Chapter 3
The Rescue part 2
Once he entered the forest, Hiro thought about what he said to Lily earlier.

(Hiro: Lily?

Lily: I’m a little scared. Why are they looking for me? I haven’t done anything wrong!

Hiro: Don’t worry. Nothing bad will happen to you.

Lily: How do you know that?

Hiro: Because…I…I’ll protect you.)

Then he remembered seeing Lily in tears as Lars and his squad took her away. To him, it was like he failed to protect her.

Hiro: I couldn’t do that, but that will change. I’ll make sure nothing happens to you. I swear it.

Suddenly a black pool of darkness appeared and ten strange, glowing, black, demonic creatures appeared in front of him

"What the hell? What are they?!", he yelled.'

Suddenly a sphere of darkness appeared in his right hand. Out of the darkness, a black sword with the red lining on the middle of the blade appeared in his hand.

Hiro: (What is this? Never mind, they're coming!)

He runs to the creatures and swings his sword to slay the enemy. Each monster he slain they fade into darkness. After he defeated the last monster, the dark pool disappeared. Hiro looks at the sword in confusion.

Hiro: (I don't what just happened, but that sword can come in handy. Lily, Roku, here I come.)

Just before took one step, he hears footsteps coming his way. Hiro has his sword ready to fight.
“Come out and fight! I won’t run!”, he yelled

Then he hears a familiar voice saying, “Easy, it’s us!”

It was Kaden and Preed coming out of the shadows.

“What are you doing here?”, Hiro asks

Preed: Uh… That’s our line.

Kaden: What do you think you’re doing?

Hiro: I goin’ save Lily and Roku.

Kaden: Let me get this straight; you’re going right in the middle of the Death Star, where the Elite can take us out like they did last time?

Hiro: So, you’re here to stop me?

Preed: As if. Knowing you, you’ll just keep goin’, ya know?

“What we’re saying is that you’re going there alone. We’re coming, too. Besides, I owe Lars a beat for what he did to us.” Kaden says as he cracks his knuckles.
Hiro thought about it for a while. Then he smiles knowing that he won’t be alone to storm the castle and says, "All right let's go!"

Preed: By the way, where did you get the cool sword, Hiro?

“I’ll tell you on the way.”, Hiro says he and the others are heading to Eden.

Eden was once the beautiful city that lights up in the dark. It was once called the city of light. Now the city is in ruins. Nero increased the taxes to a point that the people lost everything they had, their homes and jobs. He also enforced the law that any actions against him are acts of treason and must be executed without trial. Unfortunately, not even children are excused from this law. Like the people of the Warren, they all lost all hope. The trio finally made to Eden. This was their hometown nine years ago before the Rebellion War. The once beautiful city of light is now a dark gloomy ruin. They see the people living out on the streets losing all the hope in the world. They also see a castle far beyond the buildings. It was the only building that was glowing with light.

“Man, I know things in Eden was bad, but not this bad!”, Preed says.

Hiro: You’re telling me.

“C’mon let’s get goin’”, Kaden says as went ahead.
Meanwhile a twelve-year-old boy wanders through the streets of Eden seeing everyone afraid of what Nero may do to them. Then he sees a gold coin with renewed hope. He tries to grab it, but all of a sudden one of Nero guards steps on his hand.

Guard: This coin belongs to the king.

Boy: Please sir, my family has nothing.

Guard: Not my problem, kid.

Boy: Why can't the king do something about everyone here who lost their homes?

Guard: You're asking the wrong guy about that.

The boy was furious that the guard wasn't showing much concern about what's happening to Eden.

Boy: That king is nothing more than a tyrant! If King Caesar were here-

Before he could finish a sentence, the guard grabs him by the neck, choking him in the process.

"I going to warn you once, I'm already in a bad mood because of some kid in the Warren tried to do the very thing you're doing. You know full well that Nero's word is law. Be glad that he's not here to hear you finish that sentence. I'm letting you off with a warning, but next you won’t get off so easily. IS that Understood?" he says as he throws the boy down to the ground.

He leaves the lad and took the gold coin. The boy sulks as he knows that nothing will change as long as Nero is still king. Suddenly hears the Guard yelling, "What the- YOU!"
Follow by the sounds of someone beating the living daylights out of him. The boy looks up and sees Kaden approaching him. The boy was afraid that he might be his next victim. Then Kaden kneeled down to him and says, "Don't be afraid."

Boy: Wh-who are you?

Kaden: Kaden Ballad, your friendly neighborhood hero for now.

Boy: Hero?

Kaden pulls out a small bag of money out of his pocket and hands it to the young lad. The boy was shocked by his kindness.

