Time Crisis: Adventures into Felarya's Past

Time Crisis

The past is always interesting, and we can learn a lot from it. Sometimes I get ideas what it might be like in Felarya's past, and sometimes these turn into story ideas. These stories are just for fun, taking a brief moment to visit the places and pasts of Felarya. Some really cool stuff must have happened back then and sadly not much documentation exists on the wiki about it. These stories are of course not going to be full canon, but just what I imagine might have gone on back then.
So if you think you can handle 88MPH and want to have some random fun in Felarya's past then hop on in to the time bubble and have a good trip!

So far there are 2 stories:
Time Crisis: Future Perfect/Past Flawed
Time Crisis 2: The fall of Ur'Sagol

If you liked these stories or have any ideas for places or times you'd like to see visited please don't hesitate to say something!
The current list of story ideas is here:
Time Crisis: Clash of the Titans

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Time Crisis: Past Flawed/Future Perfect
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Seventeen and a half days ago, in a dimension very close to your imagination…
A fifty foot tall portal hung in the air above a small lake, with a wooden bridge connecting it to the shore. The sun shone down onto the clear water as fish and mermaids swam about. On the beach was a small bus stop, where an elf sat on a bench conversing with a Deku scrub. Fairies flew here and there while several Snooks inspected a large hole in the sand. Standing on the bridge in front of the portal was the human Gregory; the creator of this dimension: Magic Mountain. He was eighteen years old, with brown hair and aqua eyes. His hunger for adventure knows no bounds, which is why Magic Mountain connects every dimension and multiverse in the human imagination. He had just arrived from the real world, and was heading off to Felarya to check in on the giant naga Anna.
“It’s a simple recon mission Bruce” he said to the Bombedire floating nearby, “nothing could possibly go wrong.”
The bombedire Bruce wore a perpetual frown on his round face, and his usual toothy grin was a serious flat line. “I just have a bad feeling about this Greg” he said, “especially after the most recent interdimensional engagement.”
“You sure can get worried for a floating bomb Bruce” Gregory chuckled, “I have a M5 with me, so there really is nothing to worry about.” He turned to the portal, “And don’t fret about the Golden Force, that’s been taken care of completely.”
Bruce watched as Gregory stepped into the portal and was whisked away to the dimension of Felarya, a concerned look in his red eyes.

Swirling colors surrounded Gregory as he fell through the interdimensional rift, explosions of pure imaginational energy propelling him onward. Everything was going fine until Gregory noticed something strange.
“It’s probably just me, but it seems a lot more blue in here then usual. Oh well, it’s probably nothing.”
The end of the warp came into view and Gregory was spat out into Felarya.
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He landed in a heap near a grove in the Chidokai forest. The sun was beating down through the canopy and the air was full of the sounds of the jungle. Pulling himself to his feet Gregory turned to see the portal disappear. Before it faded out it shivered with blue light.
“That’s something you don’t see everyday” he commented. “It must be dimensional instability season in this part of the forest.”
He surveyed his surroundings, taking careful note of the locations of several podmaws. The Giant Tree was nowhere to be found, which annoyed Gregory, as it was his intended destination. He pulled out his M5.
“Bruce, you there?” he asked into the comlink, “A dimensional shift landed me somewhere in the middle of the forest.” Nothing but static came from the M5, producing a puzzled look on Gregory’s face. “This is a problem” he said, “I guess that I’ll have to contact Emily then.”
He closed his eyes and reached out for the Gardevoir with his mind, projecting his confused thoughts and feelings into the mind meld. He could feel her in the distance, but a strange fog muffled her answers and made them impossible to read. He got glimpses of concern, and the only word he could make out was ‘adamant.’
“This is exceedingly strange” he said opening his eyes, “I’m going to have to go back immediately and check this out.” He pressed a button on the M5, but nothing happened. “Great, the last thing I need is another malfunction. The last time something this bad happened was when Brainiac disabled my imagination.”
Gregory sighed and put away his M5. “Well I guess the only way back now is manual override, and Crisis is this world’s most imagined entity. So it’s off into the dangerous forest to find a giant predatory naga with only my lightsaber and three Pokemon to defend myself with. Fun fun…”
Grabbing his lightsaber off his belt, he turned to the north and headed off into the Chidokai forest.

After several hours hiking through the underbrush Gregory began to tire. He had been using his lightsaber to cut through the vines and braches as he climbed over the large roots of the trees. He had had a small encounter with a Glouteux which had tried to eat him, but he managed to lose it by walking behind a tree. He kept up his strength by munching on Starkala bugs whenever he had the chance, and as much as he hated eating bugs these were one of the few kinds he would eat. Tired and hot, Gregory sat down on a nearby log.
“Whew! Boy am I tired of walking” he said. “Not to mention I haven’t met anyone at all in this forest. Am I the only human exploring naga territory today? At least I brought along my endless canteen.”
He took another drink for the small silver bottle, and wiping his mouth sat back against the logs bark. Listening to the forest sounds relaxed him, all the birds and the bugs filling the air with life. However, another noise could be heard in the forest. Gregory sat up for a better listen.
“Is that shouting?”
Sure enough, yelling could be heard approaching in a westerly direction, and Gregory immediately got to his feet. He ran off in the direction of the sounds, “Finally some civilization!” he puffed to himself.
The shouting was getting closer, and Gregory broke through the brush into a clearing. “WOOAAH!”
He had stopped just in time at the edge of a huge cliff. “That was a close one” he said backing up. The shouting was getting closer by the moment, and Gregory was just turning around to face it when something heavy nailed him in the back.
A huge weight fell onto him as he was slammed into the ground, and whatever it was quickly recovered and pulled itself off of him. Gregory scrambled to his feet trying to recover his breath. He whipped around to find himself face to face with a eight foot long blonde naga.
She had a cute face, and it was clear that she was still only a child in naga terms. Her face was a mix between fear and rage, her blue eyes filled with a dangerous look. “You’re one of THEM aren’t you!” she growled at him.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about” Gregory started to say, the yelling now very close, “I’m just looking for-”
The naga lunged at him, and Gregory sidestepped just in time, making the naga land on her stomach on the ground. The bushes on the other side of the clearing now parted, and a band of men armed with swords and crossbows exited the brush.
“Now look what you’ve done” the naga cried, struggling to get on her tail. She was clearly exhausted, and Gregory assumed that these men had been chasing her for a long time.
“Step away from the naga boy” a gruff voice called out. A tall heavily built man stepped out in front of the group, brandishing a broadsword, “Or you will also meet your fate.”
“Now now now” Gregory replied, stepping out in front of the naga, “Certainly we can avoid violence. Why are you chasing this naga, what has she done to you?”
The men laughed at the sight of Gregory defending the battered naga, and the naga glared with hate filled eyes up at them. She struggled to stand again, but fell again.
“Oh ho ho” the leader laughed, “So the little boy is willing to die to protect a monster eh? Don’t you know boy? Nagas are monsters, and if we don’t kill this one now it will grow up and kill countless people.” He pointed his sword in their direction before continuing. “Now step aside boy, let us have the naga and you can live.”
“I’m afraid I can’t let you have her sir” Gregory said, pulling a fist sized red and while ball from his belt; “A life is a life, not to mention this girl is only a child.”
The blonde naga looked at the determined face of Gregory to the scowling men on the other side of the clearing. The armed men now had their crossbows pointed directly at them.
“So be it boy” the leader said, “Your life will also be ended this day.” He raised his sword in the air, “FIRE!”
Gregory threw the red and while ball as the man lowered his arm, “Mudball, come out and use protect quick!”
The pokeball opened and a bright white light released a Swampert onto the ground. The massive five foot tall frog-looking animal was corbat blue with huge hands and feet. Two large black fins sat atop its head with another even bigger fin acting as its tail. Orange spikes came from its cheeks and orange armor plating covered its knees and elbows.
“Swaampert!” it growled as it raised its arms up. A green energy field appeared around Gregory, Mudball, and the naga, the crossbolts bouncing harmlessly off.
Seeing the ineffectiveness of the crossbows the leader ordered the men to stop firing. “Can’t you see that monster is magical? Stop firing and use your swords! Cut them to ribbons!”

Mudball stopped using protect as the men drew their swords and started advancing. The naga had made it into standing position and had begun to back towards the cliff.
“Use your water gun to knock them back Mudball!” Gregory called.
Mudball shot a high pressure jet of water out his mouth, knocking a swordsman down. The rest continued to advance with goading from their leader.
“Keep at them you fools!” he yelled, “You can’t let them get away!”
Gregory noticed that the blonde naga had snuck back towards the cliff, and it gave him an idea. He turned back to Mudball, who was still shooting jets of water at the advancing men. “Mudball! I need you to use earthquake now” he said.
The swampert turned its head and gave its trainer a questioning look. “Don’t worry, I have a plan Mudball” Gregory reassured him.
Firing off a final water gun, Mudball reared his front legs into the air, bringing them down with considerable force. “Swaaaaam-peeeeeeert!”
The force of the impact knocked everyone, including the naga to the ground. The impact also broke the section of land Gregory and the naga were on loose from the cliffside. Mudball turned around and watched in horror as the cliff began to slowly crumble. Gregory shouted out over the yelling of the swordsmen and the screaming of the naga, “Mudball jump over here and use dig!”
Mudball leapt onto the section Gregory and the naga were on and quickly began digging a hole, and just before the cliff completely slipped off they pulled the naga into the small tunnel. Several of the swordsmen had fallen into the void, and the leader of the band could only watch as his quarry and his men fell. The cliff gave way and the three heroes were pulled out into open air, falling far below to where a wide river flowed by.
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When the section of cliff they were inside impacted the water there was a deafening explosion of water. The earth around them broke apart instantly, leaving them swirling head over tails in the river’s current. Thankfully being a swampert Mudball was part water type, as well as being a ground type pokemon. He quickly got hold of Gregory and the tail of the eight foot naga, pulling them to the safety of shore. Mudball’s powerful limbs allowed him to drag them onto dry land, where Gregory and the naga immediately began coughing up water.
“Thanks Mudball” Gregory said as he managed to catch his breath. He got to his knees and turned to the naga, who was still coughing. “How ya doing there?”
Mudball walked over and reached out to touch her, causing her to pull away.
“Stay away from me” she said.
“Easy there cobra” Gregory replied, “We’re only trying to help you. There are some nasty wounds on you; Mudball was only trying to apply some mud to help you heal.”
The naga sighed and allowed the Swampert to tend to her wounds. “Why did you help me anyway? You’re a human, so why aren’t you afraid of me?”
Gregory took a seat on a nearby stone, washing himself off. “Like I told that man, a life is a life, I always help out those in need. As for the fear part, I’ve seen many terrifying things, and you aren’t nearly as frightening as some of them.”
Mudball finished his treatment and the naga propped herself up against a tree, her tail wrapping around a large stone. Her scales were blotched with the mud Mudball had applied, but the rest of her scales shone a brilliant blue. “I guess I should thank you and your weird animal for saving me, but I don’t trust humans. For all I know your going to sell me to someone.”
“Please don’t worry about that” Gregory replied, “Although it is awfully rude of me not to introduce myself.” He stood up and took a bow; “My name is Gregory, and I come from the dimension Magic Mountain.” He gestured to Mudball; “This is my Swampert pokemon partner Mudball.”
An electronic voice emanated from the M5 in his belt. “Swampert: The Mud Fish Pokemon; and the evolved form of Mudkip. Swampert is a powerful Pokemon that can pull even a large ship, as well as inflict critical damage to its enemies with a single blow of its strong arms.”
“Well at least my Pokedex is working” Gregory sighed, holding up Mudball’s pokeball; “Mudball return.”
A red beam of light shot out of the ball, surrounding Mudball and pulling him back inside.
The naga had jumped at the sound of the voice. “You’re from another dimension?” she asked.
“Yes indeed” Gregory replied; “In fact, in order to get back home I’ve been looking for a naga that looks a lot like you, except bigger.”
The naga scratched her head, “I don’t know of any giant nagas in the area, although I did see a slug girl or two.”
“Are you sure? You haven’t seen a blonde blue eyed giant naga around? She’s quite famous around these parts, goes by the name Crisis.”
The naga looked quite puzzled by this, and she stared at Gregory with a bewildered look in her teal eyes. “My name is Crisis…”
Gregory’s jaw dropped, “That’s highly unlikely” he replied.
Crisis nodded her head; “But my name is Crisis! I don’t know of any other nagas named Crisis either.”
The more Gregory looked, the more he saw it was true. She had the blue scales, the blonde hair, the cute looks, and just like the Crisis he remembered; the exact same color eyes as him. His mind raced a lightyear a second: the unstable portal, the blue colors, not being able to warp out, and Emily’s mention of adamant. He had defiantly time traveled, and he knew why. Even now that he had found this dimension’s omega source, he still wouldn’t be able to get to Magic Mountain due to the nature of the time travel, and young Crisis’s inability to synthesize imagination.
Gregory sat down hard. “Crisis, if you are her, we are in big trouble. I’m really going to need your help here.”
“Why are we in trouble?” Crisis asked, “And why do you need my help?”
“It’s a long and complicated story” Gregory replied, “and there’s a lot of technology involved.” Crisis winced at that word. “We need to make haste to the Giant Tree Crisis” Gregory continued, “Can you take me there?”
“Why do you need to go there?” she asked.
Gregory held his hands out trying to make a sphere. “Well you see Crisis; the time space continuum is sorta timey-wimey, and something has entered Felarya and disturbed it. I know what the disturbance could be, but without accessing a large amount of imaginational energy I can’t do anything about it.” He took a breath and continued. “So because the Giant Tree is the most mysterious place in Felarya, and that you will be living near it; as this dimensions most imagined being it would seem appropriate to enlist your help for this undertaking.”
A silence fell over the clearing, and Crisis stared blankly at Gregory. Bird song could be heard in the trees over their heads, and Gregory waited for a response. Realizing that none would be coming, Gregory decided to break the silence. He walked up and put his hand on Crisis’s; “Shall we be going then?” he asked. “Just point the way.”
“Uhhhh” Crisis stammered, a sudden calm coming over her; “Ok…”

Human and Naga took hands and set off into the forest. How he managed to gain the help of an eight foot long naga so quickly is truly a feat, but it might have had something to do with the Necklace of +30 Personality hanging around his neck.
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Young Crisis led the way through the jungle, and Gregory followed closely behind. Although the personality boosting charm had gained Crisis’s cooperation, it had no effect on her trust in Gregory. She had no plans on leading this crazy human anywhere near the Giant Tree, and was planning on getting rid of him as soon as possible.

“How far do you think the tree is away from here Crisis?” Gregory asked, climbing over a large root. “I hate to be a bother, but I am in a dreadful hurry.”
“Oh its not too far away from here” she replied looking over her shoulder, “You’ll have time to do whatever it was you needed to.” She stopped a moment to allow the much smaller human to catch up. “What exactly did you need to do again?”
Gregory caught up with the eight foot naga and leaned against her tail, catching his breath. “Well, there’s a time distortion of some kind blocking M5 travel. I need to find the source if I ever plan on making it home.”
Crisis began slithering forward again; “I heard about your ‘Magic Mountain’ place, what is it like there?”
Gregory walked next to her as he spoke. “It’s a lot like Felarya actually, travelers from all sorts of dimensions visit. Not to mention it’s the hub of all my adventures.”

They traveled through the forest as Gregory described the wonders of Magic Mountain, and Crisis listened intently, and after a short while she came to a stop in front of a large tree.
“Lets stop here for a while Greg” she said, “have a seat on those roots and catch your breath.”
Gregory walked over to a large tree root and sat down. “I don’t mind if I do Crisis, we have been traveling for a time now.” He noticed that Crisis was backing away. “What are you up to now then?”
She continued to back away, smiling sweetly at him. “Oh, just going off to find something to eat” she said, “I think I saw some berries a few paces back.”
“Uhh, ok then” he replied, wondering what she was really doing. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come too?”
Crisis turned around and slithered off into the forest as fast as she could. “No, I think you’ll be busy for a while” she shouted over her shoulder.
Gregory jumped to his feet, and he was just about to run after her when the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He turned around too late as a huge hand descended on him, powerful fingers as big as he was wrapping around him.
“Crisissss!” he shouted as he was lifted into the air.
He ascended a few hundred feet into the air before he came to his captor’s face; it was a beautiful green haired fir dryad. She looked at her catch with shining brown eyes, her large mouth opening a dozen feet wide.
“I don’t have time for this” Gregory growled as he struggled against the dryad’s fingers. He managed to reach his belt and activated one of his pokeballs. “I hope this works…”
The dryad was caught completely off guard as a white light flashed near her face, leaving Gregory’s Yanmega floating by her hand.
A six foot long dragonfly Pokemon, Yanmega was dark green with four red and white wings. Its large red eyes were located above its fanged mouth, with three black spikes along his thorax, a red spotted segmented body, and ending with a spike on his tail.
“What is this?” the dryad asked in shock.
The M5 on Gregory’s waist answered immediately.
“Yanmega: The Ogre Darner Pokemon. By churning its wings it can severely injure foes internally, it is adept at biting apart foes while flying at high speeds.”
Gregory wiggled in the dryad’s large hand as he called out to Yanmega. “Use bug bite on her hand quickly Yanmega!”
Yanmega swooped down at the dryad’s hand, and with a powerful bite sunk its fangs into her thumb. The dryad screamed and dropped Gregory, jerking back her hand. Gregory caught hold a large branch and smiled.
“Fate has smiled upon us Yanmega” he said, “Your bug-type attacks will do plenty on damage against this plenty vixen.” Dropping down to a lower branch he called out another attack. “Hit her with a big buzz Yanmega, and then help me to the ground!”
Yanmega beat its wings at high velocity, sending out shockwaves at the dryad. Blast after blast hit the dryad, beating her into unconsciousness. Yanmega then swooped over to Gregory and carried him to the ground.
“Thank you Yanmega” Gregory said, alighting to the earth. “Now if I could ask one final favor: could you use your telescope vision to find a blonde naga? She ran off somewhere to the west.”
It turned to the west and nodded, “Yaaaghn.”
Moments later it spotted something, and grabbing hold of Gregory zoomed off into the jungle.

Breaking through the foliage they entered a large clearing, the huge forest trees towering overhead. The clearing was unusually shadowy, and a large hole was nestled between two large tree trunks. What caught Gregory’s eyes immediately however, was the seventy foot long tonorian looming over Crisis. The naga was lying on the ground in a heap, bleeding from several large wounds. Her eyes were closed tight as her once cute face was veiled in terror. The tonorian was raising its scythe-like arm to land the killing blow, and seeing this Gregory acted immediately.
“Yanmega use quick attack! Aim for the arm!”
Zooming at the tonorian’s raised arm like an arrow from a bow, Yanmega flew so quickly that a white trail of light left afterimages in the air. The tonorian’s arm came down at Crisis, and Yanmega hit it with astounding force, knocking it aside where it hit the ground in a shower of earth.
Gregory reached for a pokeball, “Mudball! Come on out and use hydro pump!”
The swampert appeared in a flash of white light standing on a log, and with a deep breath unleashed its attack. A huge stream of water came out of his mouth and hit the tonorian dead on. With a shriek the huge insect reared up, coming down with an earth shaking thud.
“Yanmega; steel wing, and Mudball use mud shot!” Gregory shouted.
Mudball began launching globs of mud at the tonorians face, “Swam-pert… swam-pert...” They were minor impacts, but succeeded in throwing the beast off balance. Yanmega flew in at high speed, its winds glowing white with energy. It struck the tonorian on the arm, cutting through the chitinous plating. The tonorian’s arm fell to the ground as it screeched, swinging with its other arm and catching Yanmega on the tail.
Yanmega spun in the air, and regaining control of itself spun around to face the tonorian. “It looks like we have to end this” Gregory said, “Crisis’s condition isn’t getting any better. Yanmega aim for its head with sonic boom, and Mudball do the same with hyper beam. Let’s see how it stands up to two full powered attacks.”
Barely awake, Crisis watched as this strange human and his creatures fought on her behalf. Even after she had tried to kill him, he still was trying to save her. Where did this human come from?
“Yaaaaghn” With the furious beating of its wings, Yanmega sent out shockwaves of compressed air at the tonorian. Mudball began inhaling deeply, a orb of yellow light appearing in his mouth.
The shockwaves hit the tonorian on the neck as Mudball released his attack. “Swaaampeeert!”
A brilliant beam of yellow energy shot out of Mudball like a laser cannon, blasting the tonorian in the face with exploding force. With a sickly crack its head came right off, blasted into the trees on the other side of the clearing. With a thunderous noise the huge insect’s body toppled headless to the ground.
After spending so much energy in their attacks the pokemon were exhausted. Mudball collapsed onto his knees and Yanmega slowly fluttered to the ground. Both were breathing heavily.
“Way to go you two” Gregory said pulling out their pokeballs, “You guys did amazingly. Get some rest while I attend to Crisis.” Two red beams of light surrounded Yanmega and Mudball, pulling them back into their pokeballs.
Gregory ran over to Crisis and dropped to his knees. She was still bleeding from several gashes, and would need immediate medical help. “Crisis! Hang in there, I’m here.”
She turned her head to face him, mumbling something.
Gregory put his hand on her shoulder. “Save your energy Crisis” he said, “You’re in rough shape, and I don’t know if I can transport us somewhere.” He pulled out his M5 and pressed several buttons on it. “Please work” he muttered under his breath.
“Insufficient imaginational energy” chimed an electronic voice.
Gregory punched the ground, “This can’t be happening!” He pressed several more buttons.
Crisis lifted her hand into the air, looking directly into Gregory’s eyes.
“You can’t be moving in this condition” he said quietly, “You gotta stay still.”
“Applicable imaginational energy” chimed the voice again, “initiating gateway creation.”
A large multicolored portal appeared behind Gregory, and Crisis’s eyes rolled back as she passed out, dropping her arm to the ground. “Crisis no!” he cried.
The portal suddenly turned a deep blue color, and began dragging Gregory towards it. He grabbed hold of a root and hung on for deal life, but the force was too strong. A chime-like call came from the portal as Gregory lost his grip. As he flew through the air into the portal he called out to the unconscious Crisis lying on the forest floor.
“Nooooooooooooooooooo!”
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Gregory floated through the blue tinted portal at a leisurely pace, giving him time to collect his thoughts. “What am I doing? I forget where I am… Besides the fact that Crisis can’t be killed, I remember that scene distinctly from the real world. If memory serves me right, she ends up getting saved by some nut job fairy moments after her attack.”
A bright light appeared up ahead. “That solves that then, and I’ll also get to find out where this odd portal drops me off.”
Gregory passed into the light and faded from the warp, “I hope they have cake…”
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Gregory flew from the portal and hit something soft, emitting a grunt as the air was driven from his lungs. The next thing he noticed was that the soft thing he hit was sticky. With his vision still blurry from emergence he was left hanging on a soft sticky wall, wondering what in the name of muffins he had landed on.
“What in the world” he asked himself under his breath.
As his vision cleared it became apparent that he was moving too, with the bright sunny forest moving past him at less then ten miles per hour. Looking at the surface he clung to, he noticed it was some sort of flesh. Straining his head he saw that the animal he was stuck to had a huge body, ending with a female human torso at the front.
“Oh great” he mumbled, “An eighty foot slug girl…”
The brown haired slug girl had clearly not noticed the small human stuck to her side, and Gregory planned on keeping it that way. She just slid along the forest floor humming to herself, while her stomach made very quiet noises.
Gregory began pulling away from her soft flesh, hoping to escape without being detected. Unfortunately for him, he was.
“What’s that?” the slug girl said suddenly, stopping in her tracks. “I just felt something.”
Gregory froze immediately, hoping that she wouldn’t notice him. “Did something just touch my side?” she asked.
A huge hand came into Gregory’s view, and he watched as it began sliding along her yellow spotted skin. Closer and closer it got, and it stopped just before it reached him. Gregory was so relived he let out a sigh of relief.
“Gotcha!”
The slug girl’s huge hand slapped her side where Gregory hung, and in one swift movement she pulled him free of her slime, bringing him up to her face.
“How in the world did you get there cutie?” she said to the human inbetween her fingers. “Don’t you know that it’s rude to grope?”
Gregory was caught off-guard by her brilliant green eyes, which seemed to stare directly into his soul. “Erm…” he stammered, “I wasn’t groping back there, it that’s what you thought. I was actually just thrown out of a portal on my way to-”
“So you’re new to Felayra?” the slug girl interrupted, “Let me give you a tour!”
She held him closer to her face. “In Felarya it’s eat or be eaten, my name is Lacey and I’ll be your guide.” She held him above her head; “I’m a slug girl you see, aren’t I pretty?” She then moved him to various parts of her body. “This is my tail, and this is my bellybutton…”
”Yes yes that’s very nice” Gregory began to say, “But what I need is to-”
“And this is my mouth!” Lacey said, popping Gregory in. Her mouth was extremely sticky, and Gregory was soon soaked with saliva and slime. After several moments she swallowed, and her huge tongue shoved Gregory to the back of her mouth and down her esophagus. As the powerful muscles pulled him downwards, Gregory couldn’t help but be charmed by this clever slug girl. If he had one weakness in girls, it was the deadly combination of looks and wit.
When he reached her stomach he landed with a splat on top of someone else, who identified themselves as alive with a loud yelp.

