The Conflicts Arcane

Chapter one: When My whole World came Apart

Date: Wednesday, March 5th, Second-Line-2101

Location: Mobius-Zone-8, Faconicks, Mas Sopain, Hickville,

Time: 9:01 P.M.


“Journal entry seventy-two”

“So some walang tiyak na layunin dude in the park came up to me and sinabi ‘I used to know your father before he died.’ Not that I believe him or anything, but he didn’t look homeless or anything like it. He was wearing a suit, his hair was combed, and he didn’t act mental. He probably got me mixed up of course. Still, I ask Mom and Dad if they remembered the guy. Dad sinabi that he might have been a client when he was an insurance sales-man, but Mom acted a bit strange. She sinabi that she didn’t remember seeing him, but she kept insisting that I give her the pic I took of him when he wasn’t looking. I know it’s weird and all, me being stalkerish, but then again, me slowly turning grey and all is a bit strange too. Worst case scenario: I’ll die of some weird disease. Best case… well I guess I’d say it would be some type of super-hero, but seriously… I doubt that someone like me would end up as a hero. So now I have to go to kama and yada yada. After Silvia moved to that weird town… Textville or something, it’s been really boring. I mean, she was the only friend I had aside from Mickey… who once again would not let off on following me everywhere. The kids got skills in sports and all, but he’s just so clingy. It’s almost like he has a boy-crush on me or something. Heh, he probably would if not for that girl he stalks when he’s not following me. I just don’t get what it is with the nobodies always trying to get the most popular girl in school. I mean, I’m not exactly an invisible kid, but I’m not that noticeable, and no one see’s me trying to halik Sandra Spelik. Maybe I’ll get to see her slap him in the face tomorrow.”

“This is Nick Falon, signing off- er… whatever, bye inanimate object I’m constantly talking too” *beep*

In a medium-sized dim-lighted fairly-clean teenage-boy’s bedroom, a seventeen year-old grey-to-tan hedgehog finally turns off his Mp3 player and goes to bed, disappointed, yet again sa pamamagitan ng his “boring” life. Up till now there were only three vaguely interesting things occurring in his life.

One was him being congratulated in public for doing well on an important school test, though he found it rather embarrassing, and punching-bag-target creating, as he did not want to be seen as a nerd.

The second, which happened two days later, was his friend Silvia, who he had not seen in months, sending him a letter, talking about her new house and such. He wanted to send a letter back, but his parents thought it best not to waste the postage.

The third was of course the strange event in the park concerning the strange business-man, who seemingly recognized him. He let these thoughts rest with his head, and quickly fell asleep at nine-thirty P.M.; a time he did not agree with having as his new curfew, but due to his tardiness in school, it was deemed necessary sa pamamagitan ng his parents and teachers.


The Following day…


“Journal entry seventy-three… yeah that’s right, seventy-three. I have issues apparently.”

“So there wasn’t any walang tiyak na layunin guy in the park today… well yet. I’m still on my bench, so he could arrive… then I could hope he doesn’t see me. Come to think of it, what’s a business dude doing in a city-park? Whatever. So for a while there I forgot why I come here for a while then I remembered, it’s better than home. Maybe one of these days Mom will finally stop inviting all the neighbors over, so I don’t have to clean up everything. Oh well. Oh yeah. Mickey actually went and tried to give Sandra a home-made cake… and she liked it… and kissed him on the cheek… puberty is so cruel. If I actually wanted a girlfriend, I guess I could- uh… try… Um… hi?”

“Hi.” A girl replied in front of Nick. She was a teenage brownish-gold cat with kulay-rosas and white shoes, blue jeans, and a pale blue tang-top, with the words “glossy guru” written across it. She had a lunch-bag, a tot-bag, and a very large book, that looked quite strange.

“How many entries do you have?” She asked cheerfully.

“Um… on my Mp3?” Nick replied.

“Well you don’t have a pen or note-book, and that’s pretty much, the only thing you’re holding.” She answered teasingly.

