"Eh, I grew up quick without all this Omega Core crap," Matt said. "I kinda had to so I could face facts."

R.D. nodded. "I'm pretty sure I had to grow up quickly, too, although I'm uncertain as to why."

"Surely." Meta said, though she still wasn't completely sure of it. However, she wouln't mind if it were true.

The group stopped before Veris Forest. "Vinh's not too far from here," Ristar said. "Come on!"

The little star-child ran into the forest...and promptly ran out, chased by a horde of flying, green-blueish orb creatures:



"Help MEEEEE!" Ristar shouted, running past the group, but the creatures reoriented on them instead, sweeping toward them in one cloud.

"Sonic Boom!" Matt shouted, throwing two hook punches at the same time with both of his fists and firing two spinning energy waves at the cloud of monsters.

Edited by The Helldragon on December 23, 2006 at 2:52:44.

Few of the creatures escaped Matt's attack, and were promptly vaporized by R.D.'s twin plasma bursts.

He looked down at Ristar. "I'm gonna go off on a limb here and say those were the Orbots," he said a bit dryly.

As the bodies of the creatures disentigrated, small black orbs with eyes were ejected, vanishing as soon as they met the air.

"Yeah!" Ristar said, wide-eyed.

"Why didn't you fight them?" Hugo demanded of the star-child. "You could've killed them all easily!"

Ristar looked down. "I'm sorry. I was surprised."

"Kid, if you're gonna be a hero, you gotta learn to be brave," Hugo said. "Even if you're surprised or scared."

"I wasn't scared!" Ristar promptly shot back, clenching his fists.

"Good."

"They don't seem to be much of a danger," Alasea said as she watched the creature's vanish.

"I wouldn't underestimate them," R.D. warned, "Small creatures like that tend to hunt in packs, like you saw. Imagine what they could do if they attacked in one giant swarm."

Edited by RisingDragon on December 23, 2006 at 2:00:57.

"I just hope these things didn't attack Vinh," Matt remarked.

Not taking this into account, Ristar leapt in the air in shock. "Oh, no! We gotta make sure they're safe!"

"Then get the lead out!" Hugo snapped, pushing the star-child foward with his pickaxe, kicking off Ristar's run toward the village.

Meta nodded. "Let's start looking for Namonai first. Since he once ruled this toko here, he might be around. Besides, if Unknown gets word of Namonai working with us, she might come looking for us." She spoke. "Like that plan?"

R.D. sighed and shook his head as they quickly followed Ristar.

"Why am I getting that feeling that something bad is going to happen to us?" he asked Matt.

"Because something always does?" Matt suggested.

They barrelled through the forest, strange trees and large mushroom-like structures passing by they moved. Soon, they were going up a high bump in the natural road.

"Vinh's just ahead!" Ristar said, rushing to the top of the hill.

He stopped suddenly. "Oh, no!"

"Damn it!" Matt rushed to the top of the hill, looked down into the short valley that followed. In the near distance, chaos was apparent-Orbots were clearly attacking the citizens of Vinh, destroying whatever got in their way.

"Great," R.D. muttered. He focused his energy, drawing in both light and dark energy to ready his Annihilator Beam.

"Well, let's get this over with," Alasea said as she drew her short swords.

"And we might as well do it in style!" Matt swept his hand across the air. "Super Happy Fun Slide!"

A thin board of shimmering energy appeared underneath the group, and without warning, it shot them down the hill toward the village at high speed.

"WHEEEEE!" Ristar shouted, raising his arms in joy.

"Maybe this wasn't a good IDEAAAAAAAAAA!!" Matt shouted.

Edited by The Helldragon on December 23, 2006 at 19:47:39.

"God dammit Matt!" R.D. shouted as they were sent rocketing down to the village, "One of these days you'll kill us all!"

The amnesiac teen thrust his arms around and started firing the Annihilator Beam at a rapid pace, the black and white spheres instantly homing in on the Orbots.

Deciding to focus on the enemies before them, Matt pointed his fingers at the village. "The hills are alive with the sound of kickass!"

Fists of rock launched at the Orbots from the hill they were sliding down, smashing into their targets with power and speed. Before Matt could swear about how one or two went through some houses in the village, the energy board abruptly stopped, and he, Ristar, Hugo, and Helena tumbled onto the ground.

"Ow..." Helena muttered.

Matt's frace was in the dirt again. "I really hate my job."

R.D. and Alasea landed rather easily. Alasea helped Matt and Helena up while R.D. covered them with the Annihilator Beam, as the Orbots had spotted them.

