Website 5.5, April 30, 2011

Today, I am featuring Website Version 5.5! It corresponds to March-April 2008.

The past week for the fun events, I focused on helping with the Earthquake meeting. It sounds boring, even I thought it was but being with amazing friends just makes it all cancel out - actually, it is even better than whatever. Today, I volunteered for an event that was also a run, to honor an important man named Bobby Salcedo who was an assistant principal in our school. He passed away last year after being an innocent victim of a crime in Mexico. But anywho, I don't know how I can put this in the story with respect but I'll have lots of time to think about it. After all, right now the story takes place almost two years before his incident.

Also, soon, I might make a Summer teaser on what's coming to Fires of the Sky. You'll be in for some crazy events as Freshman year officially ends on Volume 8 but Volume 9 takes place in the Summer. Volume 7 begins shortly after Spring Break in April.

"The top has tabs for you to go through. The episode list, character list, etc.

My name is Matthew Tran and this is a story titled 'Fires of the Sky'. This was made out of boredom so I don't expect good grammar until later.

This story is about a boy named Matt who enters his first day of high school. However, once he steps in, an incident occurs minutes later behind the large gym of where he sat. As he goes outside, a huge commotion goes on about a fire and Matt tries to save his friend. He trips on a puddle of oil. Unfortunately, he faints from the harsh slipping that he had experienced. As he wakes up, he mentions the fire but his friends say none of that happened. As time goes by, Matt will experience his own powers, along with new friends who will have the same problem. What will Matt have to do?"

-I added episode 78. The 'Fires of the Sky' tab on top has episode 78 if you can't find it.
-Note: Please tell me any errors that you find! I will fix them.

Episode 78: Matt vs Revel, the Last Stand!

The continuance of war dreads on. There is more than just the history of Halflings within Echoville. It is Echoville itself that makes destiny so strange to nature. What buildings have been made fine by the jungle. Familiarity is the sheer importance of society. Now as the generation of eight students fight among twelve Halflings, it is time for the true judgment between childhood friendship. Oh, the kidnapping is a shame for the power wielders. The dangers of Echoville will not end. Students must fight for their lives, and of course, for one that had been through the ordeals of possession. There is a time limit. Will the remaining students reach the end…?

Episode 78 - Matt vs Revel, the Last Stand!

            It is time for the final judgment. All the students and the remaining Halflings had arrived at the balcony of where the hidden village rests. Jen is about to give her final decision…

 ~~~

            “I… have decided that…” Everyone waited eagerly for her answer. The group from below all rushed out of the balcony, causing Vialaro to move aside. “I choose… To help save Echoville! I can come back anytime I want once everything is done!! Stop interrupting me, Matt!!”

            Matt was shaking in fear. “Jen… what happened to you?”

            “She’s already given a close bond with us in Echoville. I am sad to say that it is too late for you to talk her out of it. She is only being kind.”

            Mariel stomped on the ground, “What are you saying, damn girl!”

            “Jen, you’re too nice. Don’t let that woman take advantage of you!” Danny said in sadness. He was worried about Jen.

            Miss Siren pointed a finger at the whole group, “Get down.” Her finger was shining against the group and a screeching noise grew louder only to those that Miss Siren directed it to. Jen was confused about why they were all suddenly kneeling down in pain. Even Levi and Vialaro were in pain. Miss Siren stood right in front of Revel, “Awaken!!”

            The ground began shaking and Revel opened his eyes. His height was over ten feet! The force of reincarnation was pulling around him and everyone could barely move. Jen took a step back, “Wait… Miss Siren, please don’t hurt them.”

            Miss Siren pushed Jen down, “Out of my way. Revel is about to speak!”

            Revel growled loudly. All the humans were trying to use their powers but they were too weak from the screeching. Jen ran towards Matt and she held onto him, “Matt, what is it? Tell me, Matt!!” Matt covered his eyes and he closed his eyes while clenching his teeth. He was shaking in pain and so was everybody else. She dragged him down to the room below.

            Revel said in a demonic tone, “Miss Siren, you have awaken me from the other world. I thank you for that.” Each step he took was as if a giant was walking.

            “Welcome, new leader of all Halflings, I present to you Echoville, the world in which you rule!”

            Down below, Jen shook Matt’s shoulders, “Hang in there, Matt! Please, tell me what is hurting you!”

            The screeching had gone away for Matt now that he was in the room below. He explained to her, “She set us up in pain from some damn screeching noise… Now that it’s gone… It might not come back once I go back up there. I must stop Siren and that Revel guy that she keeps mentioning. I have to stop them!”

            “But it’s too dangerous!”

            “WHAT OTHER CHOICE DO WE HAVE?!”

            Jen was surprised to see that Matt yelled at her. “M-Matt…” She began to cry, “You’re right… you’re absolutely right…! I was stupid. I was an idiot, thinking that this fantasy could be real and that I can become important to a whole nation. But… what surprises me most is… how you’re all here with me.”

            Matt was stuck in a dilemma now. Should he fight Miss Siren and Revel with his fire powers, revealing this to Jen? This might cause a disturbance in himself just like what happened with Sammy. The only way to fix it then would be to have Jen leave high school. Matt shook his head, “(I must stop them first, or else our world would not be the same anymore. I’ll worry about Jen finding out later!)” Matt stood up and he headed back up to the balcony.

            “M-Matt, wait!” Matt turned around and Jen said with hope, “Good luck…!” Matt gave her a thumbs up.

            “Of course!”

 ~~~

            Matt made flames appear on his hands. Jen shrieked and Matt headed back onto the balcony rooftop. He yelled, “I’M NOT DONE YET!”

            Revel asked Miss Siren, “Who is this young boy?”

            “He is trying to stop us from ruling Echoville. He is an enemy!”

            Revel made his own hands move like prototypes. They were similar to machines in the same of metal fists, “Then this boy shall be eliminated from this world.” Jen arrived back on the rooftop as well. She watched carefully since she was not able to do anything. She decided to drag everyone one by one below the balcony but Miss Siren pointed a finger at her. Jen began to hear the annoying screeches as well.

            Matt threw a few fireballs at Revel but it was ineffective. It only shattered once it touched Revel’s body. “What?!” Matt said in anger. Miss Siren pointed a finger at Matt but Matt moved away, trying to throw a fireball at her as well.

            “Give it up already, little boy. It’s two against one. When you are focusing on one of us, you aren’t focusing on the other.” Matt turned around and Revel strongly punched Matt in the face. Matt fell to the ground with his head smacking against the floor. He coughed for air. Miss Siren giggled and she pointed a finger at Matt again. “This time, there is no running away. This is it, fire kid.”

            Matt became frustrated with Miss Siren’s words. “You… don’t know how much I’ve been through!” Matt bursted into flames because of his anger. His eyes turned into flames and his fists were spilling of explosive flames. “You’re starting to piss me off!”

            Matt ran towards Miss Siren, trying to punch her a few times but he constantly missed. Revel tried to punch Matt in the process but Matt used his fire shield. Revel’s fist was so strong that the shield did not burn him at all. The punch went right through Matt and he clashed onto the ground again. “Miss Siren, we shall annihilate him this instant.”

            Miss Siren nodded, “Of course.” She pointed a finger at Matt, “Come, screeches. We shall weaken him first.” She walked towards Matt and she made her finger point much closer to Matt’s ear, “This will burst your eardrums and you will become deaf for the rest of your life. Are you ready?”

            Matt closed his eyes, “This is the end… it’s all over…!”

            “Geh- gergh, egh!” yelled Revel.

            Miss Siren turned around, “What?!”

            “Don’t say it’s all over just yet, Matt!” Jaime appeared and he made ninjas slash Revel on the legs. This was Revel’s weak spot. Blades especially cut through his legs would cause him to become weaker. “Just a little more!” Jaime continued to summon more ninjas and then he quickly said, “Moonlight Blind!” Miss Siren and Revel became blind. Miss Siren’s weakness caused the group’s screeches to disperse slowly.

            “My powers are becoming uncontrollable!” Siren said in anger.

            Yessenia ran towards Siren with her blunt sword. She stabbed through Siren on the chest and said with a smile, “This is what you get for trying to possess me after so long, you bastard!”

            Miss Siren fell to the ground, coughing. Levi cried, “Miss Siren!”

            “It can’t be helped anymore.” Mariel said. “That woman is no longer your mother. She was a demon ever since she had been reincarnated. She said so herself…”

            Levi held onto Mariel, crying, “But… but!” She ran over to Miss Siren. “M-M-Mother!”

            Miss Siren held Levi’s face with her hands, “My dear… daughter, Levi…” A dark aura was exerting out of Miss Siren’s body. “Please, thank this woman… properly for finally being able to free me from such demonic actions.” Levi watched Yessenia. Miss Siren was vanishing, “I am only a reincarnate, a prototyped digicell… I will miss you, Levi, my dearest daughter. Say goodbye to Marri for me…” She completely shattered away and Levi cried out loud.