“Seventy-three… including this one… why do you want to know?” Nick inquired cautiously.

“Well I heard someone talking to themselves, and I investigated.” The girl said. “Wasn’t hard to figure it out. You are the only student here sitting alone… well aside from me, but that’s probably cause I’m new. I’m Kal.”

“I’m… not at liberty to say.” Nick coldly responded, still confused sa pamamagitan ng the stranger.

“Okay, then I can name you.” She said, sitting right susunod to the nervous boy. When she sinabi this, it gave Nick a small grieving look. Strangely enough, it didn’t look like he was annoyed, as much as reminded of something. The girl who called herself Kal did not notice this however, and was now pondering on what to call her new friend.

“I know!” She announced, startling Nick slightly. “I’ll call you Talon.”

“Do I need to clip my nails that badly?” He teased.

“He he, no, your nails are fine.” She assured happily. “There’s a guy named Talon in a story I’m reading. He’s really mysterious and stuff, and he looks kind of like you. Except he didn’t have walang tiyak na layunin grey spots all over.”

“Yeah… the grey spots… probably some disease.” Nick groaned.

“Then I probably have the same disease.” Kal informed.

“Wait… what? Like cancer or something?” Nick sinabi rather concerned.

“I dunno know, but I doubt it.” She replied, shrugging slightly. “I used to have white fur, then even my hair changed color. Now I’m golden-brownish. It was really weird and all, but I’m not dead, and there’s always tomorrow, and life goes on. Blah blah blah. I guess that’s why my guardian and me moved. The last town was so boring… that and they sinabi something about the school’s principal being arrested… what an innocent world we live in.”

“You seem pretty friendly for someone who just met someone else.” Nick noted.

“Well I was waiting for my guardian to pick me up, but he’s taking his time or something, so I thought I’d make a friend for when I get into my new school.” Kal said.

“Well I’m not exactly the best choice for a new friend.” Nick hinted.

“Why? Do you sell drugs or something.” Kal asked chuckling a bit.

“Uh… y-yes! I sell tons of drugs! sa pamamagitan ng the truck-load.” Nick fibbed, attempting to get the strange girl to leave.

“Nice try.” She said, placing her book down on the bench.

“Is that your book of spells or something?” Nick asked, glancing over at the detailed covered-book.

“Well it has spells in it, but it’s just a story book… though I did try to use some of the spells… didn’t work of course, but I was bored.” Kal finished, just as a beeping cooper pulled up. “Gotta go. Nice to meet ya, Talon.” The girl ran into the car; leaving Nick confused, and nagyelo on his bench.

The susunod day…

“Journal entry seventy-four”

“So that girl… Kal I think her name was, hasn’t shown up yet… well, that or I just haven’t seen her. She’s supposedly going to my high-school now… whoop-dee-doo. Not that I’m complaining about not seeing her yet though. I don’t want another stalker. I guess she was just trying to be friendly, but she did seem a bit off. Why is it always the new kids are all strange. Mickey gave me a very large urge to literally use this new nickname of mine on him. ‘Don’t worry dude. Someday you’ll get a girl too… well… maybe someday.’ Then the thing left with Sandra… HOW DOES A NERD LIKE MICKEY… scratch that, HOW DOES A PERSON WHO’S NAME IS MICKEY GET A GIRL LIKE THAT?!?!?! I seriously got so ticked, it almost looked like my nails got longer and sharper, which is another thing. I now have no grey spots… I have tan ones. sa pamamagitan ng tomorrow or so, I’ll probably be all grey. Ugh! So now I go back into class. Some S.W.A.T. guy wanted to talk to my specific class for some reason. At the very least it could keep me at school for the rest of the day… *groan*, but it might not be too boring. And off I go.”

“This is Nick… once again… signing off…”

Later in class…

“This is Admiral Koscev.” The professor informed to Nick’s classroom. The bald old-aged male soro was standing susunod to a tall, semi-old overlander, with grey and brown hair, a government uniform, and of course he had a scar. Nick would have laughed if it didn’t seem too ridiculous to him. “He was called here to inform everyone in this class about strange events, that need attending to.”

