Crossing Worlds 08: Dream Stone Masters

    From sand to gravel to concrete to a weird platform of black asphalt and strange symbols; to these visitors from another world it is a most unusual sight; something they may think of as a worship sight; or at least two of them may think this. The reality is far simpler; it is a basketball court on the grounds of an old school no longer in use. Clear from the fact that unlike the city there are no lights here other than that of the moon to illuminate these grounds.

    Gold Wolf looks around and takes out his transporter, “Okay, looks like we just got sent somewhere else, one moment and we’ll be back home.”

     As his device charges up and sends a light around them no one sees Rhulan wiggle her fingers with little purple sparks around them. When the light vanishes, Gold Wolf and Cata are gone; leaving Rhulan and Hollia alone; aside from Lin Lin, in this unusual place.

     “What the hell happened!” shouts Thistle as she stands before the platform; Gold Wolf and Cata lying on it not moving.

     “They’re alive,” says Haki checking for pulses.

     “I can sense that,” growls Thistle, “I want to know where in the Goddess’s name my grand daughter and the Dark Sorceress are!”

    Haki almost shrugs, catching himself as he feels those icy overbearing eyes of the elf queen looking upon him.

    ******

    “Now what is this,” says a sinister yet youthful voice in a poorly lit room looking at a holographic grid map display of the city, his glasses reflecting the display.

     “A dimensional overlap event,” says a deep sinister voice coming from a pulsating purple crystal around the boy’s neck.

     “A new player has come,” says the sinister voiced boy, “perhaps the dark master has summoned reinforcements.”

    “We should investigate…my master,” says the voice from with in the crystal.

    “Indeed we shall.” says the boy with a forced sinister chuckle.

    Elsewhere another holographic display on another desk in another room in another house shows the same event. Here a more common looking boy rushes about putting on his pants, shirt, and a baseball cap.

    “What matter?” comes a deep slow sounding voice coming from a purple marble, sitting on a piece of cotton, sitting in a single egg carton notch that is sitting up by some pipe cleaner acting as legs.

    “Someone just showed up Sascrunch,” says the boy as he hops about getting his shoes on in a rush, “you know what that means, those dark master nutters have called someone else in, we got to get there and show them whose boss before anyone else does.”

   “o…kay,” says the entity in the marble apparently called Sascrunch.

   In yet another room, another boy, this one older, late teens perhaps, in a leather jacket looks at a computer monitor through his spiky bangs, “got some fresh meat Reyves,” says the boy, “lets see what they can do.”

    ******

    “What happened?” asks Hollia looking around.

    “Well,” says Rhulan, “it seems my magic has interfered with the transporter, and as you are standing next to me…or for some other possible reason, you are still here as well. Honestly I’m surprised the transporter could transport me at all…normally they can’t. Kind of a benefit, but mostly a weakness to be perfectly honest.”

     “Oh,” says Hollia not sure what to say.

    “Any who,” says Rhulan, “until the stink of Gold Wolf’s transporter wears off let’s have a look around.”

    “Not so fast!” yells out a boy, “what are you people cos-players?”

    Rhulan looks the boy up and down, he is wearing blue slacks with a fire stripe on the sides, clashing red tennis shoes with white lace, a black T-shirt, and a blue jacket with fire stripes; not to mention he has a red baseball cap on his head of nappy hair.

    “Your one to talk.” retorts Rhulan.

    “Yeah well,” says the boy, “it just proves you are Dream Stone Masters dressed like that. I ain’t going to let you dark masters do what ever you want in my town; I challenge you to a La Mopo battle.”

    “A what?” says Hollia whole the name does ring a bell.

    The boy pulls out a purple marble and shouts while holding it to the sky between his index finger and thumb, “Come on out Sascrunch!”

