Struggles Of The Elite Powers

Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Struggles of the Elite Powers Kieran walks into a shop to purchase some armour. He is wearing blue jeans, a black Tshirt and white trainers. He has azure blue eyes. Kieran: “Hello, may I….” Shopkeeper: “One moment please.” The shopkeeper reaches under the counter and pulls out a pistol, for security reasons. Shopkeeper: “Yes?” Kieran: “Er…do you have any armour in stock…..please? Sorry for ANY inconvenience!” Shopkeeper: “Yes I do. Sorry about the gun. My name’s Frank. That’ll be seventy four Zah’s.” Kieran: “Oh. I’m Kieran. I only have forty three-” Frank: “This conversation is over. Farewell.” Terrified, Kieran hastily makes his way out of the shop and into town. Kieran: *sigh* “Without armour, I can’t compete in the Monster Slayer tournament this year! After all that training…. I’ll just buy some safety goggles for fifty… Dammit! I don’t have enough! Ah well, I’ll just have to do the experiment carefully……” Kieran returns home even more depressed after seeing all the Monster Slayer posters on his way back home. Kieran: “I can’t wait any more! The tournament is tomorrow! I better start the experiment quickly, but I MUST be careful!” Kieran has no shirt or protective gloves on, as it is a boiling hot day and cannot afford eye goggles. He is trying to combine Francium and Radium to make an unbeatable armour. Kieran: “Now to pour Hydrochloric acid over them, to fuse the two into a magnificent armour!!” There is a massive explosion, and when Kieran looks up, his left arm is covered in fire, yet does not hurt, and a floating silver block is in front of him, shining wildly. Kieran: “Oh…….my head! *Gasp* Is that…..really?!?! It is! I’ve done it! I’ve created HydroRadiumFrancOxide!!!! Wait…what the hell’s wrong with my arm?!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! As he stretches towards the floating silver block, Kieran feels an ominous presence all around him. Disregarding it, he seizes the block with his right hand. Kieran: “Ah….agh?! AAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!! It’s…..s….so…….cold! GYHAAAAAGH?!” The whole right side of his body is infused with the newly created metal, but the ratio of Radium is extraordinarily high, and Kieran’s rage levels spiral out of control. Kieran passes out from the sudden shock to his body, and a strange creature awakens from within. ???: “Power…..such ungodly power!! HAHAHAHA!! Pain….death…fury!!!!! Nothing and no one can…UGH?!? What is this?! I feel dizzy….Damn this mortal body!!! UUUUHHHHAAAAYYYY!!” The strange being subsides, and Kieran is motionless on the floor. When he regains consciousness, his right eye is red, instead of blue and the fire on his left arm has died out. Kieran: “What….happened? Ugh…I don’t feel too good…” Kieran steps outside for some sweet oxygen, but as he does the metal fused to the right side of his body starts seizing up! Kieran: “Heh?! My body!! It’s……rusting?!” Kieran runs inside his house and frantically begins searching through the periodic table to find a counter reactant to Oxygen. Kieran: “Aha! I’ve got it! Neodymium! Right, I need lots of water to get it into its liquid form, and extreme heat to fuse it into my body…” A strange voice starts talking inside Kieran’s head, taking control over his mind. ???: “How about a tsunami? Then perhaps a volcanic eruption? Ghehehehehe!” Kieran: “Was that me…? It can’t be…” ???: “In a way…yes. Now hurry, we must make haste. The rusting Francium will enter our bloodstream soon. To the black market!” Kieran runs towards town. It is pouring with rain, and the black market stall is just closing.

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: *Pant pant* “Oh! Thank the heavens you’re still here! I need some Neodymium quickly!!” Hooded man: “Certainly. Shall we say…….one thousand Zah’s? That’s…..somewhat reasonable…..” Kieran: “No…you don’t understand! I need it or I’ll die!!” Hooded man: “Yes I sensed that from your desperation. I’m afraid eight hundred Zah’s is the lowest I can go. Sorry.” Kieran gives into his rage in a hope that he can scare the merchant into handing the Neodymium over. The evil presence inside Kieran suddenly takes over Kieran’s body, and starts threatening the merchant. ???: “Listen here. Give me it or I’ll gut you like a fish and drink the blood as it drips from your cold dead body!” Hooded man: “……..T…..Take it! But a curse on you young Snuh, a very nasty curse indeed!” The hooded man teleports in a flash of blinding white light and Kieran is overwhelmed with joy to see the Neodymium on the table. He seizes it. ???: “Heh. That was fun. Now quickly, we need to cause a tsunami!” Kieran: “That was not fun! He was scared to death! And why did he call me a Snuh?!” ???: “We don’t have time for this!” Kieran: “I’m not going to cause a tsunami!! Maybe this rain will work?” As he holds the Neodymium up to the sky, the rain starts to melt it, turning it to a slow runny liquid. ???: “Quick. Rub it on.” Kieran: “Done. Now for an extremely hot place.” ???: “A volcanic eruption?” Kieran: “No! But that’s a hot place-inside a volcano!” Distant figure: “Veoh… ksst…Santak…vsst…bwah…”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! A distant figure on top on a tall building with a ten foot long sword is chanting, facing the vast horizon. Kieran: “?! Who’s that?! ???: “We haven’t got time to find out!” Kieran: “I’ll just check quickly…” Kieran crouches down, storing all his energy into his legs, and unleashes it, jumping fifty floors up to the top of the building. ???: “Hey! We need to go!” Kieran: “One second! Just shut up! I don’t know who or what the hell you are, but stop it! Get out of my head!!!” ???: “…………” Kieran’s yelling alerts the omnipotent being, and it turns around sharply. Cloaked knight: “GREGOFF?! STU-CHI-RAD! AAAHHHH!” The cloaked knight smashes Kieran with his ten foot long sword, sending him hurtling across the sky. Kieran flies into a wall, and drops to the ground. Kieran: “Ow……..my head…I feel……tired……………….” ???: “Stay awake dammit!” Kieran: “……………………………….” ???: “Ugh. Pathetic.” Kieran passes out from shock and concussion, and the evil half of Kieran takes over his body, able to speak out loud. A volcano overlooking a large town can be seen in the distance. The evil half of Kieran starts carrying Kieran’s body over to the town. ???: “I’ll be there shortly. The plan is unfolding…..The Twelfth Kingdom…no, the entire Universe shall be mine!!!! BWA-HAHAHAHAHA!” Kieran is carried to the town, called Subterrino, which is a massive tourist town at the base of an active volcano. His evil side shouts out at the busy town below. ???: “Ha……ha….ha…….you shall all perish! Grant me your souls!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! There is a blinding white flash, and Kieran plummets into the volcano at 120Mph. His body slowly begins to sink into the magma. ???: “Too weak to move. UGH. Fine. I shall embrace the pain……” Meanwhile, on top of the tall building, the cloaked knight is gathering power. Cloaked knight: “Need……streeg……souls……power…AGH! Scanning………” The cloaked knight senses Kieran’s power levels and starts rushing towards the volcano. Back at the volcano, a woman dressed in white with red hair is climbing the side of the volcano, nearing the top. Strange woman: “Is this the being that killed my father?!? I’ll tear it limb from limb!!!” The woman peers into the top of the volcano, and peers in at Kieran. He is lying at the bottom, having absorbed all the lava into his body. His legs are now encrusted with the impenetrable rock. Kieran also has spikes jutting out of his left arm. Strange woman: “What is this?!? I can feel its energy levels soaring! It’s evil!!! It is not my father’s murderer, but I must destroy it for the good of mankind!!!” The woman throws five throwing knives. Two imbed themselves in Kieran’s left arm, one misses, and the last two are deflected by Kieran’s mighty armour. She starts to cast a terrible incantation of the occult on the daggers. Strange woman: “May the wrath of OONDOUR ravage your body, until you implode with pain and insanity!!!” A blood red pentagram surrounds Kieran, before engulfing him in a blinding white light. The woman starts charging up a “Hyper Ostraciser”, to banish Kieran into the 4th dimension. Strange woman: “HHHRRRUUUGG-“ The woman falls to her knees, and the cloaked knight is standing behind her, having slashed her with his ten foot sword, which is made of bone, and now covered in blood. Cloaked knight: “Ksssshk…Soul…streeg……Drain…fufufufu…” The cloaked knight jumps into the now empty volcano, with his sword pointing towards the floor. Cloaked knight: “Fsht……Sanity……Re…GREE…demption…”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! The knight hurtles towards Kieran at 230Mph, with his soul sword heading straight for him. The strange woman is dragging her body towards the top the volcano. Strange woman: “NO! Not again! It was you who killed my father! I will not allow you to live for this treachery!!!!” The woman, near death, slashed across the spine with blood seeping from the giant wound casts herself into the volcano, towards the cloaked knight. The knight lands with a thunderous spikedown, plunging the sword through Kieran’s armour, and into his heart. Cloaked knight: “GRUGH…It…begins…KYAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!!” A sky blue river of light surges up from Kieran’s body into the sword. The cloaked knight is rapidly absorbing Kieran’s soul. Cloaked knight: “AH! My voice has returned! AAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I, Eegalowga am slowly becoming human again!! The world shall soon once again fear my power!!!!!” The strange woman, falling fast, throws two throwing knives at Eegalowga. The first embeds itself into his left eye, and the second into his right wrist. Eegalowga lets go of his giant sword and rips the dagger out of his eye. Eegalowga: “AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! You’ll pay for that!!!!” Eegalowga rips the two daggers out of his body and throws them at the strange woman, who is getting closer and closer. Strange woman: “Hee-yo-who-de-lii……………..” The strange woman utters a powerful ancient spell, which covers her in a burning flame. She starts to fall faster and faster towards Eegalowga, at the speed of a meteor. The two throwing knives disintegrate before they even touch her. Her eyes start to glow burning red, like the fires of hell, as she rockets towards Eegalowga and Kieran, ready to blow both of them to smithereens. Eegalowga: “WHAAATTT?!?!?!?! I’ll put a stop to this, and fast!!” Eegalowga tries to pull the gargantuan sword out of Kieran’s heart, but Kieran’s eyes open, the right blood red, the left ocean blue. He grabs the sword, holding it in himself. Kieran: “ILAC-TRON-VECTI!!!!!” Kieran, unable to speak a coherent language, utters something in an ancient tongue, his voice full of hatred. He reaches up and grabs Eegalowga’s hand, which is on the handle of the sword, and absorbs his soul back. Then, in one swift movement, he jumps up and rips the sword out of himself.

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “Take…THIS!” He spins around and smashes Eegalowga with the sword, sending him crashing through the wall of the volcano. The woman is hurtling towards Kieran, about two meters away. Kieran: “TIME FREEZE!!!!!!” Kieran thrusts his right palm high in the air. Time stops, and everything goes pitch black. The strange woman, covered in fire, is floating there, suspended in time. Kieran: “*pant pant* I’m….so….tired………better get…out of…here….” Kieran walks towards the place where Eegalowga is under a pile of rubble, and notices an unusual object glinting on the floor. He picks it up for a closer inspection. Kieran: “Hmmmm? What’s……this?” It was a gun with a grappling hook attached. The word “Grapplegun” is engraved into the side of the silver pistol. Kieran: “Haha……this will undoubtedly prove useful……need to hurry…the…Time Freeze won’t………hold…for……long……” Kieran fires the Grapplegun at the top of the volcano. The hook smashes into the rock, and the steel rope tightens. Kieran pulls the trigger again, and the sturdy rope starts retracting, pulling him to the top of the volcano. He climbs out and peers down into the volcano. Kieran: “Hmmm…..I don’t think that’s the last I’ll see of these two. Better make sure I can get as far away as possible. The time freeze will only last for about an hour. I’ll need some extra time. *breathes in* ICE PRISON!!!!!!!!!” Kieran blows unbearably cold breath down into the volcano, and before long, inside the volcano is turned into a great block of ice. He slides down the volcano to the floor, where his injuries start to affect him. Kieran: “Ugh…..my heart…I need….treatment……uugghhoo…..” ???: “Good fight! Although I helped a bit……” Kieran: “How?” ???: “Well I can tap into your dark side after all.”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “I don’t approve of your evil nature…………but while we’re stuck together…… let’s fight together! Truce?” ???: “………Ok…………” Kieran: “UGH! AAAGGGHH!” Kieran lies down on the floor, clutching his heart. ???: “We need to heal you!!!” A fanfare is heard in the distance from the bustling city of Xigbar. The Monster Slayer tournament registering is beginning. Kieran: “Yes! The tournament is starting! We can go all the way with our skills! It’s gonna be tough……you ready??” ???: “More than you will ever be!” Kieran: “Hahahahahaha. We’ll see…….” Kieran starts running towards Xigbar, clutching his chest as tightly as he can. Kieran: *pant pant* “Hey, you wouldn’t kill anyone, would you?” ???: “Oh yes. Quite easily!” Kieran: “Well I’m gonna have to ask you to limit your power then. I can’t kill anyone!!” ???: “But……” Kieran: “No buts! Promise me you won’t kill anyone!!!” ???: “DAMMIT!.........Fine! I hope we get separated soon!!” Kieran: “Ditto.” Kieran reaches the packed city of Xigbar. It is a cloud free day, with the sun shining brightly. Kieran limps over to the man at the registering desk, holding his chest and gasping for breath. Registrar: “Good morning sir! How may I help you? You look in need of medical assistance!” Kieran: “Ugh…….I’d….like…to enter…please………”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Registrar: “Certainly, there will be someone inside who will heal you. What is your name sir?” Kieran: “Kieran.” Registrar: “Ok. You have fifteen minutes until your first round. Please step into the castle and proceed to the changing rooms. When you hear your name called, go to the arena. Should you win, you have five minutes between each round to rest and prepare yourself.” Kieran: “Thanks……a…lot…” Registrar: “No problem sir. Have a nice day, and enjoy yourself!” Kieran starts walking towards the changing rooms when he notices a battle taking place down in the arena. There are over one hundred thousand people cheering at the coliseum shaped arena. There are big screens all around, so Kieran can see the action as if he was standing beside the competitors. At the top of the arena, there was a giant gold statue sitting motionless on a gold chair. It had a plaque saying: “Here sits King Albert, vanquisher of evil, bringer of peace.” Kieran stares at it, mouth open in awe and wonder. Commentator: “Oh! Jack has knocked Tom to the floor!” The man called Jack had indeed knocked the man called Tom to the floor, and was standing on his chest with his right foot. Jack was a tall man, wearing a purple vest, purple trousers and black boots. He has spiky shoulder length hair, which is very long and blond. He has a long, thin sword in his right hand, which is stained blood red all over. On his left arm, from shoulder to fingers, he has a metal medieval like armour, but with the fingers as sharp blades. Tom was a short blonde boy, with no distinguishable features. Tom: “Please……have…mercy……” Tom, covered in blood, reaches up to grab Jack’s arm. Jack flicks his sword, and Tom’s right arm is cut in half. Tom: “AAAAGGGGHHHH!!!!” Commentator: “Ouch! Ladies and gentlemen, it doesn’t look good for Tom!” Jack: “Mercy is for the weak. You’re just another worm.” Jack gets off Tom and stabs him in his abdomen four times, and then slashes him seven times. He stares down at him in silence. Tom: “*Coughs blood* Ugh! P……p…please…*coughs blood* I…beg of…you……”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Jack sheaths his sword and helps Tom to his feet. Tom: “*coughs blood* Thank… *coughs blood* …you… so…*coughs blood*…much” Jack moves swiftly behind Tom. Jack: “Suffer in silence!!” *Breaks neck* Tom falls to the floor, neck twisted at horrifying angle. He was dead, lying in a pool of blood, with blood stained clothes. Commentator: “Oh! We have a winner! Jack! Throw Tom in the furnace, and let’s start the next round!!!” The crowd erupt in glee, and two hulking men drag Tom’s lifeless torso away. Jack raises his arms in glory, and bows to the crowd, before walking off the other way. Kieran: “He died?!?! And no one’s doing anything?! I better go see someone who knows the rules!!” Kieran jogs to the changing rooms as fast as he can, still in agony. He bursts through the doors and everyone stops to look at him. There are three men dressed fully in black checking a wide selection of parts. One has a red armband, the other a blue, the third a green. In the corner of the room, there are three more people. One is tall, with short black hair and many guns secreted all over his body. He has two minigun bullet belts strapped around his bare chest, and a chain with a key on it around his neck. The man has thousands of cuts all over his chest, which makes the scars form up to look like some sort of maze or labyrinth. He is carrying a large green metal box in his right hand, which is locked. He also has a big shield with six holes like a revolver in it on his back. The second man is also tall, but blonde and is dressed in a ninja costume. He has a long sword sheathed, and what seems to be a second sword hidden in his costume from the back. His shoes are spiked, which could be used to easily scale buildings perhaps? The third man is relatively tall and very young looking. He is dressed in long blue robes, with no weaponry at all. He has very short brown hair. What part could he possibly play, if he were to fight? A man standing by the door, looking alarmed, approaches Kieran. He had a badge that said “Referee”. Referee: “Can I help you?” Kieran: “A man just died!!” Referee: “Yes. You win by knocking out or killing your opponent or opponents. You also win if they scream “I SUBMIT!” Are you taking part?” Kieran: “I signed up, but if there is a possibility of death……should I enter?”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! ???: “Yes. Don’t worry.” Kieran: “Hmmm……ok then…… Yes. I shall participate.” Referee: “Very well. Sophie! Come here!” A small girl runs in, about hip height, and bows obediently. Sophie: “Yes sir?” Referee: “Heal this man at once.” Sophie: “As you wish. One moment sir, this won’t hurt.” The small girl closes her hands together, closes her eyes and utters inaudible words, as if praying. She then draws both hands back, one to each hip, with elbows pushed right back, and pushes both arms out, making a double opened palm. White rings start to circle around Kieran, and his body starts regenerating. Wounds close, blood disappears and scratches fade away as if never there, and pain ebbs away slowly. Kieran’s chest was whole again and he felt stronger than ever! Kieran: “………I feel……fine! No……great!! Thanks a lot!” Sophie: “All in a day’s work sir.” The girl bows to Kieran and the referee and runs off to wherever she came from. Announcement box: “Kieran and The Delta Enforcers to the arena please. Your match is starting.” The three men dressed in black stand up, the parts they were inspecting earlier nowhere to be seen. They walk out simultaneously, staring at Kieran ominously as they pass by. Kieran turns to leave. The other three men call out to him. Three men: “WAIT!! Come here!” Kieran suspiciously walks over to them. Gun clad man: “Good luck dude! Name’s Philip!” Ninja: “Be careful. They won their first match in under a minute. The guy was ripped in half. I’m Lucas.” Unarmed man: “Chris. You look prepared, but watch out.”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “Thanks guys! I’m Kieran, pleased to meet you! Well I better be off, see you soon I hope!” Kieran exits the room, with Chris, Lucas and Philip waving him off. He walks down the long corridor, and enters the arena. The three men are standing there in a line, staring at him, and the crowd are cheering. Commentator: “LLLAAADDDIIIEEESSS AND GENTLEMEN!!!! The next stage in the knockout rounds of the Monster Slayer tournament! Presenting The Delta Enforcers: Ris, Daniel and Giovanni versus Kieran!!!” The crowd erupts into a flood of cheering and whistling. Ris had the red armband, Daniel the blue, and Giovanni the green. Kieran: “Let’s do it.” Commentator: “You know the rules! Do whatever you need to do to win! FFFIIIGGGHHHTTT!!!” Giovanni runs at Kieran. Kieran backflips and slashes at Gio’s chest. Gio dodges and jump kicks Kieran, sending him flying across the arena. Kieran: “”Ugh. I’ll let you have that one.” Commentator: “He’ll have to do better than THAT folks!! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Kieran: “We’ll see about that!!” Kieran gets up and sprints towards Gio. Just as he gets within close quarters, Gio ducks and sweeps Kieran. Kieran flies up into the air and Gio takes a tazer out of his back pocket. He shocks Kieran in the spine. Kieran: “AAOOOOWW!!!” Kieran flies across the arena towards Ris, who drives his right fist into Kieran’s gut. Kieran: “*coughs blood* Uuuuaahhhoooooo……” Kieran falls to the floor, lying down facing the sky. Daniel: “You’re mine!!” Daniel runs towards Kieran and then jumps in the air, landing with a two-footed power stomp into Kieran’s stomach. Blood spurts all over Daniel. Kieran: “The……pain…………”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! ???: ”Fight you wuss!!” Daniel: “Hahahahaha!!!! This is too easy!!” Daniel gets off Kieran and reaches down to grab Kieran’s face. Seizing his arm, Kieran smashes down on Daniel’s elbow, breaking his arm. Daniel: “AAAGGGHHH!!!!” Kieran jumps up and grabs Daniel by the hair, then stabs him in the gut three times with his spike hand. Daniel: “*Gasp*……Help……” Ris runs to Daniel’s aid. Holding him by his hair, Kieran throws Daniel into Ris, sending them to the floor in a heap. Kieran: “Wait……where’s Gi-“ Kieran is grabbed in a chokehold from behind by Gio. Kieran’s arms are restrained. Gio then smashes Kieran behind the knees, causing him to kneel to the floor. He kneels directly behind Kieran, holding him tightly. Gio: “FINISH IT!! NOW!” Daniel: “But we need three men to operate th-“ Gio: “Improvise dammit!!” Daniel: “We’ll……try…… but we need your parts!” Gio: “Come and get them then.” Daniel walks over to Gio and gets the parts required. He then returns to Ris and they start to construct whatever item it is that Kieran will be destroyed with. Gio: “Any last words? Hehehehehehehehehe.” Kieran: “Ugh! I….I can’t break free!!” The crossbow-cannon type weapon was finished being constructed. Ris: “Daniel, balance it on your back. You’re in no condition to hold it or aim. I’ll support it from up here, don’t worry.”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Daniel: “Ok.” Daniel gets on his hands and knees, and Ris puts the Mecha cannon on his spine. Ris: “Ready!” ???: “Fools.” Gio: “Fire at will! It’s over kid. Good fight though. I commend you.” On the screen of the giant cannon, there is a crosshair. Ris lines it up with the left side of Kieran’s chest. Ris: “Heart locked on!” Ris presses a big red button on the side of the giant cannon. The machine draws in a colossal amount of energy, and then says “READY” on the screen. The Delta Enforcers: “Delta Mecha beam-FIRE!” An energy beam rips through Kieran’s chest, goes through him, and penetrates Gio as well. Gio falls on the floor with his mouth open, not blinking, blood welling from his chest. He was dead. Kieran falls on all fours gasping and clutching at the gaping hole in his torso. He was alive? But how? Daniel and Ris: “GIO!!! NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!” Ris: “His heart’s on the right!!!! FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!” The Delta Mecha beam fires again, this time at the right side of Kieran’s chest. It hits the sturdy metal and deflects back; hitting Ris between the eyes, killing him instantaneously. The beam launches Kieran across the arena and into the wall. Daniel: “NOOOOOO!!! RIIIISSSSS!!!!!!” Daniel’s arms are shaking and wobbling from the shock of the death of his team mates and the weight of the Delta Mecha Cannon, as no one is supporting it any more. Daniel: “Help me! Please! My arm, it hurts so much! I can’t hold on much longer!!!” Kieran: “Ugh. Ok.” Kieran stands up and starts limping over to Daniel to help him. Daniel’s right arm is twisted at an awkward angle. Would he make it in time? Daniel: “*sob* Please!! H……Hurry!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran, about a meter away from Daniel starts walking as fast as he can. Kieran: “Nearly there……hold……o-” Daniel: “EEEAAARRRGGGHHH!!!!!!!!!” Daniel’s arms give way, and the gargantuan cannon crushes him beneath its immense mass. Blood slowly seeps out from beneath the machine. Kieran: “No………I…I……was almost……there……” Commentator: “By a miraculous turn of events, Kieran is the winner!!!” The crowd deafen Kieran with cries of glee and praise. Stunned, covered in blood and in drastic pain, Kieran raises his right arm in euphoric happiness. He then limps into the changing rooms holding the gaping hole in his chest. Philip, Chris and Lucas: “Are you ok?!?!” Kieran: “Ugh. Need…… rest……..” Kieran collapses on the floor. He has no strength left to get himself up. Sophie comes in and heals Kieran. He gets up slowly, in awe of her powers. Sophie: “Be careful sir!” Kieran: “*cough* Thanks…how……can you do such…… an amazing thing?” Sophie: “I don’t know sir, but it brings in the money, so I can’t complain!” Kieran: “Hahaha. I suppose you’re right.” She leaves the room again, returning from wherever it is she came from. Lucas walks over and digs Kieran in the ribs. Lucas: “Good fight, but you won by luck! You better hope you don’t face us, or we’ll wipe the floor with you!! HAHAHAHA!” Philip: “What the hell?!?!” Philip is standing at the window with his mouth open, pointing out at something. Everyone rushes over to see what it is. Kieran: “A dragon?! Is he a competitor?!?!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! It was true, a giant purple dragon, about the size of a building, was descending into the arena, gliding gently with its enormous wings. Chris: “Hmmm……I think it’s gonna be a tough one this year guys……” Announcer: “Could Kieran and The Omega Victors make their way to the arena. Your match is starting.” Philip: “WHAAAATT?! You’re against us?! Oh man!” Lucas: “HAHAHAHA! Looks like an easy win! Sorry Kieran!” Chris: “………I wouldn’t be so sure……” They walk out of the room towards the arena, leaving Kieran on his own. ???: “You disgust me.” Kieran: “What?! Why???” ???: “That match was pathetic! Just because you don’t want to kill someone doesn’t mean you can’t hurt them! Remember, you can win by making them submit, or knocking them out!!!!!” Kieran: “But……they all died……” ???: “Get over it!!! You can’t change it!! Just try your best! Accidents happen dammit!!” Kieran: “*sigh* I suppose you’re right………” ???: “You make me sick! YOU were the one who enlisted in this tournament, and now you have the attitude of a broken man! You may as well give up if you’re going to act like this!! Stupid mortal!!!” Kieran: “I’m sorry. I……I’ll try harder……” ???: “Just make this round worth it! Give it all you’ve got, and if you lose, you lose.” Kieran: “Ok. Here goes nothing…” Kieran takes a deep breath and walks into the arena. His three new friends were frowning at him, ready for battle. Surely they wouldn’t hurt him too much? But his voice was right; this WAS a competition, and HE had entered it, so he must be prepared to go all the way. Commentator: “At long last ladies and gentlemen! Kieran has arrived!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! The crowd erupt in cheers, like they had done when he unbelievably won the last round. They seemed to like him! Commentator: “Let’s get it on! FIGHT!” There is an explosion of black smoke in the middle of the arena, and a man is standing there crouched, his clothes darker than the darkest shadow. He runs over to Philip and takes something, and there is another explosion of black smoke. When the smoke clears, the man is no where to be seen. Philip: “They’re gone!!! My spike grenades!!” Kieran: “What just happened??” The crowd starts murmuring, and everyone is trying to work out what happened. Commentator: “Erm……Ladies and gentlemen, I think some kind of master thief has just visited us!” Philip: “DAMMIT!!” ???: “Now’s your chance! Strike them!” Kieran runs at Philip and jumps in the air, with his right arm high in the air, ready to slash down. Philip realises what is going on and rolls out of the way. Philip: “You wanna fight dirty eh?” Philip gets two pistols from his pockets and starts strafing around Kieran, shooting him. Kieran turns side on, so all the bullets bounce off his magnificent armour. Kieran: “Hmpf.” Philip: “WHAT?! Get him Lucas!” Philip reloads his pistols and returns them to their respective pockets. Lucas: “Take this!” Lucas rushes in and starts a chain of hurried sword attacks on Kieran. Kieran blocks all the attacks with his metal arm. Lucas: “HUH?! GET THIS!” Lucas draws his sword back, and takes the second one out of the back of his shirt. He then performs a mega double sword slash on Kieran.

