Chapter 8 "Skylar Lawrence"

Chapter 8
Skylar Lawrence

Knapp stretches out his sore arms. He has been training all morning, so he is on the break and is heading for the kitchen to get a drink. On his way, he starts to recall that Johnny has only been with them for two weeks now. Johnny is definitely the tallest of all on the Dark Team.

Knapp asks Johnny once what made him change his mind about taking the offer to join the team. Johnny answers that there’s something pure about Knapp and Logy… when they are together. It is like Logy just being there calms not only Knapp’s raging and impatient power of universe but also mentality and well being.

The fact that he decided to join is simply because of Logy.

He steps into the kitchen and finds two people kissing. One of them is Logy. The other one is Jade. Logy is pressed against the counter while Jade’s hands are on the edge of the counter at either side of the deaf man. Their eyes are closed, completely oblivious to Knapp’s presence, and their bodies pressed against each other and their tongues are clearly caressing against each other.

It is a miracle that Knapp has not blasted Jade away, but the minute Logy begins to open his hazel eyes and notices that they are not alone, he gasps lightly in surprise, stopping the kiss completely. Jade looks puzzled at first but when he follows Logy’s glance, he quickly backs away from him.

To their surprise, rather than getting angry, Knapp mumbles, “S-sorry to interrupt you.” Then, he hurriedly leaves the kitchen.

After a few minutes, he realizes that he forgot his drink. He returns to the training room just to beat the heck out of the poor punching bag.

~*~

PLANET LUNE

The entire Dark Team is in the bridge room after Clear calls them to gather together.

“Ta-da! We are here!” Clear says cheerfully. “This planet is called Lune. It’s full of healers. Knapp, you mentioned a few times that you are looking for the last person who heals. So, this is the perfect planet!”

“How long are we staying here?” Knapp asks.

“Well…” Clear thinks to herself. “As long as you need! I’d like to go through the entire system in this spaceship… Oh yeah! I had looked into this planet not too long before we landed. Be aware that the healers can take life forces from others. So, please be careful.”

The leader of the Dark Team turns to all six people and says bluntly, “Kawaii is here right now.”

“What? Are we going to fight someone?” Sybil asks worriedly.

Kawaii is tugging Knapp’s pants a little bit. Knapp continues after ignoring his girlfriend, “He wants me to go somewhere. So, we are going to follow him. It may be a person we are looking for. Or it’s possible that this planet is in danger. I think it’s better that Sybil stays here this time.”

“Really?” Clear raises an eyebrow. “It looks so peaceful here. Why should I go with you? I want to check --”

“You never know. Let’s go,” Knapp demands.

“Wait!” Sybil cries, stopping everyone from leaving the spaceship. “Knapp… Before you go, I want you to have this…”

She hands a new scarf with the white and black patterns to Knapp. “I… I made it for you.”

“T-thank you,” Knapp gives her a smile, along with a light blush on his face. He rapidly replaces his scarf with the new one, only to experience a little bit of throbbing pain in his head but it goes away quickly.

~*~

The Dark Team has been following Kawaii for a while; for about twenty minutes. The spaceship landed on the open greenfield. They can see one village but they are going further and further away from it.

Logy quickly catches up to Knapp and gives him a few shoulder taps until he gets his attention. “I… I wanted to talk to you about what you saw in the kitchen…”

“No, it’s ok. You don’t have to explain,” Knapp quickly interrupts him in sign language. “I mean, I already have Sybil… There’s no reason why you shouldn’t be dating anybody else.”

Logy does not say another word as he begins to lag back behind Knapp a little bit.

Clear and Zack, knowing more sign language than Jade and Johnny, both notice that Logy looks offended. Jade whispers into Zack’s ear, “What are they talking about? Why does Logy look upset?”

Zack shrugs his shoulders and says, “I’m not quite sure. They were saying something about the kitchen…”

Jade flushes at the last remark and looks away from Zack out of embarrassment. “Ah, that one…?”

“You already knew about it?” Clear asks curiously.

“W-we… Logy and I kissed,” Jade scratches the back of his head as his face is turning redder and redder. “Knapp walked on us by accident.”

“What is so bad about that?” Johnny joins the conversation after overhearing them.

“Knapp could have killed him!” Zack laughs lightheartedly. “Especially when he looks possessive every time someone touches Logy. There was one time I gave him a small hug, and Knapp was giving me deadly glares all day.”

“You’re lucky that you’re not dead, Jade… At least not yet.” Clear shakes her head as she shakes her forefinger as if she is scolding him. “You better not get on his bad side!”

“Isn’t Knapp already dating Sybil?” Johnny asks as he rubs his tired eyes.

Clear sighs lightly and shrugs her shoulders. “We know! The biggest issue is that Knapp loves her. He has been with her for a long time. And she is in love with him too - I mean, as a woman, she always talked to me about him. That’s why this triangle of love sucks.”

Five more minutes have passed, and the Dark Team ends up standing in front of a large cave. As soon as Kawaii moves, they follow him into the cave for another long walk.

They eventually get to a large empty area with colorful crystals growing out of the wall. At the entrance of the area, Kawaii suddenly stops walking and points his finger at a sleeping woman with long blonde hair, elf ears, and bat-like wings inside the crystalized ice sticking on the cave wall.

“...For keeping us safe and watching over us.”

The Dark Team members spot a blonde-haired man mumbling at himself on his knees in front of the sleeping crystallized woman. Knapp can feel a little bit of pulsing pressure onto his entire body… and that is the first time he has ever felt that way.