    A flash of purple light and now standing before them is a strange sight indeed. This creature is like some sort of strange golem; built like a weight lifter and standing seven feet tall. Its body is muscular in appearance, although made of black stone; there are yellow glowing lines carved across its body as though tracing the outlines of its muscles. Its head has no neck and instead is rectangular with a swivel allowing the head to turn where a neck should be. A solid black slope of stone on top of its head and going back kind of gives it the impression of having a mullet. It looks at them with its yellow glowing eyes and says, “Sascrunch! Sascrunch crush dark masters!”

    “I do believe this kid and his pet La Mopo have mistaken us for someone else,” says Rhulan.

    “We aren’t dark anything,” says Hollia to the boy, “we are just travelers and…”

    “Sascrunch!” the La Mopo named Sascrunch lunges at them.

    “Devastation Beam!” shouts the high pitched voice of Lin Lin who has just manifested, her blast rips apart the ground causing Sascrunch to back up.

     “Ha, knew it!” shouts the boy, “I knew you were Dream Stone Masters! Okay Sascrunch, show them your Gyro Punch!”

     “Sascrunch, crush!” shouts Sascrunch, its constant repeating of its own name earning it an annoyed eye roll from Rhulan.

     Lin Lin spins, green energy forming around her as the oversized golem like La Mopo bears down on her, aiming now at Lin Lin instead of Hollia, its fist impossibly spinning.

    Lin Lin unleashes a large Wind Wyvern that swoops down and picks up Sascrunch throwing it back into and knocking over a basket ball hoop, pole and all.

    “Hey,” shouts the boy, “you aren’t supposed to damage property! You dark masters have no respect.”

     “That is not a La Mopo,” comes a chillingly dark voice from above them.

    They look up to see a dark creature, its body shaped like a reaper; only made of layered thick black leather like plates, no feet, no face save for darkness swirling inside the hood, and two large four digits black gloves. It is carrying another boy, the one with longer spikier hair, black pants, and black leather jacket.

     “Another La Mopo,” says Rhulan.

     “Tha…” says Hollia before the image of the giant turtle monster with gun arms and wings pops back into her head.

     “Wait,” says Hollia, “Like that monster in the cave…Ma…Mata….Mata-Go….”

     “Mata-Go-Lucky!” says the boy with Sascrunch, “See Tai they are with…”

    The boy in black named Tai holds his hand out, “If they are with Greg and the other Dark Masters how come she barely remembers that things name with their new boss? Huh Tim?”

    Tai steps forward, partially talking to Rhulan and Hollia, “not to mention that my scanner, not to mention Reyves hear, tells me that creature you had Sascrunch fighting isn’t a La Mopo.”

     “Of course not,” says Hollia, “My Lin Lin is a dragon.”

    “Perhaps,” says Rhulan, “we should have an exchange of information. Clearly we have stepped into a weird world where children are jaunting about with Dream World monsters by their sides and holding onto Dream Stones, and it seems our new…friends here…are familiar with the creature we encountered before…that alone warrants investigating.”

     {Tai regales them with a tale that really would work better with a video overview: Fifty years prior a mysterious event took place in which purple stones of various sizes appeared in large numbers around the world, those who touched them gained magical powers and a La Mopo would appear. Eventually all the stones were gathered up and those who held them became known as Dream Stone Masters, who would summon and train La Mopo, older ones going back to the Dream World when their masters died or contracting with a new master. Over time it became a sport, rules and regulations formed by societies governing over them; after all La Mopo heal regardless of the damage thanks to the dream stones.

     However there are always those who’d rather abuse the power, one such criminal group has begun to operate in their town; The Dark Masters. The group was usually a lack luster group trying to act like the bigger criminal groups until very recently when a mysterious figure appeared and organized them; he stays hidden behind cloaks and windows while sending out his La Mopo, a horrible monster called Mata-Go-Lucky}

    “I see,” says Rhulan, “shortly after we defeated Mata-Go-Lucky it some how entered this world.”

     “Didn’t we give the stone to the tower guy?” asks Hollia.

     “Ole Tomash,” says Rhulan, “I believe that was his name, hmmm, interesting.”