Outside the owner of the stomach was rubbing her belly. A smile spread across the slug girl’s sweet face, “What a tasty one he was, and cute!” She sighed and patted her stomach one last time. “Well, I hope he likes his new home!”

Inside her stomach her latest meal was trying to find a way out.
“I am completely aware of the situation Dradek” Gregory was saying, “Now if you can be silent for one moment I can see about getting us out of here.”
Gregory began punching the stomach walls and yelling, “Helloooo… Calling Lacey!”
“Who is it?” came a muffled reply, barely heard over the sounds of the stomach filling.
“This is Gregory” he shouted back, “Your latest meal.”
“You were super tasty” came the reply.
“I’m sure I was” Gregory said, stepping out of a pool of acid. “Now if you would, I would like to get out of here.”
Lacey was in a playful mood, otherwise she probably wouldn’t be answering back at all. “But I want you to stay in my tummy like a good little snack” she said in a pouting voice, “Be good like my last muchie.”
Gregory could hear Dradek breaking down behind him, he decided to use a slug girl weakness to get to the point. “Tell you what Lacey; if you let us out I can get you some sugar and a long cozy muuuuuud baaaaaathh.”
Lacey was silent for a while, although the acids didn’t stop pouring into her stomach. The wait for a reply was literally killing him. “Hello?” he asked.
“Alright” came a sigh, “But you better not be lying!”
The world around Gregory began to swirl and spin, as Lacey’s stomach worked overtime to shove its contents up and out. Gregory and Dradek were pushed up the slug girl’s esophagus and out her mouth, landing in a messy pile on the ground.
After coughing up some bile Gregory turned over on his back. The seventy foot tall slug girl towered over him, a stern look on her huge face. “You better not be lying mister! Cause if you are your gunna be wishing you were digested!”
Gregory stood to his feet, detaching a pokeball from his waist. “I wasn’t lying about the mud bath anyway. Mudball, use surf quick!”
Mudball came out of his pokeball and immediately began pounding on the ground with all fours of his powerful limbs. His blue arms soon punched through the ground and into an underground stream.
“You naughtly little human!” Lacey growled, “I’m gunna get you for this!”
She reached down at Gregory and Dradek, but a sudden burst of water knocked her hand away. “SWAAAAM-PERT!”
A huge torrent of water gushed from the ground, sweeping Gregory, Dradek, and Mudball up off their feet. The muddy water flowed over and around the giant banana slug and off into the jungle.
“Sorry about lying!” Gregory shouted as they were swept away, “I’ll try to make up for it someday!”
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The three escapees lay in the mud, the wave of water having dissipated into the ground. Small puddles had gathered in places, but the tree roots were sucking them up at a rapid pace. Standing to his feet, Gregory called Mudball back into his pokeball.
“Boy, I sure am glad that’s over” he said, helping Dradek to his feet.
Dradek tried to clean himself off. “Thanks a lot for saving me back there; I thought that I was as good as dead.”
“No problem” Gregory replied, “All in a days work. I’m just thankful Mudball was able to get us out of there.”
Dradek stared at the pokeballs around Gregory’s waist. “You ARE from another dimension aren’t you? Why are you here in Felarya?”
“I was only supposed to be here for a couple hours” Gregory said, “But due to a strange time dialation I’m stuck here. I’ve been trying to reach the Giant Tree for a while now.”
”Really?” Dradek said in a surprised voice; “My research team is located near there.” He put his hand behind his head. “You see, I’m part of a scout team from another dimension as well.”
“Oh are you now?” Gregory asked, “Which one?”
“Deluran” he replied; “But I’m only a scout, if you want to know more you should probably ask my superior. Maybe you could even get help finding the Giant Tree. I’ll take you to our camp; it’s the least I could do for you saving me.”
”That would be absolutely splendid” Gregory said with a smile, “I hope it’s not too far of a walk.”
Dradek started off into the forest. “Oh it’s not, I’d put it at an hour at most. Now let’s get going, I’m long overdue.”
With the hope of a hot meal Gregory and Dradek begin traveling towards the Deluran campsite.
---------------------

“We’re almost there” Dradek said as they rounded a large grouping of trees, “It’s just around this large grouping of trees. Stay close to me as we enter the camp Gregory, my research team can be slightly paranoid when it comes to outsides. But I’ll try to hook you up with the boss.”
“Alright” Gregory said as they entered a clearing, “Just lead the way.”
As they entered the clearing they found a large camp. There were at least a dozen people in the camp, each going about their own business. There was a big tent with two armed guards standing by, clearly the head honchos hut. Several large machines stood by another tent, and there was a medical tent nearby a large cooking fire. The moment Gregory and Dradek entered the camp they were approached by a man holding a strange rifle.

“Dradek! You have returned at last, you are long overdue.”
“Yes I know” Dradek replied, “I was attacked by a horrible monster, but I was saved by this young man here.”
“Yes” the man grunted, “I noticed the outsider behind you. Rodoc will not be pleased that you brought him to our camp, this world is dangerous enough as it is.”
Gregory stepped out from behind Dradek. “I don’t mean to be rude, but if this Rodoc fellow is the boss around here, I really need to talk to him.”
“So be it outsider, you will be escorted by those two gaurds.” The man turned to Dradek; “You will make your report at a later time, right now you are needed by the head engineer. Go to her immediately.”
“Yes sir” Dradek said saluting, and he turned and left.
“Now come with me” the man said, as two guards flanked Gregory. Each grabbed hold of one of his arms.
“Easy fellahs” Gregory said, “I’m not looking for trouble.”
The stern faced female guard looked him in the eye, “One can never be too sure in this nightmarish place.”
“Felarya isn’t that bad” Gregory said as they led him to the large tent. On the way over he glanced in the direction Dradek had gone. With all the equipment in the camp, he could find something to repair his M5 with, perhaps even boosting the signal. Getting in touch with Magic Mountain could solve his problems in a flash.
They had reached the tent, and the man lifted up the tent flap. “Come inside.”
Gregory ducked under the flap and entered the dark tent.

Inside the tent was lit by a small lantern hanging from the ceiling. A large table took up most of the space, a strong wooden table that was covered in maps and charts of all kinds. Standing at it were two men; one was tall and well built, a scar on his forehead, and the other wore glasses and was rather thin.
Upon seeing Gregory the burly one, the leader known as Rodoc, became upset. “What is this?” he asked angrily, “An outsider in my camp? Explain this Irin!”
The guard now identified as Irin made Gregory’s case. “Sir, this young man returned to camp with Dradek. Dradek claims that he saved his life, and is looking for assistance reaching the huge tree somewhere in the area. He also claims that this man is a dimensional traveler like us.”
“Are you now” Rodoc said, suddenly very interested in Gregory. “You must have some pretty advanced technology if you truly did come from another dimension.”
“I do” Gregory replied, “And large amounts of intel regarding this world. In return for your help I can fill you in on several species in Felarya.”
Rodoc eyed him suspiciously; “Quite an offer kid” he said, “and what kind of help would you be needing in exchange for this intel? You claim to be capable enough to have saved Dradek from a monster, so why would you need my help?”
“Well my case is a special one” Gregory said sadly. “I’m actually stranded here until I can sort the disturbance blocking my equipment. The mysterious forces at the Giant Tree would help me to boost the signal until then.”
Rodoc laughed, “Don’t you know boy? Huge man eating snake people live around that tree. Local rumor describes one blonde one in particular being especially nasty, you wouldn’t stand a chance.” He looked Gregory in the eye. “However; if you need your equipment looked at so badly, we happen to have a mechanical wiz on our team, if you share some of your technology with us I’m sure we could work something out.”
“That’s a very nice offer” Gregory began saying, “But I’m sure that-”
“Nonsense” Rodoc interrupted; “Irin, take him to see the head engineer. His cooperation will be just what we need on this miserable expedition.”
“Yes sir” Irin said, turning to Gregory. “Come with me then.”
Gregory was just about to protest when a scream pierced the air. Loud squawking could be heard just outside the clearing.
“What in Trelephat’s name is that?” Rodoc asked aloud. “Everyone outside now!”

Gregory, Irin, and Rodoc ran outside of the tent. A quick survey of the scene proclaimed that fact that they were in trouble. The camp was in chaos as two thirty foot tall birds rampaged about, chasing after the fleeing camp occupants. Those armed with weapons were fighting back as best they could, but their blades were severely damaged by rust. Projectile weapons were also having little effect on the large birds.
“It’s a pair of Gloutuex!” Gregory shouted, “Get your men out of there!” He jumped out in front of the guards and pulled a pokeball from his waist. “These bird brains are obviously part flying type, and have I got the perfect pokemon to rock their boxers.”
“Are you insane boy!?” Rodoc shouted, “You’ll be eaten alive!”
Gregory threw the red and white pokeball into the air, “Mariel front and center!”
The white light dissipated, leaving a small yellow mouse creature on the grass. It was about one and half feet tall, with yellow fur and black tipped ears. The tail was shaped like a lightning bolt, with a notch on the tip giving it the appearance of a heart. There were two brown stripes across its back, and cheeks were bright red.
“What’s that thing going to do?” Rodoc asked sarcasticly
“Just watch” Gregory replied.
One of the Gloutuex immediately turned its attention towards the Pikachu now in the clearing. “Use thunderbolt Mariel” Gregory shouted.
Mariel clenched here small arms and began changing her attack. “Piiiiiii”
The huge bird charged at Gregory, its claws throwing up clods of dirt into the air. Mariel braced herself and unleashed her attack. “Chuuuuuuu!”
A large jolt of yellow electricity arced from the Pikachu and into the air, zooming straight as an arrow and hitting the gloutuex directly in the face. The bird squawked in pain as its feathers were charred black by the charge. It staggered back several paces, sending several people running as it knocked over the boxes they were hiding behind.
“Chuuuuuuuu!” Mariel unleashed another bolt, this one hitting the gloutuex in the side. The electricity caused massive damage, and squawking loudly the massive bird collapsed to the ground.
“Nice work Mariel” Gregory said proudly, “That’s my girl!”
“Look out!” someone yelled, “It’s got Dradek!”
The second gloutuex had cornered Dradek and had captured him. It now held him in its mouth, and if they didn’t do something fast he would surly be eaten.
Gregory thought furiously, he had to act quickly. Quickly, that was it! “Mariel, use quick attack!”
Mariel whipped around and started at the gloutuex, moving faster and faster. “Pipipipipipipi!” Her little legs were moving in a blur, with a white streak trailing after her as she sped along the ground. The gloutex raised its head back and prepared to swallow, but Mariel leapt into the air hitting the gloutex at one hundred miles per hour. “PIKA!” The impact made the bird stumble backwards. Dradek fell to the ground with a thud and a grunt, Mariel landed next to him.
“My head….” Dradek said quietly.
Recovering quickly, the gloutuex began pecking at the Pikachu. Mariel dodged each attack, but something had to be done. “Use agility to get behind it Mariel” Gregory called.
The scout team had now gathered around the middle of the camp, and all eyes were on the human and strange creature battling the giant bird. Irin ran out and dragged Dradek to safety.
“Pika-pi chu!” Mariel began running around the gloutex rapidly, jumping back and forth at blinding speed. The clumsy bird was soon completely lost, and not being able to keep up with Mariel it soon stared blankly ahead; apparently giving up.
“Use thunder now!”
Mariel leapt into the air, doing a triple summersault as she charged up. Glowing with electricity she let out a huge blast of yellow lighting at the peak of her jump, when she was directly above the gloutuex. “PIKAAA!”
With a piercing cry the gloutuex fell to the ground dead, the massive electrical shock overloading its tiny brain. Its feathers scorched and the smell of burnt meat hanging in the air.
Mariel landed on a large box that two guards had hid behind. Rodoc and Irin walked over to where Gregory stood, their faces covered in shocked expressions.
“What a performance!” Irin said exasperated.
“Why thank you” Gregory said. “Come over here Mariel!”
Mariel jumped off the box and ran over to Gregory, jumping up into his arms. “You did an absolutely amazing job Mariel” he said proudly.
Mariel rubbed her head against Gregory, “Pika-chuuuu.”
Gregory turned to Rodoc, “Sorry about the mess. It looks like you guys are stuck eating poultry for quite a while.”
“No apology necessary son” Rodoc replied. “Although thanks are in order, you really saved our team. We’ve never encountered beasts such as those before; we are in your debt.”
Gregory scratched between Mariel’s ears, causing her to squeak contentedly. “Well if it comes down to debt repayment, you could consider my previous offer. Like I said, I really need to get my equipment fixed and get to that tree.”
“Of course” Rodoc replied, “Irin will take you to our head engineer. And thanks again for your help; I look forward to hearing the intel you have to offer.” He turned to where two people were rebuilding the camp. “Now if you excuse me, I have to help reconstruct our camp.”
Several people were gathering the machinery near the medical tent, and two men came and carried Dradek off into the medical tent. “Don’t worry about him” Irin said, “He’ll be just fine.” Irin turned to Gregory, “Come on then, I’ll take you to the engineer.”
Mariel hopped up onto Gregory’s shoulder as they walked over to the piles of machinery. “This must be some smart cookie, if she single handedly handles all your guys equipment.”
“Pika pika”
“Yes she is” Irin replied, looking nervously at Mariel.
They rounded the medical tent and came to a row of tables. Surrounding them were boxes and gadgets of all types, and in the middle of all the activity was a pink haired woman. She had light brown eyes and was smoking a cigarette, giving orders to the people around her. Gregory took one look at her and his jaw dropped.
“It can’t be!”
Irin walked up and greeted her. She nodded and they turned as Gregory walked up. “Gregory” Irin said, “I want you to meet our head engineer: Anna Demorah.”
“Nice to meet you” Anna said, putting out her hand, and Gregory shook it as she continued. “That was quite the performance Gregory. You and your little rodent certainly make quite the team.”
“Uhh, thank you Anna” Gregory said, still amazed of what he was seeing.
“No need to stand there gaping” Anna replied, “Show some dignity.”
Gregory straightened up, but Mariel continued staring. “Sorry…”
“Now I heard that you needed help with some advanced technology, my specialty. But before I look at it I would like to know more about your magic animal.”
“Well she’s more of a partner” Gregory replied, “But she’s a pokemon called Pikachu and-”
He was interrupted by an electronic voice emanating from his M5.
“Pikachu: The Electric Mouse Pokemon. A rare forest pokemon, Pikachu store electricity in their cheeks. When in large groups their discharge can cause localized thunderstorms.”
“What was that?” Anna asked.
“What’s a Pikachu?” Irin asked.
Gregory pulled the small device shaped like Magic Mountain off his belt. He held it up so both could see it. “This is my M5, the device I needed repairs on.” He pointed to Mariel; “And this is a Pikachu, the voice just now was the Pokedex feature of the M5.”
“Pika-Pikachu!” Mariel said proudly.
Anna stared intently at the M5 in Gregory’s hand. “Can I see that device?” she asked.
“Sure” Gregory replied, handing it over.
Anna took the M5 and turned it over. She turned it over in her hands and studied it intently. “What an odd gadget, how does it get power?”
“Its complicated” Gregory replied, “But I could explain it to you later.”
Trying to find the power input, Anna stuck her hand inside the cave on the front. Immediately the cave lit up with a yellow light, causing her to yank her hand out. “What’s it doing?” she asked nervously.
Gregory was about to answer when he was cut off by the electronic voice again.
“Anna: The Deluran Naga. A well meaning grouch, Anna uses her brain to fix machinery. Now turned into a naga, she rubs her tail to generate electricity.”
Now it was Irin and Anna’s turn to be confused, their faces belaying utter bewilderment. Gregory smiled weakly and took the M5 out of Anna’s hands.
“What is that thing talking about?” Anna asked, “Deluran nagas?”
“Oh nothing at all, you know how malfunctioning equipment can work.” Gregory said.
Irin jumped as he remembered something. “Speaking of nagas, you wouldn’t happen to know anything about the rumors of a voracious blonde one would you Gregory?”
“A blonde one you say?” Gregory asked in an unknowing tone, “I might know one or two things about one of those. Nothing to exceptional though…”
“Really” Irin said, “Because recent reports indicate that this naga has been sighted very near to our camp.”
Anna shook her head in disgust. “Horrible monsters, nagas. This whole world is crawling with giant freaks.”
Mariel looked at Anna from her position on Gregory’s shoulder, tilting her head in puzzlement. “Pika?”
“Remember when we are Mariel” Gregory said to her, petting her on the head. “Some things have yet to happen.” He then turned to Irin. “If this is true, you had better post a double watch tonight, the sun is already setting and this naga is not to be underestimated.”
Irin nodded, “You’re the expert Gregory, so I’ll do as you say. Your welcome to stay the night with us, the forest is a dangerous place. We’ll have to sleep by the fires though, but to the damage to the tents during the attack today.”
“Whatever floats your boat” Gregory replied, “But I know that I’m sleeping near the middle of the camp tonight.”
Anna dropped her cigarette butt into a bucket. “But until then Gregory, I want you to stay here so I can have a better look at the M5 device. Maybe I can find a way to fix whatever problem it has.”
Gregory put Mariel on the table and set the M5 down next to her. “I’ll let you have a whack at it Anna, but I highly doubt it’ll be that easy to fix.”

It was a beautiful sunset in the Chidokai forest. With roast Gloutuex and intellectually stimulating conversation, it makes it easy to forget that danger lurks behind every tree.
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Gregory awoke with a start. It was the middle of the night, with the bright Felaryian moon in the sky overhead. The camp was very quiet, with scattered sleeping bags containing the scout team members. Everything seemed to be in order, but Gregory had the feeling that something was not right. Looking to his left he saw where Anna had fallen asleep next to one of the long tables. The only problem, she wasn’t there.
Gregory rubbed his eyes sleepily; “Ugh, just what I need. Where in the world is that woman.”
He got up out of his bag and looked for the sentries. He saw one of them over by the edge of camp, “Maybe he’ll know where she went.”
Gregory made his way over, carefully avoiding stepping on anyone or anything. The moonlight was very bright, which made the task easy enough for a caveman. Once he had mad it to the sentry he tapped him on the shoulder. “Hey buddy.”
The sentry looked over at Gregory. “Hey, you’re that guy with the yellow thing. What are you doing up at this time of night?”
“Well I woke up to find Anna Demorah missing” Gregory said, “She’s kinda important to me at the moment and I wanted to know if you’ve seen her.”
”I see how it is” the man said smiling, “She that important to you eh?”
Gregory saw where the man was taking this, but he was too tired to do anything about it. “Yes she is; have you seen her leave camp tonight?”
“I did see her sneaking around eailer” the man replied. “I thought she was just going out to relive herself, but she hasn’t come back yet. That was over an hour ago.”
Gregory slapped his forehead, “And you never thought of telling anyone about this? She could be killed or eaten by now, and no-one will be able to find her.”
“Oh no” the sentry replied, “Everyone on our team has a small tracking device on them. We can just activate the beacon and find her anytime.”
Turning to the rest of the camp, Gregory pulled a pokeball of his belt. “Then you should wake Rodoc up and form a search party. I’ll go on ahead and try to locate her, which way did she go?”
“To the east if I remember correctly” the man said, pointing. “But you sure you should go out there alone?”
Gregory started off in the direction the man had pointed. “Don’t worry about me, I can handle myself. But I’ll be baked if Anna can.”
Running into the forest Gregory released Yanmega from his pokeball, the white light momentarily blinded him due to the darkness around them. “Yaghn-mega!”
“Shhhh!” Gregory said, pulling the six foot dragonfly towards him. “You gotta be quiet! Anna snuck off into the jungle headed for the Giant Tree, and we gotta find her before a predator does.” He patted Yanmega on the head; “Lead the way partner, time is of the essence.”
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The forest was proving to be harder to navigate then Anna had expected. That kid Gregory was annoying at best, but the amazing technology he had possession of drove her crazy. She had woken up in the middle of the night to try and get the M5 device from Gregory, but when it was nowhere to be found she had almost given up. She remembered that Gregory had mentioned a giant tree, and that another M5 could be found there. Now here she was traveling through the forest trying to find this giant tree and the M5 near it. It was dangerous sure, but she would do anything to get her hands on one of those M5s.

“Dammit” Anna said as she tripped over a tree root. “That hurt!”
She had made it quite far from the camp, and was working her way through a large clump of trees. “This M5 thing had better be around here, because if its not I’m going to personally kill that Gregory kid.”
She began climbing one of the larger trees, and thick vine giving her grip holds as she went. “What I do for science” she grumbled to herself.
She made it to the top of the vine, and began walking across the wide branches. Suddenly she heard a noise to the left, and she grabbed hold of a nearby vine to steady herself.
“Whose there?” she asked nervously. “It had better not be you Tued!”
There was no answer, and the noise didn’t return. Anna sighed in relief and continued walking along the branches, going very slowly and keeping her ears open.
“It’s okay Anna” she said to herself, “It was probably just a small animal running off somewhere.”
She continued walking along the tree braches, each one large enough for three humans to walk side by side across. After a while she relaxed more, loosening up her walk to a more leisurely pace. She came to a large gap in the branch, not too hard to jump. She walked to the edge and bent her knees. “Not a problem Anna” she told herself.
She tensed to the jump and plotted the distance, and with a spring she leapt the five foot gap. However; while she was in midair time temporarily slowed down. Her heart began racing as she heard the sound again. It was the loud snap of wood, and it was right beneath her.
Looking below her as she flew through the air, Anna was shocked to see a huge gaping mouth! It must have been six feet wide, and it was salivating like a Rancor. She landed on the other side of the gap, her feet slipping as she lost her balance. “Nooo!” she yelled.
Anna stopped herself from falling by grabbing onto a stick coming up out of the branch. She felt something grab her legs and she looked over her shoulders to see what it was. A giant woman had her legs in her mouth, and was eyeing her with childish delight shining in her eyes. Anna hung on with all her might, fighting against the pull of the woman. Suddenly a tail appeared from below, she was a seventy five foot naga! The tip of the tail came up below Anna and started rubbing against her side.
“Heh, hehehe” she giggled. The tickling weakend Anna’s grip, and with a sudden pull of the powerful mouth she lost her grip on the stick. “Ahhhh!” Anna cried as she was pulled out into the open air.
The huge tongue wrapped around her as she was pulled further into the blonde naga’s mouth. Anna could hear moans of delight as she was continually soaked with saliva. Anna reached out one last time before the naga’s tongue slapped her in the face, shoving her fully into the wet mouth.
“Ahhhhhhhh!”
Now inside completely, Anna’s feet were already sticking down the giant woman’s esophagus. She was grabbing desperately to find something to get a grip on, but the slick saliva coating the inside of the mouth left her no purchase. Suddenly she felt the strong esophagus mucles pull her downwards as a loud gulp filled her ears.
“Noooooarrrrghhhhh!”
Anna screamed as she was pulled down, down, down. Barely hearing herself over the moans of the giant naga. After what seemed like an eternity she fell into a small carvern. She had reached the stomach.
The naga stood in the forest, twirling her tail with delight. Oh how she loved it when they squirmed on their way down. She could feel the little human pounding against her stomach wall, it really made her ticklish.
The blonde naga sighed and leaned back, her tummy gurgling as it prepared to digest its contents. She was just about to take a nap when she heard something coming. She dove under the brush to see what was coming. “Maybe it’s another snack” she giggled.
A male human ran into view, a six foot dragonfly flying beside him.