The closer they get to, the more Knapp feels terrorizing energy flowing out of the sleeping woman. It is as if something powerful is trying to push him down to the floor.

After the blonde-haired man gets up, he turns only to yelp in surprise. “Ack! Jeez! You scared me! I didn’t see you at first.”

“Sorry, we are the Dark Team. My name is Knapp,” the Universe Warrior introduces himself right away. “Who is this that you were praying to?”

“Oh, that’s Chilyo,” The blonde-haired stranger answers. “Please pardon me for being rude. My name is Skylar. You can just call me Sky. Anyway, I’m quite surprised to see this many people here! It’s not often that people come all the way to this area.”

Knapp introduces everyone in the Dark Team and then asks, “So, is Chilyo a god or angel for people to worship?”

Sky briefly turns his head towards the sleeping woman in the crystal. “Chilyo is a demi-god. In the legends from hundreds of years ago, she gave birth to people on this planet and gave all of them the power of healing. One day, this planet was attacked by evil invaders but Chilyo saved the world only at the cost of her own life. She ran out of her energy and then crystallized herself for an eternity.”

Knapp narrows his dark eyes in suspicion. He glances at Chilyo for a brief time and finds it to be quite worrying that he is still feeling heavy from the pressure. If Chilyo was a heroine who saved this planet, then why does her energy feel so ominous?

He looks back at the child form of the Fifth Universe, who is still staring at Chilyo. Why did Kawaii bring us all the way here?

“The way you look and dress up, you guys look like tourists. How did you know about this place?” Sky asks curiously.

“We found this cave,” Knapp quickly lies. He shrugs one of his shoulders lazily. “We were curious, so we decided to check out this place.”

“Oh, okay. Say, you look to be worn out from a long walk. How about you guys coming over to my place? It is not too far away from the cave and is just a few miles away from the city.”

The warriors of the Dark Team are pretty much hungry so they agree right away and join him for another long walk.

“Thanks for the invite!” Knapp says cheerfully. “So, are you also a healer?”

“Of course yes. Every person on this planet is capable of healing,” Sky says.

“I hope you don’t mind me asking you but… I am looking for a healer to join us in case one of us gets wounded.”

“Joining the Dark Team, eh?” Sky chuckles lightly. “Thanks for the offer but no thanks. I am happy where I am right now. I have friends… I live right outside the city… I have everything I need here.”

Dammit! Every member on this team denied the request for the first time. I knew this would happen anyway. Knapp almost pouts in frustration.

~*~

Sky gives a short tour to the Dark Team at his home. His house looks to be a small cabin with one bedroom, a kitchen, one full bathroom, and a living room.

For the entire time, Jade has been avoiding any eye contact with either Knapp or Logy. If he does, he always quickly looks away pretending that he didn’t look at them.

But Jade’s actions are making Logy angrier because he knows that it’s exactly what Knapp wants. To keep Logy from liking or even loving someone else. The way Knapp dismissed Logy’s attempt to talk about what happened in the kitchen is pissing him off even more.

Logy furiously grabs Jade’s hand, so they are holding hands just like a couple. He keeps sneaking peeks at Knapp for his reactions. Jade is getting more and more anxious every second when Knapp starts giving them dark looks, emitting a murderous feeling. What have I gotten into?!

When the tour ends, Knapp thanks Sky for showing them around. The entire team returns to the spaceship for the night.

~*~

“Knapp… I can feel your growing urge to kill someone. It keeps waking me up. What’s going on?” Sybil asks as she sits up in the bed. She crosses her arms in annoyance.

“Sorry,” Knapp says simply.

Sybil rubs her forehead as she gives an annoyed sigh. “What made you so mad? Clearly, it’s not me since we are still in the same bed.”

“Nothing. Go back to sleep,” Knapp snaps.

“Knapp --”

“Just drop it!” Knapp yells as he bolts up fast, making his girlfriend flinch at his sudden outburst. He calms down a little bit and says softly, “I’m sorry. This… I mean, you have nothing to do with it.”

“Is there anything I can do to help you?” Sybil asks.

“Make me forget.” Knapp places his lips on Sybil’s. It does not take long for them to deepen their kiss.

~*~

“I had a vision last night. I didn’t want to tell you but…” Sybil mumbles, her pink eyes still on the dark ceiling. “It was so… scary. I was not sure if I should tell you or not…”

Knapp is running his fingers through Sybil’s black hair. “It’s up to you. If you think it’s really important to tell, I will take it no matter what.”

“It’s not much, really. All I saw was an orangish color… and I heard screams. They were terrified. It’s like… they knew they were dying.”

Knapp wraps his arm around Sybil who is shivering lightly, pulling her closer. He places a kiss on her forehead. “It’s ok. I’m here… and I’ll always protect you.”

“I love you.”

Knapp gets a little startled at first. It’s been a long time since she said three words. But now he is so sure. “I love you too.”

~*~

“Good morning!” Sky says cheerfully, stopping brooming leaves away from his doorway as he waves his hand at a group of six people. “What are you doing outside the city so early this morning?”

“Oh, we are on the way to the cave and pray for Chilyo.” One of the healers nods his head. “We are playing a soccer tournament, so we just wanted to pray to win. Wish us good luck!”

“I see. Well, if I do not see you later, then I wish you good luck!” Sky exclaims. He waits patiently until the group leaves his sight and then looks up at the blue sky in wonder. It is so unusual to see this large group heading to pray for Chilyo. Oh well. I guess it’s kind of the same thing with Knapp and others.