     She turns to the two boys, “So tell me, where can we find these so called Dark Masters?”

     Tai and Tim look at each other.

    “Hold on,” says John, “we don’t even know who you are.”

    “Sorceresses from another dimension passing through.” says Rhulan nonchalantly.

    Tai and Tim exchange looks.

    “Anywho,” says Rhulan, “as your most recent problems may be due to our actions in some way, we are obligated to help.”

    “Yes,” says Hollia smiling, “As adventurers it is our duty to stop evil monsters; especially when they are evil monsters we…wait…didn’t we kill it?”

    Hollia looks at Rhulan, who shrugs and says, “The orb I pulled out of it no doubt healed it later.”

    She looks sternly at the boys, “Now then, show us where our enemy lies so we may bury it.”

    Tai and Tim look at each other and shrug.

    ******

    Rhulan and Hollia look behind them, across the separate classroom buildings and the sidewalks, the playground they had been fighting on isn’t really that far away from the building these two children, Tai and Tim with their La Mopo tell them this cult of Dark Masters is using as a hide out.

    “What a coincidence,” says Hollia.

    “yeah…” says Rhulan, “a coincidence.”

    *shhh* goes Tai as he gently opens the glass doors to the hallway.

    As they walk down the hall they can hear chanting coming from up ahead.

    “They’re in the old music room,” says Tai, “I used to go to school here before they closed it down.”

    “and your exposition has attracted company.” says Rhulan pointing out two more boys, who could very well be twins, only told apart by one wearing a yellow hoody and the other a red hoody.

    “The master thought we might have intruders from you goody good brats,” says the boy in yellow.

    “Yeah,” says the boy in red, “we better not let them interrupt the master before he makes us all gods.”

    “and even exposition from the enemy,” sighs Rhulan, “truly we landed in a stupid world.”

    “come on out Bone Bane!” shouts the boy in red as he holds up a tooth pick like dream stone.

   In a purple flash his La Mopo appears, this Bone Bane is truly a horrible looking creature, whose appearance reminds Rhulan of a creature from the Land of the Dead. Its body is somewhat saurian like, only with a white skeleton over a chunky frame as though it has organs on the inside beneath a black skin under the bones. It has the rough shape of a T-rex complete with tiny arms despite only being about three feet tall. Its head however looks to be a human skull except that the mouth is huge and filled with interlocking long dagger teeth.

   “Come on out….*oomph*”

    The boy in red elbows the boy in yellow, “dude there is no room in the hallway for Barbon to fit!”

    “Hollia,” says Rhulan, “if you would please send these children to naptime.”

    “Gladly” says Hollia as she summons her staff, the sudden burst of blue flames startling Tai and Tim.

      Hollia chants,

     “Hypnos
     Morpheus
     Great lords of sleep and dreams
     Grant thy gift of silent rest
     To that which stands before us”

     A green mist flies from her cane and engulfs the three opponents before them. All three; even Bone Bane, fall asleep instantly.

     “Huh,” says Rhulan, “you know, to be honest I had no idea that would work on a La Mopo; given they are from the Dream World…huh…well guess that could have made the battle against Mata-Go-Lucky easier…”

     She shrugs her shoulders.

     They continue down the hall past their sleeping opponents and follow the sound of the chanting.

    As they approach the double doors of the music room Hollia gets a curious look, “isn’t that…”

    “Indeed,” says Rhulan, “an invocation of power spell,”

    “Okay,” says Tai, “Tim you go and contact our friends and…hey! Wait!”

    As Tai was talking Rhulan threw open the double doors drawing the attention of everyone inside. Kids in coats, three older teens, and one kid in a weird outfit, bowl haircut, and thick round glasses; he is the only one with his La Mopo out, a large masculine light brown skinned creature with no signs of genitals and a very round head with big eyes, two inward curved horns, and a very wide mouth full of sharp teeth. This boy and his La Mopo are standing on one end of the room with a robed figure behind him who is still chanting while the others are all gathered in a circle around a massive purple crystal in the middle of the room.