“Anna!” Gregory was shouting, “Where are you Anna?”
He came to a stop right in front of the large gap in the branch. “Do you see anything Yanmega?” he asked.
Yanmega shook its head, “Yaaghn.”
“She can’t have gone too far” Gregory said. “It looks like we’ll have to keep going then.”
He walked up to the edge of the gap, and was just about to jump when he heard something. It sounded like a soft belch, and it came from below him.
“Did you hear that?” he asked, turning to Yanmega.
Before Yanmega could answer however, the branch began shaking. In a flash a giant female face appeared in front of them in the gap, the cute lips curled into a smile. She had blonde hair and blue eyes.
“Crisis?” Gregory asked in bewilderment.
The giant naga giggled, “That’s me alright!” She lowered her face to be closer to him. “You know my name but I don’t know yours” she said, smiling. “I think I’ll call you dinner!”
Crisis’s mouth was now very close to Gregory, and it was beginning to open. Not one to like being eaten, he decided to do something about it. “Yanmega, use supersonic!”
Crisis closed her mouth and turned her head to the left. “Huh?”
Yanmega, who had flown up into the braches, now came zooming down behind the naga’s head. He began flapping his wings rapidly, creating low frequency sound waves. The sound hit Crisis’s ears at supersonic wavelengths, causing her to get a sudden powerful headache. “Ohhh my head” she groaned, grabbing the sides of her head.
Gregory took this time to inspect Crisis’s stomach, he had heard it gurgling earlier but it was now strangely quiet.
“Sorry about that Crisis” he called up to the naga’s face, “But I couldn’t have you eat me.”
Crisis looked down at the human and bug standing on the branch. “That wasn’t very nice at all. You were supposed to let me eat you!”
Gregory smiled up at her huge face weakly. “Like I said, I’m really sorry that we had to-”
He was interrupted by a flash of light, and all three stared blankly as a hole appeared on Crisis’s stomach. The hole was swirling with all the colors of the rainbow, creating a wind that swept throughout the entire area.
“What’s happening to me?” Crisis squealed in panic.
“I don’t know for sure” Gregory said as the portal began turning blue. “But if I had to guess I would say that two powerful time fields are colliding.”
The wind picked up and began pulling Gregory off the branch. “Oh great” he said. He pulled out a Yanmega’s pokeball and called him back into it, just in time to be pulled of the branch and into the air. Crisis stared on in horror as the human was sucked into the portal on her stomach.
Gregory spun in the air as he entered the blue portal.
“It looks like team Gregorys blasting off agaaaaain…”
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Gregory floated through the swirling vortex on time, looking ahead to try and figure out his destination. He figured that whatever it was that had saved Anna from Crisis’s stomach had crossed time streams with whatever was affecting local time space.
The time tunnel was a deep blue, which Gregory had to admit was a pleasant color.
“I have to admit, this is a pleasant color for a time tunnel.”
Far off in the distance Gregory spotted something approaching. There were two red eyes floating through the void, and they were staring directly at him. “Hello, what’s this” he asked, “Do I get to finally meet our culprit?”
As they approached more of the entity became visible. The eyes were attached to a dinosaur-like head, which had a large silver crest like a helmet protruding from the back of it head. The head was attached to a long blue neck, but Gregory couldn’t see the rest of the creature yet. A blue aura surrounded the creature, although flashes of red aura could be seen here and there as well.
“I thought as much” Gregory said, as the creature stopped moving towards him. “I wasn’t sure it was you, so I’m glad you decided to show yourself… Dialga.”
The creature opened it mouth and let out a loud shrill metallic cry, red aura flaring up all around it. The rest of its body came into view. It stood on four thick legs, each one ending with a metallic clawed foot. On its chest was a huge silver crest shaped like a star, with a brilliant blue diamond in the center. It was blue all over, except for a while stripe running from its head to the tip of its tail.
“Oh boy” Gregory said, “This is not good…”
Dialga opened its mouth again, this time a red and blue ball of energy forming inside it. Gregory turned around to see the portal exit coming up, “This is cutting it close!”
Dialga released the ball of energy, sending it flying at Gregory as he flew towards the exit. The sphere was almost upon him when another ball of light, this time green, came out of nowhere and collided with Dialga’s. The resulting explosion created a shockwave which knocked Dialga back, allowing Gregory to reach the exit just in time. As he hit the white exit he was sent spinning head over heels, becoming very sick as he re-entered Felarya.
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Gregory landed with a thud on a large pile of moss. His head was still spinning from the trip through the tunnel, and he shook his head in an attempt to clear it. The pile of moss he was sitting on was wet from dew, it was apparently early morning. The sun shone through the trees, bathing the small clearing in yellow light, Gregory stood up and looked around.
“What a trip that was” he said rubbing his head, “I wonder when I am now.” He checked to make sure nothing was broken. “At least now I know for sure who’s messing around with time in the area. Dialga sure was in a bad mood though, he probably followed me here after he we defeated his primal form. I sure hope he didn’t do that again.”
He finished brushing himself off and turned to the east, on the horizon he could just make out the peaks of the Ascarlin Mountains. He was still in the Chidokai Forest as far as he could tell, but he was a long way away from the Giant Tree.
“Great” he said, turned to the east, “Now I have even further to go. Without knowing what time period I’m in, I hardly stand a chance.” He pushed a button on his M5. “Maybe I can find Crisis again using her Omega source data.”
The two A’s on the sign light up red, and a feminine voice emanated from the M5. “Tracking energy signature… Subject located… Subject traveling west in the Northeast...”
Gregory turned in the direction indicated. “Well, it looks like something is finally going my way for once. Off to adventure I guess.”
He hadn’t taken more then twenty paces when he heard giggling in the bushes. He had reached the edge of the clearing when a short figure dropped down onto his head.
“Ooaph!” he grunted as something as big as he was fell onto his back. He collapsed to the ground and rolled over immediately.
“Heehee” the high pitched voice said, “What a silly human!”
The owner of the voice was a child mantiod, not but five feet tall. Her mantis body was a light green color, and her skin was rather brown in color. Her hair was short and brown, while her eyes were a dark green.
“Uhhh mantiod?” Gregory stammered, still regaining his breath.
Seven more mantiod children appeared out of the bushes and gathered around the fallen human. They varied in height, but were around five feet tall each. Their skin also varied in shades of green and brown. The girl on top of Gregory poked him in the stomach.
“Play with us human!” she said grinning.
One of the seven, a boy, came up and pulled her off of Gregory. “We should eat him instead! Swallow him up just like mommy does.”
Another female one came up and knocked the boy one over. “We can’t dummy, we still are too small to do that.”
“Are not!” the boy snipped back.
“Are too!” the girl said.
The boy mantiod jumped at the girl who was mouthing off, and they both started fighting. Soon the other mantiod children joined in, forming a ball of claws and limbs. They tumbled all over the clearing, momentarily forgetting about Gregory.
Seeing his chance, Gregory got to his feet and started sneaking away. He looked over his shoulder at the fighting mantiods, and because he wasn’t looking where he was going he ended up tripping on something.
“Ooph” he grunted as he hit the dirt.
A small mantiod girl, this one only three feet tall, walked around to his head. She was very young, and she had a long vine in her hands. “You trya get away” she said, “Me gunna tie you up witha vine.”
The little mantiod began walking around Gregory, draping the vine over his legs and arms as she went. By now the other six mantiod children had stopped brawing, and noticed what their sister was doing.
“Good idea” one of the boys said, “We can take him to mommy!”
“Mommy?” Gregory asked aloud, “That doesn’t sound like such a good idea.”
The girl that had first jumped him came over. “Yes it is. Mommy is sad, and tasty humans always cheer her up.”
Three of the mantiod children gathered around Gregory, and together they lifted him into the air. “Perhaps mom is sad because she hasn’t had enough neko” he said as they began to carry him off. “Maybe you should get her some of those.”
“No no no” the little girl said. “Mommy is sad because sister went missing.”
The boy carrying him nodded the affirmative. “Yes yes. Poor sister got lost in the swamp. Probably sank to the bottom.”
As their group traveled through the forest Gregory began to hear squealing up ahead. It sounded like a whole pack of kids were rampaging through the forest. They entered a clearing and Gregory saw that this was exactly what it was. At least two dozen five foot mantiod children were running all over the place. Up trees, under logs, around rocks, and all over their mother, who was at least ninety feet tall.
She was beautiful to be sure, with brown hair flowing down her back. Her eyes were a brilliant green, and her skin was light brown. Her mantis half a dark green, with the blades on her arms and legs a lighter shade of green. She was sitting against a large tree, watching her children running about.
“Lookie what we brought you” the leader of Gregory’s group said as they entered the clearing. “We got you a tasty human mommy!”
They carried him over to the giant mantiod, dropping him on the ground in-between her legs. Each one of her huge legs was thicker then he was, and they ended with a claw as big as Gregory’s arm.
The mother mantiod looked down at him, her face eighty feet above him. “Thank you children” she said, “It’s so nice of you to feed your mother.”
The seven children grinned as their mother reached down between her legs. Her hand was so big that Gregory was barely as tall as her thumb. The giantess picked him up between her thumb and forefinger, and lifted him up to her face.
“Uh hello there” Gregory said, “How are you this fine day?”
She looked at the human between her fingers, her mouth salivating. “Much better now that I have some lunch” she said.
“Now listen” Gregory said, struggling to reach his pokeballs; “I don’t want to have to hurt you.”
The mantiod smiled; “Don’t worry little one, I’ve swallowed much stronger things than you.”
Unable to reach his pokeballs, Gregory knew it was time to take drastic measures. The gaping mouth of the mantiod opened before him, saliva dripping from her tongue as it flopped about.
“I was hoping to save this for later” he said, “But it looks like I have no choice…” He inhaled deep and shouted as loud as he could. “META-MOR-PHO-TIS!”
The mantiod released Gregory in surprise when he started glowing with a yellow light. His body slowly began to grow and spread out as he transformed into a large scaly bird. His arms became leathery wings and his mouth became a long beak. The light faded, leaving a yellow pterodactyl with a twenty foot wingspan.
“Look at the birdy!” one of the mantiod children cried from below.
The yellow pterodactyl flapped its wings, beating the mantiod in the face. As quick as a wink, it then bolted off into the forest, leaving the mantiod and her children staring in awe at where it had disappeared into the trees.

Dodging through the trees of the Chidokai Forest came the yellow pterodactyl, zooming up and down like a jet pilot. With only thirty seconds on the clock, it wanted to get as far away from the mantiods as possible. The Giant Tree was still far away, but the closer it got to that location the better. The pterodactyl had just done a triple loop through three trees when the thirty seconds came to completion.
“I knew I should have stayed home todaaaaaaaaay” Gregory cried as he transformed back into a human, sailing earthward at an incredible pace.
Gregory grabbed hold of a thick vine and swung through the trees, “Aaaahaaaaaaahhaaa!”
At the peak of the swing he let go, and landing on a branch he slid to the ground. Landing in a large bush with a grunt, he finally came to a complete stop. He de-tangled himself from the bush and stood up.
“What a flight that was” he said rubbing his head, “And I didn’t even get to see the in flight movie.”
After regaining his balance he took out the Amulet of the 30 Second Shapeshift. Holding it up to the sun he grunted unhappily. “I wanted a dragon, not a pterodactyl! I swear, this thing can be more fickle than the Omnitrix.”
He stashed the amulet and took a look at the M5. “I wonder how close I am to Crisis now” he asked aloud.
“Five hundred meters to target” replied an electronic voice. “Target is traveling West Northeast of current position.”
“Excellent then” Gregory said, “At least I can get something going for me today.”
He straightened up his pants and started off due north, hoping to meet up with Crisis and finally make it to the Giant Tree.
----------------------------------------------------------

“Crisis, you out there?”
Gregory had traveled half a mile by now, and was very close to finding Crisis. He was unsure of what time period he was in, so there was no guarantee she wasn’t an egg at the moment. He figured that if she was an adult he would hear her coming, or something.
“Anyone out there?” he asked.
He had stopped in a small sunny glade to recalibrate his internal compass, and according to the readings Crisis would be around here somewhere. “If anyone is there you’re free to come out now.”
Walking over to a small stump, and letting out a sigh he sat down. All that could be heard was the chirping of birds now and then, and Gregory was beginning to relax. Suddenly the sound of laughter could be heard behind him.
He jumped up and spun around, “Who’s there?”
A small purple fairy, only five inches tall, came fluttering out from behind a large flower. She flew over to where Gregory was standing, giggling as she came. “I heard you were searching for someone cutie. It looks like you’re in luck.”
Being as well traveled as he was, Gregory has had experience with fairies from all over. From Neverland to Neopia; Felarya to Hyrule, this was a man that knew his pixies.
“Well yes acually” Gregory replied, “I was looking for a naga.”
The fairy fluttered over to his shoulder. “Why go looking for a naga? You should come with me instead! Don’t you know that fairies can grant wishes?”
Gregory backed away from her. “Yes I’m sure they can little missy, but in Felarya they also do other things.”
“Whatever you heard is probably false” the fairy said, flying after him. “I’m as innocent as a butterfly.”
She tried to fly into his face, so Gregory held up his hand, causing her to fly into it. “I don’t mean to be rude fairy, but I know where I am and what you’re trying to do. I would be putting it bluntly to say that you’re not going to get to swallow me alive.”
The fairy became very agitated when he said this. “Ooooo! You stupid male!” She said angrily, “I’m going to get you for this!”
She suddenly began to grow, causing Gregory to back up as her feet touched the ground. She grew until she was seventy feet tall, her feet along being at least ten feet long. He could now clearly see her face, purple eyes and purple hair. She was also wearing a bikini of sorts, although it was pink.
She frowned down at him, raising her left foot into the air. “The first thing I’m going to do is stomp you flat!”
Gregory leapt to the side as her foot came crashing down, shaking the ground. He rolled into a standing position and pulled a pokeball from his waist. “This has gotten out of hand missy, I’m going to have to end it here.” He tossed the red and white ball up, “Mariel come out and use thunderbolt!”
Out of the ball came Mariel, and as soon as the light dissipated she spun into the air, releasing a large yellow bolt of electricity. “Chuuu!”
The fairy was startled at the pikachu’s sudden appearance, and the bolt hit her in the stomach. “Ouch! That hurt!”
“Mariel, hit her again!” Gregory called.
“Chuuu!” she let loose another bolt.
The yellow bolt shot towards the fairy, but just before it hit her she turned transparent; causing the bolt to travel through her and into a nearby tree. “Hah!” she laughed, “I was ready for you that time!”
Mariel landed in front of Gregory with a confused look on her face. “Don’t worry Mariel” Gregory said, “We can still beat her!”
“I’ll get you little rodent” the fairy said, trying to step on Mariel. The Pikachu dodged her footfalls though, and the fairy became frustrated. “Try this on for size then!”
The fairy brought her hands together and pointed them at Mariel. An orb of purple energy appeared between them, and she shot it at Mariel.
“Use light screen, then counter with double team” Gregory called out.
Mariel scrunched her tail up to her body and began discharging electricity, causing an orange field of energy to surround her. The spheres of purple energy impacted on the orange barrier, dissipating immediately.
“What’s this?” the fairy exclaimed.
Mariel then jumped up and began running around the fairy at breakneck speeds. “Pipipikapipi” She ran so quickly that afterimages began forming, and once there were twenty of them Mariel stopped suddenly.
“What kind of magic is this?” the fairy cried.
Twenty-one pikachus stood in a circle at her feet, each one identical to each other. The fairy spun around in confusion, “Which one is the real one?”
“That’s for us to know and you to find out” Gregory said smiling. “Mariel use thunder now!”
The illusions suddenly disappeared as the real Mariel jumped up behind the fairy. She spun in the air, unleashing a huge bolt of lightning. “PIKA-CHUUUUUUUUUUU!”
Struck directly in the back by the incredible jolt, the fairy did a face plant into the dirt, small arcs of electricity jumping between her hairs.
Mariel landed in front of Gregory and stood up straight. “Pika-pika!”
Gregory patted her on the head. “Excellent job Mariel! Looks like we took care of that-”
“Got you!”
A ten foot long naga had leapt out of the bushes when Gregory’s back was turned. She threw some water at him, and it splashed on his back. “What the?” he asked, turning around.
It was too late however, as the water was from the Fairy Pond, immediately causing Gregory to shrink to three inches tall.
“PIKA” Mariel squeaked in alarm.
Bending over, the now towering blonde naga scooped up Gregory in her hand. “I bet you thought you were so clever beating my friend. But now I get to eat you instead!”
The fairy had recovered by now, and she shrunk back down to human size, flittering over to where the naga and Mariel stood.
“Why hello there Crisis” Gregory said from his position on her palm, “I was looking for you actually.”
The fairy’s face loomed over Gregory, “I guess you get to eat him since you caught him.”
“He said he was looking for me” Crisis giggled, “I guess he wanted to be eaten!”
She held him over her mouth, opening it wide. “Well actually I needed to talk to you Crisis” he said while staring down the naga’s throat, “Not get eaten. Mariel, a little assistance here?”
“Pika” Mariel jumped up onto Crisis’s shoulder and then jumped down, grabbing Gregory out of her hands on the way. Holding her trainer in one hand she tried to make a break for it.
“Hold it right there cute little guy” Crisis said, catching Mariel and holding her tight. “You need to give that human back to me right away!”
Mariel shook her head, “Pika pika-chu, pikachu!”
“What’s it saying?” the fairy asked, shrinking down to her regular height of five inches.
Gregory adjusted himself in Mariel’s paw. “Well if you’d let me explain, I’d be able to tell you what she’s trying to say. She’s saying, let us go!”
Crisis held Mariel like a baby. “But I don’t want to let her go! She’s so adorable!”
“Besides” the fairy said, “I still want to eat you.”
Mariel struggled in her captor’s arms, unable to get away. She was unable to shock Crisis because she was holding her trainer, and at his size even a slight jolt could be fatal.
“Before you eat me though, I want to let you know that I know Crisis” Gregory said.
Crisis and the fairy looked down at him on Mariel’s belly, “Really?”
“Remember when you were attacked by the tonorian when you were little Crisis?” Gregory asked. “There were two animals fighting it, and you passed out.”
Crisis suddenly remembered the incident, and the memory caused her to go into shock. Her eyes stared ahead blankly and she went stiff, dropping Mariel to the ground. “No, no, no!”
“What’s happening to her?” the fairy asked in panic, flying around Crisis’s head. “Somebody do something!”
Gregory sighed and looked up at Mariel. “Give her a shock to snap her out of it.”
Mariel nodded and set her trainer down at her feet. She then shot out a small ribbon of electricity at Crisis, “Pika-chuuuuu.”
The shock was sufficient to wake Crisis up, and she collapsed to the ground in a heap. Gregory walked over to her face and put his hand on her nose, the fairy alighted to the ground next to him. “Is she ok?” the fairy asked.
“She should be” Gregory replied.
Mariel walked up behind them, and although she was only one foot tall she was at least four times taller then both of them. “Pika-pika pi?” she asked down to her trainer.
“Its ok Mariel” he said, “I think she’ll wake up on her own.” Crisis stirred as he spoke, “Here she comes.”
Crisis opened her eyes and looked at the two small figures in front of her face. She reached out with her right hand and wrapped it around Gregory. “Pika-pi!” Mariel squeaked in alarm.
“Don’t worry Mariel” Gregory assured her, “I think she remembers.”
“I do” Crisis said, “You were that human that saved me.” She pulled herself into a sitting position, and the fairy flew up to her shoulder. “You also were so nice to me when we went to that strange place in a mountain.”
“Wait wait wait” the fairy interrupted, “You DO know this human Crisis?”
Crisis nodded, “We’re friends.”
“Pika-pi chuuuu!” Mariel said, climbing onto Crisis’s lap.
Crisis patted her on the head with her other hand. “I remember you too Mariel, thanks for bringing me back to my senses.”
The fairy grew back to human size and looked into Crisis’s hand. “So you’re not going to eat him then? Does this mean I get to?”
“No Delilah!” Crisis said, jerking her hand away. “He’s not food! He’s Gregory, and this means you can’t eat him!” Delilah groaned, and Crisis looked back at the three inch human in her hand. “But what are doing out here Gregory? Shouldn’t you be back at your home?”
“Well Crisis” Gregory explained; “I actually came to Felarya to talk to Ann- I mean someone, and I ended up traveling through time instead.”
“Time travel?” Delilah asked in disbelief, “Like you would be able to do that!”
Gregory sat down cross legged in Crisis’s palm, a sure sign of a lengthy explanation to come. “Now listen here fairy: I have time traveled, and Crisis remembering events taking place in the future is proof of that. I haven’t taken her to any other dimensions yet, but she remembers going there.”
“How is that possible?” Crisis asked.
“Well I’ll tell you” Gregory continued. “A few days before coming here to Felarya I was in the Sinnoh region breaking up another fight between the legendary pokemon Dialga and Palkia: the creators of time and space respectively in the pokemon universe.” He stared up at their confused expressions. “It’s a long story. Anyway, apparently Dialga got pissed off at me and decided to follow me here to Felarya. The dimensional instability on this world caused Dialga great pain, which made him revert into Primal Dialga, his original form. So now I’m being thrown back and forth in time like a ping-pong ball by his fits of rage, and I’m only able to keep from going just anytime by locking onto this dimension’s Omega Source; which just so happens to be Crisis here.”
Crisis and Delilah were staring at him with blank expressions, while Mariel had taken the opportunity to fall asleep on Crisis’s lap.
“What?” Delilah asked, her purple glow suddenly becoming fainter.
Gregory stood up in Crisis’s hand. “Basically it means we have to get me back to regular size pronto. Then head for the Giant Tree.”
“Well I have no idea how to get you to grow again” Delilah said, taking Gregory in her hands. “The water from the Fairy Pond is a one way thing.”
Mariel jumped up on Delilah’s shoulders to keep an eye on her trainer. “Nothing is one way” Gregory said, “Unless you count going to Heaven or Hell, those things are.” He clapped his hands. “But I think I might have a way to reverse the magic, but it will involve you temporarily losing your shape shifting abilities.”
Crisis looked at the tiny figure in her friend’s hands. “You better do it Delilah, or else I’ll tell the other fairies about Digias and Pakilas.”
“It’s Dialga and Palkia” Gregory corrected her; “But regardless, it won’t hurt a bit, and it will heal over time.”
Mariel looked Delilah squarly in the eye as sparks jumped from her cheeks. “Piikaaaa…”
“Alright alright” the fairy said, “I’ll do it.”
Gregory pulled his M5 from his pocket. “Perfect! Now I’m going to need you to hold me up to your wings.”
Mariel jumped down to the ground as Delilah held Gregory up to her purple wings. They were semi-transparent, and sparkled brilliantly in the sunlight.
“They are beautiful wings” Gregory said, pressing the M5 up against them. “Now hold still for a moment.”
A bright green light eminated from the M5 as the color drained from the fairy’s wings; when suddenly they were all blinded by a flash of purple light. When their vision returned they saw that Gregory had grown to his regular six feet tall, and Delilah had shrunken to her regular five inches.
Mariel scooped the fairy up in her paws and presented her to Crisis. “Pika-pi…”
“What happened to her?” Crisis asked, taking her in her hand.
Gregory put his hand on her shoulder; “Don’t worry Crisis, she’ll be just fine. Give her one or two days and her wings will be as good as new.”
###Gregory!###
Gregory staggered back a pace as his mind was filled with a familiar voice, “What was that?” Suddenly Gregory’s mind was transported to a black void, somewhere deep within his consciousness.

###Gregory! It’s me, Emily!###
###Is that really you Emily? Usually only I can hear you.###
###Well you can’t exspect people to know what’s going on if I have to communicate through you now can you?###
###I suppose not… But what’s going on over there anyway?###
###Primal Dialga followed you to Felarya. Communications have been blocked for some time now, including our mind meld. I’ve only now been able to break through Dialga’s defenses because something has been weakening him. I was going to warn you before you left, but I figured you’d like the adventure.###
###You know me too well Emily. This means you have a plan to stop him then yes?###
###I do. But you’ll have to weaken him slightly more first. The next portal that appears should take you to the future, and there you will have the final show down.###
###And Crisis?###
###You’ll have to use part of her Omega force to weaken the dimensions enough for Giratina to make it through. Giratina will then drag Dialga back to his proper dimension.###
###Alrighty then Emily, it looks like I have my work cut out for me. Keeps things together back at Magic Mountian.###
###I will, you be safe Gregory.###
###Don’t worry Emily, we’re breaking the fourth wall and nothings happened. I’ll be just fine. Gregory out…###

Gregory opened his eyes to find Crisis and Mariel staring at him. He was still standing in the same place as when Emily had contacted him. “What?”
“You were spacing out Gregory” Crisis said, “Are you okay?”
“Yes I am” he replied, “But I’m going to have to leave now.”
He pulled out a pokeball, “Mariel return please.”
“Pika” Mariel said as she went back into her pokeball.
Crisis slithered over to where he was standing, she was still holding Delilah; “You going to time travel again or something? Can I come too?”
“No I’m afraid not Crisis” he said sadly, “Although I am going to see you there.”
Crisis’s eyes lit up, “You mean my adult self? Am I big enough to swallow you whole?”
Gregory sighed; “Yes you are Crisis, and you’ve done it on several occasions.”
“Ooooo I can’t wait!” Crisis squealed, “That sounds like so much fun!” She suddenly remembered Delilah. “But what about her?” she asked holding the fairy up.
“After this whole timey-wimey mess gets cleared up, she should return to normal.” He replied, “And your memories too.”
“Does this mean I’ll forget about you?” Crisis asked with a pouting face.
Gregory took her hand; “You won’t forget me Crisis, we have a special friendship.”
A huge smile spread across Crisis’s face, and an electronic voice came from the M5 on Gregory’s waist; “Suitable imaginational energy, activating portal.”
A rainbow portal appeared behind Gregory, and it quickly turned a dark blue color. He stepped backwards and into the portal. “See you at a later time Crisis!”
Gregory disappeared into the time-stream and the portal closed behind him. Crisis looked at her fairy friend in her hand, and she wondered when she would wake up. She also wondered what Gregory would be doing in the future, and whenever she got the chance to eat him; if he tasted as good as he looked.
============================================================

Gregory landed with a thud on a large plant, which he slid off to the ground. The trip through the portal had been uneventful, which was lucky for him considering the current situation. He stood up, taking stock of his location. The sun was low in the sky, and the forest was extremely quiet. He could see the top of the Giant Tree in the distance, although only the top few branches. Surrounding the tree on all sides was a thick blue fog; lightning bolts could be seen arcing throughout the cloud. The blue fog extended what looked like several miles around the Giant Tree, and the edge of the mist was only a mile away from where he stood.
Gregory whistled, “My my, it looks like I finally made it to the time period Dialga settled in. According to my deduction, Dialga should be inside that fog. I sure hope Crisis is ok…”
Gregory started walking towards the Giant Tree, still amazed that there were no environmental noises, all was deathly silent.
“Interdimensional masters of time and space sure know how to bring the doom and gloom don’t they.”
As he walked, Gregory became aware that the temperature of the air had become lower then usual. The usual eighty to ninety degrees of the region had become more like sixty-five. Up ahead he could hear cries of pain. “What’s going on up there?” He asked aloud.
When he rounded the next tree he found himself in the middle of a fairy gathering. There were all kinds of them, from fire to water; nature and earth. There was even a darkness fairy or two there. They were arguing hotly about something, and they didn’t even notice him until he had walked out in the middle of them.
Gregory froze in place. “Eh-heh… Hello there ladies” he said awkwardly. “Don’t mind me, just passing through.”
A fire fairy shot a burst of flame at him. “Get back human!” she shouted hotly at him.
Gregory jump back as the fire shot past; “Sorry sorry, I was just trying to get to that fog over there. No need to flare up like that.”
One of the water fairies flew up in his face. “And what do you know about that mysterious fog human? We’ve been trying to get in for hours.”
“That’s right” an ice fairy continued, “Ever since that fog showed up our magic has been weakening.”
Gregory put his hands up as the fairies encircled him. “Well if you’re magic has been weakening just stay away from it.”
“We can’t do that” a darkness fairy said grimly, “It’s constantly expanding, not to mention our queen is in there.”
“N-N-Nemyra?” Gregory stammered, “They really have called out the big wigs!” He calmed himself. “So if Nemyra went in there, shouldn’t things be settled? She’s a guardian for Pete the Cat’s sake!”
“We know” the water fairy replied. “But she hasn’t come back out yet. We’ve tried going in after her, but whenever one of us touches the fog our magic is instantly drained. Some of the volunteers have even aged.”
Another fire fairy burst into flames, “Fairies aging! Can you believe it?!”
“Blueberry Muffins” Gregory cursed under his breath. “If one of the Felaryian guardians has been shell shocked, Dialga can’t be the only player here.”
The fire fairy flew up to Gregory’s eye. “Dialga? So you DO know something about this fog! If you don’t tell us immediately… I’ll bite you in half!”
“Settle down!” Gregory said, backing away from the maddened fairy. “I’m trying to get inside that fog anyway to fix it, and if I see Nemyra I’ll be sure to help her.” He stopped backing up. “Now if you’d all like to help your queen and stop this magic draining fog, you can stop arguing and take me to it!”
The water fairy crossed her arms. “Fine, although I doubt you’ll last long in there.” She began flittering into the forest, “It’s this way.”