“Hi, Sky!”

Sky turns around to find Knapp and Johnny heading this way. “Hi there! What are you doing up so early?”

“Actually, we are heading for the city. Your home is on the way, so we thought we should stop by and say hello.”

“I thought you said --” Johnny gets interrupted by Knapp’s loud shushes.

Sky raises an eyebrow in confusion. “Ah, okay. Actually, I am about to go over to a carrot farm not too far away from here. They are giving away free carrots. Do you need any carrots?”

“Sure, why not?” Knapp says. “Before you go, please think about the offer to join us --”

“I said no, didn’t I?” Sky says, getting a little bit annoyed.

“I said no at first too,” Johnny shrugs his shoulders. “Look where I ended up. Knapp is a genius when it comes to gathering people with special abilities.”

“Yeah --” Knapp stops the sentence suddenly when he spots Kawaii standing and watching them. He stammers at first, “U-um… Y-yeah, I-I mean, there is someone evil who is hiding on Earth, and I am trying to find warriors to help me to stop him from destroying Earth.”

Kawaii keeps glancing at the way where the group of healers was heading. His usual scowl is replaced by the look of worry.

“Is it him?” Johnny asks when he notices Knapp looking at nothing but just an empty area of the field. When he joined the Dark Team, it was Clear and Zack who both told him about Kawaii. Basically, the Dark Team serves and protects the universe, whose name is Kawaii. Knapp is the only one who can see him.

“Yes,” Knapp says softly. “But he is just standing around. He is not pointing or moving at all. I guess he is waiting for something?”

“What are you guys talking about?” Sky asks in confusion.

“Nothing,” Knapp gives him a smile. He bows his head. “I’m so sorry to interrupt you. Oh yeah, we would love some carrots if you don’t mind bringing them back?”

“Sure, will do!”

Kawaii follows Knapp everywhere all the way to the city and then back to the spaceship. He has not even left him alone when Knapp falls asleep.

~*~

The group of six healers are sitting in a circle in the cave right in front of the sleeping Chilyo in the crystalized ice. They are chanting some kind of spell. When they are finished, it is already night. Everyone outside the cavern must be sleeping by now. The healers decide to take a break and eat.

“I hope it works,” The first healer says.

“Me too. I wonder if we will be given special powers by Chilyo if we set her free?” The second healer asks curiously.

“She better do so! After all the way we travelled!” The third one says determinedly.

They hear loud cracks coming from Chilyo’s crystalized prison, so they turn their heads fast toward her. Chilyo begins to open her dark red eyes as a small smirk is being formed on her light tan skin.

“H-hey, guys! She’s going to be free soon!” The fourth healer exclaims in excitement. He quickly bows his head all the way to the floor as he says, “Lady Chilyo! We live to serve you!”

The crystal that Chilyo has been sleeping inside for a long time gets broken into thousands of pieces as she gracefully lands her bare feet on the cold, wet floor.  She flashes a huge grin on her face as her eyes land on the group of the healers. “You must have been the world’s biggest fools to set me free like that.”

“W-what do you mean?” The fifth healer asks nervously.

Every single healer never knows what happens next but all of them suddenly explode into pools of blood, as Chilyo cannot stop grinning in the red rain.

She turns around and then launches herself through the trails until she gets out of the cavern within a mere few seconds. She flies higher and higher into the air until she sees a large city nearby.

Her evil grin has not gone away when she lifts her hand all the way up in the air. Suddenly, a huge black hole appears above the city and begins to suck in everything. Skyscaptors, parks, stores, houses, animals, and even people.

She is still smiling widely in amusement and satisfaction once the city is completely gone. It leaves nothing but a crater behind.

Next city… or town, whatever it is. I will consume it all!

~*~

Knapp screams so loud as he grabs his head. A sudden and most painful headache hits him so badly that he nearly passes out again.

“Knapp?!” Sybil cries in worry. “What’s going on?! Is it your headache again?”

The Universe Warrior barely opens one of his eyes, spotting Kawaii running out of the room. He is trying to get up from the bed only to fall on his hands and knees on the floor. “H-he… I need to follow him!”

“What? No! You need to stay in bed! You’re looking pale right now,” Sybil is tearing up with so much worry.

“P-Please… call everyone right now.”

“Y-yes! I’ll get everyone!”

As soon as Sybil leaves the room in a hurry, Knapp carefully gets back up and uses the wall as support in order to move on his own. Shit! What the hell is going on? If Kawaii wants me to follow him, then why is my head splitting right now?!

By the time he eventually reaches to the living room, everyone is up already. His headaches have been eased a little but his head is still pounding. “G-guys… I-it’s Kawaii. We need to go right now. No need to change your clothes.”

They quickly leave the spaceship, and Knapp spots Kawaii waiting for them. As soon as the child sees them, he quickly turns around and runs away. Knapp and the rest of the Dark Team start following him right away.

They finally get to their destination where Kawaii is waiting; within the distance of the fresh new crater.

Sky is on his knees with a frightened look on his face. He is completely pale like he has recently seen a ghost. Tears start filling up his blue eyes and then slide down his face cheeks. He stutters, “H-how is i-it possible…? M...M-my… f-friends… T-they are go-gone!”

Kawaii is standing in front of Sky and staring at him with an intense look on his face. He starts speaking for the first time in weeks, “You are the one.”

“What?” Knapp asks as he stops running along with the other members of the Dark Team. “He is the one?”

