that I could help people, too… to show him I cared. Why won't he NOTICE me, WAH HA HAAA!"

"I already have…"

The pumpkin swerved toward the source of the gentle voice and gaped. Lepmur Nikstlits faced him with adorable loving eyes. "Lepmur… You… knew all along?"

Lepmur held him in his tiny elf hands. "I think it was the sweetest gesture in the world… but you didn't have to go so far."

He blinked his sparkly blue eyes, making Kcaj blush. "Well, heh… you know what love does."

"Uhhhhh someone clear this up for me." Ennael intervened. "Are you saying you two…"

A big pink heart seemed to appear behind the two, for they looked so radiant. "ARE A PAIR!"

And never more than ever did the seven viewers want to die. "…Okay, Morgan officially took over this story." Eel said.

"Well uh, if that's straightened out, can Kcaj fix the curse now?" Nollid asked.

"Oh, this sillykins couldn't cast a global spell like thaaat," Lepmur cooed, scratching Kcaj's cheek, "he'd need a really powerful source of magic besides that old spellbook. I betchu anything the curse reverses itself midnight on the dot. And that should be riiiiight-" he looked at his watch, "now."

And just like that, Nollid poofed back to his regular form, and that puffing sound echoed all across the town.

Dnalevelc Beach

Sirhc had witnessed Yddam dive into the sea in her new Fishman form. She promised she would be back in minutes, but she may have neglected that promise. "…SIRRRHC- cough cou, keh!" She suddenly resurfaced in her human form a few meters out.

"Yddam!"

"Keh, quick! Get-" But three merkids popped out and grabbed around her.

"Thought they'd get a human to spy on us, huh?" a merboy said. "Your voodoo spell ran out of time. And so will you." They vanished beneath the depths with their hostage.

"YDDAM!" Sirhc took his first steps in the water as he ran- "Ulp!" but retreated back the moment he felt its odd substance. "Uuuuh-h… I-I'll go get Hcaz!" He ran back to town.

Aipyks

Ydolem had been evading the Nimbi for half an hour, and hoped she would be back home before long. "Whooooa!" In a sudden flash, her flight powers vanished, but she didn't fall long before two Nimbi grabbed her by the arms.

"We'll see just how much Nerehc cares for you." one of them threatened. As Ibsej watched them take her away, she still felt so disappointed. She was really hoping to join forces with them…

Back at Ainigriv

"Sooo… that's it?" Ennael asked. "Problem solved plain and simple? No other extra conflict?"

"None to our knowledge." Ulul replied.

"Well, I guess we'll be on our way now." Kcaj said.

"Let's become a star together." And with a magical rainbow wave of his wand, a shining white unicorn with rainbow manes carried Lepmur and Kcaj on its back and galloped beyond the clouds, beyond the sky, to the brightest, shiniest star in all the heavens.

So Lepmur and Kcaj soared into the sun, never to be heard from again. The symbol of their love burned so bright for the whole Negaverse to see. …Yes, Gameverse Studios pretty much cut the budget for this story, it's all being devoted to Seven Lights. This part doesn't make sense really, if Rumpel dies during Christmas, why is his Negative dying on Halloween? Well, I guess it takes a fairly long time to fly to the sun using rainbow unicorns. Bad luck for Rumpel, I'd say. …This is Patrick Stewart, by the way. Can I have my 8 bucks now?