            Matt slowly got up, “I can still keep up.”

            Jaime summoned more ninjas, “Alright, that’s good. Are you ready?”

            Revel turned to his left to take sight of Matt and then right, to focus on Jaime, “What the hell do you guys think you’re doing?!”

            Matt was readying his fireballs and Jaime was about to close in on Revel with his ninjas, “Let’s take him down at once!”

            “Alright!” Matt agreed. Both of them sent their attacks towards Revel and this caused Revel to fall in pain. Santi used his time powers to slow him down. Shirley threw a bunch of ice blocks at him while Danny rose the ground level below Revel. Mariel splashed water under Revel so that he would slip and fall. Winny only stood there, watching them use teamwork.

Yessenia picked up her blunt sword, “Now, for the finishing move.” Everyone moved away and Yessenia charged for Revel’s chest. She jumped up and flew back down with a forceful stab in Revel’s chest. This caused him to yell out with his loudest until he shattered. This caused a massive wind to pass through the whole group of eight along with Jen, Levi, and Vialaro.

After a few seconds, the whole area became silent. Jen ran towards Matt with an embracing hug, “Matt! You’re okay!!”

            Matt remembered that Jen watched everything of how Matt was using his fire powers to fight Revel along with everybody else’s powers. “You saw… didn’t you?”

            “Yeah… I did.” Jen wiped her tears away.

            Mariel walked over to Levi and she patted Levi on the back, “Well now that our business is done, we got all of our answers cleared. Fate told us to defeat Miss Siren and Revel without having to kill the Halflings. The betrayal of Shirley in the context was just unclear and unfinished. The ending of the Echoville novel was to test our ability to keep moving forward.”

            Shirley giggled, “Yep! Thank goodness.”

            Mariel gave Levi a handshake, “And as promised, we will all leave you Halflings alone.”

            Levi began crying in happiness, “Promised? Y-You kept it… You kept a promise. A human kept a promise! Vialaro, can you believe it? This is a dream come true!”

            “Hmph.” Vialaro turned away.

            All the sudden, a portal appeared behind everybody where Revel was standing. Jaime turned around and he gasped, “What the hell?!”

            Sirius appeared from the portal and he yelled, “GAHAHAH! I finally found my way back into Echoville! It took me awhile from being in limbo, thanks to you, damn shadow user. Now, I can fulfill to fight for Miss Siren!”

            Jaime said bluntly, “We already beat Miss Siren and Revel.”

            Sirius screamed, “WAHHHH?! B-B-B-But…!”

            Matt added, “And we’re going to leave you Halflings alone. We are already done with everything.” Sirius watched Levi and Vialaro just standing there.

            Levi smiled, “Sirius, let’s go find all the other Halflings later. Miss Siren was the real villain, not any of us here. We’re going to live on our journey for Echoville and hope that things turn out the best it can. You don’t have to fight for Miss Siren anymore.”

            “Now I have no purpose to fight?!” Sirius frowned. “Awr…” He suddenly moped towards Levi and Vialaro.

            Mariel hugged Levi, “Well, Levi, I guess this is goodbye. Once we leave, we might not be able to come back anymore. When we complete a world, the option for us to return becomes locked.”

            Shirley bowed to them, “And I thank you for trusting us. Everything worked out so well… Our long adventure in Echoville is finally over.”

            Winny said, “I guess this will all somehow lead to El Monte existing. After all, we have been in the ancient times of El Monte this whole time.” The group became silent.

            “EH?!!” they all said, except Mariel. Winny covered her ears.

            “Oh goodness. You all get easily surprised.” She became giddy and then she giggled.

            Danny took sight of the whole village, “You mean this whole time we were fighting for El Monte?”

            Mariel punched him on the head, “Yeah, no duh. I don’t think any of you guys took me seriously when we were caged down below. How ignorant can you guys be?”

            Matt began laughing, “Oh well. As long as everything is fixed. We’ve gained a lot of power ever since we stepped foot in this place and we’re all leaving for the better.”

            Shirley opened the Echoville book and everything was filling up, “And this indicates that we are completely done. I think now is the perfect time to leave.”

            Santi reached into his pocket, “Well then, that only means one thing.”

Matt, Santi, Shirley, Danny, Yessenia, Mariel, Jaime, and Winny all took out their cellphones. Jen held onto Matt’s arm.

            Levi waved to them, “I guess this is goodbye… I thank you all so entirely much for your help! The nightmare is finally over between us Halflings and humans. Although it may be difficult to trust the humans ahead of us, you all will stay in our hearts, right Sirius?” She kicked Sirius to have him wave as well. Sirius looked away, waving at the same time. Vialaro ignored them, walking down to the room below.

 ~~~

         Echoville… the world gained its name from Miss Siren. Now that she is gone, the Halflings can rename it to anything they want it to be. With this, they decided that the area should be named ‘El Monte’ in celebration for all nine of the students who stepped foot in this world. Now, all the students are finally able to peacefully return to their homeland and school, El Monte…

  ~~~

---- Next chapter preview:

Matt: Next time on the next volume, we're finally back at El Monte! We'll continue the cliffhanging story about Jen's knowledge of Echoville and all of the characters' powers. Now that Jen knows, what will happen to everybody else? Will the situation between the power users change just like what happened when Sammy was around?
Mariel: What do you want this time? I'm trying to finish a lab here!
Santi: Please stay calm. This is where I will change but will it be for the better? I will do something devastating that may change our situation forever.
Stan: You are all in my way. Prepare for an attack.
Matt: We need to look for Jen. But why is Stan suddenly attacking back? We have an important business to take care of! Next time on episode 79, The Memory is Important, Finding Jen and Santi! 
Mariel: And where is Jen, you suppose?

Go to Episode 79 - The Memory is Important, Finding Jen and Santi ->

Website 5.4, April 23, 2011

Today, I am featuring Website Version 5.4! It corresponds to March-April 2008.

On Thursday, I watched the play hosted by Drama club. I went to watch some of my friends perform. You'll eventually see these students in this story soon. In fact, one of the directors of the play had already shown up. We just don't have enough character development on him/her. ;) Yesterday I went to an NHS social with a few friends and then today for the ASB social. As a Freshman three years ago, I did nothing - no clubs, no sports, nothing. Now I'm too busy. The next two Saturdays are busy for me too.

"The top has tabs for you to go through. The episode list, character list, etc.

My name is Matthew Tran and this is a story titled 'Fires of the Sky'. This was made out of boredom so I don't expect good grammar until later.

This story is about a boy named Matt who enters his first day of high school. However, once he steps in, an incident occurs minutes later behind the large gym of where he sat. As he goes outside, a huge commotion goes on about a fire and Matt tries to save his friend. He trips on a puddle of oil. Unfortunately, he faints from the harsh slipping that he had experienced. As he wakes up, he mentions the fire but his friends say none of that happened. As time goes by, Matt will experience his own powers, along with new friends who will have the same problem. What will Matt have to do?"

-I added episode 77. The 'Fires of the Sky' tab on top has episode 77 if you can't find it.
-Note: Please tell me any errors that you find! I will fix them.

Episode 77: Jen's Decision of the Heir

The continuance of war dreads on. There is more than just the history of Halflings within Echoville. It is Echoville itself that makes destiny so strange to nature. What buildings have been made fine by the jungle. Familiarity is the sheer importance of society. Now as the generation of eight students fight among twelve Halflings, it is time for the true judgment between childhood friendship. Oh, the kidnapping is a shame for the power wielders. The dangers of Echoville will not end. Students must fight for their lives, and of course, for one that had been through the ordeals of possession. There is a time limit. Will the remaining students reach the end…?

Episode 77 - Jen's Decision of the Heir

            In the three-versus-three match, Lamia had fallen by the strength of Winny. This did not seem so struggling to Winny, however. Olom was last seen clashing against the ground by Santi’s haste. As for Vialaro and Matt, it looks as though Vialaro is taking initiation.

            In the headquarters, Miss Siren had recently summoned Revel to appear at the balcony. Shirley, Danny, Mariel, and Yessenia were still trapped in Miss Siren’s cages while Levi is stuck not knowing what to do next…

 ~~~

            Jaime was at the edge of the hidden village. Stan appeared before him. He did not say a word. Jaime took sight of Stan’s glaring eyes. “What are you doing here?” Jaime wondered.

            “Where is Matt?” Stan asked.

            “Hey, I asked a question first. Why would you want to know anyway?”

            “I want him to see that I am powerful, not just some pawn that he can copy off homework from.” Stan cracked his knuckles.

            “From the looks of it, you just want to fight him.”

            “It can be a friendly fight, I don’t care. I just want to show him that I am the better one between us, especially someone who chooses not to betray his old friends for new ones!”

            Jaime lied, “Well Matt went back to the real world. You have to go find him yourself since he went back. I don’t know where he went, but he just left.”

            Stan was surprised. “Oh? He left you and his other friends here in Echoville? This just shows how pathetic Matt is. He chooses not to save his friends in pain. Heh! I shall go find him then.” Stan took out his cellphone and he clicked the ‘home’ button.

            As he disappeared, Jaime said to himself, still talking about Stan, “You better leave… I fear it would not be safe for you to linger around here while Matt is busy here in Echoville. Was it right of me to send you off to the real world? Eh, no matter. I must continue on into the hidden village. This damn injury... damn sniper.”