“He hasn’t awakened his true power, but he will save my heart.”

“Heart… As in the heart of the Fifth Universe?” Knapp asks in confusion.

“But first…” Kawaii turns around and points at the large smoke in the far distance. “This monster is hurting this planet.”

“Follow the smokes!” Knapp shouts. The rest of Dark Team members start following him as he starts heading for the smoke.

Sky has not moved at all after the Dark Team leaves him. He slowly glances back up to find Kawaii staring back. “Who are you?”

Kawaii’s mouth is moving, but no words come out at all. He narrows his heteronomia eyes in annoyance when he realizes that Sky cannot hear him at all. He takes the blonde-haired man’s hand and tries again, “You are my savior.”

Sky widens his blue eyes in surprise. Before he can ask, Kawaii is fading away into thin air. He bites the bottom of his lips, trying to hold back new tears.

He slowly gets up, trying not to shake too much. He turns his head to where the dark smokes in the sky coming from. He starts running toward them.

~*~

Chilyo is still hovering in the sky above the town. She swings her arm through the air, sending large volumes of flames toward the town. Having heard terrified screams makes her smile in amusement. It is so much fun hearing the screams! It’s definitely better than using black hole.

“Where did you get the power of darkness?”

Chilyo turns around until she is facing the hovering man with a scarf with white and black patterns. She gives him a half-smirk. Ignoring the question as she says calmly, “It’s about time that Fifth Universe selected his own protector… Universe Warrior. I thought it was just a legend or at least, a made-up story so that people would have hope.”

Knapp raises an eyebrow. How in the universe does she know that I am the Universe Warrior… What kind of monster is she?

“I can see that you’re confused,” Chilyo is playing with her blonde hair. “Do you not know how I was sealed in the first place?”

Before Knapp opens his mouth, he recalls Sky’s story about how Chilyo got sealed because this planet was attacked by the evil invader. But it cannot be true, right? Chilyo isn’t the heroine who saved this planet, after all.

“It was Double God who sealed me some centuries ago. I was way too strong for him to handle.”

That explains where she got dark energy from… but… How? Knapp thinks to himself.

“Gravity times ten!”

Suddenly, Chilyo gets engulfed in purple aura and then gets pulled all the way down until she slams into the ground, creating a small crater. Growling lightly, she easily gets up only to get struck by lightning bolts and screams in pain.

When the lightning attack ends, Chilyo’s body is literally smoking, but it stops when all burned wounds are being healed rapidly. She flashes a grin on her face and asks, “Well, well… I had no idea that you had friends --”

She cries in pain as some parts of her body suddenly explode. She hisses in pain as she glances back at the rest of the Dark Team. “You’ll pay for this!”

“Is this it?” Johnny asks in disappointment, looking at his own hand. “And my own people thought I was dangerous…”

As Chilyo starts to move, Johnny snaps his fingers. Chilyo shrieks as an even larger orb of exploding energy appears in her chest and then blasts off into a larger explosion.

“Why you…!” The blonde-haired evil woman hisses. She rapidly creates icicles in the air and then tosses them at the three warriors of the Dark Team.

Logy runs fast past Clear, Jade, and Johnny and then leaps high into the air. In a superhuman speed, he slams one of his feet onto one of the flying icicles and then quickly grabs the second one before throwing it back at Chilyo.

The third and last icicle suddenly gets replaced by a small amount of leaves. Zack puts down his hand with an unusual frown on his face.

“I see…” Chilyo says after she destroys the icicle with her fireball. “You are no ordinary humans. It’s going to be very interesting! But it’s my turn… I am going to turn you into red rain!”

“W-what?” Jade asks nervously.

Before Chilyo can do anything, Knapp suddenly slams her head into the ground with his own bare hand. He raises one of his hands as the Divine Sword appears in it. He thrusts his sword into Chilyo --

The darkness suddenly coats Chilyo’s entire being and sends Knapp across the field. The Universe Warrior safely lands on his feet with a surprised look on his face. “W-what the hell was that?”

Chilyo roars into laughter as she gets up from the ground. “Don’t you know that there is someone that is a few ranks higher than Universe Warrior. That’s Double God. And, I have his power!”

“Double God?” Zack asks nervously.

“S-she has an absorb energy!” Logy shouts nervously. “She… She absorbs any energy from other people and can use them anytime!

Chilyo frowns as she turns to the deaf warrior. “How did you know I can do such things? I had never told anyone… Not even Double God a long time ago. What kind of energy did you use to find out?”

“Don’t say anything!” Knapp exclaims in sign language without using his own voice.

“Nobody’s saying anything?” Chilyo chortles as a gust of wind appears surrounding herself. “It doesn’t matter. I will take everyone’s energies! Starting with you, mute human, of course!”

The second Logy opens his hazel eyes, Chilyo is already a few inches away from him. He widens his eyes in surprise, but then she is gone suddenly. He realizes that he is in a different place just a few feet away from where he was.

“Man, that was close!” Zack exclaims in relief. 

Chilyo is holding some leaves in her hands. She looks up until her dark eyes land on the warrior with the power to switch. “You’re annoying so you’re going to die first.”

A sudden shockwave explodes coming from Chilyo’s body without her moving at all. It sends every member of the Dark Team, except Knapp who uses his sword to stick into the ground.

Clear quickly gets back up and runs toward Chilyo. Jade quickly joins her in the run. He yells, “Gravity times ten!"