After several minutes of walking, they finally made it to the edge of the blue fog. Traveling with a group of fairies had started taking its toll on even Gregory’s nerves, even interdimensional adventurers can get nervous when surrounded by Felarian fairies. The group came to a halt a few yards away from the fog.
“Here we are human” the water fairy said. “This is where our queen disappeared.”
Gregory took a few steps closer to the fog when the ground began to shake. “What’s all this?” he asked the fairies.
“How should we know?” the darkness fairy replied.
The fog parted suddenly as a huge slug girl burst into the sunlight. She had long brown hiar and deep green eyes. Her slug body was yellow with brown spots, and she was at least eighty feet. Horrible wounds covered her entire body, slime and blood mixing into a ugly mess as it oozed from her injuries.
“Help me!” she cried when she spotted them.
She slid another few yards and collapsed to the ground, her head falling right next to where Gregory stood. “They attacked me, they attacked me!”
“Calm yourself” the fire fairy snipped, “Who attacked you?”
The slug girl gasped again. “Human monsters! Huge jaws, pale skin… Claws…” “Bugger all” Gregory muttered; “Time Splitters in Felarya, now I’ve seen everything.”
The fairies surrounded him again. “Time Splitters? What are those?”
“It’s a long story” he replied, looking at the wounded slug girl. “But there’s no time for tales, this girl needs help.” He turned to the water fairy. “You guys stay here and help this slug girl; I have to get inside that fog pronto. The last thing we need is for this stuff to spread all over Felarya.”
“Why should we help her?” the darkness fairy asked, “We have better things to do.”
Gregory started walking towards the fog, “Because I made a promise to her a long time ago. Besides, if you don’t help her I’ll make sure you never existed.” He stopped in front of the fog. “Don’t ask me how; I have to prepare myself to fight more then one dimensional deity. As we speak we literally lose time.”
The fog expanded another two inches. Taking one last look at the unconscious banana slug girl, Gregory stepped into the blue fog.
------------------------------------------------------

Once he had stepped inside the blue fog, Gregory had been greeted with a breathtaking sight. The sky was dark blue, with pink clouds floating here and there. Lightning bolts streaked across the sky as thunder roared all around. In the distance he could see the Giant Tree, and above it flashes of light could be seen. The forest was very dark, a pale bluish tint covering everything.

“It looks like things just got a little more complicated old bean” he commented to himself. “But first things first: I’ve got to find Crisis.”
The bushes nearby shook, and Gregory spun around to identify the perpetrator. Leaves flew in every direction as a group of humanoid creatures emerged.
“Here we go again” Gregory moaned.
Time Splitters: nightmarish bio-engineered creations, capable of traversing the time-space continuum. Roughly human in appearance, Time Splitters are set apart by their corpse-like appearance and huge toothy maws. Their arms end in huge claws and their mouths take up two thirds of their heads.
Gregory threw up two pokeballs; “Yanmega and Mudball, front and center!”
The two pokemon appearing in flashes of white light, Mudball in front of Gregory and Yanmega floating above him. “Yanmega” Gregory said, “Go find Crisis and bring her back here! Mudball and I can take care of ourselves for the time being!”
Yanmega nodded, “Yagghnmega!” He spun around and took off into the trees.
Gregory turned his attention back on the approaching Time Splitters, who were groaning as they got closer to their enemy.
“Just like old times Mudball” Gregory said smiling, “Lets start things out with hydro pump!”

Crisis was curled up inside of a large stump, covering her head with branches. Anna stood nearby, her twitching tail revealing her irritation. She held the M5 that Gregory had gifted her, and was trying to activate some useful function.
“Are they still there Anna?” Crisis asked, fear in her voice.
Anna’s tail thumped the ground again. “For the last time Crisis” she said angrily, “Of course their still there. They will probably still be there until one of them dies, its not often someone can engage a guardian and live.”
Crisis tried to curl up deeper into the stump. “I wish Gregory was here, I’m sure he would know what to do.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to do for the last three hours” Anna said exasperatedly, “The only problem is that this stupid contraption is a hunk of garbage.”
“Hurry Anna” Crisis sniffled, staring up into the sky.“I don’t want to find out what happens when one of them wins.”

An absolutely enormous sphere of blue energy floated above the Giant Tree, and flashes of light and lightning filled the air inside it. Dialga certainly resided inside of this cloud within a cloud, but certainly the rolling thunder depicted battle? Who would be strong enough to fight Dialga? One of the top contenders for this feat was locked in batter outside of the sphere; obviously trying to provide assistance to whomever was engaging the master of time.
A little over a mile away from the sphere, above Crisis and Anna’s hiding spot, the great queen of fairies: Nemyra herself, was engaged in her own battle. Palkia, deity of the fabric of space in the Pokemon universe, had come to make battle with its rival Dialga. It encourtered diffuculty on its way however, as the queen of the fairies also had the same goal. Thus: both superpowerful entities were locked in combat above the Chidokai Forest.
Appearing as a white and pink dinosaur-like animal, the bipedal Palkia looked every part a deity. From the giant pink pearls on its shoulder plates, to the claws on its hands and feet, its size alone was a sight to behold.
The fairy queen Nemyra was awe inspiring herself. Over two hundred feet tall, matching Palkia’s massive size, the Felaryian guardian surrounded herself in the whirling energies of the cosmos. Her blasts of magic colliding with Palkia’s attacks blow for blow. The very fabric of the forest’s existence rippled with each attack.

“I got it!” Anna exclaimed in triumph.
Crisis peeked out from her hiding spot, “You got what?”
“The communication modulator online of course” Anna replied smugly. “Now we can finally contact Gregory at Magic Mountain.”
Anna pressed the M in Mountain, resulting in a burst of static from the M5. “Dammit” she growled, “Now what’s wrong with it?”
Crisis’s response was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Yanmega, who came zooming out of the trees and into her face. “Ew ew ew! A big bug!” She cried.
Crisis began flailing her arms as Yanmega flew around her head, and after a while he gave up, flying over to Anna instead. “Where’d it go?” Crisis asked.
Anna held out her hand to allow the six foot dragonfly to land on it. “Calm yourself down Crisis” she said. “It’s our first sign of hope. Don’t you recognize this insect?”
Crisis climbed out of the stump and slithered over. “Yeah” she replied after taking a long look, “It’s one of Gregory’s pokemon!”
Anna nodded her head, “Which means that Gregory can’t be far away. He should know what’s going on; I’ll try contacting him with the M5.”
Yanmega took off as Anna began fiddling with the M5. Crisis giggled as the pokemon flew around her, finally landing on top of her head. After a few moments the M5 produced more static, “Just a moment” Anna said.
Finally the M5 was patched through to Gregory, and sounds of battle could be heard coming from the device. Crisis peered over Anna’s shoulder, Yanmega still sitting on her head. “It sounds like he’s in trouble!”
“Lets try and get his attention” Anna replied. “Hello? Come in Gregory!”
A scratchy reply came from the M5, “Anna? Is that you?”
“Yes” she said, “What’s going on? The forest has gone absolutely nuts!”
More scratchy dialogue came from the device in her hands. “I’d love to explain it to you” Gregory said, “But I’m a little busy.” More static came through, “Over there Mudball, use hammer arm!”
“Are you still there Gregory?” Crisis asked over Anna’s shoulder.
“I’m still here” Gregory replied, “But its getting crowded over here.” Some more static broke the transmission. “Maybe I can teleport over to you guys” Gregory continued, “Are you two clear?”
Anna pushed Crisis’s head off her shoulder. “Clear for now” she said, “But things are heating up over the Giant Tree. You’ll need to see this.”
“Alright then” Gregory’s voice replied, “Here I come… Mudball return!”
Loud howls could be heard in the background, and Gregory’s breath could be heard coming in quick bursts. Anna but the M5 on the ground and waited, “Do you think he’ll be ok?” Crisis asked.
A sudden yellow light filled the clearing, and Crisis’s answer came in a waft of baked goods. A tiny human had appeared between the two giant nagas, causing Anna to back up in fear of crushing him.
Crisis however had no fear of hurting Gregory, and she immediately bent down and scooped him up in her hands. Bringing him up to her face she squealed with delight.
“Oh I’m so glad you’re here Gregory! You’ve got to help us out of this mess!”
Yanmega flew down and landed on Crisis’s fingers, rubbing his head against Gregory, who patted him on the head. “I’m glad to see you too Crisis, and you Yanmega. I see you found these two alright.”
Anna slithered over and glared down at him, her eyes shooting daggers. “So now that we’ve had our little reunion Gregory” she said, pointing skywards. “Will you explain to us why a Felaryian GAURDAIN is engaging on of YOUR pokepals above MY house?”
Gregory smiled sheepishly, “About that… You see, it all started when I-”
Anna brought her face down to his level, almost touching her large nose to his. Her yellow eyes burning like hot coals. “Gregory…” she growled.
“Okay okay” Gregory said, sliding to the other side of Crisis’s hand. “Maybe Dialga followed me here after our latest encounter; possibly causing a rift in space-time causing me to time travel to various periods in Crisis’s life, attracting the attention of Palkia and the guardian Nemyra.”
Crisis hugged Gregory close, causing Yanmega to go spinning into the air. “You went time traveling Gregory? Oooo! Can I go sometime?”
Anna pulled Crisis’s hands away from her chest. “Stop crushing him Crisis” she said, “I get to kill him. And no, you can’t go time traveling.”
Gregory gasped for breath before replying. “Well the plan was to weaken Dialga enough for Emily to send Giratina through, who would be able to bring Dialga back home.” He looked up at the sky. “But it appears that the person intending to stop Dialga is occupied with Palkia, who I guess followed Dialga through when space-time was weakened sufficiently.”
Turning to the cloud above the Giant Tree he outlined his plan. “The outline of my plan is to send Yanmega over there with an M5, allowing me and Crisis to teleport inside and engage Dialga; weakening him enough to let Giratina through.”
Yanmega flew over and snatched the M5 from Anna’s hands, causing her to glare at it. “But why do you need Crisis in there with you? She won’t be much of a help in a fight.”
“Yeah” Crisis agreed, setting Gregory on a tree branch; “I don’t know many spells, and I’m scared of fighting a Dialga.”
“Don’t worry about it Crisis” he replied, watching as Yanmega flew off in the direction of the Giant Tree. “All you have to do is stand there and look pretty, we need this dimension’s Omega Source to seal our Pokemon perpetrators back in their own world.”
Gregory pulled his own M5 off his belt and began pressing buttons. “Anna, I want you to sit tight here. Crisis and I will be back in a flash… I hope.”
A brilliant yellow light enveloped human and naga, and as it faded it left Anna alone in the clearing. “You better bring back my M5 in once piece Gregory!” she shouted after them.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gregory and Crisis appeared on top of the Giant Tree, standing on a large open platform. Yanmega hovered nearby, still holding the M5 he had gotten from Anna. The air cackled with power as Gregory and Crisis looked up to see Dialga engaged with something out of their wildest fantasies.
Dialga: master of time, a four legged dinosaur-like animal. Completely blue with white stripes along his body, Dialga had huge silver claws on his feet, and a giant sail of metal on his back. His long neck ended with his elongated head, a large crest extending from his head, and two red eyes above his toothy mouth. On his chest was a huge star shaped plate, with a giant blue diamond in the middle.
His opponent however, was enough to surprise even Gregory.
“What in the world?” he sputtered in utter amazement.
A huge multicolored swirling mass, the only explanation one could have for describing such a thing, spun around the giant pokemon. It took on the appearance of hundreds of animals at the same time, being all yet none of them simultaneously. The two titans exchanged blow after blow as Dialga and the beast fired powerful spheres of energy.
Crisis picked Gregory up, holding her in front of her face. “Hide me!”
“Take it easy Crisis” Gregory said, “And please put me down.”
Crisis put him back down, and he started pressing buttons on his M5; “Gregory to Emily, Gregory to Emily.”
He got an immediate reply telepathically, “Is the connection weak enough for Giratina to come through yet?” he asked.
His answer came as a purple portal appeared next to Crisis, causing her to jump. Above Dialga let loose with a powerful dragon claw, tearing the fabric of time as he swiped at the strange creature.
“What’s with that purple thing?” Crisis asked nervously.
Gregory smiled, “It’s Giratina of course!”
A long shrill cry came from the portal, which could only be described as a chiming gong. Out of the portal came a massive beast. It was roughly L shaped, walking on six thick spiked legs. Each leg had long gold claws, and several gold bands attached to it. Its centipede-like body was lined with red rings, with a gold stripe running from its head to its spiked tail. Three gold rings formed an odd ribcage on its chest, and out its back came two huge black wings, each adorned with three red spikes. Its head appeared as a combination of both Dialga and Palkia, with a gold mask ending with a large mouth.
“Go get em’ Giratina!” Gregory cried.
The pokedex function on his M5 spoke up again.
“Giratina: the Renegade Pokemon. Banished to the Distortion World for its violence, Giratina is the embodiment of antimatter. It watches our dimension in silence from the Distortion World.”
Giratina cried again, launching itself at Dialga and its opponent. Spreading its wings wide, it unleashed a spray of rapid fire shadow balls. The orbs of darkness hit Dialga for several direct hits, causing it to cry out in pain.
The colorful chimera however, dodged Giratina’s attack by executing a loop-de-loop. It swung around and launched a burst of multicolored light at Giratina, striking it in the left wing. Giratina cried out as it spiraled downwards, landing on its six legs with a loud boom.
Dialga had recovered at this point, and took the opportunity to launch a counter attack on the chimera. Opening its mouth wide, it sent a large sphere of condensed time at the beast, scoring a direct hit.
Giratina launched itself into the air again, swirling around as it lashed out with its claws and wings. Its claws slashed both the chimera and Dialga with a powerful shadow claw, the dark energy ripping through the air. Both opponents were sent flying in different directions, causing time to ripple like a pond.
“I think we got this Crisis” Gregory said, calling Yanmega back into his pokeball. “Get ready for the fireworks!”
Suddenly the blue mist parted as Palkia burst through and into the battle. It slashed forward, sending a wave of fractured space at Giratina. The dimensional distortion lashed Giratina across the back. The impact sent Giratina crashing into the ground.
“OH NO!” Crisis yelled.
Gregory bit his lower lip. “If Palkia is here, then what happened to Nemyra? I’m sure she got away safely, but now we’re in serious trouble.”
Dialga and Palkia began circling the dimensional chimera. It launched two orbs of light at the two pokemon, but they dodged them. Dialga roared and fired a huge dragon pulse at the chimera’s left side, while Palkia released another spatial rend at its right side. The chimera was caught in the middle of the two attacks, the force of the resulting explosion sending it flying through the air. It let out a jumbled collection of animal sounds before disappearing in a flash of light.
“There goes our only ally” Gregory said disgruntled, “Now it’s all up to Giratina.”
Giratina pushed itself to its feet, lifting its head upwards. Dialga and Palkia now circled each other above the Giant Tree, and every once and a while they fired another attack. Giratina spread its wings wide and cried long and loud, causing a portal to appear beneath the sparring titans. “You can do it” Crisis shouted, “We believe in you!”
The blue and pink fog swirled around them as time and space collided, Giratina launched itself into the air again. It flew high above time and space, and at the peak of its flight dove downwards.
Antimatter collided with the speed of light, causing Dialga to plummet into the portal. Dialga tried to recover, but the shining chimera reappeared, blasting it with a colorful orb. Time returned to its normal flow above the Giant Tree as Dialga was sucked into the Distortion World.
“One down, one to go” Gregory said.
Palkia swung at Giratina with a dragon claw, but Giratina disappeared into thin air. Palkia spun around in every direction, unable to locate its opponent. Suddenly Giratina reappeared behind it, a powerful wave of darkness decending upon it. Protons and electrons were battered as globs of negatively charged matter struck out with astounding force. The chimera unleashed another attack, sending Palkia hurtling into the Distortion World.
The dimensional plane returned to normal as the fog faded away, leaving the bright sunlight to bath the top of the Giant Tree. Gregory and Crisis shielded their eyes from the light as Giratina descended and landed in front of them. The chimera was nowhere to be found.
Gregory bowed in respect, “Thank you very much for helping us out Giratina. Things would have ended pretty badly if you hadn’t shown up when you did.”
“Yeah” Crisis said, looking up into Giratina’s eyes. “That fight was soooooo cool!”
Giratina dipped its head, returning its gaze to the purple portal.
“You should probably go take care of those two” Gregory said, “The distortion world could end up a frightful mess if they started fighting again.”
Rising into the air without a flap of its wings, Giratina floated over to the portal. “Goodbye Garatiny!” Crisis called after it, waving both arms. “See you later!”
Giratina dove into the portal, and as soon as it had disappeared the portal vanished into nothingness. Gregory walked over to Crisis, putting his hand on her teal scales.
“I think this is the part where we go check up on Anna,” he said, pressing a button on the M5. “I do hope she’s alright.”
A flash of light and an explosion of muffins later, and both had left the Giant Tree behind.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Crisis appeared in a flash next to Anna, who jumped in surprise, nearly being flattened by the falling naga.
“Ooph!” Crisis grunted, landing on her stomach.
“Its about time you came back” Anna grumbled, “Where’s that good for nothing human?”
“I’m up here” Gregory called. He had solidified above Crisis and had fallen onto her head, and was now hanging tangled in her long blonde hair. “Somebody help me?”
Crisis reached up and pulled him out, “Ow! Don’t yank!”
“It’s kinda hard not to” he replied.
She succeeded in removing the amazing human headband and placed him on the ground. Anna slithered over and glared down at him. “Can I have my M5 back now… Gregory?”
“Always with your gadgets Anna” he said, backing behind Crisis. “You shouldn’t get too attached to a possession, that’s what I always say.”
“Where is it?” Anna growled.
Gregory continued backing away, “Oh you know… Destroyed.”
Anna’s face went red, “Why you little!” She dove for him, but he dodged behind Crisis’s tail. “Come back here Gregory!”
Crisis went into a fit of laughter, watching as Anna chased the small Gregory around the clearing. “I swear I’ll eat you!” Anna yelled.
“You know you wouldn’t do that” Gregory replied; “Besides, I can always get you another M5.”
Anna stopped her pursuit, “Then at least tell me what happened up there. At least then it won’t be a total loss.”
“I’ll let Crisis fill you in” Gregory said, pushing a button on his M5. “I have to get back to Magic Mountain and see what happened with Dialga and Palkia.” He looked Anna up and down. “Although before I go Anna; I just want to let you know… It turns out that it’s partly Dialga’s fault you’re a naga.’”
“What?” Anna shouted, “Are you saying that if Dialga never followed you here I would still be a human?”
A portal appeared next to Gregory, and a cheeky smile spread across his face. “Do you want to know what they say Crisis?” he asked.
“What?” Crisis replied, a little confusion in her voice.
Gregory’s grin grew wider as he stepped into the portal. “The best way to quit smoking is cold turkey!”

The swirling vortex of the interdimensional gateway pulled Gregory homewards. He couldn’t stop himself from laughing as he heard a loud wumph behind him. It almost sounded like a giant naga doing a faceplant.
“That Anna” he chuckled to himself, “It’s a good thing Crisis is there to keep her out of trouble.”
===============================================================

THE END

===========================
Time Crisis 2 - The fall of Ur’Sagol
===========================

Deep within the nestled multiverse on a plane quite unlike any other lays a forest of incredible beauty. The trees grow hundreds of feet tall and the foliage thicker than solid stone, the brilliant sunlight seeping through the canopy to bathe the ground below in flickering green light. Flowers taller than men and vines thicker than a mighty oak: this is the Chidokai Forest! But plants are not the only thing living beneath these trees, as many creatures both large and small prowl the forest floor making their way in the world. Bugs and insects swarm the trees, some growing so large they are not measured in inches but in feet! There are birds in the full spectrum of color of all shapes and sizes, through most stay in the normal range for sizes. Small mammals also exist: be they feline, canine, or as some rumors go even rodents. The size of these creatures is what truly makes this forest dangerous: some grow to be very large indeed. The dreaded Kensha Beast: over forty feet tall and full of bloodlust, this wolf like animal is to be feared by any who roam the forest. Size is no measure of danger in this place however, as even the more familiar sized Vortex Tiger is deceptively dangerous. Stay far away lest ye be pulled into the creature’s event horizon! But these wild animals are truly the least of the forests dangers, for the most fantastic and dangerous of predators lie in the humanoid chimeras. A naga, dridder, or harpy may be dangerous enough; but they become much more of a threat when their scale is multiplied eleven or fifteen fold! Towering titans of a hundred feet or more these terrors of mythos hunt for prey be it human or beast. Woe to the being who stumbles upon the hunting grounds of one of these colossus! Why then would one venture into this so dangerous a place? The answer is surprisingly the same simplistic one it always has been: treasure! Ancient hoards from a thousand worlds lay buried in the trees, adventure and fame awaiting all those who seek their fortunes and survive! Though rare there are a few who simply come here for the beauty of the forest, but like a certain adventure from a distant land if you plan to do this you had better come heavily prepared!