 ~~~

            Santi continued to play around with Olom’s speed. Olom was slowed down when he charged and then Santi sped him up so that Olom would charge against a few buildings. Eventually, this would cause Olom to become unconscious and faint. However, Olom was not done yet. He was not the kind of man who would fall down so easily.

            Winny said to Matt and Santi, “Time seems to be nearing. Look, up above on the headquarters. Something strange is happening.”

            Matt and Santi have been alerted by Winny’s words. Winny continued, “I feel that Revel has been reincarnated with the help of some sort of ritual, along with Jen’s assistance as the new heir.”

            “The new heir?! Are you telling me Jen is the normal girl who has accepted to become the new princess or what?!” Matt said. He burst into flames and Winny closed her eyes.

            “I am afraid so, but it is her decision to stay to protect the world of Echoville or not. May you convince her, then she’ll reconsider.”

            “But these Halflings…” Matt grinned.

            “We can take care of them. You go on ahead into the center of this village and tell her.” Winny smiled. Matt was concerned about Winny and Santi’s safety.

            Matt took a step away from Vialaro, “Winny, I don’t know you that much, and you sometimes may be kind of strange, but I should trust you for helping us this much. You’re Santi’s friend too, so I have to respect you. Thank you, Winny. I’ll be off. See ya too, Santi!”

            Santi nodded, “Shirley left me to fight this guy alone so I’m used to another person leaving me. This will be no problem anyway. Come on Winny, we’ll take them on!”

            “Right!” Winny agreed.

 ~~~

            Miss Siren stood up and headed for Shirley’s cage. “Now, what will it be?” Shirley was still in tears. She was shaking and Miss Siren said to Mariel and Danny, “Sacrifice this young girl here, or save your world?”

            Mariel thought about it for awhile. “If we choose to sacrifice her, when will you do so?”

            Shirley grabbed onto the bars, “Mariel, what are you saying?!”

            Danny tugged onto Mariel’s shirt, “Yeah, what are you saying? That doesn’t sound like you at all!”

            Mariel pushed Danny onto the ground, “Shut up! I know what’s better for us. Now tell me, when will you sacrifice Shirley?”

            Miss Siren giggled, “After everything is done. All of the rituals and such. Once I reach the top and confirm that Revel is complete, I will come back and this girl will be deceased right here.”

            Mariel closed her eyes, “Fine. If we’re all safe and sound besides her and that we get to keep our world in one piece, then that is fine to me.”

            Shirley screamed, “NOO!! Noo!!! Mariel… Mariel…!!!” She began crying out loud.

            Mariel pointed at Yessenia, “First, free her!”

            Miss Siren sighed, “Very well. She is not part of our sacrificial burial anyway.” Miss Siren aimed her hand at Yessenia and a large beam flew towards her.

            Danny ducked away from the beam and so did Mariel. It took almost ten seconds for the completion. Nothing seemed to change, however. Danny said with a stuttering tone, “W-W-What happened?”

            Mariel sighed, “We have to wait until Santi arrives and fixes her as well. He froze her.”

            Miss Siren headed for the room up above. Levi grabbed onto Miss Siren, “I can’t let you go! Don’t you get it? The future is in danger because of you! You’re a monster!”

            Miss Siren pushed her down, “Stop being such a burden. I know what is right for Echoville.”

            Shirley held tightly onto the bars, “Wait… please…” She slid to the floor, feeling as if there was no hope left. “Why would you do this, Mariel? Why did you accept the offer?”

            Mariel sat down. “Because, I have high hopes.”

            Danny questioned her, “High hopes of what?”

            Mariel answered them both, “I have high hopes… that our friends will come for us before Siren reaches the confirmation. I just… have a feeling it will happen!”

 ~~~

            Winny was facing Vialaro. “Don’t underestimate me because I am a girl. That wouldn’t be so exciting, would it?”

            “Sure, but I would not underestimate anybody until it is proven. Even if you are a woman, I will still treat you the same as anybody else.”

            “Hmph, fine with me. Heh.” Winny decided to make the first move. She headed for Vialaro with a fist. Vialaro aimed his sniper at her and he pulled a trigger. Winny strengthened her fists so that the bullets would not affect her as much. She eventually reached up to Vialaro, trying to give him a few punches. Vialaro only guarded himself with his sniper.

            “Oh? I see now. You are a woman of superhuman strength. Strengthening your arms would be easy for you to guard against even gunshots.” Said Vialaro.

            “You know so well!” Winny said with no surprise.

            Santi tried to speed time against Olom when Olom slashed the air. Olom jumped up and he actually threw his steel sword at Santi. Santi was about to slow down the sword but he was surprised to see that the sword elongated itself towards Santi at tremendous speed. Santi barely avoided it, with the sword slashing through his shoulder. Olom stood on the ground and he laughed, “Bah hah! You didn’t see that one coming, did you?”

            Santi grabbed onto his left shoulder, “Damn it… you are just full of surprises.” Santi was still able to fight. He threw his scimitar towards Olom. Olom easily waited to guard with his steel sword and Santi sped the time of the scimitar’s aim. The sword pushed against Olom’s steel sword as strong as it could due to its speed and Olom fell over. “I am not done yet!” Santi slowed Olom’s body completely and Santi grabbed his scimitar. Santi jumped on top of Olom while he was still slow. Santi punched Olom over twenty times and then he moved away. From a distance, Santi decided it was best to not just fix time on Olom, but to speed him up so the damage is doubled. Once Olom was sped, he made the ground crack. Olom fainted from a large amount of pain and Santi sighed. “That was quite fun.”

            While Vialaro constantly avoided Winny’s punches, he took sight of Lamia and Olom who have fallen. “(I am the last Halfling still standing. All of them have been pathetic.)” Vialaro and Winny were close now. Vialaro guarded with his sniper and Winny’s fist was forced against the sniper. They were shaking, hoping to push one another back. Vialaro kicked Winny on the foot and Winny fell over. It was the first time for Winny to fall back and mess up her battle tactic.

            Vialaro moved away and he aimed his sniper at her. He saw Santi about to use his time powers on the sniper. Vialaro then took sight of the darkness up above the headquarters. Vialaro closed his eyes. “Tch.” Vialaro decided to take out three smoke bombs and Winny and Santi were not able to see anymore for the time being.

            Santi yelled, “Damn! We cannot let that sniper get away!”

 ~~~

            “Wait just there!!” Matt yelled from behind the room where Shirley sat. Mariel turned to the door behind her.

            “Is that…?” Mariel said slowly.

            Matt barged through the door and he said angrily, “JEN!!!!”

            “Jen?! Where?” Danny exclaimed.

            Matt pointed at the door up ahead, “How close am I to the balcony? Jen is up there!”

            Shirley said in awe, “Matt, you’re here!” She pointed at the room above her, “I think she’s right up there. Please, hurry. Siren might be at the top!”

            Levi opened the door for Matt, “Yes, please hurry. Miss Siren is a bad woman!”

            Matt remembered Levi from outside of the hidden village. It seems now that Levi is on human side. Matt gave her a thumbs up, “Alright, thanks! Heh!” He ran up to the next room.

 ~~~

            Miss Siren reached the balcony and she said to Revel who was two times larger than any human. Jen was standing next to Miss Siren in the winds. “What should I do next, Miss Siren?” Jen asked kindly.

            Miss Siren giggled, “That will be all for now. Just wait right there while I speak to him.” She was walking closer to Revel. “Ah, the time has finally come…”

            Matt broke the balcony door below Siren and Jen, “JEN!! SIREN! Stop what you’re doing!”

            Jen gasped, “M-MATT?!”

            Miss Siren turned around and gave a bratty expression, “Tch! What in the world is going on? How did you get here?!”

            Eventually, Vialaro arrived behind Matt as well. Matt turned around, “(Damn! What the heck?)”

            Winny knew that she could not follow exactly where Vialaro went. She punched a hole above her next to the balcony entrance to reach the top as well. “Matt, you must stop Jen!”

            Jen was frowning. “You guys… why? What’s going on? The world of Echoville might be in danger if I don’t fix this now and you guys are interrupting me!”