    “You are too late,” says the boy in his forced sinister voice, “in mere moments our master will unlock the power of the Grand Dream Stone, and give us all the powers of gods. We will rule the world ha haaa haaa haaaa!”

     “Then we have to destroy it!” shouts Tai, “come out Reyves”

     “You too Sascrunch!” shouts Tim.

     “Just two La Mopo against all of us and our great master?”

     “We also have two sorceresses from another world and their dragon!” shouts Tim.

    “Ha!” shouts the evil kid, “Our great master is a sorcerer from another world, he will….master?”

    The man in the hood has stopped chanting and pulls back his hood, he looks at Hollia and Rhulan is disbelief.

    “H…Holly….Lia?” says the old man, “and you…you’re the one who…beat all my traps so….what are you doing here.”

    “Ole Tomash?” says Hollia, “what…”

    “I see,” says Rhulan stepping forward, “It is as I expected. Upon acquiring your fathers dream stone you left Aesperia with Mata-Go-Lucky, stole this…” she points at the massive crystal, “whether you did that before or after leaving Aesperia I don’t know; but given that this world is filled with dream stones no doubt you stole it after you gained control over the dream stones of these kids and used their combined power to summon this mana crystal here from its home deep in the Grand Desert.”

     “Miss Rhulan?” begins Hollia.

     “and now,” says Rhulan as she holds up her hand, a dark claw like form coming over it, “it is time I relieved you of the crystal.”

     “Hah,” says Ole Tomash *cough*, “you are strong, but this is a dream stone, no mere…”

    *Crack!*

    “Holy shit!” says the evil kid as everyone stands in disbelief as Rhulan’s claw hand has punctured right into the crystal; she flew right past them all faster than they could blink. Energy is now flowing from it into her. The crystal turns pale and then crumbles to a pile of purple dust.

     Rhulan looks at her hand as it shifts back to normal; or rather the shadow flows off her hand and up her arm to her cape, “So this is where the power link was…I thought as much. I would never have imagined a spell that drains away mana would also be able to remove special skills over time.”

    “Miss Rhulan?” says Hollia again.

    “Sorry,” says Rhulan as she flies before Hollia, “I suppose a confession is in order. As you know the Mirror of Syris trapped me for a thousand years; however that stone shell was not designed to hold someone forever. It was a weapon against spell casters; the shell would drain away their mana power and then release them when it was all gone. Naturally energy can not be destroyed; however rather than simply release the mana back into the astral plane…where likely one could reclaim it, it took on a physical form…a crystal.”

    Hollia and Ole Tomash look at her and then at the pile of dust and back at her as she continues, “Due to my connections…thanks to the dimension drive, my power ended up scattering across the world forming base sink points in the astral plane; which the stone shell sent my power too. One such point was out in the Great Desert…which sorry, was why I didn’t point out the obvious before we crossed the sea that we should have just went by air-ship around that territory…however.”

    She glares at Ole Tomash who *gulps*, “I could sense the crystal’s location; after all it was…my power, but while we were crossing the Archae Sea it vanished from Aesperia.”

    She looks back at Hollia, “Naturally this meant we…I…had no reason to continue crossing the desert…but what the hell played along with Gold Wolf’s scheme for as long as I could tolerate, but I started to drain my power; seems my ability to connect to my…storage of power…which I have locked away deep in my astral form somehow was severed…seems the Mirror of Syris could sever such a link.”

     She lands next to Hollia, “I told you I can not be transported, this was always true; I used my own power to follow all of you through the transporters, and…I used my own power to follow the impression…trails…my power left behind and altered the path of the transporter to those worlds. When we were on that super-hero world, I realized my power had been absorbed by a local demon, I reclaimed it. But it didn’t have what I was looking for; but here I have it…now…”

     “Miss Rhulan,” whispers Hollia, “why…why didn’t you tell us…we could have helped you.”