Chilyo manages to stick her feet to the ground without falling down as she feels the heavy gravity onto her body.

“Times twenty!”

Chilyo quickly gets dropped to the ground. She closes one of her dark red eyes as she is struggling to get up, but Jade’s power of gravity does not allow her to at all.

Clear tosses hundreds of lightning bolts at the female monster. As soon as they crash into her, Chilyo shrieks once again in pain. But just a few seconds later, her wounds are healing fast.

“Oh, man… She has to be fucking kidding,” Jade mumbles. His hands start to tremble as he is continuously using gravity energy to push her to the ground. “How much stronger is she?!”

Suddenly, the purple aura that is holding down Chilyo crumbles into pieces the minute she gets overtaken by black energy. She calmly gets on one of her knees at first and then stands up. Grinning widely, she says, “You’re very impressive! However, at your level, your power isn’t enough to defeat me at all.”

She points her open palm at Jade, who is panting heavily. A sharp ice is emerging out of her hand.

Oh fuck! Knapp starts running as fast as he can, hoping he makes it in time.

The ice suddenly zooms through air until it pierces into Jade’s chest. He asks softly as blood is filling up his mouth, “W-what…?”

“Shit!” Knapp curses.

“Jade!!” Logy cries.

Chilyo appears behind Clear, who is completely oblivious to her presence. Her hand is glowing in white aura as she punches her so hard that she sends her flying through the air. Before Clear even hits the ground, she is already knocked out.

Chilyo fixes her blonde hair, making sure that there are no cow licks anywhere. She opens her dark red eyes only to realize that there are dozens of yellow orbs all around her. She grins widely as she exclaims, “You seriously think they can kill me --”

Johnny quickly clenches his open palm into a fist. Immediately afterward, all yellow orbs around Chilyo blast into bigger explosions.

“You die too!” Chilyo points her forefinger at Johnny as she is powering up for a small beam that is about to be released.

She suddenly gets slammed to the ground with Knapp holding her down completely. She laughs evilly as she shouts, “It’s too late!”

“What --” Knapp does not finish his question as a beam gets released from Chilyo’s finger and thrusts right through his chest cleanly. He begins coughing out blood.

“Yes, yes! More blood!” Chilyo laughs evilly as she kicks Knapp away. She jumps toward him until she lands harshly next to him. She places her hand on his stomach, “Time to absorb your energy! It must be the power of the universe, correct?”

A kick forces her to snap her head to the side but she does not even barge at all. “I didn’t see you.”

Logy’s foot is still on Chilyo’s face. “Tch!” He says in frustration. “Leave him alone!”

“You…” Chilyo grabs Logy’s ankle and then slams him on the ground. She quickly gets on top of him. “You are special.”

Logy starts to thrash his body, trying to get Chilyo off him. He yells angrily, “Get off me, you monster!”

“Why, thank you,” Chilyo says cheerfully as she runs her forefinger across Logy’s chest. “You read people’s minds, don’t you? This is exactly what I had always wanted for such a long time. Yet you’re here… right in front of me! Let me have your power!”

Suddenly, she gets hit by an energy ball of both blackness and whiteness and falls all the way across the field until she crashes into one of the large trees. Groaning painfully, she sits up and rubs her throbbing head. “What?”

“K-Knapp… Thank god…! Everyone’s hurt! And you’re --” Zack stops when he realizes that Knapp is still bleeding. 

Yet Knapp is still standing without any life in his dark brown eyes. He says bitterly, “Stay away from Logy.”

His scarf is nowhere to be seen.

~*~

Sky is panting heavily with his hands on his knees. He looks back up at the black smoke in the sky. I… I have to hurry!

He runs and runs until he finally reaches the top of the hill. What he sees makes himself freeze in place. The entire town is on flames. He shakes his head furiously as he says shakily, “No… no, no… This can’t be happening.”

He collapses to his knees and starts thumping his fists on the soft grass out of rage. “Why is this happening?! My friends… everyone… How dare…! We worshiped and prayed for you all those years!”

Not too far away from the town, Chilyo and Knapp are facing each other. He spots a few other bodies lying on the ground. “Oh no… I… I have to help!”

It takes all of his strength for him to get up and run all the way toward the battlefield. He quickly starts with Jade who is bleeding heavily.

He places his hands on Jade’s bleeding wound. He sends green energy from his hands into the wound. Jade groans in pain at the odd sensation as his wound is rapidly closing up.

“S-Sky?” Jade asks softly.

“Please don’t sit up just yet. I need to heal others.” Sky quickly gets up and then runs to Clear who is still unconscious. After he reaches her, he carefully turns her over and then lifts her head a little bit. He notices Clear is bleeding from her head, so that means she got a heavy blow to her head. Please be alive. Please be alive…

He places his hand on Clear’s head. Bright green glow appears on his hand and then moves onto her head. Soon, Clear opens her eyes to find Sky with his concerned face and asks in confusion, “Huh?”

“Do you know where you are?” Sky asks.

“Yeah… Y-yeah…” Clear places her hand on her forehead. “We are…” She suddenly sits up so fast only to get dizzy. “O-ow! What happened to Chilyo?!”

“Still alive,” Sky smiles sadly. “You need to lay down. My healing energy needs a little more time to fully heal you. But meanwhile…” He turns to Johnny, Logy, and Zack who gather together. Jade joins them shortly.

“Knapp looks hurt,” Sky says. “From the look of his, he is likely to be unconscious and not even aware of what he is doing right now. We need to help him out.”