            Matt was concerned about what happened to Santi and Olom but Matt decided to ask Jen first, “What do you think you’re doing? This woman is a bad woman.” He pointed at Miss Siren.

            “How is she bad? She is going to protect the whole world of Echoville.”

            “You think this is some kind of game? Some kind of fantasy? We’re being serious here, Jen! No one that we know of is a princess. It’s all just an illusion that this world has brought upon us.”

 ~~~

            Down below, Santi unfroze Yessenia. Yessenia fell flat onto the ground, grasping for air. Danny, Mariel, and Shirley were all happy to see her back to normal after so long. Levi stood there, happy to see that she is back to normal. Yessenia took a look around, “Where is this…?”

            Mariel shook Yessenia’s arms, “You’re okay! That’s good!”

            Danny hugged her, “I’m so happy to see you back to normal again!”

            Yessenia pushed him aside and gave a soft smile, “Relax, you guys. It is like you have not seen me in a long time.”

            Shirley yelled, “THAT’S SO TRUE!”

            “Anyway, what is going on?” Yessenia wondered.

            Mariel remembered that they have to reach the top. “We’re trying to get out of this cage but we’re stuck.”

            “Danny could not use his ground powers?”

            “No, that would make us fall to the bottom floor and we’ll be in severe pain.” Mariel said. Yessenia stood up and summoned her blunt sword.

            “Alright then. Stand aside everyone. I am going to break this cage open.” She focused on the cage and then she slashed it with her sword as strong as she can. The cage exploded open and the whole group screamed in happiness. All of them including Santi and Levi followed to the top.

 ~~~

            Matt said to Jen kindly, “Please, Jen, come back to us. You can’t trust this woman that you’ve only met for a little while. I’ve known you for more than eight years. I say it is safer for you to come back to us.”

            “Not yet. I want to finish helping Miss Siren first!” She became angry.

            Matt saw her anguished face. “Jen… Why are you like this?”

            Miss Siren giggled, “She’s already determined. So Jen, what will you do?”

         The balcony became quiet, with only the sound of wind pushing against them. “I… have decided that…”

  ~~~

---- Next chapter preview:

Matt: Next week on the volume finale... Jen! Wait, you've got to stop this! You don't know what Miss Siren could do to you.
Santi: It is too late! Miss Siren has made her last move.
ShirleyC: Wh-What is that?!
Yessenia: Everyone, move away! I will finish this off after all that bastard lady's done to me.
Jaime: Is the party over?
Mariel: Please, save us!
Danny: This is it, the final stage of Echoville, right?
Winny: Are we finished here?
Matt: And worst of all, how should I explain all this to Jen? Next time on episode 78, Matt vs Revel, the Last Stand!! 
ShirleyC: Everyone... thank you.

Go to Episode 78 - Matt vs Revel, the Last Stand! ->

Website 5.3, April 16, 2011

Today, I am featuring Website Version 5.3! It corresponds to March-April 2008.

School's back and class is as stressful as ever! I'm still trying to make the best out of it. I volunteered today at the Food Drive to pack food for poor families. I saw the line. They looked really poor. :( I saw some already getting huge cards of free food and it made me happy. I also hung out with a few Juniors. Pretty interesting how that's going to transition in my story in the future.

"The top has tabs for you to go through. The episode list, character list, etc.

My name is Matthew Tran and this is a story titled 'Fires of the Sky'. This was made out of boredom so I don't expect good grammar until later.

This story is about a boy named Matt who enters his first day of high school. However, once he steps in, an incident occurs minutes later behind the large gym of where he sat. As he goes outside, a huge commotion goes on about a fire and Matt tries to save his friend. He trips on a puddle of oil. Unfortunately, he faints from the harsh slipping that he had experienced. As he wakes up, he mentions the fire but his friends say none of that happened. As time goes by, Matt will experience his own powers, along with new friends who will have the same problem. What will Matt have to do?"

-I added episode 76. The 'Fires of the Sky' tab on top has episode 76 if you can't find it.
-Episodes 33-42 now have decreased amount of errors! Almost caught up. Awesome!
-Note: Please tell me any errors that you find! I will fix them.

Episode 76: Revel, the Long-Living Leader of All Captains

The continuance of war dreads on. There is more than just the history of Halflings within Echoville. It is Echoville itself that makes destiny so strange to nature. What buildings have been made fine by the jungle. Familiarity is the sheer importance of society. Now as the generation of eight students fight among twelve Halflings, it is time for the true judgment between childhood friendship. Oh, the kidnapping is a shame for the power wielders. The dangers of Echoville will not end. Students must fight for their lives, and of course, for one that had been through the ordeals of possession. There is a time limit. Will the remaining students reach the end…?

Episode 76 - Revel, the Long-Living Leader of All Captains

            Everyone was headed for the hidden village now. Levi and Mariel met up with Danny, Shirley, and the frozen ally, Yessenia. They all have a discussion with Lamia and Levi begs her to bring the humans into the headquarters. Lamia decides that this decision has nothing to do with her so she wants to take no blame if they get in trouble.

            At the start of the battle, there were only Olom and Santi who were face-to-face. Eventually, one by one, Vialaro, Matt, Winny, and Lamia appeared before them all. It was a three-on-three match between humans and Halflings.

            In the headquarters, the group arrived in Miss Siren’s ritual. She ended the dispute with a cage that surrounded the group into three sections. Levi was stuck with Miss Siren, Shirley was in her own cage, and the third cage consisted of Danny, Mariel, and Yessenia. Now it is time for the context to reveal itself by appearing as the actual scenery…

 ~~~

            Shirley placed her hands on her head. She fell to the ground, crying. “This can’t be… this can’t be happening! No!!”

            “Are you worried about something?” Miss Siren was concerned but she was still smiling without any further expressions.

            “Stop it! Uncage, now!” Shirley punched the floor.

            Mariel took a step forward, “S-Shirley, what’s wrong? Why are you overreacting?”

            Shirley took out the book from her pocket, “It’s the stupid context! It’s happening!” She threw the book at the edge of the cage and it made a clinking sound. She was this angry. “What’s strange is, I haven’t even seen this ‘normal girl’. That’s the only thing missing in this damn context!”

            “Normal girl? What are you talking about?” Danny asked.

            “Ah, she must be talking about the new heir up ahead. There is only one more room ahead of us before it reaches the balcony. That young woman is on her way to the balcony to finish the ritual. I am working on the reincarnation.”

            Levi seemed a bit confused about this. “Reincarnation?”

            “Yes, you’ve seen it already, have you not, Levi?”

            Miss Siren pointed at the ground below Levi. Levi took a peek and she could see the face of Revel, the man who protected the Halflings from humans with giant bombs that killed all humans at one point. “So this really IS Revel! But why? Why would you create another life form of Revel? He’s from the past. You can’t just bring him back.”

            “It is working just fine. Many things are going on at once but since you are all stuck, I might as well tell you the situation. Now… Look here. This is where you will all perish by the hands of Revel. Another normal human has gained enormous power recently and he is down below, wandering about the hidden village. The young woman is just above us, completing the ritual. Do you know what happens then?” Everyone was waiting for her to answer her own question. “With the remaining Halflings and the two humans and Revel, we will be able to discover how to make all of the dead become reborn!”

            Danny jumped, “Whoa that sounds awesome!”

            Mariel punched him on the face, “No it doesn’t! Don’t you get it? If they learn that, then such power would be abused and this urge to revive everyone is only going to exponentially grow. In the long run, everyone will end up fighting each other for the cure and the whole world would burst into a bunch of overloading people. That’s not a good idea.”

            Miss Siren glared at them, “Do you dare defy the revival of Revel? We can limit this power so that not everyone will be able to use it. We can complete the wilderness as well. All animals will be revived except the lions which ate all of the smaller life forms!”

            “Lions? Why just lions?” Mariel asked.

            “Eventually as the millenniums will go by, lions will make many animals extinct. We want a well rounded wilderness!” Miss Siren smiled. “Does this sound like a problem to you?!”

            Shirley screamed, “That sounds like what El Monte has turned into!”

            “Then… if we stop her, our world of El Monte can be saved?” Danny questioned them.