A middle aged man ran through the fern, his breath heavy as he stumbled forward as fast as he could go. Sweat dripped from his body as the large pack slung over his back weighed him down. Glancing over his shoulder his foot found an upturned root which brought him toppling to the ground. Struggling to get up he looked at the pack and with a saddened look tossed it aside. Gold glimmered in the sunlight as the contents of the pack scattered, forgotten as the man fled his pursuer.
A loud woman’s voice called out of the trees, “Come back here human! I only want to have a bite!”
Not daring to look back again the man pushed on, ducking a large branch and skipping through a group of mushrooms.
“I see you!” the woman called again.
The fear of the unknown drove the man to look back once more, his sweat blurred eyes spotting a large purple mass coming through the trees behind him. Gaping he turned around again too late: with a splat he ran full force into a large bulbous plant sack. He fell back to the ground with a thud.
“Now I got you!”
A massive hand pushed through the brush and wrapped around the man, pulling him through with a short yell and lifting him into the air. He struggled weakly as he was brought up to a woman’s face nearly four times big as he was tall. Her purple hair fell down into her blue eyes and her massive mouth drooled as she looked down on him.
“Pl-please” the man begged, his speech coming in short breaths, “Jus-just let me go.”
A serpentine tail appeared behind the woman’s shoulder, twirling almost happily about as she looked down at her hapless victim. “Oh but you know that’s not what happens next! You have to go meet your friends!”
A massive tongue slid out of her mouth and ran across her lips. The man’s comrades had been caught off guard and sent down into the depths of the woman’s body. Now it was his turn, and his death would not be pleasant.
“Well down the hatch” the woman said lifting him up.
Suddenly an electrical charge filled the air, the hair of both standing on end. A small orb of yellow energy appeared over the woman’s left shoulder and exploded, blinding all present.
“Yeeeeeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”
The voice of a young man could be heard in the confusion, the blast resulting in the electrocution of the woman and causing her to drop her prey. When the light cleared a young man with brown hair stood on her left shoulder, his blue eyes literally sparkling with delight.
“Hooo boy! Man does it feel good to be back around these parts!” He surveyed the scene before looking up into the woman’s eyes. “Well I’ll be! A purple naga! With purple hair! It’s purple purple purple!”
The woman was too stunned to reply.
Slapping himself on the forehead the boy apologized, “Oh I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to surprise you. My coordinates were hardly solidified and I might have miscalculated once or twice.” He looked out into the forest. “I was trying to get to the home of a fairy named Subeta, you happen to know where that is?”
The naga’s mouth dropped open, “Uhh…”
A faint cry for help came from below, causing the boy to look down. The man was hanging on the naga’s breast, hardly an advantageous position.
“Oh my!” the boy said, “That is hardly an advantageous position! And a bit embarrassing too! Hang on a sec…”
The naga recovered enough to make a grab at the new arrival. The boy was too quick through and pulling a small green and white mountain shaped device out of his pocket jumped off into the air.
“Zazazazaaaaa!”
A small orange platform appeared in the air which the boy stood on. It floated down to where the man was hanging and he was helped onto the glowing ledge which then floated off.
“Hey he was mine!” the naga said in a confused and angry tone.
The boy shook his head, “Sorry! Not today his isn’t. Now if you excuse me I’m off to have a grand adventure sure to rival the trip I took to the park the other day.”
Watching in fury the naga could do nothing as the platform carried the boy and her lunch off into the forest.
Once they were far enough away the man collapsed to the floor. He looked up at his savoir. “Thank you thank you! You saved my life!”
“Oh come on” the boy said pulling the man to his feet, “What was I supposed to do?” He shook the man’s hand, “Call me Gregory: super adventurer extraordinaire!”
“Thank you Gregory” the man replied, “My name is Hagraak.”
Gregory tried to pronounce the name, “Hagrack, hagraaack… Not an easy name to say is it?”
“It was my father’s name” Hagraak replied.
“Oh sorry” Gregory said blushing; “Sometimes I get too excited and forget my manners. It’s a good name, very guttural.” He clasped his hands together for a second. “Hang on a sec.”
The orange platform wrapped up and around them forming a bubble, suspending them in midair. There was a loud popping sound followed by a fizzing, the bubble picking up speed until it was whizzing through the forest at ridiculous speeds. Gregory sat in a cross-legged position with his eyes closed, humming loudly to himself as Hagraak was sent tumbling about. They rounded a large tree were sent bouncing towards a large cave entrance. The bubble bounced off the rock wall and fell to the ground.
Hagraak stood up, his head spinning, “What just-“
“Shhh!” Gregory whispered.
The orange bubble suddenly split in two, morphing into a large orange catapult of light with Hagraak sitting in the scoop. Gregory pulled a large pack from behind his back and strapped it to Hagraak. A small string fell out its side and was shoved into Hagraak’s sweaty fist.
“Now listen carefully” Gregory said, “Once you reach tree level pull this string.”
“Bu-bu-“ the bewildered man replied.
Gregory walked over to the side of the catapult and pulled a large lever. “So long partner! Good luck!”
The startled man’s cries filled the air as the scoop shot up, propelling him into the air and sending him sailing over the treetops. As he faded from view Gregory snapped his fingers, the orange light dissipating without a trace.
He brushed his hands off on his trousers smiling wide, “Man is it good to be back!”
A stick snapping behind him made him suddenly alert. He whirled around and scanned the trees.
“Don’t be hasty, don’t be hasty…”
He held the mountain device up to his chest and backed into the cave entrance, continually scanning the forest for movement. ‘Pretend to be scared… Pretend to be scared…”
The inside of the cave was surprisingly well lit: several lanterns of various sizes hung here and there illuminating the area. The floor of the cave was uneventful, what Gregory was interested in was a large jutting slab of rock that appeared table-like. He hit himself on the head with the device in his hand and was immediately tossed through the air onto the surface of the stone ledge. His eyes lit up once he saw what lay on its surface: piles of trinkets and artifacts from every culture imaginable. There were swords and necklaces, amulets and gemstones, crowns and shields, and even an odd box looking thing here and there. Grinning ear to ear he dove behind a large box thing and hunkered down.
“Ooo I did it!” Gregory said barely able to contain his excitement, “I found Subeta’s place!” He looked about franticly. “I know I said I wouldn’t use so many powers but I had to get here fast. Now if I can plant it without being found out.”
He carefully began sneaking along, dodging behind anything big enough to hide him as he went. It was going well enough and nobody seemed to be around, perfect for his most delicate of missions.
“Eh heheh” he chuckled to himself, “This is a piece of ca-“
In an instant his hair stood on end, his eyeballs popped, and his mouth dropped open. Without warning he was lifted into the air and turned around in a none-too-gentle manner.
“And what do you think YOUR’RE doing here?” an angry voice said.
Gregory found himself staring into the furious face of an orange headed fairy, currently sized at many many times his own. The look in her eyes would’ve been enough to kill another man, which was another reason Gregory always took his anti-death glare shots.
“You have about three seconds to explain yourself” the furious fairy continued, “Otherwise I might just bite you in half!”
Gregory flailed his arms, “Hang on Subeta, hang on Subeta! I was just doing nothing! I mean Crisis sent me over to-” he took a breath, “You wouldn’t really bite someone in half would you?”
The fury faded faintly from the fairies face, becoming replaced with confusion and curiosity. “Crisis sent you?”
With the danger passed Gregory let out a sigh of relief. “Well no, but she was the one who gave me directions to your house.”
“And why did she send you here?!” Subeta replied shaking him, “Did she send you to steal something because if so I swear-”
“No no!” Gregory said quickly, “I came here to give you something!”
The shaking stopped instantly and Subeta shrunk down to human size, placing Gregory none too gently on the ground. Her face had transformed from one of anger to complete joy. “Well that changes everything!” she said rubbing her hands together, “What did you bring me?”
Shaking himself Gregory pulled the mountain device from his pocket and nimbly dodged as Subeta grabbed at it. “Hang on a sec” he said.”
He held the device out in front of him and reached into a small black cave on the front, withdrawing a small spiky gem that radiated brilliant multicolored light. Subeta’s eyes lit up as she gazed upon the gem, slowly reaching out towards it. Gregory held it out and it was immediately snatched up and clutched by the fairy.
“What is it?” she said in wonder, “Some kind of magical reservoir?”
“Well no” Gregory replied, “It’s more of a thingy that does stuff…”
Subeta looked up, “Do you not know what it does?”
“I mean its not a complicated thingy” Gregory said. He put the mountain device down to use his hands to explain. “It takes stuff” he said making motions, “And collects it in the thing which lets it do stuff with-“ He coughed into this hands, “Margh places for tighm traghvle…” He looked away, “Or something…”
When he looked back Subeta had the mountain device in her hands and was reaching inside. “And what’s this thing for? A pocket dimension storage device?”
“Ah da da da!” Gregory said pulling the device from her hands, “No touchie!”
As he pulled the device away Subeta’s hand pulled a large wooden case from inside. She was forced to tuck the gem under her arm to hold the case up with both hands. It was about two feet long and one foot wide, made of a high quality oak wood and shaped almost like a coffin. There were several intricately carved wooden roses attached in several places.
Panic welled up in Gregory’s chest, that fairy could not be allowed to hold that box!
“RAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGHHHH!!!!!”
His arms transformed into huge serpents and lashed out, wrapping around the box and pulling it to him. His arms changed back to flesh and he held the box clutched to his breast with an iron grip.
“What was THAT?” Subeta asked in shock.
Gregory looked about nervously, “Oh nothing… Hey I should probably be going, you keep that gem safe now ok?” He hurried to the exit of the cave, “I mean it: keep it safe!”
Subeta was still a bit dazed but the gem quickly got her sprits up again. “Ok then uh Gregory! Thanks for the gem! Feel free to give me presents anytime!”
Rushing outside the cave Gregory pulled out the mountain device while balancing the box with his other arm. “Teleport! Teleport now!”
An unseen rock sent him falling to his face, a brilliant yellow light causing him to disappear into thin air before he could hit the ground.

Gregory reappeared in a small clearing, curling up around the box as he slammed into the dirt. He sat up and placed the box on the ground in front of him, staring intently at the markings on its surface. Birdsong alerted him to his location, he was still in the Chidokai Forest afterall. Thankfully the clearing was empty save for a few small trees and a massive metal chair like structure.
“Oh hey” Gregory said aloud, “Just where I meant to go.” He turned his attention back to the box. “But this… If this is what I think it is… It’s impossible!”
He ran his hand along the top of the box, the smooth wood curving perfectly and had not a single blemish. He turned it to it faced long ways on the ground facing away from him.
“Only one way to find out I guess…”
Gregory slowly opened the ornate box, holding his breath as the top of the case moved to reveal its contents. A small gasp escaped his lungs as he looked inside. The box was lined with pure white silk with soft cushions in the lid. It was what lay in the silk that was so amazing. Lo and behold: a two foot tall female doll! It was dressed in orange pantaloons with a delicate yellow overcoat of Victorian fashion. Its hair was a bluish green and fell to the sides of the head in braids. A small yellow heart with a flower was stuck in the hair, made entirely of high quality lace. In face most of the clothing was made of lace, with white frills around the sleeves and pants as well as around the base of the coat. There was also a large blue bow in the center of the shirt and small wooden shoes attached with lace over fine white leggings. Lying in the doll’s right hand was a small violin and on the right an orange and pink umbrella. Such detail was put into the doll that it seemed lifelike.
Gregory put his hands into the case and gently lifted the doll from its case. It was much heavier than it looked, and the fabric was extremely soft. His mouth hung open, “Uhhh……”
Suddenly the doll sprung to life, squirming about violently in his hands. “Put me down you creep!” The doll’s left hand lifted up into the air before bringing the violin bow down into the flesh of his hand.
Naturally he withdrew in shock, the doll falling to the ground with a bump.
“Ow!” Gregory said loudly, “I’m sorry Kanaria I didn’t know if you were awake or not!”
The doll was busy rubbing her head from the short fall but hearing the voice looked up and opened her eyes, revealing them to be faded emerald. Upon seeing the owner of voice her face lit up with happiness. “Oh its you Gregory!”
“Yes” Gregory said blushing, “Again I’m very sorry about what just happened Kanaria.”
Kanaria put her hand to her head and smiled weakly, “It’s perfectly alright Gregory. Sorry for jabbing you like that, I wasn’t completely aware of the situation and hurting you certainly wasn’t part of my plan.”
Getting to a kneeling position Gregory put his hands out, “I’d certainly like to know what that plan is! This is hardly the time to surprise me like this!”
Kanaria put her hands on Gregory’s fingers and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. “Well surprising people is what I’m best at you know” she said proudly, “I’ve been stalking you so well that if it weren’t for that nap I took you never would have even known I was here!”
“Nap huh?” Gregory replied flatly, “And I suppose the reason your box was inside hammerspace is equally clever? You wouldn’t mind enlightening me on why you were stalking me would you?”
Kanaria put her right hand to her hip and waggled the violin bow around with her other. “Well” she said with an authoritative tone “Ever since that fight you had with Barasuishou I put it in my head to find out where you disappeared to all the time. Brilliant I know. Did you use magic I wonder? Or did you travel like us maybe?” She shook her head. “Anyway, I started following you around and surveying from a safe distance (something I’m quite good at by the way) and waited for you to leave again. The perfect time came when you had finished a lunch with everyone at the house my sisters are living at.” She motioned with the violin bow as she continued; “So I waited until you left and followed you down an alleyway without being detected, and that’s when I saw the portal open up! Where did it go to I wonder? So I followed you in.”
“But Kanaria” Gregory said finally, “Everyone knows about where I come from!” He slapped his forehead, “Right… You weren’t there were you?”
She slapped his knee with the bow, “Do you want to hear my brilliant plan or not?”
“Sorry” he replied, “Continue.”
Kanaria coughed, “So anyway. Upon reaching the place Magic Mountain I followed you around until I found a small creature that explained everything to me. That’s when I decided to follow you on one of your adventures in the hopes of finding something that can give me the edge against my sisters.”
Gregory sneezed. “Sorry…”
“So at that point” Kanaria continued tapping her foot, “I decided to sneak my case through one of the portals into what the creature said was ‘a place that you always come to on adventures’ and waited for you there.” She let out a sigh, “But after a long time waiting I got tired and decided to take a quick nap.” She held up her hands, “Next thing I know I’m here. Are you on an adventure right now maybe?”
“Yes I am” Gregory replied, “But this is no place for a doll. I can’t let you come along.”
Kanaria’s face became very pouty, “Why can’t I come along? There’s no way a brilliant doll like me could get into trouble.”
“It’s just too dangerous” Gregory said, “I mean this is Felarya!”
The expression on Kanaria’s face became a combination of pouting and sadness. She put her hands behind her back and lowered her head.
“Okay okay” Gregory said finally, “You can come.” Kanaria’s face lit up. “But” he continued, “I have to insure your safety.”
The doll cocked her head, “And just how will you do that I wonder?”
“Okay where’s Pizzicato?” Gregory asked, “Get him out here.”
A small green light came out of Kanaria’s hair and floated next to her head. “Here he is” she said.
“Good” Gregory said reaching into his pocket, “Give him this.”
He held up a small playing card. It had a picture of an iron cage with a small mustached man in a top hat running through the bars. He handed the card to Kanaria.
“Have Pizzicato hold onto this at all times and make sure you have him on your person. It’s a get out of jail free card, and if something terrible were to happen to you it will prevent it.” He rummaged inside the mountain device for a moment. “I’ve linked it to my M5 so it should teleport you to me in case of its activation.”
Kanaria handed the card to the green orb which then disappeared into her hair. She then pulled a pair of binoculars out of seemingly nowhere.
“So is it time to go maybe?” She asked, “I wonder where you DO plan on going? If you did plan at all.”
Gregory stood up, now towering over the doll who only stood up to about his knees. “Well I was planning to visit a friend of mine at a specific time, but with you along I’ll have to visit her at a more specific time.” He held the M5 up and pointed it at Kanaria’s wooden case. “First we need to put your case back in a safe place. Do you need your umbrella?”
Kanaria crossed her arms, “No I don’t think so. If we’re going somewhere dangerous I’ll only need my violin. That should work.”
“Alright then” Gregory said, “We’ll just put the rest away then.” He waved his hands “Bippity boppity boo!”
A small blue goo ball shot out of the M5 and closed the case before wrapping around it and pulling it inside the device. Kanaria watched the whole thing in silent awe.
“We better get going now” Gregory said putting his right hand down in the doll’s reach. “Hold my hand, its going to be a teleport.”
Kanaria gripped her violin with excitement, “I wonder what it will be like?”
“It will be fun” he replied, “Just hold on tight.”
With a triumphant pose Gregory held the M5 above his head, a bright yellow light shooting up from its top like a beam. With quick movements the beam split into three and shot down, changing angle several times to create a diamond cage around him. As the orange light filled out the areas between the bars Kanaria huddled up closer to Gregory’s leg and her grip on his hand tightened. Now that the cage was formed it slowly began rotating, spinning around and around while getting faster and faster. Soon it was not the cage that was spinning, but the world around them! The sun and moon flew across the sky in reverse going faster and faster. The trees slowly shrank as new ones grew; animals and predators moving in reverse at high speeds. Soon a swarm of red four armed creatures went by; chased in reverse by a UFO. After that everything began to blur together, moving too fast for the eye to see. Soon a blur shape emerged from the blur, a snake girl with blonde hair, about twelve feet tall and twice as many long. Gregory waved to her. Crisis! The sound was not heard by the ears but by the mind. The spinning began to slow and the picture started coming into focus. The snake girl was slithering in their direction. Help! No! It was Kanaria, she was panicking. She tugged at Gregory’s arm. He looked down at her to reassure her, the hand holding the M5 above his head lowering slightly. Suddenly a very bad feeling came over Gregory, his eyes widening so much they might have popped out of his head. He looked over his shoulder to see Crisis approaching where they were, the spinning almost at a stop. What put panic in Gregory’s heart was the M5: he watched in slow-motion at it touched the orange light, the device sliding through the barrier. Crisis tripped, falling to the ground with her hair flying into the air. Eyes popping Gregory watched as a strand of hair touched the M5. New time zone! Quickly! A deafening roar filled his mind as the world began to spin twice as fast as before. Crisis, Kanaria, and himself were knocked out by the chaotic maelstrom. There was a flash of pure white light before all became dark. Darkness… Darkness…