“Are you a doctor?” Zack asks.

Sky gives him a big smile. “No. Just a healer. Like everyone else on this planet. Although we are not exactly equipped to heal during the battles. This is my first time.”

Logy glances worriedly at Knapp and mumbles softly, “Chilyo caught me, but I don’t know if she took my energy or not… I mean, she’s thinking that she did.”

“Oh crap!” Zack cries.

“What do we do?” Clear asks worriedly.

“We need a plan,” Sky says with determination in his blue eyes. “We need to sneak our attacks… all at the same time. That will not give her time to react to all of us at the same time.”

“We are listening,” Johnny says sleepily.

~*~

No matter how many punches and kicks Chilyo have landed on Knapp, he still gets up every single time. She growls in frustration. Is that the power of the universe?

“Fine. I’m getting more serious! I want to see some red rain!” She laughs loudly as she flickers her wrist. She waits… and waits patiently.

Knapp is just standing with no reaction at all.

“W...Who the hell are you?” Chilyo asks, almost trembling in fear. 

“All energies in this universe… will never harm me,” Knapp says stoically. “That pop energy of yours will not work on me. And that mind-reading power that you stole from Logy? You will never get a single word from my thoughts.”

Chilyo shivers when she notices that Knapp’s eyes are practically swimming in the sea of blackness and whiteness. So this is the Universe Warrior that the Fifth Universe chose.

She stomps one of her feet on the ground, forcing it to create a surrounding red aura. “Fine. I’m going to be faster than you are.”

Before she makes the first step, Knapp is suddenly standing in front of her. Just a few inches away from each other. She cries in surprise at first but then quickly throws a fist.

Knapp suddenly flips his body over her until he lands safely behind her. He calmly turns around only to get punched hard in the face.

Chilyo widens her dark red eyes in shock. She used lion energy to put all of her strength into her fist. The power to destroy a mountain with one punch.

And Knapp has taken it like it is nothing. He is staring at her without changing his facial expression.

Chilyo has finally understood what Knapp meant when he said that all energies would never harm him. The universe energy… consists of all energies in this universe. Rush, lion, lightning, ice, earth, gravity, and many more. They will never work on him. Except…!

“What about dark energy?!” She yells angrily as she creates a sword of darkness out of her hand. She slashes her newly formed sword, but Knapp quickly dodges it. He… He dodged! I knew it!

“You’re not immune to the powers of the Gods,” Chilyo chuckles wildly as she points her black sword at the Universe Warrior. “I should’ve known better!”

Knapp lifts his palm at Chilyo. Suddenly, multiple of black and white rays are being shot out of the ground around him. He gives her a smirk. “I am not the only one who will be stopping you.”

“What?” Chilyo asks.

“Gravity times twenty-five!” Jade yells.

“Split!” Johnny shouts.

“Dragon of Lightning!” Clear screams.

“Switch!” Zack shouts.

All of their powers join the surrounding rays of whiteness and blackness. Zack’s switch energy has gathered as many trees as possible and switches all of them with blades of grass.

“Full Heal!” Sky yells as he sends green energy all the way through the air towards Knapp, not only healing his wounds completely but also restoring his strength.

Logy places his hand on Knapp’s shoulder, making him look at him. He smiles as he says, “I’m giving you a peek into her head.”

How… How?! Why…?! Double God…! Without Double God, it’s going to be easy… Yet…! Am I going to die like this? If I am, why did Double God seal me in the first place? Chilyo is practically screaming in her own head.

“She fought against Double God?” Knapp asks in surprise. Logy nods his head yes. Knapp decides to look further into the monster’s head… and then enters her memories.

~*~

“Chilyo… Are you that greedy? Taking other people’s powers?” Double God asks in amusement. “Even so… you’re amazing… You took more than one hundred energies.”

Chilyo growls threateningly at him. “So are you going to kill me? Hikyou-sama?”

“Oh?” Hikyou tilts his head a little as he blinks his sharp green eyes. “You called me Hikyou-sama. This is a turn of surprise --”

He shifts his eyes at his corner the second Chilyo suddenly appears behind him. His body suddenly explodes into a shockwave, which sends her crashing into the wall of the cavern. He turns to her and asks dangerously, “Did you touch me?”

Chilyo does not answer but she chortles instead.

Double God frowns a little bit. “Well, this is unfortunate. This is your punishment.”

Suddenly, a large amount of ice emerges from the wet floor and then wraps around Chilyo until it attaches to the wall of the cavern. She does not wake up until the group of idiots decide to set her free.

~*~

“Double God…” Knapp mumbles only to cringe at sudden pain from the back of his neck. “Let’s just finish this.”

With the combined powers of the entire Dark Team, the Universe Warrior points his hand at Chilyo. He sends a huge beam of all of the powers toward Chilyo.

Chilyo bursts out into crazed laughter until she gets hit by the large attack and then screams in pain until she dissipates into nothingness.

Knapp is panting heavily as he collapses to his knees and hands. Logy is the first person to see the new symbol on the back of the Universe Warrior’s neck. He finally understands the reason why Knapp always wears the scarf.

There is a mark of a glowing black star on Knapp’s neck. Surrounding it, the skin is completely red as if it’s getting burned by the mark.

“Here,” Clear waves her hand to get Logy’s attention and then tosses the scarf at him. Logy carefully wraps the scarf around Knapp’s neck.

“Thank you,” Knapp says in sign language, not bothering with using his weak voice.