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: Uh-oh!” Kieran runs away, dodging Lucas’ attack. Lucas: “No you don’t!” Lucas presses a button on the sword that was hidden in his shirt and it extends into a mega long sword, with many segments, allowing it to move like liquid. He whips the sword, and it wraps around Kieran’s leg. Kieran: “NO!” Lucas flicks the whip-like sword, and sends Kieran into the wall. Chris: “Cyborg Cyclops!” A bright blue circle emerges on the floor, and a giant Cyclops in white high tech gear is summoned from the blue ring. It is roughly 10 foot tall, and has a gun for a right hand, and a sword for a left hand. It has a sturdy helmet and some sort of computer screen over its eye. Chris: “Get him! Use your Death Beam!” A blue energy ray burst from its cannon hand, and smashes into the rubble Kieran is lying in. Kieran: “OOOWWW!” The smoke clears, and the rubble is plastered with blood. Kieran hoists himself out of the wreckage, gasping for breaths, and covered with dust and blood. Kieran: “HHHAAARRRGGGHHH! Grapplegun…fire!” Kieran fires the Grapplegun into the Cyclops’ eye. Its computer screen attachment shatters and it shrieks piercingly. Kieran then runs up the wall, and presses the retract button on the Grapplegun, causing him to fly towards the Cyclops. He readies his spike hand for impact, but the Cyclops hears him coming. Cyborg Cyclops: “RRROOOAAARRR!” It starts to slash wildly all around itself. Kieran retracts the Grapplegun in time, but gets slashed by the mighty sword. He is sent spiralling across the arena, and blood spurts everywhere. Lucas: “Hahahahahaha! This should help!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Lucas throws some shuriken at Kieran, but they get imbedded in his leg armour. Lucas: “Hmmmm.” Kieran gets up and pulls the shuriken out of his legs. He throws two at Lucas, and the rest at the Cyclops. Lucas deflects them with his normal sword. The rest of them hit the Cyclops squarely in the chest. Electricity starts pulsating out of the Cyclops, paralyzing it. Chris: “Ugh. DISMISSED!” The blue circle appears again, and drags the Cyborg Cyclops into the ground, making it disappear. Philip: “THAT’S IT!!” Philip takes the shield off of his back and guards himself behind it. Suddenly, a whirring starts to emerge from the shield, and the six revolver like holes start rotating, getting faster and faster. The whirring also gets louder and louder. Kieran: “CRAP!” Kieran, not knowing what will happen, runs and throws himself behind the rubble that he was buried under previously. The shield starts spraying minigun bullets towards the rubble, as the ammo on Philip’s chest keep feeding into it. Kieran: “Hope this holds………” ???: “Watch out for that summoner! Take him OUT!” Philip continues to pummel the rubble for a few minutes longer, but then ceases. Philip: “You ready Lucas?!” Lucas: “YEAH!” Philip: “Take cover Chris!” Chris runs behind Philip, and stays close to him. Lucas runs in front of Philip and the whirring from Philip’s shield starts whirring and spinning again. Lucas takes the whiplike sword and starts spinning it in front of him as fast as he can. Philip and Lucas: “Bullet Rain!!!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Bullets from Philip’s Shield-Gun start firing towards Lucas. The hail of bullets gets deflected by the sword spinning, like rain on an umbrella and start ricocheting all over the arena. Some hit the rubble from many different angles, some fly into the sky, some keep reflecting between Philip and Lucas, and some get imbedded into the floor or walls of the arena. Kieran: “WHAT THE HELL?!?!” ???: “Relax. Bullets can’t pierce your armour. Just watch the uncovered parts of your body. When this stops, get out of here and attack. FAST.” After a few more minutes, Philip stops firing, and Lucas stops spinning his sword. The whole arena turns silent. Nothing can be heard. ???: “Wait until the right moment………” Chris motions for Philip to go and check. Philip walks slowly and silently over to where Kieran lays poised, waiting to strike. Philip: “Hmmm……could be a trap……” Philip approaches the motionless pile of rocks, and bends down to examine them. ???: “NOW!” Kieran jumps out of the concrete tomb high into the air, his spike hand drawn high above his head. Philip takes his shield off his back and hides behind it. Kieran spiked down on Philip’s shield and cracks it in half. Philip: “WHAT?! MY SHEILD!!! AAGGHH!!!! YOU’VE DONE IT NOW!!” Philip smacks Kieran with his giant metal green box. Kieran flies across to the other side of the arena. Philip: “READY LUCAS?!” Lucas: “Right!” Philip rips the key off of his neck and unlocks the green box. He takes out an immense rocket launcher. Lucas jumps high in the sky, and Philip fires a seemingly unending amount of rockets at him. Philip and Lucas: “Apocalyptic Rain!!!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Lucas starts to cut the rockets into many pieces with his normal sword, and spikes them back at Kieran, causing many explosions to happen all over the arena. Kieran is relentlessly pummelled by the rocket shards. Kieran: “UGH!” Philip charges up a final rocket and fires it towards Lucas; it is fifty times the size the size of a normal rocket, and burning with a ferocious fire. Lucas wraps his whip-like sword around it, and spins it over his head, making it go faster and faster. Philip and Lucas: “JUDGEMENTAL SPIKEDOWN!!” Lucas throws the meteor-like mega rocket at Kieran. It is hurtling towards him at a impossible speed, the fire around it getting fiercer and fiercer. Kieran: “Uh-oh!!! I hope this works!!” Kieran fires the Grapplegun into the Omega rocket and starts spinning it around him. It takes all his strength just to turn the giant meteor around, let alone keep spinning it. Kieran: “UGH! Grip……slipping……!! Must hold on!!!!” He spins the rocket faster and faster, building up a thunderous momentum, and slings it back at Lucas. Kieran: “HHRRUUAAGGHH!!!!!” The meteor collides with Lucas before he has a chance to react or counter anything. There is an enormous explosion, and Lucas plummets through the sky, heading towards the ground. ???: “FINISH HIM!!!” Kieran runs and jumps sky-high. He lets loose an almighty combo of punches, each one causing Lucas an immense amount of pain. Kieran: “IT’S OVER!!!!” He turns upside down, and grabs Lucas in a tight vice grip. He then speeds up, rocketing towards the ground at a breath-taking speed. Just before both of them smash into the earth, Kieran throws Lucas towards the ground as hard as he can, and then flips away gracefully to land perfectly, without any injuries. Lucas slams into the floor, causing a massive crater to appear in the ground. He lies then motionless, groaning. Chris: “LUCAS! NOOOO! UUUGGGHHH………TETRA-REX, COME FORTH!!!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! A fire red star in a circle appears on the ground and an anchor appears high in the air, with a chain suspending it, dangling from the clouds. The anchor then drops down into the earth, going through the ground and suddenly stops. There is a loud bang, as if the anchor has hit and latched onto something. The chain holding the anchor slowly starts retracting itself back up into the clouds. Before long, an immense creature is hoisted out of the ground by its neck, as if it had been pulled from the very depths of hell. When the creature is pulled out, it lets out an almighty bellow, reverberating all around the arena. It was around 100 foot tall, a mixture of horrible and terrifying beasts. It had the head of an enormous crocodile, with a massive rhinoceros horn on its nose, a giant pincer like a colossal crab’s where it should have a right hand, an elongated spiked tentacle with a sharp axe at the end of it for a left arm, an armoured chest, seven shark mouths on its back, which was also spike laden, two massive dinosaur legs, and a long spiked tail with a spiked mace at the end of it. This truly was the King of all beasts. Commentator: “WHOAH folks! This looks like the end for Kieran!” Kieran stared in awe at the colossal creature. It was the most amazing, yet repulsive thing he ever saw. He couldn’t look away, yet knew he had to move or he would be killed. Chris: “KILL him!” The beast scooped Kieran up in his giant pincer, and slowly began to squeeze and crush him, harder and harder. Kieran: “Uggggghhhhh……can’t……breathe……” Philip: “AAAAAHAHAHAHA!! NOW you get your just desserts!!” Kieran: “Ahhhhhhggggghhhhh……I……can’t stand………the…pain!! My…ribs!!” Kieran could feel his chest tightening, and his breathing became shorter and shorter. A rib cracked, and the one above it shattered. He was in agony. There was no chance that this beast would let him survive, or that it would be called off. Kieran had to act himself, but the pain was unbearable. He could feel the beast’s hot, putrid breath on his face. It could kill him in an instant, so why was it letting him live? This pain was a fate worse than death. The abysmal creature must enjoy seeing its prey squirm before it dies…… ???: “What are you doing?! Do something!!” Kieran: “But……the pain…it’s agonising……” ???: “So?! Use the pain, go into it, and allow it to fill you with fury! Succumb to it and push past it! Let out your wrath on this vile monster, and purge its sinful existence from this world!!!” Kieran: “You’re…right!! HRUGH……”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran stretches his arms out as far as they will go, and starts to charge up an energy ball in each palm. The beast starts to wriggle his tentacle arm, raising it above his head. He was about to split Kieran in two! Kieran: “HHHHRRRUUUAAAAGGGGHHHH……………….” The beast let out a furious bellow, as if someone has just spat in its face, and started to bring its axe wielding arm down, slicing through the air. Kieran: “HHHAAAA…..get…a…load…of……..THIS!!!!!!!!!” A massive explosion erupts from Kieran’s palms as he smashes his wrists together and blasts out a colossal angry outburst. The beast’s axe arm is blown off, and blood gushes out from its armless shoulder. Tetra-Rex: “EEEEEYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!” The beast drops Kieran from its pincer, and screeches in pain and rage. It collapses to the floor. Surely it couldn’t be beaten THAT easily??? Chris: “NO! My creature……defeated?? Get up damn you!!! FIGHT!!” The creature was rubbing against his arm with its pincer hand and emitting a mournful sound, as if trying to reattach it, or saying goodbye. It then stood up tall, chest out, its eyes burning and lusting for vengeance. It let out a bloodthirsty cry and started to proceed towards Kieran. Kieran: “Dammit! Here we go again………” The creature rushes towards Kieran and smashes his pincer into the floor. Kieran rolls away from it and out of the shock radius and starts running away. It raises its club like hand again and smashes it down. Kieran evades yet again, but Lucas’ body is crushed. Lucas: “*Coughs blood* Uuuuooooohhhhhh…………………….” Philip: “LUCAS! NOOOOOO!” Philip runs over to tend to Lucas, and the beast is still relentlessly pursuing Kieran. It rears its horn back, and starts charging around the arena after Kieran. Kieran: “OH CRAP!” Kieran gets spiked by the horn and flies into the wall. The beast is still running towards Kieran, ready to puncture him. Kieran jumps out of the way, and the monster gets its horn stuck in the wall. It tries as hard as it can to remove itself, but is stuck.

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! ???: “KILL IT!!!!!” Kieran runs towards the abomination of nature, but the spiked mace tail was flicking around everywhere. He waited for a chance to jump in. Philip: “Lucas, are you ok?! Answer me!!!” Lucas: “……………………*cough*……….uuuuoooohhhhhh…..” Philip: “You’ll pay dammit!!” Philip runs over to the beast and takes out a shotgun which is strapped to his leg. He starts strafing around the creature, shooting it all over its tail, some bullets connect, and others get imbedded in the spikes. The Tetra-Rex screeches loudly. Chris: “What are you doing?! I’ll handle this!” Philip “Vengeance dammit! He may have killed Lucas!!!!” Philip takes out a small hip flask and a tiny tin box out from his pocket. He tipped some of what seemed to be a powder of some sort into the shotgun, and then poured a few drops of the liquid from the hip flask in also. He then put his thumb over the end of the shotgun and started shaking it. When he finished, the gun was unstably shaking. It was now super volatile! Philip: “Get ready………..Shotgun………..” Philip turned side on to the beast, the gun shaking uncontrollably, trying to aim for the beast’s tail. He held it with one arm and closed his left eye. Philip: “…….BLAST!” A massive blast wave ripped out from the shotgun into the creature, blasting off its tail. Blood was now pouring from the creatures back as well. It screamed in anguish and pulled its head upwards, snapping off its horn, and destroying half of the stadium. The beast has lost an immense amount of blood and was howling in pain. It turned to face Kieran and saw Philip. It looked at both of them, as if trying to decipher who the enemy was, and who to attack. Lucas: “*coughs blood* Finish me………please……” Philip ignores the beast’s inquisitive looks, and runs to Lucas’ side. Philip: “WHAT?! NO! You can make it! Don’t worry!!!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Lucas: “I……I don’t care…this pain is too much! Anyway………I have been disgraced in battle……I can no longer show my face in public……finish me……now!” Philip” “I……I won’t do it!!” The Tetra-Rex then charges forwards, as if it had just made up its mind, at Philip, mouth open, ready to swallow him whole. Its jaws clacked and it licked its lips as it gained momentum. Philip: “Crap!!!” Philip rolls out of the way, and the creature scoops Lucas up in its mouth, crunching and crushing him between its razor sharp teeth. Lucas: “AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH-“ Lucas’ cries suddenly stopped and the creature swallowed. He was dead. At least he got his wish. All Kieran could do was stand and watch. Philip: “LLLUUUUUUUCCCCCCCAAAAAAAASSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Chris: “I……I can’t dismiss it! I’ve been trying since it crushed Lucas!! It’s too strong!! It has a mind of its own!!!!” Philip: “GODDAMN IT!!! Kieran, help me!!!” Kieran: “…………………Ok……..” Philip: “We can fight later! Come on!!!” The beast looks at the two new comrades with a look of pure anger, and starts dashing towards them. Kieran: “Shoot it!!!” They both evade the beast, and Philip starts to fire rockets at the creatures’ chest. The missiles explode, but cause no effect to the creature. Kieran runs over to it and jumps up to its knee, takes out the Grapple gun, and fires it. It sticks into the Tetra-Rex’s chin, and Kieran jumps. He sticks his spike hand into the beast’s chest, piercing its armour. He then runs up the beast’s torso, slicing it open. When he gets to the top, he flips off of the creature, and starts climbing up it, using the Grapplegun for support. Kieran: “TRY IT NOW!” Philip: “TAKE THIS!!!!!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Philip fires a rocket into the beast’s heart. There is a big explosion, and blood starts to well from the beast’s chest. Kieran reaches the creatures head, and starts stabbing him through the brain with his spike hand numerous times. The beast lets out an almighty wail, and falls to the floor. It had finally been conquered. The beast had been slain. The arena was soaked with blood, and covered in rubble. Kieran turned to Philip. Kieran: “Well, here we go……*pant pant*” Philip: “*cough* Thanks for helping me.” Chris: “I SUBMIT!!!” Commentator: “WOAH! I didn’t see THAT one coming!” Chris: “He is the victor. He’s already won. I’m not going to summon anything more, my power is drained. You’re exhausted as well. Let’s go shake his hand.” Philip nods at Chris, and they both go and shake his hand. Philip then thrusts Kieran’s right hand into the air, and the crowd goes wild. Philip: “HERE IS YOUR WINNER!!!!” Commentator: “And Kieran wins his second match in a row! But this round was given to him as well! Will he ACTUALLY WIN the next round?? Don’t go anywhere people!!” Chris, Kieran and Philip walk back to the changing room. On the way, they hear an immense explosion from far away, and the ground shakes. Ignoring it, they continue on, and walk into the changing room. Sophie then comes and heals them all. Philip: “Thanks. Hey, great fight man. I think you’re gonna go all the way!!” Chris: “Yeah! You rocked out there!!” Kieran: “Yeah whatever! Those summons were the best thing I’ve ever seen!!! Why the hell did you two pull out anyway???” Philip: “I didn’t want any more pain or sorrow. Lucas is……*sigh*…WAS my best friend.” Kieran: “I see. Well thanks a lot.” Chris: “No problem. Just make sure you win!!!” Kieran: “Hehe. I’ll try!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Jack walks into the changing room, with blood dried into his clothes. He has a very deep cut on his right arm, and blood is trickling down his arm. He also has a slash across his chest, and three of his ribs are poking out at a weird angle. Jack: “Where ARE you, you filthy little half-breed?! Get out here and heal me NOW!” Sophie runs out to Jack and cures him. His wounds close up magically and his ribs snap back into place. The blood then is siphoned off him like someone had an invisible hoover. Jack: “Aaahhhhhh………that’s better……that was a good fight! The pain was pleasurable…..and the fury ideal……hahahahahahaha……poor fellow…torn limb from limb!” Jack chuckles softly to himself and walks out the door slowly, with a content smile on his face, like a child who has had their fill of sweets. Philip: “That reminds me………” Philip takes out a large survival knife from the strap on his leg, and slices a few cuts on his chest. He winces and grunts as the warm blood oozes down his abdomen. Philip: “Aaaahhhhh……sweet absolution………” Kieran: “What the hell was that in aid of??” Philip: “It’s a cleansing ritual. Pain is good. It purges away sin.” Kieran: “But why didn’t Sophie heal your scars?” Philip: “I asked her not to, I leave them there as a perpetual reminder of the sinful mortal ways. It teaches me to stay pure, and to journey closer to Christ the Lord.” As Philip mentions The Almighty Father, he bows on one knee and does the Sign of the Cross. He gets up and smiles, satisfied at his actions. Chris: “That guy Jack……he gives me the shivers……Some say he’s the best swordsman there ever was……” Kieran: “He’s ruthless in battle! I hope I don’t have to face him!” Philip: “He has won the tournament three years in a row; it’s more than likely you will.” Kieran has a mortified expression on his face at Philip’s words. Would he really have to face Jack?? He would rather take the Tetra-Rex on any day. Suddenly, there is a furious bellow from the arena. Chris, Kieran and Philip ran to the window to see. It was the dragon! It was waiting there! But…..for wh-…oh no…it was waiting for Kieran!

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Chris: “Looks like that’s your next match! Good luck man.” Philip: “Take this; it should help you in your travels.” Philip hands Kieran two Uzi’s. They had the infinity symbol etched into their handle. Kieran: “Thanks! But……won’t I need ammo…?” Philip: “Hehe. I rigged those babies up, so they keep feeding off of themselves! The firing mechanism is custom fitted to a circular belt, so they get reused! Saves money and materials!” Kieran: “WOW! Awesome!!” Chris: “Take this. I don’t know if I will summon ever again………” Chris does the same motion as Sophie does when healing, but this time Kieran starts glowing blue all over. He feels a sudden surge of power, and the glowing subsides. Kieran: “What……happened…………?” Chris: “I gave you one of my last summons. It’s called ““Creatures of the Night.” You can only use it once though, use it wisely!” Kieran: “But……what if you get in trouble……and need it?” Chris: “Ah…... I’ll be with Philip. Anyway, I don’t know if I can ever summon again after that match. My ultimate summon killed my best friend……I can never forgive myself! I…I couldn’t control it!! After all those years of training!! DAMMIT IT ALL TO HELL!!!!!!!” Chris punches the table next to him, and it smashes in half. He is panting, enraged with anger and sorrow. Philip: “It’s……ok man……nothing could have stopped it happening. Lucas wished to die anyway, at least you granted his……dying wish…” Chris sighs and walks out of the room. Philip walks over to the corner and sits down facing the wall, his face in his hands. Kieran tries to think of something to say, but can’t. There is what seems to be years of uncomfortable silence. Announcer: “Will Kieran please come to the arena. Your next round is starting.” The announcer’s words cut through the atmosphere like a sharp knife.

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “Erm……that’s me……I better…be off now…” Philip: “*sigh* Good luck……” Kieran pauses for a moment, and then leaves for the arena. Although Lucas was dead, the announcer was right. Kieran had been given his last two rounds. He had not yet won a match by himself! He took a deep breath, put the two Uzi’s in his back pockets, and walked through the door into the arena. Commentator: “Ladies and gentlemen!!! Are you ready for the quarter finals of the Monster Slayer tournament?! We have the newcomer Kieran versus the mighty Wingthorpe, a dragon from the Twelfth Kingdom, located in the Fourth Dimension!!” The crowd go wild in a frenzy of whooping and cheering. They scream “Kieran” over and over again. Many people have posters dedicated to Kieran, with phrases such as “Go Kieran,” and “Kieran to win!!!!” The dragon roars in annoyance, and the crowd are silent instantaneously. Commentator: “WOW! Looks like we have an angry dragon here tonight people! I think Kieran will have his work cut out!” FFFIIIGGGHHHTTT!!!” The dragon swoops in and slashes at Kieran. Kieran jumps backwards into the air and starts unloading hundreds of bullets at the dragon from his new Uzi’s. They all penetrate the dragon in the chest, but seem to do no damage! The dragon yells in anguish and spins around, clubbing Kieran with its long beefy tail. Then, in midair, the dragon goes to bite Kieran! Kieran falls in the dragon’s mouth, and just manages to hold the dragon’s top jaw open, but Wingthorpe is pushing down hard. Kieran: “Ugh! Can’t…… hold…. on!” The dragon is desperately trying to close its jaw. Kieran is pushing up against it with all his might. He then stabs the dragon in the roof of its mouth with his spike hand. The dragon opens its mouth, wailing in pain. Kieran dives out of its mouth, spins around and fires the Grapplegun! It punctures the dragon’s left eye and it yells in torment. Kieran starts abseiling down the dragon’s front slowly. When he reaches the floor, he retracts the steel rope back into the Grapplegun. The dragon then makes out where Kieran is with its right eye, and stomps on him. Pressing down, it leans in closer towards Kieran. Kieran: “Oooowwww……this thing weighs……a ton!” Kieran had nothing except his face free to move. The dragon starts licking Kieran’s face, and then draws back. It seems offended by Kieran’s taste, and starts ferociously growling. There is a massive explosion, and a black cloud appears out of nowhere. The thief that visited Philip was back again! He is about the same height as the late Lucas, and covered from head to toe in black ninja gear. He has the exact same shoes as Lucas wore! Could this man have stolen from his corpse??? The strange man stares at Kieran, and then

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! reaches under the dragon’s foot. He pick pockets Kieran for his Uzi’s and stood up again. He had a long wooden pole attached to his back, and Lucas’ segmented sword holstered on his leg! The man seemed to be in the dragon’s blind spot, as the dragon took no notice of him! The man then ran towards the wall, planted the long stick into the ground, and vaulted up high into the air. He then boosted off the wall and drew Lucas’ special sword out. The ninja then extended the special sword, and started spinning it above his head. He started to rise up, just as a helicopter would! The man is leaving the arena when the dragon notices him. Wingthorpe gets off Kieran, and seems furious that this strange man was flying like it can. The dragon starts to slash at the ninja, but he easily dodges the claws. The dragon goes to bite the flying man. The ninja takes something out of his suit; a grenade with nails sticking out of it! Peculiar ninja: “Take this! Spike Grenade!” He throws the Spike Grenade in the air, and it explodes, raining nails down everywhere. They imbed themselves into the dragon’s skin all over, and it screams. The ninja stops twirling his newly acquired sword, and drops to the ground. He wraps the sword around the dragon’s left leg and pulls sharply. The dragon falls onto the floor and the ninja then throws a smoke grenade and disappears again from whence he came. Kieran gets up and tries to make out his surroundings. Kieran: “Ugh! I can’t see anything! All this damn black smoke!!” The dragon stands up and sights Kieran. He rushes forward with such agility that Kieran has no time to react, and thus gets smashed by the dragon from charging in the process. Wingthorpe then spins rapidly, getting faster and faster, relentlessly battering Kieran with his spiked tail. Kieran can find no way to escape from this perilous combo attack. Blood is repeatedly spewing from Kieran from each strike, staining himself, the dragon, and the arena in the procedure. When the dragon stops turning, Kieran falls with a deafening pound into the base of the arena. Kieran: “*coughs blood* This beast………is……unrelenting……which is……how… I…MUST...BE!!!” Kieran gets up, staggeringly slightly, struggling to find his sense of direction. The dragon hollers arrogantly, as if Kieran had put forth a challenge, and it had accepted. The dragon dashes towards Kieran. Not moving, Kieran stares down the dragon. It stops, a mere inch away from Kieran and bends down, examining this bravery. It sniffed and scanned Kieran, as if it were a hologram, or some non existent occurrence. The animal straightens up, and the two opponents stare at each other for a long moment, in complete silence and admiration. ???: “Good…good! Show it you’re superior! Stand your ground!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! The dragon stands there, not calm…but…afraid…? Could the dragon REALLY be afraid of Kieran? Why wasn’t it making the first move? It had no trouble before…what was different now? Kieran: “Come on!! What are you waiting for???” ???: “Rather arrogant, don’t you think?” The dragon sees red. It raises its right claw and slashed at Kieran. Kieran waits until the last second, and then raised his left arm sharply, blocking Wingthorpe’s attack. The dragon’s mighty claw just bounced off…could this…be? The dragon growls an irritated grumble, and raises his claw again, bringing it down harder this time. Again, Kieran blocks the attack with his arm easily. The dragon yells a wild bellow, and spins around, ready to smash Kieran with its tail again. Kieran: “Hahahaha. How predictable……” Just as the tail is about to connect, Kieran turns into the attack, and grabs the tail. The momentum follows through, and the dragon tries to turn. Kieran digs his feet into the earth and pushes against the powerful tail. The dragon lets the tail slack a bit, to catch Kieran off guard, but Kieran guesses the trick and yanks the tail. The dragon is caught by surprise, and falls kneeling to the floor. Kieran seizes his opportunity and runs up its back. When Kieran nears Wingthorpe’s head, it stands up and flicks its body in a whiplash motion, causing Kieran to fly off. Kieran: “No you don’t! Grapplegun…FIRE!” Kieran fires the Grapplegun, and it perforates the dragon’s right shoulder. Using the force of the dragon’s action, Kieran thrusts his body into a full power swing. He swings all the way over to the dragons left shoulder. Kieran: “IT……ENDS……HERE!!!” Kieran bores a hole in the dragon’s neck, through the windpipe. The dragon clutches his throat, gasping for breath. It lets out an almighty death cry, which falters to a hoarse croaking sound, and falls to the floor. Kieran jumps off. It was defeated! Commentator: “We have a winner people! Kieran!!!!!” ???: “Drink the blood. Dragon’s blood is vastly known for granting the taster great power.” Kieran: “WHAT?!” ???: “I know it sounds grotesque, and is very gory, but……trust me.”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “Hmmmmm………Ok. You’ve led me down the right path so far…” Kieran guts a hole in the dragon’s heart, and blood starts to empty from the dragon’s corpse. He cups his hands, puts them into the hole, and scoops up a handful of blood. Commentator: “What’s…going on…? Is he…mutilating the body…? How…degrading!” Kieran: “*shudders* Here goes……” Kieran downs the blood in one go. The crowd groan and wince. He feels warmth trickling throughout his veins all the way down his body. Suddenly, he falls to the floor, writhing and struggling for breath. There was something trying to get out of him! His muscles start to grow more and more, making him stronger. The spikes on his right hand grow into thick long claws. Finally a wing bursts out of each shoulder blade, the one on the left white, the one on the right black. A terrible screech is heard in the distance, over the horizon. Nothing can be seen as to the whereabouts or what caused the piercing cry. Commentator: “WOW! This is a very special event ladies and gentlemen! I’ve never seen anything like this in my whole career of commentating!!” Kieran gets up, and jumps in the air, hoping to soar into the air. However, he merely hovers for a few seconds before dropping in a heap to the floor. He had never flown before. This would take some practise… He then stands up and raises both fists in the air, roaring triumphantly. He had won a match officially! The crowd jump up in a flood of cheering, and Kieran returns to the changing rooms. Sophie: “I didn’t think you…WHAT HAPPENED??” Sophie turns to face Kieran and exclaimed in amazement and surprise. The referee runs over and slaps her across the face, sending her to the floor. Referee: “How DARE you talk like that to a competitor?! I should have your limbs cut off and have you tied to the dog’s kennel as a chew toy!!!!” Kieran grabs the referee’s arm with a force that shook the man. Kieran: “Don’t EVER raise your hand to a woman, no matter WHAT!” Kieran then uppercuts the man across the room. He hits the wall and slides down in a slump. He was unconscious. He goes over to Sophie and helps her up. Kieran: “I’m sorry about that. Are you ok?” Sophie: “Yeah. I’m used to it. Why…why did you help me…? I’m nothing but a mere half breed!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “Irrelevant of who you are, a woman should never be hit. Besides, even if you were a man, I would have done the same. You did absolutely nothing wrong.” Sophie: “Thank……thank you so much! Take this!” Sophie hands Kieran a small blue vial. It was full of a shining liquid, and was ice cold to the touch. Kieran: “What’s this?” Sophie: “I don’t know. My mother gave it to me before she passed away, and said if I ever got in a near death situation, to drink it. My guess is, it’s an elixir of some sort.” Kieran: “Wow! Thanks!” Kieran pockets the vial, and Sophie heals him. He smiles at her, and she smiles back. Sophie then leaves the room, leaving Kieran on his own. At that moment, Philip and Chris walk through the door, shouting in anger. Philip: “So what, you just stood there?!”! Chris: “No, there was that damn explosion again, and when the smoke cleared the body had had everything removed except the clothes!” Philip: “If I get my hands on that guy…” Chris: “I know! Why is he going around stealing people’s stuff anyway??? Lucas isn’t even cold in the ground yet!” Kieran: “Hey guys. Are you talking about that guy who made the black smoke that happened during our fight?” Philip and Chris: “Yeah!” Kieran: “He came back in my fight, and stole those guns you gave me!” Philip: “My InfUzi’s as well?! Oh man!!” Kieran: “We can’t do anything, as we have no information about him.” Philip: “Yeah. I suppose you’re right. *sigh* Hey…what happened to you?!” Kieran: “Well, I kinda…drank… the dragon’s blood…and…well you know… I gained new powers!” Chris: “GROSS but cool!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Philip: “Can you…like…fly?! Kieran: “No. I can barely hover. They are newly grown after all!” Chris: “Fair enough.” The three then sit down on a bench, and the room falls into a deep heavy silence. No one had anything to say. Kieran opened his mouth a few times, as if to say something, but found the point of conversation silly and irrelevant. They looked at each other and nodded politely a few times, but that was all. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Kieran spoke. Kieran: “So…erm…what will you guys do when the tournament is finished?” Philip: “Oh! I hadn’t thought about that! Well, Lucas wanted to just travel the open road after, enjoying company and new places, but……he’s…………………………gone.” The long pause and emphasis on the word “gone” hit all three men hard. Kieran: “Well……would you like to travel along with me maybe? I have a quest, which seems worthy of help!” Philip: “Hmmm…sounds good. What kind of quest?” Kieran tells Philip and Chris about the fight in the volcano, and how he will need to search for Eegalowga when this is over, for answers as well as revenge. Chris: “Yeah, I’ll be glad to help. But what will happen to the red haired woman? Was she innocent? And are they still frozen?” Kieran: “This is but a few of the answers I seek……” Announcer: “Kieran, please make your way to the arena! Your fight is about to commence!” Chris: “I know you’ll make it through! I believe in you! We will complete your mission together after all this!” Chris and Philip give Kieran the thumbs up sign. Chris and Philip: “Good luck!!” Kieran: “Thanks guys! See you!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran jogs out of the changing rooms and down the corridor. When he gets to the door for the arena, he pauses. He had faced well equipped groups of greatly trained men, thrno…two of which had become his good friends. He had battled against ferocious monsters, and finally a massive dragon. What could possibly lie in wait for him behind the door THIS time?? ???: “So……it seems we will have help on our journey. If they turn into dead weight… leave them.” Kieran: “How heartless of you!” ???: “Hahahaha. ME heartless? I didn’t tell you to drill another hole in that dragon; I didn’t tell you to kill anything! You are the one who went back on your no killing policy!” Kieran: “But…wait a minute! You are twisting my mind! Warping me into a horrible person inside!!” ???: “Am I? Or am I just awakening the REAL you?” Kieran: “No…it…can’t be…” Confidence shaken, Kieran steps through the doors and into the arena. He rubbed his eyes and looked again. He couldn’t believe it. The arena was empty! Why was he called here? Was he late? Had he missed his match?? Commentator: “There he is everyone!!” The noise from the crowd deafens Kieran momentarily. He walks towards the centre of the arena, and looked all around him. Was his opponent late, or not coming perhaps? Commentator: “WELCOME EVERYONE! Here is the next match! Kieran versus……” The crowd was silent, hanging on every word of the commentator’s. Commentator: “KKIINNGG AALLBBEERRTT!!!!!!!!!! In what’s BOUND to be an excellent semi-final!!!” As the commentator spoke his name, the colossal gold statue got out of his chair and jumped down into the arena. The ground shook and Kieran was lifted into the air by the sheer force of the impact. The 200 foot man cracked his neck and knuckles and walked towards Kieran. The sun was reflecting off of the gold, and into Kieran’s eyes! He picked up Kieran in his right hand, and brought him up to face level. Albert: “HAHAHAHAHA!! THIS is my opponent?! I got out of my chair for this?! Don’t make me laugh!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Albert throws Kieran at the wall and turned around. Kieran spins in midair and lands on the wall standing up. He then pushes off and flies towards Albert, landing on his right shoulder. Albert: “Hmmm?! That should have killed you!! I see I may have a worthy opponent after all……” King Albert goes to grab Kieran with his left hand. Kieran jumps and slides down his smooth, shiny golden arm. When he gets to the elbow, Kieran boosts himself off of Albert. He twists around and fires the Grapplegun at Albert’s forehead. It pings off, and Kieran retracts it. Kieran: “Dammit! It’s solid gold!! How am I gonna beat this guy?!” Albert: “Hahahahaha……pathetic…no one has ever beaten me in battle. TAKE THIS!!” Albert drops his right fist down in a hammer like motion, and smashes it into Kieran. Kieran: “*coughs blood* UUUGGGHHH!!” Kieran crashes into the ground, and the giant golden man stomps on him. He then elbow drops Kieran. When he gets up, there is a massive crater, and Kieran is in the middle, groaning softly. The vial Becca gave him rolled out of his pocket, and clinked gently as it hit the ground. Kieran: “*coughs blood* Elixir…eh? Well……I see…no other way to…*coughs blood*…win… Perhaps this will aid me…” Kieran pulls himself to his feet. Kieran: “*cough cough* To you King Albert! A toast to the best man! May him win triumphantly, celebrate jubilantly, and to the victor the spoils; pride and dignity.” Kieran raises the small blue vial up high, and nods his head at Albert, smiling calmly. Albert: “What?! You ACTUALLY think you can WIN?! AAAAAAAHAHAHAHA!! That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard in a long, long time!! I’ve slain dragons, herds of unicorns, hundreds of men in one blow, and many others who have challenged me! You are by far the meekest, feeblest excuse for a human I have ever laid eyes on, let alone fought!!” Kieran: “That may be…but I’m standing here, still alive, and I’m here to win.” Kieran drinks the potion, leaving nothing in the container, not even a drop. He grabs his stomach and starts yelling in agony.