Boy: Where-

Kaden: I took it from that guard. It's yours now.

Boy: You mean it!? Thank you!

The boy leaves with the money with a full smile on his face. Just then Kaden hears Preed saying, "”Friendly neighborhood hero”? Really, Kay?"

Kaden: Look I'm sorry, but that kid needed help.

Preed: I know that, but I don't think you shouldn't bring attention to the Elite.

While Preed and Kaden were talking, the guard got back on his feet and began to charge at Kaden with his sword. Just before he came close, Hiro noticed him behind Kaden.

Hiro: K-K-Kaden, behind you!

Kaden turned around, the stabbed him in the stomach.

Hiro and Preed were in disbelief and shocked when it happened.

Hiro/Preed: Kaden!!!!!

Kaden fell backwards covering his wound. Preed and Hiro check on him in worry.

Hiro: Kay!

Preed: You okay, buddy!?

Kaden looked at his wound, but strangely there was no wound. Hiro and Preed were shocked as well.

Kaden: Huh?

Hiro: What the-?

Preed: I-I thought….

They looked at the guard, who was also confused that Kaden didn’t have a wound. He looked at his sword. The guard’s eyes widen in shock that his sword looked like crumpled paper.

Guard: What the hell!?

Kaden, Hiro, and Preed surround the guard so he wouldn’t run away. The guard couldn’t was happening. First it was Hiro who attacked him with his mysterious power and now it’s Kaden.

Guard: What are you!?

“Hey guys, shall we give this guy a beat down?”, Kaden says with an evil grin.

Preed: Oh yeah!

Hiro: My favorite part.

Moments after they finished beating up the guard, they wandered through the city to get to Nero’s castle.

Hiro: I think we should’ve held back a little.

Kaden: Why should we? He had no problem jumping us.

“We’ve could’ve asked him why Nero was after Lily.”, Preed said.

Kaden: Can we focus on how to break in the castle without getting caught?

As they try to figure how to get in the castle and save Lily and Roku without getting caught. Suddenly they see ten of those monsters coming at them.

Hiro: Them again?!

Hiro pulls out his sword and Kaden was ready to fight them again until they hears a familiar voice saying "I'm surprised that you've come. I was just coming to see you again."

He looks around until the monsters made path for someone to walk through. He was surprised that it was Lars.

Hiro: You! Get out of our way or else!

Lars: Or else what? Fight me? No, I'll let the Malfested handle you.

Preed: The Malfested?

Lars: You never heard of them? They are demons of the dark that prey on mortals and consume their souls and those who are struck down by them becomes one themselves. These monsters are far too powerful for anyone to fight.

Hiro: How come they haven't attacked you?

"They rely on those who are the strongest. Since Nero considered me strong, he granted me the power to control them as well. I see the Soul Eaters have their eyes on you. You three will be their next victims. Attack!"

The Malfested jumped in the air to pounce them. Suddenly Hiro hears a voice in his head saying "Use my power."

Hiro recognized that voice from his dreams. He hears it again saying, "Dark Fire!"
He points his sword and yells “Dark Fire!"

A beam of dark fire shot out of the sword and the blast obliterated the monsters. Lars couldn't believe what he just saw.

Lars: No matter. No matter how many you destroy more will come.

With one snap of his fingers, more Malfested appeared.

Hiro and Kaden tries to get to Lars but the horde of Soul Eaters blocked his path.

Kaden: Damn it! Our of our way

Hiro slays one after the other and Kaden attacks the monsters with series of punches and kicks. However the more monsters he kills; the more started to appear. Suddenly five of them pass by them and focused their attention on Preed.

“Preed look out!” Kaden yelled.

“Run!”, Hiro yelled.

But their words didn’t reach him. Preed was frozen in terror seeing these monsters. Just the Malfested jumped to pounce on him. Hiro and Kaden try to which him but more Malfested appeared on front of them.

Hiro looked ahead and sees Preed being tackled by the monsters.

Hiro: Preed!

Suddenly Preed’s mark began to glow and a sudden burst of energy obliterated the rest of the monster. Preed stood up and was shocked to see a spear in his hand.

“All right, now we’re talkin’!” he says as he joined Hiro and Kaden in the fight.

They kept going with the thought that Lily and Roku could be in danger. Suddenly Hiro’s mark started to glow again. It emitted a dark that obliterated half of the horde and knocked Lars out. Then Hiro becomes too exhausted and falls on his knees as though that it drained him. Preed and Kaden checked on him.

Preed: Hiro, you’re all right?

"We better get out of here before he wakes up!", Kaden says as he run ahead of them.