            “It is an act of selfishness for us… Saving the wilderness sounds more proper than killing the population just to keep El Monte. If we save the wilderness, El Monte may not be El Monte anymore and we might live a different life. None of us humans would even exist if we agree to help Miss Siren… This is where fate comes in. I finally get it now.”

 ~~~

            Lamia swung and slid her tail under Winny but Winny jumped up and she gave a strong punch, squashing Lamia’s tail. Lamia bounced around in pain. Winny crossed her arms, “Hmph, this seems a bit too easy for some reason. Are you fighting properly?”

            Lamia’s eyes became flames, “Peh! Don’t you mock me now!” Lamia made her nails grow longer, “This is not the end!”

            Olom and Santi were on a draw. They both clung their swords against each other and it was all a matter of strength on who can last. It turns out that Olom had more strength to push Santi down onto the ground. Olom pointed his sword at Santi, “How simple can you be without physical strength?”

            “Heh! I do not need physical strength! You let your guard down.” Santi quickly slowed time on the sword and the spell was reaching Olom’s hands. Olom tried to let go of his sword but it was a little too late. By the time Olom dropped the swords, it was only his hands that were slowed. Olom’s body was pretty much stuck because of this. Santi took a step back after getting up. “You’re out of ideas now aren’t you?” Olom was facing forward with his sword slowly, but strongly pushing against the air in front of him. “When I snap my fingers, you will move at an extreme speed and this will cause you to uncontrollable fall real fast.”

            Olom gasped in fear. “W-What? Stop it!”

            Santi said quietly, “Haste.” Santi snapped his finger and Olom fell to the ground at a quick speed, causing him to fall onto the ground with great force. “Heh, nice isn’t it?”

            Matt threw fireballs at Vialaro but Vialaro only shot them down. The fireballs exploded in midair. Matt glided into the air which Vialaro could not do. Vialaro aimed his sniper at Matt, “I can still get you from down her. Do not think you have an advantage.”

            Matt clenched his teeth, “I wasn’t thinking that. It doesn’t matter to me. I know how strong you are!”

            “How would you know that?” Vialaro said in wonder.

            “The way you look is kinda scary. Of course you’d be strong!”

            Vialaro rolled his eyes, “What in the hell kind of reasoning is that?” Vialaro pulled the trigger and Matt glided away.

            Winny was easily playing with Lamia. Lamia kept clawing against Winny but Winny turned into her giddy form to smoothly slide away form all of Lamia’s attacks. “So is this your defense style or what?!”

            Winny giggled, “Yeah, of course! Heehee!~”

            “You’re pissing me off!” Now that Lamia knows Winny is in her giddy mode, Lamia could have an advantage by swinging her tail again. This time since her tail is large, Winny’s smooth slides won’t make it. Lamia swung her tail and Winny became serious. Winny punched the tail again and Lamia fell over.

            “You’re thinking straight into my plan, ugly snake.” Winny ran towards Lamia and she gave a pack of punches all over Lamia. Eventually, Lamia was faining. Winny got on top of Lamia and she raised her fist over Lamia’s face, “Here’s the last one, surprise!” Winny punched Lamia on the face and Lamia fainted.

 ~~~

             Miss Siren walked over to Revel’s face on the ground, “Levi, why don’t you go with me? Together, we can create Revel all over again and we’ll make sure that the future will hold any peaceful resources!”

            The group did not know what to say. Mariel took a step forward, “Now hold on a minute! I choose to stop you!”

            “Didn’t you mention what fate wanted us to do? We have to choose carefully, Mariel!” Danny said in fear.

            “I know what the right choice is! Don’t you get it? Fate is testing our ability to think of our future. Sure, El Monte and Earth has a lot of flaws right now but we are all still living and it seems that even after millenniums, we could still last long! We shouldn’t take risks to change the future into something such as what Miss Siren wants.”

            Miss Siren turned around and said, “Alright, if you love your world so much… I will make a deal.” Everyone became silent again. Shirley was shaking. “If I sacrifice this girl, you will get your world back.” Miss Siren started walking towards Shirley.

            “No… no. This can’t be happening.” Shirley said. She crawled and leaned against the opposite end of the cage from Miss Siren. “You can’t do that…!”

            “Why not? You’re just one person. If your friends have to choose from saving a world over a single girl, then which one would they choose? If I were them, I’d choose to save a world that consists of billions and billions of people, no?”

            Shirley did not know what to say anymore. Mariel yelled, “You’re just playing dirty now!”

            “Which one should we choose?” Danny shook.

            “WHY ARE YOU THINKING?! You shouldn’t even be second-guessing this. This offer of yours should not even be existent. What will you gain if I am sacrificed for our world? You might as well leave things the way they are now.” said Shirley in determination.

            Levi said to Miss Siren, “M-Maybe they are right, Miss Siren. We don’t really know what might happen if we have the ability to revive people. What if this gets exploited to people in this world once we revive them? There might be a lot of disputes.”

            “Are you resenting me?” Miss Siren said angrily. This is a rare moment where Levi could see Miss Siren become frustrated and angry. Miss Siren pushed Levi down and she decided to stand above Revel’s face on the ground, “I will prove to you that this will be better for Echoville. Come forth, o divine hero of thy Halflings, retrieve us the soul that was once Revel’s and make anew!”

            Shirley screamed, “What?!”

            Mariel watched in awe, “T-This can’t be!”

            “Finally, the time has come for us to see what Revel can offer to us! Along with the strongest companions that I have now, there’s no way I can be stopped! Discard the weak, in with the strong.”

            Levi clenched her fists, “What?! Does that mean you don’t care about the other Halflings that risked their lives to protect the village?!”

            “Hmph. Would you like to know something, Levi?” Levi listened carefully. “Can you tell that I am clearly alive today? Do you see how much of a leader I am shown as to all the other Halflings?” Levi waited until Miss Siren reached her point. “I was reincarnated. Do you recognize me?”

            Levi stared carefully until her eyes turned completely wide. “You’re… YOU’RE…!! My mother!”

            Miss Siren closed her eyes and tears came out. “Yes, I waited for a day for you to find out yourself. It was difficult for me to tell you before. The truth is, I have adopted you because both your parents had died as hostage from humans. My real daughter is Marri. Don’t you remember my blonde hair from before I died?”

            Levi gasped, “Y-Yes, I do! Then why… why would you do this? Who reincarnated you?!”

            Miss Siren continued, “I was also the one who helped Shuttle after I died. His mother was actually Sudharma who had been constantly reincarnated. You can tell that parts of her skin had been peeled off. This is why she is our ancient dancer who knows most about Echoville’s history. Everyone of us Halflings are at least connected to each other, Levi. This is why I want to gain a close bond with Revel. I want to find out more about the history of Echoville through Revel. He’s the one that actually gives the hopes of those in Echoville!”

            Levi clenched her fists, “No, you’re not my mother! Not anymore! My mother would NEVER do this. She wouldn’t mindlessly recreate Halflings like this. She would know better.”

            “Look at me, Levi, my dear daughter. How am I not your mother? The only thing that’s changed is my hair color, eye color, and skin color.”

            “Right now, you’re just a monster just like any other reincarnated being! I cannot take this any longer!” She ran towards Shirley’s cell and she took out her bazooka, “I’m going to free these humans immediately. You really had no reason to kill humans, did you?! You just made us believe that humans were bad so that us Halflings can rule the nation of Echoville. That’s just selfish!” She said to Shirley, “Move aside!” Shirley gasped and jumped to the edge of her cage.

            Miss Siren stopped her, “What do you think you’re doing?! Revel is already in the process of being reborn. You’re moments too late, Levi.”

         Levi froze in hopelessness, “W-What?” Miss Siren began laughing evilly and there was nothing that could be done…

  ~~~

---- Next chapter preview:

Matt: Next week on episode 77... Jaime is finally back from who knows where! This is it. Almost all of us finally have the chance to reach Miss Siren. We need everything to be fixed so that we can go back home!
ShirleyC: This is dangerous, guys. We're stuck in a cage so what else can we do now?
Santi: The important thing to do now is to catch up with the group. We have no time to waste around here.
Mariel: If courage is all we need, then we will get the courage! One damn lady isn't going to take control of all of our lives.
Danny: B-But it worked on Yessenia!
Mariel: Oh shut up!
Matt: J-Jen...? Next time on episode 77, Jen's Decision of the Heir!
Winny: What's the big idea?

Go to Episode 77 - Jen's Decision of the Heir ->

Website 5.2, April 9, 2011

Today, I am featuring Website Version 5.2! It corresponds to March-April 2008.

Spring Break is ending, noooo! Oh well. Lots of things are going on and I'll be busy until after early May. But I'll still have time to update and luckily I made episodes ahead of time. I'm good up until the end of May when it comes to publishing new episodes!

"The top has tabs for you to go through. The episode list, character list, etc.

My name is Matthew Tran and this is a story titled 'Fires of the Sky'. This was made out of boredom so I don't expect good grammar until later.

This story is about a boy named Matt who enters his first day of high school. However, once he steps in, an incident occurs minutes later behind the large gym of where he sat. As he goes outside, a huge commotion goes on about a fire and Matt tries to save his friend. He trips on a puddle of oil. Unfortunately, he faints from the harsh slipping that he had experienced. As he wakes up, he mentions the fire but his friends say none of that happened. As time goes by, Matt will experience his own powers, along with new friends who will have the same problem. What will Matt have to do?"

-I added episodes 74 and 75. The 'Fires of the Sky' tab on top has episodes 74 and 75 if you can't find it.
-Note: Please tell me any errors that you find! I will fix them.

Episode 75: A Three on Three Match, Who Will Last?

The continuance of war dreads on. There is more than just the history of Halflings within Echoville. It is Echoville itself that makes destiny so strange to nature. What buildings have been made fine by the jungle. Familiarity is the sheer importance of society. Now as the generation of eight students fight among twelve Halflings, it is time for the true judgment between childhood friendship. Oh, the kidnapping is a shame for the power wielders. The dangers of Echoville will not end. Students must fight for their lives, and of course, for one that had been through the ordeals of possession. There is a time limit. Will the remaining students reach the end…?

Episode 75 – A Three on Three Match, Who Will Last?

            Shirley was heading very closely towards the center of the hidden village of Echoville. On the way, she met the confused Olom who knew very well of Shirley being the ice princess. Santi arrived and he chose to battle Olom while Shirley chose to run away with her frozen possessed ally, Yessenia.

            Stan crossed by Danny at first but in an instant, Stan slashed him a few times with his sword. Later, Stan saw Lamia. Lamia decided that it was best to go to the headquarters but Stan refused. So, Lamia went on her own.

            Lastly, Matt and Shuttle ended their battle. It ended with a huge explosion that Matt had caused with the mixing of his fireballs along with the already inflamed Shuttle. Matt watched Shuttle burnt on the floor and realizes that Shuttle has had a rough life all this time…