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “WHAT?! This drink!! It’s…poisoned???? The…pain…” Kieran suddenly lets go of his stomach, and leans back, hands high in the air. Kieran: “AAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! THIS POWER!!! IT’S… INCREDIBLE!!!!!!” Kieran grows taller and taller, until he is as tall and wide as King Albert himself. He grabs Albert’s head with both hands, and head butts him. Albert: “AGH!” The gold man, now the same height as Kieran, was no longer arrogant and mocking. He was walking backwards in pain, holding his aching head. Kieran: “HAHA! Come on!!” Kieran kicks Albert in the stomach, and he doubles over. He uppercuts the gold titan and it flies into the wall. King Albert then slumps to the floor. Albert: “Ooowwww……this is gonna be a tough one……………” Albert gets up and grabs Kieran by the shoulders, and Kieran grabs him back. The two giant men start to grapple with each other, each trying to overpower the other. There is an explosion, and a cloud of black smoke appears out of nowhere. The strange ninja thief is examining Albert’s leg. Strange ninja: “Hmpf. This isn’t gold.” The man looks disgusted, and disappears again, in a cloud of black smoke. Kieran: “Not gold eh?” Kieran pushes Albert off of him, and punches him hard in the stomach. Albert falls to his knees. Kieran tries to fly again. Kieran: “Come on giant wings! Work damn you!!” He flaps his black and white feathered wings as fast and as hard as he can. However this is a great strain on the wings, and he falls back down after ascending for only a few seconds. Kieran: “AAAGGGHHH! DAMMIT!” Kieran grabs King Albert by the face and drives his knee into it. Albert falls backwards to the floor. Kieran then jumps into the air and lands with a fist into King Albert’s stomach.

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! There is a loud cracking sound, and a bit of gold chips off, exposing the gold man’s stomach. It is just like a human’s stomach, with intestines pulsating wildly. Kieran: “WHAT?! It’s plated gold?!? Hahahahaha! NOW things get interesting!” Kieran gets up and raises his foot. Just as he goes to drive his foot down, he feels a strange sensation, like his power is being stolen. Kieran: “UGH! What’s……….happening?!” Kieran starts to shrink, as the effects of the drink are wearing off. Albert cowers on the floor, curled in a ball, his eyes shut tightly, awaiting the blow. When there is no impact, King Albert opens his eyes. Albert: “Where…did he…go?” Albert stands up and searches around for Kieran. How could something so big just…… vanish? Albert: “Where are you?? Come out, come out wherever you are!” He walks around the arena with his arms outstretched, as if feeling for some invisible thing, when something pushes his foot up. Kieran: “Hey! Watch it!” Albert: “Oh THERE you are! HAHAHA! Not so tough now you’ve shrunk eh?” Kieran was back to his normal height. He throws King Albert’s foot off him and fires the Grapplegun into his stomach. Albert: “AAGGHH!” Blood starts gushing from the hole. Kieran pulls on the Grapplegun, and rips the bottom half of Albert’s intestine out. Albert: “AAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!” The crowd scream in shock, and grimace at the sight of all the blood and intestine. Kieran then wraps the intestine around Albert’s right leg and pulls. King Albert falls on the floor, and Kieran wraps the rest of the intestine around Albert’s neck, choking him. Albert: “Plea……Sto…….Ha…mer………”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! The giant gold man is desperately trying to breathe. He utters a few incomprehensible words, but Kieran cannot understand them. Albert’s eyes suddenly turn bright green, and two lasers rocket up into the clouds from his eyes. Albert: “RULEF……TROCK………PIEN…………..” After King Albert says his last words, an orange thing bursts out of his chest. It is gas like, and very wispy. It moves about freely. Gravity and weather, in fact nothing seems to affect the spirit’s movement. The being then slowly moves out of the arena towards the sky, and King Albert’s body goes limp, his head rolled to the right, unmoving. The match was over. But what had just happened? In the meantime, Kieran raises his arms in the air and starts to hover with his wings. The crowd cheers insanely, and he basks in the glory. Commentator: “Well, well, well! Kieran wins again! But will he win the final round of the Monster Slayer tournament?! Stay right where you are people!!!” Kieran then walks back towards the changing rooms. ???: “Hahahahahaha/ You see? You DO have a demonic side! You didn’t have to mutilate him like that!” Kieran: “Like you said……it’s kill…or be killed.” ???: “HAHA! Excellent! Now THIS is a body I can like! I think I’ll set up camp here for a while longer!” Kieran: “Ugh. Great. That’s all I need.” Kieran steps into the changing rooms, and Sophie heals him. Philip and Chris get up from where they are sitting, and run over to Kieran. Sophie: “So THAT’S what the potion did……interesting…” Kieran: “I was rather surprised myself!” Chris: “WOAH! That was an awesome match! How is that possible?! You beat King Albert!! He’s never been beaten! He only asked to face you to see what all the hype was about!” Philip: “I’m more worried about what came out of his body after he died…” Kieran: “Naw…I can handle it if anything happens!” Philip: “Haha! Evidently!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! All three people hug Kieran and tell him well done. The referee is looking at Kieran with an icy cold look from across the room. Suddenly, the doors burst open. It was Jack! Jack: “Get over here.” Kieran: “Why?” Jack: “I’m not going to repeat myself to the likes of YOU.” Philip, Chris and Sophie step in front of Kieran, but Kieran nods, and assures them it will be ok. The three reluctantly step aside. Kieran walks over to Jack, who walks down the corridor towards the arena. Jack: “Hmm…I think we’re alone now……It’s me against you next. And I’m going to win. Understand?” Kieran: “Look, if you’ve just brought me out here to gloat-“ Jack: “You’re not LISTENING! I’m going to win yes? As in you shall LET me win!” Kieran: “WHAT?! No way! Why on earth should I do that??” Jack: “Three reasons my delusional friend. One: I will spare your life. Two: I have won this thing for three years in a row, and I don’t intend to lose now. I have a reputation to protect. And three: I’ll do ANYTHING to win.” Kieran: “No deal.” Kieran starts to walk away. Jack: “I have money! Come on! Please?!” Kieran nears the changing rooms. Jack: “You’ve made yourself a powerful enemy today boy, mark my words.” Kieran stops, and turns around. Kieran: “It will be a fair test of strength. If you cheat and win, you have a false victory. If you can live with that on your conscience, be my guest. May the best man win.” Jack: “I intend to.” Kieran: “Haha. How did someone as childish as you become such a renowned fighter? I’ve seen it all now…”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran walks away, into the changing room. Jack: “No you haven’t. Well, at least not yet! HAHAHAHA! But it will be the LAST thing you see, you despicable punk!” Jack runs away in the opposite direction. Meanwhile, Kieran is back in the changing rooms, telling everyone about what just happened. Philip: “What a fool! He must be scared out of his mind to come and ask you to do that!” Chris: “Not necessarily. He may just be trying to secure a win.” Sophie: “Erm…I have a question to ask.” Kieran: “Hmmm? What is it?” Sophie: “If you win, which I am sure you will, can I travel along with you? I hate it here! They beat me, and I have to do everything they command! Please?” Kieran: “……………Sure thing. I’m sure you will be able to help on my….I mean OUR journey.” Sophie: “*sobs* Oh thank you kind sir!” Kieran: “Please…stop crying…call me Kieran.” Kieran smiles at her, and she stops crying. Sophie: “Ok…Kieran.” Philip: “Cool! Another comrade!” Chris: “Hey listen. I hear that no one has ever seen Jack bleed or cry. Even in the Great War, and he was on the front line!” Kieran: “But we saw him bleed earlier…” Chris: “Well, he must have been up against a VERY tough opponent. You most certainly would have been killed against what or whoever that was.” Kieran: “So…I should watch myself?” Chris: “More than that! You have to be at the peak of your performance! Any false moves and he’ll KILL you, without a thought! He won’t submit from this match, it’s going to be a fight………to the……………death…I’m afraid.”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! ???: “Hahahahaha. That’s no problem for you killer!” Kieran: “Hmph.” Kieran: “So what, he’s like some kind of super war hero soldier?” Chris: “That’s putting it lightly.” Announcer: “Kieran! You know what to do! Get to the arena! The final match is starting!” Kieran: “Hey…that announcer has really warmed up to me!” Philip: “Everyone has! You’re great in battle, and a lot nicer than some of these lousy punks!” Kieran: “Aww…come on now, don’t talk like that! Well I’m gonna be off now. I hope I’ll see you soon!” Sophie, Chris and Philip: “Good luck!” Kieran sprints to the arena as fast as he can. When he enters, the arena is empty again. Kieran: “Not again! What now????” Commentator: “Well! What do we have here?! Kieran is early for once! Haha!” Kieran looked around, high and low. Jack was nowhere to be seen! Kieran: “Hmmmm…. What’s going on? He was desperate to fight! Perhaps he has given up?” Suddenly, the doors at the other side of the arena fly open. It was Jack. He strolled slowly to the centre of the arena, and smiled mockingly at Kieran. Commentator: “Oh! Jack…….late?! I never thought I would see the day! Anyway, LLLAAADDDIIIEEESSS AAANNNDDD GEEENTLEMEEEEEEN! I bring to you, the final round of the Monster Slayer tournament!!!!! We have our three year in a row reigning champion Jack!” Jack bowed and gave a charming smile to the crowd. Women and men were screaming alike, as he had a reputation for being ruthless, and providing a good match, with him always being the victor. Commentator: “And he is facing the underdog of this year’s tournament, who through many difficult battles has fought his way to the end, Kieran!!!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran looks around nervously and smiles. The crowd cheer as loud for him as they did for Jack! Jack’s smug look had morphed into a disgusted stare. Commentator: “The winner of this final will win 1,000,000 Zah’s, and a dinner with the Pirate King Kevin at his magnificent castle! Do your best! FIGHT!!!!!!” Jack: “Well…my offer still stands if you wish to take it?” Kieran: “To quote what you said earlier, “I’m not going to repeat myself to the likes of YOU.”” Jack: “Hmph. Very well. Let us begin. You may have the first move.” Kieran: “I won’t say no.” Kieran fires the Grapplegun at Jack. Jack unsheathes his sword and deflects it away. Jack: “Haha! I thought you would have made a worthy first move! A battle is like a game of chess my friend, every move counts, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem. Let ME show you a PROPER opening move!” Jack moves, and in the blink of an eye, he was in front of Kieran. Before Kieran could react, he saw a glint momentarily, and then the warmth of blood. Kieran: “What……?” Kieran felt his stomach with his hands. His hands were covered in blood! Jack’s agility was amazing! Jack: “See?” Another flash. Kieran winced and looked at his left arm. Blood was pouring down it! Jack was circling around Kieran, as if inspecting him. Jack: “Hmm? Why aren’t you…reacting? Could you be afraid perhaps?” Kieran: “No. I’m just waiting for the match to start. That was just a warm up.” Jack: “HA! Big words! My you have a peculiar body! What have you done with it?? I love…the coldness…the spikes…it’s like a perfect killing machine!” Kieran: “That is the one thing I am not!!” Kieran swiped at Jack with his spiked hand. Jack stepped backwards, dodging the attack effortlessly.

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “HUH?! Stay still!!!” Kieran slashes at Jack a few more times. Again, every attack is gracefully avoided. Jack: “Now now, I’m not going to make myself a target! You have to close the distance! Give it your all! No matter how weak your opponent SEEMS, you must still perform as best as you can! Now try to hit me again!” Kieran: “Why…are you telling…me all this?” Jack: “I want a good fight, someone who will give me a good battle, a worthy adversary! I think YOU are that person Kieran! Now come at me!” Kieran lunges at Jack with a punch, and he grabs his fist. Yawning, he twists his arm and Kieran is thrown to the floor with a frontflip and a mighty crash. Jack puts his hand out to help him up, but Kieran slaps his hand away and helps himself up. ???: “Listen to him. This is what I’ve been telling you all along.” Kieran: “Great. Two wise guys. That’s all I need.” Jack: “You’re starting to annoy me now. Either you successfully strike me now, and we can get this show started, or I’ll teach you the hard way.” Kieran feints towards Jack, and he leans forwards whilst crouching. Kieran then jumps up over Jack’s head, going to land behind him. Jack senses this, and turns around holding his blood stained blade casually in the air. Kieran lands, turns and slashes at jack, but the sword just makes his hand bounce off. Jack: “Very well. Have it your way. SILVER….” Jack raises his right arm in the air. A white portal appears and he steps through it. It ripples like water. The whole arena turns pitch black and Kieran is unable to move a muscle. Jack runs past him and slices him across the chest. Where his sword has moved through the air, there is a silver line trailing after it, like when a slug moves on a wall. Jack runs past Kieran five more times, slashing him across the torso area. He thrusts his sword out horizontally, and starts to sprint towards Kieran. His sword turns silver and extends to seven times its normal size. Just before Jack reaches Kieran, he puts his left foot in front of him and comes to a halt. He then brings the massive silver sword from the floor upwards, slashing all the way up his body. Jack: “…….ECLIPSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” A massive silver line appears right in the centre of Kieran, going from head to foot. Jack steps back through the white portal, and his sword reverts to its normal state. The

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! darkness disappears, and Kieran gets slashed across the chest exactly where Jack made his first cut. He leans over, holding his chest. The rest of the attacks slice Kieran across his body in the exact positions Jack had made them, and the final move lifts Kieran off of the floor, sending him backwards across the arena, but not before spurting out a streak of fresh blood everywhere. Kieran lands in a heap on the ground. Jack: “Ahhhhhh…the blood…it stains yet more of my precious sword… How does that make you feel punk? The pain, how much do you want to strike me with all your might? Tap into that hidden power! Use your full potential! HIT ME!!!” Kieran hauls himself up. Kieran: “*coughs blood* Uuuuhhhhhoooooooo……… Take…..THIS!” Kieran stretches his arms out as far as he can. Kieran: “IF YOU WANT TO TEST MY STRENGTH, STAY EXACTLY WHERE YOU ARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Jack: “Hmph. We’ll see.” A fire red orb materialises in Kieran’s right hand. He darts towards Jack and Kieran uppercuts him into the air with his left fist. He then thrusts his right palm towards the sky where Jack is. Kieran: “BLITZKREIG CANNON……………….FIRE!” A destructive explosion blasts out of Kieran palm, and collides with Jack, who is in midair, defenceless. Jack lands of the floor heavily, and drags himself to his feet. His bottom lip has blood oozing from it. Jack: “Haha. You actually drew blood from me. I never thought I’d see the day when I would bleed, but my last match proved me wrong. Perhaps I am too overconfident. Well, that’s going to change.” Jack wipes the blood from his lip, and starts to do an array of elegant moves with his bloodsword, as if it were a display of skill and finesse. Jack: “My mighty sword has killed thousands of opponents. All who stand in my way are obliterated. All who dare oppose me are annihilated. I have eradicated every single being that has stood up to me. All threats extinguished, all challenges overcome! And you! You shall be no different! You will fall like the rest of them! I…will…destroy…you!!!!” Kieran: “Haha. That’s a funny joke. You should do stand up, instead of trying to beat me.”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Jack: “WHAT?! Insignificant little bug! I’ll crush you like everyone else!!!” Jack runs towards Kieran and starts desperately trying to stab, slash, cut, maim and maul him in any possible way. Kieran dodges the assault using a variety of backflips and evasive manoeuvres. Jack: “*pant pant* Stand still!” Kieran: “How the tables have turned! I asked you the exact same thing!” Jack: “Hmph. That was a moment of weakness. It WON’T happen again. TAKE THIS!” Jack thrusts his sword into the sky, and the clouds turn black. There is a fierce rumbling from them. Jack: “PEAL OF THUNDOR!!!!!!” The sky darkens again and mass bolts of thunder and lightning strike random points of the arena. A bolt zaps Kieran in the chest, sending him flying. Three more bolts electrocute him in midair, and spike him down into the floor. A bolt hits Jack’s sword, and charges it with electricity. He darts forwards and smashes the blade into Kieran’s chest, shocking him. Kieran is almost paralytic from the barrage of thunder. The clouds disappear, and the sun comes out again. Kieran: “Ugh! Owwww! *cough cough*” Jack: “Hahahahahaha! You were saying? I seem to be dominating the match so far!” Kieran gets up slowly, his body still buzzing and tender from the shocks. When he gets to his feet, Jack stabs his sword into Kieran’s stomach. Jack: “Now. On your knees, you worthless cretin.” Kieran: “*coughs blood* Ne…never! I’ll never submit to the likes of you! You don’t have any mercy, you do what you want, and cut anyone down who…*cough* stands in your way!” Jack pushes the sword a little further in and wiggles it around, playfully delighting in watching Kieran squirm and writhe in pain. Jack: “You and me, we’re the same you know. We just want to achieve our goal, and these…these LOUSY……PUNKS…just keep oppressing us! We can’t do anything without it being watched, controlled, banned or altered! I’m just trying to change the system, to make the world a better place! Surely you can forgive me this?!” Jack’s eyes are glistening, was he…was he about to cry…?

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “Don’t… EVER…compare me to the likes of you!!!” Jack: “*sob* You have no compassion in battle just like me!! How many people have you maimed, mutilated and killed?! *sob* Granted it’s less than me, but you are unrelenting in battle! So you must understand that this is the way…*sob*… it has to be! People who are merely knocked out or forced to submit will want revenge, or be bitter! Better that they die a warrior’s death in a battle, where they are at their peak, and dazzling everyone!” Jack is crying, and his arm is shaking so much that he is making the hole in Kieran’s chest wider and wider with his sword. Kieran: “Like you said, *sigh*……an unrelenting battle……a warrior’s death. HRUAGH!” Kieran grabs the sword by its hilt, and pulls it further into his stomach, until the handle is touching his skin. Jack stands there stunned. Jack: “Ha…haha! Barbaric! I love it!” ???: “You know what has to be done…” Kieran punches Jack in his face, and Jack steps backwards holding his face in pain. He then rips the sword out of his body, and slices jack across his midsection. Blood drips from Jacks chest, and he falls to his knees. Kieran lowers the tip of Jack’s sword to Jack’s face. Kieran: “So… I spare your life. And there is no need for revenge. Or bitterness. We just walk away, knowing we both did our best. Agree?” Jack: “*coughs blood* Finish…me… *coughs blood* without my victory, I have…… NOTHING! The voices of the dead plague me my friend. And I just hope you escape their accursed fate, before they bring you to the very brink of insanity. Have my sword. But end this now. Give me *coughs blood*……all you’ve got. But…make it *coughs blood*…..quick…” Kieran: “*deep sigh* As you wish………………HHHRRRUUUGGGHHHH………” Kieran drops the sword to the floor and assumes a stance like he is riding a horse. His right arm starts glowing gold. He is mustering up what little energy he has left for a final move, one that will knowingly kill his opponent. Kieran: “HHHHHHRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOO………………”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! His arm is glowing bright gold now. Jack has his head bowed towards the floor, with blood flowing from his chest. He is drenched in tears. Weeping softly, and holding his chest as tightly as he can to prevent blood loss, his heavy breaths echo all around the arena. The crowd are silent, watching in awe. Kieran: “UUGGGHHH…Perfect Precision Power Piston Punch…HHRRAAGGHH!!!!” Kieran flies forwards and punches his right arm out as fast and as hard as he can. It connects with Jack, and hits him squarely in the ribcage, sending him flying across the arena into a wall. There is a loud cracking sound, and then a fleshy squelch. Jack’s body falls in a heap on the floor, his body lifeless. He was dead, his ribcage imploded; it had punctured and crushed his heart and lungs. How many more people would he have to butcher to get what and where he wanted in life? The crowd applauded louder than Kieran had ever heard them, but the noise simply rang though Kieran’s head. He had gone temporarily deaf. He felt empty inside, as if everything had turned 2D, and nothing mattered anymore. He walked back to the changing room. Commentator: “WE HAVE A WINNER!!! IT’S KIERAN!!!!! Wait…where are you going Kieran?! Come and collect your prize!” Ignoring the cries of everyone, Kieran walked into the changing room and threw himself into the nearest chair. Philip runs over and starts hugging Kieran and grabbing his shoulder. Chris follows, doing the exact same. Philip: “You did it!!! I knew you would!!!!!” Chris: “Well done man! Now you can get the prizes!” Kieran: “Oh yeah……the prizes…” Kieran suddenly saw how short and meaningless life was. He had killed people for money and a dinner invite. Money was nothing, a bit of gold which people treasure and would kill for. A thing in which if you don’t have it, you starve to death, and have to beg others to live. A thing which corrupts and captures the soul of so many people! And he had won an abundance of it! He had no need for it. And as for the dinner invite, he was sure someone else would gladly snap up the chance. Lives were ended because of this ungodly event, and for nothing more than materialistic possessions and entertainment. That sin cleansing knife of Philip’s looked so nice and tempting, to feel the adrenaline of the pain, the sharp sting of absolution… Or perhaps he could take it and bore it through his heart or temple, and rid the world of himself? Philip, as if reading Kieran’s mind, let go of Kieran’s shoulder and stood back. Sophie walked over. Sophie: “Hooray! You did it! Hold still a second.” She healed Kieran. Kieran felt disgusted. He should bleed to death slowly, or some other horrific slow and painful death. He didn’t deserve to live. He had sins to abolish. He

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! wondered if the Lord which Philip believed in so strongly really did exist, and if so, why he didn’t stop the madness in all of his matches. He leaned back and stared at the ceiling. Kieran: “Well… prizes to collect eh? *sigh*” Kieran uttered the word “prizes” with anger and loathing. Chris: “I…don’t……know what’s wrong…but…cheer up!” Philip: “…………………I think it’s a good idea if we leave, to start this quest of yours?” Kieran sits up properly, and looks at Sophie, Chris and Philip. It just came to him; he had people who cared for him. His three new friends will guide him along his difficult path! And they should help to steer him towards the good. Just as Kieran stands up, the commentator bursts through the doors. Commentator: “Kieran! My favourite fighter! Here are your prizes! The 1,000,000 Zah’s and the dinner invitation! You left your sword in the arena, so I went down and picked it up. Here is Jack’s sheath. I thought you would need it.” Kieran took the objects off the man. The sheath was made of brown leather, and was in pristine condition, compared to the blood sword. Kieran holstered his sword and strapped the sheath to his right leg. It had just hit him how final death was. Jack would never come back; this was certain as Kieran couldn’t have acquired this otherwise. Commentator: “Can I have a word? It’s about championships all over the world, and sponsors!!!” Kieran gives the commentator a disgusted look, and walks away. Kieran: “I’m not interested. Thanks for the prizes, and the chance to enter. Your hospitality is much obliged. Come on guys, let’s go.” Chris, Kieran, Philip and Sophie walk out of the changing rooms and out of the castle. There is a Chinese man standing at the registration desk shouting at the registering man. The man is quite tall and has immense muscles. He is dressed in a pirate’s outfit. He has what seems to be like an explosion of hair on his head, as his black hair is immensely spiky. The man has an eyepatch over his left eye, but it has a computer screen on it. He has a double hook for a right hand, and is holding a double cutlass in his left. He has a metal right leg, and seems to be content with his body. Pirate man: “WHAT?!?! What do you mean the tournament’s over?!?! I’ve sailed the seas and fought loads of battles to get here!!!!” Registrar: “There’s nothing I can do. I’m sorry.”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Pirate man: “Hmph. I need some rum… *sigh* What are you looking at children??” The pirate man is staring at Kieran, Chris, Philip and Sophie. He has an irate look on his face. Kieran: “Too late eh? Well I’m glad you didn’t enter.” Pirate man: “WHAT?! How DARE you talk to me like that!?” Kieran: “I don’t have time for this. I’ve just won, so if you had entered, you would be dead by now.” Pirate man: “………………You say you won eh? Perhaps I can help you! Where are you lot off to?” Kieran: “Well…we do need to get to our dinner with the Pirate King Kevin.” Pirate man: “Haha! That’s me!” Philip: “Well that saves a load of time!” Kieran: “I’m not really in the mood for dinner right no though, sorry.” Kevin: “No worries lad! I think I’ll travel with you until you decide to come back to mine!” Kieran: “Fair enough.” The five people now walk off towards the exit of Xigbar, where screaming can be heard. Shopkeeper: “Hey! Get back here!!!” The ninja dressed in black had just run out of the shop, hiding something in his clothes. Kevin: “ARR! Get over here!!!” Kevin’s double hook extends and snags the ninja by his ankle. Kevin yanks his hook and drags the person over to him. He puts his foot on the ninja’s back. Kevin: “Aha! We have a thief!!” Chris: “Hey it’s that guy!!!” Kieran: “Who the hell are you?!” Strange Ninja: “Ugh! Lemme go!!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “Tell us your name! Why do you keep stealing our stuff?!” Strange ninja: “Ugh. My name is Dave! I’m a ninja from the Sanskreet Clan in Youboferro. I steal because that is the way I have been trained. I have no money to purchase my own goods, so I sneak around taking whatever proves useful towards my goal.” Kieran: “Your goal? What is it?” Dave: “Ugh! Will you let me go?!” Chris: “Will you return our stuff?!” Dave: “I can’t. They’re far too useful. I’m hunting for the man that killed my whole clan, and tortured my master, leaving him to die. I could have defended them if I had stuck around.” Philip: “Stuck around?” Dave: “I don’t wish to talk about it.” Kieran: “Well… ok. Get off him Kevin. Where are you off to?” Dave stands up and dusts himself off. Dave: “I don’t know. I’m stocking up on weapons so that when I do find him, I can finish him, but I have no leads to where he could be.” Sophie: “You could travel with us for a while if you wanted!” Dave: “Hmmm… where are you people off to?” Kevin: “Yeah, where ARE we off to?!” Kieran tells Dave and Kevin about what has happened so far. Dave: “Ahhhh…… interesting…. Well, I think I could learn a lot of things travelling with you. I’m in.” Philip: “But you can’t steal from us!!!” Dave: “You have my word.” Kieran: “Hmm……I believe you. Let’s go.”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! The six people walked off out of Xigbar. Kieran is sure he can see two figures in the distance, and goes to tell Philip, but when he looks again, nothing is there. Everyone carries on walking, and Philip walks over to Kieran. Kieran: “Hmmmm……….” Philip: “What’s wrong?” Kieran: “………Nothing. Just ……tired… I guess.” Philip: “O…k… So what are you gonna do with the money? Buy a book?” Kieran: “Book?” Philip: “Yeah! You said you wanted to find out about Snuhs, Eegalowga, and all the rest! I’m sure the library will help!” Kieran: “Good idea! I guess we can do that, then you can have 10,000 Zah’s each.” Everyone turns around and stares at Kieran. Philip: “WHAT?! What do you mean?!” Kieran: “Well, I’m only gonna need maybe a quarter of this money, so you can replace your weapons that have been broken or stolen.” Everyone looked at Dave. Dave: “I’ve said I’m sorry! So… do we all get money…?” Kieran looked around confused at everyone. Philip and Chris were his good friends, Sophie also, but he had just met Kevin and Dave! But he did have an abundance of filthy blood money, so it would be a good idea to get rid of it as soon as possible. Kieran: “………………..*sigh*…Sure. You can have 10,000 Zah’s each.” The five people start hugging Kieran and cheering, as they can’t believe what fortune is coming their way. Kevin: “Hey… I think I’ll journey with you for a while longer!” Chris: “Hmmm…rather subtle of you…” Kevin: “Why thank you!” Chris: “*grumbles* It wasn’t MEANT as a compliment……”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “Ah… don’t worry about it! Let’s go Chris!” They all walk along the road talking to each other until they come to a sea. Dave: “Why the hell have we stopped?! The path leads on into the forest!!” Kieran stares into the distance. Kieran: “The Grand Library of Matardo is over this sea! We must cross it!” Kevin: “You’re lucky I’m around to help then eh?? *whistles*” A colossal boat rushes towards the band of friends and stops from the horizon. It is black and laden with cannons everywhere. It had many many men rowing from the brig, and its sails were outstretched all the way, allowing it to glide the seas majestically with ease. Kevin: “There she is! The Duchess herself! Never a finer ship hath sailed these seas!! All aboard people!” A massive drawbridge dropped and hit the ground, and everyone climbed aboard. They all gaped in awe at the magnificent vessel, and all its luxuries. All the floors were polished to a mirror-like sheen and the sails were in tip top condition, with not a rip or scratch in sight. Kevin: “Raise the drawbridge men! We’re off to Matardo! Brace yourselves people! ONWARDS!” Everyone holds onto the railings and The Duchess takes off at full speed towards Matardo, with Kevin steering it, and the rest of his crew rowing. Sophie: “Oh no. This is the Great Sea isn’t it?” Kevin: “Yes…… many a person has died travelling its murky distance.” Sophie: “But… I’ve heard so many stories about the monsters that inhabit this place!” Kevin: “No need to worry lass! I can handle anything that comes out of the sea!” Sophie: “I hope you’re right Kevin… I really do…………” Chris: “Don’t worry Sophie! That’s how paranoia starts, when you start to doubt things!” Sophie: “Hmmmm……I suppose you’re right…………..” Kieran is staring out to sea, not blinking and focused. Philip notices and goes over to him.

