//------------------------------// // The Crystal Empire! The Threat Rises!? // Story: Magica: Land of Dreams! // by Zeno the Masked Writer //------------------------------// As Gin fell through the gateway he watched Ben got further and further away until he disappeared completely. His vision blurred as everything turned white. For a while, Gin felt like he was floating on air until suddenly gravity took its toll. He felt air rush past as he slowly opened his eyes only to see that he was falling from the sky! Like any normal person in this situation, Gin kept calm and thought carefully about his next plan of action......PANIC!! "CRAP!CRAP!CRAP!CRAP!CRAP!CRAP!CRAP!CRAP!CRAP!CRAP!CRAP!CRAP!CRAP!CRAP!CRAP!CRAP!CRAP!CRAP!CRAPPPPPPPPPP!!!" He screamed while he watched helplessly as he drew closer and closer to the ground in a panic and then everything went black. "Ugh.....W-well, I wasn't expecting that." Gin lifted himself up and noticed that he was completely surrounded by snow. Suddenly he felt the cold breeze blow past him and instantly felt his whole body freeze. "Now I wish I had brought a jacket or something!" He exclaimed with a shiver. Suddenly Gin noticed that his vision was a lot more blurry than usual. He took off his glasses and tried to clean them but then he noticed that he could see better without them. "W-what!? No way! Is this even possible!" Gin placed his glasses down but noticed something strange in the distance. It was then that he heard someone scream and instantly he jumped to his feet and sprinted towards the sound of the screaming. "W-What!? How am I running so fast? What the heck is going on!?" As he ran the image of who was screaming was becoming clearer. In the distance, Gin saw a group of girls and some guy with a sword. However, next to them was a huge monster made of black smoke but inside the smoke were two piercing eyes that oozed purple mist. Without even skipping a beat Gin rushed towards them and not even realizing it himself, he jumped into the air high above the group and now was heading towards the monster. "HEY UGLY TAKE THIS!" Gin suddenly kicked the strange beast and slammed the monster into the ground. Gin landed in front of the monster and laughed before turning and giving a thumbs up to everyone. "HEY WATCH OUT!" But It was too late and soon the monster opened its jaws and quickly charged towards him. Before the monster could tear him in half the man from before quickly made his way in between the two and kept the monsters jaws from closing with his sword. "You Idiot! What the hell were you thinking!" He shouted before pushing himself and Gin away from the beast just as the monster destroyed the weapon. "Damn! Twilight get everyone into the barrier! I'll handle this guy!" "Yeah don't worry we can handle this joker so you guys get out of here!" Gin said with a grin as the man sneered before bonking him on the head. "YOU IDIOT! A KID LIKE YOU WOULDNT STAND A CHANCE AGAINST SOMBRA!" Before the two could argue further the monster, now known as Sombra, charged them. Gin jumped to the right to dodge the attack while his partner did the opposite and took the blow head on. "W-what! Why would h-!" Gin thought before he realized that those girls were still there. Gin frowned and then made a mad dash towards Sombra. He put all his strength into his next attack and tackled the monster. As a result, the monster suddenly vanished as a person suddenly was sent careening towards the ground. "W-What the heck!" Gin shouted while the man stood up and glared at him while the others were awe-struck. Suddenly the strange man held up his hands as two of his rings started to glow. Suddenly a volley of black crystals shot towards Gin so quickly that he couldn't defend himself. He felt the crystals scratch and tear his defenseless body until he noticed the man from before protecting him again. "Y-You idiot..." He coughed before falling onto his knees. Gin quickly grabbed him before he could fall and held his damaged form. He felt tears well up as the thought that someone was about to die because he trying to play hero. "Dammit! DAMMIT!!" Gin shouted as tears rolled down his cheeks. Sombra was about to strike again but stopped when he noticed something. He took a step back and saw the immense amount of magical power pouring out of the boy. "Impossible! How can a child have so much magical power!? " Everyone watched as Sombra used another one of his magic rings to create a doorway before suddenly disappearing through the door. Gin sneered as he lifted the man onto his back. "W-we have to get to that barrier!" Gin shouted as he started walking past the others, however, before too long he felt someone beside him. "Hey let me help you out." A tomboyish girl with rainbow colored hair said as she took some of the man's weight off of Gin. "Up ahead! it's the crystal empire!" Everyone looked ahead and saw a circular dome made out of what Gin assumed to be some kind of crazy magic. But then again everything was moving so fast that Gin honestly didn't know what to think anymore. He did know this, no matter what he would have to make it up to the man who saved his life! "Ugh! Man, I can't believe I was stupid!" Gin thought while he and the others waited outside the infirmary. "You should be lucky that it was only minor injuries. If Shinny wasn't a soldier then he probably would have died!" The girl with lavender colored hair shouted as she clenched her fists in anger. Before she could do anything reckless a boy with green hair and a purple jacket pulled her away from Gin. "Sorry about Twilight....She can kinda get emotional..." The boy explained with a sigh. "The real question is where exactly you came from. Because the way your dressed I seriously doubt you just wandered out into the freezing cold!" The girl with purple curly hair and the posh accent exclaimed while the rest of the girls directed their attention to Gin. "T-That's what I'd like to know." They heard an injured voice ask from the doorway. Everyone turned around and saw the man wearing a few bandages around his head and was using a crutch to keep his balance. They all circled him except for Gin who was trying to hide from the man's gaze. Suddenly Gin felt someone grab his shoulder and he turned around and saw the man smiling before sitting down next to him. "Look, I'm not mad at you....But you need to explain what happened and where you came from." He asked while Gin scratched the back of his head. "Yeah and I'm sorry! It's just that I got so excited and everything after going through the gate." Everyone looked at each other with raised eyebrows while Gin groaned in frustration. "Honestly, I wish that creepy masked freak would have just left me alone!" Gin shouted as the room went dead silent. "Creepy masked freak?" Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow. "Y-yeah he's the one who brought me to this world and-!" He tried to explain before instantly shutting his mouth with his hand. "Oh crap! I spilled the beans!" "Brought you to this world? What on earth are you talking about!" Twilight said while the others seemed to crowd around Gin who shrunk under their gaze. For the next 20 minutes, Gin explained everything that had happened today, making sure he focused on the part about being pushed through the door back at his school. For the most part, everyone seemed to follow along with his tall tale, however, there was one thing that bothered everyone. "I understand the part about the portal that brought you here but who is the masked man?" Shining asked while Gin tried to remember. "Well.....How do I explain this? The guy was creepy! He had a kind of eerie atmosphere like in the movies, but this was different. He felt almost....Insulting. Like He didn't care what happened to anything at all! But not only that the guys face was beyond creepy!" Everyone listened carefully to Gins explanation, however, one new visitor was there now. She rather tall with violet rose, and pale gold-colored hair. She seemed to be paying extra attention to Shining armor, however, she suddenly felt her attention shoot to their visitor. "Well, he was wearing a strange mask. It didn't have any features except for a seriously wide smile. The weirdest part was that the place where his eyes and his mouth were supposed to be was nothing but black! It was almost like he didn't have them to start with!" Gin exclaimed only to feel someone suddenly grab him. "Tell me, young man! Did this masked man wear a suit, like the ones you would wear to a funeral!?" The woman asked in a panic. "Y-Yeah! He was wearing a suit with a top hat! Wait do you know that guy?" Gin asked in a shocked tone but the woman wouldn't answer. "Did he tell you anything else?" She asked in a low tone. "Umm....well the only thing he told me was that.....In three months some kind of war game would begin." Gin explained as the woman froze on the spot. Everyone stared at her for the longest time but it was shining who broke the awkward silence. "Cadence...Honey? Are you ok?" She didn't answer him instead she stood up and pulled out some strange looking trinket and held it in front of Shining. "Sacred ÄRM: Healing Angel!" Instantly a pale pink light surrounded Shining Armor and soon he stood up on his own without the crutch and stared at cadence with a worried expression. "Cadence? What are you thinking? You have to keep your strength up so that the barrier doesn't break!?" "Shining Armor! This is an order!" She shouted as he took a step back in shock. "We do not have time to waste! You must prepare this child for battle immediately! I'm trusting him in your care! Do you understand me!" She ordered as Shining took a brief moment to clear his head before nodding. "Excellent...Meanwhile, I need you six to find a way to stop Sombra from breaking into the Crystal empire! Now you both have your orders, SO GET GOING!!" She shouted as everyone quickly ran to complete their jobs. After everyone left the area, Cadence closed her eyes and took a deep breath before glaring at the wall behind her. "Come out now Yagi!" She commanded. Suddenly the entire area turned pitch black as the sound of laughter filled the hall. Suddenly in a puff of pink smoke the masked man appeared but now he seemed to be sitting in a recliner. "You called Princess? Or shall I call you Cadence? HEHEHE!" He exclaimed with a shrill laugh. "Why did you bring that boy here? You know that he doesn't belong in this world!" She demanded but the masked man just laughed at her question. "HEHEHE! Well, I wanted to spice things up! And who better than a dreamer from another world!? Oh~, I can't wait for the games to begin! HEHEHE!" He exclaimed with glee while Cadence continued to glare. "So the war games......They will begin again?" Without a word the light suddenly returned with the laughter of the masked man filled the empty hallway. "WHY DONT YOU FIND OUT IN THREE MONTHS! HEHEHE!" Cadence only sneered as she made her way back to the throne room with the new knowledge that things had just got A LOT more complicated. Meanwhile... "So what your saying is, that because of one little brat you couldn't take out a group of kids, am I right so far?" "N-No sir! The child had immense magical power! I have never felt anything like it! It was stronger than anything I've ever seen!" Sombra explained while he kneeled down before the man in front of him. Without saying a word the man reached down and grabbed Sombra by the throat and lifted him into the air. Sombra struggled in his grip but he couldn't get himself free. "I'm sorry, but did I hear you correctly? Were you implying that our leader was weaker than a snot nosed brat?" The man asked as he tightened his grip around Sombra's throat. "N-NO! I...DIDN'T....MEAN-!" Sombra choked out before the man let go. "Well, then I gotta see this! Sombra you had better hope you aren't bullshitting me, or else what I do to you next is gonna be very......unpleasant." The man said as he lifted his right hand showing off one of his ÄRM. Suddenly another portal opened in front of the pair and Sombra was quick to go through the gate, however, The man from before sighed before taking off his coat. "You had better be ready kid!" TO BE CONTINUED!