“Is… Is she gone?” Sky asks. After getting a few nods from other warriors, he sighs lightly and kneels down. “Thanks god…”

~*~

Everyone is so exhausted that they have slept through nearly the entire day. Sky takes a spare room at the spaceship instead of at his cabin because he is so afraid to be alone.

On the next day, everyone is up and eating breakfast and chatting like nothing happened within the past few days.

In the middle of breakfast, Sky breaks down all of sudden. He cannot stop crying and crying. His tears will not stop coming at all. He feels someone’s warm arms wrapping around him only to realize that it is Jade.

The whole Dark Team is waiting patiently until Sky stops sobbing. The blonde-haired healer mumbles a thank-you and then an apology, which is not accepted at all. Especially when it is ok to cry when it gets way too painful emotionally.

When the breakfast is over, Knapp decides to take Sky out just to get away from the spaceship for a little bit.

“I’m so sorry,” Sky mumbles again.

“No, don’t apologize,” Knapp smiles at him. “This is your home, so we completely understand. I asked you to come with us, but… like you said before, no means no. I’ll just accept your answer and find someone else.”

Sky looks away from Knapp. “Actually… can we go to… the city?”

“Sure,” Knapp says with almost uncertainty only to realize that Sky means the one that turned into an empty crater. “If that’s what you want.”

The entire walk to the crater is nothing but silence. They stop at a distance where they can see the crater.

“Have I ever told you that I accidentally unlocked everyone’s shops and houses?” Sky asks, trying to lighten up their moods a little bit.

“No,” Knapp chuckles softly, unsure where this conversation is going. He wishes that he has Logy’s mind-reading ability so he can find out what exactly Sky is thinking. “W-why?”

“Everyone always got so mad at me. Sometimes I broke some of their locks. I never meant to.” Sky rubs his arm as he speaks softly. “But at least it’s because of it that I made great friends… and they are gone.”

“Their deaths will not be in vain,” Knapp says. He looks down at the ground, no longer wanting to make any eye contact with Sky’s blue eyes. “I will not allow this again. Never... ever again. I… Too many deaths on my home planet. My father had seen them all.”

“Home planet?”

“Earth. I have a little brother who is still there,” the Universe Warrior says. “We will go back after this. I do not want the same thing that happened here… to happen to Earth as well. I will definitely make sure that there will never be another tragedy like this again.”

“I’m glad,” Sky smiles sadly. “You mentioned before that you needed a healer, right?”

Knapp blinks in surprise. “Are you saying…?”

“I’d love to join you if you don’t mind.”

“Are you sure…?”

Sky scratches the back of his head. “What else will I lose if I leave my home planet? There’s nothing here for me anymore.”

Knapp gives him the biggest grin he has ever had. “You’re more than welcome to stay with us!"

~*~

“How long has it been since we left Earth…?” Knapp asks curiously, almost asking himself.

“About two years, isn’t it?” Sybil asks.

“Damn, it sure felt so short…” The Universe Warrior chuckles lightly. He shakes his head. “So much stuff happened. I wonder how Danielle has been doing since we last saw her?”

“Ah, speaking of which, you received her message earlier today.”

Knapp gasps loudly as he quickly grabs his tablet from the dining table. “Why didn’t you say so?!”

Sybil giggles. “We have a long way to return to Earth. We have some time left before then. I will get everyone to the bridge room if you want me to.”

“Yes, please!” Knapp says cheerfully.

~*~

“So sorry to interrupt your activities today! But we got a mission from Danielle,” Knapp says. “She’s amazing! She’s so good with details!”

“What did Danielle write?” Sybil asks curiously. “I hope it’s not anything too dangerous just like Chilyo… She could have killed us all.”

“That’s ok! We are alive because of Sky!” Knapp grins at the blushing blonde-haired healer. “So, it’s been months since the last time I spoke to Danielle, so she likely doesn’t know that I gathered more warriors since then.”

He puts down his tablet on the round table as he continues, “I am about eighty percent sure that my little brother will be joining the United States Army, mostly because of my father. In three years, he will be eighteen years old and will sign up to get himself enrolled without any hesitation. So, Danielle is working for the CIA, which also works with the FBI. She is a spy working inside the Sunny Wing Squad as a communicator. She basically passes the messages between the Army superiors and the soldiers who are in that squad. She is a genius when it comes to creating strategies in case the superiors are not present at the time.

“She will absolutely make sure to do everything in her power to get my brother Ryu into the squad even if it takes him at least another year. We need to figure out what exactly his talent will be. I’m hoping for sniping skills, but let’s see. So, in the mission details, she needs someone to keep an eye on Ryu once he gets into the Army. As you know, it’s up to me to choose,” Knapp finishes as he takes a quick look at the rest of the Dark Team. “I already decided the minute I finished reading the mission details. Zack will be a Sergeant working in the U.S. Army base. That army base is where large operations for the Sunny Wing Squad are.”

Clear cannot help but laugh so hard. She jerks her thumb at Zack as she asks, “Sergeant? You have to be kidding!”

“I am serious,” Knapp gives a light chuckle. “Logy is deaf. Jade looks way too young to be Sergeant. And Johnny… he is way too quiet. Sky… I need him to be on the field.”

“What?!” Sky shouts.

“I need someone to be Ryu’s partner once he gets on the field. Just in case.”

“You mean… A war zone?! You’re crazy! Why don’t you do it yourself since you guys are brothers?!”