Gregory and Kanaria found themselves standing in the middle of the clearing in the same place they had started, the orange diamond still rotating around them. It came to a sudden stop and shattered, sending flecks or orange light scattering all over the clearing. Sounds and smells filled their senses, overpowering the doll and causing her to collapse to the ground.
“Kanaria!” Gregory cried crouching down, “Are you ok?” He lifted her into a sitting position. She lay in his arms limply for several moments.
“I’m ok” she replied softly, finally opening her eyes. “Why is teleporting so scary? That’s hardly how I imagined it to be otherwise I would have planned for it better.”
Gregory helped the doll to her feet, “It wasn’t supposed to go like that. It was entirely my fault.”
“What happened?” Kanaria asked, “And where are we?”
Standing shakily Gregory surveyed the scene. The clearing was basically the same as when they left besides the addition of trees and the subtraction of the giant metal chair.
“The real question isn’t ‘where’ are we” he replied, “But ‘when’ are we. That was time travel Kanaria, and when I let the M5 touch the barrier it totally screwed us all.”
The doll rubbed her sore head, “Time travel? Is that possible I wonder? Maybe that scary snake girl was part of it?” She held her hands to her mouth. “Did she do something evil that caught you off guard?”
“Well she was part of it, but nothing evil.” Gregory replied, “That was the friend I was visiting. She isn’t that scary when you get to know her.” He looked around, “But where is she? I panicked and tried to change our destination time period to something else. It seems I wasn’t in time.”
Kanaria became thoughtful. “If we’re in the same place at a different time, what is that time I wonder?”
“Two thousand years ago” Gregory said flatly, “Give or take a century or two.”
Kanaria began looking around the clearing in wonder, “Wow! What was it like back then, I mean now?”
“We’re going to find out” Gregory said, “So stay close, and I mean really close. I still have to figure out what happened to Crisis. That’s the snake girl you saw.”
“What did happen to her?” Kanaria asked.
Crossing his arms Gregory began pacing in a circle. “She touched the M5 and got sucked into the time field.” He looked up, “She should be here with us now but there could be time lag.” He pulled out the mountain device and looked inside the cave at the bottom. “Dammit! There is time lag! Around three day’s worth!”
Kanaria concentrated, “Can we travel three days into the future and meet her? Certainly adding three days to our time would put us at where she is.”
“No no that wouldn’t work” Gregory replied unhappily. “Because she was in our timefield it still counts as active so moving around now would only make it worse.” He sighed deeply, “No we’ll have to wait until she shows up and then return her to her own time zone.”
“What will we do until then?” Kanaria asked looking around nervously, “Do we have somewhere safe to stay maybe?”
Gregory smiled, “Do we have someplace safe to say? Follow me and we’ll find out.”
He walked to the far side of the clearing with Kanaria running after him. “Slow down!” she cried, “Remember how short my legs are!”
“Sorry” Gregory said slowing so the doll could catch up, “I forgot.”
Kanaria crossed her arms and snorted, “How you could forget something so obvious I can’t imagine.” She looked through the trees ahead of them, “What are we looking for anyway?”
They came out of the trees to the edge of a massive cliff overlooking a large valley. Gregory held out his arm and pointed, “Take a look for yourself!”
Kanaria looked over the edge and gasped. Far below in the valley stood a city, a city so large it bent her perception of scale to unimaginable ends. Two huge rivers twisted through the valley and intersected in the middle of the city, their sheer width seeming too large to truly exist. The city itself took up nearly half the valley, with several elevated places with extravagant temples walled off with thick battlements. The walls around the city looked nearly a mile thick, if that were even possible, and weapons of all sizes adorned the walls outfitted with everything from ballistics to huge intricate gemstones. The city itself was separated into several sections: the inner city being very rich looking, the middle city being almost industrial, and the outer city filled with houses and markets. The construction of the buildings was extremely inconsistent with structures ranging from sun baked bricks to processed stone. The many temples and important looking buildings ranged in size and shape from pyramid structures to tall towers filled with windows. One particular tower stood out against the others though: for in the middle of the city stood the tallest tower within sight adorned on its top with a massive blue orb made of some type of crystal. The city also had four main gates, one facing each compass direction, with many smaller gates all along the wall. The roads leading in every direction were filled with travelers and traders from all conceivable cultures; trade was obviously a large part of this city’s revenue.
Gregory held out his arms, “Behold! The city of Ur’Sagol!”
“Uhh-” Kanaria stammered.
“I know” Gregory said, “I’m taken aback myself. Seeing this place while not destroyed in person for the first time is quite spectacular. It’s everything I imagined and more.”
Kanaria leaned against Gregory’s leg for support, her green sprite Pizzicato flying around her head. “How could a place like this ever get destroyed?”
“Remember” Gregory replied, “We are in the past. In the future which is really the present this place is nothing but crumbling ruins. Even a city like this can’t withstand the wrath of a dimensional guardian.”
“Dimensional guardian?” Kanaria asked softly.
Gregory nodded, “Yes indeed. Felarya has several extremely powerful beings that regulate it in order to keep it in the state most fitting its founding principles.” He gestured to the city. “The residents of Ur’Sagol stepped over their boundaries and therefore were removed from the equation.”
Both he and the doll continued to stare at the city in admiration, Kanaria still too stunned to utter a word. Pizzicato disappeared again and left the two standing amidst the sounds of the forest.
“Well” Gregory said breaking the trance, “Lets not stand here and gawk! I came back here for a reason so let’s get to it!”
“I thought we came back here by accident” Kanaria asked snapping to attention.
Gregory sighed, “I did send us to a different time zone by accident, but I chose this one because I’ve been planning on coming here for a while anyway.”
“Whatever for?” Kanaria asked.
“To do research” he replied, “I’ve been curious to see what life was like in Felayra so long in the past. We won’t get to see that much of it though, what with waiting for Crisis and all.”
Kanaria shuddered, “But if this place really is as dangerous as you say why would we ever want to see more of it?”
“Well if you remember” Gregory sighed, “With my M5 I’m pretty much never going to end up in serious trouble. Its because you’re along and the situation that I can’t go off exploring as much as I’d like. Another complication is that because we’re in the past I don’t want to use my M5 as much, changing the time stream and all.”
Kanaria carefully leaned over the cliff and looked down before quickly backing away; it was several miles to the ground below.
“How are we going to get to the city then?” she asked, “Even someone as brilliant as me can see that it would take days to get down there.”
Gregory put his hand to his chin, “If we… Maybe just once we could…” He threw his hands up, “Alright just this once.” He looked down to Kanaria, “I’ll have to carry you for this. Is that ok?”
“What do you plan on doing?” the doll asked, “Are you planning on jumping off the cliff?” She squirmed, “I don’t think that’s a good idea at all!”
“You can trust me” Gregory replied, “We’ll be fine.”
Kanaria continued to squirm, “I don’t like it I don’t like it….” She calmed herself, “But I’ll trust you…”
“Great!” Gregory said clapping, “Stow your violin and get up on my shoulders.”
With a flash of light Kanaria’s violin faded into nothingness. She lifted her arms and Gregory gently lifted her up and onto his shoulders where she immediately clutched his head.
“Alright now hang on” he said stepping to the cliff.
Kanaria closed her eyes, “Just get this over with as quickly as possible.”
Lifting one foot over the edge Gregory held Kanaria with one and and held up his M5 with the other. “Hold on tight now cause here we go!”
With a small hop both he and his passenger left the edge of the cliff and into open air. Kanaria put Gregory’s head in a deathgrip and screamed as they began falling, the air whizzing past their heads like a hurricane. The world spun like a blender making Gregory extremely dizzy. He held up his M5 and pushed a button on the very top and then put it out in front of him. With a loud snap the top opened up and several metal bars shot out. They formed together in a triangle behind him and then a thin sheet of transparent steel connected between them. Gregory leaned forward and the air caught up the frame, turning it into an instant glider. With a sharp jolt they went from falling at terminal velocity to flying at mach one, speeding through the air like an arrow.
Kanaria opened her eyes when the wind died down and said something, though it was still lost due to the speed they were traveling at. It was most likely something to do with the way they were soaring over the valley, the bright sun filling the warm air around them with pleasant winds. Leaning forward they went into a sharp decent, aiming near the bottom of the cliff to avoid being seen by the city walls. Kanaria’s grip tightened again as they spiraled downwards at even increasing speeds. A hundred feet above the ground Gregory pulled up into a stall and pushed another button on the M5, and with several loud clicks the glider turned into a small metal umbrella. He held it above their heads and they slowly descended to the ground. They landed gently and the umbrella disappeared into the M5.
They were standing several paces away from the cliff base in the shade, short yellow grass stretched as far as the eye could see. A wide dirt road was a ways to their right that led to the city which could be seen in the distance.
“Well” Gregory said, “That was certainly fun. It’s been a while since I landed by umbrella.”
Kanaria’s head was spinning and she stammered through nerves when she spoke. “Th-that was certainly an in-interesting experience. L-lets never d-do that again!”
“Oh come on” Gregory replied gently lowering her to the ground, “That wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been. We could have had to walk down here!”
Still a bit dizzy Kanaria kept hold of his hand for several moments. “I suppose that was rather brilliant, but I still don’t like it at all. I’d rather face Shinku when she’s angry then do that again.” She thought for a moment, “Well maybe not…”
The sun was almost three quarters finished with its journey across the sky and Gregory crossed his arms in concern.
“This isn’t good” he said, “At this rate we’ll barely make it to the city by nightfall.”
Kanaria’s stomach growled, “Can’t we just fly there instead? I can’t spend the night out here in the dirt without food or tea!”
“We won’t” Gregory replied, “But we can’t fly there either. We need to keep a low profile and that would draw lots of attention.” He looked over to the road. “I’m sure we can find a caravan that can give us a lift.”
The sound of Kanaria’s growling stomach filled the air. Gregory looked down and let out a sigh.
“I’m sorry” Kanaria said, “It’s just that I skipped lunch when I was hiding.” She became depressed, “I don’t want to die of starvation out in the middle of nowhere! I’m supposed to beat my sisters and become Alice!”
Gregory kneeled down next to her and put his hand on her shoulder. “Now listen here Kanria, you’re under my protection and I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to you. You’re not going to starve or be stranded anywhere.” He pulled his M5 out again, “Now I hate to do this but I’ll make an exception for you.”
The device hummed and jiggled for a few moments and a small hard omelet popped out the cave on the front. Gregory handed it to Kanaria and her expression changed to one of pure joy.
“Yeah I know they’re your favorite” Gregory said standing up, “Now hurry up and eat it so we can get going.”
He turned to look down the road as Kanaria sat down to eat her egg roll. She smelled it and tears came to her eyes, it was her favorite food in the entire world. With a squeal of delight she held the egg up to her mouth for the first bite. Just before she bit down there was a flurry of feathers as a small colorful bird swooped down and snatched her lunch from her hands, flying away into the bushes with a caw of delight.
Gregory turned around to see a devastated Kanaria staring at her empty hands in shock. He put his hand to his forehead and sighed. “You have got to be kidding me.”
He kneeled down next to her again and pulled out his M5, a push of a button producing another egg roll. “Here you go” he said handing it over. He took out a small metal clasp and put it on the end of the egg, “This time you shouldn’t have a problem.”
“Thank you so much!” Kanaria said happily.
She held it up to her mouth and looked around carefully. After a few moments she felt it was safe and put the roll in her mouth. In a flash another bird swooped down for the egg roll. The metal clasp on the roll suddenly sprung up into a wide shield, causing the bird to fly directly into it and flopping to the ground in a feathery heap. It quickly recovered and flew into the bushes with a cry of disgust.
“Well that took care of that” Gregory said smiling, “Now go ahead and enjoy your lunch.”
Kanaria took a bite from the egg roll, a tear rolling down her cheek. “It’s so delicious!” she said with her mouth full, “Everything is beautiful and pristine in the world!”
The roll was gone several bites later and Gregory stood up to face the road. “Well now that you’ve got your lunch its time to head off. We want to make it to the city before nightfall after all.”
He bent over and Kanaria allowed him to lift her back onto his shoulders, “Do you think we’ll find someone to give us a lift?” Kanaria asked, “I’m sure once they see a doll as beautiful as me they’ll jump at the chance to have us along.”
“No doubt” Gregory replied, “But lets find someone first.”
It took a couple minutes to walk to the dirt road and the evening sun made it difficult to see in the direction most of the traffic would be coming from. Gregory stopped at the edge of the road and held up his hand to shield his face.
“I can’t see much” he said, “But hopefully someone will come along soon. If we get caught out here at night we’ll be in the same situation as a Pikmin.”
“What’s a Pikmin?” Kanaria asked looked down at him.
Gregory continued to look off into the distance, “Oh they’re plant animal hybrids. They have to return to their Onions before night for safety against predators.”
“Predators?” Kanaria asked nervously, “What kind of predators live out here? Are we going to die? Is it safe around here?”
A fast moving wagon appeared down the road, “We should be perfectly fine once we’re inside the city” Gregory said to the frantic doll, “Here comes someone now.”
“What do you mean ‘should be?’” Kanaria cried in despair, “If we’re in danger out here and inside the city then what are we gunna do?”
The wagon continued approaching and it became clear it was traveling at maximum speed. A black smudge appeared against the sky behind the wagon and it appeared to be matching the wagon’s speed. The wagon was being pulled to two winged serpents so keeping up with it would be quite the feat indeed. A concerned look came over Gregory’s face when the black smudge became clearer, if he had to take a wild guess he swore a centipede the size of a train was scurrying along behind the wagon on the road.
“They sure are coming up fast” Kanaria said, “And what’s that behind them?”
Gregory brought up his M5. “A giant centipede” he said calmly, “So I don’t think they’ll be stopping to pick up passengers. Don’t worry though, I’ve got a plan.”
The wagon was almost upon them and the centipede was right behind it, if they were going to hitch a ride they would have to think fast. Thankfully Gregory thinks faster then fast and he already had a plan. A large hook appeared out the end of the M5 and he braced himself, holding onto Kanaria’s legs tightly with his other arm.
“Hang on tight!” he yelled over the thundering wagon, “This is going to be close!”
The wagon sped past in a cloud of dust, the snakes hissing as foam spilled from their mouths. With a deft lunge Gregory lodged his hook into the side of the wagon, the force of the wagon pulling him and his passenger up and onto the back where they fell into a pile of folded clothing. The driver of the wagon took little notice of them as the centipede was gaining on them. Kanaria dove under a large coat and Gregory turned to see their pursuer clacking in fury just meters away. They were coming up on the city fast but he had no idea how they would get in with such a creature on their tail. He turned to face the city walls and noticed one of the crystals turning to face their direction. There was a glint of light and a huge beam of purple light shot from the wall right at them. Gregory ducked with a yell as the beam shot over their heads and into the face of the centipede, driving it into the ground in an explosion of dirt and carapace. A terrible screech could be heard as the writhing body of the monster disappeared into the dust cloud. The wagon kept moving at its breakneck pace towards the now open gate as the sun began setting behind them. The brilliant red danced off the stone as the gates sped by, several armed men hurrying to close the gate as they scraped through. The snakes pulling the wagon pulled an about face and the wagon flipped over sending all the contents as well as the three passengers flying into a panicking crowd of citizens. As they flew through the air Gregory managed to reach out and grab hold of Kanaria, pulling the doll in close to his body as he went sailing into a fruit stand. He curled into a ball and a small yellow energy field surrounded him as he impacted, sending the fruit spattering like a fountain and covering everyone in the area with fruit smoothie. The yelling and shouting continued as the serpents broke loose of their reigns and bits of broken wagon were sent into the crowd. Guards rushed to try and subdue the serpents and protect the crowd. The driver of the wagon had disappeared into the crowd where he had flown and the entire situation was full to the brim with chaos. Gregory stood up with Kanaria still clutched in his arms. Several guards were running over to them and he saw this moment to be the perfect one in which to disappear in. A yellow light surrounded him and morphed into a bird, lifting him into the air and sent him flying over the market. It dove into an ally and sped through the houses at breakneck speed, dodging here and there faster than a fast bird. Taking another turn into an ally it disappeared leaving Gregory to crash into a pile of burlap sacks. They were apparently filled with some sort of grain as they softened the blow enough to make the impact relatively painless. He stood up and checked on Kanaria.
“Are you ok Kanaria?” he asked breathless, “Come on now!”
The dazed doll opened her eyes and clutched her head, Pizzicato appeared and floated next to her. “I’m fine” she said finally, “Just a bit dizzy that’s all.”
“Thank goodness!” Gregory replied in relief. “That was a rough entrance.”
The sun was almost completely gone from the sky and the darkness was closing in around them. The ally they were in emptied in a street with several lamps so it was far from pitch, though sitting in a dark ally was hardly a good idea regardless.
Gregory stood up, Kanaria still in his arms. “We gotta find someplace to spend the night, do you think you can walk?”
“I don’t know” Kanaria replied. She let out a huge yawn, “Lets just find someplace quickly.”
Gregory gently placed her on the pile of sacks. “Listen” he said pulling out his M5, “Why don’t you get inside your case and I’ll just carry it. That way you can get some rest while I look for somewhere.”
“Ok” Kanaria said yawning again, “I guess that can work too.”
With the flick of the wrist Gregory pulled the ornate wooden case from the M5 and put it on the ground. He held it open while Kanaria climbed inside and gently shut it, and then with a grunt he lifted it up and tucked it under his arm while supporting it with his free hand. The M5 floated up and attached itself to his waist as he turned and began walking to the street.
“I’d better someplace all quick-like, can’t spend the night out here.”
Gregory stepped out into the street. They seemed to be in a residential area which was something in their favor, surely someone would be able to take them in for the night. He walked down the street of sandstone houses and admired their construction, something as simple as stone could be used in such imaginative ways. Several what he assumed to be magically lit lamps provided light to the street, certainly this society was advanced in the magical as well as scientific arts. The door to the house next to him opened and a young woman appeared. She was wearing a simple dress and was admittedly quite pleasing to look at. A young man appeared behind her shortly, dressed in peasant’s clothes and carrying a thick rod or some heavy looking material.
“I don’t like it” the man was saying, “Move out of the way.”
Gregory stopped and turned to them, readjusting Kanaria’s case and smiling pleasantly, “Uh good evening you two. Sorry to be wandering the streets at night, its just we’ve just arrived in the city and are very lost. I’m just looking for a place to stay the night and wont be bothering you fine people anymore.”
The man was clearly about to say something but the woman cut him off, “I see. You look like a nice enough man, why don’t you stay the night with us? We’ve plenty of space and you look like you’ve been through a lot today.”
Gregory looked down at himself and found his body surprisingly bruised. Even his force fields couldn’t protect him completely.
“And just what do you mean by ‘we?” the man asked cautiously.
“Oh” Gregory replied, “I have a friend traveling with me.” He held up Kanaria’s box, “She in here sleeping at the moment.”
The man pulled the woman aside for a private conversation, though Gregory’s excellent hearing allowed him to pick up on most of what they said.
“I don’t like him” the man was saying, “Walks the streets late at night with a box he says he has a friend in.”
“Oh why not?” the woman replied, “He seems nice enough and he needs help. Just look at him!”
The man grunted, “Ever since we left home together I’ve been the one to look out for you. I don’t agree with letting him stay but if you’ve set your stubborn mind on it then I’ll let him stay. I’ll just keep my eye on him.”
“You always were antsy around strangers” the women replied, “But thank you.”
They both turned around to face Gregory again.
“Come inside” the woman replied, “Just don’t let my brother bother you. He’s always been very protective of me.”
Gregory walked up to the door and bowed. “Thank you very much for allowing me to stay with you.” He turned to the brother, “I understand your actions as I’m a brother myself. Thank you for allowing me to stay.” He held out his hand, “I’m Gregory.”
The man took his hand and shook it. “My name is Sien and this is my sister Yui.”
“Very unique names” Gregroy replied, “You must not be from around here.” He held his free hand up to his mouth, “And by ‘around here’ I mean Felarya.”
They stepped inside and Sien closed the door behind them. The house was rather small, lit by a pair of lanterns and arranged in two rooms. A small wall cut off the kitchen from a area with a table and several coushined chairs while a wooden door sealed off what was certainly a bedroom.
“We are not” Sien said in a curious tone, “Very good observation. You must not be from ‘around here’ either.”
“Not at all” Gregory said happily, “As a matter of fact I come from a place very different from Felarya.” He put his hand on the wooden case, “And my friend comes from another place altogether from that as well.”
A muffled voice came from within the box. “Can you keep it down out there?”
Both Sien and Yui jumped back in surprise. “What manner of magic is this?” Sien asked.
Gregory hurried over to the table and set down the case. “Uhh not magic at all” he said, “Kanaria why don’t you come out and meet the nice people who invited us into their home?”
A grunt came from inside. Sien and Yui gathered around as the lid to the case slowly opened. They gasped in awe as the doll sat up in her case and rubbed her eyes.
“What a beautiful girl!” Yui said aloud.
“Is she real?” Sien asked.
Kanaria yawned loudly. “Why wouldn’t I be real” she asked in a scolding tone, “I’m the brilliant beauty out of my sisters. Why it will only be matter of time before I-”
“Kanaria” Gregory said interrupting her, “I’d like you to meet Sien and Yui. Sien and Yui this is my friend Kanaria.”
He smiled weakly as Kanaria lay back down again. “Nice to meet you two” she said yawning, “Now if you excuse me I need to get my beauty sleep.”
The lid closed and Gregory turned to their hosts, an embarrassed look on his face. “Sorry” he apologized, “It’s been quite the day and she’s not used to the sort of stuff we got ourselves into.” He yawned himself, “Sorry again. I’m a bit worn out myself.”
“It’s understandable” Yui said kindly, “You certainly look like you’ve been through a lot today.” She gestured to the chairs in the large area of the room. “Feel free to rest on one of the chairs; I’m sorry we don’t have any more bedrolls at the moment.”
Gregory picked up Kanaria’s case and trudged over to one of the chairs, curling up in it around the wooden box. “Thank you very much” he said yawning again. “For letting us… Stay… In your… Home…”
As the last word was said he fell fast asleep, the snoring from inside the box belaying Kanaria’s alertness level as well. A multicolored shield of light popped up and surrounded the chair they were resting in, the light sending a multitude of colors dancing about the room. Sien and Yui watched on in amazement.
Sien scratched his chin, “He certainly is an interesting boy. Is it safe to have him around?”

Kanaria awoke to darkness, not surprising considering she was still inside her case. She yawned and pushed on the lid, slowly opening it and letting bright sunlight in. She sat up and rubbed her eyes before opening them and taking a look around. Her case was sitting on the wood floor of what appeared to be a brick home. There were a couple chairs and a small table and a large open wall space that led around a corner and to a door. This was odd, had there been redecorating while she was asleep? The truth hit her like a thunderbolt.
“Ahh!” she screamed in panic, “Where am I?” She began looking franticly about, “Gregory? Where are you Gregory? I’m going to die here I just know it!”
Yui’s kind face appeared from around the corner. “Kanaria? I’m so glad to see you awake!”
Kanaria’s pupils shrank, “Who are you? You’re that girl from last night!” She clasped her hands together, “What did you do with Gregory?”
“Gregory said this was likely to happen” Yui said smiling; “Come over to the table, he left something for you.”
Kanaria cautiously climbed out of her case and followed Yui into the dining area, her eyes darting in every corner. They came to the table which was set at human height.
“Do you need help up?” Yui asked.
“No thank you” Kanaria huffed, “I can get up myself.”
Pizzicato appeared as the doll climbed onto the chair and pulled herself up to table height. She peered over the edge and saw a small metal pyramid with two fist sized green bottles sticking from the front face. There was a yellow button on the left side.
“I don’t know how to work it” Yui said pushing it over, “Though he said you would.”
Kanaria put a hand to her hip, “I most certainly do. All you do is…” She scanned the object for a moment, “Push this button!”
A quiet click could be heard as the button was pressed and shortly after the top opened up. To both of their surprise a full color hologram of Gregory’s head appeared from inside, growing to almost full scale and floating above the pyramid with a hum.
“Hello Kanaria!” the recording said in his voice, “You might be wondering where I am.” Kanaria crossed her arms and frowned. “Now don’t be upset” the recording continued, “Its just that I’m doing some rather dangerous exploring and didn’t want you to be in any danger. As I think I explained to you before I came ‘back here’ to document daily life in Ur’Sagol. Right now I’m heading to the industrial sector and it would be hardly the place for a doll like you.”
“As just what does he mean ‘a doll like me?” Kanaria snorted angrily.
“I mean nothing detrimental by that of course” Gregory continued, “It’s just that I’ll be in enough danger myself so having you along would certainly be perilous. Besides: I need you to do surveillance.”
Kanaria perked up.
“Ah yes” the recording sighed, “What one can learn from a city comes in great part from its residential areas. If you would be interested Kanaria you could do some spying on the local populace and see what their daily lives are all about.”
“Well now he’s talking” Kanaria said haughtily, “I do happen to be an expert at spying.”
The hologram held up a finger. “But be warned: even in this city a talking doll, especially one as intricate and beautiful as you, is bound to attract attention. If you were seen by the wrong eyes I’m sure they would do anything to get their hands on you.” The finger pointed down, “That’s why I included these potions.”
Kanaria and Yui looked down at the green bottles. One had a white R painted on it and the other had a white M.
“The one with the M is a potion of marking” Gregory explained, “Drink it in your case and that location will be marked by the spell in the drink. Carry the bottle with the R with you, it is a potion of recall and once drunk will transport you instantly to the location marked by the first potion.”
Yui watched as Kanaria picked up the two bottles and they looked at them with fascination. “Those must have been expensive” Yui commented.
“So that covers everything I think” the recording continued; “Whenever you decide to stop surveillance just meet me back at the house, I’ll be back myself no later than nightfall. Gregory out.”
The hologram vanished and the pyramid closed up.
“He must be a very rich man” Yui thought aloud, “Being able to afford things like picture messages and teleportation potions.”
Kanaria took the two potions and got down from the table. “Oh he’s not really rich” she said while walking to her case, “He just knows the right people.” Yui followed her into the other room. “Like me for example: he knows an expert spy when he sees one!”
Yui watched as she rummaged around in her case, eventually pulling out a pair of binoculars and a yellow umbrella.
“Are you really that good at spying?” Yui asked.
Kanaria put the binoculars around her neck and swung the umbrella over her shoulder. She turned around and stuck a pose, “You bet I am!” she replied happily, “I’m so good in fact that I’ve kept tabs on my sisters for over a hundred years!”
“A hundred years?” Yui asked surprised, “You don’t seem that old.”
“Why thank you for noticing” Kanaria said twirling her umbrella, “It is true that I’m not only the smarter then my sisters but prettier too!” She turned around and sat down inside her case. “Now if you could hold your praise for a moment I need to drink this.”
She held the M bottle up to her mouth and took a drink, a loud fizzing sound filling the air for several seconds as two orbs of blue light flew upwards around Kanaria in a circle. She put the bottle down in surprise.
“I’m so sorry” she said blushing, “That was very odd.”
“So does that mean it worked?” Yui asked.
“I would assume that is all the magic requires” Kanaria replied, “I trust Gregory enough to believe it.” She got back out of her case and pointed to the door in triumph, “Now there’s no time to lose! There is spying to be done!”
Yui followed the doll strutted over to the door. They stopped in front of it and Kanaria looked up to her.
“Do you need me to open it?”
“If you don’t mind” Kanaria replied.
Yui opened the door and Kanaria stepped out into the street.
“Are you going to be alright until you get back?” Yui asked.
“Oh don’t worry about me” Kanaria replied, “After all I am the doll destined to be Alice.” She shrugged, “And besides if anything happens I can just drink the teleporting spell.” She started strutting down the street, “Until I get back thanks for everything!”
Kanaria walked two houses away before darting into a nearby ally. “Now where to start?” she asked herself.
Viewing from above was always good but the brick houses were at least two stories tall and looked difficult to climb. At least she had some cover in the shadows of the ally, Gregory was right in suggesting her keep hidden. Being seen back home was bad so here in this strange place would be even more so. She walked to the end of the ally where there were several long wooden planks lying on the ground. Pizzicato floated nearby as she surveyed the scene.
“I could use these to climb up on the roof couldn’t I?” She tried lifting one but it was too heavy, “Or perhaps not.”
Pizzicato flew up to the roof of the left house and hovered near the edge, his faint green light illuminated a coiled rope ladder. It was held it place with a small wooden stake which looked quite loose.
“Wonderful!” Kanaria said happily, “What would I do without you?”
She put down her umbrella and pulled her small violin from behind her back. Holding up to her chin she took the bow and placed it to the string and slowly played three shrill notes. A small gust of wind appeared in front of the violin and sped up to the ladder, tugging at the ropes until the wooden stake came loose. Kanaria jumped back as the ladder unrolled and fell to the ground.
“That wasn’t so hard” Kanaria remarked stowing her violin and retrieving her umbrella, “Now to get this mission started.”
Pizzicato followed as she climbed the ladder, at her size it was rather difficult considering how far away the rungs were from each other. It took a couple minutes for her to climb all the way up and she reached the top short on breath.
“That wasn’t as easy as I thought” Kanaria said kneeling over to catch her breath, “If only I had wings.”
The sound of hooves on stone in the opposing street caught her attention. She walked to the roof edge and looked down to see three odd looking people on were riding horses down the street. They were odd in the way that their ears ended in points and they seemed much taller than usual. Kanaria took no notice of this of course, as she was much too focused on what was following after them. A huge butterfly much bigger than any she had seen before was being led on a rope by the last rider. It was at least the size of a kite and colored like an explosion. The proboscis was curling and uncurling as it floated along, almost unaffected by gravity.
“Look at that!” Kanaria said excitedly, “That butterfly is huge!”
The small procession hurried down the street and took a right turn. From the rooftop it seemed they were headed towards a market.
Kanaria ran after them along the rooftop, “Come on! We have to follow them!”
Pizzicato followed after her as she ran to the edge of the roof. Once she reached the edge she pulled out her umbrella and jumped into the air, the umbrella opened up and she glided to the next rooftop.
“Gregory isn’t the only one that can do that” she told her companion smartly, “I’m sure he learned it by watching me.”
Travel continued in this way until the sounds of the market could be heard. Kanaria stopped on the roof just above the first stall and peered over the edge. The ability to stay unnoticed is one of the best skills of a master spy. She would have said this out loud but Pizzicato already knew and she was trying to stay hidden.
“Where did the butterfly go?” she whispered.