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Philip: “Hey man. What’s wrong?” Kieran: “*deep breath* ………… Nothing. I’m… just thinking about the future.” Philip: “Ahhh. Cheer up! You will know all there is to know in no time, and then we can find Eegalowga and get revenge eh?” Kieran: “Yeah I know. It’s just that, I don’t know what will happen, and I don’t want to put any of you in danger!” Philip: “Hey we all accepted to go along with you, so it is our own fault if anything is to happen. Besides, what with your power and fighting skills, you should have no trouble at all!” Philip nudges Kieran is the ribs and is smiling greatly. Kieran: “Haha. Well, I’ll give it my best.” Philip: “Oh come on! You won every match!” Kieran: “Yeah. I suppose you’re right.” Kieran is now smiling, and the two friends laugh for a while, staring out to sea. When the laughter dies out, Philip walks over to everyone else. ???: “You make me sick! Why do you have to be so nice and polite and friendly?! It makes me sick to my stomach!” Kieran: “Ugh. How do we get separated? I’m gong crazy with you here.” ???: “Hahahahahahaha. Soon enough my inexperienced host, soon enough.” Kieran: “Hmmmmm………” Suddenly, the boat smashes into something, and a big thud is heard. Kevin: “Drop anchor lads! Prepare for battle you five!” The anchor drops and a massive thunk is heard. The boat slows down until it comes to a halt. Kieran, Chris, Philip, Dave and Sophie run over to Kevin. Sophie: “But… I can’t fight! I need somewhere to hide!” Kevin: “Quite your griping lass, and get yerself down to the captain’s room!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Sophie: “O……ok……” Sophie runs down the stairs, out of sight. Kieran and everyone else ready themselves for combat. Kevin: “Hmmm…… it’s taking its time…” Dave: “What is it?!” Kevin: “From the sound of the bang, it’s a shark… I can’t tell the size of it though.” Dave: “A shark?!?! How the HELL are we meant to fight something in the sea?!” There are more thuds against the ship, and Kevin falls to the floor, mouth wide open, stammering and cowering in fear. Kieran: “W……what’s wrong?! What is it?!?!” Kevin: “No….n…no!! It…it can’t be!!! I escaped you all!! I killed you all!! How did you find me?!” Chris: “WHAT’S OUT THERE!??!?!” Kevin: “Long ago, about seven years back, I discovered an island at the furthest corner of the Earth. It took a year to get there, even with this ship, as there were many traps and monsters, some of which you can’t even imagine. There were many tales of treasure hidden there, so I assembled a crew of fine…fine men. They stuck through everything with me, up until we got the treasure. When the last piece of gold was put in the brig, loads of creatures were awoken, creatures that have been long extinct, creatures that you have never heard of, and wouldn’t even see in your worst nightmares. We fought and fought for three days against the beasts, and out of the two hundred men of my crew, me included, thirty four survived. We finally won and sailed home, celebrating the booty we had collected, spending it and partying hard. Then when we thirty four next went out to sea, they attacked again! We thought we had killed them all, but they must have family or something all over the sea. They killed every single one of my men, and I was left on my own to hide. I somehow managed to return to my hometown, and round up another one hundred and ninety nine men. We set out to sea, and they attacked again! They were waiting for us wherever we went! We somehow killed them all again, but this time twenty three men were left! I we returned to the village and there were hardly any men left! There were widows crying everywhere, and the what little men that were left were out to kill us. We had to leave. We prayed and prayed that we would have a safe journey to the next town, and we miraculously did. We gathered enough men to make the two hundred mark again and set off looking for the creatures all over the earth to kill them once and for all. We travelled from village to village gathering tales about the location of their nest, or mating grounds, but no one would dare tell us. Some people died in shock, and others rounded up a mob to chase us away. But on a small island, where only one

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! very old man lived, he told us everything we needed to know. But he warned us severely that no man can escape or change his fate, no matter how hard they tried, and said that I am a marked man, and sooner or later, the creatures would kill me. At that point, the old man died, as if he was waiting to tell me this information, and could now rest in peace. Disregarding the warning, we sailed to the nest and slayed them all. We burnt everything after, and blew up the remains of the nest, as well as the empty island above it. Travelling at peace, we got every single piece of treasure back that we ever took, and returned it to the island. The demons had stopped pursuing us forever! Or so I thought…… It seems that the old man was right, my men that took the treasure have all died…… except me. No matter how many times these accursed monsters die, they still find a way to haunt me again and again. But I can’t die yet! I still have a final goal! To get the Eye of Grosirees, the most valuable piece of treasure ever! People are said to have fallen so in love with the jewel when they get it, they freeze and stare at it with love and wonder, not moving even to feed or drink. They just…slowly die in happiness! But not me! My hands are far too dirty with the blood of many to love any more. My soul is too black for heaven, yet too white for hell. I just want to get it and sell it, and then compensate the lives of the widows and family of the departed members of my crew. Then I shall let the vile beasts tear me limb from limb, as long as my conscience is wiped clean, I can die in peace. So once again, I go to do battle with these beasts! I beg of you to help me now, and I can drop you at your destination and leave as soon as this is over! Do you accept?” Dave: “Wow…… what a story…” Philip: “Let’s…… let’s do it Kieran!” Kieran: “Ok………… We’ll help you Kevin.” Kevin: “Thank you so much! Some may jump aboard, some may stay underwater, and we will have to go in and kill them, as they may sink the ship otherwise, and then we will be totally screwed. Get ready guys, this is not going to be easy.” A few more thuds happen, and then tentacles come out of the air, nearly touching the clouds. There are eight of them, and they start to wrap around the boat, squeezing and crushing everything. Kevin: “ATTAAAAAACK!!!” Kieran jumped up and grabbed onto a tentacle. He started hacking at it with his metal hand. It didn’t phase the beast however, and it whipped Kieran off with the end of its tentacle. The boat started the rise in the air, rocking violently from side to side. Everyone falls over. Chris: “Dammit! Come on everyone, get them! I’m going down to hide as well!” Philip: “WHAT?! Get back here!!! We need you!!!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Chris: “NO! I’m useless! All I can do is summon, and I promised I would never do that again!!” Philip: “Just stay here! We need you!! Please! You can save us all!!!” Chris: “But…… Lucas………” Philip: “GODDAMMIT CHRIS!!!!!! I miss him too you know! But we have to fight on! You would summon if he was here, and if I wasn’t here, he would say the exact same thing! You only failed because that was one of your most powerful summons!! You must keep training!! And then you will obtain true power and control!!!” Chris: “You’re…… right… I’ll try…” Chris thrusts both hands in the air, elongating his body. He then leans back as far as he can. The sea turns a shining white, and waterfalls start to pour from the heavens. Chris: “Hydra Leviathan!!!! Hear my call!!” A giant blue serpent falls out of the sky and crashes into the water. It has a dragons head, and the body of a snake, with a whale’s tail. It was about five hundred foot in length, and was the width of five double decker buses. The waterfalls then stopped. Loads of blasts of water came out of the sea, and screeches could be heard. Blood comes to the surface all over the sea, and the boat start to take some brutal knocks. Chris: “I……It’s working! I CAN control my other summons!!!” Philip: “I knew you could!” Kevin: “Get those damn tentacles off of my ship!!!!!! ATTAAAAACK!!!!!!” Dave jumped onto the nearest pole, his spike shoes imbedded into the wood, and he started to run up the pole with great ease. When he got to the tentacle wrapped around the sail, he started chopping it with the whip sword in his right hand, and shooting it with the InfUzi in his left hand. Blood started to spurt everywhere, and the creature brought the tentacle underwater, letting go of the sail. Kieran jumped up to the second tentacle and grabbed onto it, holding it as hard as he could. He opened his mouth as wide as he could and it started to glow red. Kieran: “TAKE THIS!!!!! Super Mouth blast!!” A burning red beam fired out of Kieran’s mouth and scorched the beast’s tentacle. It shrieked and smacked Kieran with it again, and retracted it into the sea. Kevin: “Get ready!! All of you prepare to attack at once!!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kevin extended his double hook and spiked it into a tentacle. He spun around and unravelled the tentacle from the mast it was holding, as well as collecting the other five tentacles, all impaled upon his hooks. He thrusted the six writhing tentacles high into the air, and Philip, Kieran and Dave attacked them at the same time. Dave: “Spike Frenzy!!!!!!” Kieran: “Blitzkrieg Cannon……FIRE!!!” Philip: “Rocket Assault!!!!” Dave stretched out his whip sword repeatedly, spiking all the tentacles numerous times. Kieran fired his Blitzkrieg Cannon, which pummelled the tentacles with fire. Philip unleashed a series of rockets at the tentacles, which exploded and blew three of them up. Kevin then held his elbow with his other hand, and the hook hand started glowing blue. Kevin: “Electro Mag!!!!!” Thunder flowed through the spikes and into the creature’s tentacles. The sea turned shining white, and screeching could be heard from beneath the waves. The boat dropped suddenly with a splash, and became stable again. Kevin let go of the tentacles, and they fell into the sea, out of sight. Chris: “Strange. I can’t seem to have any contact with the Hydra Leviathan. I think you killed it. DISMISS!!!” The waterfalls pour from the sky again, and the beast slowly retracts from the sea up into the sky, as if someone hooked his tail with a fishing rod, and was reeling it in. The creature was limp and not moving. Chris: “You killed him! I don’t have any other water summons! I just hope he has killed enough creatures down there……… I‘m off to your room Kevin. Good luck!” Kevin: “Yeah. Look after the girl. See you soon.” Kieran: “How many are left??” Kevin: “Well from what I can tell, the Colossal Squid is gone, the Whale Dragoon is dead, and from what I can tell, the Three Headed Sword Shark is defeated also. I think that just leaves the Opti-Walrus, unless they have gathered more horrid beasts to kill me.” Everyone is waiting and listening very carefully. Nothing can be heard except the crashing of the waves against the ship. After about ten minutes of waiting, and nothing else being heard, everyone disregards the thought that there are more monsters lurking in the sea.

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Dave: “I think…… they’re all gone!” Kevin: “It would appear so. Let us carry on in case something else happens. We need to get of here quickly.” Philip: “How long before they return?” Kevin: “I haven’t a clue, but they seem to be waiting outside of whatever island I am on if I am there for more than two nights. We have to keep moving.” Kevin: “RAISE ANCHOR!!! CONTINUE TO MATARDO!!” The anchor is raised, and the boat takes off at full speed again. Chris and Sophie come up from the captain’s room. Sophie: “You did it!!!!” Dave: “Thanks to Chris!” Chris: “Hey. It was nothing. I’m glad to help.” Kevin: “I’m sorry about killing your……pet…” Chris: “It’s a SUMMON actually. And don’t worry about it; I can only use them once anyway. At least he got a good piece of action eh?” Dave: “Quite right!” Kieran: “So…… Kevin… will you actually let them kill you??” Kevin: “Eventually. I’d rather die as soon as possible than battle them for the rest of my life until I’m old and then they overpower me.” Philip: “I…… I… think you’re right…” Kevin: “I don’t wish to talk about this anymore…” Sophie: “It’s ok Kevin.” Chris: “Hey. Isn’t that Matardo?” Kevin: “So it is! LAND AHOY!!! CLOSE THE SAILS AND DROP THE ANCHOR!!” The Duchess drops her anchor and closes her sails. She slowly comes to halt at the port of Matardo, a city full of scholars and brainy people. People travelled from far and wide to

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! view the library, as well as look through its books. The library apparently contained over one hundred and fifty thousand books. Were there that many in existence?? Kevin: “LOWER THE DRAWBRIDGE!” The drawbridge fell and hit the pier. It crashed down with an almighty bang, and everyone except the crew exited the ship. Kevin: “RAISE THE DRAWBRIDGE!” The drawbridge flew back up. Kieran: “Right! Let’s go to the Grand Library!” Philip: “Yeah. Come on everyone.” Everyone walks to the Grand Library and enters. There is a man at the desk, looking very Victorian. He has a monocle in his left eye, a black top hat on, and is dressed in a black suit, with a white shirt and black tie. He is also holding a cane, which is black with a metal orb on top of it. He looks everyone up and down strangely, as if they were criminals of some sort. Posh man: “Excuse me Sirs and Madame! Can I help you??” Dave: “No thanks. We’re just looking.” Posh man: “Hmmmm??? Looking for what??” Philip: “Well let’s see… We ARE in a library. What could we possibly be looking for??” Posh man: “You know sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, you inscrutable oaf. I MEANT what book were you looking for?” Kieran: “I’m doing a bit of research my good man. I’m looking for something called “Snuh” and a being called “Eegalowga”. Do you have material on that?” Posh man: “Hmmm… rings a bell I must say. Are these beings of which you speak recent or ancient?” Kieran: “I think they are ancient… but I’m not too sure………” Posh man: “Right-o. Follow me. We’ll be there in a jiffy!” Kieran: “Thanks very much.” Posh man: “No problem sir.”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! The group of six follow the well dressed man through aisle after aisle of books, until they come to a wall, where there are three books in giant plastic domes, with alarm sensors all around them. The man takes them to the book in the middle, and points at it. Posh man: “Here you are! Rare Races, Beings and Events of the Universe.” Kieran goes over and lifts the dome off. Alarms start piercing the air with loud screams, and red lights and klaxons go off everywhere. The posh man runs over and wrenches the dome out of Kieran’s hand and closes it. Posh man: “What do you think you are doing!?!?!?” Kieran: “I… I…… I was going to read it! It’s a library after all!” Posh man: “Dear God sir no! These are the oldest and rarest books of all time! You can ONLY purchase these!!!!” Kieran: “But how will I know if the information I need is in there or not without reading through it?” Posh man: “You are right sir, but with these three books, the library cannot take that chance. They are very brittle. Why, a mere gust of wind could probably disintegrate them!” Philip: “What are the other two books?” Posh man: “Ah! A connoisseur! The other two books are Hieroglyphics and How to decipher them and The Ancient Art of Synthesis.” Kieran: “Hmmm… they won’t help… Ok. I’ll take the book.” Posh man: “Hahaha! You amuse me sir! You couldn’t possibly afford this!” Dave: “How much is it?” Posh man: “Two hundred and fifty thousand Zah’s! Good luck getting that much money!” Kieran takes out half of the money in his pocket, and sifts through it until he obtains two hundred and fifty Zah’s. Kieran: “Here you go. Count it if you want.” Posh man: “What??? How did you get this much money sir??” Philip: “He won the Monster Slayer tournament that’s how!!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Posh man: “Very well. Say no more. Go to the counter at the entrance. I’ll be there in a minute.” Chris: “Ok.” The group of six make their way to the paying counter and wait patiently. Before long, the well dressed man returns with the book in a protective casing. He scans it and hands it to Kieran. Posh man: “Anything else sir?” Kieran: “Guys?” Chris, Dave, Kevin, Philip and Sophie: “Nope.” Kieran: “Farewell.” Posh man: “I bid you good day sir, and the best of luck on your travels!” The group exit the Grand Library and sit on a bench just outside. Kieran takes the book out of the protective case and starts to meticulously flick through it. Kieran: “Aha! Here we go!” Kieran finds a page in the book which says “Snuh”. There is not much writing, most of which is barely legible. It says: “The Snuh were an ancient race of warriors. They were known for the ability to change form, and their ruthless attitude towards life. The entire race was wiped out after their home planet Keelack was de-atomised after the Great War with their rivals, the Gralaxorb. The last surviving Snuh recorded was Eegalowga, who exploded after a fierce battle with the apparent last Gralaxorbian-“ The writing was illegible for the next two lines. The page was worn away, and the writing faded beyond comprehension. Kieran: “DAMMIT!” Kieran punches the bench so hard it is cleaved in two. Everyone falls to the floor. Chris manages to grab the book in time before it hits the floor. Chris: “Be careful!!” Everyone stands up. Kieran: “I’m sorry… it’s just I was so close to finding out everything!” Dave: “Keep looking. You never know……”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “You’re right.” Kieran looks through the book for Gralaxorb. The title is there, but the information is ripped out, as if someone didn’t want anyone to know! Philip: “Crap! What do we do now???” Kieran: “We will look for Eegalowga.” The book bears no results. Kieran “AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! We’re gonna go back to that posh man!!!” Kieran storms in and grabs the man by his collar. Kieran: “Where is this part of the book?!?!?!” Posh man: “I don’t know sir. An anonymous person left this book by the doorstep late one night. No one has had it since. That was about a year ago. “ Chris: “Is there any way to restore the book?” Posh man: “Unfortunately no. the writing can not be restored, but you CAN try to find the bit of paper that was ripped out. I would hazard a guess that the last Gralaxorbian has it, so no one can know anything about them. Find them, and you have your information I would say!” Kieran: “Right. Goodbye.” Everyone walks outside again. Sophie: “So what do we do now?” Kieran: “We travel for Eegalowga. If we find him, we will find out about me. Then we can finish him and live in peace. Will you take us back to Xigbar if it’s not too much trouble Kevin?” Kevin: “Sure. I’m with you for as long as you need me. I’m in no rush to complete my quest.” They all walk to the ship. Kevin: “LOWER THE DRAWBRIDGE!!!!” The drawbridge crashes to the ground, and everyone climbs aboard.

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “I need some rest. I’m going to your room Kevin.” Kevin: “Ok. We shouldn’t have any bother, but I’ll call you if we do. RAISE THE DRAWBRIDGE!!!” The drawbridge is pulled back up, and Kieran goes down to Kevin’s room and lies on the bed. The ship lunges forward as it sets sail. Kevin’s room was very exquisite. There was a crystal chandelier and a bed made of gold. The curtains were an almost royal red, made from the finest silk. Kieran opened the ancient book, and skimmed through it. Kieran: “Ahhhh… I was wondering if it would be in here…” Kieran has the book open on a certain page. He is reading the section entitled “Fusion.” The information written about fusion says: “Fusion is a very rare occurrence, which only happens when someone is on the very brink of death, and finds a host, or is so powerful, and absorbs the vessel regardless of the host’s opinion. It can also happen if the two parties are willing, but either way, fusion takes up a lot of energy, and no one knows what the end result will be, whether good or bad.” Kieran: “Interesting… did you fuse with me?” ???: “Yes. I had to. But I will be out of here as soon as possible, mark my words.” Kieran: “Why did you fuse with me?” ???: “I’m not going to tell you.” Kieran: “WHAT?! I DEMAND to know!!! This is my body after all!!!” ???: “Oh don’t worry, I will tell you… just not yet………” Kieran: “You’ll tell me, and you’ll tell me NOW.” ???: “Fine. I don’t suppose it matters much. Hahahahahahahah……Well, I got myself into a massive predicament, and I was as the book says, on the brink of death. I became a spirit, a mere fragment of my body and soul, floating in the air. I felt no hunger, no sadness, and no joy, no feeling whatsoever! But I didn’t just get defeated in battle; I have an immense amount of power myself. However, I was up against one of the most powerful beings of all time. I was travelling by your house when I saw the big explosion you were caught in. when I saw your strong body lying there, I merged with you, to save myself from death. The only way we can separate is when I want and need to, which will be when I am at full power again.” Kieran: “But I didn’t even get a say in it!! You have plagued my life like a vile disease! You better be out of my body, and soon!!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! ???: “It’s not pleasant for me being in here either. I intend to leave as soon as I am fully recovered.” Kieran: “I am disgusted. I feel so used and violated, as if every orifice and cell of my body has been infected. I will wreak revenge on you after Eegalowga, you can be SURE of that!” ???: “HAHAHAHAHA!! Bring it on! You wouldn’t last three seconds against me, you insignificant little human! I’ll pummel you into oblivion!!!!!!” Kieran is seething with rage. Finding no way to harm the presence inside his body without damaging himself, he starts to bottle his rage, and stow it away. He would use it later on, and crush this scum that lurks inside him. A yell could be heard, and the ship jerked, and started to slow down rapidly. Kieran closed the book, put the protective cover on, and went upstairs. Kieran: “What’s going on?” Kevin: “LOWER THE DRAWBRIDGE!!!!” Philip: “Hey man. We’re at Xigbar.” Kieran: “Already?!?!” Chris: “Hey, it’s a fast ship!” Everyone steps off the boast. They are at the outskirts of Xigbar again. Kevin: “RAISE THE DRAWBRIDGE!!” The drawbridge closes and everyone looks at Kieran, confused. Dave: “So……… what now?” Kieran: “Well… we need to find Eegalowga first. I need answers. Perhaps he will still be at the volcano……” Philip: “Well let’s head there! That’s one lead eh?” Kieran: “Yeah… I suppose you’re right…” The six head off to the volcano, walking on the path leading there, which is next to a big forest. When they eventually arrive at the volcano, it is gone. Nothing remains except a smoking crater, probably fifty foot deep in the Earth.

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “It………it’s gone!!! How can this be!?!? What…happened?!” Chris: “Hey! Were you telling the truth about there being a volcano here??” Kieran: “Yes! I was! There was a volcano here…wasn’t…there? No! I remember the intense heat, the burning flames, and the searing pain!!!!” Philip: “Calm down… I believe you; I think the volcano was destroyed. But can you think of where Eegalowga has gone?” Kieran: “No, but I can sense his power faintly. He was here not long ago. But…what happened to the red haired woman?” Dave: “She must have died in the explosion…” Kieran: “But………she saved me! That’s yet another death I have to avenge!!! Damn it all!!!!!!” Kevin: “Hey, hey! It’s ok! She may not be dead, let’s just concentrate on finding Eegalowga!” Kieran:” Yeah…ok.” Screaming can be heard from the city of Xigbar. Everyone looks over towards the direction of Xigbar. There is a massive orange thing high above the town, and many objects are flying towards it. The gang run towards Xigbar as fast as they can. When they arrive, roughly five minutes later, there are two giant legs made of metal standing in the middle of the city. Where the stomach should be, the orange being is there. It has many spikes jolting out of it, and is magnetising metal towards it. Every metal item in the town is zooming towards the spirit and joining with it. Kieran: “What……IS that thing?! What’s going on?!?” Everyone stares at the monster in creation, as it builds itself higher and higher. After about two minutes, the beast is complete. It is forty thousand feet tall, and is made entirely of metal, with the orange spirit inside controlling it. The creature is made up of so many things; paperclips, cars, chains, knives, every possible metal thing that resided in Xigbar. Sophie: “What does it want?!” Kieran: “Ugh! It’s that thing that ripped out of King Albert! It’s back, and much stronger! All of you hide now!” Philip: “I’ll stay with you till the end!!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “Fine, whatever! Whoever wants to hide, go now!!” Sophie: “See you soon!” Chris: “Yeah. I think I’ll sit this one out.” Dave: “Hurry up! Get out of here!!!” Chris and Sophie run away to hide. The metal abomination roars a piercing roar, and everyone has to hold their ears to stop their head exploding from the high frequency. The creature spots Sophie and grabs her in its colossal hand and picks her up. Kieran: “Put her down!!!” The beast looks down at Kieran and crushes Sophie in its fist. Sophie lets out a shrill scream, and goes limp. She suddenly goes silent and blood erupts from her mouth and spews all over the beast. The beast bellows and throws Sophie head first into the ground. She was dead, murdered trying to hide, she wasn’t a fighter; she healed the lives of those who needed it. She brought life into the world, and now her own life had been terminated. Kieran: “SOPHIE!!!! NOOOOOOOO!!!! You’ll pay for this!!!” The beast looks at Kieran at roars again, this time full of anger. Philip: “She’s gone too… Why does everyone die?!” Dave: “Hey! We can mourn later! We got to kill this thing!!” Kieran: “*sniff* You’re right!! Come on guys!” Kieran jumps into the air. The beast kicks him, and he flies across the city of Xigbar and smashes into the castle in which the Monster Slayer tournament was held. He plummets into the ground, and debris falls on top of him. The pile of rocks does not move. Philip: “Kieran?! I’ll send you back to hell, vile beast!!” Philip runs over to the monsters leg, and pulls on a chain that is sticking out. It extends a little. He ties it around his waist and takes out his rocket launcher. He presses and holds a button on the side of the rocket launcher. It starts to draw in energy and the inside glows a burning red. Philip: “Reichstag Cannon…FIRE!” The blast sends Philip flying up high into the air and away from the monster. About fifteen thousand foot in the air, Philip rotates one hundred and eighty degrees in the air

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! and fires another shot. The second blast thrusts him higher into the air and back towards the monster. He lands on the monsters torso, hanging onto a bright red bonnet of a car imbedded deep within the monster. Philip then starts to slowly climb up the monster’s chest as high as he can. Dave: “Philip!!! Be careful!!!” Dave jumps onto the monster, and his spike shoes dig into it, holding him upright. Dave then starts to sprint up the beast as fast as he can towards Philip. Kevin: “Hey! This thing can kill us in one move!” Dave: “Well, don’t just stand there and give him a chance to! We have to kill it!! Come on!” Kevin: “Right! We’ll do our best Kieran!” The pile of rubble still remains motionless. Kevin jumps on the beast’s right leg, and starts jumping up higher by throwing himself across the monster’s body and grabbing onto various items sticking out. Dave reaches the location where Philip is hanging from a double decker bus. The chain around his waist is very taught, and he can go no further. Philip then takes the chain off of his waist and ties it to the bus. Dave: “What was that in aid of?” Philip: “Easy access! Grab on Kevin! Come on up!” Kevin: “Ok!” Kevin grabs hold of the chain dangling from thirty thousand feet up the monster and runs up the monster’s body. He is at Philip and Dave’s location in no time. Philip: “Right. Attack it as hard as you can! We’re bound to find a weak point soon enough.” Dave and Kevin: “Got it!” The three men start to climb up until they reach the monster’s head, forty thousand feet above the ground. The beast then sees the three men before its eyes, and starts to try and smash them with its fists of metal. Dave, Philip and Kevin narrowly dodge the fists as they smash into the beasts’ chest, which seemingly causing it no damage. Dave: “Go for its head!” Dave slashes the monster at the side of its face, but his sword doesn’t scratch or penetrate the metal armour the orange spirit is encased in.