“What type of events?” A student asked.

“Mainly I’m here as a warning.” He answered. “A vast amount of escaped convicts were thought to have made their way to this area. It was quite some time ago, however, and they have probably changed their appearance in every way. They could be living in the same neighborhoods as any of you.”

“They’re hiding in your windows. They’re snatching your people up.” Nick teased. “Sorry Mr. … Koscev… but why exactly are you just talking to this specific class. I mean, no one does drugs or anything… as far as I can tell, and aside from fur-color changing, I’ve got nothing on me.”

“Mr. Falon!” The teach scolded. “This is a very important matter.

“To answer your question,” Koscev explained, “Mr. Falon, I will be talking to other classes, but I am talking to this one first, because I know that at least one of the escapees was sighted in the current areas of the students in this class.”

“Like Hose over there, who’s from Coonienx (Mexican country).” Nick continued to tease.

“We will speak with you outside, Mr. Falon.” The Professor angrily informed. Nick got up from his chair, and followed.

“Mr. Falon, your behavior today is most peculiar.” The teacher noted. “What made you decide to insult a serious matter such as this? Is it a girl?”

“Well I wish it was.” Nick answered, still cracking wise.

“It’s alright.” Koscev assured calmly, frisking Nick’s hair a bit. “It is a very strange and rather complicated story, which I do not have the time to explain. But I would appreciate it if you would be so kind as to not disrupt the class, Mr. Falon. I have very little time to explain this, and that does not include people who simply want to make jokes all day.”

“Alright.” Nick sighed.

Later that day…

“Entry seventy-four part two I guess.”

“So yeah, the special ops guy, who looked like he came straight out of Splinter-Cell, sinabi how there’s a bunch of strange convicts, roaming the area, blah blah blah. He frisked my hair up, and when I went back into class it looked like a peacock’s, though I did meet a really cute peacock girl once. It wasn’t that long, but it still bored me to death. Maybe those convicts will come over to my neighborhood, so I can manuntok em up. Something. This town is just so boring.”

“End of part two- er Nick signing out- er… whatever…”

That night…

“Okay so Journal entry seventy-five now”

“So I know I already made one of these at school today and all, but other weird things happened. The first thing was that I am now completely grey… I can just picture the faces of the people in school… ugh! This is not going to be fun. Anyway, after that I could have sworn I saw smoke coming from behind me. Then I look over, and my hand was… on apoy or something! It didn’t look like apoy exactly. It was black, and misty, like it was just the smoke. Also, I wasn’t burning up. I blew it off of course and all, but it was pretty strange. Finally, right after that, a small beeping sound kept going on and off, then something stung me in the head. I’m probably going to have some super-large bug bite now. UGH! Maybe if I get up early enough, I can go get some fur-dye before school… that would be the day…”

“Nick… signing off”

Seven A.M. the susunod morning… on a Friday… ugh…

Nick had finally gotten the courage to go to the Salon to get some tan-fur-dye. He was about to grab a bottle, when he saw Kal coming in through the front door. He quickly ducked behind one of the counters, hoping that she wouldn’t see him.

“You’ve got quick reflexes.” She said, walking up to him. Nick gave a small groan, then got up from his hiding place.

“How did you see me? You were like… twelve feet behind me.” He noted.

“I’ve got some pretty cool vision.” She answered.

“That’s what I get for coming over to a girl’s tindahan to get fur-dye.” He sighed.

“You were going to dye your fur?” She asked.

“That was the general plan, yes.” He answered.

“Awwww… I think your new balahibo looks cool… um… is your hand supposed to be smoking?” Kal pointed at Nick’s hand.

“No…” He answered, shaking his hand until the smoke went away. “I really have no idea what’s happening.”

“Well if I had to guess it would probabl- OW!!” Kal reached back, and pulled out a small dart from the back of her neck. “Oh… cr… crud…” She faintly remarked just before passing out.