Down below the market ran the length of the street, a block or two up ahead turning into a market square type market. There were many people walking about the stalls below her, some buying and some selling. Kanaria had never seen so much variety in products either: pottery and earthen ware, trinkets and odd relics, small almost electronically devices and colorful crystals, and not to mention hundreds of foodstuffs like she couldn’t even imagine in her wildest dreams. Further on the stalls seemed to change into clothing and woven ware, and beyond that sounds of animals could be heard.
Kanaria caught a glimpse of the butterfly’s wings disappearing down the street.
“Look there!” she said, “It’s going down the street further!”
She immediately started down the rooftops after it, watching her footfalls just enough to scamper across the wooden beams used for repair work for the stalls. The rest of her attention was devoted to watching the wings of the butterfly bob up and down over the heads of the crowd. Only watching your feet half the time means that objects have more time to catch you off guard, which a potted plant quickly did.
“Oh nooooo!” Kanaria wailed as she fell over the edge of the roof.
She tumbled down the cloth roof of one of the stalls and fell a second time, this landing putting her in a small hand pulled cart filled with green vegetables. She sat up and shook the leaves out of her hair and looked up, finding herself face to face with a little girl of eight.
“Uhhhh” Kanaria stammered, “Hello?”
The girl didn’t answer. She was looking right at her, was she blind? Upon closer inspection the girl’s eyes seemed to be with sight, although there was something odd about them.
“Come now” an elderly voice called, “Leave the man to his work.”
“Yes ma’am” the girl said, turning to leave.
The cart jolted and started off, the bump flipping Kanaria over again. When she finally got herself upright again the girl was nowhere to be seen.
“What an odd girl” she said to herself, “Wonder what her problem was?”
Suddenly realizing she was completely exposed Kanaria immediately looked about for a hiding place, the leafy greens startling her as the perfect one. She dove underneath the greenery and buried herself as best she could.
“Put your head down” she commanded the pixie near her head, “You don’t want to be seen do you?”
As quick as a wink Pizzicato disappeared behind her head, where he kept going being known to him and his master alone. Where the hand cart was going wasn’t known by either of them however, but like it or not they were about to find out the hard way. From her position in the greens Kanaria could see many fenced cages filled with animals of all types. Some she recognized like horses and dogs but others were completely new to her. The amount of heads and legs varied from animal to animal but all of them didn’t quite sit well with her, the only one she actually cared for being the butterfly.
“Where did that butterfly go?” she asked herself, “I wonder if it- oomph!”
With a bump the cart came to a stop, turning around to face an open gate. Kanaria scrambled in vain as it was tipped into the pen, tumbling head over heels into a pile of green feed.
“Now I know what a salad feels like” she said holding her head. She righted herself and popped out of the mound. “Uh oh!”
A huge turtle-like animal was staring at her, its head alone twice her size. The entire beast must have been the size of a car or bigger, although it didn’t seem that aggressive. It lowered its head and opened its huge mouth, taking a large portion of the greenery next to Kanaria.
“Hey you seem kinda hungry” she said nervously, “You mind eating somewhere else?”
It came down for another bite and Kanaria was forced to scurry backwards to avoid its clamping jaw.
“I’m running out of room here!” she said franticly.
She heard a shout behind her. The beast was coming back for another bite and she was backed up against a post. Suddenly she felt a firm grip around her collar and she was pulled from the pen and into the air. She was turned dangling in the air to face a rough looking man with a short beard.
“Look what I found in the feed” he was shouting, “Some kinda doll.”
Kanaria began kicking furiously, “I am not just ‘some doll” she said angrily, “I happen to be the prettiest and smartest doll in the world!”
The man was clearly surprised, “It can talk!”
“Yes I can!” she said in a huff, “Now put me down this instant!”
The man obliged more out of dumb shock than anything else as his partner came up to have a closer look. One of the odd looking people across the way had also taken notice and was quickly skirting in their direction.
“Well look at that!” the second man said in astonishment, “It really is a talking!”
Kanaria brushed herself off and snorted, “You two act like you’ve never seen me before. With my fame I’d think everyone would have heard of me by now.”
The pointed ear man walked up behind her; “Excuse me sirs, is this doll yours?”
“Cant say she is” the first man replied, “Found her in the ur’iek load just now.”
With one smooth movement the man bent down and scooped Kanaria up, turned around, and started jogging across the market.
“Hey come back here!” the first man called after him.
Kanaria struggled against her captor as he slid into a nearby ally, “Put me down you big oaf! Don’t you know who I am?” She pulled her violin bow out and jabbed it into the man’s hand, the immediate effect being that he dropped her to the ground.
He stopped as she tumbled to a stop. “That was unkind” he said flatly.
“What you did was unkind” Kanaria replied as she got to her feet, “Picking someone up without permission is unheard of! You should apologize.”
The man ignored her anger, “How did an enchanted doll like you get out here in the animal market anyway? Is your owner nearby?”
“I don’t have an owner” Kanaria replied, clearly not understanding her situation, “Although I do own a medium. She’s not around though.”
“Perfect” the man said, and with speed uncanny for his size leapt forward.
Kanaria jumped back just in time, landing on a pile of boxes to her left. “Now you just stay back now” she warned, “I don’t want to get angry on you.”
“I think not” the man sneered, two bony hands coming out of his robes, “You’re coming with me.”
He waggled his fingers and a bolt of blue energy shot from his fingertips. Kanaria dodged nimbly to the side and the energy hit the box, freezing it solid.
“If it’s a fight you want” Kanaria said pulling her violin out, “Then it’s a fight you’ll get! I happen to be a brilliant tactician you know.”
The man smiled, “And what are you going to do? Lull me to sleep?”
“Perhaps” she replied.
With the flick of her wrist Kanaria sent the bow across the strings, a pleasant melody filling the air. It was her turn to smile, for as she played a wind picked up around her.
“Nice trick” the man said, “But a little wind isn’t going to save you.”
Kanaria played faster and louder, the wind turning from a breeze into a small tornado that surrounded her in a wall of wind. Seeing this the man snarled and shot another blue blast, but alas it simply bounced off the whirling gale surrounding the doll.
“Now for the crescendo” Kanaria said, and began playing with vigor.
The wind whipped up into a maelstrom, pulling debris from the alleyway into itself. The destructive tempest changed direction towards the man, assailing him with a dozen blows from wood and stone alike. The force sent him flying backwards down the ally where he landed on his behind. Kanaria smiled and stopped her song.
He got up growling, “You’ll pay for that doll!”
Kanaria’s smile faded as the man lifted his hands into the air, two pillars of fire appearing below each one. He lunged forward and the fire followed, whirling around Kanaria and forming a circular prison. Kanaria backed up against the wall of the building, the fire closing in on all sides. The man walked up to the edge of the ring and smiled down on her.
“As you see your little tricks can only do so much” the man said, “Let’s see you counter this!”
Kanaria began playing franticly, a small tornado whipping up around her. The wind made the fire flicker; even this magical flame could not withstand a tempest.
“I don’t think so” the man growled.
A bolt of blue energy shot through the fire and hit Kanaria’s strumming hand, freezing it and the bow to the violin. Panic gripped her heart; it was the end of her for certain. Pizzicato suddenly flew into vision, leading her gaze down to her right coat pocket. Oh course! The potion!
“Looks like you’re all mine” the man said advancing forward, “You’ve got nowhere to go and your tricks are all used up.”
Kanaria pulled the bottle out of her pocket and Pizzicato disappeared again. She quickly held it up to mouth and took a swig, the man reaching down to grab her. Two blue orbs of light flew up from the ground and circled around her and a whooshing sound filled her ears.
“Kanaria!”
She opened her eyes. Gregory was standing in front of her with a concerned look on his face. They stood in the front room of Yui’ and Sien’s house, Yui herself standing in the background.
“I-I’m ok” Kanaria stuttered while patting herself down, “I made it out!”
“Made it out of where?” Gregory asked, “If I do recall my special effects correctly you just used the potion of recall.”
Gregory caught her as she sank to the ground. “I was trapped by a man with pointed ears” she said softly, still a bit stunned. “There was fire everywhere and I couldn’t use my violin.”
“I noticed” Gregory replied, “It’s frozen to your hand. You must have been in quite the pickle.”
“Is everything alright?” Yui asked walking up behind, “Oh my! Your hand!”
Gregory pulled a small stone from his pocket, “I got it.”
He put the stone on the ice and it slowly melted. After a few moments Kanaria’s hand was free and Gregory gently lifted her into one of the chairs.
“There you go” he said smiling, “Not as good as an ice heal but it gets the job done.”
Kanaria smiled, a fair bit exhausted from her adventure. “Thank you.”
“Looks like you’ve had it for today” Gregory said, “I heard you went out into the marketplace today. Had fun I hope?”
Pizzicato appeared again and floated next to Kanaria’s head. “Mostly…”
“You should let her rest” Yui said, “The poor thing looks about to collapse.”
Gregory nodded, “Good idea! Kanaria, why don’t you take a rest in your case for a while? I’ll go finish looking around the market. Anything there you wanted to buy?”
“There was this butterfly” Kanaria replied, “It was huge.” She yawned softly, “I wanted to get a closer look at it.”
Gregory helped her into her case. “Sounds brilliant” he said, “I’ll go take a look and see if I can get a picture of it for you.”
“Alright” Kanaria replied yawning again.
She slowly lay down in her case and watched as Pizzicato flew in above her, his faint green glow lighting up the inside of the box. Gregory slowly began closing the lid.
“I’ll be back soon” he said, “You’ll be safe here don’t worry.”
Kanaria nodded as the lid closed, leaving her in the darkness of her case, dark save for the glow of Pizzicato that is. She sleepily batted at him and he took the hint. With a faint jingle he flew into her hair and darkness wrapped fully around her.

The noonday sun flooded in the small window and filled the room. Gregory lay on one of the chairs with Kanaria’s case at his feet. Yui had just walked into the room and approached his chair. She gently shook it.
“Wake up!”
Gregory jolted awake, bumping the case at his feet which let out a groan. “I’m up! I’m up!”
The lid to Kanaria’s case slowly opened, a very unhappy doll sitting up and squinting in the sunlight. Pizzicato appeared next to her and bobbed up and down.
“You slept in” Yui said, “I’m sorry I didn’t wake you sooner. I know you’re expecting someone.”
“My goodness its day three isn’t it?” Gregory said fumbling for his M5, “That means Crisis will be here sometime today.”
“Hmmm?” Kanaria mumbled groggily, “Does that mean we can go home?”
Gregory stood up, “If all goes according to plan yes. But there’s still so much to see in the city.”
“Like what?” Yui asked.
“What haven’t you seen?” Kanaria added.
“The government sector!” was the excited reply. Gregory skipped to the door and turned around. “I’m afraid I can’t have you along though Kanaria, would you mind staying with Yui today? I’ll come to get you should Crisis arrive.”
Kanaria crossed her arms, “I guess so. Why you wouldn’t want a brilliant spy like me along I’ll never know.”
“Oh don’t worry” Yui said, “You can come to market with me.”
Visions of the butterfly sprang into Kanaria’s mind, “I guess that won’t be too bad.”
“Thank you very much you two” Gregory said bowing, “Now if you would excuse me I’ve already slept through a good portion of the day. I need to get my move on if I want to do any documenting today.” He opened the door, “Before you say anything: I’ll get some food on the way.”
After farewells from the two girls Gregory closed the door and jumped down the steps into the street. The sun was up and shining brilliantly over the city, a perfect day for learning about government and religion. Certainly a city of this size would have plenty of both. Gregory pulled out his M5 which extended into a large umbrella. He held it above his head and slowly floated into the air.
“If people knew where I really learned how to do this I don’t know what I’d do. It would probably involve Parliament though.”
He glided just above the rooftops in order to stay out of sight, the M5brella turning the same shade of tan the buildings were for even more camouflage. It didn’t take long to reach the next ring of the city and soon the houses below were replaced with larger more professional buildings, if stone buildings could even look such. The foot traffic also increased as the street widened, large carriages and motorized vehicles going to and fro amongst the pedestrians. The once plain neighborhoods were becoming much more city-like in both look and function.
“If you think this is more city like” Gregory commented as he floated parallel to a busy street, “You should have seen the industrial sector yesterday. I kid you not when I say there was magically enhanced smog.”
Up ahead the street ended in a courtyard, itself sitting in front of a five story pyramid structure. It was a Mesoamerican type pyramid, the square kind with the steppe like construction. Not something one got to see everyday where Gregory came from, as finding a fully pristine temple would require time travel which wasn’t possible there. It seemed to serve the same function though; for as he watched a small group of people walked up the front steps and into what appeared to be the main entrance.
“This looks too interesting to miss” Gregory said intently, “I’ve got to get in there.”
Changing direction he brought his umbrella down in the closest ally, the M5 quickly returning to its normal state moments after landing. He stowed it in the air behind his hip and walked out into the busy street, immediately running into a man carrying a basket.
“Watch where you’re going!” the man said angrily, nearly avoiding a spill.
Gregory stepped aside and let him pass; “So sorry, I didn’t mean to do that.”
The man trudged off grumbling, “Tourists these days…”
There was a downtrodden elf sitting on the bottom of the temple steps and from the looks of it he was begging. Not a common place for elf to be for certain. Gregory approached him.
“Excuse me” he asked, “Do you have a moment?”
“If you have a spare shilling” the elf replied in a tired voice.
Gregory pulled his M5 out and jiggled it, a small handful of copper coins falling into his hand. He handed them to the elf who excitedly accepted them.
“Thank you!” the elf said happily, “What can I do for you?”
“Ehh” Gregory replied looking up, “I was wondering what this place was. Some kind of church I assume.” He looked back down, “But what kind is the question.”
The elf looked surprised, “How can you not know this temple? It is the commoner’s few sanctuaries. This is the place or worship for the protector of the common folk: Nee’ket.”
“Not familiar with the name” Gregory replied, “I’m not from around here you see.”
“That may explain” the elf said, “But if you have not yet paid homage you should enter immediately. A service is about to start.”
Gregory put his hand to his chin. “I think I will mate, religion is an interesting thing.” He started up the steps, “Thanks a lot guy! Don’t spend that all in once place!”
He turned and hurried up the stone steps and got in step with a young couple also heading into the temple. Still not entirely sure of what kind of temple this was he didn’t want to stick out of the crowed, so heading in with someone else seemed the best option. The arched wooden door of the temple was surprisingly small he thought, through it was decorated heavily with ornate carvings and engraved with what appeared to be some kind of shiny metal. Two guards stood guard by the door along with a priest. The couple bowed and Gregory did the same.
“El denro Nee’ket saldo” the priest said.
“El denro Nee’ket saldo” the couple replied.
The couple went inside and the priest turned to Gregory.
“Eh… Cthulhu fhtagn!” he replied hurriedly. The priest wore a puzzled look which served distraction enough for Gregory to slip inside.
The temple was truly magnificent to behold, although being a common folk temple it certainly wasn’t the best in the city if you catch the drift. It was still amazing, and Gregory spent several moments gazing around at the architecture. The domed roof was filled with candles and beautiful metal decorations hung all over the place. The pulpit stage area was way off on the other side of the building and there was plenty of standing room in front of it. Places to sit there were few, just some scattered along the walls and a couple rows near the front. Many people were walking to and from the alter area, all of them dressed in poor clothing. There were also people sitting along the wall and leaning against it. The air of the entire building was a bit chilly, a chill that could be felt just on the surface of the skin. Several of the people along the wall seemed a bit off to Gregory and seemed to be giving him curious looks. Gregory was busy admiring the carvings in the stone pillars along the wall when a cold hand grasped his shoulder.
“Aie!” he said in panic, “Listen I didn’t say the entire chant!” he stammered, “Besides its me Gregory! Come on cut me some slack here!” He turned around and found an old priest looking him in the eye with an intense stare.
“Oh whew” Gregory sighed, “You’re just a human thank goodness!”
The old man continued his studying stare, “Were you expecting something else young one?”
“Oh nothing” Gregory said nervously, “Definitnatly nothing involving R’lyeh or anything like that. Did you need something?”
A wrinkled finger pointed to Gregory’s chest, “I saw you admiring our fine temple” the man said in his creaking voice, “I feel you have not been here before.”
“Uh you got me there” Gregory replied, “I’m actually new in town and decided to stop by to see what was a going on. It’s a beautiful temple and I heard it was devoted to a Nee’ket.” He put his hand to his neck; “You’ll have to forgive me for not knowing much about her, I only know one god you see.”
“How could you have gone so far through life’s journey without knowing the grace that is our guardian Nee’ket” the man asked, “Why her power-”
Gregory had noticed two of the odd looking people were standing in a group of three other temple goers and were still giving him looks. He interrupted the old man.
“Sorry sir” he said, “But there seems to be a pair giving us dirty looks over there.” He pointed, “You think it’s because I’m new here or something or is this a traditional greeting?”
The priest turned around, “None of them are looking at you” he said confused.
“No no” Gregory replied; “Not all five of them, just those two with the red robes.”
“I only see three” the priest replied taking a second look, “Are you alright boy?”
The two robed figured seemed to have overheard the conversation as they were now striding towards them.
“That can’t be good” Gregory said nervously.
“Is there something wrong?” the old man asked.
A woman crossed paths with one of the approaching men and passed right through him with nary a backwards glance. Gregory began backing towards the door.
“No nothing is terribly wrong” he replied, “I’ve just got to be off now. Ta-ta and thanks for the hospitality.”
Gregory missed the priest’s reply as he was too busy turning, dodging people, and walking quickly to pay too much attention. He looked over his shoulder to see the two men quicken their pace, still passing through others as they came. Gregory went faster, now only meters from the door. He was going to turn and look again but a sharp warning in his heart told him to avert his eyes. A unearthly howl came from behind him and chilled his very hair follicles, letting him know more than he needed. With a hop, skip, and a jump Gregory passed through the portal of the temple doors and out into the daylight, furious howls chasing after him as he scampered down the steps and into the street. He turned around once he was at the bottom of the steps, the pang in his heart finally leaving. The two figures were gone from the doorway and he let out a sigh of relief. Was it just him or did the warm rays of the sun seem even warmer today?
“Whew!” he sighed, “Boy that was sure un-funny!”
He caught white in the corner of his eye and turned to see a figure dressed in white standing far away in the crowd. Were they looking at him? He blinked and found them gone.
Gregory wiped his forehead, “I think I’m done with temples for today. That was not only a close call, but also a near miss.” He put his hand to his chest, “I guess it’s true what they say: the darker the shadow the brighter the light casting it.”
The midday sun shone down on the busy street reminding all that cared to notice that even the simplest things in life are precious.
“Well where am I off to now?” Gregory asked himself. “I’ve had enough of religion for today, so perhaps some government exploration is in the itinerary.”
Looking up into the skyline he spotted a huge square tower that rose up extremely high above the other buildings. The geometry on it was a bit futuristic and there were several openings that appeared to be hanger bays. The top of the building had several triangular spires and there were many tesla coil contraptions along with pillars mounted with odd levitating crystals. A huge symbol was engraved on the building on each face, a prominent feature being a scale.
“Looks pretty government to me” Gregory said happily.
He hurried into a nearby ally and pulled out his M5. A large red button appeared on its bottom and he whispered something to it before pressing it. Clangs and bangs filled the ally as the M5 morphed around Gregory’s body and solidified into a small rocket, its engines roaring to life in a cavalcade of fire and smoke.
“Yeeeehaaaaaaah!”
The rocket launched into the air, turning invisible at the crest of the rooftops. It speed in an arc over the temple and buildings below and towards the large tower. As the rocket approached a large sensor dish tilted in its direction, the most logical solution being that it picked up on the rocket’s movement. M5 technology isn’t your everyday tech though, and in a matter of seconds the dish lost its signal and rotated elsewhere. The rocket shot into one of the hanger places after performing a hairpin turn, dodging around several helicopter machines before heading towards a large open door. There was a guard standing near it in a small booth, mostly oblivious to the approaching ballistic. A huge whoosh of air shocked him awake as the invisible rocket sped by and into the large hallway beyond. Gregory’s rocket continued on its kamikaze blitz down the hallway until it reached an elevator. It looked like the rocket would certainly crash in fire and shrapnel when the stairway nearby opened and a lab coat wearing woman stepped out. The rocket turned on a dime and shot into the stairwell, spinning down and down until it reached a floor that seemed government enough. With a sputter and splat the rocket slammed the door open and shot into a nearby closet. There was a explosion of noise as the contents of the closet were unorganized in a rushed manner.
A man in military gear was walking down the hall and upon hearing the commotion came running to the door.
“What’s going on in there?” the man demanded.
“Oh nothing” Gregory’s voice replied; “Just a malfunction in the razzle tazz conductor, should be fixed in no time.”
There was some more clattering followed by a grunt. A few moments later the door opened to reveal Gregory standing in a pile of rubber tubing in an engineer jumpsuit. He flashed a smile to the angry soldier.
“Errr… Ahoy matey!” he said.
“Watch it drod” the man replied angrily, “You engineers and your nonsense babble.” He surveyed the closet, “I want you to clean this up after you’ve done your repairs got it. Then head down to the storage floor, there’s a gate that needs repair.”
“But my next scheduled fix is in the courtroom” Gregory replied, “Shouldn’t I head there next?”
This reply was not what the gun toting man wanted. “I don’t care where you’re scheduled next!” he said loudly, “If one of the prisoners break out who has to risk their life to stop them? The scradding engineers? No! I’m the one with my ass on the line; I’m the one that has to fight them off!” He lowered his voice again and came in close, “So if there’s a problem with a cell door guess who fixes it now instead of later?”
Gregory gulped, “The engineer I suppose.”
“That’s right” the man replied, his eyes narrowing, “Now back to work.”
A relived sigh escaped Gregory’s chest as soon as the soldier had left down the hall, no doubt off to patrol someplace.
“Well somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed today” he said in an annoyed tone, “I mean risking your life for the good of all is honorable and all but it’s hardly an excuse for that kind of behavior.” He looked up and down the relatively bland hallway. “So this is a police station of sorts is it? What kind of prisoners do they have here that would require that kind of armaments? I mean this is a big city so I guess folks could get pretty nasty.”
He started towards the elevator; “I guess the courts will have to wait, I kinda want to see what this prison looks like.” He looked down at his outfit. “I better keep this on too; it seems to be believable enough.”
He wandered down the hall back to the elevator. It wasn’t a small elevator to be sure, big and silver with lots of blinking buttons all along its side. He pressed what he assumed to be the down button and waited.
“Waiting for elevators: the same in every dimension.”
There was a small ding and the doors opened, revealing a very plain metal box with a huge host of buttons on the wall to the left. He stepped inside and examined the panel.
“Now which one of these screams ‘prison cells’ to me” he asked himself.
Turning to the right he saw a small list with numbers and letters on it. He had no idea what language it was in but it was certainly a list of all the floors. Understanding of the language wasn’t necessary though as he could feel what the words meant.
“Floor twenty seven it is!” he said happily, “And yes that was a complete guess.”
He pushed the button and the elevator descended into the depths of the building. After a bit it came to a stop, the light screen above reading twenty seven. The doors opened and he stepped out.
This hall was much different than the last one; there were doors with bars lining it on both sides. Up ahead there was a corner where a guard stood watch, a intercom and weapons case mounted on the wall nearby.
“Seems I got the right floor” Gregory said to himself.
He started down the hallway towards the guard, glancing into the cells as he went. Most of them were empty, which could only be a good thing. Some of them were occupied though, and the people that sat inside them looked very rough. Not all of them were even human, he spotted a fair number of nekos and elves too.
The guard looked up as he approached. “Aye what do you want here?”
“Sorry” Gregory replied bowing, “I’m just here to fix a power problem to a cell of some sort. Do you happen to know where or what was broken?”
“Ah yes” the guard said, “It’s about time someone came to fix that.” He pointed to a nearby door. “Take the service elevator down two floors; it’s a large room on the left. You can’t miss it.”
Gregory nodded, “Thanks chap I’ll be right on that then.”
He slipped into the door with a disapproving look from the guard. It was a small dusty room with only the door to the service elevator and nothing else. There were only two buttons here so he pressed the one at the bottom.
“Service elevators are always the coolest” he said rubbing his hands together.
The door opened and he stepped inside. This control panel had many more lights than the other elevator, a fact that stirred up much curiosity in Gregory.
“Oh the repair can wait” he said mischievously, “I just need to see what’s on the bottom floor!”
With a shaking hand he pressed the absolute bottom button on the panel. The elevator screeched and began its decent, the dim ceiling light providing the only luminance. It took at least a minute for the elevator the reach the bottom, there were lots and lots of buttons you see, lots.
“Here we are at rock bottom.”
The doors opened to reveal a very different sort of building. The hallway was completely white, lit with many brilliant pure white lights. There was some exposed circuitry on the walls here and there as well as a tube or two filled with a bubbly liquid. There were only a couple doors in sight, each labeled with a small sign and an electronic screen.
“Oooo…” Gregory said, “What is this? Super secret laboratories if you ask me! Somebody’s doing sneaky research down in the depths of the city.”
He walked up to the door on the left side of the hall. The screen on the wall was displaying a strange array of numbers and symbols and the sign next to it read something that Gregory couldn’t read, what with it being in a strange language and all. Ignoring the sign he tried the door and finding it unlocked preceded into the next area.
“Secret squirrel studies huh?” he said to himself, “Interesting.”
The room he had entered was large, a hundred yards long and at least half that wide. Many tables were arranged in a pattern in the center of the room, each filled with all manner of electronic equipment as well as glass tubes and boxes. The light fixtures were almost blinding as the white walls reflected them heavily. A lab wouldn’t be complete without specimens either, and leaning up against the walls were many large boxes made of metal labeled with numbers. What caught Gregory’s eye the most however was a large steel plate along the far wall that appeared to be some kind of blast shield. He started towards it.
“Now what would they need something like that for?”
On the way he stopped by to check out some of the neat stuff on the tables. There was a large bottle filled with clear liquid that had an odd crystal floating in it. A bottle of green dust sat next to it, each of the little particles glittering in a funny manner. There were also scales of various sizes as well as bits of skin, gross. The most interesting thing he saw however was a large lightning bolt that floated completely still in the air right over a small metal panel hooked up to a box with wires.
“Some interesting stuff here.”
Gregory came to the blast shield and stopped cold, something was off. He stood there and closed his mind, finding to his distress a creeping feeling coming over his heart. Curiosity was still getting the better of him though, and thankfully the feeling wasn’t too strong. He needed to see what was behind the blast shield.
“Now how do you open this?”
He looked around for a bit before finding a big red button which he pressed. Red lights come on as the metal slowly lifted into the air, the scraping metal forcing him to cover his ears. Once the blast shield was gone it revealed there was indeed a window underneath it, although disappointingly it was completely dark on the other side. About to give up in annoyance Gregory looked to the left to find a door had also been underneath the shield, and through the window he could see a circuit breaker right next to it.
“I’m saved!” he cried happily, “Into the dark and potentially dangerous room I go!”
With a leap he landed in front of the door and opened it, ripping open the panel and flipping several breakers in as many seconds. There was a loud click and white light spilled from the ceiling. Gregory turned around to survey the contents of the room. A pang of unease struck his heart as it began beating quickly, his jaw dropping nearly to the floor.
“Deerr..”
The room was the size of a soccer feild, with its white ceiling arching upwards to a huge circular opening that went up so far it might have been the roof of the building. The thing that was affecting Gregory in such a way was not the room itself however; for sitting up against the wall was none other than a massive red skinned succubi, chainded to the wall by hand and foot with massive metal links. She was absolutely massive, guesstimations putting her at least two hundred feet tall at full height. Two smooth curling horns stuck out of her head through short purple hair, her unclothed red skin paling in the bright light. She pulled herself into a sitting position and opened her eyes, revealing them to be a brilliant violet. Her gaze snapped to the human intruder.
“Eh heh” Gregory said weakly; “Hello, how you doing.”
“You’re not a scientist” she said flatly, “What do you want?”
Gregory turned to the door only to have it slam in his face, leaving him trapped inside the room. “Oh nothing” he replied a tad nervously, “Just doing stuff and things…” He turned back to face her, “Looking around... You know.”
The demon’s posture changed, “Oh are you?” she said, her tone changing into a more sensual one, “And what are you looking at now?”
“A demon chained up to a wall” Gregory replied ignoring the seductive pose the succubi was now arranging herself into, “I’d be curious to know why you’re here. Not to mention how you could have been caught or how those chains are holding you, they don’t look fire and brimstone in origin if you catch my drift.”
“Oh it’s a terrible story” the demoness said in a hurt voice, “All I was doing was responding to the call of a man that needed some comforting when I was beset by mages with chains.” She looked at Gregory from the corner of her eye, “You’re a sensitive man so you must certainly know how brutal it is to chain up a woman.”
Gregory’s snorted; “Sensitive spiritually maybe, but not in the way you’re hoping for.”
“It was terrible” she continued, “I was dragged away to this terrible prison and bound to this wall with mystical chains. Every day the scientists come and defile me with needles and magic, it’s a nightmare.”
“Compared to where you come from this is a paradise” Gregory replied a bit annoyed; “Don’t think you can pull your seduction act on me, I know all about the games of your kind.” He held up his hand as the demoness rose up in anger, “But experimenting on living beings (demon or not) is hardly acceptable in my book. Its not like you can’t feel pain.”
“So what do you plan to do?” the succubi asked in a pained voice, “Leave me here to suffer?”
Gregory crossed his arms, “Well… I’ll make you a deal.”
“Making deals with a demon” the succubi said slyly, “Are you sure your heart will allow such a thing?”
“My heart is my business” he replied sharply, “Besides it’s a win-win for me. Do you want to hear it or not?” He waited for the demoness to back down. “The deal is this: I will free you from this place if you will tell me what I want to hear.” He rolled his eyes as a smile appeared on the succubi’s lips. “Information” he said sighing, the smile leaving her face, “Starting with your name.”
“Amunet” she said snootily, “What’s yours mortal?”
“Gregory” he replied, “And that being my real name are about as good as the chances of Amunet being yours.”
Amunet grinned, “So clever for a mortal.”
The M5 appeared from Gregory’s pocked, a small radar dish coming out of its top. “Lie detector” he said in a sing song voice, “So don’t think you can get away with anything.”
The demon frowned, “So how are you going to free me anyway?” She tugged on her chains, “A speck like you couldn’t break these shackles.”
“Heama nema neh” Gregory mocked. Suddenly he whipped up his M5 and raised his voice, “Set the captives free!”
Four beams of yellow light shot from the M5 and struck the cuffs about the demoness’s wrists and ankles, the metal splitting in two as if made of candy cane. Amunet stared at her now free limbs in shock. She recovered momentarily later and smiled down at Gregory.
“I don’t know how you did it mortal” she said, “But thank you. Your reward is living to see the end of your short life.”
Letting out a shrill yawn Amunet stood to her full height and stretched, towering over Gregory who barely stood to her ankle. After stretching she spread two huge bat-like wings and leapt into the air, ascending the circular shaft to freedom above.
“Idiot!” Gregory cried angrily.
He held up his M5 and a small burst of flame came out the bottom, shooting him into the air after the demon. In a split second he was at her feet and the M5 shot out a yellow hand of light which grasped her left ankle. With a yell of exertion Gregory pulled the M5 below his waist which had the immediate effect of pulled the succubi out of the air. The yellow hand followed through the motion and threw the demoness down, slamming her into the floor on her backside. The force of the movement sent Gregory spinning several times over before he fell, the yellow hand retracting into the M5 again. Amunet was looking upwards mouth open in surprise, a sad development as Gregory was directly over it.
“Dammit” he said as he fell.
Gregory landed with such force in Amunet’s mouth that he lodged himself in the back of her throat. He struggled in the wet confines of the fleshy death trap as her gag reflex kicked in. In a cough or two her massive tongue wriggled its way underneath him and pushed him forward and he was spat out. After exiting her mouth he bounced off her chest and onto her stomach where he slid down to her waist. He sat up dripping and dazed.
“Oh darling” Amunet said looking down at him, “Keep sliding. You know you want to.”
Gregory jumped off her waist to the ground with a red face. He shook himself off and hissed through his teeth.
“Was it something I said?” Amunet asked innocently.
A shower curtain appeared around Gregory from the M5 and after a split second of water disappeared. Once the steam cleared he was revealed to be standing facing the demoness with an upset look on his face.
“I’d be very careful of who you tempt demon” he said pointing at her face, “I’m not the kind you want to go up against I swear it.” He lowered his hand and calmed down slightly. “What did you think you were doing anyway? If I hadn’t of done that you would be dead!”
Amunet had become very curious of this mortal that stood at her feet. “How you did that I do not know, but I was in no danger foolish human.”
“Oh really?” Gregory replied angrily, “And what did you think would be up there at the top of that shaft? There must be a dozen turret encampments on the roof of this building and at least twice as many magical laser beam crystals. If you had burst through that roof you would be dead!”
“Its not like it will make much of a difference” Amunet said sadly, “Now that the alarms activated they’ll be here any moment and kill us both.”
Gregory followed her finger to the window. The inside of the lab was aglow with red warning lights and he could hear a siren through the thick glass.
“I hate it to admit your right” he said. He paused a moment before continuing. “Okay listen up: if you want to live I need you to come down here.”
Amunet gave him a confused look, “What do you mean?”
“You’re a succubi” he said impatintly, “You can change your appearance to allow easier seduction of your targets right?”
“So?” Amunet replied, “I don’t follow.
Gregory pushed a series of buttons on his M5. “So turn yourself into a human idiot, that way you’ll be the same size as me.” Amunet hesitated. “Just do it” he demanded.
In the blink of the eye an attractive young woman stood before Gregory, her pale skin offset by the brilliant red of the dress she wore.
“I chose something that you’d like” she said slyly, “You think I’m cute yes?”
Gregory was busy with his M5, “Nice try. Just get over here and hold on.”
The girl walked over and put her arm around his waist, “How romantic.”
“Can it” he replied curtly, “And get ready for launch.”
Before Amunet could reply the M5 sprouted into the same rocket from before, and this time big enough for two humans. It shot up into the air in a swirl of fire and smoke, shooting up the metal shaft at blinding speed. With the sound of twisting metal it broke through the roof and into the evening sky. Several of the crystal beam immediately targeted the rocket, but thankfully for its occupants they were easily dodged. After swooping around the roof dodging projectiles the rocket cloaked and shot off into the city, aiming down into the residential area. It landed in a ally surprisingly softly for its speed, immediately being sucked back into the M5 like a orange flavored slurpee. Amunet stood next to Gregory with a dazed look on her face.
“SCREEEEEEEEEEE!!!”
A horrible screech began emanating from the M5 so loudly that it quite woke up both Gregory and Amunet, the former fumbling around to try and shut it off. After he managed to shut it off they were still left with ringing ears for several seconds.
“Sorry about that” Gregory said, “That was just an alarm for the arrival of a friend.” He tucked the M5 away. “Listen you just do whatever you need to do, it was nice meeting you and all but I must be off.”
Not waiting for an answer he started off running, taking a left out of the ally and down the street. Should he go and get Kanaria first or meet up with Crisis? He needed to get Crisis first, she would be very confused and in danger while Kanaria would still be safe back with Yui. How was he going to get there fast enough? As he ran he noticed that it was becoming unbearably warm, and was the sun setting or something? He had noticed the sky was unusually red in the midst of their flight. Before his thoughts could develop further something painful struck him on the back of the head. A multicolored bubble appeared around him as he fell to the ground, his vision fading to black right before impact.