 ~~~

            Shirley was on the side of the building. She waited until Lamia entered the headquarters which was the center of the hidden village. She could not just barge in before Lamia as things would get a bit dangerous for her. She scratched her head, wondering how to get in safely since going in through the front would be dangerous. “I shouldn’t go in directly, they’ll see me.” She took a step forward, thinking about where to go. “Alright, I think I have an idea- WHAT THE HELL?!” She watched as Danny was trying to walk in from the front. Shirley pointed and screamed at him, “What the heck do you think you’re doing?!”

            Danny fell on his knees, “This place… is where we can meet the leader…!”

            Shirley placed her hands on her hips, “That’s stupid of you to just barge in through the front, especially if you’re all cut up like that. What happened to you?”

            “That Stan guy… Matt’s best friend… he’s here…”

            Shirley froze in surprise. “(WHAT?! H-How can this be?!)” She dragged Yessenia closer, “Look, I bet that ugly snake lady saw you.”

            “What was that?!” screamed a voice from inside the building.

            “Shit!” Shirley froze again in a panic. She gained goose bumps that ran through her body. “We’re in deep trouble now. Thanks Danny!”

            Lamia appeared with her snake body. “How did you two get this far?! I thought the other Halflings stopped you by now.”

            “Well I’m that strong.~” Shirley flattered herself.

            Danny looked away, “That’s such a lie.” Shirley slapped him.

            “Do you want anymore scares, HUH?!”

            Lamia said angrily, “Hello?!~ I’m still here. You two-…”

            “Three.” Danny corrected her as he pointed at Yessenia.

            “Three… will die right here on this very spot!!” Lamia was about to spin her tail but someone called for her name.

            “Lamia! Lamiaaa!!”

            “Who in the world?!” Lamia stopped. She took sight of who was screaming for her name. “I-Is that… Levi?! Why in the world is she running with a human?! Who is that woman?”

            Danny screamed in happiness, “Mariel!”

            Shirley was excited as well. “You’re alive, I’m surprised!”

            “What did you say? Like, of course I’m alive!” Mariel giggled. Levi was next to Mariel and they had arrived together.

            Levi said to Lamia, “Lamia, please. Don’t hurt these people. Mariel promised that they will leave right after we fix her friend from being possessed.” Levi took sight of Yessenia, “Ah, that must be her! Please, Lamia, we have to do this. Let’s trust these humans, just this once.”

            Lamia slapped Levi so hard that Levi fell to the ground with a red hand mark on her face. “DON’T BE STUPID! Do you know how many times we’ve trusted these damn humans?! All the time in the past and not a single moment have they done something nice for us until the very end. These humans are already bad. How the hell do you think they got here in the hidden village in the first place when Miss Siren sent all the Halflings to protect the outer area of the jungle? These humans must have defeated and possibly killed all of them!”

            Levi touched her face. It burnt. “Lamia… but-…”

            “But nothing! Listen, you were ordered to protect the jungle, not bring humans into the village. Miss Siren just ordered me a few minutes ago that I must go out to the front and stop those who continue to fight. They’re a threat to us! All the sudden, these three humans-…”

            “Four.” Danny corrected again, adding Mariel into the count.

            “Oh you shut the hell up.” Lamia said angrily. “These humans just appeared out of nowhere. Now I have to take care of them, delaying the order that Miss Siren gave to me.”

            Levi interrupted Lamia, “Then I’ll take then to Miss Siren. I’ll have a talk with her. You do what she ordered you to do. I’ll go in myself and I will take all the blame if Miss Siren yells at me for bringing four humans to the headquarters. I can tell her that we did not see you on the way here so it wouldn’t be your fault at all.”

            Lamia was silent. After a few seconds, Lamia closed her eyes, “Fine. But remember, all the blame goes to you, Levi! It is your responsibility and choice to trust those damn humans.” She walked away and the group of three along with Levi watched her leave.

            Shirley was worried, “Is it okay to leave her like that?”

            Levi said to her, “It’s okay. I trust you guys.”

            “Already?” Danny questioned her. Shirley punched Danny on the top of his head.

            Levi nodded, “Of course. If otherwise, you guys would have been attacking Lamia by now. Right now, we have something important to do. We’re going to get this girl to Miss Siren and I will hope to persuade her to fix your friend. Then, you guys can leave immediately. I really don’t want to kick you guys out so fast, but please understand that it is for the sake of Miss Siren.”

            Mariel nodded, “Yeah, we understand. Let’s go!” Mariel was determined to go into the headquarters now that she has allies to go with her.

 ~~~

            From one side of Olom and Santi, Vialaro appeared in the dark mist. His hat covered his face so both Olom and Santi could not see his expression. Olom was in fear. “Geh- V-Vialaro!”

            Santi turned to Vialaro, “Eh? What is with him?”

            “The number one rank between all Halflings, Vialaro, the sniper!!”

            “He is on your side. Why would you be scared?”

            “He takes down anyone who gets in his way. This includes those who are useless to him!” Olom said.

            Vialaro arrived and he was a few meters away from the two of them, “Hmph. I see this man made it this far as well.”

            Santi questioned him, “As well? Who do you mean?”

            From afar, they could hear a voice growing louder and louder. “I’m…” they all heard. “Almost…!” The voice got louder and they could see Matt running down the road towards them. “THERE!!!!” As Matt got close, he tripped and fell. “Bluh!”

            “Well played.” Winny clapped her hands. She was sitting by a building all this time.

            Santi gasped. “When did you get here?!”

            “I was always here, heh heh.” Winny was giggling.

            Lamia appeared from the distance as well. She was slapping the ground with her tail since she was very angry with the situation between Levi and the humans. “Those damn good-for-nothing humans! Wait until I give them a piece of my mind later. Ugh!” She looked up ahead and saw Olom, Santi, Vialaro, Matt and Winny. “Oh goodness.”

            “Well, well, it looks like the gang is all here.” Winny said in a joke. “I didn’t think I’d find other people from my school. I wonder where Jen went. Oh well.”

            Matt jumped in surprise. “Jen?! What are you talking about?”

            “Oh, I guess I never mentioned it to you since it’s the first time I’ve seen you and Santi here since a long time ago.” She crossed her arms, “Your little friend ran off and I guess she might become the new heir of Echoville. Remember the context?”

            Matt remembered exactly how it went. Shirley was kidnapped and a normal girl who appeared out of nowhere became the replacement. The normal girl revealed to be Jen at this point. Matt was surprised to find out about this. “Then where is Jen and Shirley?”

            “Who knows.” Winny shrugged.

            “Shirley went off with Yessenia towards the headquarters.” Santi answered.

            “Headquarters?!” Olom said in a panic.

            Vialaro closed his eyes, “Hmph. From the looks of it, there are not that many humans.” He thought of Mariel who was shot along with Levi, Danny, who fought against Toppo when the three of them met, Jaime, towards the edge of the hidden village, Matt, Santi, and Winny whom are in front of them, and Shirley and Yessenia who were mentioned from Santi. “Eight. Is that right?”

            Matt decided to run off towards the large building that he could see from a distance, “Then all we have to do is stop Jen and Shirley!”

            Vialaro gave a gunshot in front of Matt’s face with his sniper. Matt made a quick stop and Vialaro said with a blunt tone, “Your opponent is us.”

            Matt turned to Vialaro and he clenched his teeth. “Tch, I don’t have time for this. Who’s left in that building?!”

            “Let us be honest.” Vialaro said. “Just Miss Siren. However, you should not underestimate her power.”

            Lamia agreed, “Yeah, you don’t know how she can easily take your friends as hostage.”

            Vialaro closed his eyes, “So, the chance of your friends surviving that area is… zero.”

            Matt’s eyes grew angry and his whole body was shaking in anguish. “Damn you…! How dare you talk about my friends like that as if they’re nothing!” Matt ran towards Vialaro with a flaming fist. Vialaro aimed his sniper at Matt and he pulled the trigger. Santi used his time powers to stop the bullet.

            “Oh boy, this is not turning out well.” Santi said. “(I can only slow down one person at a time. I have to choose well. Normally I would say the sniper guy, but who knows how strong the other two are regardless of rank.)”

            Olom slashed the air with his steel sword towards Santi, “You irritate me!” Santi jumped away from the wind.

            Matt went ahead and ran towards Vialaro again. Lamia wanted to help protect Vialaro but Winny stood in front of her. “Where do you think you’re going? Two against one would not be fair, right? Hmhm.”

            “Tch! Whatever.” Lamia said.

            Vialaro pulled the trigger again and this time Matt created a fire shield. The gunshot exploded with the shield and Matt was only slightly inflicted since Matt was part fire due to his fire powers. Vialaro began chuckling, “Ah, hahahah, you are one interesting little fellow. No one would be able to avoid my quick-paced sharp-shooting.”

            Matt stood there. He wiped the sweat off his own forehead, “It’s too bad I am part fire. Your gunshot power is reduced by probably half or more depending on how well I can embrace your attacks.”

            Santi and Olom continued to sword-fight with each other. Santi was not given enough time to slow him down. “(Damn! All I actually need is time.)”