“What the-“ Before Nick could finish his sentence, three smoke grenades came hurdling into the store, shooting smoke everywhere. The surprised hedgehog picked up Kal gently, and tried to get out of the store, but couldn’t see where he was going.

He almost ran right into a shelf, but instead of going into it, a giant heap of black smoke surrounded him, and he and Kal appeared behind the store instead. “WHAT’S GOING ON!??!?!!?!!!” He growled furiously. He looked down at his hands, and noticed that long claws were now stretching out from them.

He leaped upward in surprise and confusion. What was happening to him? He was about to find out. He looked up at a helicopter, which was now firing rapidly at him and Kal. “Leave… us… ALONE!!!” He screamed at the flying vehicle. As he did, a strange acid-like black substance seemed to take over the helicopter; melting it to liquid.

From out of the destroyed liquid came a blueish-slate-colored male teenage hedgehog. “Thanks dude.” He said, walking over to Nick.

“What the-… never mind…” Nick wasted no time, he picked up Kal again, grabbed the guy’s hand, and started off through the street. Tanks, and strangely armored soldiers, and madami helicopters followed, still shooting at all three of them.

“So they’re after you too?!” The boy asked.

“I guess!” Nick said. “What do they want?!”

“Well mainly, they want to come into your school, pretend that their looking for convicts, then place a small camera on your head, so they can capture you!” He explained.

“I don’t suppose these powers have something to do with it?!” Nick inquired.

“Probably!” They continued to run, until three missiles started coming after them at full speed, along with a large laser-beam. “THEY’RA FIRIN THEIR LAZERS!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Nick concentrated and concentrated, while still running as fast as he could with a person in his arms, then let out a reverberating sound which consumed all three of them in the black mist. The sound was “Darkthrapt”

They all appeared in the living room of Nick’s house… where his parents were sitting. “Mom! Dad! Don’t ask, just help! This girl got tranquil-darted, and a bunch of helicopters and tanks and people are after us!”

“Oh no… not now…” Nick’s mother quietly mouthed. “This way!” She said. Mrs. Falon lead the three mobian teenagers to the backyard, then walked over to the wood-pile, and shoved away all the lumber from the stacks. When she was finished, a small hatch appeared. She opened it, then ordered Nick and the boy to get in.

“But what about Dad!?” Nick asked, as he made his way into the container.

“He’ll… he’ll b-be okay Nick. We pag-ibig you so much!” With that, Mrs. Falon closed the hatch, with Nick, Kal, and the boy still inside. The container began to move, or so Nick thought, then… they heard gunshots, and explosions, and screams of pain.

An entire oras later… and the container resurfaced. It’s hatch opened, and Nick, who was still holding Kal, and the boy, walked out to see the leveled area. The entire house was leveled. There were bodies lying dead on the floor, with two tanks rammed into the ground as well.

Kal slowly roused, then pushed herself out of Nick’s arms. “Are we in a zombie movie?” She asked. Nick didn’t answer. He just walked over to a body, with a blue-bracelet. He sat in front of it for a good thirty minutos until he finally got up.

“We need to get out of here now. Find as much money as we can, and get into a different state.” He ordered. He then turned to the other boy. “Who are you?”

“I’m Jesse.” He answered. “I got captured from my cousins, who were… killed sa pamamagitan ng those people. They had me locked up for a couple of days, then put me in the helicopter you destroyed.”

“Wait… MY GUARDIAN!!!!” Kal exclaimed, attempting to run off to her house. Jesse grabbed her arm, stopping her.

“They probably already got to him… or her…” Jesse informed. “They’ll be waiting for you.”

“But-“

“He’s right.” Nick said. “From now on we do not make contact with anyone we knew, we make new names, and we get out of here.”

After much arguing… Kal agreed. The three mobians then started off down the park, just behind Nick’s house. They took some twists and turns, until they had finally made it out of Hickville. This was the beginning of the Conflicts Arcane.