Knapp shakes his head sadly. He says, “He wouldn’t want to work… or do anything with me. I think he hates me for leaving him and our family. Besides, I think you’re perfect because you’re a healer. The U.S. Army has a two-year medical program where you can study to help people and to survive on your own.”

“But why do all the work?” Jade asks curiously. “We can just get into Earth and find the enemy. With your power, you can end the war with a snap!”

“I wish it worked that way… Otherwise I would never have gathered you all in the first place,” the Universe Warrior places his hands on his waist. “Earth… It’s covered with large chains. You may not see them when we get there, but I am the only one who can see them. I tried to cut them down with my power but nothing worked at all. It was a… surprise to me. Everything Kawaii told me… He was right. And the problem is, the enemy is hiding somewhere. This Earth has over ten billion people, so it will be like trying to find a needle in the shack of hay.”

“Doesn’t the enemy have a name?” Johnny asks with a yawn.

“I have no idea what his name is, but from what I know, he fought my grandfather a long time ago and lost the fight. He has been hiding ever since then.”

“Wait, what?” Jade asks in confusion. “Your grandfather? As in…?”

“My father told me that my grandfather disappeared in 2015. So, I guess that was about that time.” Knapp crosses his arms. “This enemy is the last Locker in this universe. Once he’s gone, we will no longer worry about him locking up other worlds. It’s only if we find him somehow. His name never appeared in any records in this world. As Danielle said, it is possible that he has been using at least one different name. She suspects that he is in the Sunny Wing Squad, but she needs to find hard evidence before we do anything.”

“Basically, it is a spy mission?” Sybil asks.

“Precisely,” Knapp says cheerfully. He claps his hands together, “Before I go into further details, we need codenames so that no one will know that the Universe Warrior is on Earth. We will be just another new team of wanderers.”

“Codenames, eh? Sounds fun!” Zack exclaims.

“Danielle already has a codename of her own… It’s Forgotten.”

“Sounds so cool,” Jade says.

“Clear, your codename will be Nova,” Knapp says and receives an approval nod from her. He glances at Zack and says, “As a Sergeant you will be just Zack Kyota, but as for our communication purpose, you will be Void.”

“Not too bad,” Zack shrugs his shoulders.

“Jade, you will be Gravity.”

Jade laughs lightheartedly as he says, “I figured.”

“And you, Johnny… You are Atom,” the Universe Warrior continues. He starts using sign language, “Logy, you will be Silent.”

“Makes sense,” Logy nods his head with a smile.

“And Sky… You’ll be Starry.”

“Alright!” Sky says cheerfully.

“And you too,” Knapp turns to his girlfriend. “Your codename is Timeless. For a safety reason… just in case you need to go somewhere on Earth.”

Sybil blushes. “Ok. Thank you.”

“Everyone got a codename?” Knapp asks. As soon as he receives all of the head nods from the Dark Team, he continues, “Great! One more thing… We also need a codename for our team. Instead of Dark Team, we will be known as 5-U. You know, similar to the Fifth Universe, hehe!”

The rest of Dark Team starts chattering and agreeing with the codename.

“So while Zack is acting as the Sergeant and Sky is being Ryu’s partner, I will send Logy all over the country and have him read people’s minds. There has to be someone who knows about the chains or the Locker or something like that. There is no way that the Locker can be hiding for all those years without someone’s help. Meanwhile, Jade, Johnny, and I will be standing by until one of the Locker’s friends gets found. Any questions?”

Sky quickly comes up. “Yeah. What will happen if we find him? You said he is the Locker, correct? You couldn’t break the chains… how are we supposed to fight him like that?”

“To be honest with you… I have no idea,” Knapp gives him a smile. “But there is a portal to the Heart of the Fifth Universe. I plan to find it and talk to Kawaii myself… rather than him appearing and disappearing since we have a chance to talk. Any more questions?”

When he gets no questions, he turns to Clear and exclaims in excitement, “Set the course for Earth!”

~*~

“Hey, Logy!” Knapp waves his hand at Logy, who is coming out of the training room. He asks in sign language, “Is it ok if we talk somewhere private?”

“Sure,” Logy shrugs one of his shoulders. He has a feeling that it has something to do with, well, having feelings for each other.

After they get into Logy’s bedroom, Knapp closes the door and then scratches the back of his head nervously. “I just wanted to apologize.”

“What?” Logy asks in confusion.

“I… I didn’t have any right to stop you from dating anyone. I realized that I was never fair to you ever since we met. I… I mean, I still have Sy--”

“Please stop,” Logy turns away from Knapp, not wanting to listen anymore. Instead of using sign language, he starts speaking, “Nothing happened between us. I kissed you because I was using you to get away from the police. It’s not like we are meant for each other. Yet… I never understood why you never stopped… why you got annoyed every time someone at least touches my hand...”

Knapp steps in front of Logy, making sure that he is in his vision, and says, “I know. I’m so sorry about everything. I really am. If you want to date Jade, then I will not stop you.”

Logy flushes a little bit. “You had a huge misunderstanding right there. Jade has a crush on Zack, so he asked me to practice kissing…”

“Ah, is that so?” Knapp lightly smacks himself in the face with his own hand. “Man… I must have been an idiot. I had no reason to be mad.”

Logy smiles at him. “It’s fine. I’m glad we had this talk.”

The Universe Warrior returns a smile of his own. “Yeah. I better let you get some shower. See you at dinner tonight?”

“Sure.”

Knapp leaves the room with some burdens completely off his shoulders. But…

Why is his heart still skipping beats?

END OF PART I