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Dave: “Dammit! Why won’t it work?!” The rubble where Kieran is entombed starts to move slightly. Kevin: “Take this!” Kevin presses a button on his hook hand and they elongate as four more hooks grow out from the bottom of the metal stump. It makes a lawnmower type mesh of hooks and they start to rotate faster and faster until it is like a giant blender. He drives it into the monster’s neck, and there is an awful grinding, like a thousand cars braking and nails on a chalkboard. Kevin: “Nothing’s happening!!!!” The hook blender was merely rubbing against the metal armour, not causing a scratch of damage. Kevin deactivates the hook blender, and the hooks retract back into the metal stump. Philip: “How the hell are we meant to beat this thing?!” A piece of rock falls down onto the floor from atop the rock pile, and a hand emerges. Slowly, the rocks begin to fall away one by one. Kieran sits up from the rock pile. Kieran: “Uuuuggghhh…. My head……” Kieran stands up and brushes the dust from him. He sees the metal monstrosity and turns full of rage. Kieran: “You………you KILLED her!! I’ll KILL you!!!!” Dave: “Hey! Kieran’s awake! Get up here!” Kieran runs to the metal monster. He jumps up and grabs hold of the metal chain leading all the way up towards the monster’s head. He sprints up it as fast as he can. When Kieran reaches the others, he comes to a halt. Kieran: “*pant pant* Hey guys…” Philip: “Glad you made it! Shall we?” Kieran: “Let’s.” Kieran jumps up onto the monsters head. He unsheathes his bloodsword and forces it down into the monster’s skull. It bellows in anguish and starts to stagger. Philip adds some potion and powder to his shotgun again like he did in the tournament, puts the

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! shotgun into the wound in the beast’s head and fires. The blast rips through the creature and it unleashes a piercing scream like fifty trains coming to a noisy halt. Dave: “Dammit! I hate that noise!!!” Everyone starts to hold their hands over their heads to try and protect them from the toe curling sound. The noise stops after about five minutes, and everyone breathes a sigh of relief. Kevin: “Can we PLEASE hurry up and KILL this thing?! My ears can’t take much more!!” Kieran: “Sure. Leave it to me.” ???: “It is time…” Kieran: “Time…?” ???” “For the separation.” Kieran: “Really?! YES!!!” ???: “Do as I say now. Keep attacking until I give the command, then use all your might in a final attack. OK?” Kieran: “Erm……sure…” ???: “Good. Go now!” Kieran slides down the long chain running down the monster’s body whilst slashing and stabbing with his bloodsword. The sharp blade penetrates the tough armour like butter. The beast starts to roar and bellow whilst smashing its huge fists of steel against itself. Kieran nimbly dodges the attacks whilst boring more holes into the creature. Dave climbs up to the top of the head where the hole in the beast’s skull is and throws in a spike grenade. Dave: “Everyone watch out! It’s gonna blow!!” Dave and Philip climb so they are behind the head, Kevin crouches between two buses, and Kieran strafes up the body, running as fast as he can. A few seconds later, there a deafening boom and meter long spikes come ripping out of the metal monsters body from all directions. A spike goes through Kevin’s right shoulder and becomes lodged in. Kieran, Dave and Philip remain unscathed. Kevin: “AH!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! The beast starts to screech from all the holes that have been torn through it. It falls to its knees and there is a mighty tremor. ???: “NOW! Use all your power! Attack!!!” Kieran pushes off of the metal monster with a boost from his feet and performs a graceful backflip. He stops in midair facing the monster, with his wings suspending him. He has his legs shoulder width apart and is slightly crouched with a fist drawn in by each hip, gathering energy. Kieran is level with the beast’s head. Kieran: “You……killed…her...! Everyone I know goes away in the end!! I shall rid the world of evil! Starting……with……YOU!!! HHHRRRUUUGGGHHH……….” Kieran starts to glow a vivid gold colour. There is a recurring pulsating sound, like a big electromagnet had been turned on. Kevin: “Woah……what’s going on?” Dave: “I…I…I…think we’d better get out of here Kevin…” Kevin: “Yeah…right behind you Dave…Philip, gimme a hand please?” Philip picks up Kevin and they all climb down from the beast and run as fast as they can until they are a mile away from the creature and Kieran. ???: “What are you waiting for?! Attack!!!” Kieran: “I’m not strong enough yet! I need to boost my power!” ???: “Hurry up! It will kill you before you kill it at this rate!” The beast stands up, and Kieran is level with its chest now. The beast swings its giant fist, but it deflects off of Kieran. There is an orangey gold aura emanating from his body, making a shield of some sort. The metal monster yells loudly and starts clubbing Kieran wildly. Every attack bounces off with ease. Kieran: “It’s time!” Kieran lies down in midair and draws his blood sword. He thrusts it above his head, holding it with both hands. He slowly moves towards the creature, as if on a slow conveyor belt. Kieran: “ROCKET……CHARGE!!!!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Two massive flares erupt from the soles of Kieran’s shoes, as if a rocket was taking off. He thrusts into the beast’s chest and sparks fly everywhere. There is an awful grinding and screeching noise and the beast is holding its head in anguish. ???: “FINISH IT!!!!” Kieran: “It’s………OVER……HRUGH!!!!” There is a blinding white light, and nothing can be seen or heard. Suddenly, there is a sound like a thousand bombs exploding simultaneously, and a tremendous death cry. The light subsides, and the monster is lying on the floor face down. The ground is shaking from the colossal shockwave the creature sent from when its body hit the ground. There are two Kieran’s. One is kneeling on the floor with one knee, with two white wings and holding his heart with his right hand. The other is standing about a meter away with his back turned, with two black wings. Kieran: “What……happened?” ???: “The transaction is complete. You’ve been a kind host, and for that I thank you. However, I must be off now. But before I do, let me give you a taste of my power…” The other Kieran has a much deeper voice. There is a loud crack, and the other Kieran is gone with a blood red flash. He is back a second later, holding Chris by the throat from behind. ???: “Say goodbye.” The other Kieran stabs Chris in the spine. Chris slumps to the ground. The second Kieran then raises his right foot and drives into the back of Chris’s skull. Chris’s face digs into the ground and his body goes limp. ???: “We shall meet soon enough.” Five blood red runes appear around the second Kieran in a circle and he starts chanting in an unknown tongue. Beams of light dart up from the runes towards the sky, and they close in until they are all touching. A central beam is then formed from the pinnacle of the five and it smashes down into the second Kieran. The orange spirit is escaping out from the creature’s chest when it suddenly darts towards the other Kieran as he breathes it in. ???: “TELEPORT…NOW!” There is another blood red flash and he disappears. Kieran slowly crawls over to Chris. He rolls him over. Chris: “Uuuuhhhhhh………”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “*cough* Don’t talk Chris…… save your energy…” Chris: “Take…this… they’re all my summons…” Kieran: “Don’t talk like that! You’ll be fine!” Chris: “Let’s not… kid ourselves…” A small object can be seen hurtling towards the area Chris and Kieran are at from the sky. Chris raises his hands and a golden aura surrounds Kieran. Kieran can feel his power increase tenfold. Chris: “Use them better than I did…” The object gets bigger and bigger as it rockets towards the pair. Kieran: “Crap! What is……that…?” Kieran starts to run away, but turns to face Chris. Kieran: “Chris! We gotta get outta here!” Chris: “Go. I’m *cough cough* done for……” Kieran: “I’m not gonna leave you!!!” Chris: “Do as I say!!” Kieran takes a deep breath and nods at Chris. Kieran: “It’s been good knowing you Chris. Godspeed.” Chris nods back with a smile and Kieran starts to sprint away. Roughly ten seconds later, Kieran is about a quarter of a mile from the scene when a massive explosion happens. Kieran is sent flying by the sheer force of the shockwaves ripping through the air and ground. He is blown away by the fierce winds. When Kieran gets up, there is a giant smoke cloud. The place had been nuked! Kieran runs back over to see what is left of Chris. Kieran: “*pant pant* Nothing?! Everything’s gone?!” There was no trace of Chris at all. He had been disintegrated. There is a small metal scrap on the floor by Kieran’s foot. He bends down and picks it up. It says “Property of Colonel Nelson.”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “Nelson eh……You’ll pay for this…” Kieran clenches his fist, and the metal shard splinters into hundreds of fragments in his hand. He then walks off to find Kevin, Philip and Dave, who are over three miles away. When Kieran meets up with them again, Kevin is in a critical condition. He is lying on the floor with the spike lodged deep in his shoulder, with massive blood loss. Kevin: “It…hurts…” Kieran: “Don’t move. I’ll take care of this.” Kieran swishes his bloodsword, and cuts off massive portions of the metal spike in Kevin’s shoulder. There is only two centimetres of metal sticking out from both end of the shoulder when Kieran is finished. Dave: “We’ve got to get him to a hospital!!” Kieran: “Ok. I’ll try my best. Where’s the nearest one?” Kevin: “Back…at… Xig…bar……” Kieran nods at Dave and picks Kevin up, holding him in a fireman’s lift. He flaps his wings as hard as he can, and starts to levitate slowly. Kieran: “Just hold on…” Kieran darts through the air like a javelin and whooshes off towards Xigbar. He is at the hospital in Xigbar in no time. He lands outside of the hospital and runs in. Kevin is shaking from the shock and blood loss. He gets to the reception desk, where there is a skinny woman typing on a computer. There is a huge bald man dressed in green military uniform sitting in a chair waiting to be seen near the desk. Kieran talks to the woman at the desk. Kieran: “HELP!” The woman turns away from the computer and faces Kieran. Woman: “Wh… what happened?!” Kieran: “His name’s Kevin! A metal spike flew into his shoulder and got lodged there!” Woman: “Ok, go through there and turn right for the emergency room.” The man sitting in the chair stands up. Man: “Hey! What about me?! I’ve been here for ten minutes!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Woman: “To be fair Captain Adam, this IS an emergency. You’re only here for… well… you know what.” Capt. Adam: “Hmmm… very well…” Capt. Adam nods at Kieran, showing his approval. Kieran runs through the door into the emergency room, where there are five doctors standing around a person with a blue sheet over their body. Kieran: “Hey! Can you people help!?” The doctors turn around suddenly and face Kieran. One of the doctors walks over to Kieran. Doctor: “What happened to him?” Kieran: “A metal spike went through his shoulder and he’s starting to shake from blood loss and shock.” Doctor: “I see. Put him down on that table over there. We should be able to fix him.” Kieran puts Kevin down on the nearby table. Kieran: “Thank you.” Doctor: “It’s ok. I’ll have to ask you to step outside though. Hospital policy.” Kieran: “Yeah… ok.” Kieran walks back to the reception area and sits in a chair next to Capt. Adam. Capt. Adam turns and looks at him. Capt. Adam: “What happened to him anyway?” Kieran explains all about the fight with the metal monster. Capt. Adam: “But… how on earth did such a monstrosity come to life?! And why was it after you??” Kieran tells Capt. Adam all about the monster slayer tournament. Capt. Adam: “I see… well, I hope your friend gets well soon in any case.” When Capt. Adam says the word “friend”, it makes Kieran think of the late Chris and his murderer Col. Nelson.

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “Hey erm… do you know a guy called Col. Nelson?” Capt. Adam: “Colonel Nelson?! Yeah! He’s my boss! He’s head of the entire army, air and naval force. I’m second in command to him.” Kieran stands up. Kieran: “WHERE IS HE?!?!” Capt. Adam: “Whoa… slow down a minute. What happened?” Kieran, still standing, tells Capt. Adam about Chris and the nuke through laboured breaths. Capt. Adam: “Oh… I see! Well I doubt he was nuking you or this Chris fellow specifically! You don’t seem to have done anything wrong at all! Was there anyone else with you?” Kieran: “Yes. It may sound strange, but there was someone with us who looked exactly like me.” Capt. Adam: “Hmmm… I find that hard to believe… but I’ll take, you to see Col. Nelson if you want. But you can’t fight him ok? It’s strictly a formal meeting!” Kieran: “Sorry. I need to avenge Chris.” Capt. Adam takes out a walkie talkie and talks into it. Capt. Adam: “Boss! You there Boss?” There is a hiss of static and then a crackling. A voice suddenly starts announcing from the walkie talkie. Walkie talkie: “Yeah?” Capt. Adam: “I gotta runt here who wants to see you.” Walkie Talkie: “What for?” Capt. Adam: “You nuked his friend apparently.” Walkie talkie: “Just now?” Capt. Adam: “Yeah.”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Walkie talkie: “Hahahaha! Send him down captain! If it’s a fight he wants, I’m more than happy to oblige!” Capt. Adam: “Will do boss. Over and out.” Capt. Adam puts the walkie talkie back in his pocket and turns to Kieran. Capt. Adam: “Well, that’s that. When do you want to go?” Kieran: “Well, I have a few things to attend to first.” Capt. Adam: “Fine. I’ll stick with you until you’re ready to go. What do you have to do anyway?” Kieran tells Capt. Adam everything that has happened so far, all about Eegalowga and the clone of him. Capt. Adam: “Really……? Now that’s interesting…” Capt. Adam looks off into the distance. Capt. Adam: “Well, it sounds like you’ve got a massive fight on your hands. Do you have funds?” Kieran looks at him warily for a minute. Kieran: “Yes.” Capt. Adam: “Proper funds now. I’m talking twenty thousand Zah’s minimum.” Kieran: “Yes. Why do you ask?” Capt. Adam: “I know a guy near here, owns the best weapon shop around. I gather you’ll need some heavy artillery.” Kieran: “Ok. Take us there when Kevin’s better!” Capt. Adam: “Will do.” The hospital doors burst open and Dave and Philip runs in. Dave: “*pant pant* Is he ok?!” Kieran stands up. Kieran: “Yeah. The doctors said he should be fine.”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Philip: “Ugh. What a relief.” Dave sighs deeply and slumps into a chair. Kieran: “You took your time.” Dave: “Hey! I ran for like three miles!” Capt. Adam: “Hmpf. Easily done.” Philip: “Sorry, but who are you?” Kieran: “That’s Captain Adam. He’s going to bring us to Colonel Nelson after I’ve found Eegalowga and the evil me.” Dave: “I see. Nice to meet you.” Dave outstretches his right hand. Capt. Adam: “Likewise.” Capt. Adam grabs Dave’s hand and shakes it vigorously. He then turns and shakes Philip’s. The doors leading to the emergency room open, and Kevin slowly walks through, accompanied by a doctor. Kieran: “Kevin! You’re ok!!!” Kevin: “Yeah… my shoulder kills though.” Kieran: “Thank you so much doctor!” Kieran runs and hugs the doctor, gripping him in a massive bear hug that lifts the doctor off of the floor. The doctor lets out a wheeze. Kieran: “Oh… sorry.” Kieran lets the doctor go, and he falls to the floor. The doctor gets up and dusts himself down. Kevin: “Yeah… thanks Doc.” Doctor: “Not to worry. All in a days work eh? I’ll have to ask you to rest the shoulder for a while, just until you can move it with out any pain.” Kevin: “Fair enough.”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Doctor: “I’m sorry, but I have to leave. A very serious operation is taking place in the emergency room.” Kieran: “Oh… ok… good luck!” The doctor runs out of the room towards the emergency room. Capt. Adam: “So… are we ready?” Kieran turns to Kevin. Kevin: “Say when.” Dave: “Right. Shall we be off?” Kieran: “Yeah.” Kieran turns to Capt. Adam. Kieran: “How far is this shop anyway?” Capt. Adam: “Not far, we’ll be there in about a minute and a half.” Kieran: “Ok. Let’s go.” The four walk out of the hospital into the town of Xigbar. The sun is shining brightly in the centre of the sky, and the clouds litter the sky. Capt. Adam: “This way.” Capt. Adam turns right and leads the group down a dark alley down the side of the hospital. After a short while, he stops at a wall and starts to feel it with his hands. Kieran: “What… are you doing…?” Capt. Adam: “We’re here.” Dave: “But… where?!” Capt. Adam: “The weapons shop. Give me a minute…” Capt. Adam starts to tap the wall gently with his right ear pressed against the wall. Suddenly, a hollow thud is heard, and Adam stands up straight. Capt. Adam: “Aha! Got it!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Capt. Adam punches the wall where the hollow thud was heard. Five orange runes appear around his hand and a small slit appears from the concrete wall. Two eyes are looking out from the darkness. Mysterious voice: “State the password.” Capt. Adam genuflects on his right knee, puts both palms on the floor and bows his head. Capt. Adam: “Omega, Omega, I worship Omega.” Capt. Adam stays bowed upon the floor. Mysterious voice: “Very well.” There is a deep rumbling, and an outline of a door cuts through the concrete wall. The newly made door slides deep into the concrete and Capt. Adam stands up. Capt. Adam: “Theo! It’s been… three years?!” Theo: “Haha… yes… I suppose it has! How have you been old chum?” Capt. Adam: “Well, the leg’s still a bit gammy, but all better apart from that!” Theo: “Come on in! It’s been far too long. Who are your friends?” Theo gives everyone a suspicious look. Capt. Adam: “They’re in need of some heavy artillery and you’re the place to go eh?” Theo: “Haha… quite right Adam, quite right.” Theo and Capt. Adam walk in and everyone follow them. They pass down a dimly lit corridor, with the walls floor and ceiling made of thick sturdy concrete. It was a very dull and cold place. After a while, they come to a bright room, with lights everywhere. There are noises coming from all over the place; bubbling, grinding, screaming and all other sounds. The room has colours everywhere and is very vivid, with orange walls, purple carpet, red chairs, brown tables and all other eccentric items and colours. There are machines all over the room and weapons as far as the eye can see. Kieran: What… is… this place…?” Theo: “Welcome friends, to Theo’s Warmongery!” Dave: “Awesome!!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kevin: “There are weapons everywhere!!” Capt. Adam: “Yeah, Theo sells and makes weapons. Stuff you never believed could exist is sitting in this very room.” Theo: “So, what can I do you for?” Capt. Adam: “I fear the time has come Theo… the end of the world.” Theo: “WHAT?!” Capt. Adam: “Yeah. He fused with this one.” Capt. Adam pushes Kieran forwards. Kieran: “Erm… hi? What’s going on?” Theo: “The End of the World! It is when the world shall descend into chaos, and one man is prophesised to destroy all. I think the man that fused with you is that man.” Kieran: “How can this be prevented?!” Capt. Adam and Theo look at each other and then look to the floor, silent. Kieran: “Well?!” Theo: “…………… It can’t be. No one can change or postpone their fate.” Kieran: “That’s a lie!” Theo: “No. It’s the truth.” Theo sits in a chair. Theo: “My wife, Cindy… she died three years ago. She was killed by a dark knight, wielding a colossal sword made of the bones of his victims. He is a shape shifter, able to manipulate his form by gaining power. He stalks the land looking for powerful souls to absorb. She worked here with me, and we made magnificent weapons together. One day she set off to get some materials for the weapon I have only recently finished developing, and she had weapons secreted all over her body in case of an emergency. He sensed this and killed her in broad daylight, absorbing her soul and destroying her body. Kieran: “I’m……sorry. How do you know he killed her?” Theo: “She was only down the road, I seen I all on the security cameras I have installed around the perimeter.”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran then tells Theo his story. Theo: “You’re looking for him too? Well, I’ll help you, for free.” Kieran: “Thanks… but how?” Theo: “After he killed Cindy, I set out for revenge. I got my strongest weapons and set out looking for him. When I found him, I unleashed all my fury upon him, but to no effect. He smote me down, but didn’t kill me. I guess I’m not that strong, so he just disregarded me. As he left, I threw a tracking device on his right leg, and now I’m able to get his location.” Kieran: “So where is he?” Theo: “Wait. We must prepare first. Come with me. Any weapon you want, you can have. I need you to kill him.” Kieran: “You could come with us.” Theo: “No. I must stay here; he nearly killed me the last time we met.” Philip: “So what kind of weapons are we talking about?” Theo: “Hahaha. Right this way please.” Theo points towards a corridor and everyone follows it. When they reach the next room, everyone gasps and looks around, gaping in awe and wonder. There were weapons everywhere. They were in some type of storage warehouse. It stretched for at least a mile, and there was virtually no free space to move about freely. Kieran: “WOW! Look at all this weaponry!!!” Theo: “Take whatever you need. It’s on me.” Philip: “Awesome!!” Everyone splits up and looks around the weapon warehouse, taking everything they can use best and fully utilise. Kieran picks up a grenade. It is golden, and has writing engraved on it, from a different language. Theo: “Ah… my finest creation…” Kieran: “What is it?” Theo: “I’ve spent nine years working on it. When you throw it, it will create a sun.”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “Sorry… did you say… a sun?! As in the sun in the sky?!” Theo: “Yes.” Kieran: “What POSSIBLE use could a sun be?!” Theo: “Well think about it. What does the sun do?” Kieran: “Erm… shines?” Theo: “Exactly. And?” Kieran: “Burns?” Theo: “Indeed! There are quite a few uses for this item! You could create an instant light source, make an instant death ball, produce a super gravity chain, where everything will be suspended in the air, the list goes on!” Kieran: “I see. I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to insult your invention. I’m sure they are all of good quality, or they wouldn’t have been manufactured.” Theo: “It’s fine.” Dave finds a gun which has seven holes where the bullets fire out of. It is silver and has “Nargaleptor” etched into it. Dave: “Cool…” Theo: “Ah… a fine weapon. Use it wisely!” Dave: “What does it do?” Theo: “Better to find out for yourself with this weapon my friend.” Dave: “Hmmm…” Theo walks back over to Kieran and gives him a glove of some sort. It is metal, with spikes protruding from the knuckles, and is buzzing and humming with electricity flowing through it. Kieran: “What’s this?” Theo: “Take it. I was keeping it for protection, but…… I think you’ll need it far more than I will.”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “Thanks.” Kieran puts the glove over his left hand. It fits snugly and gives him full mobility of his left hand, but with increased power. Kieran: “Ah…… it begins…” Theo: “Pardon?” Kieran: “Oh… nothing.” Theo looks at Kieran. He is staring at the glove with blood lusty eyes. Theo: “Erm… I’m just going over here. Please excuse me.” Kieran doesn’t even acknowledge Theo’s words or disappearance. Philip walks over to him. Philip: “Hey… you ok?” Kieran snaps out of the trance. Kieran: “Yeah… I… don’t know what happened. Sorry.” Philip: “That’s ok…” Kieran give the glove to Philip. Theo and Capt. Adam begin talking over at the far side of the room. Kevin is surveying some items a few feet away from Kieran and Dave. Kevin: “Woah!” He picks up a jetpack and tries it on. It fits nicely, like a rucksack would, or any other two strapped bag. There are two green buttons marked “ascend” and “descend,” and a big red one marked “destroy.” Kieran, Philip and Dave walk over to Kevin. Philip: “Sweet.” Kevin: “I know! I think I’ll test it out.” Kevin presses the “ascend” button and starts to gracefully rise into the air. He plays around for a bit, doing loop the loops and speed laps of the room, before coming down to earth just as smoothly as he took off. Kevin: “Wow, I’ll take it!” Theo and Capt. Adam walk over to everyone.

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Dave: “What were you two discussing?” Capt. Adam: “Just old memories…that’s all.” Kieran: “Right……” Theo: “Here Philip. Take this.” Theo hands Philip a small pebble like item. It is perfectly round and green, about the size of a tablet. Philip: “Hmm…? What’s this?” Theo: “Hahahaha. You’ll find out soon enough I should think. Use it in a tight spot.” Philip: “Hmmm…… will do…” Suddenly, sirens start going off, piercing the air all around. Red lights were flashing everywhere. What was going on?! Computer: “ALERT! ALERT! PERIMETER BREACH! UNIDENTIFIED PRESENCE DETECTED!” Kieran:” What the hell’s going on?!” Theo: “Calm down. Someone’s near here. They may be dangerous. Computer! Bring down Surveillance Watcher Q!” Computer: “Affirmative.” A hole opens in the ceiling and a large screen drops down from it. The screen turns on, and there are two men standing on a hill in the distance. One is seven foot tall at least, plated with armour all over, and is very hefty, carrying a massive steel hammer in his right hand. The other is about five foot tall, skinnier, and is holding a tall black staff, nearly as tall as him. The staff has a hand holding a pulsating green orb in a hand at the top of it. He is dressed in long robes and a wizard’s hat, similar to that which Chris was wearing. Kieran: “Those guys… I think I’ve seen them before… are they following us?” Everyone looks at Kieran. Philip: “You’ve seen them before?! Why didn’t you tell us?!” Kieran: “Well…… they were far away… I didn’t think they posed a threat.”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Theo: “Enough babble. Kieran, get out there and see what they want.” Kieran: “Very well……” Kieran walks out of Theo’s and walks towards the two ominous men. When he arrives, there is a painful silence for over five minutes. Armour clad man: “You! The Master beckons for you!” Kieran: “What…?” Armour clad man: “The Master! The one you were graced upon to share a body with!” Kieran: “Oh… HIM… tell him I’m not interested.” Kieran turns around and starts walking away.” Skinnier man: “Bad move rookie, bad move.” Armour clad man:” You DARE refuse the Master’s request?!” Kieran hears a thunderous noise galloping towards him. As he turns, he feels a sharp pain to his left side, and he flies fifteen feet away from the two men. When he looks up, the armour clad man is standing where Kieran used to be, hammer raised high in the air, panting furiously. Armour clad man: “Do you know where Eegalowga is??” Kieran: “Even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.” The armour clad man bellows with rage and starts jogging towards Kieran. Skinnier man: “Stephen. Leave it. We’ll see them later. Make them pay then.” Stephen: “But Nick! He disrespects the Master and us!” Nick: “Irrelevant. We came here to do a job. Hey Kieran, we’ll see you later, be prepared.” Kieran: “Wh… what……?” Nick: “Farewell. Stephen, we’re leaving.” Nick raises his staff high into the air, and the orb glows light blue. A wind with the force of a hurricane blows Nick and Stephen clear into the distance, and they disappear with

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! the greatest of ease, as if an escalator gently carried them away. Kieran gets thrown to the floor with a tremendous force however, and when he gets up, walks back to Theo’s. Kieran: “Ugh.” Theo: “Hmm… what did they want?” Kieran: “For me to go meet the guy who shared my body. They also wanted to know where Eegalowga was.” Theo: “Right, we’ll go meet Eegalowga soon. Then we should find the man that’s looking for you. Follow me.” Theo walks into the next room and everyone follows him. There is a big supercomputer. He starts tapping at the keyboard for a few seconds. The screen then shows a map of the world, with a flashing red dot. Philip: “What’s that?” Theo: “The location of Eegalowga! He’s not too far away surprisingly, just in the forest near Xigbar.” Dave: “Right. We know where that is.” Theo: “I guess this is goodbye then ya know? Take care… I probably won’t be seeing you ever again…” Theo shakes everyone’s hand and sees them to the door. Everyone steps out and Kieran stops for a minute. Kieran: “I’ll avenge her Theo… I swear it…” Theo: “You do that. Thanks a lot.” Theo waves everyone off. Theo: “See you soon Adam! Don’t die on me!” Capt. Adam: “I won’t Theo, don’t worry.” The group head towards the forest where Eegalowga is, hoping that he will still be there, and that they can win with ease. Philip: “Hey Kieran, are you gonna be ok? You seemed a bit… out of it back there…”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “I’ll be fine; I was just amazed at the power I now behold. It will surely be enough to smite Eegalowga down, and put a stop to his evil deeds forever.” They walk to the Sea nearby, and Kevin calls his boat over. They sail to the edge of the forest, near the town of Xigbar and step off the boat. Kevin: “Well… here we are…” Dave: “Yeah! Let’s go!!” Everyone looks at Dave. Dave: “What? I’m intrigued! I wanna meet and fight this guy and find out just what the hell’s going on!” Capt. Adam: “Haha! Quite right Dave. I guess we’re all anticipating this… but you seem eager, so let’s get started! You ready Kieran?” Kieran looks back out to sea for a while, then takes a deep breath and turns back to everyone. Kieran: “Yeah. Come on guys.” Kieran leads the way into the forest. It is a vast place, with trees everywhere the eye can see. Where the leaves have blocked out the sunlight, there is total darkness. There is a mountain overlooking the forest. The group walk around the forest for about five minutes then stop. Philip: “What the hell?! Where is this guy?!?!” Capt. Adam: “Yeah… have we missed him?” Kieran: “Doubtful… I’d say he’d only be here looking for power… and I can feel danger all around…” Philip: “Yeah but-“ Kieran: “Shush! Keep quiet and listen out for him!” Everything is silent for what seems like hours. The group listens carefully for any slight sound, but nothing can be heard. Suddenly, Capt. Adam’s walkie talkie starts crackling. Walkie talkie: “Fsssht… Crrk… Adam… fssssss… see you soon… KSSSSSST…” The talking then cuts out.

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Dave: “What the hell?! Turn that thing off!” Capt. Adam: “Sorry. It’s got bad reception in here anyway.” Kieran: “I said keep quiet!! He probably knows we’re here now!” Distant voice: “Hahahahaha! I’m closer than you think foolish humans! Now… grant me your souls!!” The group looks behind them. Eegalowga is standing there, taller than before, coated in black armour. His eye seems to have grown back from the incident with the dagger. He has two giant arms, and the soul sword is bigger, made of a countless number of bones. He is swinging it around viciously, whilst taunting the group. Eegalowga: “You! You are back again!!! I vowed to find you since that volcano incident!!! Many a soul I have drained, eagerly awaiting the time I would once again meet you!!” Kieran: “You’ve… changed appearance! What happened?!” Eegalowga: “I am the last remaining Snuh. Every soul I drain grants me more power. As my power rises, my body changes to accustom itself to these changes. But enough talk, you stole my Grapplegun and then humiliated me!!” Kieran: “Shut up! What happened to that red haired woman?!” Eegalowga: “HAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Let’s just say she’s closer than you think…” Kieran: “You… you took her soul?! That’s it! I’ve had enough! I shall rid the world of your tyranny, and free the souls of the damned!” Eegalowga: “Just TRY and stop me!!” Dave starts to run at Eegalowga. Kieran: “NO! Leave it Dave! This is my fight!!!” Dave: “I’m here to help Kieran!” Kieran: “I understand, but this is my fight. No one interferes ok?!” Everyone nods at Kieran in agreement, and climbs the trees to get away from the battlefield. Kieran unsheathes the bloodsword from the leather sheath on his right hip, and grips it tightly in both hands. Eegalowga: “Hahahahaha! You think that puny thing can stand up to THIS?!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Eegalowga starts to madly swing his hefty sword above his head. Kieran uses his wings to start flying upwards. Kieran: “I’ve changed too! And I WILL destroy you!!!” Eegalowga: “Come on!!” Eegalowga runs and jumps at Kieran. Kieran tries to fly away, but gets struck by the soul sword and plummets to the group with a dull thud. Eegalowga: “I’ll… KILL you!” Eegalowga lands and thrusts the sword at Kieran’s heart. Kieran rolls out of the way and sweeps Eegalowga’s legs, sending him crashing to the ground. His sword falls out of his hand. Kieran then jumps on Eegalowga’s chest and starts to pummel his face endlessly. Kieran: “THIS… is for all of the lives you’ve taken!!!” Eegalowga: “Hehehe……” Kieran stops punching. Kieran: “Why are you laughing?!” Eegalowga grabs Kieran by the face and hurls him at the nearest tree. Kieran smacks into it and falls to the floor face down. Eegalowga: “I am laughing… because for all the big talk… you haven’t even scratched me yet!” Kieran stands up. Kieran: “Oh yeah?! WELL THEN! I hope you’re ready……… for my…… RIOT…” Eegalowga: “………Wait…what…? No… it can’t be…” Kieran takes a massive deep breath in and carries on. His chest is slowly puffing out and he has a menacing look on his face. He stares at Eegalowga without blinking. Eegalowga: “NO! This…… cannot… BE!!!! *cough*” Dave: “*cough* Why is it suddenly so hard to breathe??” Eegalowga picks up his soul sword and starts to sprint at Kieran. He falls to his knees after a few steps, out of breath.

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Philip: “*cough cough* The Oxygen…… it’s disappearing…?” Kevin starts to faint, and everyone in the tree is gradually passing out. Kieran stops breathing in. Eegalowga: “*cough cough* What…… have you done…? You were breathing in for over a minute……” Kieran opens his legs to shoulder width apart. He puts his palms together and draws them against his chest. Eegalowga: “So we didn’t all die… you will surely *cough* help…” Suddenly, Kieran thrusts his palms outwards. Kieran: “ROAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” A gigantic sound wave erupts from Kieran mouth. Trees are reduced to splinters, leaves are disintegrated, and Eegalowga’s sword flies out of his hand. Eegalowga gets blasted into the nearby cliff and smashes his head against it. Kieran stops his Riot Roar and starts breathing in and out slowly. Eegalowga: “Ugh. My…… head…?” Eegalowga sluggishly gets up. Kieran: “How’s that for a strike?” Eegalowga: “You have great power. I shall enjoy wielding it.” Eegalowga walks over to his soul sword and picks it up. Kieran: “WHAT?! You’re STILL going to fight???” Eegalowga: “Hahahahahaha… it’s only just begun…” Eegalowga thrusts his soul sword high into the air. It starts glowing sky blue and a strange energy starts flowing through it into his body. Everyone in the tree starts to wake up. Dave: “What…… what happened?” Capt. Adam: “He took in all the Oxygen and dispelled it to push Eegalowga back. Lucky we’re in a forest; the Carbon Dioxide was absorbed by the trees and replaced with Oxygen pretty fast… We may have been unconscious for ages otherwise…”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “What’s going on?! What are you doing?! What did you mean, we didn’t all die?!?” Eegalowga: “Time will tell my brother…” Kieran: “Brother?! What the hell are you talking about?!?” Eegalowga is glowing bright blue and souls start coming at him from all directions; the floor, the sky, the trees, everything alive around him. Eegalowga: “Souls of the damned… come forth!! Upgrade me into my true form! Grant me the power to vanquish this plague on the OmniVerse!” Kieran: “What…? You’re changing… again?!” Fire engulfs Eegalowga’s body, and suddenly explodes outwards. When Eegalowga is visible again, he is around nine feet tall. His armour is darker than the darkest shadow and is moulded around his hulking muscles. He has four legs, like a horse would, and four massive arms. Eegalowga is holding four soul swords, one in each arm. Kieran: “You… you MONSTER!!!” Eegalowga: “HAHAHAHA!!! Witness the true power of me, Eegalowga! I thought I was the last remaining Snuh, but I found you! I will take your soul to destroy the last Gralaxorbian, and our race will once again stand proud as the Masters of the OmniVerse!!!” Kieran: “But… who is the last Gralaxorbian?!” Eegalowga: “That being that was inside of you! That’s why I attacked you earlier! I sensed his presence! But then your true power awoke inside the volcano, and I knew that there was something special about you!” Kieran: “I… am a… Snuh…?” Eegalowga: “Yes! I don’t know how… I think fusing with him gave you a share if his power…” Kieran: “But he’s… a Gralaxorbian?” Eegalowga: “Yes. I don’t know how it happened. But enough talk. Come on!” Eegalowga gallops at Kieran at full throttle. Kieran rolls out of the way and cuts off one of his legs. Eegalowga topples to the floor.