Preed followed behind while Hiro stayed behind; he sees that Lars is till knocked out. He was ready to attack him until Kaden grabbed him by the arm.

“What are you doin’?” Kaden says

Hiro: Let me go! I'm wanna kill that mutt!

Kaden: You're too exhausted right now! Come with us where it’s safe!

He had no choice. He was too exhausted to keep fighting.

"Fine." he says.

He followed Kaden and Preed to an abandon warehouse in the far east of the town. Inside the warehouse the trio stayed quiet for while in case if they were followed. Hiro looked out the window and sees no one out there. He also sees the castle beyond the city. He was worried about Lily and Roku's fates in there. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder. He quickly turned around to see it was Kaden

Kaden: You okay, bro?

Hiro: Yeah. I’m just worried about Lily and Roku.

“Me too, but how are we going to sneak past the guards? We can’t waltz in there knowing the Elite are guarding the place.”, Preed says.

Kaden: Don’t forget about those monsters. It will be a real pain to them and the Elite.

Hiro thought about their predicament. Then he thought of an idea.

"I may know a way in. Will you trust me to take you there?"

Preed: Wait. You do?

Kaden: Lead the way, bro.

Kaden peered through the door to see if the coast was clear. There were no signs of either Lars or the Malfest.

"Okay, all clear."

After seeing that the coast was cleared, Hiro, Preed, and Kaden continued on their mission to save

Lily and the captain. Preed, however, was curious about where Hiro was taking them.

"Where are we going?", he asked.

Before he could answer the question, a dark cloud appears in front of them.

Preed: Not again!

Hiro: You gotta be kidding me.

Suddenly twenty Malfested emerged from the cloud. The trio is ready to fight them all until a dark portal appeared among the Soul Eaters. Hiro, Kaden, and Preed are surprised to see Lars emerged from the portal.

"You again!?", Hiro yelled.

"You won't escape me that easily. Sooner or later the three of you will meet the same fate as the other two."

Kaden and Preed were shocked and sadden about what Lars just said. They believed that they were too late to save their friends.

"He's lying." Hiro says suddenly.

Lars: Oh is that so? How would you know?

Hiro: I have a way of knowing.

Then he points his sword at Lars with a look of determination. “Just like I know that we’ll save our friends no matter what. I'll be happy to take you down to do so."

Lars was annoyed about the look on his face. He remembers someone else gave him the same look years ago. "You will die by those words, boy. Attack!"

He noticed that the Malfested did not respond to his command.

Lars: I said attack!

Then they all turned their attention to him.

"W-What's happening!?" he yelled.

In a blink of an eye, all the Malfested started to pounce on Lars. One by one the hill of creatures increased as the sound of Lars screaming began to muffle with the sounds of Soul Eaters growling. The trio are shocked and confused about what was going on.

Hiro: What are they doing?

The hill of Malfested began to sink into a pool of darkness like the one Hiro saw earlier. Moments later a giant claw emerged from the pool followed by a colossus demonic dog emerged afterwards.

Kaden: What the hell?

Hiro: Lars is that you?

"This power. The true Darkness! I'm no longer Lars, I am...Titan!!"

Suddenly Titan grew three tentacles on his back and each one grabbed Hiro, then Preed, and then Kaden. They all tried to struggle free, but no success.


Titan: Once I finish you off, next the people of the Warren shall face my wrath!

Hiro remembered that all the people back in the Warren had suffered enough. Suddenly he felt an enormous energy along with his rage within his body.

Hiro: I won't....I won't let you!

Suddenly Hiro's body began to emit a dark purple aura. Titan was confused about him, "Wh-what is going on?"

Suddenly Hiro's eyes turned from blue to amber and his mark started to glow. He finally found the strength to set himself free from the demon's grasp. Then wings started to grow on his back. He flew around the demon and used his sword to destroy the tentacles holding Kaden and Preed. He points his sword at Titan. His sword is surrounded in a fiery red aura. Then he shouted, "Dark Fire!"
A beam of dark fire shot out of the sword and the blast critically injured the giant. Titan couldn't believe what was happening.

Titan: NO...Who...are...you!?

"Death awaits you.", Hiro said with a deep and booming voice.

Titan: It can't be.....You…..You're a…… Renkai?

He unleashed an aura attack destroying the Soul Eaters and Titan with one blow. After that, Lars returned to his original form. Then Hiro landed on the ground and his aura and wings disappeared and fell on his knees feeling exhausted again. Preed and Kaden ran to see if he was okay.

Kaden checks on him and says. "Hey, are you okay, Hiro?”