    Rhulan is genuinely surprised, she was expecting to get chewed out, or accused of betraying Hollia’s trust, “uh…” says Rhulan, “to be honest…well…for starters you and Lin Lin are the only ones I can trust.”

   Hollia blushes and Lin Lin *chirps*, “After all,” says Rhulan, “After how Queen Thistle reacted to me, do you think her son would approve of a plan for me to regain my lost power? Especially after seeing what I could do with out it? And Cata…you have to remember she is a pirate, and a Kuhrai…her allegiance lies with her own pockets and an alien force whose motives we don’t know.”

    Rhulan thinks to herself, “especially if they are after the Tiger Eye Gem.”

    Rhulan looks at Hollia apprehensively for a moment as Hollia takes it all in.

    “Makes sense,” says Hollia, “I mean we are going after an evil god like my grandmother said, the stronger we all are the better. Besides it is your powers after all…I don’t know how I’d feel if I lost parts of myself. But could feel where they are.”

    Hollia shudders.

    “Woah,” thinks Rhulan, “well, damn,”

    “Made myself worry over nothing,” says Rhulan out loud.

    “Excuse me!” screeches the evil kid, “but I don’t give a shit what you are talking about, nor do I understand it.”

    “Sire,” says the demon like La Mopo in a surprisingly sophisticated tone, “The correct way to say that is I don’t understand what you are speaking of, nor do I care.”

    “What ever,” says the evil kid, “Get her!”

    “Wait!” shouts Ole Tomash, but he’s too late as the demon like La Mopo lunges through the air, only for Rhulan to *zip* in front of it and back hand it through the wall.

     “I will get them!” shouts Mata-Go-Lucky as it manifests of its own accord. Tentacles come out of its mouth, “and this time…*oomph!*”

    Lin Lin has turned giant and *uppercuted* Mata-Go-Lucky with her tail sending it through the roof. The kids in the room below scream and scatter out of the building, fleeing the flying debris, some even saying things like *screw this*, *that lady ate the crystal fuck this man*.

   Up above one can hear and see the lights as Lin Lin battle Mata-Go-Lucky, the exchanges of energy, magic, poison pellets which Lin Lin easily dodges, showing she can change size quickly now in flight.

   The evil kid starts to shake his fist at Rhulan as his La Mopo re-enters the building, “Daemose!”

   “No!” says Ole Tomash harshly putting his hand on the kid’s shoulder, “stop it Greg,”

    “My name is Gregorious, future ruler of the world.” Growls the boy.

   “It doesn’t matter,” scolds Ole Tomash, “that woman,”

   “what ever grandpa,” says the boy shaking his hand off.

   “I am your grandfather,” growls Ole Tomash, “and you will listen to me.”

   Hollia and Rhulan exchange looks, Rhulan whispers, “guess he’s been visiting this world fairly often. Huh.”

   “That woman *cough*,” says Ole Tomash pointing at Rhulan, “*wheeze* that…Is…I don’t believe it…but she…she said…and she…” he points at the crystal dust, all that remains of what should have been an indestrtible stone, “she really is Rhulan…the empress of the world…the…goddess…”

    “Enough!” shouts Rhulan, her voice echoing as thunder, even making Lin Lin and Mata-Go-Lucky cease their battle.

    She says calmer, “Your family affairs and those of this world do no concern me. Given what I have observed now that I have reclaimed my mana from the crystal the status quo should be in place again here. As such Holllia, Lin Lin, and I shall take out leave. But know this Ole Tomash, we may return someday.”

    “Yes,” says Hollia, “I…don’t know right now if there is a law against what you are doing, but I am going to…check when we get back home.”

    Ole Tomash looks at Greg and back at Hollia at a complete loss for words.

    “Any who,” says Rhulan with a slight pause before saying, “Now then, that, that is out of the way, lets go home.”

    Hollia gathers up Lin Lin who never takes her eyes off of Mata-Go-Lucky even as Rhulan encases them in her transporter spell. In a flash they are gone leaving behind some very confused Dream Stone Masters.