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “Ha! Your true form can’t even handle me!” Eegalowga stands up on his back two legs. He then cuts off the third leg, leaving him two legs like he originally had. Kieran: “What… are you doing?!” Eegalowga: “I’m not used to being on four legs, and three will just hinder me.” He tosses the dismembered leg aside. Eegalowga: “Now, the fight begins!!” Kieran runs at Eegalowga. Eegalowga starts to slash his four soul swords in the air, so Kieran stops. Kieran: “Hmmm… how to beat this guy??” Eegalowga: “You see?! Fear withholds you from proceeding! Such is the power of my true form!” Kieran: “Hmph.” Kieran runs up the nearest tree and backflips off of it. He readies his sword to stab Eegalowga in the forehead, but Eegalowga puts a soul sword in the way, blocking his face. Kieran lands on the sword. Eegalowga: “What?!” Kieran stabs the bloodsword through the soul sword and into Eegalowga’s forehead. Eegalowga: “ARGH!!!!” Eegalowga smashes his other soul sword down where Kieran is. Kieran jumps in the air, and the soul sword cracks the one where Kieran was standing in half. Kieran lands on the half soul sword and removes the bloodsword. Eegalowga: “My… my sword!!!” Eegalowga brings the same sword up again and brings it down. With a flick of the bloodsword, Kieran cuts that soul sword in half. Kieran: “Yes! Two down! Is that all you got?!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Eegalowga starts to spin the remaining soul swords around as if they were umbrellas, creating a shield blender of some sort. Kieran jumps off, afraid of Eegalowga’s blender like creation. Eegalowga: “I… WILL… KILL… YOU!!!” Kieran holds his blood sword like a javelin over his right shoulder. Kieran: “Hope this works…” He throws it as hard as he can at Eegalowga’s face. It gets imbedded at the very tip of one of the two remaining soul swords. Kieran: “Dammit! It didn’t even faze him!” True enough, Eegalowga was still steadily coming at Kieran, mowing down trees in his path. The nearby cliff was getting closer and closer; Kieran was running out of room! Kieran: “There just might be a chance…” Kieran runs towards Eegalowga and grabs his sword sticking that’s sticking out when it flies by. He starts being spun at an alarming rate. Eegalowga: “Huh?” Kieran: “Now if I can just reach!” Kieran reaches out and grabs the other spinning soul sword. The two swords stop rotating and Eegalowga is staring at Kieran, helpless and suspended between the two swords in front of him. Eegalowga: “I’m sick of this! DIE.” Eegalowga pulls the two swords outwards as hard as he can, but Kieran only lets go of the one without his sword in. Eegalowga relinquishes his hold of the same sword, and Kieran falls to the ground. He separates the two swords and drops his bloodsword to the ground. Kieran: “Now I hold the power!! And THIS…IS FOR THE FALLEN!!!!” All the souls drain out of Eegalowga and his soul swords. Eegalowga drops his final soul sword and stands there, to weak to move. All his power had been drained. The souls go into the soul sword Kieran is holding, and the sword starts glowing and vibrating, brimming with power. Eegalowga: “I… cannot move…? End it quickly… I beg of you…”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran holds the soul sword over his right shoulder with his right arm, like you would a baseball bat, and runs at Eegalowga. When Kieran gets close to him, he grabs the sword with his left hand as well, and swings it as hard as he can. The sword instantaneously shatters, and Eegalowga gets cut in half. His top half lands over at the base of the cliff. Kieran: “It’s… over…” Kieran picks up his bloodsword and sheaths it. Everyone then climbs down from the trees. Dave: “Woah! You showed him!” Philip: “Yeah! All that’s left is to find that guy that was fused with you now!” Kevin and Capt. Adam: “Well done.” Eegalowga: “Kieran……… come… here…” Kieran: “Hmm?” Kieran runs over to Eegalowga. He wasn’t expecting Eegalowga to still be alive. Eegalowga: “You are now the last Snuh… let me tell you… the identity of the last Gralaxorbian. They were all bent on owning the OmniVerse… they need to be wiped out once and for all…” Kieran: “Who is he?” Eegalowga: “My time is short… *coughs blood* his name i-UROUGH…“ Kieran jumps back in shock. Stephen had plummeted down from the cliff and hammered Eegalowga’s face to a pulp! Stephen: “There we go. He’s gone now. I thought you said you didn’t know where he was?” Kieran: “You killed him!!!!” Stephen: “YOU had killed him. He was slowly dying anyway. I merely finished the job. Now, as I was saying, I thought you didn’t know where he was?” Kieran: “I found out where he was after!” Suddenly, a ghost comes out of Eegalowga’s corpse. It was the red haired woman!

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Ghost: “Thank you for freeing me…use his sword to defeat the one he speaks of… I am sorry for attacking you earlier in the volcano… if I had known you were fused with the one he speaks of, I could have helped in some way… goodbye my saviour…” With that note, the ghost lets out a terrible wail and blows away like smoke in a strong wind. Kieran: “What … the … hell?” Stephen: “Enough screwing around.” Stephen smashes Kieran in the face with the hammer and sends him flying away. Capt. Adam runs in front of Kieran, covering him from Stephen. Capt. Adam: “No! Leave him!!” Stephen: “Who the hell are you?” Capt. Adam: “It doesn’t matter.” Kieran sees Capt. Adam wink at Stephen. Stephen: “Fine. We’ll meet again Kieran, mark my words. Nick! Bring me up!” Nick performs a spell that brings Stephen back up to the top of the cliff. They stand there staring at Kieran. Capt. Adam turns to Kieran. Capt. Adam: “You alright kid?” Kieran: “… Yeah……” Capt. Adam helps Kieran up and walks back over to everyone else. Nick: “Kieran!! Meet us at the desert, not far from here. We will settle this once and for all!” They turn around to leave, but Stephen stops suddenly and talks to Dave. Stephen: “You there! Are you from the Sanskreet Clan of Youboferro?” Dave: “Yes! Why??” Stephen: “Oh… nothing… it seems another one survived in the end…” Stephen walks out of sight.

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Dave: “WAIT!! What did you mean?!” Philip: “Calm down Dave, he’s probably just saying random things.” Dave: “No! How could he know exactly where I’m from?! I gotta go back… someone may still be alive! I’m sorry everyone. Goodbye.” Kevin: “Wait!” Dave throws a smoke grenade. When the smoke clears, he is nowhere to be seen. Philip: “That’s starting to annoy me.” Kevin: “Well… off to the desert I guess. Anything we need to do beforehand?” Capt. Adam: “I don’t think so.” Philip: “Anyone got a plan on how we’re gonna beat those guys?” Kieran: “Well that Stephen guy seems pretty tough to beat, so I say we get rid of Nick first.” Kevin: “Sounds good!” Kieran: “Now… how do we get to this desert?” Capt. Adam: “I know the way. Follow me. We’ll be there shortly.” Kieran: “Hmmmm…..” Capt. Adam leads everyone towards the desert. When it is in view, everyone can see a vast desert and a tall tower in the middle of it. They proceed towards it. Kieran: “I guess they’re in there…” Philip: “You ready?” Kieran: “Yeah… it’s all been leading up to this…” Kevin: “How do you figure that?” Kieran: “Well, they work with this guy… so I guess he’ll be fighting alongside them.” Philip: “Ah… I see.” The group reach the base of the tower.

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Capt. Adam: “Here we are.” Kieran: “Nick! Stephen! I am here! Come out and fight me!!” From the top of the tower, a man looks out of the window. It was Kieran’s doppelganger! He now had four arms and was a lot taller and had a lot more muscles than Kieran. ???: “Ah. You took your time, but I see you came. I hear you disposed of Eegalowga. Well done! I commend you my friend! You did what I could not. But alas, I simply didn’t have the time.” Kieran: “YOU!!! You are the cause of this horrible chain of events! I swear on the souls of every life you’ve taken and everyone still alive that I will kill you!!!” ???: “Hahaha. Keep dreaming kid. If you can’t beat Stephen, you’ve got no chance of beating me.” Kieran: “Well I am the last surviving Snuh, and I WILL see you perish, mark my words!!” ???: “This cannot be. You killed the last Snuh. Stop babbling. I see you’ve been looking for this?” Kieran’s doppelganger holds out a red orb, about the size of a fist, shining vividly in the hot sun. Kevin: “The Gem of Grosirees! Where did you get it?!” ???: “Hahaha. Shut up.” Kieran’s evil other half shatters the orb in his palm. Kevin: “How could you?! I’LL KILL YOU!!!” Kevin starts to run towards the tower to climb up, but Capt. Adam stands in his way. Capt. Adam: “No. Leave him. You’ll have to get through me.” ???: “Ah Adam. I wondered when you’d intervene.” Philip: “You’re corrupt?! Damn it!” Kieran: “I think I knew… after Eegalowga was killed, you winked at Stephen. You make me sick.”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Capt. Adam: “Please, please. Enough with the shock, I’m here… to kill you all.” Kevin: “Not if I have anything to do with it!!! DIE!!!!” Kevin extends his hook around Adam’s neck and pulls sharply. Adam’s head rips off, and his lifeless body falls to the ground, blood welling from the neck. Philip: “Woah!! What the hell?!” Kevin climbs up to the man who looks like Kieran. When he climbs through the window, the man grabs him from behind and jumps out of the window. When they land, the man breaks Kevin’s back over his knee. Kevin: “AAAAAHHHH!!!!” ???: “Hahaha. Say goodnight.” The man thrusts his right arm with all the spikes on it into the air. The arm opens up into a bear trap type arm. ???: “Here is your penance you fool! You are the King of a foolish breed of people! And I am here to renounce your throne!” The man shoves Kevin head first into the bear trap like contraption his arm has become. Kevin fits in up to his hips. He cannot move, as his spine is broken, but he is screaming in anguish. Kevin: “Help me!! Someone please!!!” There is a sickening metallic crunch and everything goes silent. Blood drips from the closed arm. The man opens the arm and allows Kevin’s dead body to fall out. The arm then reverts back to its normal state. Philip: “Kevin!!!! NOOOO!!!!” Kieran: “You’ve killed… so many people… they will be the ones who guide my sword to your heart!!!” Kieran body starts to glow a bright orange. None of his facial features can be seen. He starts to scream insanely and spikes grow out of his spinal cord. The metal surrounding his body breaks off and falls to the floor. His muscles increase vastly, and his wings grow even longer, about three meters long in length now. The hard rock surrounding his legs start to grow bigger and bigger to accommodate for his hulking legs. This was Kieran’s new form, an increase in every attribute of his body. Philip: “Woah! How can I do that?!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “Get down here!!!! You WILL suffer!!” ???: “Hmm… interesting… COME FORTH METEOR! SMITE THEM WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT!” Kieran’s clone raises his right hand high into the air. A burning orb appears in the sky, hurtling down from space. Philip: “You ready Kieran?” Kieran: “Come on!” Philip charges up a rocket from his rocket launcher and fires. Philip: “Giga Cannon… FIRE!!!!” An immense rocket, about four times the size of a wrecking ball blasts from the cannon. Kieran pushes his wrists together, with his palms open and fires a colossal beam out towards the rocket. The beam pushes the rocket into the incoming meteor at an alarming speed. The meteor deatomises instantaneously. ???: “Dammit! I’ll see you two later… but before I go…” The man who looks like Kieran throws his arms wide apart, exposing his chest. He screams as loud as he can and a jet black wave explodes from his mouth and rips up through the sky. It does not stop, and rips straight into space. A very distant explosion can be seen and every colour under the sun is emitting out of it. ???: “Hahahahahahahaha.” Kieran: “What have you done!?” ???: “I have started to fuse every black hole in the OmniVerse together. Before long, the finished product will devour every single thing in the OmniVerse, making my name resonate throughout history!” Philip: “But if you destroy everything, how can anything be around to remember you?!” ???: “SHUT UP! The entire OmniVerse will quiver as they speak my name; Brian Hannings!!! Besides, I have plenty of time to come up with an escape plan! I’ll see you two later!!” Kieran: “Not if I can help it!!!” Brian Hannings: “Oh guys! Get over here!!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Stephen and Nick jump out of the tower and land in front of Brian Hannings. Nick: “Glad you could join us Kieran! But now it’s time to DIE!” Brian Hannings: “We’ll meet again Kieran… don’t you worry… for now, goodbye.” Brian Hannings flies away into the distance. When Kieran goes to fly after him, Nick casts an icicle the size of a mountain at Kieran, spiking him down to the ground. Nick: “NO running away dammit! We fight to the death now!” Philip: “Why are you protecting him?!” Stephen: “We don’t have to explain ourselves to you!! Come on Nick!” Stephen jumps high into the air and readies his hammer to smash Kieran’s head in. Philip: “RUN!!!!” Kieran gets up and he and Philip start to sprint away as fast as they can. Kieran: “How are we gonna beat them?!” Philip: “I dunno… we’ll have to work together though!” Kieran: “Right!” Stephen raises his right arm high into the air. Stephen: “Where do you think YOU’RE going?! Magna Zombies!! KILL THEM!!!!!” Suddenly, one million zombies climb out of the floor. They are mostly covered in metal, like Kieran before his transformation. Each one is different however, some with weapons grafted into them instead of having limbs, some with five heads with giraffe-like necks, and many more variations. Nick: “See you soon guys! That should more than enough for you to deal with!” Nick and Stephen start to run away, towards the direction Brian Hannings flew of to. Philip: “Kieran! Get after them!!” Kieran: “No! We’re surrounded! Anyway, I’m not gonna leave you on your own!!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Philip: “Just go dammit! We can’t let them get away!! Besides, you’re a lot stronger than me. I can handle these guys, but them two are way outta my league!” Philip takes the small green pebble-like item out of his pocket. Philip: “Hmmm… only one way to find out what this does…” Philip swallows the object and immediately, ten thousand clones step out of him. The feeling is like being ripped in half repeatedly. Kieran: “What the hell?!” One of the clones fires a rocket and takes out a wave of about fifty zombies, creating a path towards Nick, Stephen and Brian Hannings. Philip: “Go now!” Kieran: “Alright… but don’t die on me dammit….” Kieran flies towards the horizon, trying to find Nick and Stephen. He looks behind and sees loads of people jumping, explosions, and people flying backwards. Kieran: “I hope he’s ok…” Suddenly, Kieran sees Nick and Stephen running far away near the edge of the desert. They were on foot, so they hadn’t got far. Kieran lands behind them. Kieran: “Hey guys. How’s it going?” Nick and Stephen stop and turn around in horror. Stephen: “How did you escape so soon?!?” Kieran: “Let’s just say I had a lot of help from a lot of friends. You ready?” Nick: “Ha. Yeah. Come on, let’s go!” Stephen runs and smashes Kieran with the hammer. Kieran falls to his knees and Stephen readies the hammer again. He goes to smash Kieran, and Kieran punches him in the stomach as hard as he can. Stephen doesn’t even flinch, and smites Kieran face down to the floor with his hammer. Nick does fire magic on Kieran’s body, and Kieran starts to roll vigorously on the floor to get the flames out. Stephen: “Hahahaha. Oh yeah. This armour is fused to my body. I’m invincible. Nothing can stop me!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “Invincible?! Crap! What do I do now??” Nick: “There’s nothing you can do!!” Stephen: “Are you ready?! I call this one – The Parting of the Sands!” Stephen draws his hammer as far back as he can, and then smashes the ground as hard as he can. A massive earthquake spreads out, forcing a massive split and forming a trench like crevice, with tremendous sand walls. Kieran falls to the bottom of the sand-like trench and hauls himself up. Kieran: “Ugh. Damn. How the hell do I get out of here…?” Suddenly, a tremendous whooshing can be heard, and the sand starts to fall back into the trench. Kieran is imprisoned under about 50 tonnes of sand. Nick: “Flood of Orion! Come forth!” The heavens open up and a waterfall pours down to the exact location where Kieran is buried. It melts all the sand into a gloopy brown mud. Kieran is free, but cannot move, as the mud is so thick, it is like trying to swim through honey. Kieran: “Dammit…” Nick: “Stephen! Let’s take him where no one can help!” Stephen: “Haha, right!” Nick utters something in an unknown language, and the floor begins to open about ten meters away from Kieran. The floor continues to open until there is a hole about five meters in diameter. Stephen: “Come on, we’re going.” Stephen lifts Kieran up over his shoulder and jumps into the hole. It leads to a massive underground place, which is empty. Nick jumps in after them and shuts the hole, using the same phrase he said before. The hole closes via two giant steel doors closing in above them. Sand can be heard falling on top of the hole, making their location untraceable. Kieran: “What’s…going on…?” Kieran is alone in an underground empty silo. No one is around to help him, and Stephen is walking closer and closer. Luckily, all the friction from Stephen picking Kieran up has loosened the friction on the mud a bit. Kieran can move a tad quicker, but still at a slower rate compared to that of Nick and Stephen.