“Gregory! Gregory wake up!”
Gregory awoke to the sound of Kanaria’s voice. She was leaning over him and shaking his arm as hard as she could; her face was full of fear. He sat up and looked around, his head throbbing.
“What happened?”
They sat in an apocalyptic scene: the city was half destroyed and fire was everywhere. Debris was everywhere and smoke covered the area like a thick fog. There was nothing moving in the dark swirling mists as far as he could tell, the scattered flames illuminating only destruction. He had to cover his mouth and nose to keep from choking and he looked down to see Kanaria doing the same.
“I don’t know what happened” the doll said near panic, “I was sitting in the house when it got really hot everywhere. Next thing I knew I was inside my case.” She clutched Gregory’s arm, “When I got out I was sitting next to you laying on the ground and there was fire everywhere. It’s only been a few minutes since then and I’ve been trying to wake you the whole time.”
“Take it easy” Gregory said soothingly as he put his arm around the shaking doll, “You’re going to be fine. Whatever happened was enough to activate the get out of jail free card and you teleported to me safely.” He looked around at the destruction, “But what did happen?”
A piece of the nearby building crumbled to the ground, stirring up more dust and embers to further blind and choke the pair.
“You can’t be serious” Gregory said in realization, “I mean how unlucky can you get?”
“What are you talking about?” Kanaria asked.
Gregory stood up, “I mean I know what just happened.”
Kanaria gripped his leg, “What?”
“We came on the worst day possible” he continued, “We came three days before the destruction of Ur’Sagol!”
They stood there in silence with only the sounds of crumbling stone and crackling fire as it sunk in. What was the fate of Sien and Yui? If they had survived this they had no time to look for them, there was no way to alter fate. What of the demoness Amunet? She was immortal and therefore wouldn’t die to something like this. Movement caught Gregory’s eye, was there a figure in the smoke?
“Hello?” he called out, “Is anyone there?”
Slowly a short figure appeared out of the smoke. It was a little girl, walking through the destruction towards them.
“It’s that girl I told you about” Kanaria said, “From the market.” She gripped Gregory’s leg tighter as she came closer.
“It might be” Gregory replied, “Let’s see what she wants. I wonder how she survived anyway.” He called out to her, “Are you ok kid?”
The small girl approached in silence, stopping a couple paces away from where they stood. She looked down at Kanaria before addressing Gregory.
“You live” she said coldly, “I had a feeling the doll was connected to someone special. You must be very powerful to survive.”
“We’ll leave my power level out of this for now” Gregory replied, “What’s more impressive is that you survived. How did you manage that anyway?”
He studied her a moment and couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off about her. It was her eyes; they were not the eyes of a child. “Say you’re not human are you?”
The girl’s expression changed to one of surprise and anger.
“Yeah yeah” Gregory continued, “I remember something about this. A little brown haired girl hanging around Ur’Sagol not to mention surviving its destruction… You’re Mercreti! I can’t believe it!”
“You may not be from this world” the girl said angrily, “But such knowledge is not given to mortals.”
Gregory backed up as the girl began to raise her arms. “Tell you what” he said nicely, “Why don’t us mortals go ahead and leave. No sense hanging around right? You must be very busy.” He whispered to Kanaria, “Get in your case now!”
The girl had her arms above her head and was preparing to bring them down. Gregory wasn’t about to wait around to see what would happen next but Kanaria wasn’t in her case yet. He needed to buy some time. As quickly as he could he gathered mana from the nearby plain and forest, the green and white energy seeping from the ground into his body.
“Hey can I say one last thing?” he asked gathering as much energy as he could.
Her arms paused.
That was all the time he needed. He threw his hands into the air, “I summon Wurmcoil Engine!”
A blast of white and green light shot up between him and the girl, a huge portal opening in the ground. He picked up Kanaria’s case and jumped back as a bellowing roar erupted from the gate, a distinct metallic ring permeating the sound. A metallic worm the size of a fully grown naga emerged from the portal, its entire length covered with sharp metallic armor. Its head was little more than a mass of pointed metal arranged in a flower pattern around a deep pit which served as its mouth, the deep orange glow of a hundred furnaces erupting fumes from its depths. It towered above the girl, spitting sparks as its armored body scraped against itself producing a horrible screech.
“That should buy us some time” Gregory said, “She wont kill that thing easily.”
A huge bolt of lightning shot down from the sky turning the metallic serpent into a Christmas tree, its death roar shaking the ground with its intensity. It stood there rigid, killed in one bolt.
Gregory frowned, “Or maybe she can…”
The body was tossed to the side by an unseen force leaving Gregory staring at the girl again.
“Now hold on a second” Gregory said disarmingly, “Don’t you know what happens when that thing dies?”
Scraping metal could be heard where the body had fallen, prompting the girl to look in its direction. Her eyes widened as she watched a creamy white draconic worm squirm out of the metallic armor like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon. Once it was fully out it rose up to full height, the metal shell rising up as well. Both creatures let out bellowing roars, stamping the charred ground with the end of their tails.
“Surprise!” Gregory said, “Now if you’ll excuse me.”
The two wurms dove into the ground, the debris and dirt being thrown into the air as they borrowed. Gregory ran towards the two holes as he pulled a small grenade from his pocket. He threw it to the ground and it exploded with a blinding white flash. When the light had dissipated the girl was left alone with the two huge underground tunnels before her.

The metallic wurm burst from the earth in a clearing surrounded by trees, a very small and frightened blonde naga jumping into the bushes at the sight of it. It roared as it writhed to freedom, sliding onto the surface until it was completely unburied. Gregory was clinging to the end of its tail and let go as soon as he was above solid ground. The wurm slid off into the forest and disappeared.
The naga peered from behind cover, “Gregory is that you?”
“Crisis!” Gregory said happily, “Yes it is!” He ran over to where she stood, “I’m so glad you’re safe!”
They embraced. “I was so scared” Crisis said shaking, “When I saw you and I tripped…”
“Its fine” Gregory replied; “But there’s no time to explain now, we have to leave.” He pulled his M5 out, “I want you to hold on to me tightly ok?”
They heard a distant explosion and turning around saw a huge pillar of flame on the horizon.
“Poor thing” Gregory said sadly. He turned back to Crisis; “We have no time, grab on.” He pressed a button on the M5, “We’ll have to take the quick way back.”
Crisis put her arm around his waist and wrapped her tail around them. “Okay but I don’t know wha-”
Her sentence was interrupted by a large orange diamond made of pure light, its sudden appearance around the naga and human leaving them in a strange place without sound. It began spinning around them as they stood still, slowly at first but getting faster with each second. After a few moments the world around them began to blur, the greens and reds swirling together. What was that emerging from the swirling colors? They were eyes! Glowing red and full of hate: eyes that approached them with great haste. Gregory pressed the top of the M5 and the orange crystal jerked backwards into blackness. It floated in a void, the red eyes inside the swirling green which now sat in front of them. Looking to the left and right they could see the green formed a strip like a film reel, stretching on and on into infinity in either direction. Time is linear you see, and knowing this they could know which direction to go. The orange gem shot to the left, spinning around the green strip of time as it sped along. Up ahead could be seen a glimmering light, a beacon in the darkness. As they approached they could see there were many colors in this light, the rays of its brilliance pouring from a specific point on the timeline. Changing course the orange gem shot towards it, the occupants shielding their eyes as they got closer. There was a rushing of colors as they dove inside the light, the orange gem shattered with a crash and then all was silent.

Gregory and Crisis found themselves standing in a sunny forest clearing in front of a large cave. Light, color, smell, and sound all appeared to be operating normally. Gregory put down Kanaria’s case and put his arm on the stunned naga’s arm.
“Its ok” he said, “What just happened was time travel and everything is fine.”
Kanaria appeared from inside her case with a frown on her face. “Did it have to be so bumpy?” she complained, “Now my hair is all messed up!”
Gregory turned to the doll. “Sorry about that, there was a little complication to the whole ‘escape the angry god’ thing. It’s all good now though.”
“Where are we?” Crisis asked, finally recovering enough to speak.
“The future!” Gregory said throwing his hands into the air, “At the exact time when Kanaria and I left to the past. So the present if you want to call it that.” He lowered his arms, “Remember that whole time travel fiasco that one time?”
“Kinda” Crisis said timidly.
“Well it’s kinda like that” he continued, “Just this time you came with me.”
Kanaria held her head, “I’ve had enough time travel for now.”
The M5 in Gregory’s hand began ringing. He held it up to his head, “Hello?”
“Is this Gregory?” an angry voice said from the other end, “It better be because boy do I have a word or two for him!”
“It’s me Anna” he replied, “But can you call me back? I’m a little busy right now.”
The angry voice got louder, “Don’t you dare hang up on me or I’ll-”
He hung up.
“Sorry about that guys, now where were we?”
“About to help your scary snake friend” Kanaria said pointing to Crisis, “It appears to me like she’s having some kind of breakdown.”
Crisis was indeed having some trouble. She stood in the clearing clenching her fists and looking around franticly as if someone was going to jump out and eat her face off.
“I think she’s going to pass out” Gregory said after looking her over, “And I don’t think I can catch her.”
“So what are you gunna do?” Kanaria asked.
“Okay here’s the plan” he replied, “We’re going to get back to Magic Mountain first. After we get back there you can get back to your home and I’ll work on how to get Crisis back to her correct time period.” He pressed the front sign on the M5 as he noticed Crisis begin to tip over “Okay ready break!”
A portal appeared on the ground behind the feinting naga and she toppled down into it. Kanaria got out of her case and gestured at it with her umbrella, the immediate effect being that the case slid along the ground and into the portal.
“Well I have to admit this adventure was fun” she said haughtily, “It was one of the best ideas I’ve ever had if I do say so myself.” She walked over to the portal; “Now if you excuse me I need to get my afternoon tea while I plot, I mean plan, my next brilliant scheme.”
“Just don’t get lost in the mountain ok?” Gregory replied, “Have Srict or someone with you at all times just in case.”
“If you think it’s really necessary” the doll said giving him one last look over her shoulder.
Gregory watched as she jumped into the portal, “I do.”
Before he went through himself he gave the forest one last look. The trees were so beautiful and the flora so lush. He looked over to the cave; he’d certainly be coming back here again in the future. He let out a sigh.
“Well that was an unexpectedly interesting and complicated trip. All I can really say in review is that it’s good to finally be back visiting Felarya! I don’t know how I could ever leave.”
He took the M5 and smiled. He turned to the cave and threw it with all his might, the mountain shaped device bouncing into the opening and rolled into the darkness. The portal immediately began to close as a result of this so he wasted no time jumping inside. The portal closed with a fizz and the sounds of the forest once again were the only thing hanging in the sunny air. A human male appeared from inside the cave and stooped to pick up the M5. He gave it a quizzical look before turning and taking it back inside with him.

======================

THE END?

I must say he came to Felarya relatively unprepared.

Let us look at the Swampert. Using Surf and Water Gun? Hydro Pump and Mud Shot? Swampert's Special Attack stat is much much lower than its Physical Attack. The only moves it would possibly carry that are Special are Ice Beam, for the sake of coverage, and Scald, for the burn chance. Also, Dig allows you your opponent one turn to switch in or set-up, putting you in a spot for easy sweeping. And I saw no mention of either Leftovers or a Choice Band. I'd recommend the latter, since a strong attacker would be needed in case they ever encounter a bulky Masumi, as it would otherwise completely wall your team.

Swampert@Choice Band
Adamant, 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe
Torrent

-Waterfall
-Earthquake
-Ice Punch
-Superpower

Now for the Yanmega. Oh man, your Yanmega should've died so quickly. It only has an Attack of 76 yet you have it using Bug Bite, Quick Attack, and Steel Wing... That will not get you anywhere. Furthermore, I saw no Life Orb recoil or Choice Specs mentioned in the story, further hindering its power. I don't think it used Protect to let Speed Boost do its thing at all, as well. Personally, I'd recommend the Life Orb set, as I have already recommended one Choice user.

Yanmega@Life Orb
Modest/Timid, 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Speed Boost

-Protect
-Bug Buzz
-Air Slash
-Hidden Power Ground / Hidden Power Fire

And for Pikachu, ehh... Pikachu is irredeemable. It's stats are so low that even a Luvdisc would OHKO it. It's terrible and should not be used. For an alternative, I recommend Thundurus. It has great stats, a great typing, great moves, and a great ability. If you feel like having a Politoed, it'd work wondrously in the rain. The set I would use is:

Thundurus@Lum Berry
Timid, 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Prankster

-Nasty Plot
-Thunderbolt
-Hidden Power [Ice]
-Focus Blast

These would make more sense, as you're dealing with preds, not stupid AI. They know their shit, I'm sure. Using these sets would make his survival more realistic.


Also, guardians are a no-no. It is explicitly stated on the wiki.

Well, I've looked over this and if it wouldn't be too much trouble I'd like to ask that you hear my thoughts regarding some of the contents of the story. The opening segment, anyways.

I was rather perplexed as to what exactly was occurring in the first few portions of the chapter. I'm unfamiliar with everything you mentioned but was nearly certain it wasn't related to Felarya itself, so my grasp upon that context was very limited. However, as I went onwards I began to see what it is you were doing and I found it to be rather unique in a multitude of ways, some good and some objectionable. While I suppose it could be argued that such things are open to a bit of interpretation and creative input, I didn't really feel as if the inclusions you made from other works of fiction blended quite right with the established setting. A lightsaber like device would probably be feasible given the technology and magic utilized by some races, but I just wasn't comfortable envisioning what was explicitly stated to be a lightsaber in the star wars sense, especially not when it was accompanied by, of all other things, pokemon.

So, this is what I could deduce and please inform me otherwise if I am off: Your character basically treats imagination as a magical force of sorts in its own right, and as such can freely traverse the universes of fictitious works by utilizing the fact that said places exist solely due to having been imagined to begin with. That is a rather interesting concept, if I am correct, anyway, but it doesn't seem to quite fit the feel of Felarya I am given by most other displays of it, both canonical and fan made. While it is not my place to say what should and should not be, I am personally inclined to believe Felarya to be a place where danger is an integral theme, as humans are far from the top of the pecking order and traversing the landscape can lead to quick death for those unprepared (And even some who took precautions) This idea of mine and your depiction of things come into a conflict of sorts. A strife, if you will. Your character doesn't seem to be in any real danger due to his various gadgets and powers to manipulate things around him with 'imagination'. Where most would abscond he simply brings forth his pokemon or utilizes something of equal ability to remove all tension from the story and setting. It's boring, to some degree, I find. There's no conflict that he is not assured victory in and his troubles are minor inconveniences at most. Plus, his personality strikes me as distinctly inhuman. He is altruistic to a bit of an unbelievable extent and with no justification, his 'life is a life' philosophy extending even to those who are or would become killers. Struck me as awkward.


Now, objectively speaking, there were a few mistakes that caught my eye. Firstly, some minor punctuation and grammar complications, as well as the fact that somewhere in the first few paragraphs the tenses seemed to shift a bit, which caused a bit of confusion for me. However, none of it was too insufferable and I was able to work around it. Apart from that, I feel a few lapses in logic are present. For instance, when the swampert uses protect and the assailants proclaim that the creature is magical and therefor unaffected by arrows, they immediately follow this by drawing swords and attacking. If arrows were ineffectual why would swords be any more so? Plus, the powers of the pokemon themselves seemed amplified a good bit beyond what I find would be more correct. The dragonfly, for instance, managed to beat a dryad into unconsciousness with an attack with apparent ease. Also, on that same note, I find the application of pokemon mechanics to this context to be somewhat odd. Aside from that, it is mentioned at a point that the eight year old Crisis still had the 'cute looks' of the adult one. I wasn't certain what it was, if anything at all, that I should have drawn from that statement.



Overall, it was a solid read, but really only solid. Character wasn't too interesting and as said the 'conflict' didn't really feel like the actual struggle such a thing would be within Felarya. I suggest that you work upon toning down the capabilities of your character and his equipment to some degree, in order to make it actually seem as if there is a degree of peril involved in his ventures. Take the M5, for example. It is a device that does a multitude of things, allowing its user to do such things as teleport when in the presence of 'sufficient imagination energy'. I think the functionality of it would really be better of restricted, even to the point of it becoming more of a secondary thing than a primary means of transit and so forth. The pokemon too. I feel the character would be better utilizing something similar, but without them being explicitly called pokemon, if you catch my drift. Given the fact that his power is based upon the powers you seem to perceive imagination to hold, would it really be too much of an issue for him to actively imagine up various animals of his own creation to defend him? That would be a far more interesting and flexible ability, within the boundaries of reason, of course. Lastly, as I touched upon earlier, his blind morality is perplexing and unrealistic. Internal conflict is just as important as external, and a story lacking the former and the latter loses all interest very quickly. Perhaps it would do Gregory good to actively question the situation in order to find a gauge of who stands where upon the scale of 'good and evil', to place that within black and white terminology. Otherwise, he could simply abstain from becoming involved in the affairs of others at all, perhaps at the risk of messing over the universes in which he is interfering. But those are just humble suggestions made by an outsider looking in.