"What... just happened?", he asked.

Preed: You mean you don't remember?

Hiro: Remember what?

"You did that." , Preed says as he points at Lars kneeling in pain.

"I-I did that?", Hiro asks as he stood up with Kaden's help.

Lars couldn't believe it; three kids were able to defeat him in a short amount of time. When stood up his legs were wobbling from his fight.

"I can't believe it! I won't believe!"

Hiro: Give up Lars, you can't beat us!

Lars: Silence! You don't know who you're talking to! I am Lars Duquesne! Leader of the Elite! I will not be beaten likes of y-

Before he could finish his sentence, he felt a sharp pain through his back. He looked down and saw a bloody point of a sword coming out of his chest. He slowly looked behind and sees a boy in a red and black mask. Hiro, Kaden, and Preed were shocked to see what was happening.
"W-What…. Y-You…" Lars barely said.

"You time is at an end." the masked boy says as he quickly pulled his sword out of Lars's back.

Lars collapse instantly afterwards. He breathes his last breath as his blood was pouring out of his wound. The trio couldn't believe what they just saw.

Kaden: What the hell just happened?

Preed: Who are you?

Masked boy: Call me Specter.

He looked down at Lars's bloody corpse.

Specter: How ironic. This man thought he could control the Malfested, but in actuality they were controlling him.

Kaden: What do you mean by that?

Specter: The Soul Eaters were using him from the start. He was nothing more than their puppet. He failed to realize that they were feeding off his dark soul. A fitting end for a foolish man.

Suddenly Lars's body started to fade away into darkness, similar to how the Soul Eaters faded away. Then Specter points only at Hiro.

"The Apocalypse will come soon" he says in a cryptic voice.

Hiro, Preed, and Kaden felt a chill down their spines when he said that.

Hiro: What? What are you talking about?


"You'll know soon enough." He says as he summoned a black portal and disappeared, leaving them stunned. Then Kaden snapped them out of it and says, "Come on we got friends to save, remember?"

Preed: Oh yeah, you said you know a way in, right?

"Y-Yeah, follow me.", Hiro says as he ran ahead while the others followed.

Meanwhile within the Castle of Eden, the guards throws Lily into the throne room with her hands cuffed. She looked up and sees a humanoid lion known as a Leoion, with a cold expression. His name is Nero, tyrant king of Eden. He is the younger brother of the deceased king, Caesar. Lily was nervous to be in the same room with him after all the things he had done and all the things Hiro, Kaden, and Preed said about him. He approached her with a grin on his face, a grin she found very, very creepy.

Nero: So you're the young lady I've heard about.

Lily: W-what do you want from me? I don't have anything valuable.

"Don't play dumb with me. You have a hidden power within you. According to one of my spies, you used some magic on this crystal.", he says as he showed her the pendant.
Lily: Look, like I told the guards before, I don't know how that happened!

Nero didn't believe her, even though she was telling the truth.

Nero: You're lying. But in case I need to jog your memory, I just sent Lars to bring that boy who attacked him earlier here. You know what will happen to those who are against me. Right my dear?

She was shocked to realize that Hiro’s life might in danger if she doesn't do something.

Lily: Wait! Don't bring him. But I’m telling you the truth I don’t how that happened. I swear!

Nero looked as if he lost his patience with her. Then he for some reason he grins.

“All right then. You don’t know how to use that Crystal and you’re worried about your friend. I have just one other option. Agree to marry me. It would be shameful to lose a lovely creature such as yourself.” He says as he strokes her hair.
Lily was appalled and shocked when he made that request.

Nero: You’ll have one hour to think it over in the dungeon.

The guards escort Lily out of the throne room to the dungeon. She may not have a choice, if it means to save Hiro from Nero.

Meanwhile outside the castle, Hiro led Preed and Kaden at the back of the castle with ease since the guards were scrambling around the city.

Kaden: I don't get it. With the head guy gone, why don't we just go through the front door-

Preed: Because there are more guards inside. It’ll take forever to find Lily and Roku if we fight them.

“Fine, I get it!”, he says in frustration.
While they were talking, Hiro was observing the wall. Kaden looked at him and was confused about he's doing.

"What are you looking for?, she asked.

"I'm trying figure out where to find the button to open the door.", he says as he starts to feel around the area on the wall, because the button is the same color and texture as the bricks. Suddenly he feels something that was out of place. He knew it was the button. He presses the button and part of the wall slowly rises up revealing a tunnel.

“It'll take a while but we can easily avoid the guards here.”

Kaden: All right. Let's go!

Hiro: (Lily, Roku, hang in there. We’re coming.)