 ~~~

            In the headquarters, Shirley, Danny, Mariel, and Levi were heading up the stairs with Levi leading the way and Danny dragging Yessenia along. Levi pointed, “Just up there is the ritual! I get the feeling Miss Siren is there praying!” Everyone was ready to barge in. In an instant, Levi opened the door with her shoulder and so did everyone else.

            The room was quiet and they could only see Miss Siren surrounded by candles. “What is this?” Mariel questioned.

            Levi opened her arms out in front of the group indicating that only she herself can go forward. “Miss Siren.” Levi alerted her.

            Miss Siren opened her eyes slowly and she turned over to the group with a smile. Everyone gained shivers knowing full well that Miss Siren was stronger than any Halfling out there. “Ah, Levi, what a pleasant surprise that you are safe.” She stood up, “What brings you here along with those humans? It confuses me so.”

            “M-Miss Siren, I would like you to return this girl into her normal state. From there, these humans will promise to leave.”

            “I am afraid I cannot do that.”

            “Eugh, her words scare me already!” Shirley gained goose bumps again.

            “Are we gonna die?” Danny asked innocently.

            Siren giggled and said, “Take a look at this, dear Levi.” She pointed at the ritual and Levi could see a face engraved on the floor.

            Levi opened her eyes wide and her mouth was gaping in surprise. “I-Is this…!”

            Miss Siren moved aside so that Levi could take a look at the ritual. Shirley came closer to Siren, “Help our friend, please!”

            Miss Siren placed a cage around the edges of the room and another to divide the group into three. Levi was in Siren’s cage with the ritual, Shirley was in her own, and Danny, Mariel, and Yessenia were in the first cage closest to the previous door. “I will not allow anyone to take another step into the ritual.”

         Shirley took a look around, “What?! B-But!” She suddenly froze. Her heart was beating faster. “This… scenery…!” She said slowly. “It’s just like… the context!”

  ~~~

---- Next chapter preview:

Matt: Next week on episode 76... One of our groups are stuck in a cage! Augh, this can't be.
ShirleyC: This is just like the context isn't it?
Danny: This is exciting!
Mariel: Okay get real, bastard! We're about to get stuck here forever and we could just die in here unless we become cannibals and I'm not up for eating people. Stand back people, water should break the cage!
ShirleyC: Water? You're the last one that should even try...
Santi: Do not make a mistake right now!
Winny: Oh please.
Matt: All six characters are in a huge crisis now. Only three more episodes remain for Echoville but will they make it in time? Will they accomplish everything they could? Next time on episode 76, Revel, the Long-Living Leader of All Captains!
Mariel: HIYAH!!! ... Water didn't work.
ShirleyC: Told you.
Mariel: Well who asked you?!

Go to Episode 76 - Revel, the Long-Living Leader of All Captains ->

Episode 74: The Rule of Survival, Stan Appears!

The continuance of war dreads on. There is more than just the history of Halflings within Echoville. It is Echoville itself that makes destiny so strange to nature. What buildings have been made fine by the jungle. Familiarity is the sheer importance of society. Now as the generation of eight students fight among twelve Halflings, it is time for the true judgment between childhood friendship. Oh, the kidnapping is a shame for the power wielders. The dangers of Echoville will not end. Students must fight for their lives, and of course, for one that had been through the ordeals of possession. There is a time limit. Will the remaining students reach the end…?

Episode 74 – The Rule of Survival, Stan Appears!

            Last time, Mariel and Levi meet again by the edge of the hidden village of Echoville. Levi offers to help Mariel find Miss Siren, the Halfling leader in hopes for Mariel to save Yessenia who is possessed.

            Matt begins to fight against Shuttle but he is only struggling. He does not seem to know of a way to fight back.

            Shirley and Pippy began their fateful battle against each other at the edge of the hidden village. With great ideas, Shirley decides to shatter her own boulder of ice and she calls it an Icicle Rain. With this, Pippy faints and Shirley wins, allowing her to enter the hidden village.

            Jaime and Vialaro fight as well, however Jaime is only playing with him. Vialaro is fast, and even when Jaime tries to blind him, Vialaro is able to know where Jaime is going. Vialaro senses that only four of the twelve Halflings remain and that there are anonymous humans entering the village now. In response, Vialaro wishes to not spend anymore time around Jaime as there are more important matters for him to worry about.

            In the end, Danny is the first to wander around the hidden village among his friends but it was unfortunate to meet Stan who was resting on top of the building. What is Stan up to lately…?

 ~~~

            Shirley saw a huge building at the very center of the hidden village. Shirley took a stop and she watched it carefully. “Oh my gosh, don’t tell me that is the place? I am so close to reaching that place, at last.” She gave herself a smile and she continued on down the road.

            As she got closer and closer, there was a strange essence nearing. Shirley could feel it but she tried to ignore what was coming closer. Eventually, a strong wind pushed her back. She fell on her behind and she looked ahead of herself. Olom jumped from the top of a building. He had a steel sword which was the possible reason why Shirley was pushed back by wind. A slash of air was strong enough to make her fall over. “Welcome, young woman.”

            Shirley clenched her fists. “(Damn it. My luck has just run out. I first fought against a little girl, and then a little animal. All the sudden I meet some huge guy that looks very intimidating.)” She felt that Olom was especially intimidating because of the sunglasses. She could not see his eyes but his face was dead serious.

            All the sudden, the lenses on Olom’s glasses fell and Olom panicked, “Aiy, my lens! They fell!” Shirley saw that his eyes were hysterical and blank.

            “(Or he’s not so scary after all…)” Shirley rolled her eyes.

            Olom jumped off the building to find the lens on the floor. When his shoes reached the floor, he accidentally stepped on the lens. “GAHH! I think I stepped on them, oh no!” Shirley tried to ignore him. She ran off to the side in hopes of reaching the center building through another route. “Hold it there, missy!” Olom could not see her. He was talking to nothing, it seemed to Shirley.