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Stephen: “It ends here. No can hear you. No one can help you. There is no escape. We are unstoppable. And now, you can go quietly, or I can make you hurt far beyond your worst nightmares. Which one is it?” Kieran slowly stands off and starts to scrape the mud off him as best and as quickly as he can. Kieran: “Neither. You both must atone, and you both must die.” Nick: “Ha! The nerve of this guy! Finish him off Stephen; I’m tired of this game.” There is still some mud binding Kieran’s arms to his torso. His legs are free, but that is all. Kieran: “Wait… tell me… what’s your story? How did you two get involved in all this?” Stephen: “What?” Nick: “Ignore him Stephen. It’s some kind of trick.” Kieran: “No please… hear me out. I haven’t had a civilised conversation for ages. It’s just been fighting, shouting and confusion since I got my power. Can’t we just talk? I won’t try anything…watch me. Just tell me your story.” Nick: “………Fine…we’ll humour your last wish… but try anything and you WILL regret it. Go ahead Stephen.” Stephen: “I was born on Mars. We Martians are a supreme warrior race. We have to withstand searing temperatures, and so our skin has had to adapt over the years. However, I was born with a deficiency of some sort, and a temperature over a hundred degrees Celsius will cause me to burst into flames due to an increase in oxygen in my body, and the hyper reacting lithium that we Martians have in our blood. This is why I have this suit on. It regulates my body temperature, whilst monitoring my body for any irregularities and injuries. It is an extremely tough armour, and nothing can penetrate it. I am immortal. Let me ask you, how old do you think I am?” Kieran: “Wow… erm… twenty five?” Stephen: “Hahaha. No… I am five hundred and eight. My body doesn’t age, my bones don’t decay… I have seen everything I know and love come and go. I have won every single sporting trophy and award that you can think of. I have achieved all my goals in life. But I cannot die. Not unless someone finishes me. I can’t even commit suicide. My whole family froze to death when Pluto collided with Mars two hundred and sixty seven years ago. My whole race did. And before I could find any cure to reanimate them… Mars imploded. Something deleted the entire centre of the planet and it closed on itself.”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Nick: “Then I met him when he came to Earth. I don’t know if that was his first time… but I knew there was something extraordinary about this person. My grandfather trained me in the art of magic up until I was twenty one. I then killed him with ice magic. He had served his full purpose. He never told me about the rest of the family… that was twenty seven years ago….” Kieran: “How did you two meet?” Nick: “Well… after I killed my grandfather, a burning thing entered the atmosphere and smashed down near the house. I ran over to it, and it was Stephen. He went to kill me. He was after any information about space. I didn’t know anything, so I tried to fend him off with some very advanced magic, but he kept advancing on me. I then suggested that I journey with him, as I knew I would learn vast things.” Stephen: “Yes. Our search led us all around Earth. We then got to the library where you obtained the book we left after we had got all the information we needed to know. We then were able to find Brian Hannings, as Gralaxorbians’ were a wise race, and we didn’t know where any Snuhs were. He told us that it was either God or the Devil that killed my people. Those two beings are the only two beings with that much power. They can simply delete existence. He told us if we helped him out, he’d help us.” Nick: “We searched the Universe for the relics he needed to unlock the gates of Hell. But then he lost to the Devil…and he hasn’t said anything to us since he returned about it… we don’t even know if he asked him…” Kieran had finally shaked all the mud off. He was free to move! Kieran: “So why are you still working for him?” Nick: “Loyalty is a strong virtue. He will help us, I’m positive.” Stephen: “Now… that’s our stories told… it’s time to die.” Kieran: “Is there anything I can do to convince you guys to leave me alone?” Nick: “Haha… nice try but no. I have to admit, I’ll miss you Kieran. You’ve made me laugh more than anyone else has for a long time…” Stephen walks up to Kieran and raises his hammer. Stephen: “Kneel.” Kieran: “What?” Stephen: “Kneel to me. You’ll die without any dignity left.”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “…….Ok….” Kieran kneels down before Stephen. Stephen: “It really was nice knowing you… just think… we could have teamed up if you weren’t so against Brian Hannings…” Stephen brings him hammer down ferociously. Kieran rolls out of the way just before the hammer touches his skull. Kieran: “I’ll never turn evil!” Kieran sweeps Stephen leg, but he doesn’t even flinch. Stephen turns around and picks Kieran up by the throat. Stephen: “You little punk… I thought you said you wouldn’t try anything?!” Kieran: “Well I’m not gonna go quietly. We shall fight… to the death!” Stephen begins to choke Kieran. Kieran’s eyes slowly turn red as he gasps for breath. Nick: “You see?! Witness out power! We could kill you with one hand!” Kieran: “OUR power? *chokes* I don’t… *chokes* see YOU… doing *chokes* anything!” Nick: “Hmph. Insolent pup. Stephen! Let him go! We shall both deal with him!” Kieran: “Yes! The plan worked and he let go! But now I have to fight the both of them… how am I gonna do that?!” Nick’s staff starts to glow white. A sharp blast of wind cuts through the air and smashes Kieran into the wall about ten meters behind him. Kieran: “Agh! Dammit!” Stephen runs at Kieran. Kieran dives through his legs and Stephen gets the hammer stuck in the wall. Kieran punches Stephen in the spine and skull and endless number of times, but nothing seems to phase or hurt him. Stephen: “What are you doing? Give it up! I told you that I’m invincible!” Stephen removes the hammer from the wall and smashes Kieran high into the air. Nick: “Take this!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Nick lets another barrage of wind erupt from his staff, and Kieran smashes into the steel ceiling. Nick keeps on pummelling Kieran into the ceiling. Stephen: “Hrruugh!” Stephen flings his hammer into the gusts of wind, and they force the hammer into Kieran’s stomach. Nick then stops doing wind magic, and Kieran falls to the floor harshly, with a dull thud. Stephen catches his hammer as it falls. Kieran: “Ow… that hurt…” Nick: “Ready to give up yet?” Kieran stands up. Kieran: “Never! I’ll kill both of you, then escape here to finish off Brian Hannings!” Stephen and Nick start to raucously laugh, the laughs echo all around the empty structure Kieran is trapped in. Stephen: “You… beat Brian HAnnings?! You can’t even hurt us! He’s a thousand times stronger than both of us!!” Kieran: “Well I’ll do it. You’ll both see…” Kieran runs at Nick. Just as he gets within attacking range, Nick’s staff turns red. Nick: “Come forth Fire Lord! Burn my enemy into a million ashes!” A burning red thing jolts out of Nick’s staff and smashes in to Kieran’s chest, sending him flying. It was like a flying snake on fire, twisting and elongating through the air as it pursued Kieran. Kieran: “Oh crap… what now?!” Kieran starts to run away from the burning snake. Stephen: “Hahaha. Let’s watch this Nick. I haven’t seen good quality entertainment for a good while.” Kieran flees from the advancing flamed eel, but it follows him around no matter what. Its body keeps increasing in length, leaving its body trailing slowly behind it, so Kieran will get burnt if he tries to return that way. Kieran: “Oh man… I need an idea, and fast!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Stephen: “You’ll be dead within minutes!!!” Nick: “What a great team we make Stephen. Nothing’s beaten us yet, and don’t think anything ever will!” Kieran: “Hmmm… they do brag a lot… perhaps I can burn Stephen with this worm thing? He did say he was susceptible to heat…” Kieran runs at Stephen and slides through his legs. The burning snake follows him and smashes into Stephen’s chest. The flamed being explodes on impact, but then the fire warps around Stephen’s torso and the snake merges back together after rushing past Stephen’s spine. Kieran: Damn! That didn’t do anything!! There’s no damage whatsoever, and I can’t see any wires or anything to cut off his air supply or damage the suit! He must really be invincible!” Stephen: “Is that all you got?! Keep trying, you’ll never harm me!” Kieran: “Wait a minute… that’s it! Stephen’s invulnerable, but Nick isn’t! I haven’t heard him boast about being immortal at all!” Kieran turns sharply and runs at Stephen again. When Kieran gets close to Stephen, he ducks under his legs again. The flamed animal again explodes on Stephen’s armoured chest and joins up again after moving away from Stephen. Stephen: “Don’t you get it yet?! How many times do I have to tell you?! It’s futile to try!!” Kieran turns sharply again and then runs at Nick. Nick has a panicked look on his face as Kieran draws his fist back and starts gaining speed. Nick cannot move, as he is using all of his strength to control the Fire Lord. Nick: “What…what are you doing?! Stephen! Stop him! The spell will fail if he attacks me!!” Stephen starts sprinting at Kieran. Kieran gets closer to Nick. Nick remains unable to defend himself. Kieran: “I hope this works…..” Kieran gets within touching distance of Nick. Stephen is right behind him. Kieran: “Now!!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran jumps high in the air over Nick. Stephen dives to tackle him to the floor, but misses, as Kieran has jumped too high. The fire snake once again ploughs into Stephen and regenerates on the other side. However, when the Fire Lord does regenerate, it forces its way through Nick’s chest, leaving a gaping hole where Nick’s right lung should be. Nick’s insides start to go aflame from the intense heat of the Fire Lord. Stephen falls to the floor. Kieran lands behind Nick and turns around. Kieran: “It worked!” The Fire Lord had evaporated into thin air, as Nick had been smote by his own attack. Stephen: “Nick!!” Nick: “*coughs blood* Don’t worry Stephen…*coughs blood* I have a Plan B…” Nick raises his staff high into the air. Nick: “By the power of the Last Rites Proclamation, I give my body and soul up for the fusion of Stephen and Nick! Bind us together, and make our power limitless!!!” A bright light explodes from Nick’s mouth and a tornado of wind erupts from it, sucking all the air into it. Stephen begins to sprint away from Nick, but is slowly being drawn in. Stephen: “Nick!!!! What are you doing?! I do not want to fuse with you!!!” Nick’s eyes have turned white, and there is a pulsating white light bursting from each eye. Nick voice has turned a lot deeper. Nick: “The time has come… to avoid my death, I must share my body with another to live on… so it is written, and so it WILL be done.” Stephen flies into Nick at an alarming speed and then there is an almighty bang and a flash of blinding white light. A massive being starts growing out of the white silhouette in front of Kieran. The being keeps growing until it is the height of the room. The light fades and it stands before Kieran. Kieran: “What the hell?!” An immense brown twin headed dragon stood before Kieran. What had Nick done? This just didn’t seem possible! Nick Stephen hybrid: “We… are the Champions… of the Universe! Cower before us… kneel before us… DIE… before us!” Kieran: “What’s……happened?! What are you?!?”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Nick/Stephen hybrid: “Our name is Drakyovik, the fallen God.” Kieran: “Fallen God…? But aren’t you Stephen and Nick??” Drakyovik: “Our bodies have been used in the fusion process… but our souls are that of the fallen God’s… it’s a pact we shared a few years ago… our entire beings are now fragmented… we are immortal… we are invincible! And we have unlimited power!!!” Kieran: “Ugh. This is all I need…” Drakyovik: “By the way, you remember that dragon you brutally murdered at the tournament? That was my son! You’ll pay for that!!” Kieran: “I can’t tell whether that’s Nick, Stephen, or the fallen God talking! Perhaps Stephen and Nick are lost forever? I guess this is a fight to the death then……again…” Drakyovik runs at Kieran in a thundering stampede. Kieran runs past and cuts both legs with his bloodsword and his soul sword. The dragon keeps running and halts before it hits the wall. The cuts seemed to have no effect! Kieran: “Dammit… this isn’t going to be easy…” Drakyovik: “You’re correct! But believe me; I’m not as deluded as those fools. I’m not cocky, or certain of a victory. But I know how you work Kieran, I’ve been watching, and now I can work on defeating you!” Kieran: “Fine. Let’s get this over and done with. I’m tired… so tired…” Drakyovik: “Hahaha… well I’ll do my best to put you to sleep…permanently.” Drakyovik’s left head draws up and shoots an ice beam out of its mouth. Kieran rolls out of the way and the floor where he was standing is frozen. The right head then roars and shoots a blast of fire out of its mouth. Kieran again dodges, and the floor where he was is scorched from the burning explosion. Kieran: “Crap… I need to stay on my toes…” Drakyovik: “Hahaha, you’ll need to do more than that. Only the strongest will survive, and you are an insect compared to me!” Drakyovik’s left head fires an ice beam again. Kieran stands where he is and tries to block the attack with his soul sword, but the ice merely smashes against the sword and freezes until it is too heavy to pick up. Kieran: “Is that all you got?!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! The right head fires a flaming ball at Kieran and he backflips out of the way. It hits the frozen soul sword and melts all the ice. Drakyovik then charges Kieran at full pelt again, but Kieran reacts too late, and is sent flying into the wall. Kieran: “Ugh……didn’t make it in time…” Drakyovik: “Now now… don’t worry. No one has ever won. I wouldn’t beat yourself up about it. You can’t win.” Kieran takes out his bloodsword. His soul sword is behind Drakyovik, and he cannot get to it without doing something to distract the fallen God. Kieran: “Come on wimp. Let’s go.” Drakyovik: “What?!? You DIE for your insolence!!” The two heads draw back and fire simultaneously. A surging beam of fire and ice fuse in midair as they make their way towards Kieran and create a hyper beam. Kieran steps out of the way and slashes the beam with his bloodsword, cleaving it in two. The beam explodes on a wall about half a meter away from Kieran and he is not harmed. Kieran: “Hahaha. You’re not as powerful as I thought you were.” Drakyovik: “Typical human. You rely on tools to reach your goal.” The twin headed dragon flies up until he gets to the ceiling. Drakyovik: “And now the Earth itself shall tremble from my ferocious might!!” Drakyovik drops from the air and plummets into the ground, creating a massive shockwave that spreads out from his feet. Kieran falls to the floor and the Earth starts to split open, creating small islands with chasms separating each one. Kieran: “Damn… that’s a lot of power. I can’t let anything like that happen again.” Kieran starts to jump from island to island towards Drakyovik. Drakyovik: “Hmmm? What are you up to?!” Kieran is getting closer and closer to Drakyovik. Another fire/ice fusion beam is fired, and Kieran jumps to another island just in time before it is destroyed. Kieran picks up his soul sword from an island and is wielding both the bloodsword and the soul sword. Kieran: “Now… it is your turn to lose!!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran jumps to the island Drakyovik is standing on and stabs him through the right foot with the soul sword and leaves it in. Drakyovik starts to roar wildly. Kieran then flies up to Drakyovik’s wings and slices them off with the bloodsword. Drakyovik pulls his right foot up through the soul sword and starts to chase Kieran, mouth open and jaws clacking noisily. Kieran: “It’s nearly over…” Kieran flies past Drakyovik, narrowly missing the right head’s mouth and claims his soul sword back. He then flies to an island far away and lands. Drakyovik: “Damn you Kieran!! You will pay for this!!” Drakyovik’s two heads fire the hyper beam again, and Kieran smites the beam with his soul sword as hard as he can. The beam is deflected back to Drakyovik’s right head. Kieran: “Yes… that’s it…” Drakyovik’s right head: “Meteors… avenge my death………” The right head slumps down Drakyovik’s body, limp and lifeless. Suddenly, meteors start being created from the ceiling and crash into the floor surrounding Kieran. Kieran is relentlessly smashed. After about four minutes, the meteors stop coming, and Kieran is face down on the floor, battered, cut and bruised. Drakyovik: “There we go… it came at a high price, but the body is yours Brian Hannings…” Kieran: “Ugh…… no… I’ll still fight…” Kieran slowly stands up. Drakyovik: “What?! How can you still be breathing?!” Kieran: “I am not a human. I am the last surviving Snuh. I don’t know how it happened, and I don’t know why, but I will eradicate all traces of evil. And you are on my list Drakyovik.” Drakyovik: “You are weakened Kieran! Give it up! You can’t win!” Kieran’s eyes turn a burning red. Kieran: “You are weakened also Drakyovik. You are a fallen God, and your time on Earth has come to an end. Chains of Keelack! Bind my foe!!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Fiery chains arise from the ground and bind Drakyovik. They are steel chains, burning with lava from the core of the Earth. Drakyovik is pulled against the nearest wall and pinned to it, unable to move. His surviving head is facing the ceiling. Kieran: “Now is the time to die!” Kieran flies over to Drakyovik and plunges the bloodsword through his heart. He then lands, and suddenly a deep rumbling can be heard. Drakyovik: “Hahaha. Perhaps you shouldn’t be so hasty Kieran…” Kieran: “Wh…what’s going on?!” Drakyovik: “I cast a magic spell millennia’s ago, so that when I am on the verge of death, I shall explode, taking my killer with me.” Kieran: “Dammit!!” The rumbling starts to get louder and louder. Kieran flies up to the steel ceiling and starts to cut it as fast as he can. The steel is extraordinarily thick, and Kieran is only halfway through it when Drakyovik starts screaming. Drakyovik: “SAY GOODBYE KIERAN! THIS IS WHERE IT ENDS!!!” Kieran manages to cut a small hole in the ceiling. There is a massive explosion, and Kieran is fired out of the hole and lands back in the desert with a hard thump. Kieran looks up, and there is a man sitting in a tank with one thousand soldiers around him. Man in tank: “Ah! You must be Kieran! It’s good to finally meet you!” Kieran stands up, dizzy and confused. Kieran: “What…? Who are you?” Man in tank: “My name is Colonel Nelson! Sorry I couldn’t arrive sooner, I had prior engagements to see to. I hear you’re looking for a fight? Where is Captain Adam anyway?” Kieran: “He’s dead. He turned out to be corrupt. And yes, you killed my friend Chris. I’m going to kill you to avenge his death.” The man in the tank starts to laugh insanely. He is a very large man, with black hair and a cigar in his mouth. The tank he is driving has the Portuguese flag on the side of it. Colonel Nelson: “Take aim troops!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! The one thousand SWAT like army men around Colonel Nelson all aim their machine guns at Kieran. Kieran: “Hey wait a minute… this isn’t a fair fight!” Colonel Nelson: “Nothing’s fair in life kid. FIRE!” The army start to unload their clips at Kieran. Kieran takes to the skies with his wings and begins to fly as fast and as hard as he can to avoid the bullets. After a while, the troops start to reload. Colonel Nelson: “You can’t run forever kid. Come down and fight.” Kieran: “Creatures of the Night! Vanquish my enemies!!” Everything goes pitch black. A flurry of noise can be heard from all directions. Colonel Nelson climbs in his tank and shut the hatch door. Soldier: “What the hell’s happening?!” Creatures seem to materialise from the shadows. They are large, building size animals. There is a giant tarantula, a massive bear, an immense cobra and a colossal vulture. They start to advance on the army. Kieran: “That’s right… devour them my creatures… then I can continue my quest…” The creatures move faster than a bullet and start to kill all the soldiers. The tarantula bites and sprays venom on everyone. The bear charges and slashes the soldiers. The cobra eats and wraps its body around the army. The vulture pecks and claws the enemies with its razor sharp talons. Screaming can be heard everywhere. After about six hundred soldiers are killed, the creatures spot Colonel Nelson’s tank and start to attack it. The tank seems to be impenetrable, and the remaining people unload all their bullets into the animal’s backs. The creatures slowly perish. Kieran: “Damn… there’s still a load of them left…” Colonel Nelson comes out of the tank again. Colonel Nelson: “Ah! I’m glad some of survived! And you killed all of the monsters! Well done men, well done.” The army reload and start firing at Kieran again. Kieran starts to soar and dodge to avoid getting hit, when suddenly and explosion takes out twenty five of the soldiers. Colonel Nelson: “Who the hell is that?!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Philip was standing on a nearby sand dune holding his bazooka. He was out of breath and was bleeding from all over his body. Philip: “Hey. Sorry I’m late.” Kieran: “Philip! You’re alive! You made it!!” Philip: “Haha. Did you think I wouldn’t come back to help?” Kieran: “Take this!” Kieran throws the bloodsword to Philip. He catches it. The soldiers then start to fire at Philip. Philip: “So you guys want to do it that way eh?” Philip starts to rotate the sword in front of his body to deflect all the bullets. After the men stop to reload, Philip takes out a sniper rifle that is strapped to his back. He kills four men with head shots before they start firing again. Philip: “Kieran! You’re not gonna help?!” Kieran: “Haha. Sure I am, but here comes Dave!” It was true. Dave came running over a sand dune, out of breath. Dave: “Hey guys. Sorry I took so long, but I’ve found out everything I need to know. Now we can beat Brian Hannings together!” Dave takes out the silver rifle marked “Nargaleptor.” He charges it up, and it locks onto thirty soldiers. Dave fires and thirty purple energy torrents rip out from the gun and plunge through the heads of the soldiers. The beams continue into the air, automatically lock onto thirty more people, and kill them. The energy beams do the same once more, and then evaporate into the atmosphere. Kieran: “Wow! This should be easy now!” Dave: Well… the gun needs a while to charge now. It overloads every time you fire you see.” Philip: “Ah well. We can fight until it’s ready!” Colonel Nelson: “Tell me, what do you all want on your headstones?! Or would you prefer a cremation?! Ahahahahahahahaha!!!!!” Kieran: “Shut up!!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Colonel Nelson: “Nuke Buster…FIRE!” Colonel Nelson fires a colossal nuke from his tank at Kieran. Kieran flies onto top of the nuke and rides it. When he rides the nuke all the way round to where the soldiers are, he jumps off and the nuke kills one hundred and forty two soldiers. Philip: “Yeah!!” Colonel Nelson: “That’s it!!! Gatling Gun…FIRE!” Two heavy duty machine guns pop out from the tank and fire at Dave. Dave isn’t able to move in time, and gets ten thousand bullets shot all over his body. Kieran: “DAVE!!! Damn you Nelson!!! That’s the second person I know that you’ve killed!! Well now it’s your turn!!” Kieran flies down and lands on the sand. He takes out the golden grenade he obtained form Theo and pulls the pin. Philip: “Dave… no…” Kieran: “Philip, take my hand!” Philip runs over and holds Kieran’s hand. Kieran throws the golden grenade high into the sky. It explodes and a sun emerges. Light is everywhere, and everyone is blinded. The soldiers and Nelson fire blindly into the air. Suddenly, all the soldiers start to get sucked into the sun because of its gravitational pull. Philip: “Woah!!” Kieran: “Hold on!!” Kieran starts to fly away form the sun as fast as he can. Everyone had been sucked into the sun except Kieran, Philip and Colonel Nelson, as the tank is too heavy. Philip: “The sun’s dimming!!!” True enough, the sun was slowly dimming. Kieran knew that this was his only chance. Kieran: “Philip!!! I’m gonna throw you as far away as I can!! Try and run, or swim in the air or something!!!” Philip: “WHAT?!?!?!” Kieran: “Just trust me ok?!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Philip: “………………………………………………Ok!! But be careful!!” Kieran: “Ready? Here we go!!” Kieran throws Philip away from himself and the sun as far as he can. Philip lands on the floor and starts to slowly run away, whilst being dragged back towards the sun gradually. Kieran turns and flies towards the tank as quickly as possible. The sun was dying out fast. Colonel Nelson: “I see you!!” Colonel Nelson starts to fire nukes and bullets, but they just fly straight into the sun. Kieran lands beside the tank and picks it up, struggling with effort. Colonel Nelson: “Hey wait…what are you doing?! Wait a minute!!! Can’t we talk this out?!” Kieran: “Hrugh…..Haha… see ya!!” With an almighty heave, Kieran hurls the tank into the sky. Philip suddenly starts to get pulled back towards the sun at an alarming rate. Philip: “Kieran!! Help meeeee!!!!” Nelson falls into the sun, screaming. The sun turns brighter, and the gravitational field gets stronger. Kieran flies towards the sun and catches Philip moments before he falls into it, and flies away as fast as possible. When they get about a mile away, the sun dims completely and implodes on itself. Kieran is cut, bruised, and exhausted. He lands and puts Philip down. Philip: “I owe you one man!” Philip reaches out to shake Kieran’s hand. There is a big crack, and Brian Hannings is standing behind Philip. He grabs him in a reverse headlock. Brian Hannings: “I told you we’d meet again.” Kieran: “*puff* Leave me alone… I’m *pant* too damn *wheeze* tired!” With one swift movement, Brian Hannings slaps Kieran with his hand. He had transformed again. He was bulging with muscles, and his wings had drastically increased in length. He only had two arms instead of the four he had before, but they were a tad longer than Kieran’s were. How and why was he transforming so much?! Kieran is lying on the floor and can see starts wherever he looks. Kieran: “Damn… I’m exhausted! But I need to save Philip!!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Brian Hannings: “You can save him, but you have to meet me in space.” Kieran: “What?! Space?! But… that’s impossible! How will I get there?! And how will I breathe?! And where will I meet you?! Space is infinite!!” Philip: “Please…Kieran……just do as he says…” Brian Hannings: “Meet me on the planet Jupiter. One of our stories will end there.” There is a loud bang, and a flash of light. Brian Hannings and Philip were gone. Kieran stands up. Kieran: “I’ve got…*pant* to get… *puff* to Jupiter… Ugh…” Kieran falls to the floor face down and blacks out. After a while, an eerie voice can be heard, faint and echoing throughout Kieran’s mind. Distant voice: “Kieran…… can you………hear…me? Wake…up.” Kieran stirs, his eyes still closed. Distant voice: “Come on……Kieran… get up! You have……to save us! You……have to save us all!” Kieran opens his eyes slowly. A blurry figure is standing above him. Voice: “Kieran! Are you ok!?” Kieran: “Ow… my…head? Who are you? What’s going on?” Kieran’s vision aligns itself. It was Theo! Theo: “It’s me, Theo! You’ve been unconscious for two days!! How do you feel?” Kieran sits up. He was in a bed. Where was he? Kieran: “I feel……fine? Yeah, I feel great! I’m not tired any more! Where are we?” Theo: “Great! We’re in my house! I put a tracking device on you in case anything bad happened. When your position was motionless for two hours, I thought I’d come and check up on you.” Kieran gets out of bed. He was feeling fantastic, revitalised and ready for action! Kieran: “Theo, I need to get to Jupiter!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Theo: “What?! As in the planet?! Why?! And where is everyone that was here earlier?!” Kieran explains all the events that have happened since leaving Theo’s with the large party. Theo: “Wow… that’s incredible… but Captain Adam? I would never have thought it… Yeah Kieran, I’ll help you. I’ll get you into space as quick as I can.” Kieran: “I can’t thank you enough Theo. You’ve done so much for me, and everyone…” Theo: “Hahaha. No problem. You killed Eegalowga, so I owe you one! I’ll have to build a rocket propulsion system of some sort to attach to you. You’ll never make it out of the atmosphere without it, and it will take about two weeks to build a big rocket.” Kieran: “Ok. How will it take you?” Theo: “Oh, about an hour. You should make a plan of what you’re going to do, and rest up! You’re going to have the fight of your life Kieran, mark my words.” Kieran gets back into the bed. Kieran: “Can I have some food and drink? It’s been ages since I ate!” Theo: “Hahaha. Sure thing pal, you just get some more rest. I’ll finish the item and bring you something.” Kieran lies back on the bed and closes his eyes. Loads of thought rush through his head. All the people who’ve died needlessly, the people he’s met, and the dangers he’s faced. The main thought running through his head is Philip. Where was he? Kieran: “Damn… I hope I’m not too late…” The image of Brian Hannings was stuck in Kieran’s mind. He seemed to revolve around death! And what was his vendetta against Kieran? Sure Kieran was apparently the last remaining Snuh, but who cares?! Kieran: “All this… is because of him… and I helped him to attain full power… well it ends the next time I see him. I swear upon the graves of everyone who has been slain…” Kieran slowly drifts off to sleep. After about forty five minutes, Theo walks in with a full English breakfast and a pint glass of water. Theo: “Hey man. I brought you some food and drink.” Kieran gets up slowly.

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “*yawn* Sorry, I must have drifted off. Thanks a lot.” Theo: “If you’re still tired you should rest. You can’t win a fight if you’re not one hundred percent fighting fit.” Kieran: “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.” Theo: “Right. Meet me downstairs when you’re ready to leave. By the way, there’s no turning back if you go to space. Space travel is very advanced, and even I don’t have the brains or the technology to allow re-entry to Earth.” Kieran: “You mean… if I go to save the Universe, I can never come home?” Theo: “I’m sorry…but yes. That’s correct.” Kieran: “But you said you could build a rocket!!” Theo: “That would only allow more precise space travel. You’d still die if you tried to enter the atmosphere, and I doubt you’d have enough fuel to get anywhere near Earth after the fight anyway.” Kieran: “I see… thanks for warning me.” Theo:” I… I did the right thing didn’t I? You are still going to go right?” Kieran: “I need to think Theo. Can I be alone for a while?” Theo: “Sure thing buddy. Eat up.” Theo leaves the room and returns downstairs. Kieran eats all the food and drinks all the drink. Kieran: “Ah……that’s better. I’m full now.” Kieran lies back on the bed again. Kieran: “So if I go to kill the person who has caused me all this suffering, I cannot return to my house and see my family and friends. Yet if I stay here, I can enjoy all the pleasures I want, but for how long? And I’d have a pretty guilty conscience…I think I need to say goodbye to everyone and everything… there’s no point in me being selfish. All could die because of my stubbornness.” Kieran sighs deeply and goes downstairs. Theo: “Hey man! You ready to go?”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “I need to go and say my goodbyes. I’ll be back in an hour.” Theo: “Ok. I’ll make the final adjustments.” Kieran: “See you soon.” Kieran steps out of Theo’s. He takes to the skies and returns to his house. Kieran: “Here I am… where it all began.” The front door is still open from when Kieran ran out earlier. He walks in. The room is still destroyed, with soot on the walls. The explosion that granted him the power he wields could and should have killed him. Kieran: “Hello! Anyone home?!” Kieran walks around the house. The rest of the house was tidy, compared to the front room. There was a note in Kieran’s bedroom. “Gone out, back soon.” Kieran: “Ugh. Typical.” Kieran picks up the blue pen next to the note and writes underneath it. “I’m sorry, forgive my sins and do not lament for me. Goodbye forever, Kieran.” Kieran walks back into the front room and tidies it up. There are pictures of Kieran in his youth and his family all around him. When it is spotless, he leaves the house and locks the front door. Kieran: “Well… that didn’t go as I planned… but then again, nothing has so far. I guess all you can do at a time like this is laugh…..” Kieran stares at the sun. The sky was beautiful. It was sundown, and the sky was filled with colours, blue, white red, and the coming black. Kieran: “My only regret is that I didn’t ever get to see a sunrise. But I guess I’ll be seeing the Earth from space… Hahaha…………” Kieran flies back to Theo’s and enters. Theo: “You came back! Good news I hope?” Kieran: “Yes. I’m going through with it.” Theo: “Right then. This is how it works. You jump as high as you can, then press this big red button. The rockets placed on your body will then thrust you all the way to Jupiter. I punched in the co-ordinates already. All you have to do is sit back and relax.”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “But how will I breathe in space?” Theo: “Well I doubt you’d be called to fight in space if you couldn’t breathe, but I think your body has Oxygen fused into it and keeps pumping it around, recycling itself. That’s the only possible explanation I can come up with.” Kieran: “But I could still die?” Theo: “Yeah. I can’t be certain that you’ll be able to breathe in space. Perhaps Brian Hannings will have something set up…” Kieran: “Right. Hook me up then.” Theo: “Follow me outside.” Kieran follows Theo outside. Theo starts to attach small rockets all over his body. Theo: “All done. Ready when you are.” Kieran takes a deep breath. Kieran: “Goodbye Theo. I can’t thank you enough.” Theo: “Godspeed Kieran, I believe in you. We all do. Save us all.” Kieran jumps as high as he can and presses the big red button. The rockets fire an immense blaze from their booster jets and propel Kieran high into the sky. He is travelling faster than a plane, and it hurts to keep his eyes open. His skin is flapping everywhere and the wind is stinging his cheeks. But he felt so alive, and full of adrenaline! Kieran: “Wahooo!!!!!” Kieran leaves the atmosphere. He is rocketing through space at a shocking speed. Kieran: “It’s beautiful… the Earth from space. And I must fight to defend it. But now I must rest. As I prepare to meet my moment of truth…” Before long, Kieran reaches the planet Jupiter and the rockets cut out. Kieran starts to fall to the planet fast and hard. Jupiter’s gravitational pull was far greater than that of Earth’s. Kieran presses the red button again, but it didn’t work. The fuel had all gone. Kieran lands on the surface and discards the rockets. Kieran: “Where are you?!” Brian Hannings: “Behind you.”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran turns around. Brian Hannings is still holding Philip in a reverse headlock. Kieran: “Let him go!! I’ll do anything!!” Brian Hannings: “Anything…?” Brian Hannings holds up his right hand. A fiery portal appears next to Kieran. Kieran: “What’s this?” Brian Hannings: “It’s a portal to Hell.” Kieran: “Why is it here?!” Brian Hannings: “If you go to Hell, I’ll let Philip go, and not do anything evil ever again. I’ll find refuge on a planet of your choice, and live with the inhabitants peacefully.” Brian Hannings lets Philip go. Philip: “Don’t believe him Kieran!” Kieran: “I’m not going to! You’re full of crap!!” Brian Hannings: “I give you my word. I’ll even teleport Philip back to Earth if you want.” Kieran: “I can’t trust this guy one bit! But if Philip can get away unscathed and the Universe is safe, then I better do what he says…” Kieran: “You better not be lying… or I’ll return.” Brian Hannings: “I’m not, and you cannot return from hell. It’s impossible.” Kieran: “Then I must do what I can to save everyone.” Kieran steps towards the portal. Philip: “What are you doing Kieran?! Don’t go! He’ll kill us all!!” Kieran: “Philip… I have sinned too often, and I must repent. The fires of hell will purge my soul clean, and then I shall return, cleansed.” Philip: “Kieran… you’ve done so much already. You don’t have to go! We can both crush him! Then the Universe is guaranteed to be safe!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “Fear not Philip. A man never goes back on his word. His conscience would bear down on him forever more otherwise.” Philip: “He has no conscience!!! He’s completely devoid of emotion!!” Brian Hannings: “Look, I’ve given you my word. You don’t have to go. We can fight to the death, or live in peace. Either way, we go our separate ways now.” Kieran: “Forgive me Philip, but I’ll see you soon.” Kieran steps into the portal. He turns to face Philip and Brian Hannings and he slowly gets sucked into the portal. Brian Hannings: “Goodbye Philip.” Brian Hannings teleports Philip back to planet Earth. Kieran: “Thanks. You can live wherever you want.” Brian Hannings: “Hmpf. And goodbye planet Earth!!!” Brian Hannings holds his right palm high in the air. He closes his right hand into a fist, and planet Earth explodes. Kieran: “NO!!!!!! You killed them all!!!!!!!!!” Kieran tries to run out of the portal, but he is too far in. His vision slowly starts to black out. Brian Hannings: “You’re a fool Kieran. I expected better. Now I will reign supreme and nothing can stop me.” Brian Hannings waves casually and Kieran whilst chuckling. Kieran’s vision goes completely black, and he gets the feeling of spinning. After a while, he starts to feel sick from the increased speed of the spinning. He hits a solid surface hard. Kieran: “Ow… what’s going on? Am I in Hell? It’s pitch black…” Suave voice: “That is correct. You’ve reached Hell.” Kieran stands up. There is a man standing in front of him about a meter away. He is wearing a pinstriped suit, with black sunglasses on. All of his hair is slicked back with gel. He is wearing shiny black shoes, and has his arms behind his back. Kieran: “Who are you?”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Suave voice: “I go by many names. What brings you here?” Kieran: “I was banished here by a man called Brian Hannings.” Suave voice: “Him??? I thought he was dead…” Kieran: “You know him?” Suave voice: “Yes. We fought a while back and I disintegrated his body. He was reduced to a wandering soul.” Kieran: “Woah… you must be the strongest guy in the Universe!” Suave voice: “Well, I guess you’d be right. Hahaha…” Kieran: “So what’s your name?” Suave voice: “The humans have dubbed me Lucifer, The Devil, Hades and The Fallen Archangel. Take your pick.” Kieran: “You’re the Devil?! Wow!!” Lucifer: “What?” Kieran: “I just never thought I’d meet you!” Lucifer: “Whatever. Anyway, you are alive in hell. That is impossible. I must now kill you to seal your eternity here.” Kieran: “What?! I don’t want to die!!” Lucifer: “If you do not die, you will negate portions of the Universe. Time will invert and paradoxes will become rife. Do you want that?” Kieran Well… no… but I’m not going to let you kill me!! But I can’t exactly win in a fight against you….” Lucifer: “A great idea! Let us fight to the death! If you win, I’ll send you back to wherever you were. If I win, you die and spend eternity here working for me.” Kieran: “*sigh* Fine…… what am I getting myself into this time?” Lucifer’s skin shatters and a giant octopus like being grows from inside of him. In a mere matter of seconds, there is a five hundred foot tall and wide fourteen legged octopus like creature.