One strayed too close, and with his free hand, R.D. charged up a Dark Beam shot. Dark mist covered the length of his arm to the elbow, and he lashed out with an Entangler shot. The blast struck the creature head-on, and it fell to the ground, frozen and trapped in shadow tendrils.

There, now we can figure out what the hell these things are, the amnesiac teen thought as he continued his barrage of Annihilator Beams.

"Where's Riho?" Ristar shouted, looking around.

"Riho?" Helena asked.

"Riho's the chief of this village!" Ristar explained. "He should know what to do!"

Matt looked around as well, and then saw someone large, floating in the distance near the end of the village:



"Is that him?" Matt shouted, pointing at the figure.

Ristar's eyes widened. "Yeah! But he looks...strange!"

To further accentuate Ristar's statement, Riho laughed, as more Orbots swarmed in behind him. "Go forth, Orbots!" he cackled. "Destroy these fools!"

"That's it, I've had enough," R.D. growled. He let go of the light and dark energy, then thrust his hands forward and concentrated. A tornado formed in front of him, and he forced it forward, catching the Orbots and flinging them around into the air.

As the Orbots spiralled, in the midst of the destruction, Riho's eyes fell on the group. "Who dares attack my Orbots?"

"Why are you doing this, Riho?" Ristar pleaded with the village leader.

Riho just gestured, and the Orbots floated back to his side. "Silence, you little pest! You will bow before me or be destroyed!"

"Hey, wait!" Matt shouted. "There's actually a monkey on his back!"

Indeed there was-the little green monkey peeked over Riho's shoulder as the village leader shouted, "Destroy the fools, Orbots!"

"That's probably what's controlling him!" Hugo shouted, and he fired the first shots at the Orbot swarm.

Alasea was pressed into the defensive, swinging her short swords around her rapidly. R.D., however, had no problems in attacking the swarm of monsters. He returned to peppering them with the Annihilator Beam.

"So, do we smoke Riho, or just aim for the monkey?" R.D. asked Matt as he fired.

"Get the monkey!" Matt shouted, dashing into the Orbot Swarm with his energy blade flashing. "You protect Helena, Hugo!"

"Fine!" Hugo pointed his pickaxe foward, ready to fight.

Helena looked down. She wished Matt would let her help him.

Riho raised his arms, and sparkling stars fell from the sky. As they sliced through leaves and branches with ease, avoiding them would be a good idea.

R.D. swore and formed an energy barrier around himself, then drew one of his Phase Blades and started slashing through the Orbots as he made his way towards Riho, while Alasea began picking off the Orbots using fire beams from her swords.

"Go on, kid!" Hugo snapped at Ristar. "Get in there!"

Ristar clenched his fists. "Okay! I can do this!" With renewed resolve the star-child ran in, seizing and headbutting Orbots with ease.

The Mettaur smirked. "Hey, he's pretty good."

Weaving between the stars, Matt neared Riho, deactivating his blade. "Hi-ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

He flipped fowards, leaping over Riho's head, and he seized the monkey during the flip, yanking it off.

"Now SIDDOWN!" Matt shouted, slamming the monkey to the earth.

In a flash, Riho lost his malevolent edge:



Riho rubbed his head. "Ugh...what happened?"

R.D. skidded to a halt, then after a moment, flung a tornado behind him, sweeping up the remaining Orbots.

"How... anticlimatic," Alasea muttered.

"Now who are you?" Matt demanded of the monkey. "Who sent you?"

Panicking, the monkey tried to get free as best as he could, but couldn't under Matt's grip. "Lord Greedy sent me here to possess the village chief! He wants to possess the planet's major leaders and make them do his bidding!" the monkey squwaked.

"Well, there you have it!" Matt said. "Greedy lied to you, Ristar!"

This fact seemed to weigh heavy on the star-child. "He...lied to me? But...he sounded like he was telling the truth..."

Helena kneeled next to Ristar. "Sometimes people lie to others, Ristar. They don't care about the truth as long as they get what they want."

Ristar looked down. "I can't believe I thought he was telling the truth."

"It's okay, Ristar," Helena said, putting her hand on the star-child's head. "It's not your fault."

Matt grit his teeth. "You okay, Riho?"

"Yes," the village leader answered. "Just a little sore in the head, that's all."

"Good!" Matt raised the monkey high in the air. "As for you!" His hands began to glow with power. "Go to hell!"

The monkey screeched as Matt released a small burst of explosive power, completely destroying it.

"For your sake, Matt," R.D. said, "I'd hope PETA does not exist in this dimension."

"Are we going to go after Greedy now?" Alasea asked.

Edited by RisingDragon on December 23, 2006 at 23:49:26.

Meta's face stood grim. "Doesn't matter." She said. "One of them might still be enough."