            Shirley slowly created a giant piece of ice and she threw it at his bald head. She noticed that he had a cat headgear, “I can’t take you seriously like this. Oh my gosh…” She decided to leave once Olom fainted from the strong fall of the block of ice.

 ~~~

            Danny pointed at Stan who was at the top of the giant building, “Aren’t you the guy I’ve seen around at school? You’re Matt’s best friend!”

            “Best friend? Since when anymore?” Stan crossed his arms.

            “What are you talking about? He still considers you a best friend.”

            “We haven’t talked to each other in a long time. But that doesn’t matter. I have something more fun to do here in this world of Echoville. With my tremendous power, I can do whatever I want!” Stan opened his arms and he began laughing.

            “Power? What power?” Danny questioned.

            Stan gave Danny a grin and he said, “Look!” Stan summoned an armor that surrounded his body, “I can create any type of armor for myself. Not only that, I can do something else too.”

            Danny smiled, “That’s awesome! You get to summon armor!”

            “Exactly, hah hah!!”

            “Since you’re a ruler of Echoville, can you help me with something? I want to help fix my friend, Yessenia. I don’t know how to fix her but she’s possessed.”

            Stan suddenly stopped laughing and then he glared at Danny, “Eh? You are more interested in helping your friend rather than seeing my awesome power?”

            “I like your power. I just came here to do something for my friend. Please, you’ve got to help me.”

            “That Yessenia girl, is she Matt’s friend?”

            “Yeah, he is.”

            “Then I won’t help!” Stan turned away. He had a cape on.

            Danny gasped, “What?! Why? You can help Yessenia for me, it doesn’t matter if it’s for Matt or not. I want to fix her and turn her back to normal. Tell me how to fix her!”

            Stan turned back to Danny and he summoned a large sword, “You shut the hell up! Don’t give me orders. This world is mine!” Stan flew down smoothly with the help of his cape. “I see you don’t think I’m capable of taking care of a whole land.”

            Danny took a step back. He began shaking, “W-Wait a minute. I never said that. I-I think you can handle it easily!” Stan continued walking with his sword in hand. “Are you possessed?”

            “Why would you think that?” Stan licked the edge of his sword.

            “You wouldn’t go this far into killing me, would you?” Danny was shaking uncontrollably. It was quite obvious that he was scared of Stan.

            Stan clenched onto his sword, “I am not possessed. Do you think I’m crazy now or what? It is insulting!” Stan ran quickly towards Danny.

            Danny tried to raise the ground level in front of him to protect himself. Stan easily slashed through it. Danny watched Stan in midair right in front of him, “Wahh!!”

            Stan went ahead and slashed Danny. Danny gained a few cuts around his body and he fell to the ground in pain. Stan laughed, “Gah hah hah! Pain. I just love seeing you in pain!” Stan walked passed by Danny, “I won’t kill you yet. It’s worse for you if you feel the pain rather than dying instantly, don’t you agree? Now, show me the rest of them humans!”

            Danny coughed out blood and in his mind, he thought, “(Humans? Don’t tell me he has the heart of a Halfling!)”

 ~~~

            Shirley continued running towards the big building. She was about half a mile close to the building now. “Stop right there!” Olom screamed.

            Shirley stomped her foot, “Oh shit, he caught up! What now, what now… oh, I have an idea!” She suddenly fell to the ground and she stuck out her tongue along with giving a straight face. “Keekee…”

            Olom caught up with Shirley. “What the?! You have fallen, I can see!” Olom ran up to Shirley, “This is a sad predicament!” Olom placed his arms over Shirley and he began crying, “Wake up, wake up please!”

            Shirley thought in her mind, “(What the hell is wrong with this guy? He’s supposed to hate humans!)”

            “Please wake up, I don’t want you to die! I only want-…”

            “Really?!” She suddenly got up, “Phew…!”

            “…I meant to say I only wanted me to kill you.”

            “DAHHHH!!!!” Shirley screamed as loud as she could. “Get away, get away you dark-skinned crazy man! EEEYAHH!” She crawled further away from him as fast as she could, “And how are you able to see me?! Your lens are not there!”

            “I have contacts in my pocket…”

            “EEEYAHH!!! That’s even worse!” She stood up and became serious, “Anyhow, you’re going to fall by my ice again. Goodbye!” Shirley created a block of ice on her hand.

            Olom gasped, “Ice?! Are you…?!” Shirley stopped in confusion. Olom continued, “The… ice princess!”

            “Oh my gosh this guy is slow. Of course I’m a princess, I’m that pretty.” She began posing happily, “Thank you for recognizing me!~ No, no, that’s bad! Don’t you realize what will happen to the ice princess?!”

            “Ice princess, come with me!”

            “(He ignored what I just said!!)”

            “Please, ice princess!” Olom begged.

            “No way! If I do, then I’ll be stuck with you all as hostage and all my friends… they’ll… they’ll…! I just can’t accept this! Stay away from me!”

            Olom sped closer to Shirley. He grabbed her by the shoulders, “Don’t you know how important it is to return to our kingdom? We’re in deep trouble without you.”

            “Well technically I’m not the princess. It’s just part of the context’s plot until I leave. Just let me go! Let-… meeeeeee…. Goooooooooo…!!!!” Both of them became slow.

            Olom slowly turned to the side in anger. It was Santi who turned them slower. Santi gasped, “Ah, crap! I forgot that if I slow down someone like that guy while he is touching someone else, they will both have the same effect.” Santi fixed the time between Shirley and Olom.

            Shirley pushed Olom down, “Let me go!”

            Olom said to Santi, “And who might you be? Another human? Do not interfere.”

            Shirley said to Santi, “Santi, watch out, this guy might be dangerous!”

            “Do not worry. As long as we team up on him, we will be perfectly fine.”

            Shirley stole Yessenia from Santi and she dragged her along towards the tall building, “I’m leaving this guy to you! Good luck!”

            “WHAT THE HELL?! [Shirley in the distance: Oh my gosh, you’re heavy, Yessenia!]” Santi said in anguish. “Peh! Fine. I guess it is just me and you, big guy.”

            “I am a master of using steel swords. My name is Olom. Don’t just call me a big guy for nothing.”

            “That does not matter. What really matters if that I have to stop you.” Santi had the scimitar in one hand which he stole from Captain Silver and his palm ready on the other hand to bend time if needed.

 ~~~

            Down the road of which Stan was walking through, Lamia was running the opposite direction. She passed right by him and she stopped. “Hey, you’re Miss Siren’s underling, aren’t you?!”

            “Excuse me?”

            Lamia saw Stan’s glaring eyes. “Miss Siren wants all her helpers to return to the headquarters!”

            “I don’t need to follow orders. I’m going this way to show all of my classmates how strong I am. I’ll show Matt that I am not just any person to leave for ‘better’ friends.”

            “Matt? Who?”

            “Go.” Stan looked away and he continued walking.

            “Hmph, what a damn jerk.” Lamia said to herself but she addressed this to him. “Even though he is a human, Miss Siren has him under our possession now. I should not kill him. Right now, I am more interested in the new heir, Jeanette!”

 ~~~

            Shuttle flew down towards Matt with a blade. Matt said in his mind with a panic, “(WHAT NOW?! I’m gonna die!!!)” Matt closed his eyes and he gave a reflex of creating a fire shield. Of course, it may not work as it never did before while fighting Shuttle. Shuttle’s arm was burning against the flames since he did not hold back this time. He kept crushing through the shield and Matt opened one eye, checking to see if all went well. The force was becoming stronger and the ground was getting deeper under Matt.

            Matt clenched his teeth as hard as he can. If he became too exhausted, the fire shield would disperse and Shuttle would surely be able to stab Matt right on the chest. “Face your fate, you little runt!!” Matt noticed that his other hand was not occupied. It was only his left hand that was used as a shield. Matt used his right hand to throw a fireball right on Shuttle’s face. Shuttle jumped away and he squirmed on the floor in flames and pain. “AGH! What the hell?! Get this off of me!” Shuttle stood up and his arms and face was in flames.

            Matt quickly tried to get out of the hole that was created from the force that Shuttle had caused. Matt was trying to grasp for air, “Finally I’m out of there…!” Matt sat down because he was exhausted, “Ergh… I can’t last any longer…” Shuttle ran towards Matt even still in flames. Matt gasped, “How can he still keep going?!”

            Shuttle was too angry now. His anger had caused him to fight without thinking. Matt took a few steps back and he had both hands to cast more fireballs now. Shuttle yelled in a demonic tone, “Die, you flaming child!!!!”

            Matt closed his eyes and he created a big explosion by combining the forces of his fireballs. Shuttle was inflicted by the strong explosion and he fell on his back. This caused all of the previous flames to scatter and now Shuttle was burnt and steaming on the floor. Matt coughed because he lacked any more energy… “I-Is it all over…?”

         Matt walked up to Shuttle and he saw that Shuttle completely passed out. “I’m glad he’s not dead, I guess.” Matt sighed. “Still, it’s sad…” Matt remembered about what happened in Shuttle’s past. It was not pleasant for Shuttle and it was only because he was born different. “You could have been an amazing guy who would love humans instead of dread against them. I’m sorry if I ruined everything for you…” Matt truly felt bad for Shuttle… 

  ~~~

---- Next chapter preview:

Matt: Next time on episode 75... We're all in the hidden village of Echoville! Well, at least most of us. Hey wait, why is this village just as hectic as the jungle? The characters are all over the place!
ShirleyC: Hold Yessenia! She's too heavy.
Danny: Why me?! She's not that heavy!
ShirleyC: How dare you question my womanhood. To me, she's heavy. To you, it shouldn't be. Carry her!!
Mariel: W-w-w-wait! Don't forget me! Levi, please tell her to listen to us. We will not hurt you Halflings!
Matt: Santi!!! Finally!
Santi: Look out! There is no time to party.
Matt: Three humans meet together. Three Halflings meet together. But wait, the six of them are right next to each other? Next time on episode 75, A Three on Three Match, Who Will Last?!
Winny: This is strange.

Go to Episode 75 - A Three on Three Match, Who Will Last? ->