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Lucifer: “Now I shall recruit another member for my army of the dead!” A tentacle smashes Kieran in the face and sends him flying. Another tentacle catches him in midair and slams him to the floor. Kieran: “My word…I’m exhausted…his power is…amazing!” Lucifer: “Haha! You are near death with two strikes?! You are pathetic! Kneel before me!” Lucifer picks Kieran up and throws him high into the air. Kieran lands on the floor again with an echoing thud. Kieran: “I need help… Summons! Aid me!! Fuse all your strengths together to help me vanquish my foe!” There is a blinding white light between Lucifer and Kieran. Lucifer winces in pain and cowers on the floor. Lucifer: “That light!! It’s unbearable! What are you creating?!” Kieran: “I am creating an ally of immeasurable strength to aid me! All the vengeance of my companions will be poured into this being! And you will suffer the brunt of its power!” There is a loud range of screaming, from deep bellows to high pitched shrieking. The blinding light turns into a small ball, about the size of a bowling ball and starts to grow bigger and bigger. Lucifer: “Stop it! I cannot be defeated! No one can destroy me! The Universe depends on evil to balance it out!” The white object is about six foot tall now, and is starting to grow features. It has six legs, surrounding its body like a circle. The legs are long and sharp like a knife, with razor blades all over them. The top of the legs from the knee upwards are giant and muscular. The beast has two bodies, back to back, growing from the top of the legs upwards. The first body is very muscular, with three heads. It has four arms and a giant cannon sticking out of its chest, similar to that of Nelson’s tank. The second body is just as big as the first, but has two maces as arms, and where the hands should be on the other two arms, there are seven rotating blades. The second body also has three heads. Lucifer: “What… have you created?! This beast will kill us all!!” Booming voice: “No Raftel. I kill only those who deserve death.” Kieran: “You can talk!?”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! The light fades, and there is a hulking beast stood between Lucifer and Kieran. The knife legs are bright silver, and the rest of the body is blood red, except for the weapons. Lucifer: “You! The legends speak of you! You killed my father!!” Kieran: “What?! You had a father?!” Booming voice: “I am Artenon, the Lord of Vengeance. Ten thousand and fifty eight years ago, I was summoned here and vanquished Raftel’s father.” Kieran: “His name is… Raftel?” Lucifer: “You two are the only ones who know my true name! My name has been lost for countless millennia’s, and I won’t have it dragged up again!” Artenon: “You have unsurpassable skill summoner. This is the third time I have been summoned, and the two before you who summoned me have been slain. I hope you make it this time.” Kieran: “Right! But what’s so bad about people knowing your name Raftel?” Raftel: “If people find out my name, then they will know that I exist for sure! Then the Universe will change into a holy and law abiding place, and no more people will join my army!” Artenon: “Your quest to vanquish God has not been won since the beginning of time. Why do you battle so?” Raftel: “The light must be put out. Evil must rule the Universe. Then I can step up as the Emperor of the Universe, an all shall obey me!! I’m not going to die Artenon! You are the one who is sent to the grave today!” Raftel lashes out at Artenon. The cannon in his chest fires and the tentacle is obliterated. Kieran: “Wow! Perhaps we can actually win!!” Raftel: “Army of the Undead! Constrict my foe!” Two thousand people run out from every nook and cranny in hell and start to grab Artenon. He uses his legs to spike and kill some people, but is getting overwhelmed. Artenon: “Help me human. I cannot do this alone…” Kieran: “Ok, hold on!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran runs towards Artenon, chopping with his bloodsword whilst wading through the hundreds of people. Raftel: “No you don’t! Take this!” A tentacle picks Kieran up by the head and drags him towards Raftel. Raftel’s body starts shrinking, until he is about ten foot tall, and he is holding Kieran by the neck in his right hand. Raftel is shaped like a praying mantis, with massive spike hands and two great powerful legs. Kieran: “Let… go of me!!” Artenon is slowly getting over whelmed by the number of undead people attacking him. He is slowly getting held down and the enemies are coming faster than he can kill them. Artenon: “Help me Kieran! Use your strength to overpower him!!” Kieran: “I’m……trying!!” Kieran is trying to grab Raftel, but he has Kieran at arm’s reach. Raftel: “Nothing can help you!” A massive scorpion tail comes out from Raftel’s back and rears up behind his head. It is poised and ready to spike Kieran. Artenon: “Kieran! Can’t you even defend yourself?!” Artenon fires another cannon shot into Raftel’s head. It explodes and Kieran is let free. After three seconds, the head grows back. Kieran: “What?! How did you do that?!” Artenon: “Get out of there Kieran!!” Kieran flies over to Artenon. He wields his soul and bloodsword, and starts to swoop and cut all the undead people. Artenon starts to walk closer to Raftel. Artenon: “The time has come Raftel. You shall perish like your father and grandfather have.” Raftel throws the stinger at one of Artenon’s heads. Artenon cuts the stinger off the tail with his spike hand. Raftel: “You fool Artenon! I can change like a chameleon! You are no match for me! But for now I shall bide my time………”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran flies further away from Artenon and Raftel, luring all the undead people away from them. Raftel reverts back into his octopus form and curls up into a tight ball. Artenon: “Now is the time for divine absolution!” Artenon’s cannon starts to draw in energy. It absorbs all of his arms, leaving him with a mighty cannon, humming with power. Kieran: “Artenon no! He may be tricking you into attacking!!” Artenon: “Of course not! This is exactly how I killed his ancestors!” Artenon fires the cannon. A blue pulsating beam, buzzing with electricity rips into the middle of Raftel’s body, leaving a gaping hole. Within a few seconds, the skin heals over. Raftel then opens up all the tentacles into an open umbrella shaped mesh of limbs. A retaliation beam, blood red fires from the centre point of the tentacles and blows both of Artenon’s torsos off. The legs slump to the floor, and slowly rot until there is nothing there. Kieran: “You……killed him… what chance do I have now?!” Raftel reverts back into his pinstriped suit form. Raftel: “None. You should have realised that from the moment you arrived here. This is my domain, and the odds are against you.” Kieran turns around. Raftel is in front of him. Kieran: “But… that’s not possible…?” Raftel drives his foot into Kieran’s stomach. Kieran zooms backwards and skids to a halt on the floor. Kieran: “I must win… for the sake of planet Earth……” Kieran gets up. Raftel: “Come on! Gimme your best shot!” Raftel sticks his chin out as far as he can. Kieran runs up and smacks him in the jaw with his right fist. Raftel’s chin doesn’t move an inch. Kieran: “Ow… my wrist…” Raftel: “You see?! You don’t stand a chance of winning!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “Maybe if I can somehow transform again I can win… but how…?” Raftel jumps up and punches the floor as he lands. One thousand volts of electricity flows through the floor and up into Kieran’s body. Kieran is paralysed on the spot from all the electricity. Raftel changes into a black hooded figure carrying a scythe. Raftel: “Do you feel it Kieran? The pain? Allow me to release you from it, forever!” Raftel walks closer to Kieran. Kieran: “Ugh… never! I’ll never give up!” Raftel: “Come on… I can kill you now… it’ll be quick!” Kieran: “Get away from me!” Raftel is standing next to Kieran. He lowers his hood to reveal a skeleton. The skull is hollow; no innards can be seen whatsoever. Raftel raises the scythe. Raftel: “And now, the last of the Snuhs will be destroyed. What a majestic race… too bad they went extinct.” The scythe comes down and hits Kieran’s collarbone. It deflects off, and Kieran is breathing heavily. Kieran: “My next level of power… it’s here!” Raftel: “What are you talking about?!” Kieran: “You shall witness my true power Raftel! Behold!” Kieran throws his arms outwards, and starts screaming. His wings increase in length and feather amount. His muscles develop even more. His skin is taught and hard now. The rock surrounding his legs shatters and he grows to be about seven foot tall. Power is leaking out of him, and random bolts of thunder are jumping from his body. Raftel: “This power… I can feel it!” Kieran punches Raftel in the stomach. Raftel doubles over and wheezes on the floor. Kieran: “Do you enjoy the pain Raftel? Make me an exit portal, and I’ll spare your life.” Raftel: “Never… if you kill me, and the whole place is gone…” Kieran: “Why?”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Raftel: “Hell… cannot survive without a Master. It merely implodes upon itself.” Kieran: “Well either way, you’re going to die now.” Kieran unsheathes his bloodsword. He picks Raftel up by the throat and stabs the blade into his stomach. Raftel: “Ugh… why does it always end like this…? I have no successor to the Throne…” Raftel is slowly sliding down the sword. It is slicing into his torso gradually. Kieran swings the sword like a golf club, and Raftel flies into the nearest wall. Kieran teleports in front of him and drives the blade into his heart. Raftel: “Ah! How did you learn to teleport… so fast…?” Kieran: “This power allows me to. It’s simply a case of demolecularising myself and forcing the molecules to travel to the point of destination, and joining them up again.” Raftel: “You are my superior… here is the exit hole… where did you come from?” Kieran: “Jupiter.” Raftel: “So be it.” The fiery portal appears next to Kieran again as Raftel breathes his last breath. Instantaneously, the walls start breaking, and a tornado starts ripping up everything, even the floor Kieran is standing on. Kieran walks into the portal, leaving Hell behind. Before long, he is back on Jupiter. Kieran: “Ah………I made it…” Kieran looks into space. There is a massive black hole, millions of miles in length, swallowing the entire Universe in front of him. It has just started to devour the Milky Way galaxy. There is a loud crack, and Brian Hannings is standing behind Kieran. Brian Hannings: “You!? I sensed your presence here! How did you escape from Hell?!” Kieran: “Haha. I wondered how long it would take for you to show up. I killed Raftel, and Hell started to implode. With his dying breath, he created the portal back here.” Brian Hannings: “So you did what I could not… Irrelevant. I am stronger now. Look around you Kieran. Everything you’ve ever known is about to be decimated. Look into the end of the universe. It swallows everything, matter, time, planets… and soon… us.” Kieran: “Call it off! Why are you doing this?!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Brian Hannings: “The Universe has turned me against itself. It has obliterated my home, my family, my wife, and everything I’ve ever loved. So now I shall wreak my revenge upon it.” Kieran: “But you’re going to just cancel out all life for eternity!! I can’t let you do that!!” Brian Hannings: “You and I… we’re quite alike Kieran. You want vengeance, as do I.” Kieran: “I’m nothing like you!! You kill for fun, because you can. You’re a bully, and because no one in the entire Universe is strong enough to stand up to you, you continue to wage war on everything! Well not any more Brian Hannings, you’ve met your match!!” Brian Hannings: “Hahahahaha. This is from Philip.” Brian Hannings throws something at Kieran. Kieran catches it and opens his hand. It was the electric spike glove from Theo’s place. Kieran starts to shake uncontrollably with rage. Kieran: “You! Listen to me! This is it! Now is the time to choose! Die and be free of pain or live and fight your sorrow! Which is it to be?!” Brian Hannings: “Hahaha. I will gladly accept death if you can bring it. I have been searching too long for an end to my life…” Kieran: “Very well then. Let’s go!” Kieran teleports in front of Brian Hannings. He strikes with his blood sword, but Brian Hannings grabs the sword with his hand. Brian Hannings: “You are pathetic! With speed like that, how can you possibly hope to kill me?!” Brian Hannings punches Kieran in the solar plexus and he is sent flying about three meters away. Kieran: “I can’t keep fighting… there must be a way to end this in peace…” Brian Hannings: “Wrong!! Let’s up the ante!!!” Brian Hannings starts to move his arms around in a fluid motion. Asteroids and meteors start to fly into the Sun. The Sun starts to pulsate with fiery colours and explosions are happening all over its surface. Brian Hannings: “And for my finishing act… take this!!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Every planet in the solar system and all the remaining asteroids and meteors smash into the planet Saturn. It is now a giant ball with an uncountable number of spikes and craters all over it. The newly created planet now smashes into the side of Jupiter, the planet which Brian Hannings and Kieran are presently fighting on. The spiked planet bores it way to the centre of Jupiter, and a massive tremor starts to happen. Kieran: “What have you done?!” Brian Hannings: “Hahaha. We’re as good as dead now…” Kieran looks out at the black hole and the exploding sun. What had the Universe come to? All because of him… Kieran knew that he had to kill Brian Hannings. Kieran: “You monster… you can’t even go to Hell for your suffering… you deserve to be punished for all eternity…” Brian Hannings: “Shut up and fight.” Brian Hannings picks Kieran up by the hair and throws him into the air. He jumps and punches Kieran in the face three times before letting him fall to the floor and then stomping on his face with two feet. Kieran’s face is bloody and bruised. Kieran: “No matter what you do, I will vanquish you in the end…” Brian Hannings: “You talk of the impossible!! Look at my power! With a few movements I have brought the entire Universe to its knees, trembling before me!! There is no way you can defeat me, the Master of all evil!!!” Kieran tries to get up, but Brian Hannings boots Kieran in the face. Brian Hannings: “Stay on the floor! Worship me like the dog you are and I’ll let you live!” Kieran: “Ugh…… never!!” Brian Hannings goes to stomp on Kieran’s chest. Kieran grabs his foot and pushes against it. Brian is lifted off of the floor and lands with a hard thud. The gargantuan black hole was getting dangerously close to Jupiter now. The Sun was reaching exploding point, and the planet was rumbling so much that it was getting extremely difficult to stand up. Kieran: “Now you are the one to pay!” Kieran stabs Brian Hannings through the heart with the soul sword. He yells in anguish, and the sword absorbs his soul. He starts to de-evolve into a small man, about five foot tall, wearing black jeans, a white T-shirt that says “Fun anyone?” and white trainers. He still looks similar to Kieran, with brown hair and blue eyes.

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Brian Hannings: “My power… it’s… it’s all gone?! How could you?!” Brian Hannings stands up and starts to club Kieran’s body in a hysterical bout of rage. There is no effect on Kieran. He just stands there and takes the hits without moving. Kieran strikes Brian Hannings with a spear hand to the throat. He falls to the floor. Kieran: “I’m sorry, but I must kill you now. You are of no threat to me, but I cannot forgive you for what you’ve done. Besides, you may try and obtain full power again.” Brian Hannings: “No! Please!! Spare me!” Kieran: “Forgive me…” Columns of lava start to rip out from the planet. Kieran throws Brian Hannings up into the air and jumps up after him. Brian Hannings: “I’m sorry! Just give me my powers back and I’ll change everything back to how it was!! I don’t want to die! That’s why I started to gain power in the first place!” Kieran grabs hold of Brian Hannings and suspends them in the air via his wings. The Sun explodes into a supernova, taking Jupiter with it. Kieran absorbs it. His eyes are burning like fire, and he talks in a distorted voice. Kieran: “The screaming… the never ending noise! So this is what full power feels like… well say goodbye Brian Hannings… this is the end…” Brian Hannings: “Please! I implore you!!” Kieran: “How many people implored for you to spare their lives? You did not comply. So in turn, I shall not. Goodbye.” Kieran casts a spell and Brian Hannings is imprisoned in a clear pyramid. The structure starts to crumple and close upon itself. Brian Hannings is pushing against the walls of the pyramid with all his might. Kieran readies his soul sword and a blazing fire erupts from his body. Brian Hannings: “No! Don’t do it! You can’t!!!” Kieran soars towards Brian Hannings with the soul sword aimed for his forehead. Kieran shatters through the pyramid, through Brian Hannings, and through to the other side. The pyramid explodes and there is not an atom left. Kieran carries on flying straight into the black hole. The lights in Kieran’s eyes die out and he feels like he is being pulled by his feet through a straw. A white light blinds Kieran and he feels he is being ripped apart

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! from every direction, from the inside out, and from the outside in. All feeling goes away after a while, and Kieran feels empty. His eyes are closed. Gentle voice: “Arise young saviour.” He was alive. How?! Gentle voice: “It’s ok. You’ve done well.” Kieran opens his eyes. There is a hulking man, sitting in a throne. He is covered in white robes, and Kieran feels a massive feeling of awe and wonder from him. The soul sword was on the floor next to Kieran, shattered beyond repair or use. Kieran: “Who… who are you? Why am I alive?” Gentle voice: “I am God. You are in Heaven, but you are dead.” Kieran: “What?! What happened?!” God: “As you entered the black hole, you used up every cell in your body for energy to attack Brian Hannings. The energy reversed the polarity of the black hole, and changed it into a white hole; a thing which reversed the Universe to before the Earth was exploded and created a passage to Heaven. Without that passage, you would have just ceased to exist.” Kieran: “Woah… that’s pretty awesome! How do I get back to Earth?” God: “You cannot.” Kieran: “But… why not?” God: “Nothing can escape Heaven. The rules of time and space forbid it.” Kieran: “But you can undo them! You’re God!” God: “The work of God cannot be undone. So is the way of life.” Kieran: “But I NEED to get back to earth!! I’ll do anything!” God: “I sense your desperation, but I cannot do anything. If you build a tower and destroy it, something will be built in its place, or moss will grow over the remains. If I undo my own work, something else will happen to contradict time and space.” Kieran: “But why have you allowed me to come here if there is no way back?!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! God: “I gave you all free will, and you use it as you see fit. I cannot change, force or alter your behaviour. If I did, time and space would delete itself.” Kieran: “*Sigh* Ok… so how did the Universe start? And how did you get created?” God: “I do not know.” Kieran: “What?!” God: “I do not know. This is the word of God.” Kieran:” Well, do you have like… parents or anything?” God: “No. I do not know the answer to the questions of which you ask.” Kieran: “So I’ve been waiting my entire life to meet you, and thousands upon thousands of people have debated over the answers for nothing?!” God: “Apparently so.” Kieran: “Well that’s a load of crap! I’m sorry, but I’m getting out of here. Whether I have to rip a hole in the fabric of time to do it, I’ll get back to Earth! If I repaired the Universe once, I can do it again!!” God: “To leave here, you would have to annihilate God. Just like you did my brother.” Kieran: “Your……brother…?” God: “Yes. Raftel.” Kieran: “But Raftel said he had a father!” God: “Yes. But I’ve never met him. Like I said, I do not know if I truly have parents. Raftel could be lying. He is the evil twin after all.” Kieran: “But you look nothing alike!” God: “Evil has warped his body, much like the situation that arose between you and Brian Hannings.” Kieran: “Oh yeah… how am I a Snuh?” God: “The Snuhs were at war with the Gralaxorbians. To continue their reign, they mated with humans. However, the human DNA suppressed the Snuh gene and became the dominant gene. When Brian Hannings fused with you, the Gralaxorbian DNA awakened your Snuh DNA. Most of the people on Earth are part Snuh.”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “Wow… so do I really have to kill you to leave? You seem so wise!” God: “I am Benevolent, Omniscient, and Omnipotent, so I have lived as long as time, and know nearly all its secrets. Yes, to leave here you will have to undo my work, which can only be done willingly by me, or by killing me. But just like Hell, heaven will implode if you kill me.” Kieran: “But won’t I just end up in the universe again?” God: “No. you are dead. You would have no effect on the real world. Even if you returned, you would be a ghost, unable to interact with anything.” Kieran stays silent for what seems like an hour. Was there really no way out? He had heard stories of Heaven all of his life, how it was the perfect Utopia, with everyone having peace and love for each other. But there was no one there. Kieran: “Why is no one else here?” God: “No one has ever reached Heaven. You are the first.” Kieran: “But… how is that possible?!” God: “Only those without sin can enter. Heaven is such a perfect place, that anyone who had ever sinned is too tainted to come in. That includes Original Sin. The perfect Utopia tuned out to be overly-Utopian. What a shame.” Kieran: “So if I stay here, what can I do?” God: “Talk with me and learn the secrets of all eternity.” Kieran: “That’s it?!” God: “Yes.” Kieran: “Well I’m going to try my luck at leaving then.” Kieran unsheathes his bloodsword. He holds it to God’s neck. God rolls his head aside, allowing Kieran to have the full length of the blade on his neck. God: “Go ahead. If you’re willing to commit omnicide, then so be it.” Kieran readies the blade. What was he about to do? He was no better than Brian Hannings. But… he needed to change the world! He had come too far to turn back now. Kieran: “Forgive me.”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! God: “I do. I just hope you find more solace in the blade than you did of me my child.” Kieran stabs the sword into God’s jugular vein. Blood slowly trickles down from God’s neck, and he gasps and gurgles for breath. After five agonising seconds, God slumps down in the throne. He was dead. At that precise moment, everything around Kieran starts deteriorating. The bloodsword starts glowing bright blue and extending. God’s blood had changed the sword. It was now a ten foot samurai sword. The whole room around Kieran just shattered into millions of pieces of white glass. They then disintegrated. Kieran was still standing where he was, but his head was aching. He was having a neuron implosion. Kieran: “My head!! It hurts… so much!!!” Kieran’s vision completely blacks out. He sees a grey sheet of area in front of him. The grey area is covered in stars. The area then morphs into a labyrinth in front of him. Little black lines show trillions upon trillions of ways around the maze. The maze fades away and there is black everywhere Kieran can see. Suddenly, a glowing green ring, perfectly spherical in shape appears in front of Kieran. The ring changes colours from green through to white, showing all the colours Kieran has ever seen. The ring slowly ebbs away, and when it disappears, Kieran feels his brain shutting down. He was dying. Kieran: “I am sorry……everyone. I failed you all……” Kieran shuts his eyes and slowly feels as if he is drifting away. He hears silence, only his thoughts, his breathing, and the slowing rate of his heart. Robotic voice: “Erroneous program located. Moving to vault.” Kieran couldn’t believe his ears. A voice? At the end of time and creation itself? What was going on? Perhaps things had worked out after all! He opened his eyes. Everything was still black. Robotic voice: “Transporting in three…two…one…” A claw descends from the top of Kieran’s vision and grabs him buy the skull, like the machines at the arcade for winning toys. A blinding flash of white light then teleports him. When Kieran rematerialises, he notices that he is in a high tech computer lab. There is a man standing with his back to Kieran. Kieran: “Where am I?” The man turns around. He is about six foot tall, and has a spear attached to his back. He is wearing a long white scientist’s jacket, with brown trousers and black shoes. He has no shirt on. He is tapping at his computer with his left hand and spinning some kind of

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! pocket watch with his right. The man has sort brown hair, and looks rather insane, as he is twitching and muttering under his breath. Insane man: “What?! Who are you?!” Kieran: “Kieran. Who are you?” Insane man: “My name…...? My name?! I can’t remember!! It’s been so long since I’ve used it! Computer, check the database for my name!” The computer makes a few beeping noises. Computer: “Master, the results show that your name is Sandy.” Sandy: “Ah yes, I remember now. The name I chose for myself all those years ago.” Kieran: “But… where are we?” Sandy: “We are at the pinnacle of all creation! We can warp the OmniVerse with the touch of a button! This room and everything in it is the epitome of life and death!” Kieran: “But… how do you exist? Are you higher than God?” Sandy: “God?! Don’t make me laugh!! I created God as a control subject to keep a check on the Universe! But how did you get here?!” Kieran: “I destroyed Heaven, Hell and the entire Universe.” Sandy: “Really?!” Sandy hurriedly presses buttons on the computer, and a screen comes up showing a giant blank space. Kieran: “It’s all gone… can you rebuild it?” Sandy: “Yes. In an instant. But you have such power! No one has ever made it up here! I’ve been without human company form over five hundred thousand trillion years!! I’ve seen Universes come and go, great wars waged, but nothing has come anywhere near this amount of power ever!” Kieran: “Are you the final guy?! Is there anyone controlling you?!” Sandy: “What do you mean?” Kieran: “Well the Universe seems to go on and on, with people controlling others! So are you being controlled?! does this thing go even further?!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Sandy: “Hahahaha. No. I am the man who invented the several OmniVerses. I burn at the centre of time. I am the everlasting point in which the OmniVerses revolve.” Kieran: “Finally… my quest has come to an end. But how were you created?” Sandy: “Well I built a time machine when I was seven, and went back in time to before I was born. Nothing existed. So I created myself.” Kieran: “But how did you create yourself the first time if you weren’t around to do it?” Sandy: “That my friend, is the miracle of paradoxes.” Kieran: “So you built this entire room?” Sandy: “Yes. When I created myself, I gave myself infinite powers.” Kieran: “But what does this computer do?” The computer spanned the entire length of the room, with charts and diagrams and statistics everywhere. Sandy: “It monitors the OmniVerses. It keeps them running whilst I play the game.” Kieran: “The…game…?” Sandy: “Yes. I built the OmniVerses for a game. Turns out it’s the best thing ever! I can be destructive, or nurturing, in fact any mood I’m in, I can relate that to the game!” Kieran: “So we’re all just a game to you?!” Sandy: “Yes. Meaningless bits of data which can be deleted if necessary. But you have somehow surpassed the realm of fiction and reality! Even the programs I sent to extinguish you failed! You are an erroneous piece of data, a rogue experiment, and you must be deleted, even if you are real now.” Kieran: “I am a real person!! What are you anyway?!” Sandy: “I am the Emperor of All.” Kieran: “But if you control everything, then that means you were the one who created Brian Hannings! And that you were the one who killed all my friends!!” Sandy: “Yes. What of it?”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “You have caused me so much grief and sorrow! And now I will be the one to vanquish you!!” Sandy: “Haha. I doubt you could. I haven’t even transformed yet, and I could beat you hands down. I know every form of martial art inside and out, I can hold my breath for fourteen and a half minutes, I can bench press ten thousand sumo wrestlers… need I go on? You gave up your one hundred percent full power form, so you haven’t the slightest chance.” Kieran: “Well that is irrelevant. Fight me to the death. I haven’t come all this way to lose.” Sandy: “Hahaha. So be it. Computer! Load background number nine five nine!” Computer: “Affirmative Master.” The room starts to change. It morphs into a city, with staggering skyscrapers, and incredibly long roads. Sandy: “I’ll even let you make the first move! I wonder if you’re even that tough in the real world?!” Kieran teleports behind Sandy and swings the bloodsword as hard as he can at Sandy’s neck. He seems to be acting slower than usual. Sandy holds up his right index finger and blocks the bloodsword. Kieran: “But that’s impossible… this sword is the sharpest thing ever!” Sandy: “Now do you believe how finely tuned my body is?!” Sandy uppercuts Kieran into the air. He then jumps and dropkicks Kieran squarely in the chest. Kieran rockets into a skyscraper and the whole thing demolishes, leaving Kieran imprisoned in the rubble. Sandy: “You’ll suffer for this outrage! Nothing can beat my system!” Two grappling hooks with rope attached with rope materialise in Sandy’s hands. He throws the one in his left hand up onto the roof of a sky scraper to his right, and vice versa with the one in his left hand. Sandy then pulls on the ropes sharply and the two buildings topple onto the rubble Kieran is under. Sandy: “Just try and defeat me! You’re nothing! An insignificant speck of dirt!” The rubble starts to shake. After a few seconds, shards of concrete fly everywhere, and Kieran bursts out from the rock tomb.

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “I’ll kill you! You are the cause of everything bad in the world, and you do it for fun!?” Sandy: “Hahaha. Well with this Time Manipulator, you won’t be doing any killing. I can slow you down to a snail’s pace in a second.” Kieran: “Well I’ll just have to get rid of that then! Time Distort!!” Kieran thrusts out his palms. A sound wave blasts from his palms and knocks Sandy back into a skyscraper. The watch he holds disintegrates in his hand. The glove that Theo gave Kieran also disintegrated. Sandy darts out from the rubble and punches Kieran in the face. Kieran falls to the floor. Sandy: “No matter! My speed is still superior to yours!!” Sandy takes the spear that is attached to his back. It is around five foot long, entirely metal, and the head is extremely sharp. Kieran steps back in anticipation of an attack. Kieran: “Are you ready to fight now?” Sandy: “Let’s go!” Sandy stabs the spear at Kieran. Kieran leans to the left and dodges it, and then grabs it just below the spearhead. He yanks as hard as he can, and steals the spear from Sandy. Suddenly, Sandy is standing behind Kieran, holding Kieran’s bloodsword to his spine. Kieran: “But… how did you…?” Sandy: “I told you. You cannot compete with me. May I ask you something?” Kieran: “What?” Sandy: “You are an admirable fighter, but I’d like to see you at one hundred percent full power. Would you care to transform at the same time as me, to make the fight more interesting?” Kieran is motionless. With a sword to his spine, it would be wise to agree with whatever is being asked. Kieran: “Sure thing.” Sandy teleports in front of Kieran and throws him his sword back. Sandy: “Hand me my spear.” Kieran throws Sandy’s spear to him.

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Sandy: “Thanks. Go when you’re ready.” Kieran: “You first…” Sandy: “Haha. I’d be glad to!” Sandy grows giant purple wings from his shoulder blades. His spear increases in length and width, and turns pink, burning with energy. His scientist coat morphs around his bare chest to form a toga of some sort, and his eyes turn a bright sky blue. Sandy uses his wings to lift him into the air. Sandy: “Won’t you join me Kieran?! Ahahahahahaha!!!!!!” Sandy’s voice had changed. It was now distorted, with an eerie echo when he talked. Kieran: “Yeah, no time like the present I guess…” Kieran takes a deep breath and pushes it out, screaming as loud as he can. Thoughts of fury and rage burn through his mind. Planet Earth exploding, Kevin being murdered, Chris being nuked, Lucas being eaten, Dave being shot, and Philip being held hostage. All these events happened because of this man. Now was the time for true vengeance! Now was the time for divine absolution! Kieran’s eyes turn burning red again, and a glowing aura appears around his body, as well as the random thunder bolts flying from his body. Sandy: “Congratulations. Now we can start.” A skyscraper is uprooted from the ground and hurled through the air. It hits Sandy directly, and he is sent into the ground, under more rubble. An explosion blasts all the rubble away, and Sandy flies out. Sandy: “What?! You didn’t even move! How did you throw that building at me?!” Kieran: “My mental strength has been honed to the highest possible degree. I can use my mind to smite you.” Sandy: “Well then. Take this!” Sandy throws his spear like a javelin at Kieran’s heart. Kieran’s wings wrap around his torso, and the spear imbeds itself into them. Kieran then pulls the spear out and holds it high into the air. Kieran: “You’ll have to fight better than that!”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran points the spearhead at Sandy. A colossal blast erupts from the spear and hits Sandy in the jaw. He falls to the floor. Sandy: “How have you gained the advantage all of a sudden?! Perhaps we shouldn’t have gone into our final forms after all…” Kieran: “That’s the problem with you people! Always lusting for power! Always hunting for a challenging fight! Well you should have killed me while you had the chance Sandy, because now I’m going to kill you.” Sandy opens his mouth to talk, but suddenly his spear is lodged through his forehead. Sandy: “What?! You can teleport objects as well?!” Kieran: “That’s right Sandy, one move and I’ll detonate that energy spear of yours!!” Sandy looks at Kieran in horror, but remains motionless. Kieran now had the chance to finish this. It was a short fight, but the power each of these two men wielded could not be contained in the same establishment. Kieran takes his bloodsword out. He holds it by his side and starts to spin in circles as fast as he can. A tornado forms around Kieran, spiralling wildly. Kieran throws his bloodsword as hard as he can towards Sandy. Sandy: “Agh! Dammit!” It hits Sandy in the left thigh and is sticking out. The tornado carries Sandy high into the air, but keeps him trapped by the power of gale force winds. Kieran: “Goodbye Sandy. It was nice to find out everything, but now your crimes have come back to haunt you.” Kieran flies into the eye of the storm. He salutes Sandy and takes in a deep breath. Sandy falls to the floor, as Kieran has inhaled the hurricane. Kieran flicks his wrist and the spear wedged in Sandy’s head blows up. Sandy’s lifeless torso is lying on the floor, but bits of skin and bone start to slowly move back together and join up again. Kieran: “It seems I’ll have to destroy every atom of his existence, otherwise he’ll regenerate.” Kieran flies up as high as he can go. He is as high as the clouds, and even the skyscrapers are lower down than him. Kieran: “Breath… of Annihilation!!!!” Kieran breathes out as forcefully as he can whilst screaming. A mighty explosion erupts from his mouth, denaturing the atoms of everything below. When Kieran is finished,

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! nothing remains except a smoking crater the size of a planet. The computer simulation ends, and Kieran is back in the computer room. Computer: “You killed him…” Kieran: “Yes. Now how do I repair the Universe?” Computer: “I’ll do it for you Master.” Kieran: “No, please…call me Kieran.” Computer: “Affirmative Kieran.” Kieran looks around. There were no facilities whatsoever, just a massive high tech computer. How did Sandy eat, sleep, or even survive? Computer: “The Universe is restored to the way it was before you left Heaven Kieran.” Kieran: “But… can I revive everyone? And how did Sandy survive?” Computer: “You can’t bring everyone back from Hell. They are there now, so there is no turning back. Philip is still alive on Earth. Sandy survived by asking for things. For example, a bed when he needed to sleep. I would then create it.” Kieran: “I see… well at least Philip survived it all… even though he did die. At least he was brought back, even if I’ll never get to see him again.” The computer brings up a screen. Philip is lying on a field of grass looking up at the sky. Philip: “I wonder what happened out there? I guess Kieran won, or we’d all be dead right about now… Too bad I’ll never see him again…” Kieran: “Can I talk to him?!” The computer closes the screen. Computer: “Negative. Contact cannot be made with people inside the game. Hell and Heaven are starting to implode again. Control specimens need to be selected.” Kieran: “Hey! I know! Let’s make Philip God!” Computer: “Negative. His power levels are too low.” Kieran:” Can’t we like… change his power levels?”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Computer: “Negative. He is only a human. He would die with power levels equivalent to that of God’s.” Kieran: “Well… what do you suggest?” Computer: “You could split yourself into three, and send one of you to Heaven, and the other to Hell.” Kieran: “What?! How do I do that?!” Computer: “It will take a lot of concentration and focus.” Kieran: “I’ll do my best…” Kieran takes in a deep breath and closes his eyes. He focuses as hard as he can on splitting into three. He suddenly feels like he’s being ripped in half, and when he opens his eyes, two exact clones are standing in front of him. The computer teleports the two clones into the game; one to Heaven, the other to Hell. Kieran: “So what will happen now computer? I feel very weak…” Computer: “You have a third of your power, as you had to share it equally. It will grow back with rest. Your clones will take care of Heaven and Hell respectively for all of time. You will only be able to live for roughly one hundred and thirty years, as that is the average life expectancy of a Snuh/human hybrid.” Kieran: “Is there anything I can do so that I can live forever?” Computer: “Negative.” Kieran: “Well what will happen when I die computer?” Computer: “I will monitor the OmniVerses, running off my own power circuits. I cannot shutdown or get a virus.” Kieran: “But wasn’t I a virus in the system?” Computer: “That is because you overcame the difficulties Sandy made. He was overriding my authority. I shall not do anything that could endanger the OmniVerses or this world.” Kieran: “Fair enough Computer. Well, the fist thing I’d like you to do is make it so that people can get into Heaven.” Computer: “Affirmative. The dead are now flooding into Heaven as we speak.”

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Struggles of the Elite Powers by Kieran Dolan TM, Copyright, all rights reserved!!! Kieran: “Great! Is there anyway to cancel Hell, so that everyone goes to Heaven?” Computer: “Negative. The Kieran in Hell needs a big amount of dead to keep Hell running, so it is easier to categorise who goes where by the deeds they partake in during their lifespan.” Kieran: “Ok then. Is everything else going well Computer?” Computer: “No problems reported so far Kieran. I will keep you updated if anything goes wrong, but I doubt it shall.” Kieran: “Ok. Thanks a lot Computer. Could you bring up Philip again please?” Computer: “Affirmative.” A screen pops up again. Philip was still in the same position, but he was asleep, basking in the warm sunlight. Kieran: “*Sigh* Thank you so much for helping me Philip… this truly was the struggles of the elite powers…” ~FIN~ I Kieran Dolan would like to dedicate this play to anyone who has ever brought me joy in life. May the laughs continue forever, wherever we may end up.

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